InspirePhones.com

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Linux, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

Every week, random, seemingly anonymous Nokia handsets quietly pick up FCC approval. Most will never see the light of day on an American carrier, and the ones that do have usually already been announced so that by the time we figure out what the FCC filing refers to, it’s uninteresting. Today, though, we noticed a Nokia RX-51 get certification, and we were immediately intrigued; standard Nokia phones have an “RM” designation, so “RX” has us thinking that this is no ordinary phone. Taking a peek at the SAR documentation reveals that it rolls deep with AWS 3G, just the kind that T-Mobile USA needs to do its thing. The final piece in this amazing puzzle has to be the ID placement doc, which shows the outline of a device far wider than your standard dumbphone. Where are we going with this? You might recall MobileCrunch’s information from a while back suggesting that T-Mobile USA would be getting a Maemo 5-powered superphone codenamed “Rover” — and, well, we’re pretty sure this is it. Stay tuned — things are about to get interesting.

Nokia device passes FCC for T-Mobile USA, looks an awful lot like a new Internet Tablet to us originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Android

It’s been known that the first iterations of the Symbian Foundation’s platform releases are basically going to amount to S60 5th Edition Feature Packs, but what comes after that? TamsS60 recently had a chat with David Wood — who has the rather fantastical-sounding title of “Catalyst and Futurist” at the Foundation — and he’s managed to set the record straight about how S60 as we know it will be phased out over the next few years to make way for a new (well, mostly new) development stack. Most notably, UI toolkit Qt will replace S60’s legacy Avkon API around Symbian^4, which is expected to solidify in the latter half of 2010; this means that most current S60 applications will break except for low-level things that aren’t using Avkon UI elements. That’s a big deal and a bit of an issue considering the huge installed based of S60 users and apps — but just like tearing off a bandage, it’s gotta be done quickly and correctly for the health of the platform going forward.

Symbian^4 to break compatibility with S60 apps in a big way originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, CDMA

Say you like Samsung’s low-cost texting wizard for MetroPCS, the Messager. In fact, you like it a lot. Problem is, you keep looking at it and saying “it’s missing something.” What could it be? 3G? A 5 megapixel camera? Naw, don’t be crazy — what this baby really needed was a glowing yellow angel on the back. Fortunately, MetroPCS is happy to oblige, hooking up with tattoo wizard Mister Cartoon to offer a customized version of the phone — shell, wallpaper, ringtones, the whole nine yards — which’ll be available later this month. To kick off the new model in style, the regional carrier’s going to be auctioning off the first ten models signed by the big guy himself starting this weekend; if those end up being too rich for your blood, you’ll have dibs on the other 29,990 unsigned versions for a to-be-announced price.

MetroPCS intros Mister Cartoon-tweaked Samsung Messager originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, LG, GSM

Style is commonly considered a luxury; form follows function, as they say. The commoditization of phones over the past fifteen years has done weird things to economics, though, which leads directly to phones like LG’s KG376. You won’t find a single item on the flip’s spec sheet that even begins to interest you (unless you’re really, really into 128 x 128 displays), but it seems that LG intends to market the phone directly at women with an eye for style on account of its purple case with pink accents. It’s got an integrated FM radio and an external light (where you’d normally expect a secondary display to be) that’ll go all blinky on you to indicate messages and the like, but don’t get too excited — it seems pricing and availability are still on the downlow.

LG KG376’s most fascinating feature is its color originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Verizon Wireless

Verizon’s going full-force on its effort to roll out a be-all, end-all app store to its customers, starting with its Verizon Developer Community conference held in San Jose this week where devs schmoozed with carrier peeps, APIs were exchanged, and hands were shaken. Folks submitting apps will be looking at a 70 / 30 revenue split with freebies also allowed, but the real news might be the amount of firepower Verizon’s bringing to the table. The carrier used the conference to introduce the members of its Developer Advisory Board, including eleven firms ranging from Capcom and EA to Slacker to PacketVideo — heavy-hitters who probably know a thing or two about developing and distributing quality apps across multiple platforms. They’ve got the right idea there, but with platforms and carriers both desperately fighting for app attention right now, it still seems like there are going to be way too many cooks in the proverbial kitchen going into 2010.

