InTheWild
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Exclusive: Dell Thunder prototype rumbles into the wild (video)
Did it get hot in here all of a sudden or is it just this extremely sexy prototype we're looking at? Yes, the Dell Thunder that boomed onto your internet screens back in April is back, and this time we've got video of it too. Our tipster reports an 8 megapixel camera with LED flash on the back -- which includes 720p video capture capabilities -- along with a removable 1,400mAh battery. His prototype's running vanilla Android 2.1 at present, though the final units can probably be expected to ship with Dell's custom skin on top. Screen resolution is purportedly 800 x 480, though judging by that 7 x 4 icon grid up there and our tipster's own experience, it could be even higher; the 4.1-inch display looks to indeed be of the OLED variety, as our earlier leak had indicated. All that and it has the looks of a pocket-sized supercar. Enough teasing, skip past the break for the video. P.S. With Thunder now confirmed as an honest to goodness device (and not just renders), the rest of the April leak would seem to be validated including the Windows Phone 7 Lightning handset, the 7-inch Looking Glass Android tablet, and the two mid-range Flash and Smoke Android devices. [Thanks, Fahad]%Gallery-99260%
Droid 2 R2-D2 edition spied in the wild, ready to repair your X-wing
If you compare this shot of the bespoke R2-D2 Droid 2 to the background of Verizon's teaser site (inset), you can see this is almost certainly the genuine article -- and we knew that Verizon intended to intro this thing at the Star Wars-themed Celebration V conference kicking off today, so this is all making a lot of sense. We admit, we were kind of hoping for a graphic that was a little more... you know, R2-D2-shaped, but when it comes to astromech-themed gear, we'll take what we can get. [Thanks, Brian D.]
Motorola's Droid 2 in the wild, looking as blue as ever
And that, folks, is our first in the wild look at Motorola's second generation Droid. It's not officially supposed to hit retail until tomorrow, but that obviously hasn't stopped a delivery truck from unloading a few at a nondescript Sam's Club. We're still waiting to hear back on whether or not they're actually being allowed out of the store today, but hey, tomorrow ain't too far away. P.S. - Nice Sony Ericsson mat. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Bold 9650 spied running BlackBerry 6
RIM has already gone on record saying that the CDMA-equipped Bold 9650 has been mercifully tapped for a BlackBerry 6 upgrade "subject to carrier certifications in the months ahead," but where's the proof, RIM? How do we know you're not just spouting a bald-faced lie? Okay, okay, we don't doubt BlackBerry 6 is coming for the 9650 owners out there, but it's still nice to see a few shots of a Verizon-branded model with the new code in the wild. Word on the street is that it's running really slow right now, so it might be a while until they iron out enough kinks to get it to retail -- but who knows, maybe we can count on a leaked firmware or three in the meantime.
HTC's 4.3-inch Desire HD shows up on video
We saw our first images of the Desire HD over the weekend, and just as day follows night, video leaks typically follow pictorial ones. You'll already be familiar with the mooted specs -- including 720p HD video recording, WVGA screen resolution, and an 8 megapixel imager -- so what else does this handset tour reveal? Well, the family resemblance to HTC's other 4.3-inchers is inevitably apparent to see, with the Desire HD sticking its headphone port at the bottom just like the HD2, and employing a dual LED flash à la the EVO 4G. Beyond that, it looks like yet another well rounded device from the prolific Taiwanese phone maker -- hurry past the break to see it for yourself. [Thanks, Cj]
HTC Schubert: Windows Phone 7 gets an aluminum unibody handset to call home? (video)
And the Windows Phone 7 leaks just keep on flowing. After that mysterious ASUS pre-production unit we saw late last week, today we're being treated to the first sighting of the HTC Schubert. Purportedly a device planned for "day one" of the WP7 revolution, the Schubert is said to have been built using a single piece of aluminum (just like the Legend) with plastic cutouts in the back allowing for that all-important wireless connectivity. Not much else is known for now -- hell, there's no way to even confirm this phone is who it says it is -- but the video's right after the break. [Thanks, Peter]
HTC Desire HD spotted in the wild with EVO-like form factor, Android 2.2 on board?
Well, would you look at that -- it's an Android 2.2 handset with a giant screen, HTC watermark and plenty of similarities to (though apparently no front-facing camera like) the EVO 4G. Could this be the 4.3-inch, 1GHz HTC Desire HD? That's what a Hong Kong forum claims, and we've no doubt we'll have pseudo-confirmation at some point soon given how quickly and thoroughly handsets are leaking out these days.
ASUS' Windows Phone 7 debuts in the wild?
Boy, this thing here has more questions than answers attached to it. Presented as the first Windows Phone 7 device to show up in Pakistan, of all places, this angular handset bears a serial number on top and atypical "powered by ASUS" branding on the bottom, leading us to believe that if it's legit, it's certainly a pre-production model. Even so, should you dare to invest some trust into its validity, you'll find plenty of reason to be titillated: brushed metal adorns the front, a rare sight on mobile phones of any description, the top right corner looks suspiciously like it might be housing a front-facing camera, and the display looks very much like an OLED panel to us. Exciting, if true.[Thanks, Raju]Update: Turns out the phone in question belongs to the leakster's brother. Perhaps he's an ASUS engineer on vacation in his home town?
BlackBerry Torch already showing up in some AT&T stores?
We've called a bunch of our local stores and have struck out, but for what it's worth, we've been sent a shot of the BlackBerry Torch's box apparently chilling in the stockroom of one of AT&T's many corporate-owned retail locations around the country. Though the official launch is August 12, we imagine you might be able to find a rep willing to slip you one early if you find one that's received their shipment and push 'em hard enough. No violence or torture techniques, though, alright? [Thanks, anonymous tipster]
HTC Paradise and Fiesta flipped on Craiglist, AT&T-bound?
Look familiar? We know, it's tough to keep this endless barrage of Android gear straight, so let us refresh your memory: this phone, allegedly the HTC Paradise, matches up perfectly with a model PC70110 that we spied in the FCC all the way back in April on its way to AT&T. Sure enough, some lucky dude apparently scooped it up as an "AT&T sample" from an eager seller on Craigslist recently -- and considering that the only QWERTY Android device that the carrier's got right now is the Backflip, we'd be delighted to see it come along any day now. That's not the only unreleased piece of hardware he managed to score, though: turns out he also got the Fiesta, a phone we haven't heard about in a full year and could very well have fallen on the scrap heap by now. The picture provided of the Fiesta isn't that great (check the Source link to see it), but from what we see and the fact that it's got a 3.2 megapixel camera, our guess is that it's been supplanted at retail by the Aria. At any rate, good to see AT&T seems to be keeping the heat on Android.
Motorola Sage pictured in glorious detail, on a collision course with AT&T
Confirming our FCC-inspired conjecture, here we have a gallery of pictures giving us a detailed look at Motorola's latest (though probably not greatest) Android handset. Just as we posited, this QWERTY slider is bound for AT&T's airwaves and it comes with a Motoblur 2 skin, as seen most recently on the Droid X. We keep telling these manufacturers that bone stock Android and a rapid upgrade cycle would be preferable but they don't listen. You'll have to make do with Android 2.1 when the Sage launches, which can't be too far off from now given that our tipster has had his test unit for a good month already. [Thanks, Charlie W.]%Gallery-98826%
Motorola Sage spotted in the wild, Mr. Blurrycam claims there's QWERTY on board
Sure, we'd heard tell of a Motorola Sage and briefly posited that the 850 / 1900MHz Android device could be AT&T's followup to the Backflip, but bless our bluetooth and count our digital compasses if this isn't it. Ubergizmo obtained this shot of a Motorola device that's a dead ringer for the aforementioned horizontal clamshell, complete with the huge trackpad (mounted on the front this time) and 3.1-inch screen. Mr. Blurrycam reportedly says it will sport Android 2.1 and a hardware keyboard as well, though from this angle there's no telling where Motorola might have stuck the QWERTY in, on or around the silver-trimmed shell. Portrait slider, anyone? [Thanks, Calob]
Samsung Galaxy U and Galaxy K add to the alphabet soup in South Korea
SK Telecom already offers a version of the Galaxy S -- but it's often the case that two or all three of Korea's top wireless players want in on the same hot handsets, so it's no surprise to hear that rivals LG U+ and KT are both working on flavors of their own. Confusingly, they'll be called the Galaxy U and the Galaxy K -- apparently in tribute to their carriers' names -- but they'll both be a touch smaller than the original S, clocking in at 3.7 inches (see the U pictured next to an S above). Word on the street is that they'll both be hitting between August and September, so the wait's a mercifully short one. Ironically, it's the supply of Samsung's 3.7-inch AMOLED displays that forced HTC's hand on moving into SLCD -- so we guess this is where part of that supply's being diverted. Check another picture of the U after the break. [Thanks, Pete]
MasterPad prototype marries Windows 7 to 11.6-inch IPS screen (video)
Check out this 14mm-thin contender: built by Pegatron and still at the prototype stage, the MasterPad looks to be the embodiment of Steve Ballmer's incoming armada of desirable Windows 7 tablets. It sports an 11.6-inch IPS screen, which accommodates a 1,366 x 768 widescreen resolution, a 1.3 megapixel webcam plus mic, two USB ports, a memory card reader, an accelerometer, mini-HDMI port, 3G connectivity, and 32GB or 64GB SSD options. All that hi-tech goodness is wrapped up in a magnesium and aluminum alloy body, weighing 990 grams. There are some less cutting edge specs, like the disappointing 2-cell battery that will only get you 5 hours of use and the 1.66GHz Atom N450 CPU -- but we're being promised 1080p video playback and Flash compatibility are ready to roll, and our machine translation hints at an additional HD video-processing chip. The early hands-on experience seems to have left the Israeli journos impressed, and their homeland can expect the MasterPad to arrive "in the coming months," with an Android version also in the works. See it on video after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Image courtesy of Nitsan Saddan, Ynet
LG VL600 LTE / CDMA modem for Verizon in the wild?
