InspirePhones.com

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Sprint, EV-DO, CDMA, Android

We know of precisely two types of radios going into Heros (or would that be Heroes?) right now: the 900 / 2100MHz 3G for global use that everyone’s using so far, and an 850 / 1900 version for North America that the FCC’s had the pleasure of using. Well, you know how FCC labs work — they get to play with all the toys before anyone else does — and now they’re checking out another version of HTC’s latest and greatest Android device with CDMA / EV-DO. This lends near-infinite credibility to the buzz that Sprint’s signed up to launch the phone this fall, presumably around the same time it drops the InstinctQ from Samsung, at which point it’ll have both the QWERTY and full-touch Android angles covered. Options are good, are they not?

HTC Hero earns FCC approval with CDMA, Sprint launch rumors more solid than ever originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Handsets, Palm, ATT, GSM, EDGE, EV-DO, HSDPA, UMTS, CDMA, webOS

Two months post-launch, the Pre remains the only official game in town for webOS, but we all know how Palm rolls — there are unquestionably other phones in the pipeline, and they’re going to be available on a variety of carriers. By all accounts, the so-called Eos (or Pixie, if internal codenames are more your thing) for AT&T is going to be the next model to come out of the chute, and now that we’ve all gotten bored with our Pres, the world seems to be turning its attention to more pressing matters like a release date. To that point, we’re dealing with two ends of the spectrum right now: at one extreme, Digital Daily cites a Morgan Joseph analysts as saying he believes the Eos will hit AT&T at some point beyond the holidays, thanks in part to the $99 iPhone’s continued strength. On the other end, China’s Commerical Times says an HSPA-powered version of the Eos will rock a 2.6-inch display and start volume deliveries from ODM Compal to Palm in October of this year with a CDMA variant following on in the first quarter of next year. Ultimately, both reports have the reassuring solidity of Jell-O — so what have we learned? The Eos (or whatever it’s called) will ship when it ships.

Read – Analyst likes Eos launch next year
Read – GSM Eos in October, CDMA version Q1 ‘10?

Palm Eos coming in October, or next year, or some other time, or never originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Alltel, Sprint, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA, Android

We’ve been asked not to reveal the URLs, but we can assure you we’ve seen this official support screen pictured above with our own two eyes, which means that the HTC Hero is all but confirmed in a juicy CDMA blend for Sprint. How (or if) that’ll affect the availability of the US 3G version unlocked or on any carrier is unclear, but given Hesse’s huffy language regarding Pre exclusivity, we wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve got this one locked down for a while as well. We’ve seen a similar support page for an Alltel-branded Snap, so if you’re still tied up in one of the carrier’s legacy divested markets and you’ve been pining after the Snap (and Ozone) on Sprint and Verizon, fear not — your own version is on the way. We’ll admit, if you had asked us a few months back what American carrier would get HTC’s highest-end Android phone to date, Sprint wouldn’t have been our first guess — but hey, good for them. If you can’t win the coverage battle against the Big Red juggernaut, may as well try to win the exclusive hardware battle, right?

[Thanks, Adam]

HTC support site reveals Hero for Sprint, Snap for Alltel originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Boost Mobile, Sprint, Virgin Mobile, EV-DO, MVNOs, CDMA

Remember Virgin Mobile? Sure you do — not long ago the last-man-standing MVNO snapped up Helio, and seemed ready to take its place as one of the few boutique prepaid operations still… er, operating. Well that appears to be all but done and done, as Sprint has just announced a “definitive agreement” to purchase the company for $483 million worth of sweet, succulent stock (which looks to be right about what it was valued at to begin with). It looks like Sprint will pair the acquisition with its Boost Mobile brand, which till now was in direct competition with VM. It’s not quite rival city, however, Virgin Mobile USA was launched as a joint venture with Sprint, and the MVNO glides on Dan Hesse’s network as it is. Still, it does seem to be another indicator that the days of the MVNO are certainly on the wane, though Sprint now looks to own the space — what little there is.

