Crystal White PS Vita landing in Hong Kong June 28th, overpriced import shops two days later

Posted on 18/05/2012 by Terrence O'Brien

It was bound to happen eventually, every other gadget does it. After debuting in a serious black sheen, the PS Vita is now getting a stylish white shell as well. Sadly, the shiny new pale version will only be available in Hong Kong at first, starting June 28th. There's no price premium for grabbing the lighter shade of handheld, though, if you want the matching white accessory pack, you'll have to pre-order. On the plus side, if you pledge now, they'll toss in the Trooper Pack, Armor Game case, 4GB memory card and (perhaps most importantly) a lint free cloth for free. Check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Crystal White PS Vita landing in Hong Kong June 28th, overpriced import shops two days later

Crystal White PS Vita landing in Hong Kong June 28th, overpriced import shops two days later originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 11:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Optimus True HD LTE’s European assault begins in Portugal, Germany and Sweden

Posted on 27/04/2012 by Richard Lawler

While the latest LTE and HD equipped addition to LG's Optimus line has already landed across Asia (Korea, Japan) and North America (US - AT&T, US - Verizon, Canada) under a few different names, the newly rebranded Optimus True HD LTE is finally prepared for a European debut. As seen by the flags flying above, this week LG will begin rolling out to Portugal, Germany and Sweden, with Britain and France on deck for the second half of the year when LTE service is available. The other flags present represent further Asian rollouts in Hong Kong and Singapore. The plan, described in the Korean press release linked below (Update: English PR after the break), is apparently to make LG synonymous with LTE, although we can't see how renaming its current dual-core standard bearer every other week is helping.

Continue reading LG Optimus True HD LTE's European assault begins in Portugal, Germany and Sweden

LG Optimus True HD LTE's European assault begins in Portugal, Germany and Sweden originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia Lumia 610 headed to the (Pacific) ‘Ring of Fire’ in coming months for €189

Posted on 19/04/2012 by Andrew Munchbach

The Lumia 610 is a colorful thing,
going on sale, in the Firery Ring.
Bound by tepid desire,
it's about to launch in the Ring of Fire.

It's about to launch in the burning Ring of Fire.
Sales are down, down, down,
and the burning platform feels higher.
But it's going on sale, sale, sale,
in the Ring of Fire.
And also China.

The full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia 610 headed to the (Pacific) 'Ring of Fire' in coming months for €189

Nokia Lumia 610 headed to the (Pacific) 'Ring of Fire' in coming months for €189 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Huawei Ascend P1 arriving in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia by May

Posted on 18/04/2012 by Brian Heater

Looking to sail the smartphone seas on Huawei's dual-core flagship? Good news if you happen to reside in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Australia: the 4.3-inch 1.5GHz Ascend P1 will be arriving in your locale by next month. Oh, and Latin America, don't worry, Huawei hasn't forgotten about you. The phone will be bringing its eight-megapixel camera to that part of the world in June, followed by Europe at some other point in the summer. More mystery regions will be getting their chance at the P1 at another undisclosed time. In the meantime, more info can be found in the press release after the break.

Continue reading Huawei Ascend P1 arriving in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia by May

Huawei Ascend P1 arriving in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia by May originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meizu MX Quad-core launching with Android 4.0 in June, gets 32GB and 64GB flavors

Posted on 16/04/2012 by Richard Lai

Can't say we're surprised, but Meizu's finally giving us the lowdown on the quad-core variant of its flagship Android smartphone. Simply dubbed the MX Quad-core, this new device will be powered by a Cortex-A9-based, 32nm HKMG (High-K Metal Gate) quad-core Samsung Exynos chip -- no word on the clock speed or RAM, but we're betting our money on the Exynos 4412 that goes up to 1.5GHz. Meizu claims this will save up to 20 percent of CPU power consumption compared to its dual-core counterpart. Also, the battery will be bumped up from 1,600mAh to 1,700mAh -- we shall see how much difference this makes when we eventually get our hands on the phone. And yes, in addition to the original white back cover, you'll be able to swap it with one of the five optional colored covers pictured above.

On the software side you'll get a Meizu-customized Ice Cream Sandwich system (aka Flyme OS), though it isn't clear whether the company will stick to its old promise of simultaneously releasing a vanilla ROM. The rest of the new phone's identical to the dual-core MX, especially the 4-inch 960 x 640 ASV display and the eight-megapixel BSI camera. While there's still no microSD expansion, here's some good news to make up for this flaw: the base model starts at 32GB and it'll cost the same as the current 16GB MX! In other words, come June the unsubsidized MX Quad-core will go from ¥2,999 (US$480) in China and HK$3,099 (US$400) in Hong Kong; and then there'll also be a 64GB version priced at ¥3,999 (US$635) and HK$4,099 (US$530), respectively. Meanwhile, starting today, the original MX is reduced to ¥2,399 (US$380) and HK$2,599 (US$335). Press release after the break.

Now, with Meizu proudly claiming to have the world's first smartphone to utilize the quad-core Exynos chip, we wonder where Samsung's at with its own unicorn device?

Continue reading Meizu MX Quad-core launching with Android 4.0 in June, gets 32GB and 64GB flavors

Meizu MX Quad-core launching with Android 4.0 in June, gets 32GB and 64GB flavors originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG renames Optimus LTE to Optimus True HD LTE, disses Samsung’s HD Super AMOLED

Posted on 14/04/2012 by Richard Lai

While the Optimus LTE's already made its way to South Korea, Japan and the US (in the guise of the Spectrum and the Nitro HD), LG's decided to give this dual-core handset a new name ahead of its Hong Kong launch at the end of this month. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Optimus True HD LTE. Alas, the "true HD" part here doesn't actually mean the phone's getting 1080p resolution on a 4.5-inch panel (which would be 490ppi; yet Toshiba's actually done it!); but we were told that 'tis really just a dig at Samsung's HD Super AMOLED technology -- you know, the magic behind that 4.65-inch screen on the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy S II HD LTE.

Simply put, LG doesn't think that 1,280 x 720 on PenTile counts as HD due to the lower number of sub-pixels; and while it's at it, the company also criticized AMOLED's over-expressed colors and higher power consumption in "normal user environment" -- for the latter, LG showed that its AH-IPS has a more consistent power consumption across varying levels of overall whiteness. You can see the relevant slides after the break.

Of course, we've already expressed (twice) how much we like the HD Super AMOLED display on the Galaxy Nexus. The clearness issue now is much less noticeable when compared to the original Super AMOLED; but as for color accuracy, many of us are indeed deceived by the vibrancy that we naturally enjoy -- except when you need to inspect photos, of course. Regardless, we're pretty sure that it's only a matter of time before Samsung strikes back with a, ahem, "true HD" Super AMOLED (Plus) panel -- hopefully in time for the upcoming Galaxy S III.

Gallery: LG renames Optimus LTE to Optimus True HD LTE, disses Samsung's HD Super AMOLED