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Friday, June 18, 2010

HTC Aria review

Source: http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/06/17/htc-aria-review/

It's sort of hard to believe, but AT&T finally has an Android phone worth paying attention to. Mind you, the AT&T compatible Nexus One is easily the best Googlephone on America's largest GSM operator, but this is the first one that the company has bothered to brand and sell on a subsidized plan within its own stores. Pundits could argue the reasons why forever, but considering that the carrier's doing all it can just to keep up with the demand for iPhones, it's hard to imagine that AT&T has been longing to pursue Android with reckless abandon. Believe it or not, it's been over 1.5 years since T-Mobile gave the world the first taste of a mobile OS that would soon rival (and surpass) the other options already on the table, but outside of the forgettable Backflip (and the nowhere-to-be-found Aero), there's been no Android to speak of on AT&T. HTC has somehow managed to break down the blue and orange walls, piercing the heart of a hardened operator and squeezing a delightful mid-range Android smartphone into a lineup that's about to be monumentally overshadowed by the iPhone 4. So, is the HTC Aria worth the $129.99 that you'll be forced to pay on a 2-year agreement when it ships on June 20th? Read on to find out.

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HTC Aria review ! original ly appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Captivate is AT&T's version of the Galaxy S, launching 'in the coming months'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/17/samsung-captivate-is-atandts-version-of-the-galaxy-s-launching/

So much for the "AT&T refuses to release high-end Android devices" conspiracy theory, eh? T-Mobile had been widely pegged as Samsung's launch partner for the Galaxy S in the States, but AT&T stole its thunder this morning by announcing the Captivate featuring a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, Android 2.1, 7.2Mbps HSPA, and a 1GHz Hummingbird processor. If it sounds more or less like the European Galaxy S, well, your intuitions are spot-on -- AT&T actually describes the Captivate as "a Galaxy S smartphone." As for media, you can expect a 5 megapixel camera with 720p recording, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and 16GB of onboard storage combined with support for external storage for a total of up to 32GB; you also have 802.11n WiFi and a variety of built-in apps (some of which you'll want, others you won't) like Swype and AT&T Navigator. Unfortunately, this is a little while out yet -- AT&T is only saying that it'll launch "in the coming months" for an undisclosed price -- but we're at least stoked that AT&T's finally fully entrenched in the Android superphone game. Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Samsung Captivate is AT&T's version of the Galaxy S, launching 'in the coming months'

Samsung Captivate is AT&T's version of the Galaxy S, launching 'in the coming months' originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Check out our Dell Streak hub!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/17/check-out-our-dell-streak-hub/

This one's been around quite a long time, but we've finally managed to cobble together just about all the knowledge we could dig up about the Dell Streak into one delicious, beautiful hub. Make sure you check it out.

Check out our Dell Streak hub! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480M reviewed: fastest mobile GPU to date

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/17/nvidia-geforce-gtx-480m-reviewed-fastest-mobile-gpu-to-date/

It's one thing to have a product called the world's fastest on paper, but it's another thing entirely to have the benchmarks confirm it. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 480M has been swooned over for months now, but it just recently hit the hardcore review sites in a big way. Frankly, there's not a whole lot to say about the thing at this point: it's simply the fastest mobile GPU to date, with Hot Hardware finding it to be "significantly faster in nearly all gaming benchmarks," with just one title showing the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 as the champ by only a few frames. If you've been searching for the fastest mobile GPU in town, you're wasting your time looking any harder; 'course, all of that power consumes an insane level of energy, so true road warriors will certainly want to look elsewhere. Critics pointed out that energy consumption and excess heat were real issues, though both of those are easily overlooked when you're able to take a beastly laptop to a LAN party rather than your desktop. Give those links below a visit if you still need proof.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480M reviewed: fastest mobile GPU to date originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba busts out the Mini NB250 netbook, drops price on NB305

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/17/toshiba-busts-out-the-mini-nb250-netbook/

Toshiba's just not stopping with the laptops this week, and has now outed the 10.1-inch Mini NB250 netbook, while also refreshing the Mini NB305 with an Intel Atom N455 processor. The new Mini NB250 boasts a typical 1,024 x 600 resolution backlit LED, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455 CPU, integrated GMA 3150 graphics, 1GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 250GB hard drive. It's also packing three USB ports, a multicard reader and a webcam, plus 802.11 b/g/n wireless, Ethernet and Bluetooth. It comes with a three-cell battery standard, but there's an optional six-cell which will purportedly get you around eight and a half hours of life. The NB250 doesn't have a nicely coated chiclet keyboard like the Mini NB305, but for $299 we won't complain. Truthfully, the NB305 continues to be our fave netbook, especially now that Tosh has dropped the price down to $379. We've got some hands-on shots below and the full press release after the break.

Gallery: Toshiba Mini NB250 and NB305