Verizon Developer Advisory Board stocked to the rafters with heavyweights originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Palm, webOS

While Palm is busily engaged in a game of domination with Apple to see which one can keep iTunes sync working or broken the longest, the Pre homebrew community hasn’t been sitting idle, introducing two new and painless ways to get homemade software up in your handset. The first is a desktop app called WebOS Quick Install that works on Mac, PC, and Linux, allowing installation with just a drag, a drop, and a click. The other is called fileCoaster, enabling users to download and install IPKs right on the phone itself, plus other files too. Two great apps for fans of unofficial softwares and good tidings for a warm future of basement innovation — only a month after the first custom apps came to light.

Installing Pre homebrew apps: now even easier originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, HTC, T-Mobile, Android

Android’s official code repository has been updated with a fresh load of Donut stuff in the past day or so, and as you might imagine, the dev community is already having a field day with it. Early reports show that all of the features demoed at I/O this year have made it into this cut in one form or another, including universal search, text-to-speech, and gesture support, allowing users to draw symbols on the screen to trigger actions. What’s more, though, the codebase is showing signs of CDMA support — a must for Sprint and Verizon, of course, both of whom will almost certainly have Android sets at one point or another — and a cool 5-in-1 bank of toggle switches in a home screen widget that can be used to control common features like Bluetooth and WiFi.

Perhaps more excitingly, the community is hard at work on a couple major fronts here: first off, the Donut build is actively being ported to current handsets, and an Android Dev Phone 1 / T-Mobile G1 version is already available (though very, very crashy and incomplete right now). Secondly, work is being conducted to extract major elements of Donut (some of the new widgets, for example) and roll them into cooked 1.5 builds, making the best stuff available in a more solid, accessible form without having to wait for 2.0 to become stable. If you’re an adventurous — nay, borderline mental — G1 owner, though, you can start your journey to Donut right now.

[Thanks, Yoav R.]

Read – Donut availability
Read – G1 port

Early Android 2.0 “Donut” build available, up and running on G1 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Misc

While in-flight WiFi is slowly becoming a reality in more and more jets going to more and more places, in-flight calling seems to be stuck in a holding pattern. Whether that’s good or bad news depends on your like or dislike of hearing folks blab on their cellys and/or your propensity for wearing headphones mid-flight. If you answered “love it” or “I don’t go nowhere without my Boses” you may want to consider a trip south of the border — that’s Mexico, not the glorified rest stop in South Carolina. Soon, travelers there will no longer have to keep their handsets safely stowed or in airplane mode, with the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, or SCT (the Mexican FCC equivalent), approving cellphones en-masse for flights anywhere in the nation. This cancels an earlier edict made in 2001 banning their use, and while Mexico’s federal government still has to approve things, that’s not expected to take long. So, who’s willing to risk swine flu, gang violence, and other overly-sensationalized risks to get their mid-air talky on?

[Thanks, Xavier M.]

In-flight calling soon to be allowed south of the border originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Android

One more note about that Android-powered HTC Click that we saw in a gloriously-framed shot yesterday morning: it’s going to be cheap. It had been said all along that the Click would mark HTC’s first Android entry into the low-end fray (joining the Touch Viva on WinMo), meaning the sticker price would be kept to a minimum — but the Vietnamese forum that first brought you this picture is saying that we’re looking at somewhere between 5 and 6 million dong, which works out to $280 to $336 unlocked. That’s cheap enough to ensure that it’s free on contract virtually anywhere in the world where it’s sold, bringing Android to a whole new demographic. Now, just call us when the Hero’s down to $280, eh?

Android-powered HTC Click rumored to be crazy cheap unlocked originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Software, ASUS, Others, Linux

Yeah, we’ve seen our fair share of glimpses at Garmin-ASUS’ nüvifone G60, but with the Linux-based phone just weeks away from shipping over in the Far East, these last minute looks are becoming all the more tantalizing. A reviewer over in Malaysia managed to spend a bit of quality time with the handset, and while he’s still waiting for his official review unit, he managed to snag a litany of screenshots that gives us a fantastic idea of what to expect from a user interface perspective. We have to say — we kind of dig the whimsical look at a glance, but it makes us wonder just how serious of a smartphone this thing really is. With Android already out, does this UI look like it has the chops to compete? Hit the read link and let us know.

[Via GPSTracklog, thanks Rich]

Garmin-ASUS nuvifone G60 spills loads of Linux-laced screenshots originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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