New Gadgets

When it comes to fashionable gadgets Apple has largely been at the helm of the pack but that is quickly changing. Now that consumers care more about what their devices look like (in some cases, more than how they actually function) that ever before, manufacturers are taking note and producing truly beautiful hardware.

Samsung, for one, has been known to take some design cues from Apple (as made evident by the string of legal issues between the two) and add in their own flair for some great looking products. Their recent tablet offerings, for example, including the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus are arguably some of the best looking Android powered tablets on the market – and it seems that they are only going ot get better.

The reason I say this is because pictures have just hit the web that show both the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 7.0 in white, as shown above. According to our sources these photographs came from Vietnam where quite a bit of high profile leaks have come from in the past. Unfortunately we have virtually no information in regards to what markets these devices are set for nor do we know when we’ll find out more. Lucky for you, we’re on the case and will report back with any future findings.

Source

Don’t you just hate it when you try to take a photograph of your child or one of your favorite nephew/niece and they look at everything except the camera? Normally you’d need to wave a brightly colored toy around while you’re taking the picture so the kid will look in the general direction of the camera? Sometimes this can cause your picture to be off focus or shaky. And other times, when you’re out, you might not have a toy handy with you.

Well, Samsung has devised a solution to the problem with their latest 2View camera. Back in 2009, Samsung introduced a new line of cameras that featured dual-LCD displays – one in the front and one in the back. Probably targeted at the younger generation, the cameras made taking self-portraits a snap. Well now, Samsung are back with an update to the 2View camera. Called the ST700, it works like a regular 2View camera with a new addition: cartoons.

By playing back interesting, cute animations on the camera’s front screen, asking a child to look towards the camera is going to be a no-brainer. Just hit play, and you can be sure that for your next photo album, the kids are all going to be looking at the camera – at least until the kids get bored of the cartoons (luckily the camera comes with eight different animations). Users can also record and playback 30-second clips on the front display, or run a slideshow of photos on the camera if the kids have lost interest in the cartoons.

The camera takes images in 16.1-megapixels resolution, has a 5x optical zoom and Smart Auto 2.0 presets to help you automatically optimize your shots in any lighting. The Samsung ST700 is on sale now for $279.99.

Verizon Wireless announced on Monday that it will activate its blazing fast 4G LTE service in Pensacola, Tallahassee, and Gainesville Florida; Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama; Fayetteville-Lumberton, North Carolina, and in and around Philadelphia on May 19th. Verizon currently offers two 4G LTE phones, the HTC ThunderBolt and the Samsung DROID Charge, two USB modems, and two 4G LTE mobile hotspots. Hit the jump for a release detailing Verizon’s LTE roll-out in Philadelphia, the largest market from today’s announcements.

4G Smartphones, Modems And Hot Spots Arrive On The Expanded Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Network In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 19

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Starting Thursday, May 19, more Verizon Wireless customers across the Philadelphia metro area will be able to surf the web, download files and share music and photos up to 10 times faster than before with Verizon Wireless’ 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. The expansion will improve coverage in New Jersey to the northwestern sections of Gloucester, Camden and Burlington Counties including the towns of Woodbury Heights, Blackwood, Runnemede, Voorhees, Moorestown, Cinnaminson, Mount Laurel and Delran. In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 4G LTE coverage will be expanded to include the areas surrounding Newtown, Richboro and Buckingham.

Consumers and businesses in Philadelphia, including Philly International Airport, portions of South Jersey and Delaware, have had access to the nation’s fastest 4G mobile technology since last December. The company also launched 4G LTE service in the Lehigh Valley in April and has announced plans to activate its 4G LTE service in Harrisburg and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre by the end of 2011.

“We are proud to help lead more of the Philadelphia metro area into the 4G LTE wireless broadband world, helping residents, small businesses and local government connect faster and more fully with each other and those outside our community,” said Mario Turco, regional president of Verizon Wireless. Our 4G LTE network is revolutionizing the way people communicate, and we know this connectivity will be a key communications and technology enabler for many years to come.”

Smartphones, Hotspots and Laptop Modems

Residents in more locations across the Philadelphia metro area can choose from an array of devices that have already launched to access the blazingly fast speeds of the 4G LTE network, including:

* Just introduced on Saturday, the DROID Charge by Samsung features a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED™ Plus display, a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for both stills and video chatting, Android 2.2 platform, 1 GHz application processor, HTML 5 Web browser and Mobile Hotspot capability that lets customers share the 4G LTE connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices or the 3G connection with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Available for $299.99 after discounts with a new 2-year customer agreement.
* ThunderBolt™ by HTC smartphone is powered by Android™ 2.2 and has an 8-megapixel rear facing camera and HD (720p) video recording, 1.3-megapixel front facing camera with video chatting capabilities, newest generation of the 1GHz Snapdragon processor and Mobile Hotspot capability that lets customers share the 4G LTE connection with up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Available for $249.99 after discounts with a new 2-year customer agreement.
* Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot MiFi® 4510L and the Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH-LC11 let customers share the 4G LTE internet connection with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices at the same time. Each available for $99.99 after discounts with a new 2-year customer agreement.
* Verizon Wireless 4G LTE USB Modem 551L comes equipped with a fold-out USB connector, a four color LED Service Status Indicator and an internal antenna. Available for $99.99 after discounts with a new 2-year customer agreement.
* The LG VL600 4G LTE modem comes equipped with a fixed USB connector, an LED Service Status Indicator and an internal antenna. Available for $99.99 after discounts with a new 2-year customer agreement.
* Pantech’s UML290 USB modem comes equipped with a fold-away, 180 degree rotating USB connector, an LED Service Status Indicator and a internal antenna. Available for $49.99 after discounts with a new 2-year customer agreement.

Coverage

In real-world, fully-loaded network environments, 4G LTE users should experience average data rates of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink, so customers can enjoy the fast speeds of the world’s first large-scale 4G LTE network. Verizon Wireless began introducing the globe’s first large-scale LTE network on December 5, 2010, covering more than 110 million Americans, and is quickly expanding national coverage. In addition to expanding five new markets, the company is adding nine new markets this week, for a total of 55 metropolitan areas covered. The company is rapidly building out its 4G LTE network, and is on course to deliver 4G LTE to its entire 3G wireless footprint by the end of 2013. In addition, the company is working with rural communications companies to collaboratively build and operate a 4G network in those areas using the tower and backhaul assets of the rural company and Verizon Wireless’ core 4G LTE equipment and premium 700 MHz spectrum.

When customers travel outside of a 4G coverage area, the devices automatically connect to Verizon Wireless’ 3G network, enabling customers to stay connected from coast to coast. Verizon Wireless’ 3G network is the most reliable high-speed wireless data network in the country, allowing customers with laptops and smartphones to download and use cool apps, from mobile social networking platforms to GPS-enabled maps, rapidly browse the web to keep up with news, sports, stock quotes, Hollywood gossip and more, work on-the-go with fast file sharing and stream must-see video and customized radio stations.

4G LTE Data Plans and Pricing

With the DROID Charge by Samsung and the ThunderBolt by HTC, customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan and a 4G LTE data package. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access and an Unlimited 4G LTE data plan is $29.99 monthly access.

4G LTE Mobile Broadband plans for the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot MiFi® 4510, Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot SCH-LC11, Verizon Wireless 4G LTE USB Modem 551L, LG VL600 4G LTE modem and Pantech UML290 USB modem begin at $50 monthly access for 5 GB of data. Data usage can be tracked by logging on to My Verizon online at www.verizonwireless.com/myverizon.

Visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte for more information about Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network.

