Jawbone’s ICON was our consumer Bluetooth headset pick back in early 2010, but more than 18 months later it’s perhaps overdue a refresh. Along, then, comes the replacement, the Jawbone ICON HD and its new Bluetooth dongle accessory, The NERD. It might have a geeky name, but the promise is complete simplicity. Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Infiniti has unveiled its latest droptop, the 2013 IPL G Convertible, set to hit showrooms in spring 2012. Part of the company’s Infiniti Performance Line (IPL), and based on the existing Infiniti G37 Convertible, the new G Convertible pairs a retractable hardtop roof with a 3.7-liter V6 for high-performance, roof-down motoring.
Infiniti has already shown off its Etherea concept before, with the compact having made its debut at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, but it’s getting its first public North American outing at the Concours d’Elegance here at Pebble Beach. Still eye-catching despite the familiarity, beyond the illuminated grille it’s the sharply styled C-pillar that’s the Etherea’s main flourish, something Infiniti carried forward to the JX Concept unveiled yesterday.
Infiniti has revealed its latest luxury crossover, the Infiniti JX Concept, a preview of what we can expect from the production model likely to hit showrooms in 2012. Capable of cosseting up to seven people across three rows of leather-clad seating, the JX Concept pulls together distinctive design touches like its crescent-cut D-pillar and snout-like grille with luxury features such as a 14-speaker Bose Studio Surround audio system.
Gadgets come in all shapes and sizes, and SlashGear is checking out the four-wheeled variety this weekend at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. A yearly show of the finest in classics, one-offs and customs, joined by what manufacturers hope will become the classics of the future, it’s a gearhead’s dream event.
It’s been more than a year since we reviewed the BlackBerry Torch 9800, RIM’s hybrid touch/QWERTY slider, and while the company says the smartphone has gone on to be one of their more popular devices, we couldn’t get past the underwhelming screen resolution and easily choked processor. Now, RIM has returned with the BlackBerry Torch 9810, with a faster CPU, more pixels and a copy of the BlackBerry 7 OS. Is it enough to flick the Torch onto full-beam? Check out the SlashGear review after the cut.
Mention all-touch and BlackBerry in the same sentence, and it’s tough not to experience an involuntary Storm-shudder. RIM’s belated answer to the iPhone failed to grab it the chunk of the touchscreen smartphone market it expected, and while the Storm 2 was an improvement, the company is yet to entirely convince when there’s no physical keyboard. Third time lucky, perhaps, with the BlackBerry Torch 9850, a compact BlackBerry 7 smartphone (aka the Torch 9860, the only difference being CDMA/GSM connectivity) hoping to convince us that QWERTY-free doesn’t mean zero appeal. Check out the SlashGear review after the cut.
RIM‘s on familiar ground with the BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930. QWERTY candybars have made the company’s reputation, and while the Torch series – whether slider or all-touch – may offer interesting variations on the theme, the Bold is where the Canadians will be judged. Now offering both a touchscreen and a physical keyboard, along with a speedy CPU and slimmed-down chassis, on paper this is arguably the best BlackBerry today. Read on for the full SlashGear review.
The 7-inch form factor may have opened up the Android tablet market, with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab paving the way even before Google believed the platform was ready for slates, but since then all has been quiet on the tweener front. Honeycomb’s unsuitability for medium-sized screens left several companies with their tablets on the back-burner; those that did launch, like HTC with the Flyer, stuck to smartphone versions of Android rather than risk poor compatibility. Now, bringing Android 3.2 Honeycomb to market comes the Acer Iconia Tab A100, a 7-inch dual-core model promising the performance of its bigger siblings but the pocket-friendliness of a filofax.
Wearable sub-displays keep coming around, and WIMM Labs is the latest company to try its hand at the segment. Its WIMM Wearable Platform – a 1.4-inch color touchscreen, scaled to be wearable on your wrist, and paired with WiFi, Bluetooth, various sensors and running Android-based “Micro Apps” – obviously stood out of the crowd, having caught the attention of Foxconn and two rounds of financing from the huge manufacturing/ODM company. We caught up with the WIMM Labs team to check out the Wearable Platform and find out if it stood more chance of success than, say, Sony Ericsson’s LiveView.
With WiFi tablets generally proving more affordable and more popular than their cellularly-equipped brethren, Samsung probably made the right decision launching the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab 10.1 first. Still, we’ve had a taste of Verizon’s LTE network on Android smartphones, and that left us with a taste for more. Just in time, then, comes the new Verizon Galaxy Tab 10.1: a super-slimline 4G LTE slate with a sugary Honeycomb center.
Apple is the top smartphone manufacturer in the US, according to the latest Nielsen statistics, despite iOS not having the biggest share of the OS ecosystem. According to the stat company's June figures, iOS is running on 28-percent of smartphones, in second place behind Android with 39-percent. However, because multiple OEMs use Android, no single manufacturer has the scale to rival Apple.
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