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Along with the rest of their 2012 rebirth announced earlier today via a torrent of Android smartphones, the ZTE Era stood out as a powerhouse to be reckoned with. We’ve gotten the chance to take a hands-on look at an early build of this device now, it and its giant AP30+1450 quad-core processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, and 4.3-inch TFT display at qHD 960 x 540 pixel resolution. This device is certainly ZTE’s greatest effort yet. This device is able to connect with GSM, EDGE, DPRS, WCDMA, and HSPA+, and is more than ready to take on the world market if and when all of these specifications come together in one grand device. On the back of the device you’ve for an 8 megapixel AF camera capable of 1080p video and the front you’ve got a VGA camera for video chat. This device also has HD Voice, DLNA, and MHL for HDMI output to your HDTV. This ZTE device feels fabulous to hold, has bluetooth 3.0, and on the whole is a rather nice device to look at. You’ve got Dolby sound inside an

Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 10.1 yesterday and we spent some time with the pen-enabled slate already, but we couldn’t resist stopping by for an extended play. Stylus-equipped tablets haven’t been fashionable for years, but Samsung stands a chance of bringing the segment back into fashion, thanks to a mixture of usable Ice Cream Sandwich and the flexibility of accurate handwritten text entry. Since the Galaxy Note, however, Samsung and Wacom have tweaked the digitizer layer, and the 10.1-inch version is supposedly more accurate. The stylus itself will work with the Galaxy Note, though you won’t get the extra precision. Unfortunately there’s no silo for the pen in the Galaxy Note 10.1, which makes it a shame that the stylus itself is a little on the narrow side. We’d prefer something thicker and more comfortable to hold for longer periods. Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 hands-on: Samsung will preload the Adobe suite of PhotoShop apps for Android tablets, and you can create and edit multi

Apple is in the process of banning an app called Evi for being too similar to its own intelligent voice assistant app, Siri. It’s been reported over the weekend that Apple representative Richard Chipman called the app’s developer, True Knowledge, on Friday to notify the company. Evi may be pulled for breaching one of the App Store’s guidelines involving apps that appear “confusingly similar to an existing Apple product.” True Knowledgge CEO William Tunstall-Pedoe believes that it’s highly unlikely that users would confuse one service over the other, but that the matter at hand was more of eradicating competition. The Evi app has so far gotten over 200,000 downloads, with plenty of reviews praising it as “better than Siri” or “now you don’t need to buy a 4S.” Certainly, this raised some eyebrows and got Apple to change its mind about allowing the app to remain. However, the app isn’t completely akin to Siri, since it lacks the ability to access native iOS apps such as Calendar or Remind

T-Mobile this week officially announced the new Galaxy S Blaze 4G smartphone, and that it will be available late March. Here at Mobile World Congress while sorting through the madness we were able to get some hands-on photos of the newest 4G member of the T-Mobile family. The Blaze comes in smack in the middle of the pack in terms of price, and performance and we have all the details. As a quick refresh the Galaxy S Blaze 4G isn’t just a Galaxy S of old, instead it’s been improved upon in a few key areas although not enough to warrant or carry the name Galaxy S II. The Blaze 4G has a 4.0″ Super AMOLED display with 480 x 800 resolution, Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread, and dual cameras — although only 5 megapixels around back. The key differences here with the Blaze 4G over the original Galaxy S is that T-Mobile’s outfitted the Blaze with a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm S3 processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Very similar to their current Galaxy S II offering only with a smaller d

A new study shows that children who play games like Dance Dance Revolution or Wii Sports are no more likely to exercise than those who play a completely sedentary game, a statistic that the study’s researchers said they found “shocking.” The study, which was conducted at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, found that not only did people who played active games not really take the initiative to participate in external strenuous activity, but the amount of strenuous activity they showed during gameplay was matched by children who were playing sedentary games. In other words, the study took two groups of children – one was given an active game and the other a game like Super Mario Galaxy. The children’s physical activity was tracked by a belt that they were required to wear for the duration of the study. Only children who complied with that instruction were allowed to keep their Wii, so the results were deemed significantly accurate. The kids who had active games showed an average

Dell appears to be shifting away from consumer products towards enterprise IT solutions in a move similar to what HP unsuccessfully attempted last year. During a new enterprise hardware launch event today, Dell’s president of enterprise solutions group, Brad Anderson, proclaimed that “We’re no longer a PC company, we’re an IT company.” The claim comes shortly following Dell’s release of its full-year financial results, which showed struggling consumer sales but a strong growth in enterprise. Although the attempt by HP to transition into an enterprise IT company and to spin off its PC group proved disastrous last year, the shift seems well suited for Dell, which has continued to see its consumer sales slide. Dell’s enterprise solutions and services now make up 30 percent of sales and 50 percent of profits. The company plans to make new acquisitions to build on its enterprise reach. However, Dell isn’t completely throwing in the towel on consumer products, but simply moving away from the

AT&T has revealed plans to launch a new service that would give mobile app developers the option of paying for the mobile data used by their app subscribers. Although this sounds ludicrous, AT&T’s network and technology head John Donovan likened it to offering a 1-800 Toll-Free option for apps, where developers could motivate users to download and use their apps if the data involved in using the apps didn’t count towards the users’ data plan limits. “A feature that we’re hoping to have out sometime next year is the equivalent of 800 numbers that would say, if you take this app, this app will come without any network usage,” revealed Donovan during an interview with The Wall Street Journal. For instance, if a user is tight on data, they may be more motivated to download a movie or some other digital content from an app if they know that it won’t go towards their monthly data. Donovan may be explaining the system in simple benign terms, but if implemented, it could have a drastic

If there was a “Phoenix From The Ashes” award at Mobile World Congress it’s hard to argue that Nokia wouldn’t be the most worthy recipient. Twelve months ago the company was apologetically admitting it had no new devices for MWC 2011, and today it revealed a bevy of phones that opened new doors in developing markets, pushed the envelope for Windows Phone pricing, and busted the smartphone camera segment right open. We’ve a whole lot of Nokia coverage, so head on past the cut to get up to speed. Nokia Lumia 610 Nokia’s entry-level Windows Phone may not have the ClearBlack AMOLED display of the Lumia 800 or the LTE of the Lumia 900, but it does have a bargain price tag. At €189 pre-tax and subsidies, it’s a new low for Microsoft’s platform – in a good way – with the promise of unlocking new markets for the company and the OS as well. Check out all our hands-on information here. Nokia Lumia 900 DC-HSPA Although the Lumia 900 is no stranger to us – we played with it in AT&T LTE form ba

Have you wanted to see pieces of American history in person, but never been able to take the time to visit Washington, DC? That may soon not be as big of an issue, as the Smithsonian has begun duplicating some of the items in its possession with the aid of 3D printers. This is the real deal, as the museum has already managed to recreate a sculpture of Thomas Jefferson from the National Museum of African American History. The Smithsonian called it the latest 3D-printed museum quality historical replica on the planet. And that’s just the beginning. The institute has an amazing 137 million objects in its possession. With all that stuff, though, only 2% of the collection is ever on display at a given time. Some items are presented on a rotating schedule, while others have not been publicly viewable for years. The Smithsonian represents a collection of 19 museums, many of them in the heart of the nation’s capital. But with the ability to create realistic replicas, that presence could expand

Apple may be working on two new processors this year for the upcoming iPad 3 and iPhone 5. There have been conflicting reports from trustworthy publications, some claiming that the next-gen iPad would sport a new quad-core chip, while others claim an enhanced dual-core chip with an improved graphics engine. A recently leaked image purported to be the iPad 3′s logic board, showed an “A5X” processor, suggesting a more evolutionary upgrade than revolutionary. However, 9to5Mac delved into iOS 5.1 code, finding that Apple may actually be developing both at the same time. What tipped off the possibility of both processors being developed is Apple’s iOS device processor-naming scheme and the appearance of two new processor model names deep in the code of iOS 5.1 beta. The original iPad had used an A4 chip, which had the model number S5L8930X, while the iPad 2′s A5 chip had the model number SL8940X, a full 10-point step up. The reported A5X chip has a model number of S5L8945, indicating a half

