HTC Evo 4G LTE

The Sprint Wireless exclusive HTC Evo 4G LTE is the latest smartphone to come from the close and rather prolific collaboration between the carrier and the Taiwanese manufacturer. The handset is bound to take its spot as the flagship for Sprint's newly launched LTE network.

While its name might lead you to believe otherwise, the HTC Evo 4G LTE is rather closely related to the HTC One X for AT&T. It sports practically the same internals as its polycarbonate sibling, but with a few extra touches, which are bound to make a lot of HTC One X owners pretty jealous.

  
HTC Evo 4G LTE official photos

The abovementioned extras include a microSD card slot, a dedicated camera button, as well as a metal kickstand, which harks back to the glory days of the original HTC Evo 4G. In short, the HTC Evo 4G LTE offers the same top of the line functionality, which we came to love in the HTC One X, while addressing most of its shortcoming.

Here goes the full list of features, which the newcomer has to offer.

Pros:

• LTE/CDMA network support
• 4.7" 16M-color Super LCD 2 capacitive touchscreen of HD resolution (720 x 1280 pixels); Gorilla glass
• Superb build quality
• Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich with HTC Sense 4.0
• 1.5 GHz dual-core Krait CPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset
• 1 GB of RAM and 16GB of storage; microSD card slot; 25GB of free Dropbox storage for 2 years
• 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash; face detection and geotagging; dedicated button
• 1080p and 720p video recording @ 30fps with stereo sound
• 720p front-facing camera for video-chat
• Wi-Fi b/g/n and DLNA
• GPS with A-GPS
• NFC connectivity with Google Wallet pre-installed
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor and auto-brightness sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v4.0
• MHL TV-out (requires MHL-to-HDMI adapter)
• Smart dialing, voice dialing
• HD voice capable
• DivX/XviD video support
• HTCSense.com integration
• HTC Portable Hotspot
• Office document editor
• Beats audio enhancements
• Built-in metal kickstand
• 2000 mAh battery with impressive endurance

Cons:

• Only available in the United States
• Sprint's LTE network is still in early stages of deployment
• Non-user-accessible battery
• The glossy plastic cover on the device's back is a fingerprint magnet

On paper the HTC Evo 4G LTE is the best equipped smartphone to hit the US market so far this year. The handset simply packs everything an Android junkie can possibly demand, wrapped up in solidly built, good looking package.

HP launches five new ENVY series laptops

ENVY, HP’s family of thin and light notebooks just grew by five members. HP just announced the ENVY Spectre XT, ENVY Sleekbook 14 and 15.6-inch and the ENVY Ultrabook 14 and 15.6-inch models.

Priced at $999, the ENVY Spectre XT comes with a 13.3-inch 1366 x 768 resolution display, third generation Intel Core (Ivy Bridge) processor, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, USB 3.0, HDMI, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, backlit keyboard, Beats Audio with quad speakers, eight hours battery life, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with two-year subscription to Norton Internet Security, full versions of Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements 10. It will go on sale on June 8.

The ENVY Sleekbook 14 and 15.6-inch models are priced at $699 and $599 respectively and have a 1366 x 768 resolution display, 4GB RAM, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, HDMI, Ethernet, SD reader, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Beats Audio with dual speakers and subwoofer and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. The 14-inch model gets 500GB storage and eight hours battery life whereas the 15.6-inch model gets 320GB storage and nine hours of battery life. The 14-inch model also has the third generation Intel Core processor, whereas the 15.6-inch model gets second generation AMD processor. This should be the reason for the higher price tag on the 14-inch model. The 14-inch model will go on sale on May 9 and the 15.6-inch model on June 20.

The ENVY Ultrabook 14 and 15.6-inch models are priced at $749 and $799 respectively and come with the same 1366 x 768 resolution display, 4GB RAM, third generation Intel Core processor, 500GB storage with 32GB SSD cache for Intel’s Smart Response Technology, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, HDMI, Ethernet, SD reader, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Beats Audio with dual speakers and subwoofer and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Battery life is eight and nine hours respectively. Both models will go on sale on May 9.

Panasonic Eluga V P-06D Android ICS 13.2MP

Panasonic continues to expand its Eluga line of droids. The latest addition goes by the name Panasonic Eluga V P-06D, which is on its way to Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo. It sits between the Eluga DL1 (or P-04D as is its NTT DoCoMo name) and the Eluga Power.

The Eluga V packs a 4.6″ LCD screen with 720p resolution and it’s dust and water resistant, just like its smaller counterpart, though it’s no longer as amazingly thin – its profile measures 10.7mm.

Anyway, the Panasonic Eluga V P-06D comes with Android 4.0 out of the box and uses a dual-core 1.5GHz processor (it’s a Cortex-A9 CPU inside a TI OMAP 4460 chipset and not a Krait-packing Snapdragon S4 like the Eluga Power has). It also boasts a gig of RAM and 8GB of built-in memory plus a microSD card slot if you need more.

The main camera has a 13.2MP sensor (hi, Xperia GX) and packs an LED flash. The front-facing camera has 1.2MP resolution. The Eluga V also supports wireless charging and 1seg TV.

The Panasonic Eluga V P-06D is expected to launch on NTT DoCoMo’s network in June or July. While there’s no official info on an international version of the phone, we wouldn’t count it out either.

LG Optimus 4X HD

The LG Optimus 4X HD is the company's first quad-core device and it's the result of LG's continued collaboration with NVIDIA. The 4X HD uses the new Tegra 3 chipset with the so-called 4-PLUS-1 technology.

The Optimus 4X HD flaunts a gorgeous looking 4.7" True HD IPS screen (also known as HD-IPS). The high resolution means that the screen pulls off 300+ ppi pixel density (312ppi to be precise), despite its large size.

Speaking of size, the 4X HD felt smaller than the 2X. We didn't have a 2X at hand, but we got a definite feel of a more compact phone. We're not big fans of the back though.

   
LG Optimus 4X HD hands-on photos

Things get a whole lot better when you look under the hood. The LG Optimus 4X HD comes with a huge 2140 mAh battery. The number would have been even more impressive, had the battery used the standard 3.7V voltage, instead of 3.8V. The capacity gain over the Optimus 2X battery is a huge 45% and it was achieved by increasing the volume by just 5%.

    The impressive LG Optimus 4X HD battery

We’ve been hoping that manufacturers will start focusing some effort on battery development and it’s great to see that LG finally did. The new SIO+ batteries should permit a notable extension of the battery life of smartphones and tablets without adding extra bulk.

The LG Optimus 4X HD features 4 powerful Cortex-A9 cores running at up to 1.5GHz but also a low-power fifth core. This core runs at about 500MHz and is used only for background tasks. So when the phone isn't under strain, it will drain the battery as slowly as a phone with a single 500MHz core.

We ran a quick benchmark and the 4X HD outpaces most of the old dual-core phones. The Tegra chipset also packs a 12-core NVIDIA GPU, which benchmarks well even with a high-resolution 720p display.

LG Optimus 4X HD benchmark

There's a developer option that shows which cores are active. After even a short time with the Optimus 4X HD, it became pretty clear that the low-power core is active for decent stretches of time and it's very hard to push the 4X into firing all four Cortex-A9 cores. The companion core even kicks in, when the 4X HD was playing 720p video, so we don’t think there’s any reason to doubt the Tegra 3 chipset power efficiency. Coupled with the huge battery, this one should do quite well in everyday usage.

LG Optimus UI 3.0 for its Android ICS

LG came out public today, detailing a new concept for their custom UI skin to be used on their upcoming IceCream Sandwich smartphones. The company issued a lengthy press release that makes a lot of promising and does little in terms of actual demonstrations.

The key new features include a QuickMemo integration throughout the UI and enhanced lockscreen functionality. As any smiling South Korean girl would tell you (ok, not on their Samsung shift, they won’t), these innovations would certainly provide a more upscale user experience.

LG actually have prepared a nice little list of all the changes they’ve implemented and I’m sure you’re dying to read it (if you are not here just for the girls). So here it is along with another shot of this nice looking gal.

• a powerful memo function called Quick Memo™ enables users to jot notes on the screen using a finger;
• the ability to unlock the phone by dragging anywhere on the screen;
• a new Pattern Lock that allows users to preset the most frequently used function, such as the camera, which automatically opens once the phone is unlocked;
• a simpler version of Optimus UI 3.0 for new smartphone users which organizes the main applications so that they are the easiest to access;
• a new Voice Shutter that allows users to capture photos using only voice commands;
• a special camera feature that enables users to pick up the best shot among multiple images including the moment just before the shutter button is depressed;
• an Icon Customizer that provides an additional level of personalization by allowing users to set their own photos as icons and shortcut images;
• the addition of a Download category to the menu for easier organization.

Is it just me or most the items on the list have been recently offered by other manufacturers? So much for “…carriers and customers tell us that they want LG phones to look and feel unique and the UI plays a big part in that.” Ops, here’s the second girl shot I promised, sorry about that.

In terms of availability, we have yet to see most of the LG smartphones announced back at the MWC 2012hit the shelves. The new Optimus UI 3.0 will be first featured on the South Korean LG Optimus LTE2 set for launching this week, followed by LG Optimus 4X HD in June. I guess, it won’t be long before we see the user interface in action.

Android PC in USB stick

The MK802 may look like an ordinary USB stick, but it’s a fully-functional computer.

Of course, you need to attach it to a display, and connect some sort of keyboard/mouse combo, but the MK802 could very well be the smallest PC around.

Perhaps you remember the portable FXI dual-core USB stick, which let you turn any HDMI display into an Android-powered computer?

Well, along those lines, a Chinese manufacturer has created the MK802, which is a more affordable version of the same device.

There are, of course, some trade-offs involved here. The MK802 is from an unspecified manufacturer, and has a single core 1.5Ghz processor (as opposed to the dual-core FXI). Also, the HDMI is a connector, rather than a socket, so you’ll need to use a cable rather than just stick it into the back of a TV.

The MK802 comes with 512 MB of RAM, WiFi connectivity, and 4GB of internal storage. There’s a undetermined “3D Graphical processor” inside, whatever that means, but it does come with a plethora of cables and adapters for connectivity. It comes with Android preinstalled, although you should be able to load other platforms onto it.

If you’re the adventurous type, and have $74 to spend on anonymous Chinese devices (we’ve all done it at some point), then the MK802 may be right down your alley. If you do decide to take the leap, be sure to share your experiences with the rest of us in the comments.

Galaxy S III gets 9 million pre-orders

Korea Economic Daily is reporting that the Samsung Galaxy S III has received over 9 million pre-orders from 100 carriers around the world. This information comes courtesy of a Samsung official who remains anonymous.

Whichever way you look at it, that's an impressive figure. We knew the Galaxy S III was going to sell big but these numbers are much higher than what we would have bet on. It's predecessor, the Galaxy S II, took 10 months to ship 20 million units and the Galaxy S III took two weeks to reach almost half of that. Also, these are pre-order figures, not shipments, and are almost as good as actual sales figures.

Looks like Samsung has another winner on their hands. Obviously, this does not bode well for rivals such as HTC and LG. And even though this figure is nowhere close to the iPhone 4S pre-orders, Apple should be feeling the heat as well, especially considering the 9 million figure excludes Apple's key market, the US of A.

Samsung develops new graphene transistor

Samsung develops new graphene transistor, promises to drastically improve performance over silicon

Researchers at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), have refined a technology that allows them to create a new, faster transistor.

Graphene’s electron mobility is more than 200 times faster than silicon, and semiconductor devices with this technology are expected to have highly increased performance.

Up until now, the biggest obstacle to using graphene for transistors was the inability of graphene to turn current on or off. Samsung engineers were able to overcome this by integrating a silicon-graphene barrier which is capable of this functionality. If you’d like a more technical look at how they achieved this, the full abstract can be found here.

Obviously, this is huge news for Samsung, as semiconductors take up a sizable chunk of its operations. No word yet on if, when, and how Samsung will use this technology, though.

