Skip to Content

Don't miss Joystiq's up-to-the-minute live coverage of E3!
AOL Tech

Palm Treo Pro unboxing and hands-on


Well we've gotten our hands all over Palm's new Treo - the Pro - and we've documented it all on film... er, disk. Here's what were liking so far - no more recessed screen (finally!), that HTC-licensed task manager, and the extremely slick packaging. Honestly, we think Palm might have one up on Apple with the presentation this time around. Also of note: the new modular power adapter (which Palm tragically forgot to throw into our box), earbuds you might not be ashamed to sport, and no install CD -- it loads when you hook the phone up to your PC. Check it all out in the gallery below (as well as a few size comparisons with the iPhone 3G), and we'll have pics of that power adapter just as soon as they courier it over. No, really.

Samsung Omnia review


No longer does Windows Mobile alone a capable smartphone make. The platform's core is as relevant, powerful, and well-supported as ever, but that's not the problem -- the real issue is that it's just plain hard to look at. The days of WinMo looking even remotely modern in its stock form are long gone, and top-tier manufacturers clearly recognize that; everyone from ASUS to HTC has taken matters into their own hands to craft custom skins that kill off as many of the ancient visuals as possible while still holding onto everything that makes Windows Mobile great.

Enter the Samsung i900 Omnia, a phone that submits to design direction forced upon the industry largely by the iPhone -- full touchscreen, no keyboard, you know the drill by now -- and does pretty much everything in its power to overcome WinMo's limitations to make it competitive in the year 2008. Did Sammy succeed? Read on.

Thanks to the good folks at Wireless Imports for the hookup!




Sanyo Katana Eclipse hands-on


Sanyo handsets are like cats: you either love them or you just really, really loathe them with every fiber of your being. Sprint and Sanyo both seem to be pretty okay with that; clearly, not every phone in Sprint's lineup is going to be for everyone, and the Katana Eclipse is no different. Sanyo fanatic or not, though, our gripe list added up pretty quickly with this one, so would-be buyers might want to put it through a good workout in store before taking the plunge.

The phone's hinge design causes the upper half of the phone to rest behind the bottom half; that is, the intersection of the planes containing the two halves is not the center of the hinge (think MacBook, for example). We thought that felt a little weird against our face and made it more difficult to get a good seal between the earpiece and our ear. Also, the front of the phone -- arguably the most attractive of any Katana to date -- isn't the most user-friendly. The tiny external display was difficult to read even in a moderate amount of shade, and the music controls are nearly flush with the shell which makes actuating them trickier than it should be. Speaking of displays, the primary one is pretty small, leaving a huge gray bezel with no function whatsoever (don't be fooled by the white dots at the bottom, they serve no function other than to make you think that they're touch-sensitive soft buttons, which they're not).

It's not all doom and gloom, though. The dedicated speaker key is a nifty parlor trick, you've got a 1.3 megapixel cam in there, and it does stereo Bluetooth. Plus, it's a Sanyo, and we know that for a few of you out there, that's all that matters. For you guys, you'll be able to pick up the Katana Eclipse immediately for $99.99 with a new two-year contract.

Motorola MOTORAZR VE20 hands-on


We're going to confess a dirty little secret here: when we first started playing with the VE20, we didn't realize it was being branded and marketed as a RAZR. As we used it, though, it quickly became evident -- no one had to tell us this was a kindred spirit of the V3. For better or worse, the shape of the phone -- everything from the tapered upper edge of the display to the "chin" beneath the keypad -- looks and feels like an obvious evolution. You might call it a stepping stone in between the V3 and the V9, and considering that the V3 gets closer to its last breath on store shelves with each passing day (or so we hope), Moto and Sprint need something to slot in there beneath the mighty RAZR 2.

