Evo4gShift
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Refresh Roundup: week of January 30, 2012
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!
HTC EVO Shift 4G handled on video by Wirefly
Kind of unusual for a top-tier third-party retailer to beat everyone else (including the manufacturer and carrier) to the punch with a detailed live video of a new smartphone -- but hey, really, who are we to complain? Wirefly has posted a nearly 10-minute introduction to the EVO Shift 4G that Sprint just made official this morning, comparing it to both an original EVO 4G and a Droid 2 so you can get a feel for the diminutive dimensions (relatively speaking, anyway). It looks pretty fast from the video, and the stock Quadrant score over 1,400 would seem to back up that impression -- but naturally, we're sure it can get even better with some careful ROM tweaking and a timely upgrade to Gingerbread. Follow the break for the full video.
HTC EVO Shift 4G in the wild!
QWERTY fans, rejoice: at this point, we're pretty sure this thing's getting announced this week, seeing how it's out and about in retail packaging. Here's Sprint's EVO Shift 4G in all its in-the-wild glory -- and yes, it turns out it's definitely called the EVO Shift 4G, not the EVO 4G Shift, since we've got the name spelled out on the official branded box here. As a refresher, this phone's shaping up to be the EVO 4G's keyboard-equipped cousin, albeit with a lower-res camera (5 megapixels), a smaller display, and -- seemingly -- no front camera. For some, that could be an acceptable tradeoff... and it's conceivable that we'll see it on sale within a few days considering the flurry of retail leaks we've witnessed. Check out all the juicy shots below. [Thanks, anonymous tipster] %Gallery-112409%
HTC EVO 4G Shift accessories start rolling into Best Buy
Sprint's keyboard-equipped EVO 4G doppelganger -- the EVO 4G Shift -- is certainly looking like a lock for CES next week, and more evidence of that is literally showing up at Best Buy locations as we speak. Seems that Zagg's InvisibleSHIELDs are being delivered now, confirming both the name of the phone and the appearance of the device itself -- though Zagg isn't shy about using a photo of the phone gussied up in what we presume to bone of its own cases. Who's buying? [Thanks, anonymous tipster]
HTC Knight hits Best Buy's system with PG0610 model name
We've already seen what's purported to be the HTC Knight show up in Sprint's database under the guise of the HTC A7373, and we now have yet another model name thrown into the mix courtesy of this supposedly legitimate shot of Best Buy's data transfer system. As you can see, what's clearly labeled as the HTC Knight is now sporting the PG0610 designation (previously seen at the FCC), and it's chilling alongside the HTC EVO 4G, which certainly makes sense -- although it's less clear what the ancient HTC Apache is doing there. For those that haven't been keeping track, this is the same phone that's also been known as the EVO Shift 4G and the Speedy, one of which may or may not be the device's actual name when it's finally, officially launched -- hopefully at CES next month.
Rumors: Samsung Nexus S using fancy curved display Sprint had to pass on, HTC EVO Shift 4G is the Knight?
We've been fed some information by an established tipster today that paints an interesting picture of what sort of Android gear Sprint will -- and won't -- be getting next. First, we're told that the EVO Shift 4G trademark HTC recently filed for is the device known as the Knight, a downsized EVO 4G with a four-row sliding keyboard and a larger battery. Interestingly, as far as our tipster knows, the front-facing camera is off the table -- but in light of all the buzz around video calling these days, we wouldn't be surprised if it had been added back. Perhaps more interesting, though, is some buzz around the display on the Nexus S. You might remember that we noticed it's concave on the front during its brief reveal at the Web 2.0 summit yesterday, an extraordinarily unusual design element for a full-touch phone. Well, our tipster tells us Samsung's been shopping this curved display technology to carriers for a while -- as early as CES at the beginning of this year behind closed doors -- claiming that its research showed such a design improved perceived usability over a perfectly flat display. Sprint bought the line and wanted to get a curved-display model on shelves in time for the holidays this year, but Sammy was apparently unable to deliver product in the volume it was asking for... so that's where the Nexus S might come into play; seems the Google-branded model could be the first to ship with it. We're unconvinced that it'd be any better, but our judgment is fully reserved until we've got a device in our hands -- which hopefully happens sooner rather than later. [Image via xda-developers] Note: Commenters are pointing out that the Dell Venue Pro also has a curved display, but it's a different situation -- that's longitudinally convex glass over a flat display. Here, it's laterally concave -- though we don't know whether the underlying AMOLED component is curved or not.
