Mobile, Internet, etc

Filed under: Features

We here at Engadget Mobile 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, we’ve gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don’t need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Ezze Mobile VI-3
Read - Huawei G5010
Read - Sharp 936SH
Read - Samsung SCH-M710
Read - Samsung SGH-T746
Read - Samsung SPH-M330
Read - Alcatel OT-222A

FCC Fridays originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, ATT, Apple

Yeah, we’re pretty much all peeved by Apple suddenly ejecting all traces of Google Voice from the app store, but now it looks to have drawn the ire of the Federal Communications Commission, as well. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the agency has sent out three letters, one each to Apple, AT&T, and Google. To the latter company, it asked for a description of the Google Voice app and whether previous Google apps have been approved for the store (it has, but that’s another interesting story). To Cupertino, it’s asking the phone manufacturer to explain itself over the sudden exorcism and what involvement, if any, AT&T had in this decision. The report doesn’t make a direct indication of what the letter to the carrier said, but we can imagine it’s similar to what Apple got, plus some doodles at the end of a stick figure letting out an exasperated sigh. In a statement today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said it “has a mission to foster a competitive wireless marketplace, protect and empower consumers, and promote innovation and investment.” Hey Julius, while you’re at it, can you see about Skype and Slingbox for us, too? Thanks.

Update: TechCrunch has published the three letters sent out, all very interesting reads. The FCC asks Apple specifically if any approved VoIP apps are allowed to be used over AT&T’s 3G network, and more generally what are the “standards for considering and approving iPhone applications” and more details into the approval process. It also asks for the contact information of all developers of rejected Google Voice apps, presumably for further investigation. In the Google letter, it seems to be asking if Voice will be able to be utilized in any capacity over the web, without inclusion in the iTunes store. Unsurprisingly, a number of questions to Apple and AT&T concern the carrier’s involvement in which apps or types of apps get rejected. All companies have until August 21st to respond and can request confidentiality on all or portions of their response.

FCC queries AT&T, Apple on Google Voice iPhone app rejection originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, LG, GSM

Style is commonly considered a luxury; form follows function, as they say. The commoditization of phones over the past fifteen years has done weird things to economics, though, which leads directly to phones like LG’s KG376. You won’t find a single item on the flip’s spec sheet that even begins to interest you (unless you’re really, really into 128 x 128 displays), but it seems that LG intends to market the phone directly at women with an eye for style on account of its purple case with pink accents. It’s got an integrated FM radio and an external light (where you’d normally expect a secondary display to be) that’ll go all blinky on you to indicate messages and the like, but don’t get too excited — it seems pricing and availability are still on the downlow.

LG KG376’s most fascinating feature is its color originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia

Over the years we’ve found that usually, when a company takes a model number and slaps an extra letter on the end of it, there’s some sort of feature or update they’re highlighting. iPhone 3GS? That one’s easy: “speed.” But if we’re reading this FCC business correctly, Nokia’s new 5800i XpressMusic handset apparently differs little from its older sibling — save for the fact that they’ve removed that pesky WiFi antenna from the thing. Because, really, what would you do with all that connectivity, anyways? Also, while still sporting a 3 megapixel camera, those specs are listed as a 4.6mm on the new handset (the original is 3.7mm). As GSM Arena has pointed out, this could be due to either a narrower field of view or a larger sensor — probably the latter. Not too much more info here, but if you’re morbidly curious, please feel free to check out the gallery below. It’s a blast.

Read - Nokia 5800i XM shows up. Loses Wi-Fi connectivity
Read - FCC teases with Nokia 5800i XM - better camera, but no Wi-Fi?

Nokia 5800i XpressMusic hits the FCC: it’s like the 5800, only less so originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Others, KDDI, EV-DO, CDMA

If you’re more concerned about your ability to record stunning high-definition video on the road than you are about your ability to comfortably and conveniently say the name of your phone, look no further than the latest model in Hitachi’s Wooo series over in Japan. Announced earlier in the year, the Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Wooo stands starkly as one of the longest, most unfortunate model names in phone history, but we suspect that the presence of 30fps 720p recording will quickly allay any disappointment you may have with branding. Anyhow, it’s finally available now on KDDI au, the country’s big CDMA provider — so go on, show us what sort of Oscar-caliber stuff you can cook up.

Hitachi’s 720p Mobile Hi-Vision Cam Wooo now shipping in Japan originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Apple, iPhone OS

Looks like Apple pulled the trigger on patching that nasty iPhone SMS vulnerability a little earlier than we expected — the iPhone OS 3.0.1 update just hit iTunes. It’s not some lightweight, either: you’re looking at 280MB of love here, so get downloading, friends.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

iPhone OS 3.0.1 update released, fixes SMS vulnerability originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Reviews, Nokia, ATT, Symbian, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA

Some might say that the phone you’re peering at above is the most un-Nokia-like Nokia device produced in quite some time (if not ever), but remember, this one was custom made for US consumers and AT&T’s audience — something that’s not true for too many Espoo-sourced handsets. Once known as the Mako, Nokia’s Surge (or 6790 in international speak) is certainly unorthodox in design, though the actual specs list is fairly familiar. We get the feeling that Nokia was aiming to hit a very specific niche with this device, somewhere in-between the text-happy handsets adored by tweens and the smartphone desired by Mr. Suit. Care to see if we think Nokia accomplished said goal? Then head on past the break, vaquero.

Continue reading Nokia Surge review

Nokia Surge review originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, LG

We’ve already gotten a pretty good look at LG’s stylish new BL40 phone (also simply known the new “Chocolate”) courtesy of some official shots, but no phone launch would be complete without an over the top ad, and LG’s naturally got that covered as well. As you can see for yourself after the break, the 4-inch, 800 pixel wide display is one of the main selling points here, and if that’s not enough for you, we hear you can even use it to output full HD video to a TV. Unfortunately, there’s still no word as to when it’ll be release ’round these parts, although there’s at least some indication that it could be making its North American debut on Telus.

Continue reading LG’s BL40 “Chocolate” phone sashays its way through new ad

LG’s BL40 “Chocolate” phone sashays its way through new ad originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, Android

Hm, maybe Motorola should have stuck with the render a while longer, cause this first shot of the Verizon-bound Sholes Android smartphone is looking mighty rough. Of course, it is just a blurrycam leak, and there’s a chance we’re not seeing this set’s true beauty, but honestly, we’re not sure even the most loving press photographer can make that red D-pad attractive. We’ll find out soon enough, if things go as planned.

Motorola Sholes Android phone for Verizon appears in the flesh originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Samsung, China Unicom, China Mobile

Though it stands as the world’s most populous wireless market (by a stunningly wide margin), China lags in 3G coverage –partly thanks to its fragmentation-happy attitude that has left the country with three very different, very incompatible standards that are all being rolled out in parallel. Of course, when you’re Samsung, that ain’t no thing. Sammy — the world’s number two manufacturer, and a company that very nearly rolls out a phone a day every single day of the year — is spearheading a new “3GSamsung, 3G for all” marketing campaign in China to advertise the breadth and depth high-speed wares. To be fair, the company is probably more qualified to aggressively advertise 3G support in China than any other company, seeing how it’s in the process of rolling out around 30 compatible phones there spanning the full range from EV-DO to HSPA to China’s own TD-SCDMA — now they’ve just got to work on bumping up those adoption rates and they’ll be in business.

[Image via 163]

Samsung touts that it has 3G covered like a blanket in China originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorola, Misc

See that image there on the right? Yeah, it’s a pretty drastic departure from the Sad Moto[TM] face that had become all too common when talking about the company’s financials. Just a quarter after posting a dreadful $291 million loss, the outfit responsible for creating the RAZR and then doing nothing for half a decade is finally showing a profit once more. The Q2 numbers show an “unexpected” $26 million profit on sales of $5.5 billion, $1.8 billion of which came from the handset division. Of course, that very division managed to lose $253 million and see its global market share slip to 5.5 percent, but with a big bang from Android reportedly just months away, CEO Sanjay Jha ain’t taking time to frown.

Just hours after the Verizon-branded Sholes smartphone surfaced, Mr. Jha was quoted as saying that two Android devices would be “in stores for the holiday season,” with launches occurring on “two major carriers in North America and multiple carriers outside the US.” He also noted that plans were in place to ship “several additional Android-based devices in the first quarter of 2010,” but details beyond that were vague. So, is this the beginning of a new, happier Moto? Our aged copy of Photoshop certainly hopes so.

Read - Motorola’s Q2 results
Read - Jha on future Android devices

Motorola posts $26m Q2 profit, promises cheap Android thrills, does a little dance originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA

The word “Rogue” conjures images of awesome X-Men characters, small Nissan SUVs, and badasses who don’t take crap from nobody — but QWERTY sliders on Verizon? We’ll admit, we didn’t see that one coming. The would-be Glyde replacement is apparently lined up for a release date around the 15th of August, and we’re seeing it now for the first time in pristine press shots following some in-the-wild action early in the month. We can tell already that it’s going to be a better-looking phone than its predecessor, and the word on the street is that it works as good as it looks; if anything, it’s a shame they didn’t just go ahead and slap WinMo on here and call it an Omnia Pro. Can’t win ‘em all, we suppose.

Samsung’s u960 Rogue for Verizon has best name ever; looks alright, too originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, China Mobile, Android

We’ve nothing much to go on outside of a few good renders and a smattering of machine translated paragraphs, but it sure sounds as if China Mobile is entertaining the idea of bringing a 7-inch Android-based tablet to its airwaves. As the story goes, said slate would boast China’s homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G connectivity, support for video calling, a full-fledged web browser and an OPhone operating system — which is essentially a customized version of Android for the Chinese market. Sadly, no further information was given, leaving us to wonder what kind of innards are scheduled for implant and what kind of price tag / release date we’re looking at. Oh, and those “call” and “end call” buttons are pretty darn evident, leading us to believe that China Mobile might actually expect you to use this as your primary mobile. Can you say… Sidetalkin‘?

[Via Pocketables]

Continue reading China Mobile’s 7-inch Android slate gets rendered

China Mobile’s 7-inch Android slate gets rendered originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: ATT, Studies, Apple

You know, there’s something to be said about making something easy: people usually take advantage. So seems to be the case with AT&T’s WiFi connections after the release of iPhone OS 3.0, which finally became useful when users could seamlessly connect to one of the thousands of AT&T hotspots around the nation rather than having to stumble through a painfully long process on iPhone OS 2.x. According to an AT&T spokesperson speaking with AppleInsider, the amount of iPhone users linking up with AT&T’s WiFi network tripled in June, and overall, it saw a 41 percent increase in connections compared to the prior quarter. It comes as no surprise to hear that AT&T is working feverishly to expand said network in order to relieve strain from its house of cards-styled 3G network, and while we’d definitely prefer a bit more reliability with the latter, we’ll happily accept more WiFi in the meanwhile.

Captain Obvious reports: AT&T sees surge in WiFi use post-iPhone OS 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, China Unicom, GSM, EDGE, Apple, iPhone OS

Still having doubts that an iPhone will ever come to China via legitimate means? Have a gander at this. According to the listing after the break, which was discovered on China’s State Radio Regulatory Commission (SRRC; basically the Chinese version of the FCC) website, we’re looking at a GSM / WCDMA cellphone complete with Bluetooth, an internal model number A1324, a little-known manufacturer called “Apple Inc.” and an approval date of May 7th, 2009. We’re also told that the certificate expires in five years, which should give China Unicom plenty of time to capitalize on its reported three-year deal to offer the phone in mainland China. So, all we need now is what’s we’ve needed for years: a handwritten note from El Jobs himself saying that this whole thing is more than some sick charade.

[Image courtesy of Sina, thanks Joe]

Update: Looks like this may be the first live look at a China Unicom iPhone 3G, complete with no WiFi to speak of.

Continue reading China Unicom’s iPhone gets regulatory approval, pictured

China Unicom’s iPhone gets regulatory approval, pictured originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, LG, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

LG mentioned to us yesterday that there aren’t any US plans in the cards for its lovely BL40 New Chocolate — at least, none that it wants to talk about, even though we’ve got to believe Verizon’s cooking up some plans — but meanwhile there’s still action on the North American front. A new variant of the BL40 dubbed BL40G (”G” for “gonna be awesome,” obviously) has hit the FCC with HSPA enabled on the 850 and 1900MHz bands. You might recall that those bands were disabled on the last version the FCC checked out, so if anything, this might be the version that Canada’s Telus is signed up for to help it kick off its upcoming HSPA network launch. Remind us to start researching political asylum claims a little closer to launch.

LG BL40 passes FCC again, this time with US 3G very much enabled originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, LG, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

LG mentioned to us yesterday that there aren’t any US plans in the cards for its lovely BL40 New Chocolate — at least, none that it wants to talk about, even though we’ve got to believe Verizon’s cooking up some plans — but meanwhile there’s still action on the North American front. A new variant of the BL40 dubbed BL40G (”G” for “gonna be awesome,” obviously) has hit the FCC with HSPA enabled on the 850 and 1900MHz bands. You might recall that those bands were disabled on the last version the FCC checked out, so if anything, this might be the version that Canada’s Telus is signed up for to help it kick off its upcoming HSPA network launch. Remind us to start researching political asylum claims a little closer to launch.

LG BL40 passes FCC again, this time with US 3G very much enabled originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Sprint

Let’s go through the steps together, shall we? A “senior member” forum poster on the xda-developers forums has posted the above pic as proof that the HTC Hero is coming to the US on October 11th — a claim he’s been making as far back as April, but this is the first time he’s brought a picture with him. The poster says he works for a wireless developer firm, and while this picture can easily be faked, we don’t think it’s necessarily that much of a stretch. Let’s look at some of the other phones listed. There’s “Samsung Q (Android),” which could provide a missing link between the InstinctQ and the company’s mysterious Android phone that was supposed to be out on Sprint and T-Mobile by now. BlackBerry Aries is the CDMA version the Curve 8520, and traditionally RIM’s CDMA devices wind up on both Sprint and Verizon. The LG LX610 / Lotus 2 is a new one to us, but Lotus seems to have been well-received for Sprint. So to pull all that data together, if this list is the real deal, we’d say it came from Now Network company. This is the sort of phone Dan Hesse would be glad to have waited for, isn’t it?

HTC Hero coming October 11th to Sprint? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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