Engadget’s smartphone buyer’s guide: summer 2012 edition

Engadget's smartphone buyer's guide summer 2012 edition

Despite the sweltering heat waves, our spirits are high at Engadget, and for good reason: it's time for our summer edition of the smartphone buyer's guide. Here, you'll find our top recommendations for the best smartphones across several US carriers, along with the best QWERTY and budget alternatives. In many ways, it's now easier than ever to find a world-class smartphone, but unless you've developed a strong brand preference, choosing one is likely more difficult than ever before. It's no secret that the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S III have firmly cemented themselves as the premier smartphones of the day, but if you're torn between the two, we'll reveal our preference in this latest installment.

Summertime also brought a bit of a shock, as Microsoft revealed that Windows Phone 8 apps won't be compatible with the current generation of Windows Phone hardware. For this reason, we've excluded all Windows Phone handsets from consideration in the latest buyer's guide. While the future of Microsoft's mobile platform looks incredibly bright, a purchase now would guarantee obsolescence in the short-term. Instead, all prospective Windows Phone purchasers must wait for the next generation of handsets to become available -- you'll regret it otherwise.

Naturally, there is no shortage of rumors surrounding the next Apple iPhone, and given the handset's current lack of LTE connectivity, the iPhone 4S is certainly showing its age. While cautious purchasers may choose to bide their time, the iPhone remains top-notch in many other respects, and its arrival at a number of prepaid carriers brought a breath of fresh air to an otherwise stagnant environment.

If you're curious to see how it all unfolded -- and we know you are -- join us after the break, where we round up the very best smartphones of the season.

Continue reading Engadget's smartphone buyer's guide: summer 2012 edition

Filed under:

Engadget's smartphone buyer's guide: summer 2012 edition originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Refresh Roundup: week of July 16th, 2012

Refresh Roundup week of July 16th, 2012

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of July 16th, 2012

Filed under: , ,

Refresh Roundup: week of July 16th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jul 2012 21:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

HTC confirms Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for One X, One XL and One S, includes AT&T, T-Mobile and Rogers models

HTC confirms Jelly Bean for One X, One XL and One S

Remember yesterday's rumor from down under about Jelly Bean coming to select HTC One handsets? Well it's now fact. HTC has just confirmed that the One X, One XL and One S will be getting upgraded to Android 4.1 at some point in the (hopefully near) future. Here's the company's statement:

"We know HTC fans are excited to get their hands on Google's latest version of Android. At this point in time, we can confirm that we have plans to upgrade our HTC One X, HTC One XL and HTC One S to Jelly Bean. Please stay tuned for more updates regarding device upgrades, timing and other details about HTC and Jelly Bean."

We've also learned that in addition to the aforementioned global models, carrier versions of the One X and One S for AT&T, T-Mobile and Rogers will also be receiving Jelly Bean. No word yet on timing, or whether the One V, EVO 4G LTE and Droid Incredible 4G LTE are included in those update plans.

Filed under: ,

HTC confirms Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for One X, One XL and One S, includes AT&T, T-Mobile and Rogers models originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jul 2012 03:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Mobile Miscellany: week of July 9th, 2012

Mobile Miscellany week of July 9th, 2012

Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, Motorola debuted the RAZR V in Canada and the Sony Xperia Ion was spotted at Rogers -- curiously, the phone has yet to be formally announced for the carrier. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of July 9th, 2012.

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of July 9th, 2012

Filed under: , ,

Mobile Miscellany: week of July 9th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jul 2012 20:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

HTC Vertex pops up in benchmarks, might bring a slice of One X muscle to tablets

HTC Vertex pops up in benchmarks, might bring a slice of One X to tablets

HTC has been stoking the fires of anticipation for its return to tablets, and that small flame is quickly turning into a full conflagration. A slab nicknamed the Vertex has surfaced in benchmarks with a 1.3GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 and a 1,280 x 752 usable resolution that's noticeably wider than the similarly Tegra 3-equipped One X's 720p display. Other than Android 4.0 (and a probably Sense 4.0), however, there's scant else to go on. The last murmurs of a Vertex from the fall had it carrying a rear 2-megapixel camera and a front 1.3-megapixel shooter, but it's been long enough now that we wouldn't count on that still being true -- or that the new benchmarks necessarily reflect what we might get. Let's just hope that the resulting device is more competitive than the pricey Jetstream.

Filed under:

HTC Vertex pops up in benchmarks, might bring a slice of One X muscle to tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Blog of Mobile (translated), Notebook Italia (translated)  |  sourceNenaMark  | Email this | Comments

Sprint confirms HTC EVO 4G LTE in white, battle of carrier-specific phone colors rages on

Sprint confirms HTC EVO 4G LTE in white, battle of carrierspecific phone colors rages on

Not to be outdone by that red Galaxy S III over at AT&T, Sprint has confirmed that its inadvertent ad posting wasn't just a fluke: it's bringing out a white version of the EVO 4G LTE. Strictly speaking, it's more of a aluminum-with-white-accents trim, but we'll let that slide given that the back and kickstand are now decidedly less smudge-prone. The white EVO will cost as much as that Galaxy S III variant (and the black EVO) at $200 on a contract. Sprint will start selling the white hue on July 15th -- and unlike AT&T, it should have phones on shelves rather than leave customers to online window shopping.