Call us insane, but for what the VE20 is, we liked it. It doesn't pretend to be a do-all, end-all superphone, nor does it try to wow you with its premium materials; it's just a decent midrange flip with what seems to be excellent build quality. The screen is exceptionally bright, clear, and rich, and the V9-aping secondary touchscreen is a nice touch (pun intended, of course). One area of concern: it froze up on us once, necessitating a restart, and the music app was completely broken in our tester. Our guess is that this'll be resolved in retail units or via a quick firmware update shortly after launch -- at least, it frigging better be.

The VE20 is available today for $99.99 on contract after rebates.

FCC Fridays

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Alcatel OT-S319a
Read - Alcatel OT-S121a
Read - Samsung SPH-W6300
Read - Samsung SGH-L708E
Read - Samsung SGH-U800E
Read - Samsung SCH-R600
Read - Pantech C740

Peripherals
Read - Samsung WEP460
Read - Alcatel OT-BM82
Read - Huawei EC821

HTC Touch Pro hands-on


After spending a few minutes with it, there's no question to us that the Touch Pro is HTC's most impressive handset to date (even if you count the Xperia X1). Okay, the phone is still a bit thick (roughly the same as a Tilt), and there's no 3.5mm headphone jack, but it's got a very small footprint and a very comfortably proportioned keyboard. We can also really definitely appreciate the lengths HTC is going to trying to make Windows Mobile a bit less doggish these days -- but were they to spice up the Touch Pro with a capacitive touchscreen and Android, HTC might just have a game-changer on their hands.

Sanyo's Katana Eclipse in all its glory


Relax, take your shoes back off and put down your car keys -- the Katana Eclipse still isn't released, so there's no point in running down to your local Sprint kiosk just yet. We do, however, have a full range of photography that should temporarily keep would-be buyers' heads from exploding for a dearth of information about Sanyo's latest American clam. The phone looks like it might be the most attractive Katana to date, and Sanyo owners tend to be among the most fiercely loyal around, so we think this one should get some good play at the cash register. Check out the gallery, and keep the drool off your keyboard for once, will ya?

[Thanks, Opie33]

Nokia XpressMusic 5610 comes to T-Mobile


As expected, T-Mobile has now launched the Nokia XpressMusic 5610 slider to compliment the 5310 candybar launched back in May. Though the software and the phone's raison d'être (music, that is) both mirror the slimmer 5310, the new slider turns up the heat a bit with a more capable 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash and something Nokia calls the "music slider," a sliding bar directly below the display that gives the user lightning-quick access to the music player and radio. Other features include a microSD slot (with 1GB bundled in the box), stereo Bluetooth, 2.2-inch QVGA display, and a standard issue quadband EDGE radio sans 3G -- though we'd hardly call that a feature. It's available starting today in white with silver trim or black with red trim for $99 on a two-year contract.

We've been toying around with a 5610 for the past few days, and as a Nokia dumbphone, it definitely gets the job done. It feels rock solid -- slider mechanism included -- which is a good sign for anyone used to loose, creaky Nokias of old. Be warned: though the phone is advertised as featuring a 3.5mm headphone jack, it's only available when you plug in a bundled external dongle. That'd be alright for a normal handset, but since the 5610 gets slapped with the XpressMusic branding, we can't say we really approve. On the upside, the loudspeaker is seriously one of the loudest -- perhaps the loudest -- we've ever heard on any phone, ever. So loud, in fact, that it hurts your ears at max volume if you're within a foot or two of the thing.

Voice quality is a tad on the tinny side, but plenty loud and clear. The top row of keys can be a little hard to access with your fat fingers butted up against the bottom of the upper portion of the slide, but otherwise, the keypad's decent and very usable. The navigation keys are equally easy to use, though we would've liked to have seen the "music slider" concept taken further -- it should flip between any open applet, not just between your current screen and the music apps. Bottom line? For 99 bucks, we like it, but for 49 bucks, we'd love it. Whatdya say, T-Mob?

Update: Though T-Mobile's press materials indicate that 1GB microSD cards are being shipped with the phone, buyers and retailers alike are reporting that it's actually 2GB. No complaints here!

