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iFrogz's Caliber Advantage iPhone 5 gaming case hands-on
It's no secret that iOS mobile gaming leaves us wanting when it comes to physical controls. Fortunately, at CES 2013, iFrogz is out to fill that void with the Caliber Advantage iPhone case-gone-console. The Caliber Advantage, an iPhone 5 and fifth-generation iPod touch accessory, uses Bluetooth 4.0 to connect to the corresponding enabled application rather than the phone itself. iFrogz mentions that a deal with Epic Games and Chair Entertainment to build the basis for the Caliber software powered by the Unreal Engine is in the works. In fact, later this April the company will host its own developer conference aimed at seriously expanding the platform and hopefully adding support for previously released titles. Marrying a case with a full-fledged controller certainly adds some bulk, but after handling the prototype, the approximate half inch of added girth honestly didn't incite any ill feelings. The chassis, while clearly heavy on the plastic, felt more sturdy than anticipated, and fairly natural to our hands. As for the buttons? Crisp and responsive, hard though that may be to believe. The unit is set to retail at $70, and curious iOS gamers can feel free to take a closer look in the gallery below. Kevin Wong contributed to this report.
Samsung Caliber coming to MetroPCS, TouchWiz in tow
It's not every day that a carrier exclusively offering contract-free service spits out a full touchscreen device, so the freshly-announced Caliber from Samsung becomes a pretty interesting proposition for MetroPCS customers. Although it lacks EV-DO Rev. A, it still makes do with Rev. 0 and features a 3.2-inch touchscreen, full HTML browsing, microSD expansion up to 16GB, and 3 megapixel camera all stuffed into a 2.2 x 4.5 x 0.47-inch package (interestingly, those dimensions are quoted with the "standard battery," so there might be an extended battery in the pipe that produces a hump on the back of the phone). It's available right now for $249.
Samsung Trill and Caliber now official for US Cellular
Remember these two bad boys? Sure enough, the rumored Trill and Caliber from Samsung have made their way to US Cellular, just two of the bazillion Sammies that the regional carrier already offers. The Trill (pictured left) is an audio-centric slider with B&O's ICEpower tech, a dedicated music key, 1.3 megapixel cam, stereo Bluetooth, and 1GB of built-in storage with microSD expansion; it clocks in at $89.95 on contract after rebate. The Caliber (right) is arguably the more interesting of the two, offering a legit TouchWiz setup with a full HTML browser, 3 megapixel cam, and a WQVGA display. This one ends up being a little less -- $49.95 on contract with rebate -- which pushes the Delve it replaces all the way down to $19.95. Good time to be in the market for a full touch experience on US Cellular, eh? Read - Samsung Trill Read - Samsung Caliber
Samsung Trill and Caliber coming to US Cellular
US Cellular's just big enough of a carrier to command a few exclusive handsets of its own -- especially from a company like Samsung that somehow manages to announce about fifteen new models a day, 365 days a year (not really, but it'd be easy to think that they did if you didn't pay attention). Take these two puppies, for example; first up is the music-oriented r520 Trill slider (pictured left), which counts Bang & Olufsen's ICEpower signal processing and 1GB of onboard memory expandable to a total of 33GB as its headline features. To the right we've got the r850 Caliber, a full-touch piece with a 3.2-inch WQVGA display, TouchWiz, a 3 megapixel camera with video capture, and full HTML browsing -- not shabby, assuming the price is right. We don't have pricing or availability on either of these bad boys just yet, but we'll keep you in the loop. [Thanks, Doug]
