Optimus G2 teased by LG for possible CES debut

LG is putting its pre-CES hype machine in full gear at the last minute, launching a video teaser with hints of what it will show in Las Vegas next week.

The highlight of the teaser is a very brief glimpse of a smartphone, which shows the sleek corner of a device with a thin bezel around the screen.

The smartphone shown is believed to be the LG Optimus G2, a rumored 5-inch follow up to the Optimus G.

The rumored handset is said to pack a 1920 x 1080 resolution display with 440 ppi, putting the 5-inch display to good use for a full HD smartphone.

LG's CES lineup

The video doesn't reveal very much else of LG's CES lineup, though that may be because some of it is already known.

Last month, LG jumped the gun a bit when it announced it will debut new GA6400 and GA7900 Google TV-equipped television sets at the Vegas event. The GA6400 will arrive in 42-, 50-, 55-, and 60-inch models while the GA7900 will have a more premium low-bezel design in 47- and 55-inch varieties.

LG has yet to officially confirm the Optimus G2 existence, though a benchmark leaked last month indicates that it could arrive quite soon.

The prevailing rumor is that the G2 could launch as early as May 2013, which would help it compete against 1080p handsets on the way from other manufacturers.

With 1080p smartphones already expected at CES from the likes of Samsung and Hauwei, all signs seem to point at the LG Optimus G2 sitting along with those devices on the show floor. We'll know for sure on Jan. 7 at 8 am PST, when LG holds its CES press conference.

Via Android Community

Get ready for ultra scratch resistant Gorilla Glass 3

Gorilla Glass is far from "primitive," and if an announcement Thursday about what its maker Corning has in store for CES 2013 is any indication, we should see some highly evolved products coming from the company.

The company plans to unveil Gorilla Glass 3 next week, a new glass composition that, according to an Engadget report, is markedly stronger than Gorilla Glass 1 and 2.

A Corning-made feature known as Native Damage Resistance is said to help stymie flaws and scratches and uphold the overall retained strength of the glass even after knicks and dings.

What that means for the scratch-prone phone owners out there is a glass that's three times more scratch resistant, shows 40 percent less visible scratches and commands a 50 percent overall retained strength increase after the glass is damaged.

Fiber time

Also coming to CES 2013 are Optical Cables by Corning, fiber-based, device-to-device connectors for Thunderbolt.

The cables are long, strong and take the transmission range of copper-based cables to school, Corning said in a press release.

Corning promised to reveal more on both products Jan. 7, so we'll bring you all the monkey business the company has planned for CES and beyond.

Get ready for ultra scratch resistant Gorilla Glass 3

Gorilla Glass is far from "primitive," and if an announcement Thursday about what its maker Corning has in store for CES 2013 is any indication, we should see some highly evolved products coming from the company.

The company plans to unveil Gorilla Glass 3 next week, a new glass composition that, according to an Engadget report, is markedly stronger than Gorilla Glass 1 and 2.

A Corning-made feature known as Native Damage Resistance is said to help stymie flaws and scratches and uphold the overall retained strength of the glass even after knicks and dings.

What that means for the scratch-prone phone owners out there is a glass that's three times more scratch resistant, shows 40 percent less visible scratches and commands a 50 percent overall retained strength increase after the glass is damaged.

Fiber time

Also coming to CES 2013 are Optical Cables by Corning, fiber-based, device-to-device connectors for Thunderbolt.

The cables are long, strong and take the transmission range of copper-based cables to school, Corning said in a press release.

Corning promised to reveal more on both products Jan. 7, so we'll bring you all the monkey business the company has planned for CES and beyond.

Facebook testing free VoIP calling through its Messenger app

Facebook took another step towards total global domination on Thursday when the social network revealed it was testing a new feature for its Messenger app.

In an effort to appease its users, and potentially gain even more, Facebook is now trying out free voice calling over WiFi through Messenger.

Though it is currently limited to the iOS version of the app in Canada, Facebook hopes to roll out the feature to Android users, and other territories, soon enough.

For now, those of you outside of the Great White North, and not using iPhones, will have to make do with the limited ability to send short voice messages via the app.

Facebook's FaceTime

Even though this feature is only in the testing stages, and doesn't offer video conferencing, Facebook has an immense opportunity to capture a lot of users for voice over IP calling.

Services like Skype and Vonage already offer similar service, but don't have quite the customer base Facebook does with its hundreds of millions of users.

If this feature was ever to move out of the test phase, the potential for Facebook to change how its users communicate with each other is huge.

Facebook has run more than a few tests in various markets before, with severalstill currently ongoing for many users.

As interesting as Facebook's previous trials were, none had quite as much game changing potential as this free WiFi calling.

There's no telling when or where Facebook will be trying out this new venture next, but if the response is strong from this initial phase, it might not be long until phone bills are a thing of the past for Facebook users.

Via The Verge

Viewsonic VSD220 review

Touch technology has assimilated all manner of mobile devices. Phones, tablets and latterly laptops with tablet-convertible functionality, it's all powered touch technology.

