Eyeing the HTC Thunderbolt or EVO 4G with envy but stuck on AT&T? Fortunately, the carrier, which has a long reputation of not embracing Android (none of their Android phones can officially sideload apps) has just announced its next "superphone." The HTC Inspire 4G looks to be just about the same as the Thunderbolt, with a 4.3" screen and 4G connectivity, although it will support AT&T's HSPA+ network instead of their upcoming LTE network. Also worth noting is that this device will launch with the latest Sense UI, the same as we've seen on the Desire HD and Desire Z abroad, which will allow access to HTCSense.com as well as extra features such as offline maps and fastboot.
Last night at the CES Unveiled preview event, I got a chance to see a new product made by Parrot, called Asteroid.
Asteroid is a voice-activated, Android-powered car deck that replaces your existing single DIN car stereo. It has a small non-touch 3.2" color screen, runs on a specialized version of Android (the presenter didn't seem to know which Android version it was based on exactly), is capable of running custom Android apps (SDK for which is coming out later), and can accept a variety of inputs, such as your iPhone, iPod, USB storage, SD card (the left half detaches to reveal the SD slot), Bluetooth, 3.5mm jack, 3G and GPS dongles, and AM/FM/RDS.
During the LG press conference (see our live coverage), LG officially revealed to the world the Optimus Black Android smartphone, previously known as Optimus "B."
This upcoming looker features a brand new NOVA display technology, which LG touts as "breakthrough, brightest, clearest, and most readable among mobile screens, with 700 nits of brightness (Nit: a unit of luminance equal to 1 candela per square meter)." The NOVA display supposedly performs very well under strong sunlight and uses up to 50% less power compared to LCD screens and AMOLED screens that are displaying a totally white image (AMOLED doesn't use energy to display blacks).
The idea sounds good in theory: a device that has the comfort and usability of a laptop combined with the portability of a tablet. Lenovo's LePad was rumoured earlier this year and it has finally been unveiled together with the IdeaPad U1 Hybrid Netbook partner.
The LePad comes with a customised version of Android 2.2 (called LeOS) and runs on a 1.3 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The U1 comes with Windows 7 Home Premium and runs on a 1.2 Ghz Intel Core i5-540UM (with an i7 option). Both devices have a 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) capacitive multi-touch display. While the LePad can be used as a stand-alone tablet, it can also be docked with the U1.
Well, well, well, what do we have here? The device Engadget found in LG's CES booth (see the thumbnail above and the video at the source link) could very well be the long-rumored Optimus Pad. The 8.9-inch device, which is said to be powered by a Tegra 2 dual-core processor, is something I have been lusting after for a while now.
While we can't be sure that the device in the thumbnail is the Optimus Pad, it sure looks a lot like the render below. Obviously, at this point, we have no way to confirm the exact specs, so all we can do is speculate - hopefully, LG will clear this up at CES.
It's been a long time since I was excited about putting a stylus to a touchscreen, but ASUS' new Eee Pad MeMO might just have what it takes to win me over. For starters, it's running Honeycomb, has a dual-core Qualcomm 8260 CPU clocked at 1.2GHz, and features both a 1.2MP front-facing camera and a 5MP rear counterpart.
The specs are only half the story, though - the tablet will also come with Media Note, which is a glorified notes app, as well as Painter, a painting app where the included capacitive stylus could really come in handy.
The MeMO will also ship with phone functionality of some sort, and ASUS will be selling the MeMic, a stereo Bluetooth headset, to complement it.
PhoneArena has stumbled across a brief YouTube video that pits the browsers of the upcoming LG Optimus 2X and iPhone 4 against each other. Unfortunately, there are few (read: no) details available on how the test was run, and there are only two "trials" - hardly scientific, but hey, it's something, right?
As you can see, the 2X manages an impressive lead, even managing to pull up Flash-laden Yahoo in significantly less time than the iPhone 4. It's not exactly clear why the 2X is pulling such a big lead, either - though many people are contributing it to the stellar dual-core Tegra 2, and perhaps rightfully so.
Sprint's just sent out the official press release announcing the HTC EVO Shift 4G, and it looks like just about everything we've heard is true - right down to the price. Need a refresher on what this baby EVO is packin'?
- Android 2.2
- 3.6" 480x800 screen
- 5 MP camera
- 720p camcorder
- 2GB microSD card (support for up to 32GB)
- WiFi
- 800 MHz CPU (likely the same one found in the G2)
- 1 GB ROM
- 512 MB RAM
- $150 with 2 year contract, after $100 MIR
EVO Shift 4G: Now with 100% more keyboard!
Our friends over at Wirefly have had the chance to give the Shift a 10 minute video review.



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