Last night, LG threw a laser-packed bash to welcome the addition of the Optimus Black and Optimus 2X to their stable of Android-powered handsets. While both devices were on display, the Optimus 2X was clearly the star of the show. Featuring an nVidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor running at 1GHz per core, the Optimus 2X is an incredibly powerful handset that, along with this year’s other Tegra-powered phones, will help to set a new standard for smartphone performance. The graphics on this thing were stunn...

This afternoon, RIM welcomed us into their CES lair to get some much-anticipated hands-on time with the Playbook. We were able to spend about 15 minutes manhandling the device, and while the software on the machine is a pre-beta build and not final, we came away with some pretty good impressions — for the second time.First things first… tthe hardware on the BlackBerry PlayBook seems to be incredibly well built. Honestly, it feels super solid, really good in the hand, and definitely has the weight ...

Yesterday, pre-paid wireless provider MetroPCS dropped a few more details about their first LTE phone and launch plans. MetroPCS CEO Roger Linquist noted that the company’s first LTE device would be the Samsung Craft and that its price would be comparable to that of smartphones currently in its lineup. Currently, the most expensive device in Metro’s lineup is the BlackBerry Curve 8530, which retails for $279. Mr. Linquist also noted that netbooks and other non-smartphone devices were likely to app...

Remember the Motorola Napoleon we hipped you to oh, maybe, 8 months ago? Well, the little bugger has started to hit the streets, prompting rumors and questions about its impending arrival on your local neighborhood carrier’s shelves. Sadly (or perhaps not-so-sadly depending on how you look at it), the Napoleon won’t be hitting the consumer channels any time soon. Moto has decided to make this one available only through exclusive government distribution channels, though the phone itself is running ...

We knew this one was coming, thanks to the official announcement from AT&T and Pantech at last week’s MWC, but it looks like the two companies have gone ahead and made this bad boy available for the world to abuse. Early reports place the Pantech Matrix Pro in stores right…about…now. You can head down and pick one up for the oh-so-reasonable price of $179.99 after $50 mail-in rebate with a 2-year contract. What does that $180 buy you? A Windows Mobile Standard-based dual slider phone wit...

According to an analyst over at Piper Jaffray, the God-like company is experiencing a bit of recession-era strife. Analyst Gene Munster has posited that the company’s iPod sales have dropped 14% as compared to the same period of time last year, with Mac computer sales down 6% in relation to last January. Sales drops are never good, but when compared with the state of the market at large, it’s no surprise that Apple hasn’t been able to continue posting positive numbers. That being said, Munst...

Despite the contrary wisdom of the current economic crisis, Microsoft appears to be moving ahead with plans to open a series of retail stores. The company has hired a former Wal-Mart corporate hound as their corporate VP of retail stores, which probably doesn’t bode well for anyone expecting an intimate, customer-focused retail experience ala your local neighborhood Apple store. Little has been set in stone, but the company is currently scouting out retail locations and attempting to codify its retail s...

Hold the presses and pull out the kleenex, folks — this one is a definite tear jerker. Samsung has stepped up and made a statement regarding the status of its first promised Android handset and things aren’t looking good. According to the company’s head of marketing, Samsung is delaying the release of its Android phone until the second half of the year. The company had been expected to launch an Android-based device at the upcoming MWC, but this news has certainly put a damper on whatever ex...

Ask, and ask, and ask….and ye shall receive. Mozilla has finally unleashed a functional “Milestone Release” version of its Fennec mobile Firefox browser. Available immediately for anyone with an HTC Touch Pro. The release version is limited in several ways, most notably without support for soft keyboards, automatic version updating, and plugins, but everything else should work more or less as promised. This is exciting news for anyone that has been eagerly anticipating Mozilla’s offici...

For the record, we’ve been aware of this one for quite a while, but it looks like Visual Voicemail for Blackberry is coming on the very near horizon for current AT&T Blackberry customers. An eagle-eyed tipster alerted us to the presence of a new feature option in the account management system that allows current ‘Berry users to add Visual Voicemail to their account. The system doesn’t allow you to complete the request, returning an error message if you attempt to add it, but it’s a...

While there’s nothing more than a rogue screen-shot to go by at the moment, we wouldn’t rule this one out as a possible feature of the upcoming Roku software revision. Currently in private beta, Roku is testing its new Amazon VOD integration into what was previously a one-trick Netflix streaming pony. The integration with Amazon Video was a boon for anyone looking to extend the functionality of their little Roku and if the shot above is to be believed, we might see that value extended even further...

Building on the success of the integrated location-based services in the iPhone, it looks like Apple is getting set to include some similar functionality in its upcoming Snow Leopard OS release. According to Apple Insider, the new operating system will allow software developers to utilize Wi-Fi triangulation to integrate location information into their applications. This could in turn be used to provide a variety of proximity-based information for portable computer users. On the input side, it looks like Snow...

It’s hardly a surprise at this point, given the carrier’s historical dominance, but it’s still worth noting. According to the almighty JD Power and Associates, T-Mobile has earned the highest possible ranking in their survey of customer service provided by the major cell companies in the US. T-Mobile, widely acknowledged as one of the industry leaders in providing spotty service exemplary customer service, has won the top honor 7 out of the last 8 years, losing narrowly to Verizon in last ye...

We, along with just about everyone else out there, have spent our fair share of time bashing Sprint. Despite its numerous flaws, however, the beleaguered carrier has been taking a stab at making amends as of late. The most recent addition to their stable of appeasement tools is the Sprint Premier program. Designed to reward loyal customers, the program provides the following benefits:Early Upgrades: After only one year customers can receive our new customer price on a new handset. That’s almost a year s...