But what about desktop devices? Windows 8, of course, offers a properly developed touch interface for any compatible device. But does touch really work on the desktop?

And what about Google's Android operating system? Might that be a goer on the desktop? Enter the new Viewsonic VSD220.

Not only is it a touch-enabled 22-inch PC monitor. It's also a fully functional Android device complete with the 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich revision of Google's operating system, wireless connectivity and 8GB of flash memory. And all for just £330. Sounds like a steal.

Check out our video walkthrough...

The most interesting part of the Viewsonic VSD220 package is the Android fucntionality. The enabling hardware starts with optical touch technology with support for multi-touch.

Then there's a a TI OMAP4 processor. It's not exactly the fastest chip in Christendom. Many smartphones have more powerful CPUs. By it chugs along at a respectable 1GHz and sports two cores.

As for memory, we're talking 1GB of RAM and a further 8GB of flash memory for mass storage. Storage expansion is amply catered for courtesy of three USB ports and a MicroSD slot.

As for networking and connectivity, b/g/n Wi-Fi is built in, as is a physical ethernet adapter and Bluetooth 2.1. There's a camera, too, for video call duties.

In short, it's a full function Android machine. Compared with a typoical smartphone only lacks GPS, which would obviously be redundant for a desktop dwelling device.

On the software side, Viewsonic has gone with Android 4.0.4, a version of Ice Cream Sandwich. So a fairly recent build, but not the latest Jelly Bean variant.

Features

The screen itself is a pretty routine affair based on TN panel technoogy. It's 22 inches in diagonal and offers a full-HD 1,920 x 1,080 pixel grids. Nothing special for a 22-inch PC monitor, but a hefty resolution by Android standards.

Viewsonics claims regarding panel performance are par for the TN course, albeit the more modern, capable examples of the breed. Contrast comes in at 1,000-to-1 while pixle response is rated at 5ms.

If there's one area where the Viewsonic VSD220 falls short as a monitor, it's connectivity. There's just a single micro HDMI input. In practice, that's fine for most PCs. You can use a DVI-to-HDMI converter to connect to any PC with a DVI port. But it doesn't make for the most flexible monitor.

Android

What to make of the Viewsonic VSD220 as an Android device? Unfortunately, it's hard to avoid drawing the conclusion that it's a little clunky.

Much of that is down to the combination of the mediocre TI OMAP4 dual-core processor and the large 1,920 x 1,080 pixel grid. It makes for frequently sluggish performance and occasionally painful slowdowns.

That applies to everything from demanding web content and third party apps to some of the native Google apps. Even Google Maps feels fairly reluctant.

But even with a more powerful processor, things wouldn't be perfect. For starters, Android Ice Cream Sandwich may not be ancient, but it does feel dated and unfinished.

It also makes for an unsatisfactory browsing experience. Web pages that are capable of detecting mobile operating systems based on browser technology immediately assume you're viewing on a smartphone or tablet and serve up a dumbed down experience.

Admittedly most allow you to switch to the full desktop version. But even here, pages are scaled up as they would be on a tablet. In other words, despite 22-inch diagonal and generous resolution, web pages feel cramped and the scaled-up images are blurry.

There's no support for flash video, either, which doesn't exactly boost the browsing experience. The app experience is patchy, too.

The iPlayer app, for instance, simply doesn't work, stalling at the point of video load. Some apps can behave oddly when it comes to screen orientation, with some elements only running in portrait mode, which isn't much use.

It's a shame, because the screen itself is reasonably responsive and accurate. Overall, there's just enough that works well enough to give a glimpse of what could be a nice little desktop machine for light use, perhaps on a kitchen counter top.

The virtual keyboard, for instance, is great inputting web URLs and short emails, even if you wouldn't want to compose anything truly significant.

The fact that it's Android also means you can slap on your favourite apps – or at least the ones that don't depend on GPS functionality.

Performance

For the most part, the Viewsonic VSD220 is a conventional 22-inch TN panel in the modern idiom. That means colours are rich and saturated and the overall image quality is good.

It performs well enough in our test images, with little evidence of compression in either black or white scales.

Admittedly, IPS technology makes for better colour accuracy and viewing angles. And PVA panels have significantly deeper blacks. And by TN standards the pixel response is pretty ordinary.

But this is a pretty decent panel overall. HD video content looks lovely and games look great, too. The recessed bezel housing the optical touch kit doesn't detract from the experience, either. Just bear in mind that with the touch capability comes a glossy, somewhat reflective surface and, inevitably, dirty finger marks.

On the subject of touch in the context of the Viewsonic VSD220's PC monitor capabilities, it's worth noting that it's compatible with Windows 8. However, the usual reservations apply when it comes to optical touch screens ans Windows 8.

Using gestures that involving swiping in from off the edge of the display are problematical due to the raised bezel.

Verdict

The Viewsonic VSD220 Smart Display has an awful lot going for it. £330 might be a lot for a 22-inch PC monitor. But when you factor in the Android functionality along with support for Windows 8 touch, it's a compelling package.

At least it is on paper. In practice, performance in Android mode is often painfully slow. It's just not a remotely pleasant device to use for web browsing or frankly much else. It's not an ideal touchscreen for use with Windows 8, either.

We really want to like the Viewsonic VSD220 Smart Display. It's a great concept that promises a lot and just occasionally delivers.

But it needs a faster processor and an upgrade to Android Jelly Bean at the bear minimum before we can fully recommend it. The wait, therefore, continues for the ideal touch-enabled desktop device.

Huawei Ascend G330 review

Huawei had a big winner on its hands in the form of the Ascend G300, a phone launched back in the spring of 2012 exclusively through Vodafone in the UK.

Arriving at just under £100 when bought alongside a PAYG SIM card, it offered a surprisingly well made phone with a decent 4" display.

It quickly gained a huge following among those looking for decent Android performance on a budget, replacing the Orange San Francisco as the top choice for those looking for a great combination of power, style and a price tag substantially less than today's high-end models.

Now Huawei's looking to repeat the trick with the Ascend G330. It's not an entirely new phone, but you get a faster, dual-core processor and a slight external redesign that dumps the G300's silvery style for a more traditional all black approach.

It's still a nice, weighty little phone, with Huawei doing a good job of making a 4" display fit the hand well. It's not what you'd call stylish, though, with Huawei seemingly intent on cloning the cheaper Samsung models of a couple of years ago.

The display's a high point, though. It's bright and sharp and offers the same 480x800 resolution as the old Ascend G300. Icon text is pretty clean and crisp, plus it's perfectly usable outdoors if you stick the brightness up to full whack.

Huawei's also beefed up the camera spec by a factor of two, adding a front-facing camera along the top edge of the G330. That's the telltale sensor there beside the Huawei logo.

The G330 also comes with a proximity sensor in the front to deactivate the display when you're on a call, plus a sensor to adjust the display's brightness automatically.

Button and hole location is unchanged on the Ascend G330, so you won't require lengthy rehabilitation should you be upgrading. The 3.5mm jack and a nice, chunky, easily locatable power button are on the top edge with the USB connector on the bottom, plus the volume up/down toggles on the left.

Android fans will be pleased to see a normal SIM slot and a micro-SD card hole beneath the G330's back cover, which is a relatively flimsy and bendy plastic affair.

At least it's easy to lever off, though, with even the most chewed of finger nails able to fit under the slot on the top edge and pop the case open.

The G330 is a nice phone to hold. The rubberised back is grippier than the slippery silvery finish of the G300, making it feel a little more glued to your fingers. Build quality is mixed.

The display's solid, smooth and responsive, as are the three capacitive buttons, but it tends to creak a bit when you're pressing the power and volume buttons.

It's a little bit bland and there's nothing to love or get excited about, but for £10 a month you can't really expect glassy backs and spangles and a chassis built by robots on the International Space Station. It's all about what it can do internally.

Has your Galaxy S3 randomly died? A fix is on its way

If your Samsung Galaxy S3 has randomly died without warning fear not, as a firmware update is on its way to cure your poorly smartphone.

Before Christmas some Galaxy S3 owners reported that their shiny new handsets were dying after just a few months, with the 16GB model later singled out as the at risk version.

The issue appeared to be with the main circuit board, but Dutch site Tweakers believes new hardware isn't required with Samsung confirming it will release a firmware update to resolve the problem soon.

Limited impact

Instead of the main circuit board being faulty the cause of the issue is actually a bug in the firmware which is used to control the board.

Thankfully most Galaxy S3 owners won't need to worry about this, as it only effects a small number of handsets, but if you are one of the unlucky ones at least a fix is on its way.

We'll keep an eye on developments and let you know when the firmware update roll outs so you can breathe new life into your Galaxy S3.

From Tweakers via Phandroid

HTC promises better phones thanks to Apple deal

The licensing agreement struck between HTC and Apple back in November will see the Taiwanese firm produce better smartphones in 2013.

It's thought that as a result of the deal, HTC may have access to some Apple technology which other Android manufacturers cannot touch, potentially leading to superior smartphones with better features and user experience.

The two firms had been threatening each other with court regarding patent disputes, but they managed to strike a deal which saw HTC pay the Cupertino-based firm a lump sum, plus monthly instalments bringing an end to legal challenges.

E=Innovation+

Now HTC China president Ray Yam has told the Economic Observer of China: "The settlement with Apple will start to pay off next year (2013), and the fourth quarter of this year is still going at a set pace.

"The biggest benefit to us is that we can put more energy into innovation, which is more important than anything else for a technology company."

Any competitive advantage HTC can garner over its rivals is critical as the Taiwanese firm has struggled in the wake of Samsung and Apple, and while the likes of the HTC One X+, 8X and 8S are all solid devices they don't quite top the billing.

From Focus Taiwan via BGR