LG’s Arena was one of the more important non-smartphone handsets of 2009, if for no other reason than the fact that it introduced the world to LG’s latest standard user experience, S-Class. Of course, it was introduced all the way back in February — a lifetime by mobile standards — which means that it’s about time to re-up with a shiny replacement. It sounds like that might come in the form of an “Arena Max” model, thanks to a fresh certification in the Wi-Fi Alliance’s database pointing to an LU9400 model going by that name. Specs are anyone’s guess at this point, but we can probably expect a big, stonking camera, a full-touch UI, and — you guessed it — WiFi.

LG Arena Max gets WiFi certification, sounds way more extreme than Arena originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

ASUS has been giving its motherboard owners ways to tinker with their wares for years now, but it sounds like things are about to get seriously amped up with the Maximus III Extreme. The P55-based board, which falls into the growing Republic of Gamers lineup, adds a new feature to the existing ROG Connect overclocking system: Bluetooth control. You heard right — ASUS claims that this mainboard actually “enables users to tweak system settings wirelessly over Bluetooth via a mobile phone.” More specifically, RC Bluetooth allows users to “review the status of their systems’ hardware and tweak parameters wirelessly from a Bluetooth-enabled PDA phone,” with examples like controlling music playback and dealing with Skype conversations given. There’s no specific mention of a price or release date, but you can bet we’ll be digging for specifics on the limits and functionality baked in here.

ASUS Maximus III Extreme mobo lets Bluetooth cellphones tweak settings originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Continue reading Samsung Behold II review

Samsung Behold II review originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley

S60 or otherwise, it’s pretty tough to argue with the meaty goodness of an 8 megapixel cam paired with an AMOLED display — especially when it’s being delivered on carrier subsidy. Rogers customers have another reason to celebrate their network’s willingness to release a glorious variety of largely untouched, sparsely branded handsets this week on news that the Nokia N86 8MP is now available for CAD $99.99 ($94) on a three-year contract, scaling all the way up to CAD $449.99 ($424) contract-free. These days, it’s pretty easy to lose sight of the fact that there’s such a thing as a non-touch smartphone, and the N86 — along with the E72 — is a prime example of why those sorts of devices still exist. Anyone planning on picking this up?

Rogers vends Nokia N86, $100 on a three-year deal originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Hey — what’s that? Oh right, it’s the LG eXpo, the slider with a pico projector jammed inside. Among other things, the full QWERTY slider’s packing a 1GHz CPU, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, a 5 megapixel camera, a microSD slot, and of course that removable Texas Instruments projector. The just-announced handset bears quite a strong resemblance to the Monaco we heard about way back in May — though from the looks of it, its lost all of the brassiness we were so fond of. The eXpo runs Windows Mobile 6.5, and it will hit AT&T on December 7th for $199 after a mail in rebate with a two year contract.

Continue reading LG’s pico projector-packing WinMo eXpo outed for AT&T

LG’s pico projector-packing WinMo eXpo outed for AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Laura June

Curious what exactly Bada is? Yeah, you’re not the only one — we’re dying to get to the bottom of it ourselves — so you can imagine our joy in finding out that Samsung will be pulling media together for a London event on December 8 to detail the new platform. Beyond knowing that we’ll be “the first in the world to experience the next wave of mobile apps,” we don’t know exactly what we’re going to see at this point — so you’ll be finding out as we do. Everything kicks off at 11:30AM London time, which works out to 6:30AM EST / 3:30AM PST, so if you’re in the States, you’d better really want to know what’s up if you’re going to be awake and alert for it. We don’t anticipate liveblogging the coverage, but stick around for visual stimulation shortly after the event wraps up.

Samsung hosting Bada reveal event next week, we’ll be there originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Alright, so iPhone and N97 knock-offs probably aren’t the rarest of gems around these days, but how many handsets do you know that can lay claim to being both? The Cooli902 takes the iPhone’s 3.5-inch touchscreen, spit-shines a pretty realistic iPhone OS clone-job, and then adds the Nokia flavor with a fully fledged QWERTY keypad ripped straight from the heart of the N97. Not only does it open to that familiar angle, it also sports the same layout and what we can only imagine to be the same violent opening mechanism as found on the original Nokia handset. And to think that poor Philippe Starck had to pick between these two phones, when for only $143 we could have had both. More pics after the break, or hit the read link to get your own.

Continue reading Keepin’ it real fake, part CCXLV: the Nokia iPhone

Keepin’ it real fake, part CCXLV: the Nokia iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Vladislav Savov

Better sit down Maemo fans. If you expected Nokia to just kick its waning S60 5th OS to the curb in 2010 after positive reaction to the Linux side of its dual-platform smartphone strategy, well, it ain’t gonna happen. At least that’s the word from a Reuters source with “direct knowledge or Nokia’s product roadmap.” Driving the point home is word from a Nokia spokesman who declined comment on future plans but did add, “We remain firmly committed to Symbian as our smartphone platform of choice.” While this might sound like bad news to N900 enthusiasts given the vast number of handsets the company produces, keep in mind that Nokia’s recent cuts in global R&D headcount (550 employees in total) was justified by Nokia’s attempt to streamline operations to be in line with its “focused portfolio of future products.” In other words, it sounds like we can expect less handsets from Espoo as they scale back the variety of models produced. And if anything can be learned from the boys in Cupertino: it only takes one handset to change the game.

Nokia launching only one Maemo device in 2010? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker