Skip to main content

3GPP Long Term Evolution

See All Stories

iFixit tears down the Galaxy Nexus

Site default logo image

The folks over at iFixit have torn-down the Galaxy Nexus, per usual, exposing what’s underneath. While they didn’t find anything we didn’t already know in terms of hardware, the team found that it’s fairly easy to get into the device — unlike the Droid RAZR — requiring only a few screws and a guitar pick. For replacing the 1750mAh battery users shouldn’t have any problem. The iFixit team does worn however that the screen is fairly hard to replace. They’re still working to identify a few power amplifiers and motion processing units , but we’ll let you know when iFixit finds them.

Don’t forget, we’re still waiting on the launch of the Galaxy Nexus in the United States. The Ice Cream Sandwich device has been available in the U.K. for a little over two weeks now, and has seen positive reviews. It shouldn’t be too long until we see Verizon’s LTE in the mix. iFixit gave the device a 6/10 on the repairability scale:

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Repairability Score: 6 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).

  • Battery replacement is incredibly simple thanks to the removable rear panel.

  • Minimal adhesive makes removal of the motherboard and other components a snap.

  • Headphone jack and speaker assembly are not soldered to the motherboard, so replacement is easy.

  • The only soldered components are the volume switch and vibrator motor.

  • Removing the rear case to access the motherboard and other internals requires a lotof careful prying and guitar-picking.

  • The glass is fused to both the display and the display frame. So don’t crack the glass unless you’re good with a heat gun, or you’re fond of replacing the glass, display, and frame together ($$$).

AT&T SVP says LTE coming to NYC “soon” (which could be forever)

Site default logo image

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uF3cMCjNAQ]

Remember when AT&T Wireless CEO Ralph de la Vega said that they’d bring tethering to the iPhone “soon” in 2008?  Yes, it was 2010 before it arrived.  So take the above video with a grain of salt.

AT&T SVP Larry Solomon told the Mashable audience that NYC would be getting AT&T’s LTE “sometime soon” (at 3:30).

Even with the background being sketchy, the math is in your favor NYCers.  AT&T says it will cover 70 million customers in LTE by the end of the year.  It is going to be hard to get there with their 15 markets if NYC isn’t one of them.

For good measure, AT&T was in NYC last week handing out to reviewers their impressive LTE smartphones the 4.5 inch HTC Vivid and Samsung Galaxy II Skyrocket.  We’ve got both phones in hand but won’t be able to offer up a comprehensive review until NYC LTE is lit up (or I visit Silicon Valley for the holidays – whichever comes first)


Expand
Expanding
Close

Droid 4 is a slightly smaller RAZR with a 5-row keyboard

Site default logo image

.

As is usually the case, the next Droid leaks have started months before any product is released. Droid Life got their hands on a whole gallery of images of the new Droid 4 and it looks incredibly impressive. So impressive that those Droid 3s now selling in stores are looking like a waste of time and money. The Specs:

  • (smaller than RAZR )4″ screen (assuming Super AMOLED Advanced)
  • Full 5-row “illuminated” keyboard
  • RAZR styling
  • 4G LTE
  • Non-removable battery
  • Android 2.3.5
  • 1080p video recording (assuming 8MP)
  • Front camera
  • HDMI out
  • MotoACTV syncing

If you like your physical Keyboards, your Verizon and Motorola bloatware (already loaded so coming soon) then you may want to keep your ear to the ground.  Head over to Droid Life for a full gallery

Expand
Expanding
Close

Motorola Droid RAZR hands on

Site default logo image

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYLL1zWT0zk]

Just getting my barrings after a crazy day yesterday…and have to say that of the Ice Cream Sandwich and Nexus announcements, I was most blown away by the Motorola Droid RAZR.  Well the hardware anyway – we didn’t get to spend any time with the Software which is Android 2.3.5 with Motorola and Verizon Droid overlays.  All I can say about that is it is typical for the Droid line as far as I can see.  But let’s talk hardware really quick, shall we?

I’m going to say it: On hardware alone, this is the most impressive piece of mobile device equipment I’ve ever seen.  It is both impossibly thin and feels incredibly solid.  As you can see in the video above, when someone picks it up, there is a gasp.  It’s like picking up a material so light and strong (titanium?) with such a vibrant display that you can’t reconcile it with your past smartphone experiences.  Sure Samsung makes devices similar in size and weight, but they are plastic.  This is a super-light metal phone that doesn’t bend and whose back cover doesn’t fall off.

People will point out the bump at the top as making it thick – but even the bump is thinner than most smartphones (see below) and it is “so big” because it needs to house an LTE antenna and a 8-megapixel backlit CCD camera with advanced lens technology.

The display is also the best I’ve ever seen perhaps save for the tablet-phone tweener 5.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Note.  At a more pocket manageable 4.3-inch qHD 960×540 pixels Super AMOLED, it has amazing 180 degree viewing angles and looks incredible (the video above doesn’t do it justice).  I’m not sure how it will do outside but the presentation room had all kinds of lights which would have put a damper on early OLEd screens like the original Droid.  When compared to the Motorola Droid Bionic’s 4.3 inch display, it isn’t even close.  This looks like the highest end Samsung display.

For all of its thin-ness, Motorola still touts it as having a much better batter life than its competitors on LTE.

Again, based on hardware alone – I’ve yet to use it  – this is the best phone I’ve ever seen.  It goes on pre-order at the end of the month and hits stores some time in November (hopefully before Black Friday).  If Motorola has production delays like it did with the now obsolete Bionic, it will have missed a pretty significant opening.  If it delivers the product on time and without any glitches in the software, this will be its most significant phone since the original Droid, which put Android on the map two years ago.

 

Live from Motorola Droid RAZR/ MotoACTV event

Site default logo image

image

We’re waiting in anticipation live from the Motorola and Verizon media event where we now know we’ll get a better look at the new Motorola RAZR unveiled in a series of teasers yesterday.

12:00 Sanjay Jha enters. Smartphones are a big deal. “Might of heard about some business news”

12:05 Talking Fitness.  Hardware – Music centric experience.  “Moto ACTV”  Little iPod Nano sized device to deliver Fitness and music to headses.

12:20 Demo-ing the Droid RAZR.  Pretty much as seen before. 7.1 mm thin except for the bump.  Lightest, Strongest, Fastest, Smartest.

Preorders Oct 27 pre order.  November delivery Price $299.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Review: Motorola Bionic on Verizon. The best Android in the US (for now)

Site default logo image

Ahhh.  Finally, an LTE phone with everything.  Motorola’s Bionic has been on everyone’s lips since its announcement at CES eight months ago.  However, Motorola’s first LTE phone underwent numerous facelifts, spec enhancements and delays pushing the phone out to last Friday.

We’ve had a week to play with this thing and can say that for all intents and purposes, this is the best Android device on the US market today.  Here’s the rundown of why:
Expand
Expanding
Close

First of US Galaxy S 2 devices to hit Sprint

Site default logo image

According to SprintFeed, the Sprint Samsung Galaxy S2, dubbed Epic Touch 4G phone will be announced by Samsung on Auguust 29th and released by Sprint two weeks later on September 9th.  But that’s not all…

Here’s what we’ve heard about the August 29th US launch:

Verizon will be a no show.  There are likely still some kinks to be worked out in the LTE version of the Galaxy S 2 which will be announced at a later date.

Sprint’s phone called the Epic Touch 4G or the  will be WiMAX and slightly thicker than the others with a grated plastic backing. 4.5 inch screen 480×800

T-Mobile’s version will also be 4.5 inch screen 480×800 and be the first phone to run on its (theoretical) 42Mb radio network.  It will require a Qualcomm dual-core CPU unlike the other devices which will use Samsung’s own dual core processors.

AT&T’s will be the most similar to the international version at 4.3 inches.

All of them will have the Netflix app ready on launch – only some will have it pre-installed however.

Even these incredible phones pale in comparison to the rumors of a 720P Ice Cream Sandwich phone on the horizon however.

The sickest of them all has to be the I9250 superphone. Probably your next handset, it rocks a monstrous 4.65-inch SuperAMOLED display with native 720p resolution (1280-by-720 pixels), the obligatory five megapixel camera (what, no eight-megapixels?) and Android Ice Cream, the latest and greatest version of Android due for release in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Verizon LTE Galaxy Tab 10.1 goes official, launches Thursday

Site default logo image

Samsung officially announced the availability of the LTE Galaxy Tab 10.1 for July 28th at Verizon. Itdoesn’t appear that the LTE radios have added any depth or weight to the Tab.

Pricing and data plans (which include  a $25 Media Hub):

  • Verizon Wireless will offer two 4G LTE Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 models both priced with two year customer agreements: $529.99 or the 16GB model and $629.99 for the 32GB model.
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 customers will have the option to choose one of the following Mobile Broadband plans:
  • $30 monthly access for 2GB monthly allowance
  • $50 monthly access for 5GB monthly allowance
  • $80 monthly access for 10GB monthly allowance
  • A 16GB Wi-Fi-only Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will also be available online at www.verisonwireless.com on July 28 for $499.99. The WiFi-only model will be available in Metallic Grey.
  • Full release follows:
    Expand
    Expanding
    Close

    Droid 3 running Gingerbread, qHD display, with speedy graphics

    Site default logo image

    The Droid 3, likely pictured above, is getting a little more real this weekend as someone holding one of these beauts decided to run it through the NenaMark1 Benchmarking results (below).

    The Results:  The Droid 3’s Texas Instrument’s dual-core 1GHz OMAP4430 CPU boasts a PowerVR SGX 540 GPU, same 960×540/4-inch screen as the Motorola Atrix and is running Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread.  Also codenamed Solana, the model is known to be a XT862.

    Since these guys are being benchmarked, a release is likely coming soon – perhaps alongside the Droid X2 which is also expected to debut on May 26th with a qHD 4.3-inch screen and a Tegra 2.   Neither of these devices look to be LTE, so we’re still waiting on a rebranded Bionic?


    Expand
    Expanding
    Close