Sprint acquires Virgin Mobile USA for a cool $483m originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: CDMA, LTE

Arguably the crown jewel lying in fallen giant Nortel’s corpse, the company’s CDMA and LTE infrastructure units have been pursued by all the usual suspects — Nokia Siemens and Ericsson, just to name a couple — plus some unusual ones like fellow Canadian company RIM. That party appears to be drawing to a close, though, with Ericsson emerging victorious to the tune of $1.13 billion. Ericsson apparently has a vision that adding Nortel’s bits will help it expand its North American footprint, and it thinks it’ll be keeping about 80 percent of the existing staff on board to do so; first, of course, the deal has to actually close, which will happen later in the year if everything goes according to plan.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Ericsson scores Nortel’s CDMA and LTE assets with $1.13B bid originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Verizon Wireless, Telus Mobility, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA

That was quick. We heard that HTC was moving to standardize around 3.5mm audio jacks but we weren’t necessarily expecting the meaty Touch Pro2 to be on that list of devices. After all, it’s already shipping in its GSM version. Nevertheless, MobileSyrup has a soon-to-be released CDMA version of the Touch Pro2 for Telus (and ultimately, Verizon) that goes straight-up 3.5mm — no goofy ExtUSB jack converter required. Oh, and they’ve got video to prove it. See it after the break.

[Via WMExperts, thanks Guill M.]

Continue reading HTC Touch Pro2 calls dibs on 3.5mm audio jack for Telus and Verizon

HTC Touch Pro2 calls dibs on 3.5mm audio jack for Telus and Verizon originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, GSM, EDGE, EV-DO, HSDPA, UMTS, CDMA, BlackBerry OS

If you’ve had you eye on the Tour, we bet you didn’t forget they were going on sale today — but just in case you had, consider this your official reminder. Both carriers are now offering RIM’s latest and greatest CDMA BlackBerry for $199.99 on contract, so you’re probably not going to see a lot of defections between carriers this time around. Pardon us if we don’t shed a tear for the lack of exclusivity on this one.

Read – Sprint
Read – Verizon

BlackBerry Tours, come and get ‘em on Sprint and Verizon originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sun, 12 Jul 2009 11:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, ATT, Verizon Wireless, Rogers Wireless, GSM, CDMA

You haven’t forgotten about that BlackBerry Storm 2, have you? The Boy Genius Report is claiming it’s gotten device specs for RIM’s touchscreen-centric maven, also reportedly called the 9550, and while not surprising (and not confirmed), according to his source the CDMA device will be sporting 802.11b/g (which we already sort of knew), a 3.2 megapixel camera, 360 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, and BlackBerry OS 5.0. If that’s not enough, the site’s also saying a GSM version of the original, with 3G in tow, does exist as the 9520 and is possibly on track for release soon on AT&T and Rogers. All nice fodder for dreams, but we’re not getting our hopes up until something more official rears its SurePress-laden head.

BlackBerry Storm 2 spec’d, 3G-equipped original en route to AT&T? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Peripherals, GSM, EDGE, EV-DO, HSDPA, UMTS, CDMA, HSUPA

You might imagine that Cradlepoint’s feeling a bit of heat since Novatel released its fantastic MiFi series, since the whole idea behind Cradlepoint’s gear is to turn 3G modems into WiFi access points. It’s cool, though, Cradlepoint managed to find a tricky angle: you can’t charge the MiFi, use it as a USB modem, and have WiFi enabled at the same time! We still think we’d stare, point, and laugh if we were walking through an airport and saw some dude with these two cute little boxes tethered to one another, but we’ve got to admit that this is a pretty big Achilles’ heel that Cradlepoint’s managed to solve here; all it takes is a firmware update for your Cradlepoint, and voilà, you’ve now got MiFi compatibility.

New Cradlepoint firmware turns MiFi into — wait for it — a 3G WiFi router originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Reviews, RIM, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA, BlackBerry OS

It’s here, folks. The BlackBerry Tour has been unboxed, and now that we’ve had a few days to mess around with it, we’re able to tell you how we truly and deeply feel. There have been countless leaks and unofficial reviews circulating for the past few months, but now that it’s finally legit we can give this sexy piece of tech a proper shakedown. It’s been roughly described as a CDMA Bold, but does it surpass its GSM counterpart? Read on to find out!

Continue reading Verizon BlackBerry Tour review

Verizon BlackBerry Tour review originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments