| ViewSonic ViewPhone 4s hands-on (video) Feb 26th 2012, 16:52 Viewsonic's ViewPhone 4s was on hand at Mobile World Congress and we couldn't help but stop and check out this surprisingly likeable handset. First off, the 326ppi 3.5-inch IPS display is beautiful, very beautiful. Other notables include dual SIM support, a 5-megapixel camera, a front-facing cam and 4 gigs of storage that can be augmented via an SD card. The housing wasn't complete in the handset being shown, though the design is pretty sharp with the inclusion of a trapdoor on the bottom which folds open to reveal a SIM tray and the spot for expansion memory. The interaction with the Android 4 OS was really fast and perfectly smooth with the standout being the ViewScene 3D launcher interface. Have a look at the video for a quick once-over and the gallery for pics from every angle and side. Zach Honig contributed to this report.Continue reading ViewSonic ViewPhone 4s hands-on (video) ViewSonic ViewPhone 4s hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Feb 2012 12:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Huawei MediaPad 10 eyes-on Feb 26th 2012, 15:57 If ever there was a "One more thing moment" it came at Huawei's Mobile World Congress 2012 press conference today, where the company's chairman waited until after a Q&A session to say, oh by the way, it'll sell a 10-inch version of its MediaPad tablet. The company stopped short of providing specs, and in the hands-on area outside the event, journalists were prohibited from actually touching the device. Here's what we know, though: it has a 10-inch 1080p, IPS display and the same industrial sign as the original MediaPad (aka the T-Mobile Springboard), with what appears to be a unibody aluminum design. You'll also find that white piece of plastic on the back that brings to mind HTC devices of yore, but instead of capping either portrait end, it stretches across the top of the back, where the eight megapixel camera is. The tablet will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, and, as before, the skinning atop Android seems minimal -- vanilla, even! Other specs: it has the same new K3V2 chip found inside the Ascend D Quad smartphone announced today. It'll ship in markets like China and Europe in Q2 (that means we don't know about US availability yet). For now, though, we've got some eyes-on shots below for your viewing pleasure. Huawei MediaPad 10 eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Feb 2012 11:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Huawei Ascend D Quad (hands-on) Feb 26th 2012, 15:19 It's no secret that Huawei is intent on joining the big boys in the smartphone arena, and the Ascend D Quad is undoubtedly its most promising attempt yet. The manufacturer is determined to make some serious headway into the world of handset relevance dominance, and the Ascend D Quad -- alongside its larger-battery XL brother -- are ready to play ball in the specs game. With a homegrown 1.5GHz quad-core CPU, 8MP rear camera, 720p display and plenty more components that top the charts, we think the chance of Huawei making a big name for itself is more promising than it ever has before. We just took an opportunity to play around with the potential game-changer, and our initial impressions were quite positive. Immediately, our attention was drawn to the display itself, which boasts incredibly vibrant colors and excellent viewing angles. And the device, with its elegant soft-touch back, was incredibly comfortable to hold -- in fact, it felt much similar to the Honor in many respects, with the exception of its width. The unit we played with was running on stock ICS, but it's quite possible this won't be the final software version when the thing is fully baked. We hope to get add more impressions throughout the week as we go to Huawei's booth and spend some more quality time. For now, however, check out a few images below. Huawei Ascend D Quad (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Feb 2012 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Researchers develop battery boosting Power Felt, encourages you to sit on your phone Feb 26th 2012, 15:11  For whatever reason, researchers have long been stuck on the idea of harnessing the wasted energy potential of the human body. We've seen our nation's brightest try to siphon power off of our spare body heat, our breath and even our blood -- we haven't been able to cast off our wall chargers just yet, but progress is being made. Today's no-socket wonder comes from Wake Forest University's Center of Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, and it falls into the body-heat category. Power Felt, a new fabric-like thermoelectric device comprised of layers of carbon nanotubes and flexible plastic fibers, can create an electrical charge from temperature differences.
The Power Felt's layered nanotubes allow it to generate more electricity than standalone carbon nanotube / polymer composite films and, according to researchers, could add only $1 to the cost of a charging cell phone cover. "Imagine it in an emergency kit, wrapped around a flashlight, powering a weather radio, charging a prepaid cell phone," said project head David Carroll, "Literally, just by sitting on your phone, Power Felt could provide relief during power outages or accidents." The thermoelectric technology still has a long way to go before it's ready for the market, however, leaving the US military's technology savvy tailors hanging off the edge of their seats. Researchers develop battery boosting Power Felt, encourages you to sit on your phone originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Feb 2012 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  Geek |  Wake Forest University | Email this | Comments | | ViewSonic ViewPad E70 and G70 hands-on Feb 26th 2012, 14:42 ViewSonic has kicked off the Showstoppers festivities at Mobile World Congress with a couple new tablets: the ViewPad G70 and E70 (pictured left and right). The twin tabs are specced just about the same save for a couple minor differences in bells and whistles and the E70's 150€ (roughly $200) price tag ringing in at half of the G70's €300 tally. Both tablets will ship running Android 4 ICS, feature 7-inch displays -- with E70 getting an 800x480 version and the G70 a 1024x600 unit -- 1Ghz Cortex A9 CPUs, and 3300mAh cells. The E70 should start shipping by April this year and the G70 in late June, and we're pretty sure ViewSonic will need all that time to polish both of these up -- no, not the fingerprints, though they are magnets. The device's response to touch input wasn't particularly accurate and the interface was very lagged when using it. Unfortunately we were also unable to ignore how weak these two displays were, and on a device that uses the screen for its principal point of interaction, that's a dealbreaker for us. Here's hoping these two get a buff and polish before launch time. Hit the gallery for some pics. Zach Honig contributed to this postViewSonic ViewPad E70 and G70 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Feb 2012 10:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | |
