Pantech‘s bringing a new wrinkle to the mobile hardware space with its newly announced Vega Xpress handset. This 4-inch Android 2.2 beastie will come equipped with an unspecified amount of DDR2 RAM — yes, the stuff that usually goes into x86 laptop and desktop computers — which Pantech will have you believe is going to blow the competition out of the proverbial water. The company claims the new phone doubles 3D graphics performance relative to its previous best, while power efficiency is also said to be two to three times better. Other specs include a 5 megapixel autofocus camera, 802.11n WiFi, an 800 x 480 resolution, and a 1500mAh battery. Yours, provided you’re anywhere near Korea, some time soon.

Continue reading Pantech Vega Xpress comes with DDR2 memory, extravagant performance claims

Pantech Vega Xpress comes with DDR2 memory, extravagant performance claims originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

We’re still hesitant to call Bada a “smartphone platform” in the same breath as Android and iOS — but despite our best attempts to write it off, Samsung’s homegrown handset platform keeps chugging and expanding to new hardware. A developer event in South Korea appears to have yielded the first details on what Bada 2.0 will bring when it launches next year, and needless to say, it adds a bunch of smartphone-worthy stuff to the mix: an honest-to-goodness ad framework of some sort, better support for apps that use web technologies, multitasking, NFC capabilities, and an brand new SDK that’ll support Mac and Linux. We’re still going to see a whole lot more hardware — and a more cohesive story — to justify why even low-end “smartphones” should be using Bada over Android, but it’s an interesting development nonetheless.

Samsung’s Bada 2.0 to move to ‘web-centric’ apps, getting ad framework and multitasking originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Dell’s keeping up its usual habit of sneaking devices out with today’s announcement of the Dell Venue for launch in South Korea. Local carrier KT has revealed the details of this 4.1-inch Android 2.2 device (sans keyboard, unlike its WP7 cousin the Venue Pro), which is set to arrive by the end of this month at a price of 700,000KRW ($606). Formerly known by its codename of Thunder, this has actually been one of the most hotly anticipated Android handsets of the year, though the only other information confirmed by KT so far is that it’ll have a curved Gorilla Glass screen. We’re sure a US launch can’t be far behind.

Dell Venue Thunders into Korea this month with Android 2.2 and 4.1-inch Gorilla Glass screen originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Though Pantech takes a back seat to Samsung and LG year after year, Korea’s third-largest phone maker still does a good bit of business with North American carriers — and its partnership with AT&T goes way back (remember the tiny C300 clamshell for Cingular?). It’s on that note that we’re going to throw our weight behind Phone Scoop’s theory that the recently-outed Pantech P8000 in the FCC’s filing system could definitely be headed AT&T’s way considering its support for 3G on the 850 and 1900MHz bands. More interestingly, though, is the fact that you can cross-reference the model number to the Bluetooth SIG’s certification database where you learn that this puppy’s running Android — a little outside Pantech’s typical low-end dumbphone comfort zone in the US market, perhaps — with a codename of “Moon.” If we had to take a wild guess, we’d assume this would be on the cheap side of AT&T’s smartphone spectrum, which isn’t really where those guys need help right now — it’s the high end where AT&T has yet to really bite the Android bullet with the possible exception of the Captivate. That said, honestly, who are we to pooh-pooh a new Android phone for the American market?

Pantech P8000 does Android, could definitely be AT&T bound originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 20:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Continue reading SK Telecom’s Android action figures as flexible as the OS itself (video)

SK Telecom’s Android action figures as flexible as the OS itself (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Oct 2010 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Believe it or not, Samsung is only now getting around to introducing its Galaxy S handset to the fine isle of Japan. Its announcement of a late October availability for the home of CEATEC was also accompanied by the little note that the rest of the world has already bought up five million units of its multivariate Galaxy S phone family. More than two million of those sales have been notched up in the US and over one million can be found in Samsung’s home field of South Korea. Or could be found if they actually had working GPS units. Zing!

[Thanks, Matt]

Samsung Galaxy S sales surpass five million, world domination plans still on track originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 05:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

We’d previously heard about South Korean carrier LG U+ picking up a moderately downscaled version of the Galaxy S series as the Galaxy U before… and, well, sure enough, here it is. The U trades down from a 4-inch Super AMOLED display to a more modest 3.7 inches at the same WVGA resolution (the same size as the Beam, for the record) and includes a bunch of notable features like Bluetooth 3.0 support, 802.11n WiFi, 720p video capture, and — since this is a Korean phone — T-DMB mobile TV tuning. Looks like it’ll be hitting stores in your choice of black or white (all white, without a black bezel) for 800,000 won ($683).

Samsung switches up the alphabet soup, launches Galaxy U in Korea originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Now that LG’s new Optimus Z is available from both KT and SK Telecom in South Korea, it’s obviously time to promote it — and how better to promote a hot new smartphone launch than with a random mashup of the green Android dude and Zorro? Actually, this fella is actually “Z Boy,” a tribute to the “Z” in “Optimus Z” — but he’s sporting the Zorro look as he wanders the streets of Seoul for the next month looking for victims potential buyers for the 5 megapixel, WVGA-equipped Android handset. With major entrants from Motorola, Samsung, and LG in the market, Android competition in South Korea is nearly as heated as it is across Europe and North America — so yes, if you’ve got to win over a few customers with a big, lovable robot wearing a face mask, then by all means, LG, do your thing.

LG enlists ‘Z Boy’ to promote Optimus Z, resembles an open source Zorro originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

The Pantech Vega that just hit Korea may boast a sizable 3.7-inch AMOLED screen, but don’t expect future phones from the Helio manufacturer to follow suit — after suffering the same shortages that drove HTC to Sony’s SLCD-illuminated doorstep, Pantech’s also temporarily giving active-matrix organic technology the boot. Now, you may not give two nickels about the technologies in Pantech’s next handset, but the firm’s got a finger on the industry’s pulse. So when an unnamed executive says “phones to be rolled out in the first half of next year” won’t use AMOLED, that hints at when the shortage for US-bound devices might also let up. In case you’re curious, 2H 2011 is when Samsung’s next AMOLED facility is slated to open, though by that point AU Optronics and TPO Display should be shipping the screens as well.

Pantech drops AMOLED completely due to shortage, may resume use in 2H 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

SK Telecom already offers a version of the Galaxy S — but it’s often the case that two or all three of Korea’s top wireless players want in on the same hot handsets, so it’s no surprise to hear that rivals LG U+ and KT are both working on flavors of their own. Confusingly, they’ll be called the Galaxy U and the Galaxy K — apparently in tribute to their carriers’ names — but they’ll both be a touch smaller than the original S, clocking in at 3.7 inches (see the U pictured next to an S above). Word on the street is that they’ll both be hitting between August and September, so the wait’s a mercifully short one. Ironically, it’s the supply of Samsung’s 3.7-inch AMOLED displays that forced HTC’s hand on moving into SLCD — so we guess this is where part of that supply’s being diverted. Check another picture of the U after the break.

[Thanks, Pete]

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy U and Galaxy K add to the alphabet soup in South Korea

Samsung Galaxy U and Galaxy K add to the alphabet soup in South Korea originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 19:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink