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Pink Samsung Galaxy S II makes UK bow on cupid's bow, is the new Godiva

Pretty in pink, isn't it?! Sammy's already slapped a bit of rouge on the casing of its über-popular Galaxy S II for denizens of South Korea, making that special edition available for coloristas last November. But in an effort to share the "love," synchronize with a certain money-milking, greeting card holiday and maximize profits, the company's releasing this precious-hued wünderphone to our cousins across the pond on Phones4u and Very. Arriving just in time for you Brits to tell that special someone in your life, "I spent a few hundred pounds on this silly phone and I'm made of money, so let's seal this deal," the GS II packs the same boatload of specs that made it the undisputed smartphone king of 2011. So, come Valentine's Day, you can either give the gift of roses and chocolates or a blush-colored mobile. Or, you can stay at home, drink a bottle of red, watch Love, Actually on repeat, buy one for yourself and pretend you didn't. Go ahead, we won't tell.
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Tango Networks offers cloud-based Google Voice integration to carriers

Tango Networks is aiming to assuage the pain of US mobile users attempting to manage two phone numbers using a single device. Dubbed the Abrazo Multi-line Service, the cloud-based product aims to bring Google Voice integration to "all mobile phones" and allow wireless users to manage multiple numbers without the hassle of additional software -- meaning your RAZR 2 can join the fun. Calls placed to handsets utilizing Abrazo will ring all phones in your Google Voice roster and users can choose which caller ID number to display for outgoing calls. The service will also offer a single Message Waiting Indicator light and leverage GV's low-cost international calling rates. Abrazo Multi-line Service is currently in the trial phase with North American mobile operators. The full press release from Tango is after the break.
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Steve Wozniak loves iOS, except when he doesn't

We've heard this one before, only to have it debunked. Steve Wozniak sits down with foreign press, talks tech and has his words misconstrued; hair pulling and epic fanboy wars ensue. While we were able to deflate that troll bait rather quickly, this time it appears the Woz is guilty of an OS crush. According to The Daily Beast, the Apple co-founder (and connoisseur of Segways) goes on record as preferring many aspects of Android's fussier-but-deeper UI to iOS' one size fits all, simplified approach. Citing improvements in voice command software (sorry Siri, but he's looking at you), navigation and consistent performance, this other Steve seems to believe his company has a lot to learn from Google's dessert-themed mobile platform. Does word of Woz's wandering thumbs spell doom for Apple's all but gilded OS? We don't think so. As Kathy Griffin's former, fake boyfriend put it best, the iPhone 4S is for "users scared of computers." Which is to say, everyone and your mother.

Samsung commits to improve smartphone battery life in 2012


Sure, we all love having the latest and greatest smartphone from the likes of Samsung, but the power consumption driven by larger displays, LTE, and more use is making it increasingly harder to get through the day. Samsung's vice president of product innovation, Kevin Packingham, said in an interview with CNET that Korea's darling has set the lofty goal that smartphones coming out this year last an entire day under average to moderately heavy use. Samsung's plans include beefing up batteries, but it also intends to look at improving energy efficiency by tweaking the various radios -- LTE, WiFi -- to make them a little less greedy. Motorola has already seemingly caught this wave with the RAZR MAXX -- a slightly chubbier Motorola RAZR -- which is essentially the same set as the RAZR but with enough juice so you can use it instead of spending your day looking for an outlet to charge it. Unfortunately, things could get sticky as the definition of "moderately heavy use" is a pretty tough thing to pin down. Would you put up with a huskier phone to get you through the day or is a slim set more important? Feel free to chime in with your comments below.

HTC EVO 3D: poof, no more Carrier IQ software

It's been exactly a month since we received word that Sprint was disabling Carrier IQ software installed on its carrier-branded devices, and this week we witnessed a firmware update on the HTC EVO 3D that quietly removes all traces of the tracking software completely. Neither company was forthcoming about this particular feature disappearing -- we have a hunch they're trying to keep the public from being reminded that CIQ ever happened -- but Android Central discovered that both the HTC IQAgent and IQRD were completely gone after the update. So add this to the list of the build's other performance enhancements, and here's to hoping that we'll start seeing a plethora of other devices getting similar releases.

