MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2013 REVIEW: THE SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 8.0!!! Subscribe Us ::http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=news4techs Visit us :: h…
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Samsung Keynote CES 2013 Youm Flexible Screens http://youtu.be/1b0IU-W0Tt8. Video Rating: 4 / 5
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T-Mobile BlackBerry Z10 Hands-On We had a few brief moments to check out T-Mobile’s BlackBerry Z10, one of the first smartphones that will support 4G LTE. Th… Video Rating: 4 / 5
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Mozilla originally showed off its Metro style Firefox browser for Windows 8 back in October, but the company has started to distribute it in the latest nightly builds this week. Like Chrome, with Firefox for Windows 8 you’ll need to set the browser as the default one to access the “Metro style” version. This allows Firefox to run in Microsoft’s new Windows 8 environment.
We tried it out on Windows 8 this week, and it’s clear the version available is in the very early stages of release. Tabs are functional, alongside the ability to pin and favorite sites, but the settings are somewhat limited. We found that if you use the Windows 8 search Charm within Firefox it will, oddly enough, use Microsoft’s Bing search engine rather than Google…
We recently had the chance to spend time with David Greaves and Vesa-Matti Hartikainen of Jolla and take Sailfish OS for a spin. As you might recall, this open source mobile OS builds upon Mer (a fork of MeeGo that includes Qt) and uses the Nemo framework with a custom UI. Like any decent Linux-based OS, it supports both ARM and x86 devices. The company is also behind the Sailfish SDK which is in the process of being finalized but is still open to developer feedback (the source code is available). After seeing Jolla’s various demo videos and noting some UI similarities with MeeGo (swipes) and strangely, with BB10 (peek gestures) we were eager to experience Sailfish OS for ourselves. If you’re wondering why the mobile OS is usually shown running on Nokia’s N950 developer handset, that’s because Jolla employs many ex-MeeGo engineers, so the OMAP-based phone was a natural fit. We were first given a walkthrough of Sailfish OS, then allowed to play with it. Many apps are still being worked on (and some are still off-limits: we got in trouble for launching the camera), but what we saw was pretty solid. Take a look at the gallery below, then hit the break for our hands-on video and first impressions.
Gallery: Hands-on with Jolla’s Sailfish OS
Continue reading Hands-on with Jolla’s Sailfish OS (video)
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Nokia
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The Apple TV may not be officially available in China, but there are already plenty of cheap Android TV dongles and set-top boxes over there to keep the folks occupied. That said, many of them don’t offer a satisfying multimedia experience, so even for a latecomer like Xiaomi, there’s still space for competition. Having just launched the much anticipated Xiaomi Phone 2, the Chinese startup recently announced that it had acquired digital content provider Duokan for some time, and the first fruit is this conveniently named Xiaomi Box. Even with the bundled one-meter HDMI cable, the pebble’s priced at a competitive ¥399 (about $ 64) and we’ve been told it’ll be available in mid-December. Better yet, it claims to be compatible with AirPlay right out of the box! Read on to see if that’s the case with our pre-production unit.
Gallery: Xiaomi Box taps the Chinese smart TV market on the cheap, flirts with AirPlay (hands-on)
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Xiaomi Box taps the Chinese smart TV market on the cheap, flirts with AirPlay (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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HTC and Verizon’s brief presentation wrapped up not long ago, which can only mean one thing — nearly all the members of the press leapt from their seats and made a beeline for the demo units for some precious hands-on time.
Of all the things the DNA has going for it, I honestly didn’t expect its weight to be what jumped out at me first — it weighs in at under 5 ounces, which is a surprising change of pace for HTC. Longtime readers may know that I’m sort of a sucker for the reassuring weight that HTC’s smartphones tend to have, but credit where credit is due — that HTC managed to squeeze everything into such a light package is pretty impressive. What’s more, the DNA is a remarkably grippable little guy considering the fact that it sports a 5-inch display of all things. It’s just about as thick as Samsung’s Galaxy Note II phablet (which, if you’ll recall, sports an even bigger 5.5-inch panel), but manages to feel slimmer than it looks because of some smartly tapered edges.
For a device that was meant to bring Verizon’s Droid line “back to its roots,” the DNA is awfully conservative when it comes to design. Gone are the funky little ridges seen on devices like the HTC Rezound, as are the peculiar, almost topographical raised sections on the original two Droid Incredibles. Instead, the only bits of personality to be found here are the red-tinged grilles that run along the DNA’s left and right edges. They’re a handsome touch to be sure, but the design may otherwise be a tad too minimal for some.
The Super LCD3 screen, as you would imagine, is pretty damn amazing. After taking off my glasses and getting right in there, I’m happy to report that it’s nearly impossible to pick out individual pixels. Verizon has a nasty (if understandable) tendency of loading their devices up with lurid red images and wallpapers, but firing up the browser and looking at other photos revealed vivid (but not oversaturated) colors and great viewing angles. Sure, the display can’t produce the sorts of deep, sumptuous blacks that an AMOLED panel can, but right now I’d gladly take the DNA’s screen over the Galaxy S III’s.
It’s always a little tough to get a concrete sense of performance with such a limited amount of hands-on time, but the DNA seemed plenty snappy thanks to its strong spec sheet and the buttery improvements found in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. I couldn’t help but load up Quadrant onto the thing to get a feel for the sort of horsepower it has under the hood, and came away rather impressed — it consistently saw scores in the high 7,000s, while stock devices like the Galaxy S III and the HTC One X tend to top out in the mid-5,000s. In short, the DNA’s got game.
As undeniably solid as the device is, there are still more than few questions that can’t be answered just yet. The biggest in my mind is battery life — the DNA packs a sealed 2,020mAh, but the toll resulting from a huge, bright display and that Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset remains to be seen. Fear not, though — a more in-depth review of the device is in the works.
After having seen its mug plastered all over the internet in the days leading up to its release, actually playing with LG and Google’s new Nexus 4 seemed a bit anti-climactic. I mean, when you’ve seen a device like that cracked open and posed for your pleasure, it felt like there wasn’t much I didn’t already know about the thing.
Oh how wrong I was.
The first thing I noticed when I picked up the Nexus 4 is how remarkably sturdy it feels. Despite being an LG device, the Nexus 4 doesn’t really feel like one — it’s far more solid and slab-like than the plasticky handsets that the company has churned out in the past. This may sound weird, but I once I picked it up and got a feeling for its heft, I couldn’t resist the urge to tap the thing on the table a few times just to see how it held up (the answer: quite nicely).
Turning the thing over reveals the funky patterned finish that we’ve seen before, and it catches and reflects light in some interesting ways. To be honest, it seems a bit too flashy for a Nexus device (previous Nexus phones were largely free of visual flair), but that’s just me picking nits. I get the feeling that Nexus aficionados will either love or hate the way the Nexus 4 looks, and for now I’m caught right in the middle.
Speaking of looks, the Nexus 4 (as you’ve probably already heard) runs Android 4.2, which doesn’t stray too far from the aesthetic seen in Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. You can check out a more detailed list of tweaks and additions here, but one change in particular threw me for a bit of a loop — the app launcher now sports five columns of apps instead of the customary four.
Meanwhile, the Nexus 4’s display represents a big step forward from the one seen in its predecessor. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Galaxy Nexus to bits, but the Pentile sub-pixel configuration meant icons and text didn’t appear as smooth as I would’ve liked. Thankfully, the Nexus 4’s 4.7-inch 720p IPS panel rendered colors brightly and accurately, but I think my eyes have grown accustomed to the way colors pop on AMOLED panels.
That’s all well and good, but how does the thing run? Well, it’s always tough to judge a phone’s performance after only playing with it for a few moments, but the whole thing — from swiping through pages of widgets and apps to scrolling through long lists of emails — was as snappy as you would expect from a top-tier Nexus handset. Of course, we’ve got LG’s Optimus G to thank for that since both devices share the same 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM. To trot out a well-worn Android cliche, the experience was downright buttery, and I’m looking forward to really putting this thing through its paces.
I’ll refrain from making sweeping judgments for now, but the Nexus 4 managed to make a strong impression during the few brief moments we shared together. Expect a deeper dive into Google’s newest Nexus phone later this week after I’ve had some serious playtime, but in the meantime enjoy the rest of these photos.
We just had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with MSI’s latest creation, the S20 Slidebook. This ultra light (2.3 pounds) and thin (0.78-inches) convertible Ultrabook is running Windows 8 (of course) and is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor (Ivy Bridge). Take a look at the gallery below and stay tuned for our first impressions and video.
Gallery: MSI S20 Slidebook Windows 8 convertible Ultrabook hands-on
Developing…
Hands-on with MSI’s S20 Slidebook Windows 8 convertible Ultrabook originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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