Posted on 30 June 2009 by
The HTC Hero has made its first appearance on a UK carrier’s website, but finds itself burdened with a teasing “coming soon” badge. Having talked to Orange, we can confirm previous reports that the device will be available for free on some, as yet undetermined but surely eye-gouging, price plans. The company said they are still testing the device and should have pricing information by tomorrow. Expect T-Mobile to quickly follow suit and unveil their Hero by another name (G1 Touch?), also fully subsidized. Both carriers will be offering the graphite edition of the phone, so if you have your heart set on the white Teflon-coated goodness, you may have to go the SIM-free route.
Filed under: Cellphones
HTC Hero spotted on Orange UK website originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Vladislav Savov
Posted on 30 June 2009 by
Filed under: Messaging, Software, Nokia, Symbian
Nokia Messaging represents Espoo’s premiere email experience — so premiere, in fact, that the company eventually plans to charge for it on some of its devices — and to help makes it just a little bit more awesome than it already is, they’ve now started adding in instant messaging capability. The new Nokia Messaging – E75 IM Beta (yes, that’s the full official name) offered by Nokia Beta Labs rocks compatibility with Yahoo Messenger and Ovi — more services are expected to be compatible in the future — and appears to serve up pretty much all the features you’d expect of a modern mobile IM client, including background notification, multiple conversation management, status control, and chat log save capability. So far, only the E75′s compatible, but Nokia’s imploring folks to stay tuned to Beta Labs for updates on when they’ll open it up to other devices.
New Nokia Messaging beta adds IM capabilities, E75 gets first dibs originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
Posted on 30 June 2009 by
var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/movies/The_Pirate_Bay_R_I_P’; It’s true, The Pirate Bay has agreed to being purchased by Global Gaming Factory (owner of a network of Internet cafes and gaming centers) for 60 million Swedish Krona or roughly $7.8 million. According to a press release, “GGF intends to launch new business models that allow compensation to the content providers and copyright owners.” In a post on TPB’s blog, the rogue file sharing site says that the project has been in the works for many years and should help evolve the site while trying to stay the same. Here’s how they put it:
If the new owners will screw around with the site, nobody will keep using it. That’s the biggest insurance one can have that the site will be run in the way that we all want to. And – you can now not only share files but shares with people. Everybody can indeed be the owner of The Pirate Bay now. That’s awesome and will take the heat of us.
We’ll have to wait and see how this pans out but it certainly smacks of a Napster v2 like situation at first blush. Assuming of course the deal closes by August as anticipated.
[Thanks, JOKR Solutions]
Read — The Pirate Bay blog post
Read — Press Release
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Pirate Bay acquired by Global Gaming Factory, going legit like Napster originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Thomas Ricker
Posted on 30 June 2009 by
Do you dream of big plastic tennis-rackets and steering-wheel snap-ons for Sony’s upcoming motion controller? Yeah, then why not build them yourself? Sony Computer Entertainment has launched its Official Licensing Program that gives accessory and peripheral makers in Japan, Asia, North America, and Europe access to all the PS3, PSP, and PS2 tech documents and schematics required to qualify your product for an “Official Licensed Product” logo. Sure, you’ll likely have to hand over some cash for the privilege, but imagine the bank that awaits the person who converts the glowing orb atop Sony’s motion controller into the very first official PS3 lightsaber.
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals
Sony seeks official PlayStation peripherals — offers logo, good time originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Thomas Ricker
Posted on 30 June 2009 by
Filed under: Handsets, Others
One of our favorite intellectual property rips of recent months is without a doubt the SciPhone Dream G2 from China. Having completely missed the point of Google’s open-source OS being, well, open-source and thus free for SciPhone’s use, the company instead chose to hack the G2′s “proprietory” OS to look like Android. The charger, however, built to look like the iconic Android mascot is pretty damn cute; enough so that the idea of paying $150 just to get our hands on the 100-240V USB charger has crossed our minds. See the Android’s naughty bits after the break.
[Thanks, Steven]
Continue reading SciPhone Dream G2 Android charger is best ever
SciPhone Dream G2 Android charger is best ever originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Thomas Ricker
Posted on 30 June 2009 by
Looks like Verizon’s got a winner here. That leaked promotional graphic was right on the money, as the carrier’s just replaced its BlackBerry Tour teaser with a pre-order page and, lo and behold, it’s indeed coming July 12th for a penny under $200. We’re still waiting to see if Sprint’s whispered July 20th date pans out, but regardless, if you want a Tour before anyone else, looks like VZW’s the way to go.
[Thanks, Jeff]
Filed under: Cellphones
Verizon’s BlackBerry Tour coming July 12th, pre-order page now live originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Ross Miller
Posted on 30 June 2009 by
Filed under: Nokia
Turn your portable telephony nostalgia up to 11 and join us on a journey down Nokia memory lane.
Nokia Conversations have filmed a collection of 100 phones charting the progression through the last 20 years of the Finnish manufacturer’s history. Sadly, this Nokia retrospective doesn’t stretch so far back as to include galoshes and bike tires, but you can still spend an inordinate amount of time trying to
identify handsets just from
their profile. We advise caution: this video features some seriously happy people, and our diligent research has failed to determine a cause for this dysfunction. Faux warnings out of the way, read on for the full video.
Continue reading Nokia looks back on its history, admires what it sees
Nokia looks back on its history, admires what it sees originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Vladislav Savov
Posted on 30 June 2009 by
Filed under: China Mobile
China Mobile officially kicked off commercial 3G services on China’s homegrown TD-SCDMA standard way back in January of this year and it’s sparing no expense to build it out, but so far, only 3 percent of new subscribers — that is, those that could easily get a 3G line and hardware if they wanted to — are opting for the service. It’d be totally cool if 3 percent of China Mobile’s total subscriber base were on 3G, but in reality, only about three-quarters of a million folks were signed up by the end of May — and when you consider that there are nearly half a billion subscribers on the carrier, that’s a drop in the bucket. Part of the problem could simply be that TD-SCDMA is unique to China, which limits hardware selection; its competitors are deploying HSPA and EV-DO networks, which may have a better chance of broad acceptance. Either that, or Chinese just hate fast wireless, and we’re doubting that.
China Mobile says 3G isn’t winning hearts and minds yet originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
