Best Buy listing reminds us that the LG Spectrum 2 is still on its way to Verizon

Posted on 24/10/2012 by Mark Hearn

A few months back an anonymous tipster gave us a candid look at the Verizon-bound LG Spectrum 2, but after a couple more sightings here and there, the trail eventually went cold and Big Red's unannounced smartphone fled back into seclusion. However, a recent website posting by Best Buy has brought this mobile Sasquatch out of hiding and back into the mainstream media. While this listing is mostly a refresh confirming our source's shared specs, it notes the Spectrum 2's unsubsidized price as $650. Now, before you would-be buyers start directing your browser to the retailer's webpage in hopes of making a quick purchase, it should be noted that the device is listed as "sold out online." Still, we can't help but notice the pictured device's homescreen carries a date of November 3rd, which could be a nod to when the Spectrum 2 might officially show up on store shelves.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

Best Buy listing reminds us that the LG Spectrum 2 is still on its way to Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 02:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eFun’s Nextbook Premium 10SE tablet with ICS now available for $280

Posted on 24/10/2012 by Edgar Alvarez

In a market slightly populated by some great well-priced tablets, and one that eFun is quite familiar with, the company decided now was a good time to add yet another slate into the mix. And while the Premium 10SE is slightly pricier than, say, the entry-level Nexus 7 model, eFun's latest Ice Cream Sandwich slab does sport a larger 9.7-inch, 1024 x 768 display. Still, the Premium 10SE won't impress many with the rest of its run-of-the-mill internals, which include a 1GHz CPU alongside 1GB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage (expandable via microSD) and a front-facing 0.3-megapixel shooter -- it's also worth mentioning that eFun is kind enough to bundle in 25 eBooks at no extra cost. The Premium 10SE is available now for $280, though you can save a little cash by heading to your local Radio Shack or Hastings shop, where the Nextbook tablet's priced at a more affordable $250.

Filed under: Tablets

eFun's Nextbook Premium 10SE tablet with ICS now available for $280 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 23:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Huawei Ascend D1 Quad XL review

Posted on 20/10/2012 by Brad Molen

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In February of this year, Huawei took to the stage at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to highlight its most ambitious smartphone strategy to date. Its plan: to establish a new classification system by dividing the bulk of its handsets into four core groups starting with the high-end D-series at the top and working its way down to the bargain bin Y-series. ~~Hogging~~ Accepting the bulk of the spotlight, however, was the Ascend D Quad XL, a "superphone" containing a homegrown quad-core CPU. For a manufacturer that hadn't even put a dual-core phone on the market (the Ascend P1 wasn't on sale yet), a launch in the second quarter of this year felt incredibly aggressive. This was Huawei's first real chance to make a legitimate name for itself outside of Asia; pushing out an impressive device in a timely fashion was imperative.

Fast-forward eight months, and we've witnessed the 2012 equivalent of the Motorola Droid Bionic: the unfortunate device has been the subject of uncertainty and countless delays. Fear not, it's finally been released. However, it faces an incredibly competitive market coming into the holiday season, with quad-core heavyweights like the Samsung Galaxy Note II, LG Optimus G and HTC One X+ ready to duke it out. We had this question when it was originally announced, and it's become even more relevant now: can the Huawei D Quad XL (and its freshly made SoC) hold up respectably amongst its new peers? Delay no further and join us after the break to get the full scoop.

Gallery: Huawei Ascend D1 Quad XL review

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

Huawei Ascend D1 Quad XL review originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Oct 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Droid Bionic finally gets an ICS update as everyone else moves on to Jelly Bean

Posted on 19/10/2012 by Nicole Lee

After nearly a year of suffering with Gingerbread, Droid Bionic owners who haven't given up on their phone will finally be rewarded with that long-awaited ICS update; the rollout starts October 19th, according to Verizon. Those who get it will receive a new customizable launch bar, a direct access lock screen, enhanced notifications, Motorola's SmartActions app, Face Unlock, easier multitasking, and many other goodies most Android owners have enjoyed for awhile now. It looks like Motorola Mobility actually made good on some of its promises to fix the handset that has suffered a number of different problems since its launch (which itself took almost nine months from the initial announce date). However, now that Jelly Bean has taken over as the firmware of choice with no word yet if that'll come to the Droid Bionic, we wonder if it's too little, too late.

Update: We've learned from the comments, Motorola's owner support forum and its own Facebook page that the company is planning on rolling out Jelly Bean to the Droid Bionic "in the coming months" so don't lose hope just yet, Bionic faithful.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Droid Bionic finally gets an ICS update as everyone else moves on to Jelly Bean originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Droid RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD review

Posted on 19/10/2012 by Terrence O'Brien

When Motorola resurrected the RAZR brand last year we didn't realize that we were looking at the new face of the company. At the time, Google had yet to officially take over the handset manufacturer, it had a deep stable of less-than-impressive devices and, while it was a moderate success, the Droid RAZR didn't exactly turn the market on its head. Still, in retrospect, it only makes sense that the RAZR would once again become the standard bearer for Moto. Even if we weren't blown away by last year's model, it was a big step in the right direction for the company, a device that featured a great mix of premium styling and performance. The new RAZR HD and MAXX HD take that basic formula and attempt to address our concerns about the display and battery life, the latter of which was already handled in dramatic fashion by the RAZR MAXX. So, how do the latest caps-happy, vowel-averse handsets from Motorola stack up against last year's incarnations and the current crop of competitors? Keep on reading after the break to find out.

