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Adéu, Barcelona: Mobile World Congress 2011 is over

Posted on 18 February, 2011

We've still got a handful of posts in the pipeline, but with the gates closed and everyone in the air heading back to their respective homes, our adventures at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona have come to a close. The good news is we can return to our regular four of hours of sleep each night (a figure that was cut in half this week). The bad news is the heartache of leaving behind gorgeous scenery and delicious paella. Take a look at some of our highlights below!

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Live from Eric Schmidt’s MWC 2011 keynote

Posted on 15 February, 2011

Ballmer and Elop were quite the pair during the Microsoft keynote yesterday, so let's say the bar's been set pretty high for Eric Schmidt. But that's fine, the now-former CEO of Google has a knack for lively (if not downright controversial at times) speeches. This is the first time we've seen him talk since he stepped away from Babysitter (his words) to Executive Chairman, and the Android of today is a few flavors improved from the 2.1 Eclair that had launched a little before his MWC 2010 keynote -- so needless to say, we're excited for what he has to say today. We'll be reporting live from Fira, so stay tuned -- the fun should start around 11:45AM ET!

Continue reading Live from Eric Schmidt's MWC 2011 keynote

Live from Eric Schmidt's MWC 2011 keynote originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Marvell announces 1.2GHz UMTS / TD-SCMA chip ‘world phone’ solution and Kinoma platform for Android (video)

Posted on 14 February, 2011

Claiming to be the "world's first" single chip solution with 3G UMTS and China's fave TD-SCDMA (with HSPA support), Marvell's using its MWC 2011 time to unveil the PXA978 chip with 1.2GHz clockspeeds and a 40nm size. Alongside that, the company's announced Kinoma Play as a barebones, no-nonsense platform with Android underneath the skin. A developer SDK is in the works, and if you're so inclined, video and press releases are after the break. Rest assured, we'll be swinging by Marvell's booth this week to see it for ourselves.

Continue reading Marvell announces 1.2GHz UMTS / TD-SCMA chip 'world phone' solution and Kinoma platform for Android (video)

Marvell announces 1.2GHz UMTS / TD-SCMA chip 'world phone' solution and Kinoma platform for Android (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qualcomm unveils next-gen Snapdragon family, including quad-core 2.5GHz CPU

Posted on 14 February, 2011

Not one to let the name Snapdragon down, Qualcomm's gone and announced a much faster generation of the processor family, with speeds up to 2.5GHz per core. The multi-core (one, two, and four) 28nm chipsets, codenamed Krait, will feature WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, and FM, support NFC and stereoscopic 3D video / photo (capture and playback), and also boast multi-mode LTE modem integration. Qualcomm claims a performance increase of 150 percent and a power consumption drop of 65 percent over current ARM-based CPU cores. Included is a new Adreno 320 GPU with support of up to four 3D cores. Samples for the dual-core MSM8960 will be avialable in second quarter this year, while single-core MSM8930 and quad-core APQ8063 (for "computing and entertainment devices" -- i.e. tablets) versions are coming early 2012. The power-crazed products housing these chipsets? You'll have to wait even longer to see those.

Qualcomm unveils next-gen Snapdragon family, including quad-core 2.5GHz CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 04:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Play MWC 2011 hands-on! (updated with video)

Posted on 13 February, 2011

We've spent extensive time with our prototype of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, but how's it feel to use the real, near-finished model? Quite a bit better, actually. The phone looks identical, to be sure, but the hinge is much sturdier. The speaker quality has gone up, too, although in the crowded room it was much too noisy to really make a solid judgment call there. The screen attracts fingerprints like no other, but it's basically on par with other Xperia models. Its skinned Android Gingerbread UI was snappier, to be sure, and the customizations obviously a lot more complete, but really our biggest concern here was the games. (Check out our Pro, Neo, and Arc previews for more thoughts on the interface.)

We were able to play three titles: Star Battalion, FIFA, and Asphalt. All were found via the applications pane amongst all the other software, but they were also highlighted by the eponymous Xperia Play app. (There was additionally the infamous PlayStation Pocket app, but more on that later.) The former title, very much a StarFox ripoff, had tight controlling via both the gamepad and optional accelerometer option. The trackpads wasn't supported, however, but when we swapped over to FIFA, we found the left "pad" could be used for moving the player. Though definitely usable, it felt rough under our thumbs and we couldn't smoothly slide about as we would with an analog nub. It is large enough to do varying degrees of a direction like an analog stick, but you won't really be fine-tuning your shot so much. The indents work really well to help gauge your thumbs' position without having to look down. Both titles took quite a while to load, crashing a few times in the process; we were told multiple times this was largely due to early software. Multiplayer was not an option at the show, but we did make it through Asphalt far enough to notice it was being run still by Gameloft and not via Sony servers. As for Xperia Play (the app), we couldn't help but notice the Get More Games section, no matter how simple, does a much better job at highlighting individual games than the Android Market currently does.

The PlayStation Pocket app on most demo units was as barren as our own model, but we found at least one running Crash Bandicoot for PS One (the "legendary pre-installed title," as referenced in the press conference) at a smooth 60 frames per second. To compensate for only two L and R triggers, the settings menu offers six different button layouts where you can use the trackpads as secondary shoulder buttons (which prevents their use as analog nub replacements) or have L2 / R2 on screen virtually. Thankfully, jumping out of the app saves the game's state, and you can return by clicking on the app. An additional confirmation screen confirms you're really ready to play, which though we can see being a nuisance to some, will be welcome to others who often mis-click. The rep told us no multiplayer, but still you can toggle between the game pad being seen as controller one or two. We also heard that the PS One library will likely be rolled out on a weekly basis and not be available all at once.

What we needed to convince us of the Xperia Play's viability as a game platform was the games itself, and we will say that Sony and SE are doing well to assuage our concerns there. The form factor is still sleek despite the slide-out gamepad, which feels great to use. The initial PlayStation Suite launch line up is... promising, but we hesitate to give it higher marks without more flagship original titles. What it'll take to attract more developers is a larger reach for the platform, which ironically will take more PlayStation Certified devices -- and as for when that'll happen, no one's saying yet. We'll have hands-on video of the Xperia Play later tonight; meanwhile, find hands-on pictures of the phone (and dock!) in the gallery below!

Update: Fleshed out impressions, and video after the break!

Continue reading Sony Ericsson Xperia Play MWC 2011 hands-on! (updated with video)

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play MWC 2011 hands-on! (updated with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 15:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adéu, Barcelona: Mobile World Congress 2011 is over

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Sony Ericsson

Live from Eric Schmidt’s MWC 2011 keynote

Marvell announces 1.2GHz UMTS / TD-SCMA chip ‘world phone’ solution and Kinoma platform for Android (video)

Qualcomm unveils next-gen Snapdragon family, including quad-core 2.5GHz CPU

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play MWC 2011 hands-on! (updated with video)

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