Engadget Mobile

We already knew about Samsung's grand plans for expanding its display production in 2011, but now we also have a number to give us a sense of scale: 30 million. That's how many screens the new Mobile Display fab (set to go live in July) will be able to churn out in a month, a vastly superior rate than the current 3 million maximum. Lee Woo-Jong, the display business' marketing VP, tells us its estimates for AMOLED market demand have been revised upwards to 700 million units in 2015, with the new facility obviously being the key cog in making that growth happen. Intriguingly, he also notes that Super AMOLED -- one of the big attractions of the Galaxy S line of Samsung phones -- is not exclusive to Samsung's electronics arm, everyone can apparently use it. That directly contradicts what we heard from Sammy's mobile reps, but then this is hardly the first time that one part of Samsung doesn't know what the other is doing. Still, it's nice to at least dream of a S-AMOLED HTC HD7, no?

Samsung Mobile Display promises 10x increase in production next year, end to AMOLED shortages originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Yo Nokia, you can keep your E5 and its HD Voice fanciness, we want ourselves an N-KIA E68. Why, we hear the enraged Nokia acolyte ask, why would we defile Nokia's good name in such a manner? Mostly because this phone has one of the most fun and ingenious slider mechanisms we've seen yet. So what if we've got no idea what wannabe OS it's running and so what if it'll most likely fall apart on us a month into owning it? We still want one, dammit! Video after the break.

[Thanks, Derrty]

Continue reading Keepin' it real fake: N-KIA E68 shows what an innovative Nokia handset might look like (video)

Keepin' it real fake: N-KIA E68 shows what an innovative Nokia handset might look like (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

At last, an official date for Nokia's N8 flagship Symbian^3 handset. This one's been a long time coming, featuring the first of two major Symbian updates meant to bring Nokia's smartphone division in line with the competition. Look for it in the "last week of September" at Nokia's on-line shops for £429 SIM free, or free with £35 per month contract. Otherwise, it'll hit the UK high street shops on October 1st. See the full announcement after the break.

Continue reading Nokia N8 officially for sale last week of September, UK shops October 1st

Nokia N8 officially for sale last week of September, UK shops October 1st originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

My, how far we've come. Believe it or not, Mophie's Juice Pack pack is in its seventh generation of product development, with the latest 'Air' supporting Apple's polarizing iPhone 4. For those unaware, these cases nearly double the battery life of the phone they're wrapped around, and better still, it acts as protection against drops and dropped calls. Fancy that! This little guy is said to provide up to six extra hours of 3G talk time, 36 hours of bonus audio playback or nine hours of video playback. It's shipping now, just like we said, to those willing to part ways with $79.95, and it's available in any color you want, so long as it's black.

Continue reading Mophie's $80 Juice Pack Air ships to power-hungry iPhone 4 owners

Mophie's $80 Juice Pack Air ships to power-hungry iPhone 4 owners originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Yes, that fateful day is upon us, the Samsung Fascinate has made its debut on Verizon's online store pages, and it's arrived with a quite unusual (for a top tier handset) sweetener. When buying one Fascinate, you're given the option to obtain a second one for free. Well, the hardware would be free, you'd need two-year commitments on both phones with a minimum monthly data plan of $29.99 a piece, but it's still the nicest thing Verizon's done for us since it started throwing out free Pixi Pluses with purchases of Palm's webOS handsets. You should also bear in mind your initial outlay here is a quite lofty $400, with two separate $100 mail-in rebates bringing the cost down. So it's free in pecuniary terms, but probably not free of headaches.

[Thanks, Mike]

Verizon sweetens Samsung Fascinate deal with Buy One Get One Free offer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Swype is still far more difficult to get than we'd like -- basically, you either need to be in an invite-only beta or own a device where it ships in ROM -- but it's being opened up to a pretty sizable new set of potential customers this month now that it's been ported to S60 5th Edition in an open beta. It's currently tested for use on the 5800, 5230, X6, N97, N97 Mini, and C6 -- and considering that most of those devices use resistive screens, we're really curious to hear how well it works (for what it's worth, Samsung's Omnia II includes Swype in the box and uses a resistive display, so this isn't a first). Installation looks pretty straightforward and you don't need to jump through any hoops or be invited to get the binary, so let us know how it goes for you, alright? Follow the break for the official video demo.

[Thanks, Lloyd N.]

Continue reading Swype beta hits S60 5th Edition

Swype beta hits S60 5th Edition originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

In the early, chaotic, primordial years of the mobile phone era, you had to press real, actual "buttons" to get things done. Almost barbaric to think about now, isn't it? As society advanced and we gradually became a more civilized species, buttons gave way to touchscreens and voice control, mercifully giving the atrophied sausages we call "arms" and "fingers" a bit of respite every time we needed to surf through cyberspace, place a phone call, or send a text message. Now, it seems the evolution of Homo sapiens is reaching its inevitable final stage with the release of the PLX XWave, headgear that plugs into your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and -- after a bit of training -- lets you control the device with your mind alone. As you might expect, the headset makes use of the NeuroSky technology that we've seen several times through the years and will be made available with a number of apps upon its release next month including a game, dedicated training app, a music controller (which will let you compare brainwaves with other XWave users, interestingly), and an "Om Meditation Timer." If none of those titles have captured your imagination, you'll be able to write your own apps with the device's SDK; needless to say, we'll be patiently waiting for the levitation app depicted here. Orders are online now for $100 with delivery in October.

Continue reading XWave lets you control your iPhone with your noodle, levitate if you're lucky

XWave lets you control your iPhone with your noodle, levitate if you're lucky originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

British wireless giant Vodafone has stakes in operators around the world -- perhaps notably its 45 percent share in Verizon Wireless -- but the company has recently made it clear that it plans to aggressively reevaluate all of its holdings, and those words are starting to turn into actions on news that its 3.2 percent piece of China Mobile is no longer. That's significant if for no other reason than the fact that China Mobile is far and away the largest wireless carrier in the world by subscriber count -- a total that exceeds half a billion -- which means that Voda's mere 3.2 percent share, acquired between 2000 and 2002, was valued at roughly $6.6 billion. What this means for Vodafone's numerous other holdings remains unclear, but needless to say, it's possible this isn't the last sizable transaction we'll see over the next few months.

Vodafone flips stake in China Mobile for a cool $6.6B originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

By now you've probably seen the reviews of the other Galaxy S phones -- the Epic 4G, Captivate, or Vibrant -- or at least gotten an idea of what Samsung's push into the Android market is all about in 2010. After hitting every other major US carrier with like-minded devices, the company has finally seen fit to unleash the Fascinate on Verizon. Up until this point, the Android offerings on Big Red's network have been varied, but not all particularly attractive beyond the Droid lineup. The Fascinate is arguably the first handset that gives something like the Droid X or the Incredible a proper run for its money. Of course, those are pretty high stakes in game that changes on an almost daily basis, and Samsung's options are not without their... idiosyncrasies. That truth is nowhere more pronounced than on its latest handset. So is the company poised to hit the market where it hurts with this final puzzle piece, or is this an incomplete picture? Read on to find out in our full review of the Samsung Fascinate!

Continue reading Samsung Fascinate review

Samsung Fascinate review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nike's dalliances with technology should be familiar to our readers by now, with the crowning jewel of course being the Nike+ run-tracking software that pairs a shoe-mounted sensor with your iPhone or iPod. Well, it was. The gargantuan sportswear company is moving with the times and throwing the hardware away with the introduction of its all-new Nike+ GPS application. No longer restricting our running shoe choice is groovy, but the app itself has the even loftier aim of simultaneously acting as your fitness guru, motivator and record keeper. And all it asks in return is access to the accelerometer and GPS modules inside your iOS 4-equipped iPhone or iPod touch (the latter's lack of GPS means it loses out on route mapping, but all other features are retained). So, let's see how this baby runs, shall we?

Continue reading App review: Nike+ GPS

App review: Nike+ GPS originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

We've heard about Palm's big plans for webOS 2.0 -- heck, we've even seen a handful of pictures here or there. And now we've been graced with lots, lots more. We're still not sure the exact origins, as they both came to us unsourced at around the same time. But, be it PreCentral forums or Chinese site Crooked neck (a.k.a. Wibozi), we're still graced with two dozen new screenshots that showcase features beyond Stacks and Just Type. Plenty of extra services are on display, including favorites like Dropbox and head-scratchers like MobileMe (we know Palm has something of an Apple complex, but the benefits of MobileMe are pretty minimal beyond iPhone integration). There's also default app selection for filetypes, which is a welcome addition we've enjoyed on our Android sets. Just in case all the screenshots go poof, we've got them in a gallery below. Let your imagination run wild, or at least in a bigger fence.

[Thanks, kkhanmd]

WebOS 2.0 beta screenshot extravaganza originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

RIM has yet to officially announce the upcoming Style 9670 flip, but the leakfest continues today with a handful of new videos -- professionally-produced ones this time -- that show off key features of the UI and how to use them. Unlike the Torch, the Style lacks a touchscreen -- it just wouldn't be prudent in a clamshell form factor -- which means we're seeing just what it's like to navigate the finer points of BlackBerry 6's user interface with an optical pad (and secondary display) alone on a larger, portrait-oriented display. We're hopeful that RIM's new platform has a certain... well, a certain "something" on non-touchscreen devices that the Torch lacks, but time will tell, we suppose. Follow the break for the full video series.

Continue reading BlackBerry Style 9670's UI demoed in leaked official videos

BlackBerry Style 9670's UI demoed in leaked official videos originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ah yes, if you're thinking this is Cricket's newest Samsung launch, you're right. The Samsung Messager Touch (or SCH-r631) is a lower-priced QWERTY slider with a 2.6-inch touchscreen display, a slide-out pad -- pictured oh so lovingly above -- a 2 megapixel camera, and availability in either black or white. The cost? 159 of your hard earned dollars. We've seen a few Messagers pop up in recent memory, but it's nice to see touchscreen added to the mix at a price that while not free, certainly shouldn't stop this from ending up on wishlists this fall. Follow the read links for the fine print and a few more pics.

Continue reading Cricket launches Samsung Messager Touch

Cricket launches Samsung Messager Touch originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

When our favorite feature of a phone is that Uno is included in firmware, that should give you a pretty good idea of the kind of device we're talking about -- but regardless, the fact that the ZTE Agent sells for $69 commitment-free from MetroPCS makes it notable, we suppose. The candybar features a 1.3 megapixel cam with video capture, stereo Bluetooth support and a 3.5mm headphone jack (which means you've got a music player on board, naturally), microSD expansion, and a 2.4-inch QVGA display. It's available now, which means that if you're close to a MetroPCS store, you're mere minutes away from delivering a brutal Wild Draw Four on your unsuspecting opponents.

ZTE intros Agent for MetroPCS -- and yes, Uno is built-in originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

As you're probably well aware, the Wintermute-like intelligence known as Google has designs on your television. Not only is Samsung contemplating Android for its sets, but Eric Schmidt has stated that its Google TV service is on track for launch this autumn (as a beta, undoubtedly). Finally, Maps on your plasma! Unfortunately Samsung's plans are far less certain, with company President Yoon Boo Keun offering little more than a "[w]e will have to see, but we are reviewing," when asked whether the OS will make a suitable platform for coach potatoes the world o'er. According to Yoon, about half of the company's 3-D TVs rock web browsers, a figure that will only increase over the next couple years. We only hope that if they do go with Android, the implementation is better than that of some of their handsets.

Google TV set to launch this year, Samsung considering Android for its TVs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Our eyes were drawn to an FCC filing this morning from a California start-up by the name of Zelfy; a quick glance at Zelfy's site reveals that they're in "stealth mode," but the picture of a woman using an iPhone to control her TV should give you an idea of what these guys are up to. Indeed, digging through the filing shows a product called "Peel" whose central component, the "Peel Fruit," is a small, battery-powered sphere of an IR blaster that connects to your home network router. Next, you download the Peel app onto the iPhone (or iPod touch) of your choice and control the Fruit over WiFi. The filing reveals little in the way of UI or functionality, but the product's tagline is "every remote and TV guide now on your phone," so we would assume that you'll have access to your cable provider's lineup and schedule from the app. More on this one just as soon as Zelfy decides to emerge from stealth mode, we suppose.

Zelfy Peel might be the iPhone remote you've been looking for originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Put away your leaked Verizon documents, good folks, the Fascinate finally has an official release date: September 9. Verizon's Galaxy S variant snuck up on all of us with a commercial appearance last night, which was accompanied by that appropriately blown out text at the bottom, indicating it'll be in stores within a couple of days. That doesn't leave much time for you to build up fresh anticipation, so hopefully you were able to sustain yours while everyone else was unpacking their Captivate, Epic and Vibrant handsets. Hey, you might be late to the party, but at least you'll be there. See the ad (minus the launch date note) after the break.

[Thanks, Kyle]

Update: And what do you know, the official press release has just dropped, confirming the above in-store date and giving us an even earlier one: September 8 for online orders. Pricing is set at your usual $199 on a two-year contract, provided you have the patience to deal with a $100 mail-in rebate.

Continue reading Official: Samsung Fascinate launching September 9 for $199 (update: September 8 online)

Official: Samsung Fascinate launching September 9 for $199 (update: September 8 online) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Regardless of its ability to present a 3D image without glasses, we just weren't very impressed with Sharp's 10.6-inch display at the IFA show. That's not to say that its parallax barrier technology doesn't perform well at smaller sizes, like say, oh, the Ninentdo 3DS. In fact, Sharp's 3.8-inch switchable 3D (400 x 480) / 2D (800 x 480) display did a decent job of tricking our eyes into seeing a 3D image by exposing different pixels to each eye though tiny slits placed in front of a normal LCD. What we didn't see, though, was this smartphone-looking prototype (lacking radios, unfortunately) that combines that 3.8-inch parallax barrier panel with Sharp's twin-lens 3D camera module. So unlike some other 3D prototype cameras we've seen, Sharp's pup will present the 720p/30fps video in 3D immediately after taking the snap -- no special glasses required. Of course, with Sharp promising a 3D cameraphone before the end of the year, well, you've now got a pretty good idea how it will look. Video from Engadget Spanish after the break.

Continue reading Sharp's twin-lens 3D prototype camera isn't a smartphone, yet (video)

Sharp's twin-lens 3D prototype camera isn't a smartphone, yet (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

We still consider Samsung's Hummingbird application processor to be among the very best for mobile computers, but this morning Sammy itself is stepping up the charge to make it look real old real fast. The freshly announced dual-core Orion promises to whip us all into a frenzy of geek lust with "5 times the 3D graphics performance over the previous processor generation from Samsung," 1080p video encoding and decoding at 30fps, embedded GPS, a native triple display controller, and on-chip HDMI 1.3a interface. Those last two bits mean you can drive two displays on your mobile device while feeding a third, such as a HDTV, all thanks to the one all-powerful chip inside. Availability for "select customers" is coming late this year, with mass production set for the first half of 2011. To say we're looking forward to it would be a massive understatement.

Continue reading Samsung's Orion is the 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 we've all been waiting for

Samsung's Orion is the 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 we've all been waiting for originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

(function() { var s = document.createElement('SCRIPT'), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = 'http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js'; s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1); })(); Digg Should there be an international award for Cheekiest Man of the Year, it'd have to go to Meizu's shameless Jack Wong. Shortly after Apple's keynote last week, the CEO of KIRFdom seized the opportunity to cry foul on the new iPod touch, claiming it "looks a bit like" his forthcoming M9II Android phone, as pictured above. Wait, M9II? Turns out even though the M9 has yet to materialize in early October, Mr. Wong already has an enhanced model to be brought forth by his faithful unicorns. Assuming both M9 series devices will carry the same Meizu-fied Android 2.2 software, the only known differences on the M9II include a larger 4-inch display (as opposed to 3.5 inches at 960 x 640), the additional front-facing camera plus flash for the rear camera, and a Cortex-A9 CPU. To play devil's advocate, we'd actually suggest Wong skip the M9 for this lovely dream phone, but we're probably too late -- check out his snazzy prototype M9 after the break.

Continue reading Meizu CEO Jack Wong: Oh hey, the new iPod touch 'looks a bit like the M9II'

Meizu CEO Jack Wong: Oh hey, the new iPod touch 'looks a bit like the M9II' originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments