Engadget

We here at Engadget tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there individually, we've gathered up an exhaustive listing of every phone and / or tablet getting the stamp of approval over the last week. Enjoy!

It hasn't been Samsung's best week. Just days after Judge Lucy Koh granted a preliminary ban on sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, she's following it up with a similar granted request on the Galaxy Nexus. Judge Koh had already signaled that she thought Apple's lawsuit over four patents might have merit, but it's only now that she's deciding the potential damage is worth halting sales of the phone until there's a final trial verdict. Samsung will no doubt try to appeal the dispute, which centers on Android 4.0's slide-to-unlock mechanism (among other elements), but there's a lot more urgency here than with the outgoing Tab 10.1: the Galaxy Nexus is still a current-generation device, and just became Google's Android 4.1 phone flagship. Samsung's odds aren't great given that Apple has already used one of the patents to give HTC grief with its imports.

Update: As patent lawsuit guru Florian Mueller found, the clincher for the ban was the patent on unified search that's linked to Siri. Although Judge Koh is inclined to believe Apple's view regarding all four patents, that search patent is the one whose violation would reportedly merit more than a slap on the wrist. She's similarly convinced that Apple's patents are legitimate and likely won't be dismissed anytime soon.

In case you somehow missed it, today is an important milestone in technology nostalgia: it's the fifth anniversary of the original iPhone's launch. We'll let you explore the memories of that insane day on your own terms, but ComScore has produced a visual breakdown of just how ownership has grown and shifted over the years. It's not hard to see that adoption has been on an accelerating curve, especially after the 2010 launch of the Retina display-toting iPhone 4: as of this past May, about three quarters of owners have either the iPhone 4 or the iPhone 4S. And the 2007 edition? Only two percent of all iPhone owners are still actively holding on to the aluminum-clad debut model, which suggests most would rather have Siri than reminisce. Whether you're a fan or have since moved on to a competitor, the chart is a reminder of just how far one of Steve Jobs' biggest projects has come.

Remember that Android SDK Recon Instruments finally unveiled for its heads-up display goggles? Well the company was showing off the fruits of its labor here at Google I/O 2012 with two demos -- specifically two-way Facebook integration and augmented reality using a Contour camera. In the first demo, the goggles are paired over Bluetooth with an app running on an Android phone. Each time you jump while snowboarding or skying, the accelerometer data from the goggles is sent to the handset which posts a graphic to Facebook showing the distance, height and duration of your flight. Any comments made to the post are then immediately relayed back to the heads-up display. The second demo uses a Contour camera attached to the goggles and paired via Bluetooth. As you look around, the output from the camera appears on the heads-up display augmented with labels showing the location and distance of the nearby train stations based on the compass and GPS data from the goggles. Pretty cool, eh? Check out the gallery below and hit the break for our two hands-on videos.

Recon Instruments at Google I/O 2012

Consider your last trip to the car dealership. Let's say you saved up and hit up BMW. While you might've looked at -- or even test driven -- the M3, there's a good chance that your better judgment (and your budget) led you to drive off of the lot with a 328i. Sure, it's only got a four-cylinder engine inside, but the car offers great handling and good gas mileage. Better yet, you didn't have to spend an atrocious amount of money to get behind the wheel. The same goes with mobile phones. While it's fun to dream of owning a One X, a Galaxy S III or an Optimus 4X HD, they're called superphones for a reason: they cater to power-hungry individuals with a fair amount of disposable income. Like supercars, they're designed to bring people into the store, even if shoppers ultimately leave with something else in hand.

Enter the LG Optimus L7. Positioned at the higher end of the company's entry-level lineup, it aims to be the 328i of smartphones. Sure, no one's lining up to drool over it, but LG is aiming for this to be a practical choice with just enough elegance and pizzaz to keep consumers grinning. Of course, that sweet spot is difficult to achieve, and we've seen plenty of smartphone manufacturers miss the mark in attempting to balance performance and amenities with a palatable price. So, does the Optimus L7 rise to the challenge? We've spent the past week with it as our daily driver, and we're ready to make the call. Read on for the answer.

LG Optimus L7 review

Regular time, regular place. Wait, what? For such a hectic and crazy week as this, it's equally astounding to think that we'll be doing the Engadget Mobile Podcast the usual way -- Friday afternoon at 5pm. Just like last week, this is definitely one you don't want to miss: Google announced a couple things, RIM broke a few hearts and we reviewed a few devices. Tune in and enjoy Myriam and Brad waxing poetic about the wild week that was wireless!

"We're missing a nut," says a bemused Matt Hershenson, former Danger founder and now Google's director of hardware for Android, pointing at a vacant spot on an exploded photo of the Nexus Q. Its parts are strewn out across a white background, perfectly arranged in a linear pattern that starkly contrasts with the spherical nature of the thing. "Wow, you're right," agrees Joe Britt, engineering director at Google and another former Danger founder. "It's like the illuminators, you know, the monks who used to draw up the codexes." Hershenson picks up the reference without missing a beat: "Everybody needs to make at least one mistake. Nothing can be perfect."

That goes against everything else we've been learning from the pair, who spend 45 minutes walking us through every detail of what went into the development of the new Nexus Q. They worked hand-in-hand with engineers and designers and materials experts, ensuring everything from the bearings to the LEDs were, well, perfect. But there is one thing, something larger, that many have said is a crucial flaw in this illuminated device: pricing. Will people pay $299 for a high-concept, low-functionality social media streamer? Join us after the break for how the Q came to be, and why Britt and Hershenson think it will be a success.

Nexus Q hands-on

It took only one day for devs to unleash Jelly Bean 4.1 from its server confines and out into the eager underbelly of Android's community. And those enterprising hackers haven't wasted any time getting that buttered up OS running on Galaxy Nexus handsets (yes, even for Verizon subs). Now, good news is also on the way for any consumers who forsook the pure Google path in favor of Samsung's TouchWizzed way. That's right, a (mostly) working port has been made available to Galaxy S III (I9300) users that should see some of that point upgrade's features successfully implemented. Feel free to take it for a test run if you're skilled in the ways of flashing, but bear in mind you'll lose access to the camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, storage and audio. It goes without saying that this build is far from the perfect ROM for a daily driver, but if you're curious to check it out first-hand, there's no harm in trying. Hit up the source below for the step-by-step how-to.

Gaming laptops are strange beasts. While they may have been lugged all the way to the LAN party, they aren't too much fun to use on a plane. That was, until the advent of Alienware's 11-inch M11x, which kept the fast internals at the expense of weight and battery life. When it was unceremoniously yanked by parent company Dell, it left a gap in the market for people who really did need a gaming laptop on the go.

Fortunately, Clevo stepped in with its W110ER, an 11-inch laptop that companies like Maingear and others have tweaked to sell as their own. Packing an Ivy Bridge CPU, NVIDIA's Kepler-based GeForce GT 650M and the same 1366 x 768 display as the M11x, it's obviously trying to step into Alienware's shoes. So, is this the new standard-bearer for small-yet-powerful gaming laptops? Does it really blow us away with its power? Will you want to part with a minimum of $999 to get hold of one? Read on to find out.

Maingear Pulse 11 review

This isn't mind reading, per say. Instead Bettina Sorger, Joel Reithler, Brigitte Dahmen and Rainer Goebel at Universiteit Maastricht have figured out a way to monitor the flow of blood in the brain and associate the images captured using an MRI with the letters of the alphabet. The whole system takes about an hour to learn and configure for each individual. Trials focused on healthy individuals, but clearly its the paralyzed and people suffering from diseases like ALS that have the most to gain. Sorger hopes to enable "locked-in" patients to finally be able to communicate with the outside world by thinking out letter at a time. Obviously, patients aren't going to be able to install an MRI in their homes, much less lug one around with them. The data collected could be used to finely tailor less accurate but more portable systems for patients that monitor electrical or light signals. If you're interested in the real nitty-gritty you can check out the complete research paper at the source link.

Whether it's put off by Microsoft's own push into tablets with Surface or just taking a wait-and-see approach, HP has now confirmed that it won't be among those offering ARM-based Windows 8 (or RT) hardware when the OS makes its long-awaited debut later this year. That possibility was first reported by SemiAccurate earlier today and has now been backed up by Bloomberg, which has the official word straight from HP spokesperson Marlene Somsak. She noted that HP will instead be focusing solely on x86-based devices, a decision that she says was "influenced by input from our customers," adding that the "robust and established ecosystem of x86 applications provides the best customer experience at this time and in the immediate future." What's more, Somsak went on to say that HP's first Windows 8 tablet will focus on the business market, which certainly lines up with the leaked device pictured above that surfaced a few months back.

There's not a lot of specifics to be had on this one just yet, but BMW and Toyota have inked a new deal that will see them collaborate on far more than the batteries they've already agreed to work on together. According to the automakers, the new arrangement will see them focus on four key areas: a fuel cell system, powertrain electrification, lightweight technologies and, last but not least, joint development of the "architecture and components for a future sports vehicle." Unfortunately, neither party is offering much indication about the types of vehicles we might see as a result. BMW's Norbert Reithofer said only that the goal of the partnership is to "further strengthen our competitive position in sustainable future technologies," while Toyota's Akio Toyoda notes that "BMW and Toyota both want to make ever-better cars," and that he's "excited to think of the cars that will result from this relationship."

We've seen a fair share of space-saving nettops pass through our very own crowded halls, so what's one more to add to the list? Especially when it's one being flaunted as the most eco-friendly, energy-efficient PC. That's exactly what ASUS thinks of its EeeBox EB1030, which aside from sporting a relatively minimalist design (as is usually the case with nettops), it's also boasting Intel's latest batch of Cedar Trail CPUs. To go along with those Atom processors (1.86GHz), ASUS is making this mini machine as configurable as it could get, giving users the option to load it with up to 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive combined with 32GB of SSD goodness. Ports-wise the unit's pretty standard, offering options such as an HDMI, VGA, microphone, audio jack, card reader and four USB two-dot-ohs. Of course, the amount of cash you'll have to shell out will depend on the setup of choice, with pricing set to start at €296, or around $370 in American dollars.

ASUS EeeBox PC EB1030

The death knell for MobileMe has been ringing for some time, but if you've had your hands on your ears, hoping it'd go away, sadly this isn't the case. Tomorrow sees the service hang up its storage-boots for the last time, before being brutally put down released to pasture. If the 20GB olive branch Apple offered wasn't enough to turn you onto iCloud, then this is your last call to pack up your virtual things, and make sure the door doesn't hit you on the way out. And while breaking up is never easy to do, there are plenty more fish in the sea.

Now that the dust has settled on the big Windows Phone 8 hoedown, Redmond is filling in the details of all its announcements. To wit, it just released a list of the 180 countries that will get access to its WP marketplace and developer app hub. That number is a big jump from the 63 markets and 38 app hubs of today, and with in-app purchasing coming soon, Microsoft emphasized that point -- along with the 100,000 apps in stock -- to developers. The software giant also added that the marketplace will filter apps by phone screen resolution and "other key characteristics," allowing easier targeting of users. To see if your country made the cut, check the source for the very long list.

After proving that a 1080p webcam on USB 3.0 was possible, to the surprise of none, Point Grey's latest addition is a little more impressive, This "ice-cube sized" camera can pipe 4,096 x 2,160 images through that capacious USB 3.0 port, using Sony's new IMX1221 Exmor R sensor. Thanks to its size, the camera is geared toward business-centric applications, including broadcasting and high-resolution optical inspection -- which goes some way to explaining the $945 retail price. The full technical spec sheet waits in the press release, right after the break.

Delta Airlines isn't a stranger to offering WiFi on many of its domestic US flights, but using Gogo's air-to-ground connection setup has essentially kept it from taking off over the seas. That's all set to change come 2013, however, as 150 of Delta's long-haul aircraft will make use of all those high-bandwidth Ku-band capacity satellites that Gogo has been acquiring over the past few months. The updated setup will ensure that you can update your Facebook status over the likes of the Atlantic, but it won't be fully rolled out until about 2015. By that time, the airline estimates it'll be operating around 1,000 Gogo-equipped aircraft worldwide -- not too shabby. If anything, the wait to hit 10,000 feet is surely going be more interesting for all the international work-a-holics out there. Hit up the press release after the break for more details in the meantime.

When our eyes first landed upon the device from Gigabyte you see above, it took them a few seconds to work out exactly what they were looking at. There's a reason for that, though, as the Aivia Xenon -- as it is known -- lives a double life. By day, it's an ordinary PC mouse, with support for multi-touch gestures. By night (well, and day too, if you choose) it's a portable touchpad. The hybrid device offers 1000DPI resolution, can be used up to 10 meters away (for presentations etc.) and comes with software that lets you create custom gestures. If you have two birds, but only space for one stone, head down to the source link for more info.

With more carriers pushing unlimited calling plans, we can't say there's necessarily a need for the friends and family features of yesteryear on this side of the Atlantic, but plenty of networks beyond the good ole US of A are a bit more stingy when it comes to tallying talk time. The latest Google patent application to be published was filed last December and covers exactly this type of scenario, suggesting that the Google+ profile of the future could include an option to create a "Telco Co. Preferred Calling" circle, which would theoretically enable free calling between yourself and a small group of friends.

According to the application, semi-public information, such as a telephone number, would be shared between Google and a registered service provider, and you would maintain discount calling relationships from within Google+, adding and dropping callers to and from your online contacts list. You could also dictate custom rules, such as ringtones for contacts in specific groups, or create carrier-branded circles that are populated with your friends on the same network, making it easier to determine whether or not you'll be billed for calls to a particular user. Like all patent applications, there's no guarantee that Google's submission with come to fruition, but if you're feeling optimistic, you can hit up the source link below for all the legalese.