FCC Fridays

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Alcatel OT-S211a
Read - Alcatel OT-S210a
Read - Alcatel OT-V670a
Read - Alcatel OT-S120a
Read - Haier CG 100
Read - Sharp SH8010C
Read - Samsung SGH-G508E

Peripherals
Read - Bluetrek Metal
Read - Bluetrek X3
Read - Parrot Minikit Slim
Read - Nokia HF-22

FCC Fridays

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Samsung SCH-U650
Read - Samsung SCH-U810
Read - Samsung SCH-B259
Read - Samsung SCH-F309
Read - Samsung SGH-A637
Read - Samsung SGH-J165L
Read - Samsung SCH-R430A
Read - Samsung SGH-P270
Read - LG KF350D
Read - Wistron SP500

Peripherals
Read - Nokia BH-212
Read - Plantronics Voyager 835

The T-Mobile Sidekick -- yep, just Sidekick


After all the buffoonery over what exactly T-Mobile intended to call its newest entry-level Danger device, they've ultimately decided to just go back to basics, drop the acronyms, and christen it simply "Sidekick." Make no mistake, though -- this little puppy is a far cry from your daddy's Hiptop launched way back in 2002, thanks to a 400 x 240 WQVGA display, 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, and a microSD slot. Though it's being billed as the iD's spiritual successor, the Sidekick comes dangerously close to LX territory, so it should see some solid movement at the $149.99 asking price on a two-year contract. What's more, the Sidekick becomes Danger's first device with user-customizable shells, available directly from sidekickshells.com for $14.99 a pop (we've got both a really bad and a really frickin' great feeling about the ridiculous sorts of designs people are going to be coming up with there). The whole shebang goes on sale starting today.

We've spent just a little bit of time fiddling with a Sidekick this week, and in a nutshell, this thing is a killer upgrade for the iD crowd -- which just so happens to be exactly what T-Mobile's going for. On the downside, the pivot mechanism and controls feel just a little chintzier than those on their big brother, the LX -- but not distractingly so -- and it's surprisingly hard to downgrade from the LX's stunning 3-inch display to the Sidekick's smaller 2.6-inch deal. For those of you with shell design ideas already in mind, though, where else are you gonna turn?

iPhone apps pirated, shared -- but not GPL'd

Seeing as Apple's FairPlay DRM has already been cracked for music and movies, it's not at all surprising that people are starting to poke holes in the FairPlay-based iPhone App Store. The first loophole is pretty simple, since it doesn't appear that FairPlay links the iPhone hardware to specific Apple IDs: just log into iTunes from any of the machines authorized to use your account, and every app you've purchased will be available for free re-downloading to any attached phone. Since music and movies wrapped in FairPlay can be transferred to unlimited iPods and iPhones, we're guessing this little trick will work indefinitely, but we wouldn't depend on it.

Continue reading over on Engadget!

FCC Fridays

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Samsung SGH-T109
Read - Samsung SCH-M569
Read - LG VX5500
Read - LG AX500
Read - UTStarcom CDM8950 / Pantech Echo
Read - ZTE F120
Read - ZTE A711G
Read - ZTE i766
Read - Alcatel OT-S521A / OT-S626A

Palm Treo 800w review


We'd been hearing rumors about the Treo 800w for what seemed like ages. Between the clatter of "Zeppelin" talk, glimpses of a new model during Gates' last CES keynote, and the ever-persistent idea that a fresh new Palm phone is just around the corner, it wasn't exactly a mind-blowing surprise when the new model finally came to light (of course, Sprint selling it a day early didn't help either). Now we've had a chance to spend some quality time with the company's latest foray into the world of Windows Mobile, and we'd like to share our deepest thoughts and inner-most feelings on the device.

FCC Fridays

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Huawei V830
Read - Huawei T202
Read - Samsung SGH-P250
Read - Samsung SGH-E848i
Read - ZTE A711+
Read - ZTE A933+
Read - LG CT810

Peripherals
Read - Huawei EM770
Read - ZTE TES25
Read - ZTE K2525




AOL News

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: