As the leaves turn to gold and flutter from the trees, the Engadget team digs out their scarves and mittens to get ready for the mad rush of phone launches that take place ahead of the holiday season. We've seen big devices (both large and high-profile ones) enter the world over the last few months, including new heavyweights from Apple and Google. Then there's Samsung, Nokia and HTC, which are all following the philosophy that bigger is better.
But it's not just on the hardware side that things are getting exciting. T-Mobile's eliminated roaming charges and Verizon is doubling its LTE speeds to a whopping 80 Mbps. AT&T is offering customers a $5 daily pass for internet and is making mobile share plans the standard rather than the exception. Of course, if you'd prefer unlimited data, Sprint is promising that its Spark LTE will beat the field -- but it's currently only available in NYC, LA, Chicago, Tampa and Miami. Whether you're looking for a smartphone right now, or if you're contract is about to expire, this is your guide to the best ones on the market.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, Google, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, LG, Blackberry, T-Mobile
Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their most recent picks. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt's newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
At last, the LG G2 has a US release date: T-Mobile is shipping the Android flagship to stores on September 25th, with online availability starting September 18th. The 5.2-inch smartphone will require a $100 initial spend on a downpayment plan, and costs $630 outright. Both black and white colors will be available, although you'll have to order the white version online; thankfully, you can pre-order either model today. Too expensive for your tastes? You can buy the newly available Optimus F6 instead. The 4.5-inch budget smartphone is now selling online for $50 on a downpayment plan, or $290 at full price. Those who'd prefer a walk-in purchase can pick up the F6 at a retail store on September 11th.
Update: Verizon has since provided its G2 launch details, and it's beating T-Mobile to the punch. It will release its logo-laden variant on September 12th for $200 on a two-year contract.
Update 2: AT&T has chimed in as well: it will sell the G2 on September 13th for the same $200 on contract as Verizon, or $27 per month on Next.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG, T-Mobile
Source: T-Mobile (1), (2), Verizon, AT&T
It's a fine line that gadget fans have to walk, moderating our techno-lust just enough that we don't start hurting people. It's a lesson that LG Korea has just learned the hard way after a promotional event for the new G2 caused 20 people to be injured. The "G in the cloud" event in Seoul involved launching hundreds of helium balloons into the air, carrying vouchers for free handsets -- which some members of the crowd tried to shoot down using BB guns. The company has already apologized to those who were inadvertently shot and will cover the cost of their medical care, while subsequent events have been called off. What's wrong with a raffle?
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG
Via: AndroidBeat
Source: Korea Times
We're back this week, and again there's no shortage of mobile news to keep our mouths talking -- not that this has ever been a problem for us in the past, right? This time our thoughts are primarily focused on the LG G2 and the Moto X, two flagships that we're going to be seeing a lot more of this fall. Join us at 4pm ET and we'll give you the scoop on the latest!
Filed under: Announcements, Mobile
After months of leaks and rumors, it's finally time for us to take a look at the real LG G2. The successor to last year's Optimus G was just officially announced and, as you have come to expect from the usual flagships, it's loaded with plenty of specs and clever features, not to mention some interesting new smartphone design approaches. The new device, which runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, comes with a larger display than its predecessor, packing a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS panel. It also offers a 2.26GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC. Additionally, you can expect to find a 13-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization (as well as a 2.1MP front-facing cam), 24 bit/192kHz HiFi playback, a non-removable 3,000mAh battery, 2GB of RAM and your choice of 16GB or 32GB internal storage. It'll come in white and black, and LG tells us that the G2 will be rolling out to markets around the world over the next eight weeks, and we have confirmation that all four major US carriers have committed to adding the device to their lineup.
What about those unique design traits? As you may have already seen in the leaked images (or if you happened to look at the press image above), the backside of the phone is much busier than on most other handsets. LG opted to put the volume rocker and power button just below the rear camera rather than the edge of the phone. The idea for this, we're told, is to make the handheld experience a little less awkward on such a large phone. Since the device is wider than smartphones of olden times, LG wanted to put more controls in a place that your fingers naturally rest. LG is also boasting thinner bezels -- 0.1-inch thick, to be precise -- thanks to a new dual-routing method in which the touch sensor uses two connectors.
On the software side, LG has done more than just throw in a few ringtones from the Vienna Boys' Choir. It offers features like AnswerMe, which answers incoming calls when you put the phone up to your ear, and Slide Aside, which lets you do a three-finger gesture to "slide" open apps off the screen for multitasking. Text Link is another interesting idea, where the phone takes relevant text and inserts embeddable links to them in other apps -- of course, this is similar to what we've seen on iOS previously. There's also Guest Mode, which allows another user to access the phone (LG refers to this as a type of Kid Mode) by drawing a different gesture on the lock screen. We lay out the software in more detail here, so check it out for more info. If you're interested in the full spec sheet and how it compares to other flagships, we've got that here. We also have our hands-on here for more impressions of the device, as well as a press release and gallery below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, LG
