HP Veer 4G review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/13/hp-veer-4g-review/

HP's Jon Rubenstein told us that his company wanted to veer in a new direction, and veer it surely did -- the HP Veer 4G will arguably be the smallest fully-functional smartphone on the market when it goes on sale May 15th. In a nutshell, it's a Palm Pixi Plus in the guise of a Pre, only in a delightfully downsized package with webOS 2.1 and thoroughly modern functionality. What does it feel like to Just Type on its tiny keyboard or throw app cards across its itsy-bitsy 2.6-inch screen? How is it as a pocketable HSPA+ hotspot, and will that extra G decimate its miniscule 910mAh battery? These are the questions that drove us when playing with the Veer 4G this week, and you'll find the answers shortly after the break.

Gallery: HP Veer 4G unboxing and hands-on

Continue reading HP Veer 4G review

HP Veer 4G review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The World's First Wi-Fi Mouse's Battery Lasts for Nine Months [Mice]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5801419/this-is-the-worlds-first-wi+fi-mouse-with-a-battery-life-of-9-months

You are going to run out of USB ports on your computer. It's inevitable. And sucky! But HP's new Wi-Fi Mobile Mouse helps you conserve those ports by connecting wirelessly—not with Bluetooth, though. Wi-Fi.

This rodent's battery life can last up to nine months before it drains out—supposedly more than twice the lifespan of other Bluetooth mice. You can also stray as far as 30 feet from your monitor and still be able to control it with five customizable buttons, which you can assign shortcuts to (like cut, paste, undo and redo). It'll cost you $50 in June.

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Leak: Motorola's Droid X2 Will Have a 4.3-Inch qHD Screen, Tegra 2 Innards and 8MP Camera [Phones]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5801511/leak-motorolas-droid-x2-will-have-a-43+inch-qhd-screen-tegra-2-innards-and-8mp-camera

Someone at Motorola is being awfully careless with their documents, as more official photos have leaked out of the Droid X2, along with purported specs sheets.

The 8MP camera with dual-flash might go some way to explaining that sizeable hunchback it's going going on, but flip 'er 'round and you'll see there's a cheery 4.3-inch qHD screen to greet you.

All the specs can be checked out over at Pocketnow if you're so interested, but if you're hoping for an increase in RAM and ROM over the original Droid X, you're going to be a mite disappointed by this Verizon phone. [Pocketnow via UberGizmo]

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Samsung's Foldable Display Will Let You Stuff Giant Tablets in Your Pants [Displays]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5801421/samsungs-foldable-display-will-let-you-stuff-giant-tablets-in-your-pants

Tiny tablets' major advantage over the 10-inch crowd: They'll fit in your pocket (especially if you're the type of person who wears cargo pants). Samsung's latest foldable, creaseless AMOLED display will let you fold a tablet in half—effectively making bigger tablets pocketable.

Back in 2008, the South Korean company showcased a foldable OLED mobile phone at the FPD conference for display manufacturers. The technology was stunning back then but it suffered from one major flaw — the hinge required for folding produced a crease in the middle of the display.

The electronics manufacturer has removed this imperfection using a combination of silicone rubber, two protective glass panels and a pair of AMOLED displays. The AMOLED displays are mounted seamlessly next to each other on a flat piece of silicone rubber, two glass panels are placed on top of the AMOLED panels, both to protect the displays and let you use them as touchscreens. This rubber sandwich is then mounted in a case and folded in half.

The magic in this equation lies in the silicone rubber which is hyper-elastic and lets you fold it 180 degrees with a hinge less than 1mm. The researchers were able to fold the display over 100,000 times with minimal effect on the optical quality of the AMOLED (just a 6 percent brightness loss at the crease) or the elasticity of the rubber. This system is better than other foldable OLED technologies as it uses components that are readily available and relatively inexpensive. Though I can't see this technology adding much to smartphones, who wouldn't want a foldable tablet? [Physorg and Fast Company]

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Samsung's 2560x1600 Screen Is the First Retina Display for Tablets [Display]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5801451/samsungs-2560x1600-screen-is-the-first-retina-display-for-tablets

The debate about when a "retina display" for tablets will exist is over: Samsung's new 10.1-inch, 2560x1600 display is it. With a crazy pixel density of 300dpi, it rivals what Apple considers a retina display for a phone. But it's for tablets.

The ultra-high resolution display uses PenTile RGBW technology, which made headlines with the Nexus One. Many blamed the PenTile display for the blurry text and occasional color banding that plagued the Android handset, but hopefully the serious pixel density of Samsung's new display will override those problems.

Presumably, Samsung will drop this mega-resolution display in its Galaxy Tab line, but maybe it could be scooped up by Apple for a future iPad. (If nothing else, its existence means other companies should be able to produce a similar panel in the not-too-distant future.) Samsung's saying it'll be ready "for tablet applications later this year." Our eyeballs can't wait. [Samsung]

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