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Posts with tag BreakingNews

AT&T adds LG Invision to Mobile TV lineup


Just as we'd envisioned, the Invision candybar (if a phone this stubby can, in fact, be called a candybar) from LG is now a reality for AT&T. The phone becomes just AT&T's third to support its MediaFLO-based Mobile TV service, taking a similar line to Samsung's Access by stuffing a landscape display, 1.3-megapixel camera, and HSDPA into a squarish case that's sure to make minimalists and traditionalists swoon; what's more, it also takes the honor of being AT&T's smallest Mobile TV-equipped handset to date. It's available today for $99.99 with a $50 rebate and two years' worth of commitment -- just be sure to factor the cost of the Mobile TV add-on into your budget.

Palm's Treo Pro gets official


Well you can't say you didn't see this one coming -- between the leaked shots, more leaked shots, and those -- yes -- leaked press materials, this was only a matter of time. That's right: Palm has gone and gotten all official with its latest and greatest smartphone, the now-familiar Treo Pro. The new Windows Mobile device is being sold unlocked (!), and features an HSDPA cell radio (tri-band UMTS, quad-band GSM), GPS, 802.11b/g, a 320 x 320 touchscreen display, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, a 2-megapixel camera, support for microSDHC cards up to 32GB... and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack! No word on price or actual street date, but we can't imagine that's too far off. Hit the read link and take a tour of the new device, or watch the totally radical -- and long, and detailed -- video after the break.

Video: HTC's Touch Diamond / Pro are multi-touch gods, just not how you'd think


While multi-touch input might be all the rage in handhelds and laptop trackpads at the moment, alas, it's not on the feature list for HTC's latest Touch Diamond and Touch Pro. However, the capability is indeed present and exploited on video by HTC's own debug application. Even more interesting is the way that the handsets' entire front, capacitive surface (not just the 2.8-inch, 640 x 480 pixel display) can be used for multi-finger input. So like Dell's Latitude XT Tablet which launched multi-touch ready, expect to see future, multi-touch capabilities come to HTC's latest... someday. Click through for the vid.

BlackBerry Bold hits Rogers on August 21st, so get your thumbs worked-out


Well, it looks like that long, painful wait is finally over. According to all kinds of tipsters, the BlackBerry Bold touches down for the first time in North America (in its home country of Canada, obviously) come August 21st (that's this Thursday, in case you don't own a calendar, computer, or have any friends). That's right -- the Bold will land on Rogers (where else?) with a price tag set somewhere between the dark valley of $300 and $400, according to Research In Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie. Reports say the phone will be available from other carriers by the end of the week, though we don't have any definitive rumblings that confirm such heavenly ideas. You'll know more when we do, of course.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

The Treo Pro makes its video debut, inches towards launch


Now that the Treo Pro's been uncovered, the sleek black handset just can't stay out of the spotlight -- it's popped up today in several more high-res shots, a quick hands-on video, and even what looks like official press photography. Specs are still up in the air -- we're hearing there's a 400MHz processor and 128MB of RAM behind that 320 x 320 screen and original Xbox-looking exterior, but we won't know for sure until this thing gets official, which we're guessing will happen within the week. Video after the break.

Read - Lots of hands-on shots
Read - Slashgear post with press photography

iPhone firmware 2.0.2 is out... and angry


Well okay, we don't know if it's angry or not, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the 2.0.2 update of Apple's phone OS is out there for your downloading pleasure (via iTunes, specifically). So far, all we know is that this iteration tackles those pesky "bugs," but what those exact bugs are, we couldn't say... nor could Apple. We're grabbing now and will update with any exciting developments.

Update: Well we've got the new firmware up and running, and it's true -- those bugs have been fixed. Which bugs? Well, it's still hard to say, but our voice suddenly sounds deeper, and we've noticed improved grammar during calls.

HTC Dream FCC approved, Android clear for launch?


The long rumored HTC Dream handset -- once referred to as "The Googlephone" -- just received FCC approval. The handset is listed as type, "Dream' with a model of "DREA100." The same model also appears with a WiFi Interoperability Certificate touting 802.11b/g WiFi. If indeed this is the long awaited Android phone, then T-Mobile, HTC, and Google are free to announce in September with an October launch as originally planned. FCC label with that DREA100 moniker pictured after the break.

Update: Further investigation reveals mention of a "jogball" like that seen on the handset from the videos. The Dream is said to be in compliance with Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR with this round of testing conducted only on the GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/1900 and WCDMA 1700 bands -- the latter being T-Mobile's preferred 3G frequency.

