Once consumers realized Nokia made a winner in the Lumia 800 overseas, an imminent American counterpart only made sense for Nokia to fulfill the requests. The Lumia 900 has a larger 4.3-inch display (the 800′s display spans 3.7 inches) and is the first 4G LTE Windows Phone device. Inside there’s a 1.4GHz single-core processor, but don’t underestimate how fast this handset really is in combination with the OS. An 8MP camera is located on the rear and a 1MP camera is on the front.

IntoMobile’s Marin Perez got a hands-on with the Nokia Lumia 900 at CES 2012 and found it to be quite impressive. It’s a tad large, but Android users should be more than accustomed to phones similar in size to dinner plates. If the phone seems attractive and you by slim chance happen to live near a Microsoft retail store, head on over and reserve one.

[via The Verge]

ZTE is about to push itself into the US market harder than it ever has, and while we’ve seen some lower end devices coming from the company, the Optik is a well-rounded tablet that should please just about anyone who picks it up. The Optik rocks a 7 inch display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 1 GB of RAM, 5 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front-facing camera, and 16GB of storage. It’s also 3G enabled, and only 3G enabled, so if you were hoping for some WiMAX love, you’re going to have to look elsewhere. Still, the lack of “4G” connectivity options helps to keep the price point low.

ZTE Optik is ZTE’s first tablet in North America and makes the tablet experience available to a new segment of consumers,” said Lixin Cheng, CEO, ZTE USA and president, North America Region, ZTE. “Paired with Sprint’s cutting-edge network, ZTE Optik provides an exceptional user experience to consumers who demand affordability, flexibility and mobility in one package.

If you wanted to grab this thing off-contract, you won’t have to break the bank, as it’ll only cost $350. The Android Honeycomb tablet definitely has the specs to get upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich in the future and we’ll see just how much effort ZTE will be putting in to ensure a hasty update waiting period.

Overall, the ZTE Optik seems like a great option for many people and even the off-contract pricing is reasonable. That said, with the 7-inch Asus/Tegra 3 Ice Cream Sandwich tablet for $250 should be on its way at some point, which may be worth waiting for. We’ve also got some hands on with ZTE’s 7-inch Ice Cream Sandwich tablet at CES but that particular model likely won’t land on US shores any time soon, if at all.

At the moment, the release date for the Optik is unclear but we’ll be sure to keep you in the know as we hear more!

[Via: TheVerge, Sprint]

From our experience with glasses-free 3D handsets, it’s easy to see that the technology is very much a novelty. That said, we were much more impressed with the 3D offerings that came from the Optimus 3D opposed to HTC’s EVO 3D, so we wouldn’t mind if LG took another stab at it. Said to be beefed up in the specs department, albeit slightly, the LG CX2 should still turn a few heads.

The handset will sport a 4.3 inch WVGA NOVA display, 1.2 GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor, NFC, DLNA, HSPA+ 21 support, and the usual WiFi and Bluetooth. We can also expect to see the CX2 be slightly thinner than the Optimus 3D, which is more than welcomed. We like LG’s NOVA display but we were really hoping to see one of the newer True HD IPS panels on this new handset. Of course, using a WVGA display may help get the costs down on this CX2.

While the idea of glasses-free 3D is certainly an interesting one, it doesn’t seem like it belongs in phones just yet. Sure, it’s cool and novel but it’s still not where it needs to be to really interest the end-user enough to specifically seek out a particular handset using the technology. Maybe we’re wrong, though. Could the LG CX2 be the 3D phone the world has been waiting for? We will just have to wait and see.

What kind of specs would be a must-have for you if you were considering a glasses-free 3D phone? Does the CX2 fit the bill?

[Via: PocketNow]

What is it going to feature? Well, just about every rumor says a retina display with a 2048×1536 resolution. It’s pretty much a given at this point. At the beginning of January, we also reported an 8MP camera could be on the way, although that might be a stretch given the iPad 2′s little regard for camera quality. Aside from pixel increases, an Apple A6 quad-core processor is likely and 4G LTE connectivity is plausible as well.

I have my own theory that Siri will come to the iPad 3, too. There’s always one major headline feature in each iPhone that tops the rest, and that was Siri in 2011. I’d be surprised if Apple doesn’t bring Siri to the iPad in the same way it brought FaceTime over.

One last observation is that Apple is currently on its third beta of iOS 5.1, the version of iOS the iPad 3 could ship with. The final release of iOS 5.1 and the iPad 3 are on track to align soon.

iPad 3 rumors are about to reach a fever pitch as we approach Apple’s imminent launch.

[via PCMag]

While the Viper LTE isn’t underpowered by any means we would be surprised if it came in with the same price tag as the Galaxy Nexus. Sporting a 4-inch WVGA NOVA display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 5 megapixel rear camera with LED flash,VGA shooter on the front, and NFC with Google Wallet support out of the box, the Viper covers all the bases to make a solid LTE smartphone.

We’re not surprised to see that the Viper is on the thicker side due to its LTE radio but having it next to the Galaxy Nexus is a bit sad to see. Either way, the extra chunk doesn’t necessarily translate to weight, as the Viper is pretty light and the heft lends to a nice in-hand feel.

The Viper LTE is also eco-friendly and 35% of the plastics used in making the handset are recycled. This isn’t something that’s going to woo anyone over but it’s definitely nice to see Sprint and LG are getting “greener.” The demo unit we handled was running stock Android Gingerbread, with the only customization being the Sprint ID icon at the bottom. The rep told us that the software wasn’t final, so we may indeed see the non-intrusive but underwhelming custom UI layer that LG has been putting on its handsets as of late.

Another thing that may not make some of the spec-junkies happy about the Viper LTE is that it only had 512MB of RAM. With most high-end smartphones shipping with 1GB of RAM these days, we would trade in the recycled materials for another half a GB of RAM. Nonetheless, with the dual-core processor under its hood, the Viper should perform quite well despite the lack of memory we’d like to see.

The design of the handset is on the simple side, which isn’t much of a surprise. LG’s handset designs aren’t anything to sing praises about but the Viper is still a nice handsets overall. The back side of the handset is covered in a brushed metal that adds a little flair that we doubt anyone will be complaining about.

Pricing and availability hasn’t been announced but we can expect to see the Viper LTE and the Galaxy Nexus land on Sprint shelves within the coming months.

The handset has a very unique design, especially on the back side. The rear of the device is all plastic but has a brushed finish, which gives it a wood-like look and feel. Other than the great internals within the phone, the back side is our favorite part of the K800, but let’s move forward.

The K800 sports a 4.5 inch 720p display, 8 megapixel camera on the back, front-facing camera, and other expected features like WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Running on Android 2.3 (or at least the unit we demoed was), the K800 may ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich when it launches on China Unicom. Hopefully.

Below the gorgeous display, you’ll find the three capacitive buttons found on the majority of Android phones today, Home, Back, and Menu. Overall, the design of the handset looks rather boxy, which some may or may not like. We’re fans of the design but the real story is about the newly announced Intel Atom Z2460 powering the device.

While we’ve already seen dual-core processors clocked at 1.5GHz, the single-core Atom Z2460 should still be comparable thanks to the use of HyperThreading. Intel also claims that the new Atom will yield favorable battery life compared to that of existing ARM-based handsets, but the jury is still out on that one.

The K800 is an impressive handset and is just one of the many things we really liked coming from Lenovo here at CES. Let’s hope for a stateside release in the near future.

A modified Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 known as the Galaxy Tab 10.1N was previously released in Germany for similar reasons.

Apple and Samsung have been throwing punches back and forth in various countries for most of 2011. Apple has been winning most of the battles. It first successfully banned the Samsung Galaxy Tab line of tablets in all of Europe, but the court later lifted that ban in every country except for Germany. Samsung had no choice but to change the design of its tablets if it wanted to reach the German market and, let’s be honest, the original designs do take several cues from the Apple iPad.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0N Plus will retail in Germany for approximately €600.

[via Phone Arena]

We couldn’t get a real feel for the device since it was tethered to the stand but it’s what you’d expect to see out of a device of it’s kind. We’re going to go out on a limb and say the 7 incher sported a 1280 x 800 display, as most worthy tablets are shipping with a similar resolution today. It’s an overall decent design, with rounded edges and a rubberized grip backing.

Running Android 4.0.1, the tablet showed off all the Ice Cream Sandwich goodies but other than eye candy, there was little to test out due to the lack of data connection at the booth.

So while we patiently await the Asus 7 inch Tegra 3 tablet, feel free to blur your eyes when looking at these pictures.

The LG Spectrum is essentially the LG Nitro HD for Verizon. Sporting a large 4.5 True HD IPS display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8 megapixel camera on the rear, 1.3 megapixel camera on the front, and Android Gingerbread running the show. LG’s display technology is some of the finest of all the land, as the True HD display panels are truly stunning but some may be wooed by the likes of Samsung’s Super AMOLED HD on the Galaxy Nexus and we couldn’t blame you for that one.

The layout of the Spectrum is classic LG. Simple, yet boring — Simply boring. That said, one of the few things that differentiates itself from the Nitro is the battery cover and some may like it. Some definitely won’t. The battery cover is all plastic and the second you touch it, you’ll notice that this thing can pick up fingerprints like nothing else. The shiny plastic has a textured design behind it, giving it a nice look but it has a smooth in-hand feel. If we had to choose between the Spectrum and the Nitro as far as in-hand feel is concerned, we’d go with the latter, but that doesn’t make the Spectrum a bad phone in any way.

