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Sprint's CEO is tired of T-Mobile's 'Uncarrier bullshit'
John Legere is famous for being the sweariest man in the mobile industry, but it looks as if Sprint's Marcelo Claure now wants a run at that title. In response to a snarky tweet by the T-Mobile CEO, Claure responded by saying that he was tired of Legere's "Uncarrier bullshit." He went on a four-tweet takedown of the company's policies, saying that it "trick[s] people," and that it's "all a fake show," before adding the hashtag #Tmobilelikehell. We're fairly sure that everyone who saw the exchange made the same ooo noise that pre-schoolers do when they know there's about to be a fight in the sandbox.
A look at new nautical monsters from the Korean ArcheAge
After a wait so long that more or less everyone could be forgiven for thinking it would never happen, ArcheAge has finally entered its early access period here in America. But that doesn't mean you don't have more to look forward to. Over on YouTube, InporylemQQ has taken a peek at a pair of nautical additions coming to the Korean version of the game, major PvE monsters meant to challenge players. The first foe on display is a massive sea beast that's easily larger than the vessel of the player in the video; it gets a few good hits on the ship before it slips beneath the waves. There's also a ghost ship that fires cannon at the player. Both appear to be high-end monsters meant to challenge players with adequate gear, and both were added in patch 1.7 -- which means that they're a fair way off in the game's updates in the West. Think of them as coming attractions. [Thanks to Karl for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: What mob do you hate fighting?
I'm an equal opportunity killer; put a bad guy in front of me, give me a flimsy excuse to blast it into kingdom come, and watch me go at it. But I'll admit that there are some mobs I shy away from more than others, not because they have me quaking in my booties, but because they're just... annoying to fight. Usually these are the mobs that pull out some form of crowd control by stunning me, knocking me down, or disabling my skills. I'm also not fond of mobs that like to vanish for a while before reappearing, nor of the ones that like to run home to mama when their health bar gets to 15%. I'm betting that you have pet peeves in the form of a particular mob or two. Which ones do you hate fighting and why? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Spot the pattern: Nokia Lumia 1020 hangs out with 808 PureView and N8
Since Nokia's released yet another phone with a big camera, we thought it'd be fun to let this Lumia 1020 meet its glorious pixel-loving forerunners. These are, of course, the 808 PureView and the N8 that bucked the trend of phone photography during their time. In terms of sensors, the 1020 comes with a new 1/1.5-inch, 41-megapixel BSI sensor, which is smaller than the 808's 1/1.2-inch, non-BSI offering of the same resolution. Still, both chips are understandably larger than the N8's 1/1.83-inch, 12-megapixel sensor, which may sound less exciting but was well ahead of its time. We'll try and get some sample shots from each of these in a moment for a quick comparison, so until then, enjoy our hands-on photos below. Update: Sadly, we weren't allowed to extract sample shots from the Lumia 1020, but we'll come back to this once we get hold of a review unit. For now, you can check out Nokia's own sample shots. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub! %Gallery-193633%
Xbox One vs Xbox 360 vs PS4: fight!
The Xbox One has finally arrived to serve up all of your living room entertainment in one place. But before you ready to open your wallet for Microsoft's next-gen console, you'd probably like to how the new Xbox stacks up against the old, and how its hardware compares to the next-gen competition from Sony, right? Well, a chart with comparable specs aplenty awaits you after the break.
Xbox One controller vs. Xbox 360 controller, fight!
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is as useful a phrase as it is folksy, and though the Xbox One is a complete reinvention compared to the Xbox 360, the controller is in many ways little changed. It's a bit more rounded, a bit softer to the touch and features redesigned trigger buttons with their own discrete rumble controllers. The d-pad is revised, and the analog sticks have more texture. Also, the battery backpack is no longer quite as pronounced. In other words, we think it's going to be great. Check out our gallery of comparison shots in the gallery below! %Gallery-189013%
Rawbots pitches custom robot battles in a sandbox
Rawbots is a multiplayer game in which you build and program robots to battle other players in a sandbox arena. Designer Alex Rozgo and the Rawbots team is pitching the game on Kickstarter, where they're trying for $300,000 to deliver the product on the PC, Mac, Linux, Wii U, and possibly the PS4. Rawbots intends to have various parts available for the making of your mechanical minions, which can then be traded with others using contracts and blueprints. The structure of the world is meant to combine different types of gameplay, enabling you to put together various levels designed for FPS or RTS-style interaction. So far, Rawbots has only picked up a few thousand dollars, but the project has over a month to go. The team is also selling early access to the game on its website for $29.99.
