The Sony Xperia S from the company’s Xperia NXT series turned out to be a big attraction at CES 2012, but their newest additions, the Xperia P (pictured above) and Xperia U, into the same family appear to be lacking in lustre. But that did not stop us from taking a closer look at the pretty looking Android handsets.

Confirming previous rumors, both the handsets run 1-GHz, dual-core processors. The Xperia P features an 8-megapixel camera with HD recording capabilities and its 4-inch qHD screen comes with the company’s new “White Magic” screen tech. The technology will automatically adjust brightness to allow for use in direct sunlight. We will be putting that tech to the test in the very near future.

The handset also features HDMI and DLNA connectivity, 16GB of storage, and will be available in silver, black, and red.

The Xperia U that you see above has a smaller 3.5-inch “reality” display, but it lacks the new White Magic feature. It features a 5-megapixel HD camera.

Both the handsets can capture 2D and 3D panoramic images and features NFC. They will be running Android 2.3 Gingerbread when launched sometime in the first half of 2012, but Sony has promised that the upgrade to ICS will arrive by the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the company announced that the Xperia S will go on sale this week in Barcelona. Anyone who wants to play with the device’s impressive 12-megapixel camera should just go for it. Check out the hands on videos (from T3.com) of the Xperia P and Xperia U below.

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There are already tons of rumors about the much anticipated Apple iPad 3 launch circulating. Of course, we know from previous years experience that we can expect something new from Apple, most likely in March again. Since the Cupertino company has scheduled a big media event for the first week of March, AllThingsD says its the iPad 3.

The back panel that you see in the above image is supposed to be that of the iPad 3. And when compared to the rear housing of the iPad 2, the new device appears to be coming with some changes.

According to available info, the new housing has been designed to fit a smaller logic board. The additional space might be there for a larger battery. From the looks of things an updated camera (rumored to be similar to the one on the iPhone 4S) is also coming, and the mystery housing also features a different LCD mounting system.

If indeed this is the iPad 3 rear panel, its arrival at this time suggests that the device is very close to being unveiled. A release in March or April is most likely, especially when considering hints from casing and accessory makers who showed off their products at CES 2012.

You might know that a longer battery life is one of the iPad’s strongest points. So the rumored bigger battery will be much needed if the company fits a 2048×1536 Retina Display, a quad-core processor and 4G LTE support into the next iPad. Customers won’t welcome a device with good specs but poor battery life.

And speaking of the Retina Display, there are rumors that the iPad 3 might feature Sharp’s IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) display. Besides delivering a high resolution of up to 330 dots per inch, these displays cost less to produce and there is no need for LED backlights. The display will also be thinner.

The latest info suggests that Sharp’s factories have increased the production of the IGZO displays. And there haven’t been any reports about the displays being available commercially. So where are they headed? Apple is certainly a possibility.

But there are also rumors about a dual light bar design for supporting high-resolution IPS display from Samsung and LG.

Is your head aching after all these speculations and rumors? Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too long to hear an official announcement from Apple. But then the iPad 4 talks will start.

The post iPad 3 Unveiling In March appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Waiting for a really, really rugged Android smartphone that looks like it’s from a bond film? The device that you see above might be what you are looking for. The G-Shock smartphone, which is the latest in a range of rugged smartphones from Casio, was apparently one we missed at CES 2012 and it’s full of testosterone.

The Casio G-Shock follows the rugged G’zOne Commando from the company. But the new device is the toughest of the two and a bit ugly as well. But you can’t have everything all at once, right?

As you might have guessed by now, the G-Shock is coming with all kinds of ‘-resistant’ prefixes, such as shock resistant (up to 10 feet), water resistant to 1.0 bar (10m) and pressure resistant to 1.0 bar. And, as you can see, the phone also looks similar to the company’s successful line of durable wrist watches.

The G-Shock features a metal case back and over there you will find exposed screws as well. On the software side, it will be running Android (most probably Gingerbread), but you won’t find the usual capacitive buttons at the bottom. They have been placed on the sides near the corners.

No hints regarding pricing and availability at the moment. But we will keep you updated. In the meantime, don’t drop your current phone to hard.

[ source ]

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The Samsung Galaxy Note was one among the popular devices to be shown off at CES 2012. The device turned out to be quite a head turner with its 5.3 inch HD Super AMOLED display and dual-core CPU, and is also 4G LTE enabled. But many were disappointed as the device was announced only for AT&T. But now, according to a new rumor, the device appears to be headed to other carriers as well.

The Galaxy Note will hit both Verizon and Sprint during the first half of 2012, and will possibly be called the Samsung Galaxy Journal. That’s according to Industry Analyst Paul Mueller who spoke with the Examiner.

It will definitely be great if the device arrives on two more carriers, but so far we haven’t got any confirmation whether it will actually happen. But that does not mean it will not happen. We hope its coming as we found it to be an awesome device from our hands-on experience.

Back in July last year, the same Paul Mueller indicated that Verizon would be the first carrier in the US to launch the Samsung Galaxy S II (as the Samsung Function). But that rumor turned out to be very wrong. So we better take the current rumor with a pinch of salt.

Just to let you know, a CDMA version of the Galaxy Note does not exist anywhere on the planet. But it is possible to make one and it will be a great experience to use that on Verizon’s extremely fast network.

We will keep you updated on the matter. So stay tuned.

The post Samsung Galaxy Note Might Hit Verizon And Sprint As The Galaxy Journal appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Apple is not interested in CES, and Microsoft earlier announced that it’s bowing out of next year’s event.  Many have started to believe that the show is losing its luster. But that did not stop manufacturers from around the world from unveiling their latest innovations.

Samsung was one of the tech giants to show off their latest and greatest products at the event. The company arrived at CES 2012 to unveil the “future of consumer electronics” and they definitely didn’t disappoint.

Samsung ES8000 LED TV

The Samsung ES8000 LED TV, their latest flagship Smart TV, instantly became a head turner when it was unveiled at CES. Coming equipped with features such as a dual core processor, a thin bezel, multitasking, integrated camera, microphone, face recognition, gesture-based controls, 3D content streaming and much more, the new TV has been designed to “listen, see and do what you want.”

Samsung 55″ OLED TV

Samsung’s 55″ Super OLED TV is ultra-thin and is super sharp. The beautifully designed TV is so thin that you can hardly see it when you move to the side. It is also coming with a built-in camera and microphone for motion control, voice control and face recognition, and a dual core processor for easy multitasking.

Samsung Smart Camera and Camcorder

These new cameras and camcorders are definitely going to make the life of shutterbugs a whole lot easier. The products are Wi-Fi enabled, so you will be able to email your photos right from your camera. And the auto backup feature will automatically upload all your photos to your PC wirelessly.

Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab 7.7

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4G LTE enabled smartphone/mini tablet is coming with a 5.3 inch HD Super AMOLED display and a dual-core CPU. The Android device is coming with the S Pen stylus which is designed with 256 levels of pressure sensitivity.

Their latest addition to the Galaxy Tab range, the Galaxy Tab 7.7, is also LTE enabled and will take advantage of Verizon’s high speed network. The device features a Super AMOLED Plus screen and is being billed as the thinnest and lightest tablet ever released by Samsung.

Samsung Series 9 Notebook

The company is saying about their new Series 9 Notebook as “the world’s thinnest and most compact premium notebook”. And thin it is. It’s a mere half inch thick and weighs in at only 2.5lbs. The 13-inch machine is definitely trouble for all the Ultrabooks out there.

If you missed Samsung’s presentation at CES 2012, you can check out the video below to enjoy the moment. Don’t forget to tell us which device has caught your eye.

The post Best Of Samsung From CES 2012 (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

As a quick refresher, this device comes with an extra large 5.3-inch WXGA HD Super AMOLED display backed with a 1.5GHz dual core processor.  It runs Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread and Samsung plans to update that to ICS later this quarter. A lot of the marketing asks you whether it’s a phone or a tablet, asserting that it’s really both. Holding the phablet (you like that?) in my hands, I did get the sense that it is a little too big, but I initially felt the same way about phones like the Galaxy S Captivate.

The build quality and industrial design is in line with the Galaxy S II and other phones in the Galaxy S smartphone series. Responsiveness was robust and using the stylus for sketching worked quite well too. I’m still not sold on the idea of a five-inch phone, but I think it’s starting to grow on me.

It’s been officially announced for AT&T in the United States and there was a big marketing campaign here in Las Vegas for the device, plastering on billboards and the sides of buses. The Samsung rep couldn’t officially say which carrier in Canada would get it (first), but he did confirm that it’s on its way to Canada too. My money’s on Bell, since they got the SII before anyone else, as well as the Galaxy Nexus.

