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Rumor Mill: 7mm-thick Galaxy S III coming in May?
Korea's ETNews is betting its reputation upon this raft of rumored details concerning Samsung's Galaxy S III. Since the only thing we know for certain is that it'll be announced "After MWC," lets take all of these tidbits with a strong pot of "We'll believe it when we see it," okay? According to the report, the handset's going to be 7mm thick, helped by the company shrinking down its PCB, connector and chip sizes by between 10 and 20 percent. The only thing that hasn't lost any weight is the camera, which may sit on a "protrusion" (like the Droid RAZR's hump). It'll be running a custom quad-core processor with HDMI and LTE baked-in, and rather obviously it'll be running Ice Cream Sandwich. Here's where things get a little confusing, either this is the first of a raft of models that will highlight different features (so we'll see subsequent GS3s with an S-Pen, 3D display or souped-up camera) or the above perks will come with the flagship as standard. Parts are reportedly gearing up to be shipped, but the only time we'll get confirmation is when that special event kicks off closer to the summer.[Thanks, Erich]
Intel's Sandy Bridge E gets rounded up and reviewed, the E is for Excessive
You can guess how this one's gonna go: top marks for performance and a shriek of despair when it comes to value for money. Is there anyone out there who really needs an over-sized six-core CPU that requires its own chubby LGA-2011 socket and tailored X79 chipset before it'll even switch on in the morning? Could people seriously be persuaded to drop a grand on merely incremental improvements in technology, such as 15MB of L3 cache and a bigger 600MHz Turbo Boost for stock clock speeds up to 3.9GHz? Well now, let's not get distracted. Even if there were no market -- which there is -- Intel would probably carry on releasing world-beating desktop chips simply to remind us that its rivals can't, and we'd probably carry on reading about them. So here goes, a bunch of reviews covering both the i7-3960X and i7-3930K variants, which together represent the absurd awesomeness of Sandy Bridge E and are on sale at Newegg for $1,050 and $600 respectively: AnandTech: bemoans the absence of an on-die GPU, criticizes the X79 chipset, and dislikes the "performance/functionality tradeoffs" PC Pro: sedately noted that the i7-3960X shows an "improvement" over i7-2600K in real-world benchmarks, and that "AMD must be sweating." HotHardware: regards the 3960X as an "excellent overclocker" despite its vast power consumption, and says it combines with the X79 chipset to make "the most potent" desktop for gaming, content creation or productivity. Tom's Hardware: describes the 3960X as a "symbolic king in a crowd full of value," and the 3930K as the processor moneyed enthusiasts should be lusting over. ExtremeTech: says "the 3960X is a great chip on a solid platform," but cautions that only the most demanding gamers and content creators need this kind of power. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Samsung Galaxy S II may be destined for Bell July 21st for $150
Time to break out the peanut butter and syrup, folks, because Bell is waffling. The Canadian mobile provider looked all set for a July 21st launch of the highly-coveted Samsung Galaxy S II, according to a listing on Best Buy Canada, but the page has unfortunately been pulled. When it was live, the galactic sequel was priced for $150 with three-year commitment, and if that were true it would make Bell the first North American carrier to offer the hot-selling Android device -- though it certainly won't be the last. Was the page taken down at Bell's request to allow it the chance to formally announce the device? Has it been delayed? Or, was it just wrong? While we're guessing it's the first possibility -- it is, certainly, a flagship phone that deserves some fanfare -- we'll toss a quarter in the wishing well in hopes that our dreams come true next Thursday. Update: Best Buy Canada reinstated the page, but nudged the price up to $170. Thanks a lot. Update 2: Well, will you look at that? Bell's gone and made it official. The carrier will indeed get the Galaxy S II on July 21st. Think it's too good to be true? Check the Bell source link. [Thanks, idimdb]
Mythos Europe launches!
Like a digital phoenix rising from the ashes of a failed company, Mythos has come back from the dead to finally launch. Under the care of HanbitSoft and Frogster, Flagship's former Diablo-style MMO has been retooled and finally pushed out of the doors in Europe. Mythos Europe's Arne Freund is understandably excited: "We are very pleased with our rapidly growing community, whose support shows us that they, like us, have become really invested in the world of Mythos. We will continue to put all of our effort into supporting the game after release and to provide players with enough monsters to hack and slash their way through in the years to come. Talking of which, I've got a grudge to settle..." Mythos is free-to-play with optional item shop purchases and is available in five languages: English, German, French, Polish and Turkish. In addition to the digital download, there's a retail box version that includes an item voucher for a variety of exclusive goodies. Get into the action by downloading it from the official site, but before you do that, make sure to hit the jump and watch the launch trailer -- it'll get you pumped up for sure!
Samsung Galaxy S II shows up in Ukraine, gets a loving preview (video)
Where would we be without prototypes, eh? One such pre-production unit, of Samsung's dual-core Galaxy S II, has escaped into the Russian Ukrainian wilderness, where it's been thankfully rescued from the cold by the guys over at gagadget. Apart from squaring it up against the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 -- which we can only surmise was the nearest available Android handset, it surely can't have been the best -- they also dig pretty deeply into the latest TouchWiz UI and dish up a thoroughgoing gallery of sample images from that 8 megapixel autofocus camera on the back. It's an enlightening read, once you've enrolled Google Translate's help, though the video after the break might not be too informative if English is your only language. Still, it's a great visual tour of some yummy hardware. [Thanks, DarkDvr]
Samsung Galaxy S II and 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab II confirmed for MWC, 4-inch 3D display, LTE-based cloud gaming coming later
Alright, we've just laid eyes on some internal Samsung documents and can bring you the official names and specs of the successors to the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab. Firstly, the Galaxy S II will tout a 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus display, a 1GHz dual-core Orion / Exynos processor, NFC, Bluetooth 3.0, and 24Mbps HSPA+ connectivity. All those stats were leaked earlier this morning, along with the image above, and we've once again seen the 8.49mm thickness for this device, although we now believe it is the measurement at its thinnest point -- it's likely that the S II will fatten up to 9.9mm, presumably to accommodate the camera module, one of the last remaining parts of smartphone construction that require extra girth (NFC being another). As to the Galaxy Tab II, it is indeed the 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet we've been hearing so much about, with the added bonus of it being a Google Experience Device. That should mean no Samsung-derived skin customizations atop the stock Android 3.0 UI -- exactly what we expect to see from the Motorola Xoom. Also matching the Xoom are the resolution, at 1280 x 800, and CPU speed, at 1GHz, though we couldn't determine whether the Tab II will be a dual- or single-core tablet. Our money's on seeing the Exynos 4210 appear in both new Galaxy devices, but we'll have to wait until Samsung's presser tomorrow to find out for sure. One more note of import on specs: we saw a 16GB / 32GB / 64GB storage listing, but couldn't be sure what product it referred to -- wouldn't it be lovely if the Galaxy S II was the first smartphone to step past the 60GB barrier? Finally, looking toward the future, Samsung is apparently working on a 4-inch WVGA display with 3D capabilities -- presumably autostereoscopic like LG's Optimus 3D -- and an intriguing "Motion UI" control scheme. The latter will allow you to pan inside Google Maps and StreetView just by the movement of your phone, as well as zoom in and out of pages by tilting the handset up and down (a gyroscope will be required for both functions). Samsung also has big plans for LTE, with a focus on pumping out whatever you receive over the 4G connection to a nearby HDTV using dual display technology. The two applications we caught sight of were personal broadcasting, where your Sammy handset would act as an extremely sophisticated internet TV receiver, and cloud-based gaming. Here's hoping we learn more about these future ventures tomorrow.
Bill Roper reflects on Hellgate
How exactly does a well-funded studio composed of Blizzard veterans end up creating one of the more spectacular failures in recent gaming history? That's a question that Gamasutra attempts to answer in a new interview with former Flagship (and Cryptic) CEO Bill Roper. The debacle that was Hellgate: London stemmed mainly from over-ambition, Roper says, coupled with the lack of capital necessary to support the don't-release-til-it's-ready mentality that much of the staff experienced at Blizzard. "There was always the support there [at Blizzard] to say, 'You know what? If that's what you need to make this game great, then that's what we'll get for you. We'll figure it out.' It's obviously very different when you are an independent company, right, and not owned by somebody." The interview also touches on Flagship's involvement with Mythos as well as Roper's experiences dealing with the Hellgate fallout and extensive (and often personal) fan backlash. "It went from 'I didn't like your game' or 'I don't think your company makes good games' to the personal assault level," he says.
Nexus S emerges in white attire, but it only covers its rear
Staying true to its Galaxy S forefather, the Nexus S has shown up with a new white shell, which, just as with the Galaxy S, only extends to its rear portions, leaving the front end a familiar shade of noir. Just what's keeping manufacturers from blanching their phones' visage, we don't know, but at least it's looking like there'll be some variation in the Nexus S' palette. We did notice a "Silver Black" Nexus S sprouting up in European retailers' listings a couple of weeks ago, which this could well be -- it all depends on how loosely these companies define the word "silver." There's no knowledge on when or where this chromatically altered S will be on sale, but you'll know more as soon as we do. Update: First picture from the wilderness of the white back is now embedded after the break. The Next Web suggests Vodafone may be the European carrier for this particular version of the handset.
Nexus S overclocked to 1.2GHz, runs too damn fast for its Bluetooth to work
Even at its default 1GHz speed, Samsung's Hummingbird is one of the finest mobile processor around, but are you really going to complain about getting the option to crank an extra 200 milion clock cycles out of it? Morfic over on the xda-developers forums has delivered a kernel permitting Nexus S owners to achieve just that, although he still has to fix an issue that disables the phone's Bluetooth capabilities.Still, if you value ludicrous speed over wireless peripherals, the source link is your friend.
The Perfect Ten: The sadistic shopper's list for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
With the holiday shopping season upon us, gamers are hot for great deals and cheap entertainment. As my wife's logic goes, if something is 80% off, you buy it, even if you didn't really want it in the first place. It's the principle of the thing, an automatic 80% dose of smug satisfaction at being a savvy shopper! Not every deal should be pursued, however. Although most video games are playable for years and decades after release, not so with MMOs that have had their service shuttered. It's recently come to my attention that even though these games are completely unplayable -- rendered nothing more than a few cents' worth of a DVD and cardboard packaging -- online retailers haven't kept up with the times and keep these products on the virtual shelves long past their expiration dates. That's not to say you should avoid these products at all cost, because studies show that a large percentage of Massively readers have a sick and twisted sense of humor. What would make a better gift this Christmas than a multi-million-dollar-budget MMO that died a horrible death years before? So don't be the typical gifter who settles for a Blu-ray player or an iPod -- give a package of misery, disillusionment and broken dreams! Hit the jump for 10 items that absolutely belong in your shopping cart if you wish to be feared!
Nokia N8 review
The first time Nokia's N8-00 popped up on our radar was way back in early February of this year. On that chilly, misty morning, we learned of a mythical being capable of shooting 12 megapixel stills, recording 720p video, outputting via HDMI, and -- most importantly -- ushering in the promised Symbian^3 touch revolution. It's been a long road of leaks, teasers, hands-ons, and previews since then, but at long last, the legend of the N8 has become a purchasable commodity. All the early specs have survived, including the 3.5-inch AMOLED display, but the key question today, as it was at the beginning, relates to that all-new software within: does Symbian^3 succeed in elevating Nokia's touchscreen experience or does it drag down an otherwise stellar combination of high-end parts? For that verdict and much, much more, join us after the break.%Gallery-103738%%Gallery-104212%
Sigma SD1 has a 15.3MP sensor, weather-sealed magnesium alloy body, and no video mode at all (update: eyes-on!)