Read -- HTC Dream WiFi Certification [Warning: PDF]
Read -- FCC Cell Radios
Read -- FCC WiFi Bluetooth

New York Times: T-Mobile to sell HTC Android phone as early as October


Here we go folks. The New York Times is reporting that T-Mobile will be the first carrier to offer Android. According to "people briefed on the company's plans," the HTC phone will go on sale in the US "before Christmas, perhaps as early as October." The NYT's sources also say that the 5-row QWERTY slider from that Dream video (embedded after the break) matches the HTC device that T-Mobile will sell. The device is still waiting for FCC approval with a three-way Google, T-Mobile, and HTC announcement coming as early as September. The deal is expected to be exclusive making it the only Android phone available in the US this year.

Of course you know what this means? It's the birth of the Android fanboy -- sure you love 'em at First!, but then they never shut up about Street View.

Update: We've added a second video (from March) of what looks to be the same device demonstrated by Google's own Andy Rubin. The 3G reference design runs a 400MHz Qualcomm MSM 7200-based processor at just over 300MHz, includes a trackball, 3D graphics processor, and appears to have an HTC logo.

Palm's Treo 850 is really the Treo Pro?


Would you look at this. A very official looking page -- at a Palm.com domain, no less -- has unveiled the previously rumored Treo 850 as the Treo Pro. We're still digging the new look, though the keyboard does look suspiciously small in these shots. At a cursory glance we've got WiFi, a camera and a 3.5mm stereo jack. A couple more pics after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

AT&T now hawking iPhone 3Gs online to biz customers


If you're fortunate enough to have access to a Premier (business, that is) account with AT&T, you're now able to forgo the charade of meandering down to your local store to buy -- or place an order for, more likely -- the iPhone 3G. All three varieties of the best cellphone Apple makes are now available directly through the carrier's B2B online store for the usual $199 / $299 pricing scale; if we had to guess, it's just a matter of time before they'll throw the doors open to the riff raff (read: us), too. We'll drink to that.

[Thanks, Vasudev R.]

Update: We touched base with AT&T, and it looks like the real news here is that Premier account holders who pay their own bills now have access to the iPhone 3G online, whereas before, only those whose bills were covered by their companies had access. The more, the merrier!

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!

Bell first out of the gate with CDMA Touch Dual


That CDMA version of HTC's Touch Dual that some FCC lab got to fiddle around with a while back is now packaged up all nice and pretty for cash-flush consumers to enjoy. It's not Verizon, Sprint, or Alltel that's celebrating the release, though -- for this particular release, you've gotta look north just a little bit to Bell Mobility. The phone features Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, GPS, a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and a $399.95 CAD off-contact price that drops all the way down to $99.95 if you're willing to sign your life away for three years. Our knee-jerk reaction is, "we'll just hold out for the Diamond on Telus," but if you insist on a slider with this kind of form factor, it's the only way to fly.

[Via MobileSyrup]

Sidekick Slide discontinued

Seems like just yesterday we were huddled in excited discussion over what sort of equipment Motorola had to contribute to the Hiptop world, and if you've blinked recently, you may have missed it altogether. The Sidekick Slide has now been dropped from T-Mobile's lineup -- likely in response to the recent release of the Sidekick -- now moving on to join the iD in Danger purgatory. Stock of Moto's sole Danger-powered handset has already dried up online; the carrier tells us that there should still be "limited quantities" in stores across the land, but there's no telling how long that's going to last, so get 'em while you can -- if you're into that sort of thing.

Motorola adds EM25, EM28, and EM30 to ROKR series


Moving just a tad downmarket from the mighty morphin' E8, Moto has rolled out three new members of its music-centric ROKR series today: the EM25 slider, EM28 flip, and EM30 candybar. The EM30 probably feels the most familiar, aping the E8's design language but trashing the touch-sensitive wheel for a plain ol' d-pad. It does, however, carry over the E8's so-called ModeShift morphing keypad and features an FM radio with RDS, 3.5mm headphone jack, and Windows Media compatibility. The EM28 brings the same style to a clamshell, while the EM25 reps the slider form factor. We're seeing some shots of a T-Mobile branded EM30 in here, too, so it looks like the carrier wants something to slot in right below the E8 in its Moto lineup -- a wise move, considering the E8's considerable expense. Look for the EM30 to launch first in Taiwan (sorry, T-Mob) followed by other markets later in the quarter, while the EM25 and EM28 should launch on a more global scale in the coming weeks.

BlackBerry Bold now available -- in Chile


Movistar's Chilean outpost has now become -- somewhat surprisingly, may we add -- the very first carrier in the world to launch the BlackBerry Bold and put it into subscribers' hands. The carrier's making sure everyone knows what a coup they've managed to pull off, too, proudly proclaiming "FIRST ONES IN THE WORLD" with a red banner draped across the Bold's image on Movistar's site. Pricing seems a little high at 299,990 Chilean pesos (about $588) on a two-year contract, but hey, you've gotta pay to play; just how badly do you want to be one of the first people on the face of the planet (John Mayer notably excepted) to put this thing to use?

[Via Engadget Spanish]




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