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LG to announce Snapdragon-boasting Android phone, Korea-bound in 2010

by Laura June posted Nov 6th 2009 at 11:58AM

It's looking like LG will be offering an Android phone boasting Qualcomm's hot Snapdragon chip -- which has recently squeezed its way into handsets such as the Xperia X10 and Acer's Liquid. The new LG mobile phone is expected for the Korean market in the second quarter of 2010. While the device is still unnamed and specs are still a mystery, LG is promising that the device will be "more mature" than the GW620 Eve, an Android device announced earlier this week for Rogers in Canada. There's no solid word on what availability of the device will be like, though LG says its considering possibilities outside of Korea.

[Via Slashgear]

Acer Liquid handled, evaluated, 'not too shabby'

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Nov 5th 2009 at 7:38PM

Looks like quite a few folks have got their hands on the Acer Liquid as of late, and lucky for us they've been rather loose-lipped with their thoughts on the subject. As suspected, the handset is running a 1GHz Snapdragon that's been under-clocked to 768MHz. And it looks like Acer didn't go crazy with the User Experience either, pretty much staying true to its Google Android 1.6 roots, albeit with a number of additions, including: social networking integration (Facebook and Flickr contacts and photo sharing), nemoPlayer for multimedia files, DataViz for Microsoft Exchange support, and the Spinlets music streaming service. In addition, Acer has redesigned some of the widgets, including the clock and the task manager, which now includes a preview of open apps. All-in-all, it seems to be a pretty solid Android handset with a few useful additions -- but as always, the verdict is out until we get our hands on one. In the meantime, hit up the read links below for a generous helping of screenshots, hands-on pics, and impressions.

[Via JK On The Run]

Read - PREVIEW: Acer Liquid Android 1.6 WVGA Touchscreen Smartphone
Read - Acer A1, Screenshot and Interface

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 announced, we go hands-on

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 11:00PM

The first Android device from Sony Ericsson may have undergone an upgrade in the naming department, jumping from X3 all the way to XPERIA X10 (probably to avoid confusion with Nokia's X3 handset), but what lies under the hood is reassuringly in line with what we've been hearing. That is to say, a 1GHz Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm, wide 4-inch capacitive touch display, 8.1 megapixel camera with LED flash, and a thoroughly tricked out Android skin named Rachael. Sony Ericsson stressed to us the symbiotic importance of both the new flagship device and "open OS" UI -- the X10 was presented as the patriarch of a whole new family of handsets, which we can expect to see in the first half of 2010, all sporting the beauty of Rachael and perhaps helping to bridge the gap between featurephones and, well, more advanced featurephones. So don't be shy, come along past the break to see our uncensored first impressions of both, along with hands-on video and pictures.

Gallery: Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 announced, we go hands on

Continue reading Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 announced, we go hands-on

Acer Liquid's Snapdragon processor to be clocked at just 768MHz?

by Darren Murph posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 11:13AM

Ugh. Just weeks after we figured that Acer's first Android-based handset would indeed ship with a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a new slide over at an international Liquid presentation is suggesting otherwise. As you can clearly see above, it looks as if the Qualcomm-sourced CPU will be underclocked to just 768MHz, which makes little to no sense on the surface. Granted, most average consumers couldn't care less about the CPU in their next smartphone, but it seems reasonable to think that the Liquid will lag behind its 1GHz contemporaries when used side-by-side. Who knows though -- maybe this is just the thing necessary to squeeze a full week of battery life out of this thing. Or not.

[Via MobileTechWorld, thanks Gully and Jose]

Nokia said to be launching smartphone with AT&T, Snapdragon ahoy?

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 30th 2009 at 8:04AM

Nokia, the world's largest phone maker, hasn't even registered as a blip on most Americans' radars for years now. Not since Neo's 8110i fell out of a FedEx envelope has the public as a whole coveted anything the company had to offer, but that could be changing very soon. According to VentureBeat, Nokia has signed on with AT&T to launch some hot new smartphone in the not too distant future, presumably with the sort of incentivized pricing that, for once, might just allow it to be a value proposition. Details are slim, but it's said to be running a Qualcomm processor and, given rumors of Snapdragon talks, that's where we're putting our money.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Core Values: The silicon behind Android

by Anand Shimpi posted Oct 14th 2009 at 3:30PM

Core Values is our new monthly column from Anand Shimpi, Editor-in-chief of AnandTech. With over a decade of experience poring over the latest in chip developments, he's here to explain how things work and why our tech is the way it is.