It'd be too easy to describe this as "one for the purists," but it really rather is. The Sigma SD1 eschews any pretenses of being a video camera and gets right on with the business of taking gorgeous stills instead. Employing a 24mm x 16mm X3 CMOS sensor -- you know, the one with three stacked layers, one each for absorbing red, green and blue light -- dual TRUE II image processors, and an 11-point autofocusing system, the SD1 is eager to sweep up enthusiast photographers into its magnesium alloy embrace. 98 percent viewfinder coverage, a 3-inch, 460k-dot LCD and CompactFlash compatibility fill out the spec sheet, while price is indicated as somewhere in the neighborhood of the Canon EOS 7D. Without any live view or video options, Sigma had better have some truly spectacular image quality to show us when this thing ships in February of next year. Update: Our hopes and dreams of caressing this rugged beast were dashed upon learning that the only SD1 at Photokina was held behind a glass box of emotion, but that didn't stop us from pointing our own camera at it and firing off a few shots. Trust us, it looks just as beastly in person as it does in the press shots. Have a gander below, won't you? %Gallery-102882%
Nokia N8 launches September 30, says senior manager
Tapani Kaskinen is Nokia's Senior Comms Manager, so it's fitting that he'd be the first person from the company to communicate a solid release date for its long-awaited N8 handset. The gent in question told Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti that advance orders of the N8 will "begin shipping 30 September." Bear in mind we're chewing through a machine translation here, but that part's pretty unmistakable. It also meshes perfectly with earlier speculation surrounding Nokia purchasing Google AdWords -- that indicated a one-week exclusive starting on September 23rd for Nokia's UK online store, which, if you do the math, again points to a wide release at the end of the month. We asked Nokia about it ourselves and they're remaining mum on the matter, but chances are looking pretty good that October will start with the N8 finally in eager users' hands.
Still clicking: Our exclusive interview with the Mythos dev team
Considering Mythos' stormy post-Flagship past and its relatively low profile over the past half year, we were pleased to see the team at Redbana unveil a website revamp last month, complete with a slew of vibrant new screenshots to tease the upcoming closed beta. The infrastructure revealed in the images suggests that the game has come a long way since we last checked in with the team; although many players might once have pigeon-holed Mythos as "just another Diablo clone," it's now maturing into a hybrid MMORPG that seems to have as much in common with Blizzard's other fantasy game as with the click-fests of yesteryear. Curious, we commandeered the team at Redbana in order to ask about the progress of the game. Meet up with us after the break as we discuss the transition to Redbana, overcoming the Diablo stigma, camera perspectives, map travel, character customization, and the likelihood that Mythos will be free-to-play. Oh, and did I mention you can play satyrs and cyclopes?!
Nokia N900 drops to $369, unlocked
Hard to believe but after all this time the N900 remains the most powerful handset in Nokia's vast collection of cellphones. No other Nokia handset even comes close and that won't change until Nokia launches the Symbian^3-powered N8 or the MeeGo-powered N9. So if you've got the dough and a certain inclination to write Python scripts on a Friday night, you might want to think about sliding $369 (down from $649 at launch or $479 currently at Nokia USA) Espoo's way for a crack at the ARM Cortex A8 slider. Sure, it's not the freshest face on the block, but the development community will certainly help eek-out every last bit of value for many months to come. P.S. Don't forget to apply the coupon code LL17PBSTFKZ440 to get the reduced price.
Nokia's 16 model house reveals a smokin' S series, N9 MeeGo?
Lovely home except for those pesky leaks. This Nokia house built (circa 2010) upon on a foundation of Symbian with a MeeGo roof is also sporting an interesting looking S-series smokestack. Most of the building blocks we've already seen including the flagship N8. The N9 is almost certainly Nokia's followup to the N900 and Espoo's first handset to feature its new MeeGo OS. But what's with the business-class E7, mainstream C7, and socially entertaining X7? None of these handsets have been announced, yet all three are at the top-end of their respective series meaning more functionality at a higher price. Still, the most interesting revelation is the S-series which Nokia has never referenced under its new naming scheme. The translated text from the S-series bullet describes it as, "A name reserved for limited phones. Mobiles that do not fit in other categories come in here." The first Moorestown phone to run MeeGo, perhaps? Hey, we can dream. [Thanks, Mark]
Nokia's New York flagship store closes today
Imagine our luck: we just happened to stroll into Nokia's New York flagship store today on 57th between 5th and Madison Avenue, only to discover that it was practically torn down and set to close permanently today, a move that Nokia announced late last year. A representative approached us as soon as we entered and said, "the only phones we have are from this point forward; there's nothing else in the store." Interestingly, a call over to Nokia's other North American flagship in Chicago confirmed that it isn't closing today and no date has been set (at least, not a date that anyone is talking about) -- so there's one more outpost in the States if you want to get your Nokia on one last time. Needless to say, the overwhelming majority of Americans won't be shedding any tears over the closure, but it's always disappointing to see a neat and beautifully-designed place to geek out go belly-up. And where are we going to play with an N8 before we buy now, anyway?
