We've potentially seen a lot of the next iPhone's exterior; it may be the interior's time for a shakedown, as an unusually detailed rumor out of 9to5 Mac has claimed scads more about the processor and iOS 6. Going by the tips, the 2012 design would use an S5L8950X, a processor with unknown specs but likely a step ahead of what we've seen in the iPhone 4S (8940X) and new iPad (8945X). There would likewise be a new spin on the PowerVR SGX543 graphics from the iPad as well as 1GB of RAM -- which doesn't sound like much next to a 2GB Galaxy S III, but stands to produce a similar speed boost for a lightweight platform like iOS. As for iOS 6 itself, the software is supposedly using underlying code newer than recent OS X Mountain Lion builds and is dumping Google Maps, as some have claimed ever since iPhoto for iOS made that step in the spring. The new Maps app (possibly pictured here) is said to be rough, but the OS as a whole could be coming along so swimmingly that Apple might have no trouble shipping on time.

As always, we're skeptical when so much detail is in flux. The rumor still jives with much more tangible behavior from Apple, such as its experimentation with 32-nanometer processors and a tendency for Apple to refine the chip from the current year's iPad for the iPhone months later. We may know the accuracy soon enough: more leaks are promised in the next two weeks, including an "entirely new iOS app."

Rumors give 2012 iPhone shiny new chip, 1GB of RAM, mystery iOS app originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 17:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last week, Gigabyte teased us with the promise of a new bantam laptop, the X11, that would be the "lightest notebook on earth." Today, it appears the good folks at Pocket-lint have taken a bit of the wind out of the company's sails by posting a plethora of press pics of the new machine for all the world to see. Naturally, we can't say for sure that this is the forthcoming X11, but whatever it is, it's a slim little black beauty that looks to be right at home with the MacBook Airs and Ultrabooks of the world -- it's got a wedge-shaped silhouette and a modicum of external connectivity (one USB socket and one DisplayPort). Want to see more of it's ebony exterior in advance of tomorrow's official announcement? Head on down to the source link for the full spill.

Press pics of Gigabyte's X11 lightweight laptop reportedly pop up online originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 May 2012 19:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When it rains, it pours -- after a tiny drizzle of tall iPod touch leaks, we're suddenly faced with a deluge of photos of what might just be the next iPhone's back plating. If that's what we're looking at through photos supplied by a historically reliable uBreakiFix, talk of bigger iPhone screens might just pan out, as it looks decidedly taller than the iPhone 4S we use today. Apple may likewise be going all old-school iPhone on us, with a modern twist: we could be reverting to an aluminum back with more receptive materials (likely glass) at the ends, just in a much thinner form that keeps the steel antenna band. Perhaps the most intriguing bit is at the bottom, where rumors of a much smaller dock connector may have been validated along with a shift of place for the headphone jack. There's still a chance we're looking at an elaborate KIRF or an early engineering prototype that could change, but given that 9to5 Mac just got very similar images with black trim, there's a real possibility that we've just been given a sneak peek of what to expect from Apple later this year.

Update: A handful of extra photos have surfaced at 9to5 that show a bit of the front, as well as better views of the back. It's looking like the new model won't quite be as skinny as some photos suggest, and we're digging the different-hued, two-tone design a bit more now that it's not being subjected to Mr. Blurrycam. We've included the more choice shots in the gallery.

[Thanks to Brandon and Steven from uBreakiFix]

Gallery: iPhone 2012 back plate leak

Supposed new iPhone casings show up with tall body, tiny dock connector, tons of mystery (update: a bit of the front too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 11:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Not long after the Lumia 900 surfaced, Nokia's Windows Phone roadmap appeared to have come screeching to a halt -- official and otherwise. However, the first signs of Nokia's second wave may have just surfaced in WP Bench's testing leaderboards. The Nokia Alpha, Phi, PurePhi and PureLambda have all shown up at varying points in the chart; we've seen them for ourselves, although you'll need WP Bench on a Windows Phone to see them first-hand. Not much is visible without seeing the devices themselves, but the PureLambda appears to be running a build of OS 8.0 -- better known to most as Apollo, or possibly Windows Phone 8. As long as these aren't elaborate pranks, they could represent entry, mid-tier and high-end phones; we're wondering if the Pure tag isn't a reference to the PureView-equipped Lumias Nokia said were inevitable in the long run. No matter what the four phones turn out to be, any real devices will show us what Nokia can do with Microsoft's OS now that it's had time to strategize.