Remember this chart? It's interesting for a number of reasons, but I want to highlight that all present day Android phones use virtually the same Qualcomm application processor, all based on a sluggish 528MHz ARM11 core. Blech.

I've got nothing against Qualcomm, but a big reason most Android phones feel slow is because they're running on slow hardware. The ARM11 core was first announced in 2003. It's old and creaky, and it's used so frequently because it's cheap. But the basic rules of chip design mean that things are about to change fast.

Continue reading Core Values: The silicon behind Android

FLO TV Personal Television hands-on (video)

by Paul Miller posted Oct 7th 2009 at 10:12AM

After a few years of marketing FLO TV through Verizon and AT&T, Qualcomm has struck out on its own to sell a standalone FLO TV, this here FLO TV Personal Television. It seems like a bit of an odd choice in the current media consumption climate, and the price is certainly steep at $250, along with the $9+ monthly subscription fee, but Qualcomm naturally has its reasons. Basically, if people want a second screen to watch FLO TV on, or already have a non-FLO phone that they're happy with, this gives them the option, and then there's the all-important family car ride where you might hand this device to your kid, but wouldn't be so likely to toss them your own phone. Unfortunately, the lack of a hefty carrier subsidy means the $250 pricetag doesn't seem too in line with the quality of this device -- particularly the screen, which pales in comparison to those found on the similarly priced Zune and iPod touch (at least on the prototype device we played with). The touchscreen interface is pretty simple and reasonably quick, though touch detection isn't exactly first-tier, but basically this whole device is as straightforward and no-frills as it looks. Check out a quick hands-on video after the break.

Continue reading FLO TV Personal Television hands-on (video)

Flash 10.1 announced for just about anything with a screen, webOS and WinMo betas this year (update: Pre video!)

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 5th 2009 at 1:31AM

Flash 10 already supports HD video on the desktop, but 10.1 -- announced this week at Adobe's MAX conference in Los Angeles -- is being billed the first to really reap the full benefits of the Open Screen Project by unifying feature sets across a wide variety of platforms on the desktop, the laptop, and the pocket. As usual, Windows, Mac, and Linux will all get hooked up with the latest release, but public betas of 10.1 for Windows Mobile and webOS will be hitting before the end of the year as well followed by Android and Symbian in "early" 2010. RIM's also gotten official with its rumored membership in the Open Screen Project, though the lack of a timeline for 10.1 support in BlackBerry OS is a stark reminder of the long technical road that lies ahead for Waterloo as it tries to match the smartphone competition tit-for-tat in the multimedia space. At the end of the day, mobile Flash means nothing without the horsepower to properly drive it, so let's hope that Tegra, Snapdragon, and next-generation architectures like OMAP4 start to come on board en masse just as these builds come out of beta.

Speaking of fast chipsets, the other big news out of the show is that Flash 10.1 will take advantage of GPU acceleration on a number of key mobile platforms, including both nVidia's Tegra and Qualcomm's Snapdragon alongside ION for smooth (well, theoretically smooth) 720p and 1080p video on the latest generation of netbooks and smartbooks.

Update: Added video of the Palm Pre running three instances of Flash in parallel after the break.

Read - Flash 10.1 announcement
Read - RIM joins the OSP

Continue reading Flash 10.1 announced for just about anything with a screen, webOS and WinMo betas this year (update: Pre video!)

Kindle coming to the UK in October? Amazon might just tell us next week

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 1st 2009 at 8:15AM

Wanna know what we love? Authoritative sources. That fine breed of people who don't like keeping important secrets is back with another hit, this time suggesting that Amazon has finally tied up all the loose ends and is ready to bring the Kindle to Blighty. This implies Qualcomm has done its rumored job of putting together a 3G and WiFi connectivity package with one of the UK's mobile operators, and all that remains to be done now is the old dotting and crossing of i's and t's. An official announcement -- which should tell us whether the Kindle 2 will be joined by the chunkier Kindle DX -- is expected some time ahead of the Frankfurt Book Fair, which commences on October 14.

[Via Pocket lint]

Qualcomm's FLO TV device caught in the wild with a cup of joe

by Tim Stevens posted Sep 24th 2009 at 7:57AM

If you're on AT&T or Verizon you may have watched an episode of something or another wirelessly via FLO TV, and while the service has hardly taken the nation by storm, it's probably the closest thing to DMB we Americans are going to get for awhile. Qualcomm was rumored to be working on a dedicated device for the service also called the FLO TV, a television-tuning gizmo with a capacitive touchscreen, and now here it is, captured sitting precariously close to the edge of the table, looking set to tumble onto what's surely a greasy, dingy floor below. The device also doubles as a PMP, and while only 4GB of storage means it won't be a particularly good one, with any luck there's a microSD slot in there somewhere. It's all very hush-hush at this point so we don't have any idea about pricing or availability, but perhaps the loose lips at the FCC will give us an answer to that second question soon.

iRex DR800SG e-reader brings global 3G downloads -- Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, and Verizon partnerships

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 23rd 2009 at 1:26AM

Get ready to add another big time e-reader partnership to the list: iRex is set to announce later today a deal that will bring its latest DR800SG E-Ink slab to Best Buy with unlimited Verizon 3G data on board. The $399 e-reader with 8.1-inch touchscreen arrives as rumored with the ability to wirelessly download digital books from Barnes & Noble's e-bookstore in addition to over 1,100 newspapers from Newspapers Direct -- it'll also handle any books downloadable in the ePub format. The 3G goodness comes via a Gobi radio from Qualcomm -- right, that means HSDPA data too, allowing owners to download data while traveling abroad. Take that Kindle. The DR800SG is expected to arrive in US Best Buy stores next month. We'll be going hands-on with it later today where we'll have plenty of pics and the full suite of specs.

Update: iRex has dropped a picture onto its home page. Is that stylus to scale?

[Thanks, Tom]

HTC Leo caught on video demonstrating its multitouch display

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Sep 16th 2009 at 3:02PM

There's been plenty of rumor and speculation regarding the HTC Leo as of late, all serving to pique our interest. If talk of a Snapdragon CPU and an updated TouchFlow 3D UI are not, in fact, greatly exaggerated, it looks like we might have a killer phone on our hands here. And now, to fill in the picture a bit, the kids at PocketPT have helped us to a demonstration of the device's multitouch capabilities. Exciting, no? Make sure you check out the video below, which shows the Leo flipping through photo albums and zooming in / out of stills and video the with style and ease befitting a 1GHz processor. You'll be glad you did.

[Via WMPoweruser.com]

Continue reading HTC Leo caught on video demonstrating its multitouch display

Palm Pixi processor, chipset specs get detailed at last

by Donald Melanson posted Sep 14th 2009 at 6:29PM

Palm may have divulged most of the details about its new Pixi phone when it got official with it last week (and let us get our hands on it), but it was unfortunately staying mum about a few key specs, including the mystery processor at the heart of the device. Thankfully, Qualcomm has now come out and clarified that situation so Palm doesn't have to, and detailed the complete specs for the MSM7627 chipset that powers the Pixi. The big news there is that the chipset packs two ARM cores on a single chip, including one dedicated 600MHz applications processor, and a separate 400MHz modem processor to offload some of the heavy lifting. Otherwise, the phone is said to pack a 200MHz, OpenGL 2.0-supporting GPU for some decent gaming capabilities, and a 320MHz application DSP to handle multimedia on the device, including full 30 fps WVGA video encoding and decoding. Hit up the link below for the complete rundown.

[Thanks, Fernando]

HTC Leo spotted in the wild, sports gargantuan 800 x 480 display

by Paul Miller posted Sep 14th 2009 at 11:59AM

Those UI elements still a bit too small in Windows Mobile 6.5? It's no problem at all for the HTC Leo, which has been found at last in the wild. The monstrous handset houses what we've heard to be a 4.3-inch screen, and the hardware info screen shows it to be pumping an 800 x 480 resolution with a 1GHz Qualcomm 8250B Snapdragon processor -- excuse us while we allow a tingle to run leisurely up and down our spine. It dwarfs the Touch Pro2 (a largish handset in its own right) in head to head comparisons, and seems strikingly similar to earlier leaks -- even down to that dual LED flash and the Pro.Three moniker on the back.

[Via WMPoweruser.com; thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Gallery: HTC Leo spotted in the wild

Qualcomm forbidden to use "smartbook" by order of German court

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 1st 2009 at 5:21AM

And so it goes. In similar fashion to the psion "netbook" debacle, the German entity of Qualcomm was just hit with a restraining order for its use of the term "smartbook" as followup to the smackdown issued on a German blogging site over the weekend. The preliminary injunction issued by a German court comes at the request of Germany-based Smartbook AG that claims it is being confronted with an "absurd" and "bold attack" on its brand name. The decision calls for a €250,000 fine in case of non-compliance with risk of arrest for contempt. Really Smartbook AG, arrest? We imagine a number of vendors are frantically scribbling out the term "smartbook" from its placards that will be on display at the big IFA show in Berlin later this week.