Samsung's EX1 / TL500 flagship compact articulates 'release' in Korean
It's out, Samsung's 10 megapixel EX1 (aka, TL500) with 3-inch articulating AMOLED display was just pushed out for retail in its Korean homeland. For 599,000KRW or about $400, you get a F1.8 24mm ultra-wide lens, 1/1.7-inch CCD, refined DRIMeIII imaging processor, dual image stabilization, and ISO 3200 max sensitivity (at full resolution) that should combine to deliver decent shots (for a compact) in low-light conditions without using a flash. As Samsung's flagship compact it also supports RAW with shutter‑priority, aperture‑priority and full-manual shooting modes. Unfortunately, H.264 video is limited to 640x480 pixels at 30fps. Fortunately, an optional optical viewfinder can be fitted to the hot shoe in case the AMOLED display fails to hold up under direct sunlight -- a very real possibility since there's no mention of Samsung's "Super AMOLED" anywhere in the press release. Can't wait to see the reviews on this pup.
Nokia N8 hands-on
Good old London, full of little wonders and flagship devices for you to discover. We were at Nokia's local HQ this morning to talk to the company's Head of Design Marko Ahtisaari, and the good gent happened to bring with him a prototype N8 for us to play around with. It was stressed to us that it's a prototype, so small cosmetic changes might still occur, but we are for most part looking at the hardware that will be hitting retail shelves in Q3 of this year. Speaking of Q3, Marko was adamant that that will be when Nokia "turns on" the Symbian^3 housed within the N8, which -- disappointingly -- meant that we couldn't get to grips with the new UI experience in person. Ah well, there are plenty of pictures to be devoured in the gallery below, and we can provide you with a few observations of our own to tide you over till then. The anodized aluminum shell feels very well built and is remarkably light. So much so that our first instinct was to ask whether the battery was inside or this was just a hollow mockup. We'd compare it to the feeling of picking up the Zune HD for the first time, it's a strikingly light device. Plopping it into our pocket also felt extremely natural, which might be attributable to the particular curvature of the N8's sides. Attention to detail in the physical design, as Marko said, was of paramount importance to Nokia. That doesn't come without sacrifices, however, with the user replaceable battery being substituted by an integrated cell, but to quote the man himself, the "overall design concept overruled" such considerations. We found the home button on the front a bit of a pain to press in, but it's still very early to form conclusions about the experience on this device. For now, just go gawk at it below and look out for the in-depth writeup of our chat with Marko Ahtisaari later today.%Gallery-92733%
Nokia's Symbian^3 touchscreen flagship leaked?
What does that look like to you? Sure looks like a probable Nokia flagship candidate for the upcoming launch of Symbian^3 to ride. Remember, we've already heard about a N8-00 said to be sporting a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen, 12 megapixel camera, and HDMI-out. This unnamed device features a 12 megapixel camera with Xenon flash and Carl Zeiss optics, an HDMI jack next to a top-mounted 3.5-mm headphone jack, and a bottom-loading battery allowing the phone to keep a unibody design (a la the HTC Legend). The screen is big, at least 3.5 inches and possibly hovering around 4 inches. Oh, and a QWERTY is nowhere to be found. So Nokia, got anything you'd like to announce? Update: Eldar Murtazin, a man who knows a thing or two about pre-production Nokia devices, says the N8-00 is real and due in September.%Gallery-88780%
