Posted on 31 August 2009 by
Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, CDMA
Outside of the occasional heavy-handed bout of carrier locking and regional band incompatibilities, GSM customers around the world benefit from one huge technical advantage over CDMA: network independence. That’s the problem the CDMA Development Group has been trying to solve with the introduction of the Open Market Handset initiative, and Sammy is now the first manufacturer in the world to roll out OMH-compliant gear. The Mpower 699′s appearance and forgettable specs belie its ground-breaking guts, looking pretty much like any other low-end Samsung slider of the past few years — but inside is an R-UIM slot that allows the phone to be used on any CDMA carrier in India where it’s being launched for 7,100 rupees (about $145). If you’re not happy with what you see here, fret not — Sammy’s promising a total of five more OMH phones in India by early next year, so it looks like this is the wave of the CDMA future. LTE aside, don’t count these guys out — CDMA’s going to be around for a very long time to come.
[Via Unwired View]
Samsung’s Mpower 699 makes Open Market Handset initiative a reality in India originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
Posted on 31 August 2009 by
We’re starting to get the feeling they just didn’t know about WiFi in Waterloo until now, because almost every BlackBerry hardware rumor we’re hearing lately is all about how RIM’s adding the wireless networking spec and everyone’s oh-so-happy. Case in point: today we’ve got word of a new BlackBerry Essex, which is essentially… the Tour with WiFi. Seriously, that’s the whole rumor, and we’re guessing it has something to do with Sprint mandating WiFi on all of its future handsets, so it’s not even particularly wild. Don’t get us wrong here, we’re glad to have WiFi — it’s extremely nice on the Bold, and it certainly improves battery life — but considering the sorry state of the BlackBerry browser and the continued lack of real IMAP on the BlackBerry platform, we’re just wondering when BlackBerry fans will have some real changes to get excited about.
Filed under: Cellphones
BlackBerry Essex to bring WiFi on Tour? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Nilay Patel
Posted on 31 August 2009 by
Filed under: Handsets, LG, China Mobile, Android
It’s sort of interesting that China is where all the Android action seems to be going down lately, but here we are, staring at the LG GW880 — essentially the company’s first Android phone. Of course, “Android” in this case means China Mobile‘s custom WiFi-less OPhone platform, which means we’ll probably never see this guy outside of the Middle Kingdom, but it’s a fair look at what LG’s handset designers think an Android set should look like: 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen, 256MB RAM, GPS, and a five megapixel camera. Honestly? We’re hoping LG has grander plans for those other Android phones it has planned for this year — we’ll just have to wait and see. Hit the read link for a few more shots in the meantime.
[Via Slashphone]
LG GW880 leaks out, runs Android on China Mobile originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Nilay Patel
Posted on 31 August 2009 by
Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Sprint, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA
We figured the suits over at T-Mobile USA were on some of that good stuff when they slapped an almost comical $350 (on contract) price tag on HTC’s Touch Pro2, but evidently said “stuff” has made its way into the halls of Overland Park as well. After months of watching evidence mount, Sprint has finally come clean and admitted that HTC’s EV-DO Rev. A-equipped superphone is coming to its network, and with it will come access to Sprint TV as well as NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile apps. The smartphone will go on sale September 8th, though you’ll have to pony up $349.99 (after a $100 mail-in rebate) in order to secure one on a two-year contract. We’re all about that 3.6-inch WVGA tilting screen, but with Palm’s Pre selling on this very network for a full $150 less, we’re thinking this one won’t appeal to many outside of the WinMo faithful.
Continue reading Sprint follows T-Mobile’s lead, wants $350 for HTC Touch Pro2
Sprint follows T-Mobile’s lead, wants $350 for HTC Touch Pro2 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Darren Murph
Posted on 31 August 2009 by
Filed under: Samsung, Verizon Wireless
Most of the time when we’re taking a good, hard look at a phone’s user interface, we’re looking at the big picture — the home screen, the main menu, the dialer, the browser. You know, the things you’re using day in and day out. Samsung’s dug a bit deeper for the launch of its upcoming Rogue, though, putting together a pretty wild radar-style display for Bluetooth pairing. The idea’s simple: discoverable hardware around you appears as blips on the screen with your phone at the center; when you see the blip you want to pair, just drag it to the center. We can pretty much guarantee that the relative locations of in-range devices have no bearing on reality, but still, turning something as mundane as connecting your Bluetooth headset into a mini-game is paradoxically both awesome and annoying beyond words.
Update: The Eternity works the same way — and some other recent Samsungs, we’d presume — but it’s still a pretty interesting trick. Thanks, Jeremy!
Samsung Rogue’s Bluetooth setup will be second nature to air traffic controllers originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
Posted on 31 August 2009 by
It may have been briefly,
sort of official before Dell decided to do some
backtracking earlier this month, but it looks like the company’s China-bound
Mini 3i smartphone has now made yet another public appearance, and
Sina has thankfully delivered what looks to be the most thorough hands-on with the phone to date. That, as you can see above, also includes a peek at the phone’s Android-based and China-centric
OPhone operating system, which ditches the familiar Android Clock in favor of new, different clocks — and a slew of other interface changes. Hit up the link below to get started.
Filed under: Cellphones
Dell Mini 3i breaks cover for most complete photo shoot to date originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Donald Melanson
Posted on 31 August 2009 by
Filed under: Verizon Wireless
Odds are you weren’t using this, but if you were, you were probably in for a little heartache and scrambling the last few days reconfiguring stuff. Verizon has shut down its SMTP Relay Service over the weekend, essentially a “plan B” outbound email server for cases where Verizon users wants to send email through their ISP’s email accounts and were blocked from using the ISP’s own server for one reason or another — a fairly common practice. Thing is, the SMTP Relay Service dates back to a time when SMTP servers and free email accounts weren’t a dime a dozen, so it kinda makes sense that Big Red would feel comfortable taking this beast offline right about now.
[Thanks, Zach]
Verizon sunsets SMTP Relay Service originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
Posted on 31 August 2009 by
Filed under: Handsets, Windows Mobile, Toshiba
The Toshiba TG02′s strange path to reality continues to unfold with a fresh Wi-Fi Alliance certification to shove under its belt alongside that FCC approval it earned a few months back. Of course, it wasn’t called the TG02 back then — it was known only by the more cryptic TM5-E01, a phone alleged to be a Windows Mobile clamshell despite the TG01-ish external photos provided with the filing — but at any rate, it seems that we’re talking about the same thing here. There’s not a lot of additional detail to go on here, but it’s encouraging to see that Toshiba’s still hard at work besting its already-awesome first Snapdragon model — and if it really is a clamshell, that’ll be sure to bring out a whole trove of HTC Star Trek fans who’ve been in hiding for a year or two. [Warning: PDF link]
[Via Unwired View and tweakers.net]
Toshiba TG02 earns WiFi certification, still unclear what it is originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