FXI squeezes a dual-core Android chipset into a USB stick

What you see here is one of the coolest USB sticks we’ve ever come across. Called Cotton Candy, it carries a fully functional chipset running the Android operating system inside it. All it needs is a USB cable to draw power and an HDMI cable to connect to a screen of some sort.

Thanks to this creation of the Norwegians from FXI technologies, you can turn any available screen into an Android device. Your TV and computer monitor can grow brains of their own with this stick.

And, rest assured, the non-touchscreen is not really an issue. Cotton Candy comes with Bluetooth connectivity so you can connect your keyboard and mouse to it. There’s even a microSD card slot on that thing.

Alternatively, you can just plug the stick into your laptop and have it running Android in a matter of seconds, using the built-in keyboard and mouse. We don’t know if it will have too many practical applications, but it’s hard to beat the Cotton Candy at coolness.

Meizu MX quad-core, beats Galaxy S III

After official announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S III and the impressive benchmark results it achieved, you might’ve assumed it is the most powerful Android phone around. However, a new contestant for the title just emerged in the face of Meizu MX quad-core.

Sporting exactly the same Exynos 4 Quad chipset as the new Samsung flagship, the latest Meizu MX scored 12,140 at AnTuTu, beating the Galaxy S III with its 11,878 and thrashing the Tegra 3 version of the HTC One X, which managed to score just 9,989.

The most interesting bit here is that the Meizu MX quad-core managed to outdo the new Samsung flagship in the CPU and memory speed parts of the benchmark. We were expecting that Meizu’s new top dog would have an edge in the graphics part due to its lower resolution, but much to our surprise the Galaxy S III claimed the victory there.

At any rate, those of you looking to get a smartphone with as much oomph under the hood as possible should definitely place the Meizu MX quad-core on their shortlist. That’s if the brand is available in your region at all.

Galaxy S III – iPhone 4S and Lumia 900

The Galaxy S III is officially announced and Samsung are throwing down the gauntlet to everyone willing to go step up to the plate. Naturally, the challenge is accepted by Apple and Nokia with their flagship smartphones – theiPhone 4S and the Lumia 900.

So, the game is on. All bets are off and it’s everyone for themselves. But enough idioms, let’s take a look at whether Samsung can blow the fish out of the water with the Galaxy S III (ok, there was one more idiom).

	SAMSUNG GALAXY S III	APPLE IPHONE 4S	NOKIA LUMIA 900
OS	Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with TouchWiz UI v4.0	iOS 5	Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
Display	4.8-inch Super AMOLED	3.5 inches LED-backlit IPS TFT	4.3-inch AMOLED
Resolution	HD (720 x 1280 pixels)	640 x 960 pixels	480 x 800 pixels
Height Width Thickness	136.6mm 70.6mm 8.6mm	115.2mm 58.6mm 9.3mm	127.8mm 68.5mm 11.5mm
Weight	133 grams	140 grams	160 grams
Processor	1.4GHz quad-core processor Exynos 4212	1GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 processor Apple A5	1.4GHz Single-core Scorpion Qualcomm APQ8055 Snapdragon
RAM	1GB	512MB	512MB
Storage	16GB / 32GB / 64GB	16GB / 32GB / 64GB	16GB
microSD card slot	Yes, up to 32GB	No	No
Primary camera	8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus	8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus	8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus
Primary camera extras	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, LED flash, zero shuter lag	Touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, HDR, LED flash	Carl Zeiss optics, dual-LED flash, geo-taggin
Front camera	1.9MP 720p@30fps	1.3MP VGA @30fps	1.3MP VGA @30fps
Wi-Fi	802.11 a/b/g/n	802.11 b/g/n	802.11b/g/n
Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO	HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100  LTE 700 MHz Class 17 / 1700 / 2100
USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go	Yes, v2.0	Yes, microUSB v2.0
Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP	Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR
NFC	Yes	No	No
Sensors	Gyroscope, Accelerometer, G-Sensor, Digital Compass, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Barometer	Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor	Gyroscope, G-Sensor, Digital Compass, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor
Availability	May	Currently available	Currently available

Specs-wise, the Galaxy S III dominates both the Apple and Nokia camps. But specifications might not be enough these days to grab the inner geek in you – it has to win your heart as well.