Overall, the LG Spectrum looks like it will fall in line with Verizon’s great portfolio of LTE devices that continues to grow. It you’re looking for something that people will notice when you take it out of your pocket, you won’t find that here. You’ll find a phone that does everything you’d want it to do and look great at the same time, without the looks from the people around you wondering what it is.

Check out the pictures below!

Unlike the current flock of tablets on the market, Project Fiona has been specifically designed to play the most popular PC games as it’ll be powered by the Intel Core i7 processor. As you can see from the concept images released today, Project Fiona will sport a 10.1″ 1200×800 display with a full-screen user interface that will support multitouch, force feedback, Dolby 7.1 surround sound, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an accelerometer, gyroscope,  and dual-controllers on both sides of the device.

Razer is promising many popular PC games will run on the device, such as Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, H.A.W.X. 2, and Firefall. Also, if there’s a PC game that supports gamepad controls, then Project Fiona will not need any further configurations as the game will be supported out of the box.

Having a tablet be this powerful makes me question how good its battery life will be. One thing I’m certain of is Project Fiona will be quite the PC gaming tablet beast when it’s released, but if I only get 30 minutes of play time with it without needing to be tied to my power adapter, then what’s the point? On the contrary, I’m sure not a lot of people are going to be playing a hardcore PC game on their Project Fiona while waiting for the bus to come. Regardless of that, I’m still impressed with what Razer is offering and will certainly keep tabs on their device until it’s finally released later this year.

“We knew Corning Gorilla Glass could get even better,” said James R. Steiner, Corning’s senior vice president and general manager. “In response to our customers’ drive toward thinner form factors, we designed this new glass to enable meaningful reduction in thickness without sacrificing the outstanding glass performance for which Gorilla Glass has become highly recognized.”

In the beginning of the year, Corning plans to throw its second generation of damage-resistant glass on to Windows-based PCs. Gorilla Glass has been around for almost five years and quickly became the industry standard for damage-resistant cover glass. Now it’s hard to imagine phones and tablets today without Gorilla Glass protecting them, as it occupies 30 major brands and is designed into more than 575 product models, spanning more than 500 million units worldwide. Corning Gorilla Glass is expected to reach more than $700 million in 2011 sales, nearly triple 2010 results. Wow.

Corning Unveils New Gorilla® Glass 2
With new glass composition, tough gets better – with device performance benefits for sophisticated user experiences

CORNING, N.Y., January 9, 2012 — Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) introduces Corning® Gorilla® Glass 2, the next generation of the company’s widely accepted, damage-resistant cover glass for consumer electronic devices, at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. The outstanding performance benefits of this new glass will be showcased through live demonstrations in the Corning booth, #12642 Central Hall, during show hours tomorrow, Jan. 10, through Friday, Jan. 13.

Corning Gorilla Glass 2 enables up to a 20 percent reduction in glass thickness, while maintaining the industry-leading damage resistance, toughness, and scratch resistance customers have come to expect from the world’s most widely deployed cover glass. The thinner Gorilla Glass 2 enables slimmer and sleeker devices, brighter images, and greater touch sensitivity. These benefits can provide electronics manufacturers with superior design flexibility as they address consumer demand for increasingly high-performing, touch-sensitive, and durable mobile devices.

“Corning Gorilla Glass has enjoyed tremendous market adoption in the high-growth mobile handset and computing device market, providing a replacement for plastic and legacy soda-lime glass as a protective cover and elegant design solution,” said James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Specialty Materials.

“We knew Corning Gorilla Glass could get even better. So, in response to our customers’ drive toward thinner form factors, we designed this new glass to enable meaningful reduction in thickness without sacrificing the outstanding glass performance for which Gorilla Glass has become highly recognized. This glass, along with Windows operating system innovations from Microsoft, will help deliver exceptional beauty, performance, and toughness for new Windows PCs. You will see this early this year with Windows-based PCs which we expect to be the first in-market laptops designed to leverage the performance of our new second-generation glass,” Steiner remarked.

“We’re very excited about the introduction of Corning’s thin, high-performing Gorilla Glass 2,” said Nick Parker, vice president, Worldwide OEM Marketing, Microsoft. “As Windows continues to bring new experiences to customers on new devices, we look to Corning to bring innovative, durable glass solutions that enable brighter images and greater touch sensitivity.”

Product qualification and design implementation for Corning Gorilla Glass 2 are underway with Corning’s global customers, a number of whom are expected to unveil new devices using Corning Gorilla Glass 2 during the coming months.
First introduced in 2007, Corning Gorilla Glass set the industry standard for damage-resistant cover glass. Today it is the most widely deployed cover glass, used by more than 30 major brands and designed into more than 575 product models, spanning more than 500 million units worldwide.

As one of the company’s fastest growing businesses, Corning Gorilla Glass is expected to reach more than $700 million in 2011 sales, nearly triple 2010 results.