BlackBerry Pearl won’t ring in your pocket
Filed under: CellphonesAnyone who’s had the good fortune of seeing a Pearl in the flesh knows that it’s one extraordinarily good looking phone, particularly by BlackBerry standards. Unfortunately, where we come from, phones that don’t ring are called “paperweights” — which is exactly what the Pearl becomes when the trackball gets nudged. You know, like if it’s in your pocket, or your purse, or pretty much anywhere besides a stationary counter top. As it turns out, when the phone rings, the handset immediately silences the ringer with even the slightest movement of the trackball, regardless of whether keylock is enabled. While we do appreciate the Pearl taking the initiative for us and ignoring phone calls so we don’t have to, there is an occasional situation where we like to make the decision ourselves, and until RIM issues a fix users simply don’t have that option. Strangely, two Engadget editors patiently attempted to explain the issue to a RIM representative this week at CTIA for several minutes without success; we think the first step to RIM issuing a fix would be for the company to understand the problem, so we could be in for a bit of a wait. Maybe the words we were using were too big? Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
HTC buyout of Dopod in final stages: i-mate, O2, HP wail
Filed under: Cellphones, HandheldsContinuing their skyrocket beyond ODM-dom, HTC’s buyout bid for Taiwanese Dopod has moved into the final stages. Having signed a memorandum of understanding, the only thing left in the estimated $150 million deal is approval from the Taiwanese government. Assuming HTC chairwoman and Dopod controlling shareholder Cher Wang, daughter of petrochemicals billionaire Y.C. Wang and wife of HTC boss-man Peter Chou, has enough influence to push this through (read: she does), then HTC is about to find themselves in direct competition with their own customers O2, i-mate and HP. HTC already confirmed their decision to self-brand phones in Europe, now the Dopod deal could result in HTC designs being sold exclusively under the Dopod branding outside of Europe. In fact, HTC has already cut ties with both O2 and i-mate in Australia, New Zealand, and India. So if Dopod’s claim that HTC manufactures 80 percent of Windows Mobile phones is true, well, O2, i-mate, and HP best be looking for fresh design and manufacturing blood on the quick. [Thanks, Ash] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Samsung’s SGH-i607 in the Cingular wild
Filed under: Cellphones Looks like that developer site’s leak of the Samsung SGH-i607 coming to Cingular was spot-on. The pics above plastered in Howard Forums are purported to be the latest Q-killer from Samsung. No front-facing camera like we we’ve seen elsewhere but that Cingular branding is unmistakable. Just to run it down again for ya, this WinMo Smartphone is expected to bring quad-band GSM / GPRS / EDGE / HSDPA data, Bluetooth, MicroSD expansion, and a side mounted scroll-wheel said to be “on-par, or better than those on RIM devices.” We’ll see soon enough if the Q3 launch date is accurate. Another picture ’round back after the break.[Thanks, Notorious J] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Mobility Electronics’ Stowaway Sierra Bluetooth keyboard
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals Mobility Electronics has launched the latest in its line of Stowaway portable keyboards under its Think Outside brand, the Bluetooth-based Stowaway Sierra. Ok, so it’s not quite as catchily-named as the Stowaway Shasta, but it does look to be a fair bit more versatile, compatible with Windows Mobile 5, Pocket PC, Palm and Symbian-based devices (with Bluetooth, of course), as well as Windows XP and Mac OS X, for anyone that finds their full-size desktop keyboard a little too comfortable. Unlike some portable keyboards, the Stowaway Sierra packs decently-sized 19mm keys, including dedicated numeric keys and shortcut keys for your smartphone, PDA, or Windows XP — yet it still manages to fold up into pocketable (depending on the pocket) 5.0 x 3.5 x 0.9-inch package. You can snag this one now for $129.99. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Palm confirms low-end Treo, “680″ device rumored
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds We’re still not sure when Cingular is going to get that 750 hotness, but it doesn’t look like us Stateside peeps will have to wait too terribly long to get some antenna-free Treo action. Palm, in a recent earnings call, confirmed that there will be more info “in the coming weeks” in regards to a new “price sensitive” Treo, due for 20 networks worldwide in a few months. Lucky for us, it looks to be that oft-rumored Lowrider phone — at least according to the rumors currently being mongered — with the same form-factor as the 750v, but a VGA camera and no 3G data. Happily, the unit should feature 64MB of RAM, and if it can manage to otherwise duplicate the 650′s functionality — minus the bugs — Palm might have a nice little solution for those wannabe handheld users who don’t need all the bleeding-edge features, and don’t want that bleeding-edge price.[Via MobileWhack] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
BlackBerry 8703e for sale on Verizon’s site
Filed under: Cellphones We told you it was coming, we told you how much for and when, and now the BlackBerry 8703e is on Verizon’s site — yours for $249 with a two year contract, or $399 for a one year contract. We’re a little sick of writing about this thing, so please, go get it (or not), and let’s all enjoy our Sundays, shall we?[Thanks, Phil] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Fujitsu FPcodes, like QR without the mess
Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets You just forget everything you know about that QR coding qrap ’cause Fujitsu just went next-gen with the introduction of FPcodes. Like QR codes, Fine Picture codes allow you to photograph the code with your trusty cameraphone and then be redirected to a URL for the product. However, instead of looking like a greasy black smudge, the pale yellow FPcode is printed directly onto the image of the product, just snap the product and off you go. FPcode-printed catalogs and magazines are expected to be released as early as October and require the download of a free app to use. Now considering we don’t even have QR implemented yet, we’ll call you daddy on this one Japan. [Via lariviereauxcanards] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
iPhone signal emanating from January’s Macworld 2007
Filed under: CellphonesThink Secret has weighed in on the iPhone rumor saga once again, with a suggestion that Apple’s cell phone will be released during the San Fransisco Macworld Expo in January next year. The tipster has apparently gained Think Secret’s trust in the past by correctly predicting that the iPhone wouldn’t launch earlier this year in March. The reasoning behind why the iPhone didn’t launch last March (manufacturing issues), and why it will launch in January (they’ve fixed the manufacturing issues) is predictably dry, totally unverifiable, and therefore irrelevant, giving TS even more reason to spice it up a little. This time around they’re telling us that the iPhone will have some k800-esque specifications (3 megapixel camera, 2.2-inch display) along with a totally obvious feature (iTunes support without the 100 song limit), but they also mention that there may be as many as three different models in the range, thereby cleverly maintaining the possibility that it might not have any of these specs after all. In fact, none of this could be true: there could be more manufactured manufacturing delays that cause the iPhone not to launch in January, or Apple could have a revelation and decide not to include one of the vague features. Like every other Apple rumor, we won’t know until the day arrives: January 8th, save the date. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
