Twitpic for iPhone brings four years of image-sharing history, one year too late

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/08/twitpic-for-iphone/

Having become a staple for 35 million life-observing extroverts already, Twitpic has suddenly decided to launch itself into the world of iOS apps. You may justifiably question the point of yet another platform for sharing photos and videos over Twitter, given how well the official app, Instagram and others now handle such things. But then you'd be missing out on a community that has been steadily growing since even before mobile photography took off, and whose visual ramblings are actually much funnier and more amazing than even the brightest shots of the Dutch skyline.

Twitpic for iPhone brings four years of image-sharing history, one year too late originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 05:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hands-on with Kyocera Rise, an Android 4.0 smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/08/kyocera-rise-qwerty-slider/

Kyocera is looking to regain a foothold in the US smartphone market, and curiously enough, it's doing so by catering to niche audiences. First we saw the Hydro, a waterproof handset, and alongside it is the Rise, which features a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Both phones are built for CDMA networks, although Kyocera has yet to announce carrier availability for either.

Spec-wise, the Rise is very similar to the Hydro, and this extends to the OS. In our brief time with the phone, we were treated to a largely vanilla interpretation of Ice Cream Sandwich, which makes the Rise a bit of a rare breed in the QWERTY world -- hopefully its future carrier doesn't dictate huge alterations. The phone features a Qualcomm MSM8655 SoC with a 1GHz CPU, a 3.5-inch, 480 x 320 IPS LCD display, a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash and a 1,500 mAh battery. When compared to other QWERTY sliders, the handset itself is rather compact and fit nicely in our hand. We were similarly quite fond of the sliding mechanism on the Rise, which felt natural and provided just enough resistance. The four-row keyboard is altogether forgettable, but it should serve those who insist upon physical keys just fine. Our biggest gripe about the Rise, however, is its low-res display, which seems like quite a misstep -- even for a budget device.

In terms of storage, you'll find 512MB of RAM, 2GB built-in and a 2GB microSD card. The Rise also features 802.11n (WiFi), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and EV-DO Rev. A. It's safe to say that Kyocera is targeting budget audiences with the Rise, but the strateg! y may wo rk to its advantage if other carriers fail to keep their QWERTY sliders up-to-date with the latest version of Android. You'll find our hands-on video after the break.

Terrence O'Brien contributed to this report

Gallery: Kyocera Rise hands-on

Continue reading Hands-on with Kyocera Rise, an Android 4.0 smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard (video)

Hands-on with Kyocera Rise, an Android 4.0 smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo launches four Android-powered K-series Smart TVs in China this month

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/08/lenovo-smart-tv/

We first saw Lenovo's Android 4.0 tellymabob back at CES, now the firm is getting ready to unleash the full K-series of Smart TVs on China. Four models are on offer, the 55-inch K91 and K81 models, along with a 42-inch version of the latter and another at this size -- the K71. You may remember that Ice Cream Sandwich is running on a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon CPU and Lenovo claims the interface is a mix of touch, air mouse, gravity sensor, smart keyboard and conventional remote -- lots more to lose down the back of the couch, then. The firm's joint venture with SMG's BesTV -- iSmartv -- will provide on demand HD content, and its "Le Store" developer community will serve up the apps -- with over 1,000 claimed to be available already. Prices will range from 6,499 RMB to 14,999 RMB (about $1030 to $2370) and should be in stores across China this month.

Lenovo launches four Android-powered K-series Smart TVs in China this month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Virgin Mobile USA and Boost take WiMAX live, ship HTC EVO V 4G and EVO Design 4G on May 31

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/08/virgin-mobile-usa-and-boost-take-wimax-live/

In sync with Sprint's plans to get its sub-brands on 4G using its legacy WiMAX network, both Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile have trotted out their initial 4G lineups. The early Virgin mix includes retreads of two Sprint data-only devices -- a Broadband2Go-badged version of the Sierra Wireless Overdrive Pro 3G/4G hotspot and a matching version of the Franklin U600 previously seen at Clear. Virgin's real star, however, is the HTC EVO V 4G: though it's ultimately the EVO 3D with a slightly more 2D name, it's shipping with Android 4.0 from the start and has HTC's Frankenstein-like Sense 3.6 rather than the 4.0 of the One series. The network upgrade and all three new devices swing into action on May 31, and while your $35 minimum monthly plan will stay in effect even with unlimited on-device 4G, you'll need to spend $300 (contract-free) to take home an EVO V 4G, $150 on the Overdrive Pro or $100 on the U600 stick.

Boost Mobile is also going the Sprint rebadge route through the HTC EVO Design 4G. As with its bigger brother over at Virgin, the single-core EVO Design 4G is identical in hardware to its Sprint equivalent but slaps Android 4.0 and Sense 3.6 on top to keep the software fresh! . The up date does mark the first time a Boost phone gets Visual Voicemail, so you can feel slightly less guilty when you miss a call. HTC's phone will oddly cost the same $300 off-contract as the more advanced EVO V 4G, although Boost is likely counting on customers sticking around long enough for an all-inclusive unlimited plan to drop to $40 per month and make it worthwhile.

Gallery: Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile 4G devices

Continue reading Virgin Mobile USA and Boost take WiMAX live, ship HTC EVO V 4G and EVO Design 4G on May 31

Virgin Mobile USA and Boost take WiMAX live, ship HTC EVO V 4G and EVO Design 4G on May 31 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 10:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trip the light fantastic with Acer's 11.6-inch Aspire One 725 Netbook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/08/acer-aspire-one-725-11-inch-netbook/

Ivy Bridge might be the belle of the ball in laptop-land, but small and nimble will always be on the dance card, too. Despite its petite 11.6-inch 1366x768 screen and 2.6-pound frame, Acer's newly announced Aspire One 725 can still pirouette with a dual-core C-60 AMD processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, Radeon HD 6290 graphics, and choice of two colors. Along with the 320 or 500GB hard drives and HD output, those specs should allow you to edit the odd video while still doing the emailing and surfing it was made for. Acer's confirmed the unit will land in Europe in July for 359 euros, but stateside dates and price are still unknown. It's not as flashy as those ingénues, but it should be a cheap, light date.

Trip the light fantastic with Acer's 11.6-inch Aspire One 725 Netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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