What big, wireless brother wants, big, wireless brother gets. With its pay-as-you-go subsidiary already packing this particular piece of mobile kit, ’twas only a matter of time before Sprint got its hands on the Transform Ultra. Officially announced for the third place carrier today, Sammy’s Droid Charge with a QWERTY twist packs the usual array of mid-range specs. The 3.5-incher runs Android 2.3 atop a single-core 1GHz processor, with a VGA front facing / 3 megapixel rear camera, 512MB RAM, 2GB of storage and 1500mAh battery in tow. It’s no next gen, 4G beastie, but sometimes you just need a workhorse to get things done. Pricing and availability have yet to be released, although we’re sure that bit of crucial info’s right around the corner. Official presser awaits you after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Transform Ultra does the QWERTY slide for Sprint

Samsung Transform Ultra does the QWERTY slide for Sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Take that, Xperia Play. USB gamepads are already supported in Honeycomb, so we had plenty of hope that Android 4.0 — also lovingly referred to as Ice Cream Sandwich — would offer the same functionality. We finally have the answer, and it’s a resounding yes, courtesy of Google framework engineer Romain Guy’s Twitter account. The cool part, though, is that HDMI’s playing nice as well. In short, you could hook up an external gamepad to a USB-to-microUSB adapter on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, connect it to your TV and transform your handset into a fancy portable gaming console. It’s definitely something we can see developers flock towards, and we’ll expect some cool stuff to come out of it. Just in case you thought the Nexus wouldn’t let you get anything else done around the house already, this pretty much seals the deal. Move below the break to see a screenshot from the SDK.

Continue reading Ice Cream Sandwich supports USB game controllers and HDMI, turns your phone into full game console

Ice Cream Sandwich supports USB game controllers and HDMI, turns your phone into full game console originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not gonna lie: we’re on one. One heck of a crazy week, that is! Two big phone launches kept our feet close to the fire, and a couple of odds n’ ends rounded out the week in the way that only odds and ends can — oddly. It’s the Engadget Podcasters, live in a room together, at last, and with devastatingly informative consequences.

Hosts: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater
Guest: Dana Wollman
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Devil’s Haircut

02:30 – Samsung and Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich event liveblog!
03:30 – Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus gets official: Android 4.0, 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display (video)
06:22 – Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Ice Cream Sandwich hands-on (video)
07:57 – Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus launches in November on NTT Docomo, Verizon, and more
08:18 – Android Beam takes us to the future of close-proximity data exchange (video)
18:00 – Motorola Droid RAZR unveiled: LTE, 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display, available November for $299
27:00 – Motorola Droid RAZR hands-on (video)
29:15 – Motorola RAZR to get updated to Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012
34:45 – Samsung’s Won-Pyo Hong: Galaxy Nexus wasn’t designed just to skirt Apple patents
38:37 – Motorola Motoactv hands-on (update: video with Dean Karnazes!)
41:45 – Research in Motion announces BBX, ‘combines the best of BlackBerry and QNX’
43:36 – Lytro camera hands-on (video)
46:45 – ASUS’ Jonney Shih: Padfone will ship in Q1 2012 with Ice Cream Sandwich
46:55 – Microsoft’s Andy Lees: Nokia will announce ‘its Windows Phones’ at Nokia World
51:36 – The Engadget Show
56:04 – Listener questions

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Filed under: Podcasts

Engadget Podcast 261 – 10.21.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After a few leaks and false starts, Verizon has finally made its plans to offer the Galaxy Nexus “later this year” official. That’s really the only detail revealed, as its price, release date and availability on other carriers are still unknown. Check out the press release after the break if you need any more confirmation.

