UTStarcom reveals HTC 6800; Wizard followup will be Herald
Filed under: Cellphones, Features Let’s face it, the Apache (aka PPC-6700 / XV6700) and Wizard (aka MDA / 8125) are getting a little long in the tooth. We all know HTC’s working on a followup for these devices, but it was seriously on the DL that we discovered the UTStarcom 6800, pictured above (and after the break). Ok, so it wasn’t totally hidden or whatever, they actually had this thing right on a big banner on the booth, but UTStarcom refused to comment on the device, its launch, or any other details. They were just satisfied putting it up for thousands of industry people to see, and nothing else. For reference, it seems to look like an Artemis up in the face, but slides open like you know what, but now also features caps and function lock LEDs. Oh, we also learned — not from UTStarcom, mind you — that HTC’s got a Wizard followup in the wings called the Herald (a name we’ve heard before), which gave us the warm n’ fuzzies. Oh, and click on for another shot of the 6800. 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
Cingular bans the word “engadget” from its customer forums
Filed under: CellphonesOh, Cingular. We know you’re pissed at us — you stopped returning our phone calls a while ago after we posted that product roadmap we got our hands on — but banning all mention of our name, as well as our URL, from your user forums is a little cheap and heavy-handed, don’t you think? Guess you don’t want your users making informed decisions about your service. Anyway, we must be doing something right, because here’s the message users get when trying to post anything to Cingular’s customer forums with the word “engadget” in it:The message body contains the following prohibited content: ‘Engadget’ You must remove this content before submitting your post.When writing your message, remember to keep the language clean.Then again, from what we understand “engadget” is now a swear word in Albanian, so maybe we’re being unreasonable.[Thanks, David K.]Update: There is one Engadget mention in an old forum post, but as of Thursday, September 14th, the word “engadget” is still banned! 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 Libra / UTStarcom 5800 also revealed
Filed under: Cellphones Among the other unannounced-announced HTC devices at CTIA this fall: the HTC Libra (aka UTStarcom 5800). Details are yet scarce (so what else is new), but the super thin device will have a compacted keyboard (even by HTC’s standards) with an offset space bar as well as an external numeric keypad. But wait, it gets better. EV-DO Rev. A radio. Q1 2007 launch. GSM version inbound for 07. Yeah, we know, we’re pretty stoked too. 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
More deets on O2′s Xda Stealth
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Perhaps we failed to adequately emphasize one key feature of the Gigabyte-sourced Xda Stealth when we outed its FCC filing yesterday: its diminutive size. At 110 x 53 x 22.5mm, it bests the HTC Wizard in all but length (where it clocks in just 2 millimeters longer), putting it nearly in dumbphone territory. Granted, the Stealth lacks a full keyboard, but everything’s put into better perspective when remembering that it manages to stuff Pocket PC Phone Edition power (and specs to match) into a package on par with some Smartphones on the market. Though there’s no 3G radio aboard the handset, we take solace in its 802.11g support; in fact, the only thing raining on our parade is the triband GSM support, which leaves parts of the world unhappy pretty much any way you slice it — let this be a lesson to Gigabyte that they’ve got some American sales waiting in the wings as soon as they want to tack GSM 850 onto this thing.Update: MTekk reports that the Stealth will be finding its way to Australia post haste, officially launching before the end of the month for around $940 Australian ($707 US). 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
LG’s VX9900 caught in the wild?
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Ok, you know the drill by now. HowardForums has a purported shot (on left) of the thinner, sexier successor to the VX9800 communicator, the LG VX9900 we first trolled from the FCC (pic on the right) back in May. We’re still hoping for this QWERTY clam to roll on Verizon sometime this month as reported by our own Boy Genius or sometime between September 29th and October 13th according to the rumor jockeys ridin’ the HoFo. Hell, let’s just say any day now and leave it at that mkay?[Thanks, Scott and Sunny] 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
Nokia E62 (finally) hits Cingular
Filed under: Cellphones Well, it sure took them long enough, but Cingular has finally gotten around to rolling out Nokia’s biz-centric QWERTY phone, the E62. Luckily, the price is right: going for “as low as” $150, as expected. At 0.5-inches thick, and with a well-sized QVGA screen, the E62 isn’t totally weak-sauce compared to its E61 high-end predecessor, but it does lack the fancy WiFi and UMTS of the E61. Plenty has already been said about the specs (EDGE, Symbian 9.1, the like), so we’ll spare you this time around. You should be able to nab this one September 29th — none too soon, to be sure. 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 Treo 750v gets official
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Thanks to countless leaks over the last several months, one of the most anticlimactic smartphone releases in history has finally gone official. Palm has issued all the juicy details on their UK site, and… well, it’s pretty much exactly what we expected: internal antenna, quadband GSM with triband UMTS (lending itself to a Cingular release), and a superbly average 1.3-megapixel cam sitting atop Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC Phone Edition. The phone is still apparently in the pre-order phase, though Vodafone’s site is showing a price “From Free to £127.66″ (about $240) depending on contract — not bad considering what you get, but whether similar pricing will carry over to Cingular is another question entirely.[Thanks, Wolwol and Camp] 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
Oki Electric Industry intros “world’s smallest MP3 chip”
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable AudioAs decreasing chip sizes seems to be all the rage these days, Japan’s Oki Electric Industry isn’t missing out on its own opportunity to go small. The company recently announced that sample shipments of the “world’s smallest MP3 playback chip” were being dispersed, and that manufacturers of cellphones, PDAs, MP3 players (clearly), and essentially anything in which MP3 playback could be crammed into should take notice. The minuscule module — dubbed the ML2011 — packs an MP3 decoder and 650mW amplifier onto a 3.6mm x 4.2mm wafer, and can be conveniently paired with Oki’s reference board and “SoundLib” software in order to bypass that whole headache-inducing “playback software development” phase. If you can spare just a tad more room, and want something that’s instantly mountable, the 5mm x 6mm QFN-packaged version is also on the horizon. While pricing details were kept under wraps, Oki plans to ramp up full scale production by December, and will probably lobby mighty hard to get under the hood of Motorola’s next cash cow.[Via CrissCross] 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