Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Bug Labs announced in January that it’d be busting out a BUG+EDU program for getting units into the hands of impressionable youngsters, and now that they’ve sold out of the first crop of units they’re getting those educational discounts off the ground. Students (with relevant ID) can now purchase modules at a 10% discount, while K-12 schools and secondary education institutions can buy Bug for 25% off. K-12 schools can also participate in Bug giveaways, while undergrad and postgrad programs can develop coursework in cojunction with Bug — long story short, some kids out there are going to get themselves some fun edumicatin’.

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It looks like soldiers could one day have their own tab key of sorts to call up detailed, 3D maps at will, at least if the folks at General Dynamics UK have their way. As Physorg reports, they’ve developed a “near real-time” 3D map system that makes use of an array of different technologies including LIDAR, thermal imaging and x-ray backscatter techniques to not only display buildings and streets, but objects and people inside buildings as well. The use of LIDAR also promises to provide measurements of doors, windows, and alleys with “millimeter accuracy.” All that obviously makes the system, dubbed Masthead, slightly less than portable, however, although General Dynamics says it’d be able to be carried in the back of a military vehicle or civilian 4×4, or in a plane for that matter. Of course, like most such projects, General Dynamics isn’t just setting its sights to military applications, with it also touting Masthead’s potential benefits for police forces in planning security measures for large events, to name one example.

[Via Physorg]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Handsets, Sharp, T-Mobile, Danger, GSM

After what feels like an all-too-brief run on the low end of the Hiptop range, the colorful Sidekick iD has unceremoniously disappeared from T-Mobile’s retail site. We don’t have any intel on whether it’s gone for good just yet — we’re working to confirm — but tell us: was anyone out there, like, totally going to buy an iD today, only to discover (much to your horror, of course) that it had been removed? Please, do share your horror stories with us in comments while we’re getting the lowdown on the situation.

[Thanks, Mike]

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Handsets, Sharp, T-Mobile, Danger, GSM

After what feels like an all-too-brief run on the low end of the Hiptop range, the colorful Sidekick iD has unceremoniously disappeared from T-Mobile’s retail site. We don’t have any intel on whether it’s gone for good just yet — we’re working to confirm — but tell us: was anyone out there, like, totally going to buy an iD today, only to discover (much to your horror, of course) that it had been removed? Please, do share your horror stories with us in comments while we’re getting the lowdown on the situation.

[Thanks, Mike]

Update: We’ve heard back from T-Mobile, and it’s true — the iD is no longer being manufactured, though if you’re really lucky, we understand that you still might be able to score one from a store that has some remaining stock. Good luck, shoppers!

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Software, ATT

Love it or hate it, AT&T’s been offering TeleNav navigation services on a number of devices for a while now — but it looks like the carrier’s trying to up its clout just a smidge by rechristening the service with its own name. We’ve been hearing that TeleNav will become AT&T Navigator tomorrow — on AT&T, anyway — and to commemorate the occasion, the Motorola Z9 slider will be launched as the inaugural device to use the rebranded service. We should be able to validate or debunk this in just a few hours now, so stay tuned.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, with special thanks to Rick for the image]

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/tech_news/T_Mobil_Tells_Engadget_Mobile_Stop_using_the_color_Magenta’;So last week Deutsche Telekom, owners of the global T-Mobile brand, sent Engadget a late birthday present: a hand-delivered letter direct from their German legal department requesting the prompt discontinuation of the use of the color magenta on Engadget Mobile. Yep, seriously.

Granted, we get nastygrams from angry tech companies practically every day, but rarely regarding anything that’s not some piece of news we published that they’re livid about having out in the open. And irony of ironies, this whole use-of-magenta thing is precisely the topic we took up last year on behalf of DT.

We spoke with David Beigie, vice president of corporate communications for T-Mobile US, who offered: “As a trademark owner, from time to time Deutsche Telekom looks at usage that could lead to confusion in the marketplace. The letter sent by DT merely outlines these perspectives and is meant to simply open a dialogue. Engadget continues to pioneer forums for discussion of wireless industry developments and innovation. T-Mobile respects the role Engadget and its readers play in advancing dialog on these important topics.”

So in the interest of that open dialog we’ve posted Deutsche Telekom’s letter below (typo in the first word of the first sentence and all), as well as a handy guide to allay any confusion should you suddenly find yourself disoriented and trying to buy your next SideKick or MDA from Engadget Mobile.

P.S. -Not an early April Fool’s joke.

#comparechart { border: 2px solid #333; border-collapse: collapse; } #comparechart td { padding: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; vertical-align: top; margin: 0; line-height: 1.3em; } #comparechart th { font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 4px; background: #eee; } #comparechart th.mainth { border-bottom: 1px solid #333; font-size: 1.2em; } #comparechart td.red { background-color: #f08c85; } #comparechart td.green { background-color: #b3e2c4;

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Software, Apple

April Fool’s day joke? Could be, but we’re hearing it might be real: the long standing bastions of iPhone hacking, the iPhone Dev Team, posted a note to their site stating that “[today] the DevTeam was approached by an unnamed party to sell all of the intellectual property and related applications. After much consideration [What, hours? -Ed.] the offer was accepted and the [Dev Team] has ceased.” Seems a bit outlandish, sure, but for those not in the know, the Dev Team is the same group that posted jailbreaks to 2.0 (before it was out), 1.1.3, 1.1.1, developed the AnySIM unlock, and are thiiiis close to releasing the Pwnage tool (which promised total unsigned firmware control of the iPhone). So yeah, it may well be a prank, we wouldn’t put it past them. Funny thing about the hacker community though, one goes down and 10 more spring up — we’re sure the iPhone Elite team is having quite a day.

[Thanks Andrew, Erica]

Update: Yep, we’re definitely hearing it’s an April Fool’s joke. We’re just going to go offline until April 2nd.

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Handsets, Palm, ATT, Sprint, Palm OS

Palm’s miniscule and wallet-friendly Centro has managed to reach one million units sold since its launch last September. It got its legs working as Sprint and AT&T’s gateway smartphone at that fantastic $99 pricepoint, and now it’s making a bid for world domination in major markets in Europe and Asia. The one million sales have it nipping at the heels of recent superstar smartphones, the two million plus HTC Touch and the four million plus iPhone, not bad company in the least.

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Original post by Paul Miller