Continue reading Verizon (finally) confirms it will have the Galaxy Nexus

Verizon (finally) confirms it will have the Galaxy Nexus originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus WiFi hitting the US November 13th for $400, available in 16GB for now

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus WiFi hitting the US November 13th for $400, available in 16GB for now originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Styli and Android haven’t exactly been strangers as of late — with devices like the HTC Flyer and Samsung Galaxy Note offering pen-based input — but it looks like that option will soon be even easier to implement with Ice Cream Sandwich. As noted on Reddit, Google’s recent overview of some Android 4.0 platform highlights includes a small tidbit towards the end that details the “full support for stylus input events” in the OS — including features like pressure sensitivity and the ability to distinguish motion events from different sources (i.e. a pen and your finger). Of course, it still requires someone to actually use it, but the native support could well open up some interesting possibilities, especially when it comes to third-party apps.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich includes native stylus support originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By now, the specs on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus are already publicly known, but what other magic is hiding within all the wires and circuitry? To find out, we’ve enlisted the help of developer Francois Simond (SuperCurio) to break down as many of the inner components of the Android 4.0-loaded device as possible. And while there isn’t anything particularly earth-shattering revealed here, we at least have a better idea of the kind of wizardry taking place underneath that bedazzling HD display. Read on with us to learn all of the deliciously nerdy details.

Continue reading Behind the glass: a detailed tour inside the Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Behind the glass: a detailed tour inside the Samsung Galaxy Nexus originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung and Google still haven’t officially revealed which US carriers will be getting the Galaxy Nexus next month — even though Verizon has been leaked, is shown in the official trailer (included after the break, look at 0:22), and there was a quickly-retracted Facebook confirmation earlier today. Now, the official signup page for release info on Samsung’s site allows users to show their carrier preference between AT&T, Cellular South, Metro PCS, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon. It’s hardly a confirmation this latest Android phone will ever be available on all of them, but even if you’re not on Big Red, we won’t kill your Ice Cream Sandwich dreams yet.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Galaxy Nexus signup page includes seven US carriers, endless speculation

Galaxy Nexus signup page includes seven US carriers, endless speculation originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you don’t know what Ubuntu is by now, we’re not sure what tech blog you’re reading — ’cause it sure isn’t this one. Ok, so finding a computer with the world’s most popular Linux distro preloaded on it isn’t exactly easy (there aren’t any lurking in your local Best Buy, that’s for sure). But, tracking down a machine running the Ocelot in South Africa will be getting a bit simpler. The country’s Vodafone affiliate, Vodacom, launched the Webbook — a 10-inch laptop running Ubuntu 11.10 on a Cortex A8-based Freescale i.MX51 processor (likely 800MHz). Inside is also 512MB of RAM and 4GB of flash storage, enough for basic browsing. The Webbook is available now, starting at R1,499 (about $190) for just the device, and climbing up to R1,899 (about $245) for the Webbook, modem and 100MB of monthly data for 12 months. There’s also an on-contract option, which nets you the pile of hardware, plus 500MB of data for R189 a month and a two year commitment. Check out the pair of press releases after the break, as well as one more photo of the device

Continue reading Vodafone brings ARM and Ubuntu together for South African Webbook

Vodafone brings ARM and Ubuntu together for South African Webbook originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know that Samsung has the first crack at Android 4.0 with the Galaxy Nexus, but it’ll only be a matter of time before we begin seeing it show up on rival devices. HTC has already made an official statement on its plans (or lack thereof), and now it’s Motorola’s turn. Alain Mutricy, SVP Portfolio and Product Management, was in Germany talking up the European announcement of the RAZR, and slipped in a few details about Ice Cream Sandwich. Mutricy mentioned that while the company’s new flagship device was designed for Gingerbread, plans have been set to introduce the latest version of Android in the start of 2012, with a more precise date naturally on its way. Given past experience, however, it’s probable that the unbranded version of the device will get the refresh ahead of the Droid RAZR on Verizon, so US users may need to exercise a wee bit of patience here. Regardless, it’s time for the competition to step up — if the RAZR is next in line to get the OTA update, the Galaxy Nexus will have the spotlight all to itself for a fair amount of time.

Motorola RAZR to get updated to Ice Cream Sandwich in early 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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