LG GD880 Mini (Just Arrived) $369 No Contract

The LG GD880 Mini is a looker. Quite the way to start really, but the Mini isn’t all about looks. From the hardware design through the high-res screen to the software – everything was crafted by skillful hands. Beauty is function in design – nothing is more complex than it needs to be, but beneath the deceptive simplicity there’s a myriad of functions.

The LG GD880, despite its name, is not a small phone, in the sense of some recent minis (*cough*X10mini*cough*). It is darn small next to the LG BL40 New Chocolate, but by no means tiny.

Indeed, Mini also refers to the design concept – there are barely any hardware keys on the device, and the GD880 has one of the cleanest faces in business.

Minimalism does not mean lack of functionality. The scratch-resistant 3.2” display of the impressive WVGA (480x854 pixels) resolution opens the door to HTML5 and Flash capable browsing over a zippy HSPA connection.

Then there’s the multitasking, the social networking, and the multimedia features. Here’s a list of goodies that make the Mini quite big in terms of functionality.

Key features:
Quad-band GSM support and dual-band 3G
7.2Mbps HDSPA and 2Mbps HSUPA
3.2" 256K-color TFT capacitive touchscreen display of WVGA (480x854 pixels) resolution; multi-touch support, scratch resistant surface
Latest S-Class UI; Flash and HTML5 support
Cool minimalist styling and great build quality
5 megapixel auto focus camera; image stabilization, geo-tagging, face detection, Smile Shot, Beauty and Art shot
VGA@15fps video recording
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with DLNA and built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support
Bluetooth with A2DP and microUSB v2.0 (chagrining)
Hot-swappable microSD card slot; up to 32GB cards supported
Stereo FM radio with RDS
3.5mm audio jack and Dolby mobile
DivX/XviD support
Social networking integration (Facebook, Twitter)
Accelerometer sensor for automatic screen rotation; proximity sensor
Office document viewer

Acer Liquid Stream gets official as the Acer Stream

Acer has just made the high powered Liquid Stream official via a press release. Acer describes the Android 2.1 device as a, “high-end multimedia smartphone, optimized for watching movies, listening to music and enjoying web browsing like at home,” and judging by the specs sheet, it looks to fit that bill. Here is the official skinny: 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 512 MB of RAM, 3G+ HSDPA @ 7.2Mb/s, 3.7″ WVGA touch-screen display, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), GPS, 5 megapixel camera, 720p video recording, HDMI out, and a microSD card slot with support for up to a 32 GB card. Availability and wireless carrier are currently unknown. What do you think? Are you impressed, or have you see an Incredible stat sheet like this before? We’ve got the official press release and a video ready for you after the break.

US lags behind world in broadband speeds

According to Net Index, a new website operated by Seattle-based Ookla (the people behind Speedtest.net), the United States is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to wired broadband speeds. Based on user test info generated over the past 30 days, Net Index ranked the US 26th in the world for downlink speeds with an average downlink speed of 10.16Mbps. Such speeds might not seem all that bad at first glance, but considering that the global average is 7.67Mbps, it’s clear that US ISPs have a lot of ground to make up. South Korea finished first with an average of 34.14Mbps, followed by Latvia, the Republic of Moldova, and Japan at 24.29, 21.37 and 20.39Mbps respectively.
Moving to uplink speeds, South Korea once again led the pack with an average of 18.04Mbps while the US’s 2.21Mbps was barely above the world average of 2.10Mbps. In an attempt to keep things as even as possible, Net Index only counted results from nations in which tests were taken from at least 75,000 unique IP addresses. And though the results are by no means scientific, they will no doubt provide a lot of talking points for those currently engaged in the ongoing battle between advocates of net neutrality and ISPs whose interests are best served by imposing caps on data speeds and usage Results from colleges and businesses were excluded from the results.

just arrived SE X10 Mini at $379.99 (upnextwireless.com)

The X10 mini is here to show how a mini phone should live up to its name – sheer smartphone power in a half-size package. There’re always sacrifices involved to fit the new cut but if size is what matters it’ll hardly get any better than that.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini at a glance:
General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 1900/2100 MHz, HSPA
Form factor: Touchscreen bar
Dimensions: 83 x 50 x 16 mm, 86g weight
Display: 2.55" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen with QVGA resolution
Platform: Android OS 1.6 with Sony Ericsson Timescape UI
CPU: 600Mhz processor
Memory: 128MB internal memory, microSD card slot, 2GB card included
Camera: 5-megapixels auto-focus camera, LED flash, geotagging
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, digital compass, 3.5mm audio jack
Misc: Accelerometer for screen auto rotate, FM radio with RDS, TrackID music recgnition
Battery: Non-removable Li-Po battery
OK, there are downgrades in most departments compared to the original XPERIA X10 but those are never too painful, especially if they’re reflected in the price.

Some might argue that the 600 MHz processor is nowhere near as impressive as a 1GHz Snapdragon but the X10 mini doesn’t seem underpowered at all – screen resolution makes quite a difference. In fact, it is the most capable handset with a QVGA screen to date and we have seen those kinds of devices perform admirably on weaker CPUs.

T-Mobile Garminfone available June 9th for $199.99

Good news for everyone who has been waiting on a launch date for the T-Mobile Garminfone, as today it was announced that the GPS-centric and Android-powered smartphone will be available starting June 9th. Priced at $199.99 after a $50 MIR on a 2-year contract, the Garminfone isn’t exactly cheap for a phone that offers a 3.5″ display, 3 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and HSDPA to the table, but let’s be real here — the Garminfone is all about its amazing GPS and navigational features. Right, we almost forgot… T-Mobile is currently running a contest in which it’s giving away 5 Garminphones. Check out all of the details for the contest here. Good luck!

T-Mobile CEO Robert Dotson stepping down

In a press release issued early Wednesday morning, T-Mobile announced that its current CEO Robert Dotson will be stepping down after 15 years with the company. Citing a desire to spend more time with his family, Dotson will pass the reigns of the company to CEO-designate Philip Humm on July 1st. Humm, who served as CEO of T-Mobile Deutschland from 2005 to 2008 and is currently the CRO of sales and services in Europe for Deutsch Telekom, will officially be given the role of CEO in February. Dotson will stay on board with T-Mobile as a non-executive board member until May of 2011.