There was a little awards show in Hollywood last night, but no one really cares about that, right? We all know that Sony’s PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards are much more exciting. Beginning tomorrow, users will be able to log into the PlayStation Store and cast their votes for their favorite downloadable PS3 and PSP games. As a reward, gamers who vote will receive an exclusive XMB theme for their console. So what’s the point of all this? Aside from letting your voice be heard and throwing support behind anything you might have thought was an exceptional title, once all the votes are tallied Sony will offer a 30% discount on the winning titles in each award category. For PlayStation Plus members, that discount shoots up to 50%. The categories include best PSN exclusive, best PSN game, best PlayStation Move game, and best 3D game. Here’s the complete list of award categories and nominees. Remember, voting opens up tomorrow, and anyone who casts a ballot will receive an exclusive theme. Best PSN

Here at Mobile World Congress we came across an unannounced 7.7″ quad-core Tegra 3 tablet from Toshiba with the name AT270. This ultra-thin and blazing fast tablet was extremely impressive and one of the thinnest tablets we’ve seen here — not to mention running on a quad-core and Android 4.0 ICS. Check out the pictures and hands-on video below. This tablet was briefly spotted at CES and specs listed the display as a 1280 x 800 AMOLED HD panel and from our initial impressions that is most likely what we have here. The 7.7″ screen was extremely vivid and crisp, as were the games being played on it thanks to the power of the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor. Toshiba’s previous tablets have been a little on the fatter side, so to not only see a thin tablet, but one of the thinnest of the entire show has us extremely impressed. You can see from the image above it’s barely thicker than the 3.5mm headphone jack, and this was throughout the entire tablet — not just on the edges. The device w

The next mega Canon DLSR, the 5D Mark III, has been spotted in the wild again, this time in three separate images of the camera at various angles to whet the appetites of photography pros ahead of the expected March 2 launch date. The images showed up on the forums of CanonRumors, and appear authentic, according to the site. The camera will be unveiled in at least two upcoming events, one in Singapore and the other in France. Although official specs haven’t been revealed yet, this ultra powerful camera is expected to offer a 22-megapixel sensor with a 61-point auto-focus system, and the ability to capture 6.9fps. It also features 100-percent viewfinder coverage and a 3.2-inch LCD screen along with both CF and SD card slots. The sensor resolution spec seems to fall behind that of the 36-megapixel Nikon D800, but Canon has explained before that this successor to the 5D Mark II isn’t attempting to compete on megapixels and is designed based on the needs of professional photographers. The

Starz is ending its streaming content contract with Netflix and will be yanking all of its Starz Play titles from the service in the very near future. Starz was one of the strongest Netflix content partners because it was able to bring Disney movies to the platform, as well as titles from Sony Pictures. However, because of the complicated licensing issues between Disney/Sony and Starz, and the agreements Netflix had with the Xbox 360, the companies involved started renegotiating their contract. Those negotiations reportedly ended in September of 2011, with no success. As a result, Starz vowed to terminate its agreement at the end of its current contract, which is right about now. To fill this void, Netflix has been aggressively trying to bring in new partners, but there’s no denying that losing a massive selection of Disney movies is a huge blow to the streaming leader. As of now, the titles are still showing as available, but they won’t be up there for long, so if you want to watch an

Panasonic isn’t taking any chances with its smartphone expansion plans; its ELUGA phone line-up promises speed, style and useful ruggedness, so we grabbed an ELUGA and gave it an impromptu bath. Waterproof, along with dustproof, the ELUGA can survive in up to a meter of water for a 30 minute period; we didn’t leave it that long, however, as the 4.3-inch qHD OLED display was asking to be played with. Performance from the 1GHz dualcore processor – albeit running a non-final customized build of Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread with Panasonic’s own UI modifications – was smooth, and the OLED screen holds up well to panels from Samsung and others. It’s the hand-feel that really impresses, however: the 7.8mm depth feels even less in the hand thanks to the D-shaped profile. Panasonic ELUGA hands-on: It’s also sturdy, with its metal construction, and though the shifted power/lock buttons and volume keys – which have been moved slightly around, to face out the back of the phone – take a little getting

Apple faces renewed criticism over the Proview iPad trademark case, amid accusations that the shell company Apple set up deliberately mislead over its intended use of the trademark in order to secure the sale. Proview, which is currently suing Apple in the US, claims Apple’s “special purpose company” IPADL (IP Application Development Ltd) assured the Taiwanese firm that it sought the trademark as “it is an abbreviation for the company name” the BBC reports. However, a month following the sale – which Proview also argues is not genuine – Apple launched the iPad. Proview is suing Apple in California for alleged fraud, and is seeking damages, costs, the voiding of the iPad trademark sale from 2009 itself, and – perhaps most devastating to Apple – a court ruling preventing Apple from using the iPad trademark in China. Although it is not unusual for a high-profile firm to set up a shell company to complete a trademark transaction – something which Proview’s suit describes as “to obtain the

Have we finally reached the point where Nintendo has run out of colors for which to name its Pokemon RPG titles? After it chose black and white for the last installment, it seemed like that might be the case. Now it seems even more that way, as the next two entries in the franchise will be named Pokemon White 2 and Pokemon Black 2. However, the naming may not be entirely due to the fact that there are only a few colors left to choose. In the past, there was a Pokemon game available in two installments, later complemented by a third, and that was it. Lather, rinse, repeat. Although games from one color series could interact with ones from another, there was no connection between the storylines in the games. That’s changing this time around, and Black 2 and White 2 will be direct sequels to Black and White. This move shows an increased focus on the story, which has admittedly taken something of a back seat in previous installments. According to the games’ announcement, which was made in

HTC recently announced a trio of Android handsets at MWC 2012 in a new “One” series, which includes the One X, One S, and the One V. The One X is heading to AT&T, the One S is set for T-Mobile, but the cheaper One V’s destination remained a mystery. Well, now it looks like the device is being prepped for Metro PCS, Virgin Mobile, and US Cellular, according to PhoneScoop citing an HTC spokesperson, although no official announcements have been made just yet. Despite being considered the lower-end device, the HTC One V is certainly trying to raise the bar for low- to mid-tier smartphones. It features a quality build that fits a 3.7-inch Super-LCD WVGA display on a slim 9.24mm aluminum unibody chassis. It will run HTC Sense 4.0 on top of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which means it could be the first smartphone with the latest Android iteration to hit Metro PCS, Virgin Mobile, and US Cellular. Although pricing hasn’t been announced for the device yet, what will keep its price on the

During a media roundtable today at MWC 2012, Samsung admitted that its efforts in the tablet market have missed the mark. Samsung product strategy exec Hankil Yoon was refreshingly direct, saying: “Honestly, we’re not doing very well in the tablet market.” However, the company appears confident in its new Galaxy Note series of tablets, which includes the 5-inch “phablet” phone-tablet hybrid version and the newly announced 10.1-inch model. Samsung had attacked the tablet market with a series of Galaxy Tab slates in a variety of sizes, from 7-inch up to 10-inch, but none managed to grab much of the US market as had Apple’s iPad or even Amazon’s Kindle Fire. It seemed almost like the spaghetti approach, flinging tablets at the market to see what stuck with consumers. Despite skepticism, Samsung believes that its 5-inch Galaxy Note will be the answer this year. Some have criticized the Galaxy Note as being too large for a phone and yet too small for a tablet, while others laud the size to

A report from the London’s Sunday Times took a look at how mobile apps are encroaching on user privacy, and hit particularly hard on the fact that anyone who downloads the Facebook mobile app is giving over their entire text messaging history to the social networking site. The site apparently used this data as research in the process of developing its own SMS-like messaging service. So far, it has only tapped into the texting inboxes of a handful of users, but it has the power to grab any and all texts if it wants to. “The permission is clearly disclosed on the app page in the Android marketplace and is in anticipation of new features that enable users to integrate Facebook features with their texts,” a Facebook rep said in a statement. “However, other than some very limited testing, we haven’t launched anything yet so we’re not using the permission.” The publication’s report also highlighted the fact that Flickr, Yahoo Messenger, and dating site Badoo are able to access the same kind

The latest notch in WikiLeaks’s bedpost appears to the Stratfor, an intelligence analysis firm that has provided reports on everything from politics and economics to military issues. The company offers a subscription-based service to offer this information to risk managers, and in its line of work has gotten its hands on a lot of information that should be confidential. And of course we all know that’s exactly the kind of thing WikiLeaks likes to get its hands on. The group announced that it has begun publishing e-mails obtained from Stratfor, and it can continue to do so for quite a while. It said it has collected more than five million e-mail exchanges. WikiLeaks is collaborating with dozens of international media groups to distribute the pilfered correspondences. Stratfor issued a statement today, calling WikiLeaks’s actions “a deplorable, unfortunate — and illegal — breach of privacy.” The company said the messages that were stolen were the same ones that WikiLeaks already managed

This week Texas Instruments has announced the first big collaboration with OMAP 5, their next-level processor. Both iRobot and Harman have decided to use the newest architecture available on the market, Texas Instruments OMAP 5, in their newest technologies for a multi-core experience that brings their products to the forefront not just for the excellence of their products themselves, but because the Texas Instruments OMAP 5 platform has proven itself capable of handling their robots and in-vehicle systems the best, quite simply. For Harman, this collaboration will mean bringing 1080p graphics and interactive Web streaming to some of the world’s most advanced vehicles. Here the OMAP 5′s architecture works right alongside Texas Instruments’ “Jacinto” automotive infotainment processors, this creating a scalable platform with capabilities more than ready to handle a whole load of Harman products. Expect some undeniably awesome rides in the next few years, courtesy of these two titans in t

Apple has released a new commercial for its emerging cloud service and, in typical Apple fashion it features a whole bunch of videos of Apple products in different locations, showing a whole bunch of different screenshots showcasing the product in question. The ad, entitled iCloud Harmony, has no voice-over at all. That’s an interesting move considering the average consumer might need a bit of clarification on exactly what iCloud is. The commercial features the typical Apple style of music, and among the features that are highlighted are music, photo, calendar, and contact screens from iPhones, iPads, and Macs. It also shows off apps and e-books, trying to convey the message to consumers that all this content can be automatically kept and stored in the cloud for access anywhere at any time. The ad ends with the text “Automatic. Everywhere. iCloud.” Cloud services are likely to be one of the biggest emerging trends in 2012, with iCloud facing competition from Web-based services like Dro

Mobile World Congress is usually a processor battle-ground, a screen size scrap and a wireless speed showdown, but this year digital camera technology has taken center stage as the way to impress. Some of the biggest news from this year’s show has come from HTC and Nokia, each placing particular emphasis on not just megapixel count but the technology that surrounds it. The message is clear: it’s not how big it is, but what you do with it that counts. HTC’s approach has been speed and usable quality. The new One Series – the One X, One S and One V - each use HTC’s refreshed camera technology, homegrown expertise that makes for a faster booting snapper and one which focuses quicker. The company claims its new phones are ready to take a shot in 0.7 seconds, with autofocus locking on faster than the blink of an eye; it also says that it’s market research indicates camera resolution is the first thing consumers look at to differentiate between potential new device purchases. We’ve seen fast

At Mobile World Congress 2012 Texas Instruments have detailed their next mobile processor OMAP 5. SlashGear got a chance to catch up with Texas Instruments to speak in-depth on each of the elements that make the OMAP 5 the most well-balanced multi-core processor on the planet. With two A15 CPU cores, two M4 CPU cores, and unique architecture tuned to so many specific graphics processes it’ll make your head spin, this is the OMAP 5 as it will exist in the mobile market soon. The Mobile Ecosystem Beginning by listing the massive list of impressive devices that are currently running on their dual-core OMAP 4 processor, including the Galaxy S II, Motorola Bionic, Galaxy Nexus, LG 3D, and more, 4430 and 4460 running strong in a massive display that’s all but dominated the last quarter of 2011. Though TI has thus far been concentrating on their “usual suspects” manufacturers for their chips, it is Digital Hubs that will make the big moves in the future, the OMAP 5 built with that understandi

The ASUS Transformer TF700 that was first shown off at CES is finally official. Coming to market later this year as the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity 700 series. While the specs basically remain the same we do have one key difference here. ASUS announced one additional model will come to market with the 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm S4 and 4G LTE. See the official specs and hands-on below. According to the press sheet the Infinity 700 will come with two variations. A quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 powered WiFi only edition, as well as the dual-core 1.5 GHz S4 powered by Qualcomm rocking 3G/4G LTE capabilities. Other than those key differences everything else remains the same and this tablet looks amazing in person. Seriously pictures don’t do justice for the 1920 x 1200 full HD display they’ve manage to pack into this slate. If you missed our hands-on video from CES check it out below as we demo some live gaming on the high resolution tablet. Now just to confirm the specs we have a 10.1″ 1920 x

The downloadable game that features everything you love about the Batman universe, except everything that’s actually part of the Batman universe, has just been handed a free pack of downloadable content. Gotham City Imposters, which as the name suggests is an action adventure starring characters that look like the classic heroes and villains but aren’t quite, was released earlier this month so the launch of DLC is pretty quick. Among the goodies contained in the download are new maps like the “25th Floor,” weapons such as the Falcoln Blade and Kingmaker, and other items. It also includes new costumes for playable characters, as well as functional updates like the ability to join online multiplayer games that are already in progress. It is really more like a game update than a true DLC add-on. As has become increasingly common in the world of console DLC, this add-on bundle is currently only available on the Xbox 360. However, it will eventually make its way to the PS3 and PC as well. M

One of the big mysteries that always intrigued me was what really led to the demise of the Mayan civilization. Over the years, there’ve been many theories on what led to the demise of the Mayans. A new theory claims that global warming led to a drought, which ended the civilization. According to a recently released study, there are indications of the Mayan people had problems with droughts in the years leading up to the decline of the society. The team of scientists behind the study say that there are other contributing factors, but a mild drought appears to have been the tipping point that led the end. The drought is thought to have placed pressure on major, vital crops the civilization required. The team of scientists came upon the theory that a drought led to the decline of the civilization after examining lake and cave sediment in areas surrounding major Mayan cities. Using the data collected, they were able determine the amount of annual rainfall in the region. According to the re

The all-in-one form factor presents an interesting use case: it required much of the same external setup as a desktop, but uses laptop parts in most cases and has the same resistance to expansion. The most obviously attractive quality of the all-in-one is that it allows for comfortable desktop-style use while being “easy” – just plug in a mouse and keyboard and you’re good to go. With the iMac occupying the top end and various HP and Lenovo consumer models grabbing space just below, there’s room for a low-cost option: Lenovo’s $599 C325. Hardware As far as the hardware goes, the C325 is a good-looking if not overly showy model. A mostly plastic casing is accented by a full metal base, helping to keep the considerable weight of the screen and components in check. Much to my surprise, the glossy case contrasts with a matte LCD screen – a definite boon to those who operate in bright offices or homes. The 1600×900 resolution is appreciated, and not often seen in a 20-inch panel – though th

Nokia’s Asha series aren’t going to distract buyers looking at the Lumia 900, but for bringing smartphone-style tech down to the feature phone level they’re impressively cheap, flexible devices. A combination of a new, more HTML5 capable browser, Microsoft Exchange email support on the Asha 302 and dual-SIM support on all but the 203, it’s another sign of Nokia pushing what would traditionally be smartphone functionality into the sub-€100 segment. Check out more hands-on after the cut. The Asha 302 is probably the most cohesive of the three designs, with a keyboard that seems to be carried over from the well-esteemed Nokia E6. It’s good for quick messaging and punching out a brief email, though you don’t get a touchscreen; if you want that, you’ll have to make do with a numeric keypad and either the Asha 202 or 203. The touchscreen is the only real luxury element of the Asha 202/203, with the 2-megapixel camera being relatively mundane in comparison to what we’ve seen on other Nokia de