Pantech next to sign Android patent deal with Microsoft

Microsoft may have already signed patent licensing agreements with 70 percent of the US Android manufacturers, including some of the biggest names in the market, but that doesn't mean Redmond's about ready to hit the brakes anytime soon. Next up on the block is Pantech, according to a company spokesperson talking with Yonhap News. No specific details have been decided yet, so we'll have to wait for the official word and see what happens.

Motorola Mobility brings RAZR to Land of the Rising Sun

Motorola Mobility has announced its intentions to bring the super-thin RAZR smartphone to the shores of Japan. The handset will look very similar to the device released here in the states -- 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, 1GB of RAM, an eight megapixel shooter with 1080p video capture and 32GB of storage -- only minus the LTE radio and Droid branding. The handset will be available in "shadow black" or "glacier white" and land on KDDI's network at an undisclosed date for an undisclosed price. The full press release awaits your scrutiny after the break.
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California demands manufacturers ditch inefficient vampire chargers

LeechYou've probably had it drilled into your head that your gadgets are doing terrible, terrible things to the environment -- and not just 'cause they end up as toxic landfill in poorer countries. Many of your chargers and electronics continue to draw power even when they're off or your device is disconnected. We've seen some ingenious solutions to the problem but, perhaps it would be best to avoid the issue all together. Starting next year California will require manufacturers to ship efficient chargers with their products, potentially saving $306 million in energy costs and cutting power usage by up to 13 percent in the state. The new rules are set to go into effect on February 1st, 2013, but we wouldn't be surprised if the law faced some road blocks before then.

Motorola's UK Defy+ gets rugged JCB-treatment, still useless for excavating

Everyone loves diggers: Motorola's let that natural fascination get the better of it by teaming up with digger-maker JCB to produce a ruggedized version of its Defy+ "life proof" phone. The limited-edition handset comes pre-loaded with branded-applications for the construction site including a spirit-level, theodolite, decibel meter and a DIY store locator: although we're more interested in seeing if you can use the tough device to hammer in nails. The Gingerbread-with-Motoblur operating cellular telephone has a 1GHz processor, 2GB internal storage / 2GB microSD card (up to the usual 32GB) and a 3.7-inch Gorilla Glass display. There's also a five megapixel camera for snapping pictures of diggers and digger-related items -- best of all, you can use the handset as a walkie-talkie with group call functionality. It'll be available in the UK (sorry, America) for £260, meanwhile you can pneumatically drill-down into the PR we've got after the break.
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KDDI gets WiMax Galaxy S II, isn't your grandfather's Epic 4G Touch

Can't keep track of all the different variants of Samsung's Galaxy S II? Tough, because here comes Sammy with another one. Japan's KDDI will soon have a GSII to call its own, boasting the all too memorable model number of ISW11SC -- or rather a Galaxy S II rocking WiMax. That's different than Sprint's Epic 4G Touch, the SPH-D710, which also sports that radio, but not its higher resolution 1280 x 720 4.7-inch display. Rounding out the package are an unspecified 1.4GHz dual core processor, an 8 megapixel rear shooter capable of 1080p video recording, a 2 megapixel front facing cam, microSD and support for NFC -- making it pretty darn close to its Korean and AT&T permutations. You'll find a video demo of it in all its glory at the source below.

Verizon to stop allowing legacy Alltel devices to be activated on its network, starting today

It's been three years and two days since Verizon officially closed its acquisition of Alltel, and it looks like Big Red's finally putting the sledgehammer down on activating legacy devices from the purchased network. We just received official word from a Verizon spokesperson that effective today, the carrier will no longer allow you to bring over an Alltel device to a retail outlet and get it activated on their network. If you're currently using an Alltel-branded phone on Verizon, don't panic: this new policy change only applies to handsets that haven't already been activated. We can't imagine this will affect too many users at this point, but we imagine Chad's still feeling a little bummed out today regardless. Continue on below for Verizon's statement.
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Samsung Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab get security nod, certified for government agencies

We didn't have much to complain about when it came to Samsung's flagship phone and tablet, so we're glad to see that both the Galaxy S II and Tab 10.1 have managed to jump through the requisite hoops for FIPS certification. The business-centric feature means that both Samsung devices have been given the thumbs up for use in governmental agencies and other similarly stickler-for-the-rule industries. While the Tab 10.1 certainly isn't the first tablet to receive the certification, it's perhaps the most pervasive. Does this lay the ghost of underwhelming business phones to rest? We hope so.