ASUS PadFone Infinity vs. PadFone 2... fight!
We happened to have a PadFone 2 with us at ASUS' MWC event, so it was only natural for us to put it next to the brand-spanking-new PadFone Infinity for a few photos. Unlike the jump from the original PadFone to the PadFone 2, the latest generation ditches the polycarbonate body with the iconic zen pattern in favor of an aerospace-grade aluminum unibody. Placing the PadFone Infinity and its shorter predecessor side by side you can see that the former is actually slimmer over all, and we dig the premium feel as well. Other notable differences include a new position for the loudspeaker, which is now on the top right side of the bezel instead of the back; and the 13-megapixel camera is now off-center. You'd think the smaller PadFone 2 would easily fit into the bigger bay in the new PadFone Station (using the same special micro-USB socket), but interestingly, it didn't work for us. We might give it another go when we eventually get hold of a review unit, of course (it's OK, Jonney, we'll be gentle).
Chromebook Pixel vs. other Chromebooks: fight!
Google raised the bar considerably for Chrome OS computers with the Chromebook Pixel -- but just how badly does it bruise other mainstream Chromebooks in the ring? We won't lie: for the most part, it's an outright thrashing. While it doesn't have as big a screen as HP's Pavilion 14 Chromebook or last as long on battery as Samsung's ARM-based Chromebook, the Pixel is technically superior in most every other way. That 2,560 x 1,700 display resolution, 1.8GHz Core i5 and support for LTE put Google's PC in a different class altogether, and that's when excluding freebies like the 1TB of Google Drive storage. It's even slimmer than some of its peers. The one clear obstacle is the price -- at $1,299, you're paying six times more than you would for an Acer C7 that manages a bigger (if much slower) hard drive. As you'll see in the chart, though, being part of the premium club has its perks.
HTC Droid DNA vs. J Butterfly vs. Butterfly: fight!
HTC made quite an impression when it launched the Droid DNA with Verizon a couple of months ago, and we're happy to say that its Butterfly variants on the other side of the world -- namely Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), India and China -- have achieved similar success, with some areas struggling to keep up with the surprising demand. Still, if you're in the market to pick up one of these 5-inch quad-core beauties, it's worth noting the subtle physical and technical differences between them. At HTC's Frequencies event this week, we had the rare chance to get all four (yes, four!) models side by side, so read on for our detailed comparison. %Gallery-178314%
BlackBerry Bold vs BlackBerry Q10: fight!
BlackBerry's rich history of tactile keyboards continues in its Q10, a tiny device with a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED screen and ... well, a full keyboard. We've already gone hands-on with the device, and you'll get to do the same come April, but we couldn't help wondering: how does it stack up against its spiritual forebear, the BlackBerry Bold? We snapped a handful of comparison shots to answer just that question, which you can see for yourself in the gallery below.
Inevitable: Oppo Find 5 meets Xiaomi Phone 2 and Meizu MX2
With all three major Chinese phone makers now showing their quad-core cards, it's only natural for us to take a friendly portrait of their latest flagships: from left to right we have the Meizu MX2 (due December 19th), the Xiaomi Phone 2 (already out) and the freshly announced Oppo Find 5 (due January). At 8.86mm thick, the Find 5 is subtly slimmer than our two other 10.2mm-thick phones when compared visually, but the five-inch 1080p screen is clearly a winner in terms of size and pixel density -- the latter is made more obvious by the fine details on the tactfully designed icons; just too bad you won't be able to fit much 1080p video content into the 16GB built-in storage. As for aesthetics, we're currently leaning towards the Find 5 for its less obvious bezel around the glass panel, and the phone's shape is also a nice change from the usual rectangle-with-evenly-rounded-corners form factor. Still, the feel and contour of the Meizu MX2's crystal back cover gave the most comfortable grip out of the three, only to be hampered by the Flyme OS' eccentric UX. Obviously, we shall do a more detailed comparison once we have our review unit, so stay tuned.
Nintendo Wii U GamePad vs. tablets / game controllers: fight!
The Nintendo Wii U GamePad -- aka "that tablet-looking controller from Nintendo" -- is a strange beast. Perhaps that 6.2-inch resistive screen out front made you think it's a tablet? It's not a tablet. Perhaps those dual analog sticks and slurry of buttons made you think it's a game controller? It's certainly not just a game controller. Of course, that's not stopping us from making both comparisons. Below you'll find a hybrid of our usual "fight!" structure, with one gallery dedicated to comparing the Wii U GamePad against its distant tablet-based cousins, and another comparing the GamePad to its controller side of the family. Wondering just what we think of the GamePad and Nintendo's new console? We'll have a full review of the Wii U -- and its bizarre hybrid controller -- early next week. We've got some early impressions of what's already impressed us, and an extra close look at the Wii U game discs as well, if you just can't wait.%Gallery-170910% Joseph Volpe contributed to this report.
HTC's Windows Phone 8X vs. the competition: fight!
HTC's unveiled a pair of Windows Phone 8 devices that seem destined to square off against Nokia's similarly polycarbonated handsets. You may not be able to easily pick 'em out of a crowd, but there's plenty of differences on the inside, and let's be frank, that's where it counts. We've pitted the Windows Phone 8 flagships from HTC, Samsung and Nokia against each other to see which one's going to be getting your cash when it comes to renewal time, and Round One begins just as soon as you jump past the break... ding, ding, ding.
Nokia Lumia 920 vs. Lumia 900... fight!
Both arriving in a fanfare of primary colors and big screens, we've already taken a look at the spec sheet breakdown, but how does the Lumia 920 compare to its predecessor in the looks department? In a battle of polycarbonate matte and gloss, we put them both into an Engadget editor's outstretched hands and let the photography do the talking. %Gallery-164399% Ben Gilbert contributed to this report.
ASUS PadFone, Transformer and Transformer Prime hang out under the sun
While cooking up our ASUS PadFone review, we decided to bring its Android tablet cousins together for a family portrait, because why not? Sadly, at the time of shooting these photos the Transformer Pad TF300 wasn't yet available in Hong Kong, so the original Transformer TF101 and the Transformer Prime TF201 will do for now. While you enjoy our gallery below, take a close look at how strikingly similar the keyboard docks for the TF101 and the PadFone are. Enjoy! Update: Regarding readability under the sun (which is a fair question), the PadFone Station was almost just as good as that on the Transformer Prime -- both have an optional outdoor mode that boosts the screen brightness for this purpose, which is why they perform much better than the original Transformer.%Gallery-155847%
Live-action Mass Effect 3 'Fight' trailer leaks ahead of The Walking Dead
This latest, live-action trailer for Mass Effect 3 was originally supposed to debut during tonight's new episode of AMC's hit comic adaptation The Walking Dead, but like everything else important, it ended up on YouTube first.
Meizu MX hangs out with the M9, Xiaomi Phone, Nokia N9 and many more friends
What better way to welcome a new boy in town than just a quick hands-on with it? Well, how about throwing a mini phone party for the Meizu MX? We just so happened to have a stash of phones with us today: the M9, iPhone 4S, Nokia N9, Xiaomi Phone, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note. Conveniently, the MX's four-inch display lets it sit bang in the middle of the group, and the phone also turns out to be a tad thinner, narrower and shorter than the Xiaomi Phone. Of course, we'll dig a little deeper in our review, so stay tuned and enjoy our party pics for now. %Gallery-141324%
Lenovo LePad S2005 vs. Dell Streak 5... cuddle!
It's inevitable that these two 5-inch tabletphones -- the Dell Streak 5 on the left and the Lenovo LePad S2005 on the right -- are to meet in the Chinese capital. With the exception of the slightly taller body on the S2005 everything else are suspiciously similar, especially the button and camera layout. Well, there's a good explanation for this: we've been informed that this new tabletphone hails from the same ODM, Qisda, as Dell's counterpart. Too bad Lenovo decided to keep the same screen resolution though. According to Stone Ip from Engadget Chinese, he found that the S2005 has a nicer grip than the Streak, and he also digs its more masculine appearance -- obviously this is open to debate. Performance-wise this slate responded well to our input, but the lack of promise on an Ice Cream Sandwich update will probably make potential geeky buyers think twice. Well, good thing we have some awesome modders around the interwebs these days. %Gallery-140564%
Samsung won't block iPhone 4S sales in South Korea
Samsung will not reportedly block the iPhone 4S from a release in South Korea, according to a local paper there. The company has tried to block the release of the iPhone 4S elsewhere (without much success so far), but the 4S finally went on sale last Friday in South Korea, and Samsung opted not to move against it. Why? Public relations, guesses The Chosun Ilbo paper. An anonymous executive there says that Samsung is fighting Apple in the global market, but presumably since the company already has such a large market share in South Korea, it's not worth the bad press to prevent people there from getting the iPhone 4S. Of course, as Apple is getting more and more popular over there, that situation may change.
