InTheWild
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Nokia X7-00 spotted feeding its Need for Speed in the wild (video)
Firstly, let's be absolutely clear that we don't know this is Nokia's X7, but given the polished, entertainment-centric design (it has four speakers, apparently), we're inclined to believe that it's the real deal. Its screen looks to be the same 4-inch affair as on Nokia's E7, it's running the latest Symbian OS (formerly known as Symbian^3), and pictures of its rear reveal an 8 megapixel camera. The last detail of import, naturally, is the reassurance that comes from knowing that this supposed X7 can crunch through Need for Speed quite nicely. Jump past the break to see it on video. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: The video's been thrown into private mode pretty quickly. Let us know if you find any copies of it floating about the interwebs. Update 2: Thanks to the lightning-fast gang at Mobile Bulgaria, we've got a new copy of the video up past the break. We've also spotted that this handset has four homescreens rather than the three available on currently released Symbian handsets. A newer version of the software? Might well be.
Nexus S in the wild gives us a blurry Gingerbread walkthrough
The old adage "when it rains, it pours" certainly applies with leaks -- and to that end, the Nexus S we saw a few hours back is now turned on and ready to give us a frustratingly blurry preview of Android 2.3 (which you may know better as Gingerbread). Of course, Eric Schmidt himself did the same on stage at the Web 2.0 summit recently, but there's a difference: Schmidt wouldn't admit he was holding a Nexus S, wouldn't show us all of Gingerbread's UI tweaks, and wouldn't take a bunch of dark, low-quality shots and submit them to xda-developers. There's not a lot to see here, but you can make out some of the icons on the redesigned, blacked-out status bar, the redone phone keypad, and the About screen where we get confirmation that it really is a Nexus S running 2.3 (granted, this screen is incredibly easy to fake, but we'll allow it in light of all the other visual evidence we've got going on here). Unfortunately, it's still not at all clear when the Nexus S is actually launching... so for now, we'll take as many of these high-ISO galleries as we can get.
HTC Mecha / Incredible HD pictured for Verizon with a fancy '4G' symbol
If you weren't so keen on that LTE-enabled LG handset for Verizon that we saw recently, feat your eyes on this puppy. What we're looking at here is allegedly the HTC Mecha -- which may be known at retail as the Droid Incredible HD -- and from the looks of it, it'll be the first true EVO 4G equivalent from HTC for Big Red. And yes, when we say "EVO 4G equivalent," we mean 4G network support, too: you'll notice a little "4G" symbol up there toward the right side of the status bar, suggesting this will likely be among the company's inaugural LTE phones early next year. Android Central's source says that the phone is getting 9Mbps down and 5Mbps up in testing right now... so let's just hope those speeds hold up when the network actually launches.
This is the Nexus S
Here it is: the Nexus S, your Gingerbread-running Google phone from Samsung, and the presumed sequel to the HTC-produced Nexus One. These pictures were taken about a month ago, but it's still unclear exactly when we can expect an announcement. Needless to say, if you happen to be near a Google or Samsung campus, keep a keen eye out for these things right now. [Thanks, Christian] Update: We contacted Google for comment and were told that the company doesn't comment on rumors or speculation -- the usual drill. %Gallery-107227%
Palm Pre 2 in the wild?
Okay, now that we've got a bigger shot of this thing, we can definitely say that it's neither a Pre nor a Pre Plus... so assuming it's not some sophisticated fake, you're feasting your eyes on Palm's next-gen model here. Given how close it is to the model it'll presumably be replacing, we can't help but feel like the Pre 2 should've actually been the phone we call the Pre Plus today -- and it should've launched six (or more) months ago -- but in the event webOS 2.0 doesn't come to older devices, we suppose that alone will be the impetus some current owners need to upgrade. 'Course, the 1GHz processor should be nice, too. Hit up the source link for a few more shots of it slinking around the wild; meanwhile, we await Palm's move on an official announce. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Samsung i8700 put through 13-minute video exposé
You know how those Korean electronics makers are. One does something -- such as a Windows Phone 7 leak -- and the other has to go and try to match or better the feat. Samsung has today easily outdone LG, whose Optimus 7 only revealed some press pics, with a thorough video exposition of its i8700 WP7 handset. We're hearing references to this phone being called the Omnia 7, which makes sense, but is at present not something we've been able to verify. So what might you enjoy in this video treat? It's mostly a jog through now familiar territory, though we do get to witness the phone taking a picture -- the camera software and performance are two of the less well known aspects of WP7 handsets. There's also what looks like a custom Samsung hub, which includes weather and stock price updates, all of which is topped off with that signature WP7 responsiveness and ridiculously deep blacks that we've grown used to with recent Samsung handsets. Video after the break.
Exclusive: Samsung Continuum for Verizon has double the displays, double the fun
The Fascinate's ride at the top of Sammy's Android lineup for Big Red might be a short one -- a very short one. Feast your eyes on this monster, said to be the rumored SCH-i400 Continuum, whose biggest claim to fame would be the addition of a secondary OLED display below the main. What might you use it for? Well, it's called the "Ticker," and it'll show notifications and RSS updates (and judging from that picture, weather conditions, too). Naturally, one of the selling points is that you can access basic phone functionality and information without having to fiddle with the normal UI or turn on that big, power-sapping primary display; in fact, the Ticker will automatically turn on when you grasp the bottom of the phone. The Continuum's also got a microSD slot on the side (accessible without a battery pull) and a dedicated camera button, and judging from one of the shots we've got, it might be Galaxy S-branded. Follow the break for a couple more shots!
Samsung SGH-i916 spotted cuddling up to an iPhone 4 in the wilds of Canada
Unless our eyes deceive us most cruelly, the Samsung phone we see above looks identical to the i917 Windows Phone 7 handset we've been seeing all over the place. Curious then that it bears the title of SGH-i916. We can only surmise that there's some minuscule difference between the two phones, with this i916 purportedly set to ride Rogers airwaves up in Canada -- seemingly with none of Samsung's own branding anywhere on its shell. Another common feature it seems to share with the i917 is an AMOLED screen, judging by the deeper than deep black color it's capable of pushing out. See a much larger picture of the i916 after the break, and if you want an even better idea of how a 4-inch Samsung handset compares to the iPhone 4, visit our screen comparison test starring the Galaxy S.
BlackBerry 9570 is definitely a refreshed Storm2, but is it called the Storm3?
RIM, come on, guys, you're killing us here! We don't know exactly what the story is yet, but there's a BlackBerry in the wild now with model number 9570 -- and it looks exactly like the existing Storm2, which lines up nicely with BGR's insistence earlier this week that the Storm3 is very much a warmed-over Storm2 with BlackBerry 6 and some minor spec bumps. In terms of strategy, we guess this would line up with the Bold 9780 we've been seeing around the block, which looks almost exactly like a Bold 9700 -- but in terms of customers understanding that this is a new product, it looks like a recipe for disaster. Of course, this might not be known as the Storm3 when (and if) it's released -- they might stick with the Storm2 or call it something like Storm2 Plus or Storm2.5 -- which might make more sense since we still don't know what that other spy shot of a completely different device is. Sure, we have no doubt that a few people would be interested in a refreshed Storm2, but would it be enough to justify the R&D and marketing costs?
HP Slate prototype caught in the wild, booted to Windows 7
HP has done plenty of its own teasing of the HP Slate, but in-the-wild spottings are few and far between. Now our favorite YouTuber and yours, x313xkillax, has a video of an HP Slate prototype. (There's some speculation that this is a fake, but from everything we know about the tablet we're pretty sure this is the real deal.) The hardware looks similar to what we've seen before, though perhaps a bit further along than version Conecti.ca "reviewed" back in April. We're pleased with the boot time of the device and seemingly fine Flash performance, and x313xkillax calls the touchscreen very responsive, but as you can see in the video after the break, Windows 7 still isn't really designed for finger operation. Just like HP seemed to realize when it bought Palm and bumped this tablet from a consumer launch to a niche enterprise product. Update: And just like that, the YouTube video vanished into thin air. Fear not, though, as we now have a backup clip embedded right after the break.
LG Vortex for Verizon spied again: Bing, no FM radio
We've got a little more detail on Verizon's low-end Vortex that leaked earlier this week, and pretty much everything we know confirms the phone's place toward the bottom of the lineup. First off, it's all done up with Bing apps just like the Fascinate, further suggesting that non-Droid Android devices are going to be bearing the brunt of Verizon's search deal with Microsoft. Secondly, unlike the earlier leak, there's no FM radio -- makes sense, considering the general rarity of that feature in the US market. We can confirm that it'll be shipping with Froyo installed, and our tipster tells us that it performs pretty admirably for what it is (especially in light of the fact that it's got a mere 600MHz core). Follow the break for one more shot!
Is this the Droid 2 World Edition / Droid Pro?
If you look quickly, you might not be able to tell that there's any difference between this thing and the Droid 2 that you can go out and buy today, but this thing is all about subtlety -- after all, the only obvious internal change is that it can be used globally. Droid Life claims that we're looking at the Droid 2 World Edition (or Droid Pro, or whatever the heck it's called), featuring a pearly white back and a lighter chrome bezel up front; current rumors suggest that this might replace the original Droid 2 altogether, but it's anybody's guess until we see some official information. The site is also reporting that the OMAP3630 core seems to be clocked up to 1.2GHz -- the plain ol' Droid 2 settles for a measly 1GHz. All told, this is shaping up to be one of the quickest product revisions in smartphone history, so let's hope Verizon has the decency to put some sort of upgrade program in place for early adopters.
HTC Trophy with Windows Phone 7 caught in the wild?
HTC Trophy isn't an entirely new name 'round these here parts -- in fact, we've seen it twice now on two documents that have propagated the internet before their respective time. But this is the first claimed sighting of such a device, and according to Pocketnow, what we're looking at is indeed the Trophy itself, packed with Windows Phone 7. And that's about all we can say here, as there's no indication of price, release date, or if this is actually one of the many other WP7 devices HTC has cooking. At any rate, have no fear, the manufacturer's all but guaranteed to bring you numerous options from which to choose. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Unannounced BlackBerry Bold 9780 covered in detail -- twice over
The floodgates are really starting to open wide on this Bold 9780, a phone that by all accounts seems like an ultra-mild Bold 9700 refresh with BlackBerry 6 preinstalled. Both TechnoBuffalo and Mainguyen, a Vietnamese retailer, have full previews posted where we can see the darker bezel in full detail along with confirmation that it'll be packing a 5 megapixel camera and 512MB of RAM, double the 9700's. TechnoBuffalo is reporting that the new WebKit-based browser is still mad slow on this thing -- but let's face it, painful browsing is something BlackBerry customers are already well-accustomed to, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. Check out the source links for plenty of imagery and video (or, you know, just pull your 9700 out of your pocket and imagine BlackBerry 6 on it).
BlackBerry Bold 9780 in the wild one more time, still looks exactly like a 9700
Look, we know that every new BlackBerry model is going to bear a striking resemblance to the model it replaces -- that's just how RIM does things -- but isn't this getting a little out of hand? The BlackBerry 6-equipped Bold 9780 has been leaked a few times at this point, but we're seeing it now for the first time totally unshackled from Mr. Blurrycam's surly bonds... and yeah, if you had any doubts as to whether it was a dead ringer for the 9700 it'll likely be replacing, you can put those doubts to rest. Of course, when you've got a keyboard as good as the Bold series does, sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone, we suppose -- just makes that lucrative early upgrade market a little tougher to tap. [Thanks, Dion]
BlackBerry Storm3 caught on camera?
Theoretically, we think this could just be a really well-executed Photoshop mashup, but considering how good RIM is at keeping industrial design elements consistent from device to device, we tend to believe this alleged shot of a BlackBerry Storm3 in the wild. Specs are said to include a 3.7-inch display -- up significantly from the Storm2's 3.2-inch example and better suited to take on 2010's top-tier touchphones -- along with 8GB of onboard storage. We'd also heard in the past that the Storm3 would be slated for BlackBerry 6, a 5 megapixel cam, and a late-2010 launch on Verizon, and the new rumor of integrated mobile hotspot functionality would corroborate that a bit since Big Red's really pushing that feature as a plan add-on these days. Torch owners, feeling any tinge of envy, or are you at peace with your decision?
Entourage Pocket Edge in the wild at Marvell event, scared out of hiding by Schwarzenegger
What's this -- the slim, Verizon-bound successor to the Entourage Edge, out in plain sight? Just so, because Marvell wanted to look its best when the Governator came by. When California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger toured Marvell headquarters as part of a trade mission to Asia, a Forbes camera crew tagged along, and got us this first glimpse of the "Verizon Pocket Edge" shown immediately above. Though it's hard to tell what's changed from this angle -- save a lack of front-facing camera on the right -- a second photo taken by the Associated Press (after the break) shows the e-reader is significantly smaller in size, so perhaps it's the 7-inch device we were originally told about. Hats off to The Digital Reader for spotting the device, weeks after the newswires had packed up and moved on.
PlayStation Move goes on sale at Best Buy a little early
We're still a couple days away from the PlayStation Move's September 19 launch date, but hey -- who said Best Buy has to follow the rules? One of our readers picked up a Move at a Best Buy in Benton Harbor, Michigan today, and we'd expect the trickle to turn into a flood by the time the "official" launch finally arrives. So -- who's buying one? [Thanks, Sam]
Samsung i8700 for Windows Phone 7 leaks, puts developer prototype to shame
Could this be the best-looking Windows Phone 7 device yet? That's open to some personal interpretation, of course, but Sammy's alleged i8700 is looking like quite the beast -- and it should assuage any lingering fears that the Omnia HD-based prototypes floating around would be influencing final ID for the company's numerous WP7 launches later this year. If we had to venture a guess, we'd say this is probably that unnamed model we saw not long ago, identified by its sharp, squared-off edges and the button layout below the display. The about screen reveals 8GB of internal storage and the backside shows a camera of unknown resolution paired to an LED flash, so if you're not tied to the idea of a physical QWERTY keyboard, this might be the Windows Phone 7 handset you've been looking for. Question is, what carriers? [Thanks, Pradeep]
LG's C300 Town spotted in the wild, textin' on the cheap
It appears we missed an opportunity at IFA to spend some quality time with LG's recently-outed C300 Town, a dumbphone in every sense of the word whose main mission in life seems to be making your texting an easier task thanks to a full portrait QWERTY keyboard. It's got a few other tricks up its sleeve, though, namely support for push email, a 3.5mm headphone jack (hopefully accompanied by a decent music player), and a 2 megapixel cam on back to capture those amazing moments with enough clarity (in theory, anyway) to make for a decent MMS. We're still waiting for details on pricing and availability, but we know that it'll be available on Orange at some point -- appropriate, we must say, considering the orange accents. [Thanks, Willeke]