The post CES: Hands-On With Samsung’s 5.3-inch Galaxy Note appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The biggest name in this wearable action video camera niche has to be GoPro, or at least the ones with the most marketing bucks. But it’s starting to face some stiff competition from Swann, a company you may be more familiar with for its surveillance products. They now have a GoPro alternative and its called the Freestyle HD. Talking with one of the reps at CES, it has already had a soft launch with some strong and positive feedback. It brings a lot to the table (or the top of your snowboard helmet, as the case may be) that competing products might not. For instance, it has a detachable LCD screen. That’s handy.

There’s also a remote for starting and stopping the recording without having to physically handle the Freestyle HD itself. A built-in laser helps you line up shots. And since you can’t see that when the camera is mounted to the side of your head. it obviously make sense. While the MSRP is set at $280, the street price can drop close to the $200 mark.

The post Swann Freestyle HD Wearable Videocam Challenges GoPro Market appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Not all routers are made alike, and they don’t all have to be boring grey boxes that get hidden away in the corner of a room. Asus showed off one of the latest additions to its wireless router line at CES 2012 and it turns out that its beauty goes further than skin deep.

Yes, that glossy black surface is nice and they’ve done an interesting job with that “weave” pattern on the top, but the Asus RT-N66U also happens to be really fast. You get dual 450Mbps wireless service, pushing that much bandwidth on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels independently. That combines for 900Mbps of wireless speed.

There are also two high-speed, high-power USB ports on the back that allow you share external drives across your network at up to about 25MB/s, as well as sharing printers and other peripherals. Rounding out the package is a convenient web-based GUI for setup, meaning that you can get your network up and running on your smartphone or tablet if you don’t want to boot up your computer.

Asus also unleashed a funky EA-N66 dual-band wireless Ethernet adapter. It sorta looks like a transporter deck you can step into. We doubt Asus is releasing those to the public yet. The EA-N66 provides the same 450Mbps bandwidth but only on either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz channels. You can also set it as a repeater or an access point node for growing your network.  The RT-N66U will sell for around $179, while the EA-N66 will be $59 when they are released later this month.

The post CES: Asus RT-N66U Extreme Gigabit N Wireless Router appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Tablets are definitely the hottest stuff these days. But when it comes to gaming, even the most popular Apple iPad fails to impress when up next to this. And by gaming, we do not mean Angry Birds. We mean all the latest graphics-heavy titles (like Assasins Creed). No tablet device available on the market nowadays is capable of handling all the latest games. But Razer, the video game hardware developer, intends to change the current situation with Project Fiona.

For months developers from around the world have been working on bringing tablets closer to good game titles. They have managed to come out with apps like OnLive, as well as controllers and gamepad attachments. But Razer appears to have done the best work so far.

Razer’s concept gaming tablet dubbed “Project Fiona” has attracted quite a number of people at CES 2012.

The device, which will be powered by an Intel Core i7 processor, comes equipped with a 10.1 inch screen with 1,280×800-pixel resolution and it features dual controllers attached to the side. With these controllers, you will be able to play any gamepad-enabled title on the device. And you will be happy to hear that most games will run natively on it.

The touchscreen on the tablet is coming with multitouch capabilities, something that the developers might note. Other features include a 3-axis gyro, magnetometer, and accelerometer, and force feedback in the two “handles”. It is also coming with a THX certified sound system.

The company is expecting to release the final version of the tablet in Q4 of 2012 and they are targeting a sub-$1,000 price tag.

The post CES: Razer Project Fiona Gaming Tablet Rocks appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Although Detroit’s NAIAS is thought of as the first big auto event of the year, the presence of automobile giants at CES suggests that the Las Vegas event is fast becoming the kick-off of the year’s major auto events in regards to in-vehicle computing. We saw some interesting stuff at the automotive area of CES 2012 this year, one among which is the RoadRover Android-powered dashboard.

As you might know, the company already provides its service via a number of vehicle models such as Audi A3, Nissan Altima, Peugeot 407/408, Toyota Tundra, Chevrolet Captiva and others.

With the RoadRover Android system, you will be able to synchronize data among Android-powered devices such as smartphones and tablets.  You will have access to Android Market for playing with a lot apps from the comfort of your car and get access to Facebook updates and tweets via your connected smartphone.

They are also providing external USB camera support which lets you take pictures while traveling and you will be able to upload everything right away onto your Facebook profile. But for that also, you just need your handset. Let’s not forget about its navigation capabilities too.

[ source ]

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