Skype exec confirms that Windows Phone product is 'coming soon'

Who doesn't love a little bit of old fashioned synergy? Speaking to a Microsoft representative in the Microsoft CES booth holding a Microsoft microphone, VP of products for Microsoft-owned Skype, Rick Osterloh, made mention of the VoIP service's plans to make its way onto Microsoft's mobile operating system. Says Osterloh, "We're [...] working on a Windows Phone product that will be coming out soon." We've definitely heard that noise before.
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Sprint remains tepid on Windows Phone at CES, confirms no new WiMAX phones are planned

This may have been a fairly big CES for Windows Phone, but it looks like Microsoft still has a fair bit of convincing to do in order to bring all the carriers fully on board. That includes Sprint, which does currently have a Windows Phone in its lineup (and is apparently considering more in the "August-September time period"), but remains decidedly unenthusiastic about the platform as a whole. As PCMag reports, Sprint's David Owens said that the carrier is willing to train its reps on Windows Phone, but that Microsoft has to "build the enthusiasm for the product," adding that the "number-one reason the product was returned was the user experience." Sprint's director of product development, Lois Fagan, further added that the carrier remains "cautiously optimistic," but that Windows Phone "just hasn't taken off." In other news, Owens also confirmed that Sprint would expectedly now be focusing all of its intention on its new LTE network, and not produce any more WiMAX-based phones -- although, as it's noted previously Sprint will continue to support the network itself through 2015.

How would you change the HTC Sensation XL?

Okay, so we said we'd cover HTC's Sensation XL in "a couple of weeks," but since we're on the subject of pocket-bursting phones with the same internals, let's do them back-to-back. The outer shell got a few tweaks, and Beats Audio support -- but beyond that, these telephone twins are identical. If you bought this phone instead of the Titan, why not tell us what you thought about the unit, did you love it, did you hate it, would you trade one device for the other and most importantly of all: How would you change it if you were sat in the boardroom? Commenters, you're the one thing we believe in, and it's time for you to tell us in the space below.

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx hands-on (video)

Its showing wasn't as noteworthy as it was last year, but Motorola still at least brought a few new goodies to put on display. The latest major addition to Verizon's Droid Razr family, the Razr Maxx, was on hand, as were the white and purple variants of the original version. So what makes the $300 subsidized Maxx so different from its predecessor? Simply enough, the name is a direct reflection of the phone's battery life, as it sports a thicker (translating to a thickness of 8.99mm, a couple millimeters thicker than the original) 3,300 mAh juicepack that promises an out-of-this-world 21 hour talk time. Sadly, we didn't have 21 full hours to dedicate to testing this claim, but we did have enough time to get a few pictures and a video of the entire Droid Razr family together at last below the break.

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.
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Samsung Galaxy Note Notepad hands-on at CES: it's like a Note, but analog

What if Samsung made a Galaxy Note, but instead of throwing a dual-core processor, a few megabytes (or gigabytes, whatever) of RAM, and random pieces of silicon between the front and rear covers, it included an undetermined amount of paper? What it we lived in a world where that type of activity was not only okay, but encouraged? What if the Note is actually the Notepad in a parallel universe? What if the aforesaid parallel universe is reality in Las Vegas, Nevada? Think about it.

Oregon Scientific's App In Sports watches sync with your phone, grab apps from it

One of the many new products we spotted at Oregon Scientific's CES booth was the App In Sports range of watches. As the name suggests, these wearables can link up to your Android phone (via ANT+ wireless connection) to grab up to three app profiles, and the range of profiles available depend on the model of the watches due to their different sensors: for the RA900 (Expedition) you get cardio, weather, hiking and sleep; whereas the SE900 offers coach, running, workout and sleep. More profiles will be made available, though it's not clear whether they'll make it before or after the watches launch in a few months time. Either way, users will need to install the matching Android apps according to their watch models, but both apps can sync with the watches for exercise summary data (including heart rate, exercise time, distance and speed). Demo video after the break.
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Engadget's gear of CES 2012

We see an enormous number of gadgets each year at CES, and while the veil comes off a handful of notebooks, cameras and smartphones during the show, the gear that really makes the week for Engadget is our own. In each editor's gear bag, you'd likely be able to find a notebook, camera with external microphone, an Android / iOS / Windows Phone device, an AT&T LTE USB modem and enough bottled beverages to make trips to the "posh restroom" as routine as checking email. Pizza, pasta, chips and beef jerky keep us going during 20-hour days in the trailer, where a stable (and pricey) Ethernet connection let us bring you dozens of posts each hour without interruption. Jump past the break for a look at our gear in a bit more detail.
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LightSquared's LTE hopes dashed by federal agency report

When it was first mooted that LightSquared's LTE technology might interfere with GPS equipment, the firm was quick to deny it. Since then, the company has tried to mitigate the issue, but the nine agencies making up the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee (PNT ExComm) all agreed that the problems are real and any attempts at mitigation are futile. This comes only days after Sprint reneged on a resource sharing deal, issuing a further blow to the company's plans for a terrestrial network. LightSquared's reaction is naturally not a happy one, claiming that the testing process is not only flawed, but that the agencies have a bias in favor of the GPS industry. By our reasoning, this only leaves the stage of depression before final acceptance of the grief-ridden situation.

Samsung to merge Bada with Tizen: the OS party just got a little freaky

While everyone was watching Windows Phone parting the iOS / Android curtains, no one noticed Bada and Tizen making cheeky eyes at each other. It was rumored Samsung might open-source its featurephone OS, but according to Forbes, it'll now fuse it with the Intel-backed Tizen project. Once the nuptials are complete, it's reported Bada apps will play nice with Tizen -- including full backwards compatibility -- with developers getting a new integrated SDK and API. We're guessing then, that it's the Bada brand getting the chop when the two linux-based systems tie the knot. The spirit of MeeGo, of course, also lives on in Tizen making this one big concept cocktail. One we should see being poured into "at least one or two" Samsung handsets, and eventually other products, sometime this year -- failing any last-minute cold feet.

CES 2012: Smartphones round-up

The Superbowl of smartphones? Why, that would be Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. But that didn't stop the mobile industry's heavy hitters from giving us a taste of the year in wireless to come at CES. With Windows Phones finally getting LTE, Intel's Medfield CPU making its handset debut, Sony synergizing under its mega brand umbrella and fringe manufacturers wowing attendees with stock Ice Cream Sandwich and super-thin profiles, it appears phone aficionados have plenty to anticipate. So, while you sit slack-jawed in front of that computer screen, let's revisit some of the highlights of this past week.
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iConnectivity outs iConnectMUSE digital audio mixer for iOSers (video)

Some hot music tech for iDevices already dropped at CES, but the product announcement concerto plays on. The next act? The iConnectMUSE digital audio mixer from iConnectivity, featuring six stereo in / outs, headphone out, two USB ports, a "hub-able" USB host, Ethernet / network sharing and MIDI pass-thru. Maker iConnectivity claims studio-grade analog-to-digital conversion will make it a snap to record professional sounding mixes on tour, back at the hotel or even at home. Your garage band can get mixing from Q2 and iConnectivity is asking $230 for the privilege. Hit the PR and curiously silent video over the jump for more details.
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Wrap-up: Engadget editors sound off on CES 2012

If you've spent any time on this site since Monday, then you know that we've just reached the end of another very successful Consumer Electronics Show, and are packing up to head home (and rest up) until we get ready to return in 2013. As always, there were plenty on gadgets on hand -- far more than even our enormous Engadget team could capture during four long days on the show floor -- so we've opened up the floor to the entire CES crew. Tim Stevens and Darren Murph chime in just below, but jump past the break to hear from the rest of us.

Tim Stevens, Editor-in-chief
If this paragraph makes any sense it will be a remarkable thing. It
was another insane week in Vegas yet this one felt a little smoother
than years previous. I hope you enjoyed our coverage as much as I'll enjoy my next nap. Oh, and I'll never forget those 55-inch OLEDs. Never.
Darren Murph, Managing Editor
My fifth CES. That's kind of nutty. I'll just say that this CES has proven that the industry is surging, and the hidden gamechangers will surface again in the coming months. Compared to CeBIT 2009 -- which felt hopelessly throttled by the economy -- CES 2012 just felt alive.
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Engadget Mobile Podcast 121: CES 2012 - 01.12.2012 (video)


This was the QVC edition of the Engadget Mobile Podcast, featuring full-on hand modeling by Brad and some really nice close-ups of the new halo devices of CES 2012. A forklift also abducted Myriam. You won't see that in the audio-only podcast, so use your best fan fiction imagination this time or shoot the video to your media streaming device of choice. All that, plus the triumphant return of the newly Fu Manchu'd Sean Cooper. Zing! Video after the break.

Hosts: Myriam Joire (tnkgrl), Brad Molen
Guest: Sean Cooper
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Telephone

00:06:00 - AT&T Pantech Element hands-on at CES 2012 (video)
00:06:10 - AT&T Pantech Burst hands-on at CES 2012 (video)
00:07:17 - Huawei Ascend P1 S and P1 hands-on (updated: video)
00:11:55 - Motorola RAZR MAXX
00:12:05 - Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Motorola's Melissa Gardner
00:12:15 - The Engadget Interview: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop at CES 2012 (video)
00:13:30 - Verizon launches BlackBerry Curve 9370
00:13:45 - BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 hands-on (video)
00:14:05 - Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with RIM (update: video embedded)
00:14:55 - Lenovo K800 Intel Medfield smartphone hands-on (video)
00:16:15 - AT&T Galaxy Note with LTE hands-on at CES 2012 (video)
00:27:35 - Sprint Samsung Galaxy Nexus with LTE hands-on (video)
00:31:20 - Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD coming to AT&T: 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, LTE, 'razor-thin'
00:33:25 - T-Mobile announces the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G, available 'later this year'
00:35:05 - Huawei MediaPad to get Ice Cream Sandwich this quarter, new colors announced
00:35:45 - Hands-on with LG Viper, an LTE smartphone coming to Sprint
00:35:55 - HTC Titan II coming to AT&T, finally delivers LTE to Mango lovers
00:42:55 - Verizon says (almost) 'all' future phones and tablets will be LTE
00:43:55 - Sony Xperia ion coming to AT&T in Q2: offers 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 720p Reality display and dual HD cameras
01:01:35 - The Engadget Interview: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop at CES 2012 (video)
01:02:40 - Polaroid SC1630 Android HD smart camera hands-on, is it a cameraphone or a phonecamera?
01:05:45 - Aurasma Virtual Browser and virtual world hands-on
01:07:45 - Update to Google Maps improves battery life, public transit options and more
01:10:20 - Nokia's CES 2012 keynote now online: watch Elop emote and Ballmer bombast
01:10:35 - Live from AT&T's 2012 Developer Summit keynote!
01:12:45 - Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with NXP's Jeff Miles (update: video embedded)
01:12:55 - NXP gesture smart card adds another layer of security to NFC data, we go hands-on (video)
01:16:00 - Tobii's Gaze interface lets you use your eyes to move a cursor, perform gestures in Windows 8 (video)
01:18:55 - T Mobile CTO: next iPhone chipset 'will support AWS'
01:21:05 - Motorola and Intel hold hands for multi-year, multi-device partnership, shipments start 2H 2012
01:25:19 - Hands-on with Verizon Novatel MiFi 4620L Jetpack (video)
01:29:15 - Nokia confirms Canadian plans: Lumia 800 exclusive to Telus, Lumia 710 exclusive to Rogers
01:45:00 - Nokia confirms Lumia 900 doesn't have Pentile display


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