Nokia Alpha, Phi, PurePhi and PureLambda pop up in tests, bring Windows Phone 8 along for the ride originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 03:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jitters have persisted that the Canadian release of the Galaxy S III might face the customary weeks-long delays that those north of the border are used to. If we go by what looks to be an escaped Best Buy Canada flyer graphic, Samsung's Android 4.0 beast should be going up for pre-orders soon -- MobileSyrup hears May 30th -- with launches on at least Bell, Rogers, Telus and a Bell-owned Virgin Mobile around June 20th. We know that Samsung has publicly promised a US release in June, so there's a real chance that we could be seeing a simultaneous North American appearance that brings everyone together in TouchWiz harmony. There's still some big questions left open even if we're seeing an accurate snapshot, such as when Mobilicity, Wind and other LTE-less carriers will get their units as well as whether or not the LTE versions use Snapdragons instead of the Exynos 4 Quad.

[Thanks, Imdad]

Samsung Galaxy S III shows in Best Buy Canada leak due June 20th, maple syrup uncorked to celebrate originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Been looking forward to porting your BBM addiction to iOS or Android in hopes of finally kicking that Crackberry to the curb? Take a seat -- it looks like RIM's private messaging service isn't going anywhere. According to a Wall Street Journal source, the firm's new CEO has shut down rumors of a BlackBerry Messenger port. "It was not up for discussion," the WSJ was told. According to a person "familiar with the matter," CEO Thorsten Heins decided that RIM shouldn't be pursuing licensing deals. Heins' apparent house cleaning might be a deal breaker for BlackBerry veterans looking to jump ship, requiring users to stick with RIM to maintain their dwindling BBM contact lists. Bummer? Sure is, but at least your pals don't need a security clearance to ping you.

BBM staying exclusive to BlackBerry, says WSJ source originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 18:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Samsung has been almost completely silent regarding its Chromebox since its CES outing, so we were taken aback when we were tipped off that it was hiding in plain sight on TigerDirect's web store. Sure enough, a product listing provides a lot more detail about the tiny Chrome OS desktop than Samsung gave us in January, including its use of a 1.9GHz, dual-core Celeron B840, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 16GB solid-state drive and six (not five) USB ports. We haven't seen mention of the promised wireless keyboard and mouse bundle, although the retailer's configuration might reflect a stripped-down trim level: at $330, it's a lot less than the $400 we were quoted at the start of the year. We wouldn't count on the store listing staying up -- at least, not until Google I/O -- but you can get a whirlwind tour of the Chromebox's core features through the hilariously awkward video below, which strips out the price if you're not watching from TigerDirect itself.

[Thanks, Pete]

Continue reading Samsung Chromebox gets a premature outing, $330 price tag (video)

Samsung Chromebox gets a premature outing, $330 price tag (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 16:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's been a long, long time since Apple undertook a significant redesign of the iPod touch, which hasn't been looked at since 2010 and received just a splash of white last year. A possible front panel part leak we've just seen could overturn all that -- and hint at the 2012 iPhone's direction in the process. If we go by the claims of MacRumors' supplier friends, the media player would be growing up, but not out, with a taller 4.1-inch screen. We're skeptical, as the white part (black on the inside) seems almost too good to be true -- we haven't seen anything similar elsewhere in the unofficial parts market. Still, having heard murmurs of larger iPhone screens and knowing Apple's own tendency to base the iPod touch on whatever iPhone flavor is new this year, we could be looking at iPhones and iPods growing for the first time since 2007. There's also some as yet unconfirmed next-gen iPhone parts included by the source, although we'd hesitate to call them smoking guns unless they're put together in Apple-like form later in the year.

Purported fifth-gen iPod touch panel slips out, shows a tall 4.1-inch screen that's possibly iPhone-bound originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 14:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Did you get a chance to download Samsung's voice assistant APK over the weekend? Don't bother trying now, as Samsung (or Vlingo, which is behind the app) has locked down access for unauthorized devices -- namely anything that isn't a Galaxy S III. According to xda-developers, S-Voice's command requests are being rebuffed once Vlingo's servers detect any phone that's presumably not inspired by nature. There's just over a week to go, however, and soon you'll be able to shoot the breeze with your new smartphone love all you want.

Unofficial S-Voice app gets gagged, Samsung waits for its flagship hero originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 06:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Excited for Nintendo's new tablet-esque controller? So are the kids in TT Games' QA department. An over-excited tester tweeted out an image of a slightly different Wii U slab than the one we laid hands on at E3 2011, teasing "look we what we have at work!" Answering the call does indeed reveal something worth looking at -- a somewhat wider looking Wii U slate featuring two full-sized analog sticks (as opposed to 3DS-like circle pads), a pair of unmarked button-like squares, and a new starboard home for the controller's plus and minus buttons.

The tweet was summarily pulled, of course, but not before our friends at Joystiq nabbed a screenshot. Naturally, the rumor mill started right up, churning out speculation of developer specific slabs, early prototypes and late redesigns. The truth? We'll probably need to wait until E3 to find out, but we reached out to Nintendo for a comment all the same. We'll let you know if we hear anything more than the usual "Nintendo doesn't comment on rumors and speculation" line.

Alternative Wii U controller design makes brief appearance on Twitter, goes into hiding originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 02:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you find yourself with nothing better to do this weekend, then you might have a bit of fun playing around with Samsung's soon-to-be-released S Voice application on your rooted Android 4.0 smartphone. The APK has now made its way into the wild, and we couldn't help but take it for a spin on our Nexus S. First off, while we can't vouch for the security of the file, we can confirm that it's indeed functional. Secondly, while some of the S Voice features work just fine -- such as search or contact queries -- other requests such as navigation repeatedly caused the app to crash. In other words, if you're expecting this app to behave as it should on the Galaxy S III, you might be in for a disappointment. If you're merely looking to poke around with the S Voice functionality, however, the download seems quite worthwhile. At this point, we're most curious to know whether non-Samsung owners have similar luck. If you're willing to give 'er a go, let us know your experience in the comments below.

Update: We've also now tested the leaked APK on our Galaxy Nexus, and are happy to report that S Voice works quite flawlessly. As always, your mileage may vary.

Samsung Galaxy S III S Voice APK leaked online originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 May 2012 21:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's only been a few days since we first heard the rumors about an upcoming, Sprint-bound LG quad-core slab, and now that same LS970 "superphone" is back for more action. Thanks to yet another snap acquired by the folks over at BriefMobile, we can now spot a couple extra details on the device, including its previously unknown NFC capabilities. Contrary to earlier beliefs, the alleged LG Eclipse also seems to offer a removable battery, which is likely to make some power users very content. Something tells us this isn't the last we're going to see of this super handset, though, so we'll keep you in the loop if any more noteworthy findings appear.

LG LS970 'superphone' shows up again, flaunts its removable battery and NFC chip originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 05:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We've known for quite some time that Motorola intended to push Ice Cream Sandwich to the Droid 4, but until now the waiting game continued, with no end in sight. It now appears that the smartphone maker is making serious progress on its own Motoblur-infused flavor of ICS, with a stock version of the upgrade making the rounds since last night. According to early adopters, the build seems to enable complete functionality, but upgrading early will leave your device locked to 4.0.4, with no option for future updates. So, for now, it makes sense to hang tight, but it'd be reasonable to assume that Moto-sanctioned ICS is indeed on its way to the Droid 4. Impatient owners will find everything they need at the source link after the break.

Motorola Droid 4 gets leaked ICS build, official Android 4.0.4 may soon follow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Like dominoes, Sprint's consumer-friendly policies continue to fall one at a time. Citing "high costs," the Now Network will begin discontinuing its practice of allowing customers to upgrade their phone 10-14 days prior to the official date of eligibility. According to the memo leaked by TechnoBuffalo, the program will cease to exist as of June 1st. It sounds like this policy change is an unfortunate consequence of the company's large investments in iPhones and its still-dormant LTE network. It may not be enough to convince many Sprint customers to jump ship, but this isn't the first cost-cutting measure put forth by Dan Hesse's team -- and we have a hard time believing it will be the last. We've reached out to Sprint for official comment and will update you as soon as we have word.

Update: Sprint sent us a statement about the matter, which you can read below. Apparently, no actual changes to the policy are taking place -- rather, a "reason code" used by customer care representatives to justify early upgrades was removed.

Here's Sprint's statement on the policy:

We are not making any policy change regarding our phone upgrades. In fact, the 14-day upgrade window was never a program or a policy to our customers - so there is nothing to cancel. We are removing a 'reason code' that made it possible for care reps to sometimes offer an early upgrade - but that code in the system was redundant with the early upgrade benefit we already offer customers.

The reality is we already provide customers an early upgrade benefit when they sign up for service by rolling their upgrade eligibility back to the first day of the month. So, if you purchase a phone on the 31st of the month - your upgrade eligibility is rolled to the first of the month (after 20 months). So, that is a 30 day early upgrade advantage. If you bought your phone on the 18th of the month - you would have an 18 day early upgrade advantage, etc.

And, if customers have an issue with an inoperable or broken phone before the upgrade date, there are several options they can check into - depending on if they have insurance, they can work with our Service & Repair, or they can buy a refurbished phone, or, in some cases, we can buy back the customer's phone.

Sprint reportedly cancelling its early upgrade program June 1st (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Desire C has barely revealed itself as HTC's latest pocket-friendly Android phone, but another device following the same naming convention might also be on the cards. According to BriefMobile, a lower-priced One S variant, currently under the Ville C moniker, will shed the dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 and use a (presumably cheaper) dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 (MSM8260). That's the same processor found in last year's Sensation, although we're skeptical of that clock speed. Otherwise, the leaked specs match the One S on the important stuff, including a 4.3-inch AMOLED display (with the same qHD resolution), an 8-megapixel auto-focus camera alongside HTC's ImageSense chip and 16GB of storage. Yep, like the One S, there's no option to expand storage, but if the price is right (and it does exist), we might be more willing to forgive that particular shortcoming.

Is the HTC Ville C a cheaper One S? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 07:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to a recent leak on Chinese site PConline, Lenovo's reportedly working on an Ice Cream Sandwich slab with China Mobile said to be on the receiving end of the delivery. Currently known as the LePhone S899t, this handset's allegedly friendly with the carrier's TD-SDCMA 3G network, while it's also said to feature a dual-core, NovaThor U8500 CPU, a 4.5-inch, IPS display for all viewing pleasures and, as stated earlier, it runs flavor of Google's latest OS. Aside from the purported specs, Lenovo's LePhone S899t is expected to be priced at a mere 1,299 yuan (around $200) once China Mobile makes the device official (no word on when that'll be). Either way, it's not like Lenovo's giving you a shortage of options.

Lenovo LePhone S899t with ICS reportedly in the works for China Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 May 2012 17:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yup, Apples are bound to flow beneath the Ivy Bridge at some point, but how much of a performance boost will they deliver? If you're happy to hold onto a little skepticism, then two unexpected appearances on the Geekbench site could offer some early answers. The first purports to be an unknown 'MacBookPro9,1' laptop powered by an Ivy Bridge Core i7-3820QM running at 2.7GHz, which achieved a benchmark of 12252 -- that's around 17 percent better than a current equivalent Core i7 15-inch or 17-inch MacBook Pro. The second benchmark comes from an 'iMac13,2' running off Intel's next-gen Core i7-3770 desktop chip clocked at 3.4GHz, which only merits a score of 12183 because it's hobbled by 4GB of RAM. If you exclude memory and compare only the CPU integer and floating point scores, then you're looking at a roughly nine percent gain over a current 27-inch iMac with a 3.4Ghz Core i7-2600 processor. Now, these benchmarks could be faked, or represent non-final hardware, but the motherboard codes look valid (see the source links) and they generally tally with what we've come to expect from Ivy Bridge: a healthy oar-stroke forwards, but nothing that would frighten the fish.

Update: 9to5Mac has done some digging and come up with a few more interesting tidbits about the upcoming MacBook Pro refresh. For one, code pulled from the Mountain Lion beta appears to indicate that the Ivy Bridge machines will boast USB 3.0 and a new GPU in the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M. The site also claims that the laptops will be slimmer than the current gen, a rumor that we've been hearing for quite some time now.

MacBook Pro and iMac with next-gen Ivy Bridge processors crop up on benchmarks (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 May 2012 08:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Vodafone Portugal was so excited to hear about HTC's Desire C that it added it to the company's summer brochure -- despite it not being officially announced. The catalog reveals that the low-end handset will arrive with a 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 display, a 600MHz processor and a 5-megapixel camera. It'll run on the country's 3.5G network (HSDPA to you and me) and you'll find Ice Cream Sandwich sharing the room on that 4GB of on-board storage. It's also reported to have a 1,320mAh battery and will retail for €200 ($260) once it's finished enjoying the Iberian weather.

HTC Desire C spotted enjoying the Portuguese sun originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 May 2012 06:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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 May 7th, 2012

Refresh Roundup: week of May 7th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 20:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Keep it under your hat, but Samsung's reportedly got a Sprint-exclusive handset in the works. If the images are to be believed, the SPH-L300 draws design cues from the chinny HTC Legend and packs NFC. According to BriefMobile's sources, there's a 800 x 480 display in the front, a Snapdragon S4 MSM 8960 in the middle and a 5-megapixel snapper 'round back. It'll also come with 4GB onboard storage, LTE and Ice Cream Sandwich from the get-go, oh, and it'll do a flawless impersonation of Bruce Campbell when things get slow at parties.

Samsung's big-chinned SPH-L300 gets papped by Mr Blurrycam originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 May 2012 09:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Someone at Google's advertising department has probably received the hairdryer treatment this morning after a Gmail advert prematurely revealed that Sony's Xperia Ion would arrive in June. The banner ad popped up atop Droidmatters' inbox and revealed that the Stateside version of the Xperia S will turn up just in time for Summer.

Continue reading Gmail advert ruins AT&T's big surprise, Sony's Xperia Ion arrives stateside in June

Gmail advert ruins AT&T's big surprise, Sony's Xperia Ion arrives stateside in June originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 10:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Blackberry 10 Dev Alpha we wrapped our mitts around last week didn't tell us much about RIM's big QNX-based OS update (being loaded with PlayBook OS 2.0 and all), but Crackberry forum user Biggulpseh seemingly has the deets that the folks in Waterloo weren't ready to reveal. So-called internal documents reportedly detail a tilt-sensitive lock screen that pushes notifications to the user based on the device's movement (called "cinnamon toast"), a screen-sharing ability to ramp up the productivity of video calls and a robust video editor resulting from RIM's acquisition of JayCut last year. Biggulpseh says the images come from a "trusted source," and are part of a document that outlines upcoming features for the benefit of the firm's employees. Ready to dive in and let your imagination run wild? Hit the source links below, just don't forget your saliferous spices.

BlackBerry 10 to get video editor, screen sharing according to forum leak originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 May 2012 23:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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 April 30th, 2012

Refresh Roundup: week of April 30th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 May 2012 19:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Samsung's SGH-i667 'Mandel' Windows Phone surfaces, still shrouded in mystery originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 May 2012 05:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Been itching for Facebook's iPhone-dedicated Messenger app to make its way over to the iPad? ? Maybe for the iPhone variant to finally reap the benefits of Skype video chat integration as well? Well, according to 9to5Mac, Camp Zuckerberg is testing both in-house, with the latter planned to hit iPhones this summer. According to the site, one of its trustworthy tipsters was able to grant it access to beta versions of the new apps, and it has the pictures to prove it. Unsurprisingly, the Messenger app for iPad is described as simply a sized-up port of the iPhone version, but surely the bump would be appreciated by many if it ever gets officially released. Perhaps more interesting, though, is having Skype video chat baked into the iPhone version -- tapping an arrow next to a contact initiates your video session, and 9to5Mac reports that it's "smooth most of the time." Of course, it's always worth taking such leaks with a grain of salt, but hit up the source link below if you'd like to find more information and screenshots of the apps in question.

Facebook's iPhone Messenger to get video chat, enlarged variant for iPad? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 15:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Since 2010, Target has happily hawked Amazon's e-reading wares. The retailer even carved out a branded corner of its online shop just for the Kindle. Now though, that store within a store is empty and conspicuously missing from Target's virtual shelves is Amazon's entire Kindle line. Sure, a few accessories remain, but the readers themselves are gone. What's more, according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge, the products will be cease to be restocked at the company's brick and mortar locations starting May 13th. The communique states that, after evaluation, Target "has made the decision to no longer carry Amazon hardware."

The reasoning behind the banishment isn't clear, but the potential causes are practically endless. Amazon's vast online repository of goods, including some grocery items, makes it a direct competitor of the big box outlet. Target continues to carry the Nook and Kobo e-readers, but those company's don't challenge the retailer. It's also possible that, with mini Apple Stores opening up on its premises, Cupertino put some pressure on Target to clear out its competitors. It could also be as simple as collapsed contract negotiations, with Target failing to get as big a cut of sales as it wanted or, and this is a bit of a stretch, the Minneapolis company could be preparing to launch its own e-reading hardware. Neither Amazon nor Target has responded to our requests for comment at this time.

Update: Target has affirmed the move to Reuters, with the following statement: "Target is phasing out Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012."

Target pulls Kindle from virtual shelves, physical ones may follow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This surprise package has apparently escaped not only MSI's proof-readers, but also NVIDIA's strictly-controlled release schedule. If it's legit, it hints at more affordable Kepler cards just around the corner -- potentially around $150 less than a GTX 680, if previous GeForce generations are anything to go by. That said, the list price associated with this particular box doesn't stack up: 1380 Malaysian Ringgits converts to $450, which seems over the odds and gives us even more reason to be wary. Hopefully the next customer will pop it open and check for spring phling before heading to the checkout.

[Thanks, Donny]

NVIDIA GTX 670 spotted at Malaysian retailer: either it's fake or MSI has a small problem originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 05:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It may not be as wavy as the alloyed 15R from a couple of years back, but this new "special edition" Inspiron is packing a few goodies that are far more interesting than a set of sinuous patterns. Thanks to a product page on Dell's Singapore website, we were able to spot one of the company's first Ivy Bridge machines, the Inspiron 15R. Per the listing, Dell's 15.6-inch laptop is sporting a hot-off-the-press Core i7-3612QM CPU, 6GB or 8GB of RAM (depending on configuration), AMD Radeon HD 7730M graphics and a 1TB, 5400RPM hard drive. Additionally, you'll be able to choose between two different displays: an HD WLED, 1366 x 768 or a 1920 x 1080, FHD True-Life. As of right now, the better-specced of the two models is carrying a hefty S$1,749 price tag (around $1,410 in American dollars), while the lower-end 15R is S$1,599. Those living in Singapore can hit up the source link below if you'd like to grab a piece of that fresh Ivy Bridge pie.

[Thanks, Jason]

Ivy Bridge-packing Inspiron 15R hiding in plain sight on Dell's Singapore site originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 04:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, the leaks and rumors just won't stop coming and, while we were initially pretty dismissive of the rounded glass design it just keeps cropping back up. We're still note entirely convinced this is, in fact, the Galaxy S III (or the Next Galaxy) but the consistency of the leaks is making us slightly (but only slightly) less skeptical. SamMobile scored a pair of shots from Mr. Blurrycam's cousin, Sir Softfocus, that look quite similar to the photos we've seen circulating for the past few weeks. What's more, the site has an image of the settings page which labels this rather interesting looking handset as the GT-I9300. We've still got some concerns, though, that lead us to believe this is, most likely, a prototype device. Chief among those issues is the physical home button, flanked by a capacitive menu and back key. We'd say it's a pretty safe bet that we're looking at three entirely software-based buttons in the final product, just like the version spotted in the Vietnamese video. One more image after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Alleged Galaxy S III pops up again, with rounded glass and GT-I9300 branding

Alleged Galaxy S III pops up again, with rounded glass and GT-I9300 branding originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While the design (and even the briefing slides) scream affordable, we're sure there must be some Big Magenta customers aching for a keenly-priced smartphone fix. So here's the Prism. Huawei's behind that T-Mobile face, cooking up a Android Gingerbread phone with a pretty weedy 600MHz processor and a 3.5-inch (480 x 320) touchscreen. A fixed-focus (yeah) 3.2-megapixel camera pokes out the back, while a microSD slot means you can extend space for those vaguely-almost-in-focus shots -- the Prism arrives with a 2GB card already onboard. The phone looks set for a May 6th release date and TmoNews has several more slides with some extra launch details -- you can check them out at the source below.

T-Mobile Prism leaked: entry-level Huawei smartphone to launch in May originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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 April 23rd, 2012

Refresh Roundup: week of April 23rd, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You know the drill -- grab yourself a spoonful of Morton's and get ready for another supposed leak of a gadget. This time around, you're looking at what's claimed as being one of Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 "Development Alpha" devices that'll be handed out during next week's BlackBerry Jam -- just like the company promised a month ago. Images of the device first surfaced over at CrackBerry's forums and, as the site points out, the touchscreen candy bar seems to share its design DNA with the PlayBook. Keeping in mind that it's likely to remain a testing device for devs, don't bank on it ever hitting store shelves. That said, we're now curious how pivotal a role RIM's famous tactile keyboards will play on its next-generation phones -- if any. Head over to the source links below if you'd like to catch more photos from Mr. Blurrycam and extra information in the meantime.

Is this RIM's BlackBerry 10 development device? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, well, talk about déjà vu! It was just yesterday that a corner of Sony's 16.1 megapixel NEX-F3 leaked onto the interwebs and now more photos have surfaced, along with a previously unannounced shooter, the Alpha A37 SLT. The pictures come courtesy of Yang Canggih, which says it had a chance to demo the two devices yesterday at Sony's Partner's Conference in Jakarta (curiously, the NEX-F3 post isn't live as of this writing, but Sony Alpha Rumors has the images up). Starting with the F3, the mirrorless camera has lost a smidgen of the curves found on its older sibling, the C3, adopting a slight bit of the angular edges that once made the NEX-7 the badass standout in the lineup. You'll notice that the shutter button and grip have an uncanny resemblance to the 7's, not to mention that it's clearly gained a pop-up flash -- a first for the lower-end NEXs. Past that, the rumored -- and self-portrait friendly -- 180 degree tilt-screen is also present, which'll likely give the C3 an edge over its siblings when it comes to composing shots. Also worth note, some of the buttons on back have been slightly repositioned.

Moving along, those hoping for a successor to the A35 will apparently have their wish granted with the 16.1 megapixel A37. According to Yang Canggih, it features the articulating display from the last generation of NEX cams, Auto Portrait Framing (first introduced with the A57), four more effect modes than the A35 (up from 11) and an ergonomic grip in the vein of the A77. Sadly, that's about all that's currently known, so hopefully we'll get an official introduction to the cameras soon. Head past the break for a shot of the A37 and then check out the links below for even more of both.

Continue reading Sony's Alpha A37 and NEX-F3 pose for the camera, reveal more angles, details

Sony's Alpha A37 and NEX-F3 pose for the camera, reveal more angles, details originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Looks like our friends over at TMoNews have unearthed a roadmap with some tasty morsels of info about what's coming down the pipe from T-Mobile USA in the next few months. Of course, none of this is set in stone or even confirmed, so take it with a grain of salt.

Most interesting is a pair of dates for Ice Cream sandwich updates, with Magenta's Galaxy S II slated to receive Android 4.0 on May 14th, followed by the Sensation 4G and Amaze 4G getting ICS (with Sense 3.6, presumably) on June 16th.

A bunch of device launches from Samsung and Huawei round up the list of dates, with no sign of HTC's One X, Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S III, or T-Mobile's rumored Galaxy Note variant. Sadness. Check out the entire bounty below.

• May 9th: Huawei Astor (low-end phone for 7-Eleven)
• July 11th: Huawei Buddy and Phoenix (myTouch QWERTY and slate, respectively)
• July 11th: Samsung Gravity TXT (new color)
• Aug 1st: Samsung T159 Cacao (low-end handset)
• Aug 15th: Samsung Apex Q (mystery device)

Leaked T-Mobile roadmap outlines Ice Cream Sandwich updates, new myTouch devices originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It may not be as sleek as its S kin, or even as powerful as that mid-level U, but this recently leaked Xperia ST21i might just have enough goodies to lure a handful of you in. According to Techblog, this thick, 3.2-inch unit packs some pretty run-of-the-mill features, including an 800MHz Qualcomm chip paired with 512MB of RAM, a 3-megapixel shooter to help with those Instagram shots and a low 480 x 320 screen res. Unlike a few of the other Xperias still waiting to be served, though, the ST21i has already been filled with a portion of Google's famous ICS. No word yet on when the pudgy device will see a legit introduction, but until then you can peek at some extra photos at the source link below.