Sprint has announced the Samsung Restore, an eco-friendly messaging phone destined for the carrier’s pre-paid Virgin Mobile brand. The Restore is constructed with recycled plastics and the phone itself is 83 percent recyclable.

The Restore is the first eco-friendly phone for Virgin Mobile. It features a standard dial-pad and display on front with a slide-out full QWERTY landscape keyboard. It has a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities and also features stereo Bluetooth wireless support. The size of the phone is 4.6in x 2.1in x 0.6in (117mm x 53mm x 15mm) and it weighs 3.7oz (105g). The display offers QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) resolution and measures 2.4 inches across the diagonal. The battery is 1140mAh in capacity and offers an expected 6 hours of talk time.

Virgin Mobile has pre-loaded shortcuts to various social networking sites on the Restore and it supports popular POP3 email services. Google Maps and Virgin Navigator provide directions and navigation.

The Restore will cost $79.99 without a contract. A release date has not been announced.

You can find this and other cheap mobile phones at Phones4u.co.uk.

The Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 has been officially announced. The handset was first referred as Samsung Galaxy S Mini  with some specs and pictures having surfaced earlier.

The Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 features a 3.5-inch HVGA (320×480) touchscreen display, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and is powered by an 800MHz processor.

The Galaxy Ace runs Android 2.2 Froyo and offers you HSPA 7.2Mbps connectivity and a quad-band GSM radio. Other goodies are Social Hub, Swype keyboard input, WiFi up to wireless N, Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, FM radio with RDS and a microSd card slot that supports up to 32GB. Currently, there is no info about its availability or pricing.

To search for more mobile phones coming soon you can visit www.phones4u.co.uk

Samsung has made its RMC30D TV remote to look more like a touchscreen smartphone instead of the regular remotes that have many buttons. The RMC30D is a universal TV remote control  that packs a 3-inch touchscreen for various touch controls for your TV. It has a primary home button at the bottom of the touchscreen and a power button at the top.

It’s far slimmer and sleeker than any average TV remote but offers more capability and flexibility to understand the commands of various A/V appliances.

The RMC30D universal TV remote also presents you a virtual QWERTY keyboard on its touchscreen, allowing you to input texts for searching videos on YouTube or NetFlix. The Samsung touchscreen remote will start shipping sometime in first half of 2011 but no word about its pricing yet.

In all Android tablets in recent history, nothing comes close to the Samsung Galaxy Tablet. However, the price is pretty steep for a 7 inch tablet. Having it much cheaper will be most beneficial. The great thing is that Sprint took compassion to lovers of nice devices and so they will offer the Samsung Galaxy Tab at $300 if you sign up for the 2-year contract. If you go for the tab that is contract-free, you can get Samsung P1000 Galaxy Tablet Unlocked Android Powered with 3 MP Camera, 7-Inch Touchscreen, 16GB Memory–International Version with No Warranty (White)  for $679 at amazon. If you intend to upgrade to the new Honeycomb OS or transform to a dual core chip, you might very well get more value out of the purchase.

As of the moment, the Samsung Galaxy uses the Android 2.2 and the Hummingbird processor. It has 2 cameras in front and at the rear and it supports Wi Fi and 3G. The Galaxy Tab can also work into a mobile hotspot. The US version of the Galaxy Tab does not have phone functionality but Skype can be installed for making calls. Many are saying that once updates are made, the current Galaxy Tab will drop its price considerably so maybe it would be best to hold on to your money in preparation for newer advances. If you want to learn more about Android tablets read the Android tablet guide.

Samsung intends to launch what they are calling the worlds thinnest 3D Blu-ray player at CES 2011, and it will apparently measures just 23mm thick, and will feature a metal chassis.

This new 3D Blu-ray player from Samsung will also featured 2D to 3D conversion, plus a range of built in social networking features which include Facebook and Twitter, plus video streaming from sites like YouTube.

Unfortunately there really aren’t very many other details about this new ultra thin 3D Blu-ray player from Samsung, I guess we will have to wait until next week to get some more information.

