Mobile, Internet, etc

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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Filed under: Handsets, LG, CDMA

Is this phone capable of putting its lips together and blowing air so as to create a high-pitched tone of some sort? Doesn’t seem like it — phones don’t typically have lips or breath — but that doesn’t explain why LG decided to christen its latest clamshell for the domestic Korean market the “Whistle.” No matter; the LV7500’s still pretty cool, owing in no small part to its front-facing array of some 115 LEDs that can be user-customized, presumably to flash messages such as “KEEPIN IT REAL” and “LG 4 LYFE” — not a totally unique feature, but something we don’t see much of around these parts. It’ll roam in just 18 countries, which suggests to us that CDMA figures prominently in its radio circuitry; look for it now in three colors for around 400,000 won (about $325) on LG Telecom. If you’re in Seoul, that is.

LG Whistle is so named for reasons unknown originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, LG, CDMA

Is this phone capable of putting its lips together and blowing air so as to create a high-pitched tone of some sort? Doesn’t seem like it — phones don’t typically have lips or breath — but that doesn’t explain why LG decided to christen its latest clamshell for the domestic Korean market the “Whistle.” No matter; the LV7500’s still pretty cool, owing in no small part to its front-facing array of some 115 LEDs that can be user-customized, presumably to flash messages such as “KEEPIN IT REAL” and “LG 4 LYFE” — not a totally unique feature, but something we don’t see much of around these parts. It’ll roam in just 18 countries, which suggests to us that CDMA figures prominently in its radio circuitry; look for it now in three colors for around 400,000 won (about $325) on LG Telecom. If you’re in Seoul, that is.

LG Whistle is so named for reasons unknown originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Telstra, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

Say you’re in the middle of nowhere — in Australia, by the way — and you have an urgent need to, say, download and view an Excel spreadsheet in your inbox. What’s a fellow to do? Well, one option would be to take a gander at that Palm Treo Pro that has received Telstra’s coveted Blue Tick certification for awesome reception in the boondocks, but the problem is that it’s so hard to look at the Treo Pro with a straight face these days in light of the fact that the Pre’s now an ever-constant presence in our psyche. No worries, though, there’s another solid option: Telstra has now awarded the Blue Tick to the BlackBerry Bold, which means even the hardest-core road warriors should have no issue handling email from some of the harshest environs Australia’s cell tower-equipped landscape has to offer.

BlackBerry Bold gets Telstra’s Blue Tick for having the signal strength of a champion originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Telstra, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

Say you’re in the middle of nowhere — in Australia, by the way — and you have an urgent need to, say, download and view an Excel spreadsheet in your inbox. What’s a fellow to do? Well, one option would be to take a gander at that Palm Treo Pro that has received Telstra’s coveted Blue Tick certification for awesome reception in the boondocks, but the problem is that it’s so hard to look at the Treo Pro with a straight face these days in light of the fact that the Pre’s now an ever-constant presence in our psyche. No worries, though, there’s another solid option: Telstra has now awarded the Blue Tick to the BlackBerry Bold, which means even the hardest-core road warriors should have no issue handling email from some of the harshest environs Australia’s cell tower-equipped landscape has to offer.

BlackBerry Bold gets Telstra’s Blue Tick for having the signal strength of a champion originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Telus Mobility, Windows Mobile

Best Buy may have beaten Telus to the punch by offering the HTC Snap on the cheap all by itself earlier this month, and it hasn’t been much of a secret that the Touch Pro2 was also headed Telus’ way, but if you’ve had any doubts about the carrier’s commitment to either of the handsets, you’ll be pleased to know that it’s now gotten fully official with the pair of ‘em. Better still, Telus has even undercut Best Buy’s already low $29.99 price for the HTC Snap by offering it for free on a three-year contract, while the HTC Touch Pro2 will set you back a considerably heftier $249.99 on that same contract. Those with an aversion to commitment and money to burn can also snag the Snap for $400 and the Touch Pro2 for $650, or take advantage of some not-very-attractive one or two-year contract deals.

Read - MobileSyrup, “HTC Snap now available at TELUS”
Read - MobileSyrup, “TELUS HTC Touch Pro2 finally available in Canada!”

[Thanks, John]

HTC Snap, Touch Pro2 officially land on Telus originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, Android

Feeling a little envious of the Android-based Samsung Galaxy now available in Germany and soon to be available in other parts of Europe? Then you’re in luck, sort of, as a new “A3LGTI7500L” model complete with US 3G has now sailed through the FCC. Unfortunately for those of us ’round these parts, that “L” at the end of the model name signifies that this particular model is intended for Latin America, but it’s still about as close as you’ll get to a practical option for the time being — at least until those T-Mobile rumors pan out.

Samsung Galaxy with US 3G clears the FCC, but it’s not what you think originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, HTC, Windows Mobile

We know what’s in the pipe for the next generation of TouchFLO 3D — but what about TouchFLO 2D, the lightweight version of HTC’s WinMo skin currently employed in devices like the low-end Touch Viva? For the answer to that, we need look no further than an alleged leaked ROM for the upcoming Mega, which appears to have revealed a treasure trove of heretofore-unseen goodies. TouchFLO 2D 2.0 looks, dare we say it, damn near as pretty as its higher-end 3D counterpart — and conveniently, you can get this up and running right now if you’ve got a QVGA set running a leaked 6.5 ROM. We know you’re a risk-taker if you’re running 6.5 code right now, so you may as well give this a shot too, right?

[Via wmpoweruser.com and pocketnow.com]

HTC Mega ROM reveals new-look TouchFLO 2D originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, ATT, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, HSUPA

You think the pleasant ladies and gentlemen in this FCC lab got to check out that nice skin AT&T and HTC put together for the carrier’s branded version of the Touch Diamond2? Hard to say — the documents aren’t coughing up too much info here — but we can say with very little doubt that we’re looking at the filing for the so-called “Warhawk” on account of the presence of 850 and 1900MHz WCDMA. That doesn’t mean it’s being released any time soon, of course, but AT&T had wanted a terminal acceptance date of August 24, meaning that’s when it’d wrap up lab testing — so September seems at least plausible.

AT&T’s HTC Touch Diamond2 “Warhawk” hits the FCC originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Culture, ATT, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

You know, we love fighting the good fight — especially if it means calling out corporations on their untoward business practices. Today we’re joining David Pogue of the New York Times in calling foul on cellphone carriers’ insistence that users be forced to listen to those maddening, pointless 15-second canned carrier messages. In case you’ve held off on owning a cellphone or calling anyone who has one, they go a little something like this:

At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press 1 for more options. To leave a callback number, press 5. (Beep)

Not only is Pogue mad-as-hell-and-not-going-to-take-it about the ridiculous idea that we still need to be told how to use voicemail, it turns out those additional messages are actually costing you cold, hard cash. He estimates that Verizon, for instance, is netting around $620 million a year thanks to these little annoyances. So what’s to be done? Well Pogue wants the citizens of the internet to take up virtual arms… and complain like nobody’s business. He’s wrangled together all the best contact points for the four largest carriers in the US (included for your convenience after the break). Let them know you know don’t want to pay for voicemail instructions. And hey, while you’re at it, tell them the price-gouging on text messages needs to go, too.

Continue reading David Pogue launches all-out war on canned voicemail messages

David Pogue launches all-out war on canned voicemail messages originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA, Android

On the lookout for the Motorola / Android / Verizon trifecta, we dug up some handset renders over at motofan.ru that seem to fit the bill quite well, thank you. According to the site, “Sholes” is a 3.7-inch (480 x 854) touchscreen device that will make its debut in the U.S. in October, featuring: 512MB storage, 256MB RAM, support for microSD / microSDHC up to 16 GB (an 8GB microSD ships with the phone), a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, GPS, and the expected connectivity (USB, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi), audio, and video formats. And if the translation wasn’t hopelessly garbled, the source is also saying that this bad boy will support both CDMA and EVDO Rev A . No word on a price yet, but if this phone does make it to the realm of the real it’ll be nice to see a Moto / Android device that doesn’t look like it belongs in the hands of a tweenage girl (yeah, we said it, Morrison). See for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Motorola Sholes Android phone headed for Verizon?

