Microsoft Evangelist Explains Apollo Upgrade Confusion

A couple days ago, we took a look at a video interview featuring Microsoft evangelist Nuno Silva, in which he responded to a question about the move to Windows Phone 8 Apollo by explaining that Microsoft had confirmed that all existing Windows Phone 7 handsets would be seeing software updates to WP8. That was interesting to hear, especially since it hadn't been seeming like that would be the case. It wasn't long though, before other sourcesstarted speaking out in denial of Silva's claims. Just how did the story get so tangled-up? Silva's now setting the record straight, hoping to correct his statement. 

In a new blog post, Silva takes responsibility for the confusion, and says that he was thinking aboutWindows Phone 8 app compatibility when he made that comment about phone hardware. Considering just how Silva originally broke the "news", that makes a lot of sense; he casually spoke then of what Microsoft had said regarding the matter as if it were already a matter of public record. 

If anything, Silva's embarrassing little incident is a reminder to all of us to carefully consider just how we're getting our news. Comments from a company affiliate, no matter how confident they may seem in their statements, aren't necessarily gospel. They may make for good rumors, but we need to remember to treat them with the appropriate weight. 

Huawei Announces Global Availability of the Ascend P1

Back in February, at the MWC in Barcelona,Huawei announced the Ascend D1, alongside the Ascend D Quad and Ascend D Quad XL. Later on we heard details about the P1 and the P1 S and the Chinese phone maker is now announcing further details. 

The Ascend P1 is running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and packs a dual-core 1.5GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4460 Cortex-A9 processor, 4.3-inch super AMOLED display with 960x540 resolution eight-megapixel main camera, and Dolby Mobile 3.0 + 5.1 surround sound technology. It is 7.69mm thin and "will be available in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Australia through operators and retailers by May 2012, in Latin America from June 2012 and in Europe from summer, with availability in other markets to follow". 

Sprint GNex Sells Out: This Is Why We Have Smartphone Pre-Orders

Oftentimes, when a carrier announces an upcoming smartphone, it will provide some vague range during which the phone will actually arrive, but give us a much more concrete date when itcomes to the start of pre-orders. While we like seeing any new information on a phone, we've noticed that some of our commenters have been skeptical about the worth of pre-orders; after all, if we're not talking about anything crazy like a new iPhone, there's not really the expectation that a phone would be hard to purchase. Granted, pre-orders can be unnecessary some of the time, but there's always the exception that proves the rule. With still a couple days to go until its expected retail launch, the Galaxy Nexus on Sprint has sold-out of its pre-order stock. 

This doesn't mean that you won't be able to buy one in a Sprint store once the phone arrives, as a separate stock has been set aside for pre-orders, but if that resource has already been depleted, it certainly seems likely that we'll see a correspondingly high level of interest at retail. Then again, maybe Sprint just didn't reserve enough pre-order stock to begin with, and there will be a glut of hardware available come launch day; just to be safe, we wouldn't recommend putting things off for too, too long if you've got your heart set on the model. 

Origin PC EON15-S and EON17-S gaming laptops available now, priced from $1,525

In the market for a beastly portable gaming rig that won't break the bank? Origin PC today announced availability of its EON15-S and EON17-S gaming laptops, with pricing starting at $1,525 and $1,576, respectively. You'll of course still be able to hand over an arm and a leg depending on how you opt to build out your system, but considering that the base model is priced at nearly half the amount its predecessor was when it was announced this time last year, we imagine additions will wield a softer blow than they did in 2011. Both systems include Intel HM77 Ivy Bridge chipsets, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M, 670M or 675M graphics with Optimus power-conservation technology, and a 5.1 ONKYO surround sound system. Both cases offer unique designs, with black, red, silver or custom finishes, and a colorful backlit keyboard. What else could you possibly need? Perhaps a press release and a few more pictures -- and we've got both for you right here.

ORIGIN PC's EON17-S and EON15-S get Upgraded with a Complete Technology Overhaul and Exclusive New Laptop Design

Award Winning Laptops Now Feature the Latest Technology from ORIGIN PC, Intel, and NVIDIA.

Miami, FL – April 8, 2012, 12:01AM Eastern – ORIGIN PC announced today the availability of their completely overhauled EON17-S and EON15-S high-performance laptops. Featuring the next generation Intel HM77 chipset, overclocked NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M graphics cards, and NVIDIA Optimus Technology. These amazing new EON laptops are ideal for gamers, artists, enthusiasts, and professionals. They debut with the exclusive ORIGIN PC design available in silver, matte black, matte red, or with custom paint jobs.

ORIGIN PC's EON17-S and EON15-S Laptops Feature:
• Exclusive ORIGIN PC Laptop Design: First shown at CES, the exclusive new ORIGIN PC laptop design will be available as a standard option in matte black, matte red, silver, or your choice of custom paint.
• Customizable Backlit Keyboard: With three lighting zones and seven color options, you can customize your laptop to match any style you want.
• Next Generation Intel HM77 Chipset: Stay up to date with the just released Intel HM77 chipset which is ready for today and upgradeable for tomorrow.
• Intel Rapid Start Technology: Experience lightning fast resume time with Intel Rapid Start Technology.
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M, 670M and 675M Graphics: NVIDIA's most powerful GTX mobile graphics cards ever created are able to display games and programs in beautiful, high resolution.
• NVIDIA Optimus Technology: Automatically switches between your graphics cards and onboard graphics to provide more efficient use of power, less fan noise, and up to 6.5 hours of battery life (2.5 times more than previous generation EON laptops).
• ORIGIN PC CPU + GPU Overclocking : Let our overclocking experts take your system to an even higher level of performance with our CPU (EON17-S only) and GPU overclocking backed by our industry leading service and support.
• THX TruStudio Pro with ONKYO Sound System: High quality ONKYO speakers in 5.1 surround sound with the ability to output to a 7.1 speaker system of your choice. THX TruStudio Pro gives you the ability to tweak your audio to perfection.
• Free Lifetime 24/7 Support: Every ORIGIN PC comes with industry leading Lifetime 24/7 Support based in the United States.

The EON15-S is Fully Customizable starting at $1525.00 and the EON17-S is Fully Customizable starting at $1576.00
"The type of complete technology overhaul that the EON17-S and EON15-S laptops have just undergone does not happen often. This is the best time to upgrade to an ORIGIN laptop," said Kevin Wasielewski ORIGIN PC CEO and co-founder. "With the latest technology from Intel and NVIDIA, the customizable backlit keyboard, and the exclusive ORIGIN laptop design the new EON-S laptops offer stunning performance and they look as good as they perform."

All ORIGIN PC systems come with free lifetime 24/7 phone and online service based in the United States. Each customer has a dedicated support team and free lifetime labor for upgrade needs. ORIGIN PC's Evolve Upgrade Program allows customers to purchase a custom PC now, and trade in their parts when they want to upgrade. Every ORIGIN PC features a 1 to 3 year free part replacement warranty combined with the best in class integration, quality testing and support.

Origin PC EON17-S

Origin PC EON15-S

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 Listed At Office Depot For $399.99

After we heard that the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 might arrive in June with a quad-core Exynos processor, it's now time to take a look at anotherSamsung tablet launched prior to MWC: theGalaxy Tab 2 10.1. 

Office Depot has the 8GB WiFi-only variant listed for $399.99 (though it's not possible to check-out), which is really an acceptable price, considering that the tablet is not packed with a truckload of raw horsepower. There's a 10.1-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution, 1GHz dual-core CPU with 1GB of RAM, 3MP rear-camera and VGA front-facing camera.