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Huawei Valiant lands on MetroPCS

Prepaid mobile service provider MetroPCS has just added the Huawei Valiant to its smartphone offerings. While the Android smartphone is nothing extraordinary, the budget price and freedom from contracts might be tempting to some consumers in the US.


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Near the end of July, T-Mobile, who owns MetroPCS, started pushing the carrier’s service into more markets across the country in what many see as a move to outpace rival AT&T. T-Mobile also announced that it will add new smartphones to MetroPCS’ catalog, starting with the LG Optimus F3. MetroPCS is now expanding its roster again with the Huawei Valiant.


The Huawei Valiant offers some very modest hardware and features. It sports a 1.0 Ghz Qualcomm processor, up to 1.9 GB of internal memory expandable to up to 32 GB with a microSD card. It has a 4-inch Gorilla Glass display with an unknown resolution and a 3 megapixel rear camera. It runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and carries a 1750 mAh battery which gives it a talk time of 10 hours and 560 hours on standby.


MetroPCS is listing the Valiant with a $79 price tag but is also offering unlimited Talk, Text, and Data plans with $40, $50, and $60 price tiers. All three plans include 4G coverage but would be useless on the Huawei Valiant as it does not support 4G networks.


SOURCE: MetroPCS

VIA: Phone Scoop


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ASUS Transformer Pad refresh teased, points to September unveiling

Even though we’re already counting down to the days that will usher in a torrent of gadget announcements, there’s still some room for last minute leaks and teasers. ASUS is taking that “better late than never” mentality as it partly unveils on Facebook what is supposedly its next Transformer Pad.


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Last June, ASUS unveiled the new Transformer Pad Infinity, an upgraded version of the model sporting the new NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor with a 2560×1600 10.1-inch HD LED display. While this new Transformer Pad Infinity hasn’t yet reached markets, ASUS seems to be ready announce another one of its tablet/laptop hybrids with nothing more than an ASUS logo peeking from a black sleeve and the slogan “We transform your mobility”. This could very well be pointing at a refresh to the company’s Transformer Pad TF300 model.


Just like with the Transformer Pad Infinity, this tablet would be upgraded from Tegra 3 to Tegra 4, giving it clocks speeds of 1.9 GHz. A recent FCC filing seemed to suggest that it will have a similar resolution of 2560×1600, which would put it slightly above the recently announced LG G Pad 8.3. However, the tablet will most likely share the same 10.1-inch display size of the TF300, so it remains to be seen whether it will fare better than the G Pad’s 8.3 inches.


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ASUS seems to be preparing a line up of devices that give a bit more muscle to current models but still keep the branding. Just a few days ago, a photo was leaked showing a new ASUS PadFone Infinity that boosts the CPU from a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 to a Snapdragon 800. In any case, as ASUS unambiguously says on its teaser, four more days to go before we get a real good look at what the company has been working on behind the curtains.


VIA: SlashGear


Weekend Gaming: Gangstar Vegas Mojave Apocalypse

Gameloft‘s Gangstar Vegas hit title arrived on the Google Play Store back in June, and since has been extremely popular. This week the developers updated the game with a brand new episode, Mojave Apocalypse, and in a surprise move also dropped the price nearly 40%. So with that this is our weekend feature for you to enjoy on this 3 day holiday weekend.


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Their ongoing Gangstar franchise has multiple releases, but Vegas was the latest in their long line of GTA style games. Robbing money filled casinos in over 80 different missions full of gun wars and fights, and even play an MMA fighter. However, this week we got a brand new update with tons of additional content.


Thursday Gameloft updated their popular game with a new “Mojave Apocalypse” add-on, which includes 11 new missions, including 2 new game types. Those being Skydive & Delivery. Then we’ll be enjoying 3 brand new vehicles to drive around the Strip and cause mayhem. As well as a sawed-off shotgun for those casino heists.


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In addition to the now nearly 91 different missions, multiple vehicles, and tons of weapons you’ll now be able to finally enjoy MOGA controller support. Something many were hoping for. It’ll likely also be compatible with NVIDIA SHIELD, which we’ll be testing out later this week. The new update arrives with tons of bug fixes, improved graphics, and the game is currently 40% off, being just $3.99 instead of $7. Get it from the link below.


VIA: Play Store





Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch pictured, specs confirmed

Next week Samsung is scheduled to take the stage in Berlin for IFA and announce their brand new smartwatch, called the Samsung Galaxy Gear. September 4th we’ll be able to put all the rumors to rest, but this afternoon the first real pictures of the device have finally hit the web courtesy of VentureBeat. It sure isn’t what we expected, and is a bit clunky, but check it out with more details below.


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Previous reports and rumors have hyped this device up quite a bit, so hopefully we aren’t disappointed once Samsung confirms everything come next Wednesday. All the rumors of a curved AMOLED display appear to be false, and instead we have a 2.6-inch squared, flat display, but the large bezels make it rectangle in shape and nearly 3 inches. Yes, that’s a big and clunky device for a wrist, if you ask us.


The color display looked good in the slides, and in person, according to the report, and most the previous leaked specs were accurate. Those being a 4 megapixel camera on the front side, tiny speakers built into the clasp of the strap, and a little button for power/wake on the right side.


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The leak confirms Samsung S-Voice for easy voice commands, companion apps and sync with Galaxy S and Note devices, Samsung’s S-Health app for all those Nike FuelBand type features, and much more. Venture beat wasn’t able to snap pictures of the device, but a full video of slides was shown, and they snagged a few pictures that appear to show plenty of swipe gestures for navigating the 2.6 or 3-inch display.


Not only does it have Bluetooth and NFC, but there’s also WiFi connectivity. There’s plenty of built-in Android apps specifically for the Galaxy Gear watch. And earlier this week images leaked of their companion “Gear” Android app, which will probably hit the Play Store soon as well.


The rounded edges gives it a very similar smartphone look, only smaller of course, but it certainly is extremely large and clunky. Those expecting some next-gen wearable device won’t be too pleased, if we had to guess, but we’ll have to get our hands on it for a final judgement. We’ll have plenty of hands-on pictures and video come Wednesday from the event.


Thoughts?


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LG G Pad 8.3 gets official with 1920 x 1200 display and Android 4.2.2

Early details of the LG G Pad 8.3 had been a mix of official and rumor. There had been some leaks and speculation and there was also some teasing coming direct from LG. And while the official unveiling was expected during IFA, LG has offered a surprise announcement ahead of the show. Simply put, LG has announced the G Pad 8.3 and has said the tablet will be available in “key markets” during the fourth quarter of the year.


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They have yet to specify each and every market that will see the tablet, however it will be coming to those in North America, Europe and Asia. So far pricing has yet to be announced, but we suspect that will be made clear closer to the actual release. Or for that matter, we suspect some price related leaks will appear in the not to distant future. Anyway, that all aside, how about we get into the specs which include an 8.3-inch display at 1920 x 1200 (273 ppi) and a quad-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor.


Otherwise, the tablet will also have 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage space, a 4600 mAh battery and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The camera setup will include a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and 5 megapixel rear-facing camera. Remaining hardware points have the tablet arriving in both black and white and with measurements or 216.8 x 126.5 x 8.3mm and a weight of 338 grams.


As we have been seeing with LG smartphones lately, they are pushing the G Pad 8.3 tablet with some of the “premium” features of the G Series devices. In the case of the G Pad 8.3 that means goodies such as KnockON which turns the tablet on by tapping the display two times. Other goodies here include QSlide which allows the user to control up to three apps in one window and Slide Aside which deals with multitasking.


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Slide Aside is described as allowing the user to slide currently open apps off to the side using a three-finger swipe gesture. Anyway, while the announcement has been made and the specs have been shared we expect this is not going to be the last we hear from LG on the G Pad 8.3. In fact, we suspect they will have the tablet on-display next week during IFA.





Galaxy Note III release date tipped for Sept 16th on Three UK

The amount of tips, leaks, and rumors surrounding Samsung’s upcoming 5.68-inch phablet aren’t slowing down. This week alone multiple different release dates have purportedly been leaked. However, this afternoon some internal documents shown by Engadget from Three UK show the Samsung Galaxy Note III hitting the shelves on September 16th.


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Previous reports have the Note III becoming available on the 27th, and early rumors even suggested it would launch the week after it gets unveiled on September 4th. If that’s close to accurate, the 16th might actually be pretty close and our best bet.


However, these aren’t US release dates, and surely US carriers might change things a bit. Samsung’s been pretty good at getting universal launches as of late, and we’ll likely see it arrive in the US within the next month. Start getting excited about this 5.68-inch 3GB of RAM packing quad-core powerhouse smartphone, because it’s coming soon. Just this afternoon we saw our best look yet of the front fascia.


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The leak you see above mentions more than just the Note III, and we’re also seeing another flagship device launch date. That being the Note III competitor from Sony, the Xperia Z1. Which is also known as the Honami. According to this leak the Note III arrives on the 16th, with Sony’s Xperia coming to the streets on the 24th. Hopefully launch dates and details are revealed next week at IFA, if not, we’ll be sure to keep you all updated the minute we know more.





Motorola files for dual-screen smartwatch and gaze detection patent

The wearable technology wave is just getting started, and is showing no signs of slowing down. From smartwatches to Google Glass, things are only going to get more cluttered. With most major players all looking to get into the smartwatch game, a new patent from Motorola shows they might have some big plans for their upcoming watch. From dual-screens to gaze detection and more.


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A newly discovered patent by Engadget shows Motorola getting weird with their smartwatch. Their current devices are all focused on fitness, and this won’t be any different. However, it also talks about dual screens, as well as that recently talked about “gaze detection” that Google applied for as well.


Gaze detection is about a device knowing when you’re looking at it, as it detects the users eyes and knows when the screen is actually being focused on. A lot of talk with this is around ads, and Google Glass, but watches might be getting into the fold too. The patent was from last year, and Motorola explains the device as an “appendage” but their images all show a watch on someones wrist, as you saw above.


There appears to be a hinge for a dual-screen system, which were not so sure about, but surely something unique could come from that. To be honest I’m still not sold on the smartwatch era were about to dive into, but Samsung’s upcoming device next week, and the recently rumored Google Nexus smartwatch could change that. What about you guys. Excited about Android-powered watches?


VIA: USPTO





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