Tag Archives: ctia2012

First sample shots with HTC’s EVO 4G LTE for Sprint

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What better way to see what a smartphone camera is made of than taking a tour of the best of what New Orleans has to offer? We were given the opportunity to take the forthcoming HTC EVO 4G LTE on a brief tour of the city here at CTIA 2012. Our full review of Sprint's latest LTE-capable device is on the way, but we want to give you a small teaser to arouse your curiosity ahead of time. So check out some of the sights through HTC's 8MP ImageSense camera (including HDR shots) and take a look at how it stacks up against the likes of the One X and One S below!

Gallery: HTC EVO 4G LTE first sample shots

Continue reading First sample shots with HTC's EVO 4G LTE for Sprint

First sample shots with HTC's EVO 4G LTE for Sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 20:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Braven Six Series hands-on

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Braven Six Series hands-on

Remember those Braven speakers from a few weeks back? Well, guess what, the trio made an appearance here at CTIA and we finally got to put our shaky, caffeine-fueled hands on them. The Six Series of Bluetooth boxes is (going from left to right in the image above) the 600, the 650 and the 625s. Both the 600 and 650 are crafted from the same aircraft-grade aluminum and are all but indistinguishable at a glance. The lone physical differentiator is the numerical labeling in the bottom right corner. Both have a pleasant heft and a matte finish that makes them feel like decidedly high-end products. And, at $150 and $190 respectively, they're priced that way too. The 3W speakers and dual passive subwoofers were perfectly pleasant sounding and got surprisingly loud -- drowning out the crowded showroom floor with relative ease. The only issue, predictively, was that the low end started to distort as the volume was cranked -- particularly on the 600. We were even able to daisy chain them through a mini stereo cable (though not turn them into a stereo pair via Bluetooth), clearly irritating Braven's booth neighbors.

The 625s is a slightly different beast. It also features an aluminum speaker grille, but the rest of the casing is wrapped in shock-absorbing rubber. It felt quite a bit lighter, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, since the company appears to think you should use this as a flashlight (hence the LED attachment). The unit even has a drybag should you decide to take it with you kayaking. We were even able to jack our iPhone in to the USB port for a bit of juice before heading back out on the floor. For more check out the gallery below.

Gallery: Braven Six Series hands-on

Joseph Volpe contributed to this report

Braven Six Series hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Join us live for Bill Clinton’s CTIA keynote tomorrow at 3PM ET

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Join us live for Bill Clinton's keynote from CTIA tomorrow at 3PM ET

Well, we kicked off the week with the current king of regulation, now we end the event with a keynote from a former regulatory king maker. President Bill Clinton will be taking the stage tomorrow afternoon to talk about... something. The philanthropist and former commander-in-chief took the long trip to N'awlins to address the industry and press, so we assume he's got something important to say. If you want to find out exactly what that might be, check back here at the time listed below to watch Willy get his word groove on.

May 10, 2012 3:00 PM EDT

Join us live for Bill Clinton's CTIA keynote tomorrow at 3PM ET originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 16:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rhode & Schwarz anechoic test chamber waves-on

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Rhode & Schwarz anechoic chamber waves-on

We're oft treated to fantastic news by the FCC while devices are tested in its immense labyrinth of labs but what we've not seen much of is the type of equipment contained within them. While the smaller Rhode & Schwarz TS8991 that we had a peek at today is used more for antenna design purposes and not by the FCC, it still offers some interesting -- and frighteningly complicated -- insight into the world of those who make your handsets work. The MIMO test we watched involved two theta positioners (which can be seen in the picture above) that rotate about the handset on the pedestal which also turns to add the azimuth in the test run. Each theta positioner has a quad ridged horn antenna, which -- aside from likely being the greatest sounding antenna name ever -- capture the signal from the handset and eventually allows the AMS32 management system to generate a 3D pattern of the radio emissions. The system will test 2G, 3G, 4G, WiFi, and Bluetooth sets and rings in somewhere above $1,000,000. Follow on for a video and a pretty detailed explanation that is mostly pretty user friendly.

Continue reading Rhode & Schwarz anechoic test chamber waves-on

Rhode & Schwarz anechoic test chamber waves-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alcatel OneTouch 995 hands-on

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Alcatel OneTouch 995 hands-on

Alcatel's OneTouch 995 first graced our pages back in November, which promised pumped-up specs and a departure from the company's traditional low-end lineup. We've now managed to lay our hands upon the device, and while it sports only Gingerbread (which contradicts those Ice Cream Sandwich rumors), it's really quite nice -- especially given the low price. While the hardware is relatively unassuming, that's not a bad thing. Instead, the OneTouch 995 manages to include just enough quality components to make the handset both attractive and functional. It features a 1.4GHz CPU, along with an admirable 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 IPS LCD display and a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash. We were also pleased to see a stock Android 2.3 interface, and Alcatel's addition of a micro-HDMI port with DLNA support is most definitely welcome. The enclosure itself is quite plasticky, but it's also comfortable to hold. We're told the OneTouch 995 will arrive on the market in the near-term, and will sell in the neighborhood of $270. As an important feature for some, it'll also be available in a variety of colors. To see the company's finest handset to date, be sure to check out our gallery below.

Gallery: Alcatel OneTouch 995 hands-on

Sean Cooper contributed to this report

Alcatel OneTouch 995 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 16:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T cancels plans to release Samsung Skyrocket HD, likely setting sights on Galaxy S III

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Remember the Samsung Skyrocket HD for AT&T? Great, now forget it. According to Sammy, the largest GSM carrier has decided to forego the mysteriously absent device, announced all the way back at January's AT&T Developer Summit, in order to focus on other products. This move adds credence to our suspicions that this particular handset wouldn't have a distinct place in the lineup alongside the carrier's version of the Galaxy S III, which hasn't been officially announced for US availability yet.

We reached out to Samsung, and here's the company's official statement on the matter: "AT&T and Samsung have agreed to cancel plans to offer the Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD. We are concentrating resources on other products to bring exciting experiences to consumers." Not too much of a surprise, but those eagerly awaiting this device shouldn't get too frazzled -- if you can't wait for Samsung's newest flagship, at least we're hopeful that a few carrier-branded prototypes will leak out on eBay to whet your appetite.

AT&T cancels plans to release Samsung Skyrocket HD, likely setting sights on Galaxy S III originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 15:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unnecto Quattro hands-on (video)

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It's Italian for the number four and also the name of a certain German auto, but Unnecto's latest device bearing that very moniker has little to do with either. In fact, the star feature of this low-end Android 2.3.5 handset, shown off on the CTIA 2012 show floor, is its ability to accommodate dual-SIMs. Yes, much like the touchscreen-only TAP that preceded it, this phone offers users with multiple lines the option to pack two SIMs -- full-sized and micro -- for easy account switching.

Spec-wise, the 4-inch handset's not much to get hot and bothered about, loaded up as it is with a middling 800 x 480 TFT display, VGA front-facing / rear 5 megapixel cameras, 4GB of storage (augmented by a pre-loaded 8GB microSD) and a 1,400mAh battery. There's no dual-core running under the hood either, just a lone 650MHz MediaTek 6573 processor and it shows given that our brief hands-on with the preliminary software was riddled with lags and stutters. Keep in mind the phone's still a work in progress and that mostly stock UI will eventually ship sometime this June with a customized overlay. An upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich is also purportedly on deck for Q4, but we're somewhat skeptical the single core handset could even support it. As for the price, well that all important bit is still up in the air, although we've been told it should retail between $150 to $200. If you're interested in buying what Unnecto's selling, check out the gallery below and hop on past the break for a brief video demo.

Gallery: Unnecto Quattro hands-on

Terrence O'Brien contributed to this report.

Continue reading Unnecto Quattro hands-on (video)

Unnecto Quattro hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T’s Glenn Lurie sees the end of WiFi-only tablets

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ImageAT&T's Glenn Lurie believes that WiFi-only tablets won't be around for long as the cost of cellular modems falls. Talking at CTIA Wireless, the "emerging devices" honcho thinks that the low ($30) cost of an HSPA+ radio will eventually make manufacturers abandon the two-tier model -- doubling the potential customers for his network. He pointed to the success of the sold-out Pantech Element and has said that the company would be offering similarly enabled tablet devices in the future. Of course, if manufacturers only charged $30 extra for 3G-enabled tablets in the first place, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

AT&T's Glenn Lurie sees the end of WiFi-only tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint confirms Direct Connect Now, will offer Push-to-Talk services via smartphone app

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Sprint's been rather quiet at this year's CTIA Wireless in New Orleans, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been sitting around without making any sort of noise. This morning, the Now Network let the cat out of the bag about Direct Connect Now, which is a service that will allow any regular smartphone user the opportunity to use the company's push-to-talk services in very similar fashion to devices that come with PTT already built into the hardware. How is this made possible? Simply put, there's an app for that -- or at least, there will be one coming to Google Play at an unspecified time in the not-too-distant future. This doesn't mean Sprint is giving up on hardware-based Direct Connect devices: new models will continue to be released going forward, but more smartphone users will at least have an opportunity to take advantage of the services in one way or another. More info as we receive it.

Sprint confirms Direct Connect Now, will offer Push-to-Talk services via smartphone app originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 12:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget interview: Sprint product execs John Tudhope and David Owens at CTIA 2012 (video)

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The Engadget interview: Sprint product execs John Tudhope and David Owens at CTIA 2012 (video)

We managed to catch not one, but two of Sprint's execs yesterday at CTIA Wireless 2012: Director of Product Marketing John Tudhope and VP of Product David Owens. While our discussion was centered primarily around the company's announcements at the show -- Sprint Guardian, HTC's EVO V 4G for Virgin Mobile and HTC's EVO Design 4G for Boost Mobile -- we were able to ask a few questions about the state of Sprint's LTE deployment and the associated value proposition. Want to find out more? Take a look at our video interview.

The Engadget interview: Sprint product execs John Tudhope and David Owens at CTIA 2012 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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