Motorola Sholes Android phone headed for Verizon? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, ATT

The age of the touchscreen dumbphone is definitely upon us, is it not? Today AT&T and Samsung announced the availability of the Solstice, a phone featuring a 3-inch (presumably resistive) touchscreen, TouchWiz, and lots of funky social networking tie-ins. Still, one gets the overwhelming impression that phones of this ilk are simply trying to cash in on the buzz of like-minded devices, while not bringing anything particularly notable to the table. This 3G-equipped number comes loaded with a 2 megapixel camera, microSD support up to 16GB, and… not much else. The phone will be available August 2nd for $99.99 with a two-year contract. Call us crazy, but for that kind of money, aren’t there superior touchscreen devices on this network?

Samsung’s Solstice touchscreen phone bounds onto AT&T originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Apple

Continue reading Robot with iPhone 3GS head reminds us of a cuter, more magnanimous Steve Jobs

Robot with iPhone 3GS head reminds us of a cuter, more magnanimous Steve Jobs originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Accessories

Continue reading MSI Wind battery used as a not-exactly-portable, unreliable USB charger

MSI Wind battery used as a not-exactly-portable, unreliable USB charger originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Accessories

Historically, the Gorillapod’s lease in life has been all about mounting cameras to tree branches, goalposts, and strangers’ limbs — but, you know, cameras aren’t the only things in the world that could use that kind of superhuman capability, are they? To that end, Joby has introduced Gorillamobile, a package of goodies that includes the company’s Gorillapod Original — its smallest flexible tripod — along with tripod, suction cup, and adhesive clips for attaching various smartphones and point-and-shoots. What’s it good for? Well, that’s entirely up to you and your overactive imagination — but Joby shows iPhones being securely stowed on desks, exercise bikes, and strollers, so we’re sure you’ll be able to figure out something. Look for it to ship on August 10 for $29.95.

Joby’s Gorillamobile keeps your phone firmly affixed to whatever originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Apple, iPhone OS

It still can’t multitask, but as of today, it’s finally capable of accessing and sharing iDisk files. Apple has at long last let loose a long-awaited application for iPhone OS 3.0 that enables iPhone and iPod touch users with MobileMe accounts to access the inner sanctums of their own iDisk. The app lets you login, view files (up to 20MB or so, sayeth Apple) and share files by sending others a link via email to whatever you deem appropriate. There’s also an option to password protect those files and limit the amount of days the download is active, though viewing files is limited to iPhone-supported file types such as iWork, Office, QuickTime, PDF, etc. If you’re a paying MobileMe user, go on and give this one a download — it’s free, you know?

Read - iDisk [opens in iTunes]
Read - TUAW’s First Look: iDisk app

Apple kicks out MobileMe iDisk app for iPhone originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Apple, iPhone OS

Remember that alleged SMS-based security hole on the iPhone allowing evil-doers to execute arbitrary code and do all sorts of nasty crap like create an army of mobile zombies ready and willing to execute a DoS attack? The guy who found it, security expert Charlie Miller, said that he’d reveal the details of it at Black Hat — and Black Hat’s this week. Sure enough, Miller and his cohorts plan to unleash details of the hack today, and while they claim they informed Apple of the problem over a month ago, Cupertino’s yet to make a move. We’d stop short of suggesting iPhone owners all turn off their handsets and take themselves firmly off the grid and into a completely disconnected underground bunker the moment the attack becomes public, but if it’s as serious as Miller claims, it definitely bumps up the pressure on Apple to get a fix out on the double — preferably before 3.1 drops.

SMS vulnerability on iPhone to be revealed today, still isn’t patched originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

We’ve already got a pile of evidence taller than the BL40 itself that told us LG’s latest Black Label device was that ultra-wide, glossy red and black slate we’ve seen floating around — but now, for the very first time, it’s totally official. The company has just released the first fully-revealed press photos of the phone that it’s calling the “New Chocolate,” an homage to one of the phones that brought it to the dominant industry position it enjoys today. So, is the BL40 going to help it continue that dominance? At a glance here, yeah, we’d say there’s a pretty good chance.

LG releases first official shots of BL40 “New Chocolate” originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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