Tag Archives: Android2.3.7

PSA: Sony Xperia Ion lands in US today, yours starting at $50 with two-years of commitment

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You've likely read our review of Sony's Xperia Ion by now, so just consider this a reminder for those who've yet to peruse it. After nearly half a year from being christened at CES, the Ion can officially be purchased today in the US. Agreeing to a two-year commitment and laying out 100 smackers at AT&T -- or just 50 at Sony or Best Buy -- will net you this handset and its curious match-up of dated and up-to-date specs. On the one hand, this Xperia disappointingly runs Android Gingerbread (2.3.7) atop a dual-core 1.5Ghz Snapdragon S3 processor. However, it also packs a 4.6-inch HD Reality display (1280 x 720), 1,900mAh battery, 1GB of RAM, a 12MP (720p video) Exmor R sensor-loaded rear shooter, NFC and PlayStation certification. Hit up your local AT&T, Best Buy or Sony store to see if it feels better in your hand than it did in ours, or shop for it online at the source links below.

[Thanks, Jason & Oliver]

Continue reading PSA: Sony Xperia Ion lands in US today, yours starting at $50 with two-years of commitment

PSA: Sony Xperia Ion lands in US today, yours starting at $50 with two-years of commitment originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jun 2012 15:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Xperia Ion review: an Android handset with a split personality

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DNP DNP Sony Xperia Ion review

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. But that adage, such a truism when applied to interpersonal relationships, doesn't quite carry the same weight when extended to the intimacy between expectant geek and promised hardware. So here we are, six months later: CES has long passed, the One X and Galaxy S III have been revealed, and the Android landscape is now decidedly governed by Ice Cream Sandwich. A veritable eternity has passed since Sony first introduced the AT&T-bound Xperia Ion, its LTE flagship for the US market, muting much of the initial buzz surrounding the handset. So, why choose now to bow a smartphone that's already been outshone by more recent and robust contenders? Perhaps it's simply a case of better late than never. But surely after all of that time, both parties could've managed to ship it with Android 4.0 and not the dated 2.3.7 build of Gingerbread that we get instead.

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The Ion's aging OS and 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 CPU may be a nod to mobile's past, but the rest of its internals paint a more forward-thinking picture. This 4.6-inch Sony-bred device boasts a 1280 x 720 HD Reality display, 720p webcam / 12-megapixel rear camera with Exmor R sensor, PlayStation Certification, 16GB of storage plus 1GB RAM, a 1,900mAh battery and NFC. For that spec mix, you'd expect the Ion's on contract cost to double up on the Benjamins, but instead it's been priced to sell at an attractive $99 -- much like the Lumia 900. Will that retail positioning hurt or help its prospects? Can the Ion effectively straddle two worlds, carving out an identity for itself and attracting a defined market segment? Or will this hodgepodge of internals prove too inconsistent for any demographic, save, perhaps, bargain hunters? Find the answers to those questions and more below.

Gallery: Sony Xperia Ion review

Continue reading Sony Xperia Ion review: an Android handset with a split personality

Sony Xperia Ion review: an Android handset with a split personality originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Xperia Ion hits AT&T June 24th for $99 on contract

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Sony Xperia Ion hits AT&T June 24th for $99 on contract

In the tech industry, time (and the fleeting interests of geekdom) waits for no one product. So, it's understandable if you've already forgotten about Sony Mobile's US flagship: a sleekly designed, mid-range contender known as the Xperia Ion. It's been nearly six months since the electronics giant officially unveiled the device at CES and, for brand loyalists still clinging to the edge of their seats, the wait's nearly over. Starting June 24th, AT&T will be offering the LTE handset -- a first for the newly unified wireless outfit stateside -- for $99 with a new two-year agreement (insert applause for Nokia and its precedent setting Lumia 900 here).

So, what do you get for that compelling price tag? For starters, there's that gorgeous 4.6-inch 720p HD Reality display, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 CPU, 16GB of inbuilt storage (expandable up to an additional 32GB via SD card), 12-megapixel rear camera with Exmor R sensor, PlayStation Certification and a healthy 1,900mAh battery. Whether that spec list and associated on-contract pricing will pack enough of a power punch to win over Android elitists remains to be seen -- for now, this mid-2012 phone'll be shipping with Gingerbread 2.3.7 on board. That's not to say it won't ever see a much needed upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich; it's certainly on the way, there's just no telling precisely when it'll arrive. If the company's recent track record is any indication, however, the Ion stands a very good chance of joining the Xperia upgrade brigade sometime soon. Hit up the break to peruse the official presser in all its hyperbolic glory.

Continue reading Sony Xperia Ion hits AT&T June 24th for $99 on contract

Sony Xperia Ion hits AT&T June 24th for $99 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Xperia U review: a little slice of Android that punches above its weight

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Sony Xperia U review

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There's an oft-used idiom about small packages, which frequently doesn't apply to the world of technology. That's to say that a diminished form factor often doesn't bring the "best things" with it. For example, Sony's NXT family members, revealed between CES and MWC, gifted consumers with the choice of three new handsets: the Xperia P, S and U. The last one in that list is by far the smallest, and in congruence with the general trend of mobile technology, the most lightly armored.

However, we're not ones to make assumptions, and heaven forbid we pre-judge something based on size alone. We're as willing to be surprised as anyone, and the new baby of the Sony bunch is as likely a candidate as any to throw us a curveball. Our initial impressions in Barcelona were largely positive, so this review -- as the firm says on its marketing material for the phone -- is all about (the Xperia) U.

Gallery: Sony Xperia U review

Sony Xperia U reviewSony Xperia U review

Continue reading Sony Xperia U review: a little slice of Android that punches above its weight

Sony Xperia U review: a little slice of Android that punches above its weight originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jun 2012 14:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Orange San Diego Medfield phone: a closer look at Computex 2012 (update: video)

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Orange San Diego Medfield phone: a closer look at Computex 2012

Well what do we have here? Yes, it's the Orange San Diego we first saw at Mobile World Congress and it's going on sale in the UK today for £200. This isn't just yet another Android smartphone, but one of the first Medfield-based handsets on the market. We caught this pre-production unit chilling out at the Intel booth here at Computex 2012 and decided to go up close and personal. First impressions? It's thin, light and feels great in the hand thanks to a pleasant soft-touch back. The Gigabyte-made device packs a 4-inch glass-capacitive 1024x600-pixel LCD (that's 300dpi), an 8-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 CPU, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage.

While the screen looks decent enough, it falls somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of viewing angles. The phone features Android 2.3.7 (Gingerbread) and runs most apps from the Google Play store directly via an emulation layer. Performance matched prior benchmarks and was on-par with current mid-range ARM-based Android handsets -- the experience was mostly smooth, but we noticed some lag when scrolling and zooming pages in the web browser. Battery life remains the major outstanding question when it comes to Medfield handsets, so expect more details once we have our very own review unit. In the meantime, check out the gallery below and hit the break for our hands-on video.

Gallery: Orange San Diego hands-on

Continue reading Orange San Diego Medfield phone: a closer look at Computex 2012 (update: video)

Orange San Diego Medfield phone: a closer look at Computex 2012 (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jun 2012 03:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Xperia P review: a solid, middle-sized smartphone waiting for Android 4.0

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Sony Xperia P review

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As the middle child from Sony Mobile's NXT family, the Xperia P steps out from behind the Xperia S' shadow with its own 4-inch screen -- and a touch of WhiteMagic. Screen technology aside, the phone's design follows a path very similar to Sony's latest flagship and picks up a few quirks of its own on the way. The see-through button strip is actually touch-sensitive on Sony's 2012 middle-weight -- a curious oversight on the bigger model.

It packs Sony's 8-megapixel Exmor R camera sensor (likely to be the same one found in the Xperia Arc S), a dual-core 1GHz processor and just under 13GB of user-accessible storage. But there's one unfortunate Xperia trait here -- we're still playing with Android Gingerbread, even while its ancestors begin to dip their toes into Ice Cream Sandwich. Does anyone want an incrementally smaller Android phone from Sony? And what exactly is WhiteMagic and what does it mean for the battery life?

Continue reading Sony Xperia P review: a solid, middle-sized smartphone waiting for Android 4.0

Sony Xperia P review: a solid, middle-sized smartphone waiting for Android 4.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Jun 2012 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Viper 4G LTE review

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They said it wouldn't last. And they -- pundits, analysts, bloggers, GSM fanatics -- were right. WiMAX, that flavor of 4G found in the 2500MHz band, has proven to be more of a hindrance than help during Sprint's transition from underdog to reinvigorated titan. Then there are the kerfuffles it's endured standing on the sidelines -- namely, watching one-time LTE partner LightSquared squander its regulatory good graces. Beleaguered would be putting it mildly; Sprint faces a treacherous climb uphill to the mobile Olympus where Verizon, AT&T and now-spectrum-rich T-Mobile sit -- after all, it's hard to change the tide of public perception, overcome the limitations of a dreadful 3G CDMA network and move away from weak third-party 4G signals. Yet, with all of those negatives working against it, a planned rollover to LTE technology might just be the panacea Sprint has so badly needed.

Right now, at least, a wish and a hope are all Sprint can dole out to existing subscribers toying with the idea of switching carriers. Its nascent LTE network, currently in testing across six US cities, hasn't been cleared for launch, which makes its first 4G handset, the Viper 4G LTE, a dress rehearsal of sorts. And what a low-key affair it is: no cutting-edge aesthetics or kickstand here, just mid-range specs and a humble design made from recycled materials. But for anyone itching to surf those faster waves, LG's dual-core, NFC-enabled workhorse could be a tempting buy when it goes on sale Sunday for $100 (with a two-year contract). So will the dangling carrot of faster 4G persuade consumers to choose this over all those other mid-tier Android phones? Let's find out.

Gallery: LG Viper 4G LTE review

Continue reading LG Viper 4G LTE review

LG Viper 4G LTE review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo K800’s initial benchmark scores look promising, but not ambitious

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Lenovo K800's initial benchmark scores look promising, but not the ambitious kind
If Lenovo's sticking to its promise, it should only be another two months maximum before its Intel Medfield-powered K800 smartphone debuts in China. Until then, we won't know the full potential of the 1.6GHz Atom Z2460 powering Ice Cream Sandwich, but we do have the next best thing for now: what we've just obtained are some benchmark results from a K800 prototype with Android 2.3.7, and while the graphics performance wasn't top notch this time round, the general score performance came close to that of the Galaxy Note (powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core Exynos chipset).

However, the K800 did beat pretty much everyone -- including the brand-spanking-new One X and One S from HTC -- in the SunSpider 0.91 Javascript test, where it only took 1,270ms to complete! What remains to be seen is whether Medfield will really deliver a better battery performance than its competitors; so until we find the answer (along with improved scores) on a final unit, you'll just have to make do with our list of scores after the break.

Continue reading Lenovo K800's initial benchmark scores look promising, but not ambitious

Lenovo K800's initial benchmark scores look promising, but not ambitious originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Apr 2012 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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