You might remember that an LTE modem for Verizon passed FCC muster not long ago -- now, it seems we're getting our first glimpse of it. As is usually the case with these early devices on next-gen networks, this USB stick doesn't look quite as svelte as we'd probably like it to be, but we have little doubt that they'll get progressively thinner and sexier over the course of a year or three. And hey, in the meantime, far be it from us to steer clear of faster download speeds just because the modem's a little chubby, you know?
Verizon leaks another Droid 2, getting BlackBerry Storm 3, Curve 3, 10.1-inch tablet later this year?
Now that the Droid 2 has officially reached "leaking like a sieve" status, we thought we'd toss you another couple shots of the Droid X's QWERTY-equipped cousin, which we're being told is locked for an August release on Verizon. If you're more of the BlackBerry type, though, we've got some news for you, too: our source is telling us that both a Curve 3 and Storm 3 are "possible" for the holidays this year. If we had to guess, the Curve 3 is likely a variant of this 9300 we've been seeing lately, whereas the Storm 3 could be a version of the 9800 slider or an entirely new keyboardless slate. There's also a 10.1-inch tablet on the docket; the carrier has already confirmed that Android tablets are in the pipeline, but this could also be a version of the rumored BlackBerry beast. More on this noise as soon as we get it; in the meantime, follow the break for another shot of that Droid 2, won't you? [Thanks, RWN]
Exclusive: Motorola WX445 leaked, offers low-end Android for Verizon
So this little number just rolled into our tips inbox -- and at a glance, it appears to be the anti-Droid X, if that makes any sense. We're being told this is the Motorola WX445 for Verizon (street name unknown), featuring Android 2.1, a flash-less camera of unknown pixel count, a touchscreen ranging somewhere between 2.5 and 3 inches, and a pretty light 1170mAh battery on board. Our tipster tells us it runs Blur, though we imagine it's possible it runs the Blur-esque skin seen on the Droid X that doesn't actually make use of Moto's back end to do its deed. We're also told it's "not a very impressive phone" and resembles a keyboardless Pre Plus in the flesh "but cheaper looking," so needless to say, you're not going to be cross-shopping this against an EVO 4G; if anything, we suppose it might make a decent Devour alternative. More on this one as we get it. [Thanks, Besiktas Fan] %Gallery-97272%
HTC Vision with Android, full QWERTY in the wild?
For reasons seemingly known only to Peter Chou himself, HTC has mostly steered clear of producing high-quality physical QWERTY devices running Android, despite the fact that there might be no phone manufacturer in the world more skilled at making them (let us remind you of the Touch Pro2, among many others dating back the better part of a decade). Anyhow, we caught wind last month of a possible entry in the form of the so-called "Vision," but we didn't have any visuals -- just a user agent profile that may or may not amount to anything. Well, that seems to be changing today with a couple blurry shots out of a Croatian site that allegedly shows the goods featuring a 3.7-inch display, a 1GHz processor (Snapdragon, we assume), and Android 2.1 with Sense (the launcher looks like stock Android in this photo, but the status bar is clearly HTC custom). At a glance, it doesn't seem to be the prettiest thing in the world -- but for a form factor traditionally associated with power users and suits, this might be just the ticket. [Thanks, Ivan]
Mystery Nokia slider shows off proto-Symbian^3 one last time, commits cellular suicide (video)
We never did quite get the name of Nokia's prototype slider -- it certainly isn't the C7, and it's apparently not the N9 -- but regardless of what you call our dearly departed, its journey is over. In what will no doubt be a fairly familiar tale to readers everywhere, TechnoBuffalo saw the phone remotely wiped right before their eyes, and Negri Electronics (our original source) says they've got private investigators breathing down their necks for the device. Stalwart to the bitter end, RM-626 gave one last performance before it dropped. See the 4-inch handset play an embedded YouTube video after the break if you must, but be sure to stop at the 5:45 mark. For true phone lovers, the rest is too painful to watch. [Thanks, Larry N.]
Nokia N9, E7, C7, or whatever it's called gets caught on video
The mechanism that opens and closes the articulated display is pretty neat -- but otherwise, there isn't much from Negri Electronics' video of its mysteriously-obtained Nokia prototype that is likely to raise many eyebrows. The phone -- labeled "C0" but more likely a member of the Nseries or Eseries -- gets poked and prodded over the course of four-odd minutes, revealing a number of ports protected with plastic flaps (micro HDMI included, it seems) along with a good, close look at that expansive QWERTY keyboard. Performance looks reasonable but not mind-blowing -- and we don't want to pass judgment on a software build that's likely got months of work left before retail -- so this could be a reasonable option for N97 and N97 Mini owners looking for an upgrade with a capacitive display and some ultra-mild UI rework. Follow the break for the video. [Thanks, Anphase]