Filed under:

Sprint confirms HTC EVO 4G LTE in white, battle of carrier-specific phone colors rages on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSprint  | Email this | Comments

Rogers details 28-city LTE upgrade for rest of 2012, RIM’s hometown included

Rogers details 28city LTE upgrade for rest of 2012, RIM's hometown included

Rogers' LTE network is old enough to mark its first birthday. Unless you happened to live in one of the seven largest cities in Canada during that time, however, you've largely been left out -- that status indicator on the Rogers version of the One X may as well have been a subtle form of mockery. To the delight of our friends up North, the carrier has detailed a much more aggressive LTE rollout for the rest of the year: a total of 28 more cities will get that sweet 4G nectar in the next few months. Most of these expansions will blanket the southern half of Ontario, but major cities in the Prairies, Quebec and the Maritimes will all get their fair share. Arguably, the most important upgrade is coming to RIM's home base of Waterloo; when the company is virtually betting its future on likely LTE-ready BlackBerry 10 devices, having widescale LTE to test against is a slightly important prerequisite. The full city list is available after the break.

Continue reading Rogers details 28-city LTE upgrade for rest of 2012, RIM's hometown included

Filed under: ,

Rogers details 28-city LTE upgrade for rest of 2012, RIM's hometown included originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 22:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

HTC Connect certifies AV gear for your One series phone, Pioneer lines up

HTC Connect certifies AV gear for your One series phone, Pioneer lines up

HTC is going on something of a certification tangent: it's following its PlayStation Suite approval with its own program, HTC Connect. Home AV equipment with the label promises to lift the standards for streaming media to or from one of HTC's devices. The rubber stamp will be limited at first to DLNA audio and video, but it should eventually include just about anything that doesn't involve a wire, such as Bluetooth, in-car media, NFC and wireless speakers. There isn't an immediate deluge of partners. HTC has scored a rather big ally, however: Pioneer's DLNA-ready receivers and wireless speakers this year, and beyond, will flaunt the HTC Connect badge. Don't brag about the media credentials of your One X just yet. Although the Connect seal of approval won't be needed for media streaming anytime soon, it will only be coming to the One series through an upgrade in the months ahead.

Continue reading HTC Connect certifies AV gear for your One series phone, Pioneer lines up

HTC Connect certifies AV gear for your One series phone, Pioneer lines up originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

HTC confirms it’s closing offices in Brazil, halting direct sales as well (update: Durham, too)

HTC confirms it's closing offices, halting direct sales in Brazil

We don't have great news to share with Brazilian Android fans as the week winds to a close. After AndroidPit's initial word, we've since received extra confirmation from a spokesperson that HTC is closing its office in Brazil "after careful analysis of [its] business." The company wouldn't get any closer than that for reasoning, although the country's high tariffs on technology imports may play a part: they were high enough for Foxconn to open a Brazilian plant just so Apple could keep selling iPads and iPhones at comfortable prices, and HTC hasn't been making phones in Brazil for some time. There's also the matter of fighting to stay profitable in a market where Apple and Samsung are the only real money makers. HTC is vowing to keep up post-sale support, which we appreciate, but it's also stopping all direct sales in the process. As such, the only way you'll get a One S in Sao Paulo from now on is to go through an importer and take the added hit to the pocketbook.

Update: Sadly, it looks like the company's Durham, North Carolina research location is also folding, with around 50 employees being impacted. "Some" may be offered relocation options, but the details remain unclear. For those keeping count, the facility is only around 1.5 years old.

HTC confirms it's closing offices in Brazil, halting direct sales as well (update: Durham, too) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAndroidPit, NBC17  | Email this | Comments

HTC Acknowledges One X WiFi bug on Tegra 3 models

HTC Acknowledges One X WiFi issue

There's always some snag with these big flagship devices it seems. The iPhone 4 had antennagate, Verizon's Galaxy Nexus couldn't seem to stay connected and now the One X is joining the parade with some serious WiFi issues. Some users have complained of weak WiFi reception and, alarmingly, a rather odd fix. Simply squeezing the device in the right place could drastically improve signal strength indicating the issue may be hardware based. HTC has confirmed the issue and identified a fix that involves strengthening the connecting points on the phone's WiFi antenna. Interestingly, the issue has only been reported in Tegra 3 models so far, but we'd stop shy of saying it only affects those units. If you're experiencing problems with the WiFi on your One X you can call HTC's customer support to confirm the issue and send it in for repair.

HTC Acknowledges One X WiFi bug on Tegra 3 models originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAndroid Central 1, 2  | Email this | Comments