Fancy picking up a tablet device? Actually, the Apple iPad has been doing gangbusters sales for the longest time already ever since it was released, and so far there hasn’t been any real competition to this device that can challenge its lofty position. Well, not until now – Samsung’s Galaxy Tab might have a smaller screen size at 7-inches, but it certainly isn’t any slouch when it comes to performance, running on the iOS’ rival platform – we’re talking about the Google Android operating system.

Most recently, the Samsung Galaxy Tab was released by US Cellular, where it is capable of delivering a premium mobile entertainment experience on the go, without getting bogged down by a bulky device. After all, it tips the scales at just 13 ounces while measuring 12 millimeters thin. The Galaxy Tab will be able to fit in nicely into a pocket or purse, so both genders will be able to carry one without growing extra muscles overnight.

Apart from the aforementiond brilliant 7-inch enhanced TFT display screen, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is also powered by a speedy 1GHz Hummingbird Application processor that is capable of supporting 3D graphics as well as smooth Web browsing, followed by a 1.3 megapixel front camera and a 3 megapixel rear-facing camera (for video calling and photo taking purposes, obviously), alongside the Android 2.2 operating system that throws in full support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1.

One thing about the Samsung Galaxy Tab would be its similarity with Samsung’s very own Galaxy S smartphones, which would mean carrying Samsung’s Social Hub application that is capable of synchronizing a user’s Messaging and Contacts to initiate the sending and receiving of information, regardless of whether it is e-mail, instant messaging, social network updates or SMS messages. Not only that, calendar information from portal calendars, such as Google Calendar, and social networking services are displayed together in one calendar with two-way synchronization.

You will also benefit from services such as Google Maps Navigation (Beta) and Google Goggles amongst others. With Wi-Fi connectivity, you ought to be able to surf at your favorite coffee place without missing a beat.

When faced with an external DVD writer, what comes into your mind? Most people would probably think along the lines of “one external DVD writer is as good as the other, since they all use the same internal parts anyways but sport different labels on the outside”. Well, not all external DVD drives are created equal, and if you’re a frequent traveler with a netbook as your working tool of choice, then we might want to suggest you quickly pick up an external DVD drive before you continue on your next stop. After all, you can never quite tell just when you’re going to have something to burn on your next road trip, eh? Let’s face the fact, carrying even the largest capacity USB flash drive is not going to make the cut (not to mention expensive in the long run) if you need to transfer huge chunks of data onto other portable media for friends and associates. Enter Samsung’s external SE-S084F optical disc drive which we’ll look at in greater detail in the extended post.

The SE-S084F optical disc drive will hit the market just in time for the mad holiday season, which is a good thing since it would mean you are able to burn all your favorite memories on numerous discs even from your netbook as long as it is hooked up properly via USB. It isn’t going to be a burden on your shoulder either, since it tips the scales at less than one pound and you can even choose from five distinct colors to suit your mood and personality. Targeting netbook as well as mini PC users, it will be able to deliver the flexibility of a smaller device without sacrificing the benefits of an optical disc drive.

Another plus point would be having it work straight off an USB power source, which does away with the need to tote around an AC adaptor or power cables that will ultimately add more weight to your luggage. It also has a heart for the environment, as this eco-friendly DVD writer plays nice with RoHS guidelines that limit the use of chemicals such as Pb, Cd, Cr+6, Hg, PBBs and PBDE. Samsung has also relied on lead-free soldering manufacturing technologies in order to further eliminate the use of harmful materials. Some of the writing speeds include 24X CD-ROM, 24X CD-RW, 8X DVD±R recording, 5X DVD-RAM recording, 6X DVD+R Dual Layer recording, 6X DVD-R Dual Layer recording, 8X DVD+RW recording and 6X DVD-RW recording. The asking price is pretty reasonable as well, costing a mere $59.99.