Samsung Galaxy S II Plus revealed with dual-core 1.2GHz CPU and Jelly Bean

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/10/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-plus/

Samsung just unleashed a new phone into the world, but you've probably heard of it before: it's the Galaxy S II Plus. The handset serves as a modest update to the original Galaxy S II, which contains a 4.3-inch WVGA (800 x 480) Super AMOLED Plus display, a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB RAM and Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean). Naturally, you'll find an 8-megapixel camera on the rear, which is complimented by a 2-megapixel front-facing shooter. The Galaxy S II Plus will include 8GB of built-in storage, in addition to support for microSD cards up to 64GB in size. Expect to find HSPA+ (21Mbps) support across the 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100MHz bands, which will be augmented by GSM support for the 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz bands. Pricing and availability have yet to be announced for this refresh, but we'll be sure to let you know once we have additional details.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy S II Plus

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Celestron's Virtuoso Telescope Mount Captures the Stars Above or Gigapixel Images Here On Earth

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5974701/celestrons-virtuoso-telescope-mount-captures-the-stars-above-or-gigapixel-images-here-on-earth

Celestron has taken its expertise in designing telescope mounts that can track and pan with the motion of the stars and created a cheaper, lightweight version called the Virtuoso that can also be used with a camera to capture massive multi-shot images.

The company is basically muscling its way into GigaPan's turf providing photographers who like capturing gigantic gigapixel images another automated tool. Powered by eight AA batteries the Virtuoso can automatically trigger the shutter on Canon EOS DSLRs, so photogs with Nikon or Sony gear will have to sit there and do it manually, but for $300 the precision mount all but guarantees that assembling a series of shots into one giant image will be a breeze.

[Celestron]

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Nikon J3 and S1 hands-on (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/09/nikon-j3-s1-hands-on/

Nikon's 1 series of mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras may not be the first choice among professional photographers, but they're apparently selling like hotcakes, and they're a big hit at CES, too. Front and center in Nikon's booth, there's a pair of professional dancers practicing their craft on continuous shifts, surrounded by a ring of J3 and S1 bodies and a variety of colorful lenses. Both cameras look and feel very similar to Nikon's first model in this series, the J1.

There's a handful of new colors available, and the internals have gotten a bit of a boost, but all in all, the cameras would feel mighty familiar to any 1 series user. The 14.2-megapixel J3 is Nikon's premium model, if you can call it that, while the 10.1-megapixel S1 is the entry-level variant, with kit prices set at $600 and $500, respectively. Both cameras are set to ship next month -- catch all the specs at our announcement post, and jump past the break for a closer look in our hands-on.

Gallery: Nikon J3 and S1 hands-on

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Filed under: Cameras, Nikon

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Kogan Agora phablet hands-on (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/09/kogan-agora-phablet-hands-on/

Kogan has released a budget-friendly netbook (back when netbooks existed), laptop and tablet, and now its got a new product to show us here at CES -- the Agora smartphone. It's verging on phablet territory with a 5-inch screen (800 x 480 resolution), and running the whole show is a dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 processor and half a gig of RAM. A 5-megapixel shooter with flash is found top-center on the back, and a 0.3-megapixel camera off to the right of the speaker grille on the front. Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich is the OS of choice here, kept alive by a 2,000 mAh battery nestled under the textured back panel. Right next to that power source is space for two SIMs, and a microSD slot to boost the 4GB of on-board storage (up to 64GB cards supported).

Those specs should tell you that the Agora isn't aimed at the high end, but despite that, the build quality is solid. The square handset looks alright, too. We liked the dimpled back panel and prominent metal Kogan logo, as well as the shiny dark grey rim holding it all together. It's not exactly a retina screen, but it's not notably terrible, and performance-wise, it ranged from slick to jittery depending on how fast and how much we were telling it to do. We'll save the Note II comparisons, apart from the only stat you really need to know -- the Agora smartphone costs $149 (£119 in the UK). Pre-orders are live on Kogan's website now, and units should be hitting hands mid-February or earlier. We're assured the launch will go ahead without a hitch (various difficulties prevented a previous phone from reaching market). Check out the gallery and hands-on video below for more info.

Kevin Wong contributed to this report.

Gallery: Kogan Agora phablet hands on

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Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Ubuntu Mobile Hands-Off: Stripped Down and Sleek

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5974642/ubuntu-mobile-hands+off-stripped-down-and-sleek

The world of mobile OSes is totally dominated by Android and iOS, but that hasn't kept Ubuntu from trying to sneak in. And finding a way into already dominated markets is kind of Ubuntu's strong suit.

We got to take a "hands-off" look at the new mobile OS running on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. While the hardware won't hit for a year, the software's looking pretty smooth already.

Ubuntu's take on the mobile OS borrows a fair bit from desktop Ubuntu, as well as other mobile OSes, but it brings some new ideas to the table too. If you've ever used Ubuntu's Unity interface, you'll recognize the icon bar that slides out from the side. If you've ever used a smartphone, you'll recognize the notification bar that slides down from the top. But Ubuntu mobile takes that concept further than any of the other OSes out there.

One of the key design goals for the system was to eliminate the need for buttons. There are soft buttons on the screen, like Android, and no hard button, like Apple devices. Instead, everything—everything—slides out from the sides. The app menu slides out from the left, a slide from the right brings up previous apps, the top brings down settings, and the bottom brings up other assorted options like sharing.

Some other Ubuntu-specific quirks involve menus that require you to hold down your finger in a way that looks completely unlike anything in iOS or Android. It certainly looks weird, but it's hard to tell how it feels without some real hands-on. So far, Canonical's demos are "look but don't touch."

Ubuntu Mobile certainly appears interesting, and maybe it could shake up some of the mobile interface conventions we all take for granted. But even if it's the best OS ever, the lack of dedicated hardware until 2014 is going to make it a tough sell for a while. Hopefully it can still stand a chance. The mobile OS scene could use a little more variety.

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