Leadtek AMOR 8218 DECT phone with Tegra 2 Android tablet hands-on

While combing through the show floor at Computex, our fortunate selves stumbled upon a new phone-tablet duo at Leadtek's booth. Oh, don't worry, this isn't yet another phone-in-pad design; but actually a VoIP / home phone docked next to an Android tablet. Dubbed AMOR Multimedia Phone 8218, the idea here is that the docking station acts as both a DECT base and a WiFi router, but also packs ZigBee radio to relay data from compatible devices (for healthcare, home surveillance, home automation, etc.) to the web.

HTC HD7S coming to AT&T on 5 June for $199.99

AT&T will be expanding its Windows Phone 7 line with the large-screened HTC HD7S. The “S” in the name stands for S-LCD – the screen on AT&T’s HD7 model packs newer tech unlike the unbranded HD7, which uses regular TFT.

The HTC HD7S will hit AT&T’s shelves on 5 June – the Windows Phone 7 handset will go for $199.99 on a two-year contract.

For that kind of cash you can grab a cool Android or an iPhone 4, but you might want to hold off on that. The upcoming Mango update for Windows Phone 7 promises to make the OS so much more desirable.

You can sign up for email updates on AT&T’s site though you won’t miss much if you don’t – all you need to remember is HTC HD7S, $199.99, 5 June.

Nokia's WP7 phones to use U8500 dual-core 1.2GHz chipsets?

The CEO of ST-Ericsson got chatty in front of Forbes and said that Nokia’s Windows Phone 7 devices will be powered by the U8500 dual-core CPU and its successors will go on to power Windows Phone 8 phones too.

So far, Windows Phone 7 devices have been exclusively powered by Qualcomm chipsets (due to Microsoft’s limiting guidelines, which were revised recently). ST-Ericsson’s CEO however says that they will be one of two chip suppliers for Nokia’s WP7 phones (he didn’t who the other was).

The first Nokia devices will use the dual-core U8500 chipset, which has been seen running at 1.2GHz. Things might change by the time these devices come out, but they look to be the first dual-core Windows Phone 7 handsets.

The CEO also said that over the course of 2012 Nokia will release 12 Windows Phone 7 devices that will be based on future versions of the U8500 chipset. He also believes that ST-Ericsson will be a key supplier for Windows Phone 8, yep that's 8.

The Mango update is v7.5, so Windows Phone 8 is already very likely in the works (and the rumor mill suggests that it and Windows 8 will be closely related).

The U8500 has a powerful Mali-400 GPU, the same as on the Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II.

Sharp treats us to a waterproof 16MP Android clamshell in 3D

Prepare to feast your geeky souls on one of the hottest Android devices you have ever seen. Sharp has just unveiled the waterproof AQUOS PHONE THE HYBRID 007SH (a mouthful indeed) with a 16 megapixel camera and a 3.4” FWVGA stereoscopic display that doesn’t need glasses to work.

The Android 2.3 Gingerbread clamshell (yeah, you read that one right) sports GSM and WCDMA connectivity so it should be able to operate on networks worldwide. Unfortunately, the handset will initially only be available in Japan and knowing Sharp we doubt they will expand its reach, ever.

Anyway, with the AQUOS 007SH you will also be getting a 0.7” secondary OLED display as well as GPS, Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity. There’s also an infrared port on board - a feature that’s still pretty popular in Japan.

The highlights list continues with a microSD slot that allows expanding the internal memory by up to 32 GB, 720p video recording, digital TV tuner and a microHDMI port. The waterproof body of the smartphone measures 113×51.8×19.3mm, which is pretty thick, but it only weighs 140 g.

The AQUOS PHONE THE HYBRID 007SH will become available at SoftBank shops in Japan next month.

via GsmArena

Dutchman integrates a 4.5GHz water-cooled rig into his d3sk

Cooler Master's 2011 Case Mod Competition looks to be the gift that keeps on giving. After serving up a Tron lightcycle and an architectural marvel, it's now playing host to a mod that redefines the idea of an all-in-one PC. Peter from the Netherlands has managed to fit a pretty bombastic set of components -- 4.5GHz Core i7-980X, two ASUS GeForce GTX 580 graphics cards in SLI, over 12TB of storage with an SSD boot disk, and two PSUs providing 1,500W of power in total -- together with a water-cooling setup and the inevitable glowing lights inside one enclosure, which just so happens to also serve as his desk. The three-piece monitor setup is also a custom arrangement, with a 27-inch U2711 IPS panel being flanked by two 17-inchers. Admittedly, this isn't the first water-cooled and over-powered desk we've laid eyes on, but that shouldn't prevent you from giving the links below a bash and checking out the amazingly neat design of Peter's l3p d3sk.

Sigma SD1 starts shipping in June for $9,700

Sigma knows that $9,700 is a lot of money to pay for, well, anything, so it's couching the hefty price tag on its new flagship DSLR, the SD1, in the context of it competing against medium format digital cameras -- whose prices don't generally fall below five figures. Trouble is, as professionally inclined, well designed, and durably built as the SD1 may be, it still only packs a 15.3 megapixel CMOS sensor that spans 24mm x 16mm (or APS-C size). That means it'll have to earn its stripes on the battlefield of image quality, which it'll be ready to march onto in less than a month's time. Sigma promises to start shipping units in early June, so if you have the cash to spare (plus a little extra to fund a suitably awesome lens), you can start building up your anticipation today. Full PR and camera specs can be found after the break.

Android Honeycomb has hidden Gingerbread interface, enabled by higher LCD density

Google's already indicated that tablets and smartphones won't be sharing the same Android build until Ice Cream Sandwich in Q4, though interestingly enough, it turns out that the tablet-friendly Honeycomb actually has Gingerbread's interface quietly tucked underneath. According to modder Graffix0214, all you need for making the jump is one simple tweak in a system file: assuming you already have root access, use your preferred method -- Pocketables recommends the LCDDensity for Root app -- to change the LCD density value to 170 or higher to emulate a smaller, denser display. After a reboot, you should then see some Gingerbread love as demoed by Graffix0214's video after the break; and likewise, set the value to 160 or lower to roll back. It sure is nice to have an option, eh?

Source: Pocketables