r510
Latest
MetroPCS finally prepping Android smartphone with LTE from Samsung?
LTE's great... but only if it's got phones and modems that can take advantage of it. Though MetroPCS beat Verizon to become the first American carrier to launch the technology, it's been scraping by so far with nothing other than the Samsung Craft, a middling dumbphone without the chops to attract the powerusers that would normally want to be involved with a 4G network anyway. Looks like that's finally about to change, though, because BGR's scored a shot of a so-called SCH-R910 -- also from Samsung -- that's running Android 2.2. It'll allegedly have backward compatibility with MetroPCS' CDMA network (naturally) along with a 1GHz Hummingbird core and 5 megapixel camera -- not a blockbuster by any stretch, but still on a whole new plane than the Craft. Rumor has it we'll see this before the end of March for somewhere between $330 and $400 contract-free; question is, will it beat Big Red's first LTE phones to market?
Samsung unveils Aura and Eclipse Montevina-based laptops
Montevina-based laptops are slowly but surely starting to trickle out, and Samsung's the latest to joint the party with a new Aura machine and the entirely new Eclipse line. The new R510 Aura sports a 15.4-inch screen, 2.53GHz T9400 Core 2 Duo on Montevina's 1066MHz bus with integrated X4500 graphics, 4GB of RAM, a dual-layer burner and a 320GB drive in a five-pound package, while the new Eclipse R710 17-inch desktop replacement sports a 2.53GHz P9500 Core 2 Duo and 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics in a new case design with colorful accents. Rounding out the Eclipse line are the 12.1-inch Q210 and 13.3-inch Q310 (pictured), which are being billed as ultraportables. Both feature NVIDIA 256MB GeForce 9200M GS, 4GB of RAM, 320GB drives, and dual-layer burners in the new Eclipse case design, but the Q210 makes do with a 2.26GHz P8400 Core 2 Duo, while the larger Q310 gets a 2.4GHz chip. No pricing information is available yet, but scroll past the break for pictures of the other machines.Read - Eclipse Q210 and Q310Read - Eclipse R710Read - Aura R510
Alltel rolls out Samsung "Wafer" and "Snap"
We recall (vaguely) a time when CDMA phones were notoriously clunky compared to their GSM brethren; they were thick, built like tanks, and frequently sported aerial antennas flying shamelessly beyond the hinge. Well, yeah, those days are long gone. Exhibit A: the Samsung SCH-r510 "Wafer" candybar, just introduced by Alltel, clocking in at a ridiculous 8.4 millimeters thick. For the record, that's a solid half millimeter thinner than the A727 being passed around at CES this year, a phone allegedly destined for AT&T that's still nowhere in sight. Besides EV-DO, features include a 1.3 megapixel cam and the soothing knowledge that your carrying the thinnest durned cellphone your Alltel dollars can buy. On the low end, the SCH-u340 "Snap" (known simply as the u340 on Verizon) keeps it simple, offering a monochrome external display and nothing more than 1xRTT to speed those bits along. Look for the Wafer for $70 after rebates and the Snap for $10 -- both on contract, obviously.[Thanks, Jeff]Read - Samsung r510 WaferRead - Samsung u340 Snap