Gallery: Droid RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD review

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Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, Verizon

Droid RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro available on AT&T October 21st for $100

Posted on 19/10/2012 by Brad Molen

Fans of rugged Android phones, rejoice: you only have to wait until this Sunday to get the Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro on AT&T. The carrier just announced that it'll be making its way into stores on October 21st and will run you a whole $100 on a two-year commitment. It isn't going to be the stellar top-end device many power users crave, as it features a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display, 5MP rear-facing camera with 720p video recording, 8GB onboard storage, ICS, LTE, Enhanced Push-to-Talk, 810g military-spec certification and EAS corporate email support. It's a definite upgrade from the Smart, no doubt, but we're still pining for the day that rugged phones can have the best components and bounce off a concrete floor without incident.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T

Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro available on AT&T October 21st for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Optimus G review: a quad-core powerhouse with Nexus aspirations

Posted on 19/10/2012 by Myriam Joire

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You've heard it before: the more things change the more they stay the same. It wasn't that long ago that we reviewed LG's flagship Optimus 4X HD, the world's first quad-core HSPA+ handset. Despite representing the company's best engineering and design effort to date, it wasn't quite able to match the competition's global offerings -- Samsung's mighty Galaxy S III and HTC's lovely One X. Today, just a few months later, quad-core LTE superphones are the state of the art. Samsung's selling the global Galaxy Note II, HTC's just announced the One X+ and LG's betting everything on the Optimus G -- the first handset to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Pro together with an LTE radio.

The Optimus G is a pivotal device for the Korean manufacturer, especially in the US, where rival Samsung is massively popular and LG's success has been hampered by a series of forgettable products (hello, Intuition) and a lackluster track record for software updates. It's so critical that LG even invited us to spend some quality time with the Optimus G at the launch event in Seoul last month. In the US, LG's partnering with Sprint and AT&T and there's strong evidence that Google's upcoming Nexus will be based on the Optimus G. So, does the company's latest powerhouse measure up to the competition? How different are the US versions from the Korean model? Does LG finally have a winning formula with the Optimus G? Find out in our review after the break.

Gallery: LG Optimus G review (Korean model)

Gallery: LG Optimus G review (Sprint model)

Gallery: LG Optimus G review (AT&T model)

Gallery: LG Optimus G review (comparisons)

Continue reading LG Optimus G review: a quad-core powerhouse with Nexus aspirations

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, LG

LG Optimus G review: a quad-core powerhouse with Nexus aspirations originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MG Android gaming handheld now available to pre-order for $150, ships early November

Posted on 17/10/2012 by Mark Hearn

When we first laid eyes on the MG, it was an ambitious effort that hoped to bring Android 4.0-powered gaming to the casual masses through the hit-and-miss world of crowd funding. Though its Kickstarter efforts were a bust, its creators have managed to get this project off of the ground and are now accepting discounted pre-orders at $150 until November 4th -- after that, the price will climb to a full $170. All pre-orders are expected to ship during the second week of November. As a refresher, the MG features a 4-inch WVGA display, a 1GHz Cortex A5 processor, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and an 8GB microSD card. It'll also accommodate up to 64GB cards, should you ever hit a wall. Sporting a design that's reminiscent of the Tapwave Zodiac, the MG will ship pre-loaded with several "freemium" titles and will have access to Google Play's massive library of games. So, if you're looking to wean your younger sibling off of your high-end smartphone, the MG could be the stocking stuffer that gets the job done this holiday season.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

MG Android gaming handheld now available to pre-order for $150, ships early November originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Optimus G comes to Japan’s KDDI in blue, white November 2nd

Posted on 17/10/2012 by Richard Lawler

Today in Japan KDDI announced a full lineup of new devices and other than the first smartphone with a 1080p 5-inch display and a tablet with all-new IGZO display tech, it's also home to its own variant of LG's quad-core CPU powered Optimus G. The second Japanese carrier to offer the phone after NTT DoCoMo, it launches on KDDI's LTE network November 2nd, and will be available in either Astro Blue or White Prism colors. Labeled the LGL21, it features similar specs to other worldwide variants, hit the source link for more details or doublecheck US Optimus G launch info on AT&T and Sprint.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

LG Optimus G comes to Japan's KDDI in blue, white November 2nd originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 02:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 review: a competent Transformer competitor running Android 4.0

Posted on 16/10/2012 by Joseph Volpe

DNP Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 review

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It's taken nearly half a year for Lenovo's transforming IdeaTab S2110 to go from CES reveal to retail shelves and it's arrived barely unchanged. But despite the initial fanfare, the company chose to slip this slate into the marketplace quietly, ahead even of its official launch at IFA. In that time, ASUS managed to announce and ship a new hybrid tablet of its own, the Transformer Pad TF300 -- a keyboard-optional rival offering the same 10-inch, 1,280 x 800 IPS display and Android 4.0 experience, along with a quad-core Tegra 3.

While Lenovo's offering may not come with four cores or an unskinned version of Ice Cream Sandwich, there is a very contemporary dual-core S4 inside, clocked at 1.5GHz and buffered by 1GB of RAM. Alongside that, the tab's also outfitted with a 1.3-megapixel front-facing shooter and 5-megapixel rear camera capable of 1080p video capture. Other specs include radios for WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, a battery rated for up to 10 hours of browsing (augmented to 20 hours when connected to the dock) and either 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage. At $430 for the base model alone, it's already positioned as a higher-priced alternative to the TF300. Add the dock and full storage, and you're looking at a cool $580. So, will this be a case of "too little, too late" for Lenovo? Can the S2110 lure undecided customers away from cheaper similarly specced offerings? Read on as we attempt to answer all that and more.

Gallery: Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 review