T-Mobile Sidekick 3 gets (Unlocking Mobile) official
T-Mobile Sidekick 3 gets official
Filed under: Cellphones No shocker here: T-Mobile and Danger are officially unveiling the new Sidekick 3 today. (Note that it’s not called the “Sidekick III”. T-Mob has requested that it only be written as “Sidekick 3″.) The specs are no surprise, either, since they’ve been rumbling around for weeks now, but we’ll run down the official details for ya: Size: 130 x 59 x 21.8mm Weight: 6.7 ounces 240 x 160 pixel, 65,000 color display Trackball (!) Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE Bluetooth 1.2 (limited to Hands-Free profile and vCard exchange) 1.3 megapixel digital camera w/LED flash miniSD memory card slot (supports up to 2GB cards) 64MB of SDRAM/64MB Flash memory Music player software Word has it that T-Mobile will be opening up pre-orders to current Sidekick owners first, with the rest of us getting a crack at it sometime around July 10th.Stay tuned for a slew of hands-on pics.Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Motorola Capri, a.k.a. the RAZR slider, previewed
Filed under: Cellphones The guys over at PhoneScoop have sure made the site live up to its name today: not only did they get some serious hands-on time with Motorola’s upcoming RAZR slider — codenamed Capri — they also got to preview the next version of Moto’s much-maligned Synergy UI that will show up in such models as the Canary and the SCPL. At least on paper, the Capri seems to offer a very compelling feature set that will probably attract anyone into the RAZR lifestyle- you’re getting a model only slightly thicker and heavier than its clamshell counterpart, but which sports a 2.0 megapixel camera, A2DP-capable Bluetooth, and what sounds like a greatly improved user interface. Especially noteworthy in the overhauled Synergy is an address book that seems to work much more intuitively than past iterations (remember the one on the StarTAC?), allowing you to organize entries by name and search for contacts using multiple letters. Although Phone Scoop was only testing a pre-production model, they have identified some potential problems to watch out for on the final version, such as the unusually crappy quality of what should be a decent camera, and most importantly, a spring-assisted slider that’s difficult to activate due to the raised antenna bulge so familiar to RAZR owners. Click on if you want to peep a few more snaps, but you’re really doing yourself a disservice if you don’t head over to PhoneScoop for the full gallery and a very thorough write-up… Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Treo Lennon and Treo Nitro coming to Cingular
Filed under: CellphonesEngadget Mobile has some tasty scoopage about two new Treos coming to Cingular later this year…Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Gartner sez: NAND flash memory shortage imminent
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, GPS, Handhelds, Laptops, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Tablet PCs, StorageGartner analysts just released a study confirming (presumably with their usual 70% probability) what we and the Koreans already knew: NAND flash memory chips are in high demand and short supply. Showing up in everything from MP3 players, USB flash drives, digital cams, cellphones, and more recently, UMPCs, Laptops, and hard drives, it’s no wonder Gartner is claiming that by Q4 2006 the market will see a 5.8% shortage of NAND flash chips leveling off to 2.6% at the start of 2007. They caution, however, that the pending shortage will worsen if Apple and Samsung’s collusion partnership results in new, high-capacity 16GB or 32GB NAND-based iPod, which Gartner says “could launch” by the end of the year. Uh, Someone might want to consider a restraining order against Creative’s Sim Wong Hoo before then.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Carriers and manufacturers form pact to push mobile Linux
Filed under: Cellphones Yeah, we’ve heard it before, but they mean it this time. Carriers Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo have teamed up with Motorola, Samsung, NEC, and Panasonic to succeed where others have failed, busting out a common Linux-based smartphone platform and sharing costs and R&D resources along the way. Besides unifying the fragmented mobile Linux community behind a single open platform, the group’s goal is to see the light of day in a production phone before the end of 2007, but let’s be honest — the project won’t be considered a success unless the joint venture can produce a popular, well-known platform that can scrap with the Symbians and the Windows Mobiles of the world. Hey, Access PalmSource, you guys paying attention?[Via Mobiledia]Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Boy Genius strikes at Engadget Mobile: Canary (KRZR), BlackBerry Stealth, StarTrek, Hermes, etc. coming to US
Filed under: Cellphones It was a long day for the Boy Genius, but dude hooked Engadget Mobile up with a veritable cornucopia of launch plans for Cingular, including releases for the Motorola KRZR (aka Canary), V3i, HTC Hermes and StarTrek, the new BlackBerry Stealth, the Treo Nitro and Treo Lennon, HP iPAQ hw6920/25, and Nokia E62. Go check ‘em out over at Engadget Mobile, you won’t be sorry.Treo Nitro and Treo Lennon coming to Cingular in OctoberThe Boy Genius Report: BlackBerry StealthThe Boy Genius Report: Canary is KRZR, getting launched SeptemberThe Boy Genius Report: Cingular snags Motorola V3i, Sony Ericsson w810 The Boy Genius Report: HTC Hermes & StarTrek, and iPAQ hw6920 coming to USNokia E62 to drop for $599/$399 in September/OctoberPermalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Palm and RIM to merge? Meh.
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Perhaps you’ve heard the buzz, but if not there’s a rumor going around right now that mobile communicator rivals Palm and Research In Motion are set to announce a merger of equals as early as this very Thursday. But before you get your panties in a twist about the seemingly possibilities of TreoBerries or BlackTreos (no, not those black Treos), you should trace the breadcrumb trail from the rumor’s prominent placement on CNET all the way back to an anonymous LiveJournal prominently featuring the slogan “Right now I am big on PALM stock, because the Treo is gonna be huge..” Of course, we’d never rule anything out only because it came from an anonymous source, but we’re definitely suspicious. The author of the LJ, titled Covert Stock Operations, points out that Palm would go through with the deal because RIM can offer them “a great investor relations department,” “acceleration of market dominance,” and a lot of other fluffy reasons; apparently it’s in RIM’s best interest to buy Palm because they’re a primary mobile communicator competitor who are beginning to support Microsoft’s entry into the push email space, and their hardware and software offerings would round one anothers’ out, complimenting and improving their total respective product portfolios. Honestly, we see RIM and Palm as two disparate, headstrong companies with a lot less incentive to merge with anyone — let alone with one another — given the goings on of the last few months. RIM’s emerged from the fog of the NTP case and Palm’s 2006 handset offerings are gaining in momentum; whereas there’s no way we can assure you the two won’t be merging, um, this week, we can definitely say Occam’s razor would dictate the anonymous Palm stock pimping blog might have more to gain from the rumor than either of these companies probably would in actually merging.[Via CNET]Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Samsung’s Ultra Edition 9.9, 12.9, 6.9: World’s slimmest cellphones launched
Filed under: Cellphones Get ready Guinness ’cause Samsung just launched an entire series of “World’s slimmest” handsets. Sure, we’ve seen the D830 clam, X820 candybar, and FCC approved D900 slider before, only now they’ve been turned-out onto that mean global scene official, spec’d, and rebadged with their ultra-slim, millimeter measurements right in the name: the Ultra Edition 9.9 (D830), 12.9 (D900), and 6.9 (X820) pictured left-to-right. The UE 9.9 brings tri-band (900/1800/1900MHz) GPRS/EDGE, a 2 megapixel cam with auto-focus and flash, a 2.3-inch 240×320 262k TFT main display (0.8-inch 92×16 grayscale external), Bluetooth, 80MB embedded memory with MicroSD expansion, MP3/AAC media player, and even an MPEG4 recorder with TV-out jack slammed into this world’s slimmest flip. The UE 6.9 brings pretty much the same network coverage, cam, Bluetooth, media capabilities, and on-board memory as the 9.9 but had to forgo the microSD card and flash while dropping down to a 1.9-inch 176×220 262k TFT display in order to slip into that world’s slimmest, 6.9-mm, 2.33-ounce dress. The relatively plump UE 12.9 takes advantage of all that, uh, roominess to squeeze in quad-band GPRS/EDGE, a 3.13 megapixel shooter, 2.1-inch 240×320 262k TFT, that good media lovin’ we’ve already seen, Bluetooth with A2DP stereo audio support, and 80MB with microsSD expansion. Yeah, that makes it the world’s slimmest slider, er, with 3 megapixel camera — kind of a stretch, but that’s how Sammy likes to roll. They didn’t bother with drop dates, countries, or prices but the fact that the press release hit their English site gives us hope for this Samsung triptych to drop in the US sometime this year. [Via AVING]Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
“Black Tie Edition” Treo 650 is real, shipping in US
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Well, color us a bit surprised. It turns out that the rumored “Black Tie Edition” Treo 650 for Asia-Pacific was not only real, it’s coming to this side of pond as well. The specs sadly haven’t changed from what we’ve reported before: you get the same old Treo 650 repackaged in black, a unique hard case, a dual-purpose stylus/pen, and that’s about it. The Black Tie Edition is shipping immediately for a whopping $599 unsubsidized; we’re not holding our breath for our 700p-toting readers to make the switch, but for folks on GSM carriers, this is now the snazziest Treo money can buy.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
FCC ruling could mean higher VoIP bills
Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. GadgetsA new plan by the FCC to keep the Universal Service Fund stocked in anticipation of the coming August exemption for DSL providers will likely lead to higher VoIP bills for consumers. The agency has ruled that companies like Vonage and SunRocket who offer Internet telephony services must now pay 7% of their revenue into the fund — used to subsidize rural and low-income phone service — which has been traditionally been stocked by taxing POTS and DSL providers at a rate of 10.9%. However, since DSL providers have been let off the hook for this program, the FCC needed to make up for the shortfall, so the agency both instituted the VoIP component and raised cellular carriers’ contribution from 3% to 4%. Since providers tend to pass new costs on to the consumer, we can probably expect to see higher VoIP bills in the near future, but luckily the recent repeal of that Spanish-American war-era excise tax should mostly balance things out on the cellphone side of things.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Source: cellphones.engadget.com