Sony Xperia ST21i with ICS leaks out, shows off its chunky physique originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you're counting down the days till the Wii U is released, you might recall that back in January Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata said the console will ship with an NFC chip inside. Well, you can now get a taste of how games will incorporate that feature, thanks to this just-leaked trailer for Rayman Legends. According to the video, Rayman Rabbid action figures can jump into the game when a player taps them to the Wii U's screen. (It looks like that trick will work with an Assassin's Creed Ezio Auditore da Firenze figurine too.) Check out the trailer, courtesy of Gamekult, while you can -- after all, Ubisoft didn't want you to glimpse the U's magical powers just yet.

Continue reading Leaked Rayman Legends for Wii U trailer showcases NFC feature (video)

Leaked Rayman Legends for Wii U trailer showcases NFC feature (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This one is still very much unconfirmed, but a "trusted source" recently provided Neowin.net with the image you see above, which purports to be a mockup of a forthcoming business-minded tablet from HP dubbed the Slate 8. That's obviously a Windows 8 tablet and, if the details are to be believed, you can expect a 10.1-inch display, eight to ten hours of battery life, optional pen-based input, a docking station of some sort, an outdoor viewing option and a number of business-friendly security measures -- all in a package that's 9.2mm thick and about 1.5 pounds. Adding some weight to leak is ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, who hasn't been able to confirm it outright, but says that after a bit of investigation she is "inclined to believe this is a real mock-up and is part of HP's line up of business desktops and laptops it will be touting this year."

Business-minded HP 'Slate 8' tablet surfaces in leaked image originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While there are already vague Android update plans for Verizon-connected Samsung devices, a leaked screen from somewhere within the Big Red bunker has offered up some more details. It looks like the Rezound, Droid RAZR and RAZR Maxx are closest to the upgrade finish-line with testing likely to finish by May 7th for the HTC model and May 17th for the Motorola duo. According to Droid Life, Verizon's Motorola Xoom (you know, the Android tablet) is getting its update direct from Google, but it hasn't been deigned worthy of a concrete release date. A handful of software updates are also pegged for the likes of the Bionic, Thunderbolt, Revolution, Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Xperia Play, but they look likely to be more incremental than outright OS upgrades. For those interested in some new firmware numbers, we've included those update details after the break.

Continue reading Verizon ICS update schedule leaks: Rezound, RAZR and Xoom being tested now

Verizon ICS update schedule leaks: Rezound, RAZR and Xoom being tested now originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Indeed, the Curve 9320's been anything but shy in these past couple of months. First, it was spotted while on a purported trip to India and shortly after that posing for T-Mobile's UK site. Now, the BlackBerry handset has been pampered by a full hands-on treatment from the Vietnamese folks over at Sohoa. Unlike its other adventures, though, this one presents far less speculation. As we'd previously heard, the device is in fact running BlackBerry OS 7.1, as well as being equipped with that undisclosed single-core CPU, 512MB of RAM, 3.2-megapixel rear shooter and a 1450mAh battery. Per the translation, Sohoa also notes the Curve 9320 offers a "better keyboard" and is thinner than the rest of the Curve lineup. There's an extra photo for your viewing pleasure after the break, but for the entire rundown be sure to check out the source link below.

[Thanks, @tranquochuyvn]

Continue reading BlackBerry Curve 9320 spotted in Vietnam, leaves nothing to the imagination

BlackBerry Curve 9320 spotted in Vietnam, leaves nothing to the imagination originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ah, the Galaxy S III. We always knew it'd be a keystone among Android smartphones, but according to the AnTuTu benchmark suite, it'll be the one device to rule them all. While there's no way to verify whether this test is indeed legitimate, all Android users may currently peep the AnTuTu app, which not only shows the smartphone as having bested the mighty Transformer Prime tablet, but it also reveals the most comprehensive set of specs we've yet seen for the Galaxy S III -- again, take this with a grain of salt. The device is said to wield a Samsung Exynos 4212 SoC with a dual-core 1.4GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 4.7-inch, 720p HD display. This lines up similarly with the product listing from Amazon Germany, as the specs also reveal a 12 megapixel primary camera on the rear, along with a 2MP shooter on the front. No big surprises for the OS, which is listed as Android 4.0. Should the benchmark tests turn out to be legitimate, the HTC One X will no doubt have some very stiff competition.

Update: Samsung has revealed the 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad as the basis for its next superphone.

AnTuTu pegs Galaxy S III as most powerful Android device, potentially reveals its specs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.