Filed under: Handsets, Verizon Wireless, Windows Mobile, Android, BlackBerry OS
Verizon’s getting very keen on entering the app store industry, but not without some rough decrees to its smartphone partners. According to GigaOm, VP Partner Management Ryan Hughes said in an interview Friday that its shop will house content from all the major platforms under one roof, with purchases being billed through the customer’s Verizon account and not requiring a separate signup / credit card entry. Convenient for consumers, and devs are also being promised a more streamlined approval process and a “competitive” revenue-sharing program, but here’s where things take a turn for the worse: according to Hughes, non-VZW app stores like BlackBerry App World or Windows Mobile Marketplace won’t be bundled with the smartphones out of the box, meaning consumers will have to take the initiative to download those portals for themselves. An incredibly jerk move, and an extra burden on developers who’ll be having to submit two approval applications if they want inclusion on Verizon’s own store. Of course, that large subscriber base is the reason it can get away with it, but let’s hope we hear some better justifications other than “because we can” when the full details are rolled out at the Verizon Developer Community Conference on July 28th.
Verizon to its smartphones: thou shalt have no other app store before mine originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, HTC
Better late than never, we suppose. Our friends at Mobile Crunch have it on word from a HTC spokesperson that a “vast majority of devices we launch after Hero” are gonna be including a 3.5mm headphone jack as a standard feature. The rep also added that devices already announced would “not necessarily be part of this change,” which while not ruling it out entirely, doesn’t get our hopes up. Still, it’s refreshing to know the future generations won’t be beholden to the adapter-laden shackles of its ancestors — so Lancaster, where will you fall in all this mess?
[Via Smartphone Thoughts]
HTC’s redemption song: 3.5mm jacks coming to ‘vast majority’ of post-Hero devices originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, LG
To say that the Chocolate was a hit for LG would be similar to saying the PlayStation 2 went over well for Sony. Indeed, the outfit’s best selling handset ever (21 million units worldwide) holds a special place in the hearts of suits and shareholders alike, so it’s hardly a shock to see the company issuing a next-generation version of the device. Slated to fall into LG’s Black Label series, the phone — which is simply dubbed the ’second generation LG Chocolate’ for now — will be fully unveiled in August, with bits and pieces to be strategically dropped during the run-up. The only real hint at features that we’re given is the following: “The new LG Chocolate will be a disruptive force in conventional mobile screens in an effort to maximize usability while inheriting the original minimalist-inspired style and iconic design of its predecessor.” Haptics? OLED? A portal into the future? Only time will tell.
Update: The typically reliable Tweakers.net has come through with a few more details, namely that this here phone will become the first of its kind with a 21:9 aspect ratio display (much like Philips’ 56-inch Cinema HDTV). We’re also told that the model number will be BL-40, the screen resolution will be pegged at 800 x 345, the display itself will be over 3-inches diagonally, the inbuilt camera will be 5 megapixels and HSDPA will be included. Now, if only we knew how the UI would handle…
[Via Engadget Spanish]
LG teases next-generation Chocolate for August unveiling originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, Apple, iPhone OS
Seriously folks, what’s up with these prototype iPhones falling out of nondescript white vans and ending up on eBay in the shadiest of manners? Just months after we saw an original iPhone prototype (ancient OS included) pop up on The ‘Bay, now we’ve got one of the world’s first iPhone 3GSs on there as well. According to the highly ranked eBay seller, the “guy” he “got it from” actually stumbled upon it at an airport, and rather than doing the nonsensical thing of hitting up lost and found, he decided to make the most of the sudden opportunity. According to the new owner, an Apple Genius has confirmed that it is an iPhone 3GS, but due to its prototype nature, they can’t help him get past the “Connect to iTunes” screen. In other words, it’s an incredibly rare brick. If that sounds like just the thing to complete your collection, you can visit the road to overpaying through the read link below.
[Via ElectricPig]
iPhone 3GS prototype scooped up at airport, now on eBay originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, Palm, O2, Vodafone, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, webOS
We heard way back at CES that a GSM Pre was in the works, but not until now have we heard who exactly in the world would be using it. According to confirmation received by T3, Palm is gearing up to disclose the whos, whats and wheres behind the UK launch next week, meaning that we’ve got seven days (give or take) to twiddle our thumbs until we know which carrier (O2 or Vodafone, most likely), how much and when it’ll be available for purchase. We know it’s agonizing, but at least you’ve a time frame to circle in your Trapper Keeper now, right?
Palm to disclose UK Pre launch details next week? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Culture
Do you understand your smartphone… really understand it? Know its moods, its wants, its desires? A survey hosted by Best Buy Mobile shows that half of people don’t, with 47 percent saying the things confuse the heck out of them, while 60 percent of those aged 35 – 49 feel that people with smartphones spend too much time working and not enough time playing Wii Sports Bowling. Those feelings of confusion and ire doesn’t stop a “sizable segment” of the rest of the 1,000 people surveyed from wanting a handset with brains, with most desiring access to the sort of apps you can’t get on dumbphones, and 14 percent of women saying that playing games was “very important” — only nine percent of men said the same. Sadly, there was no figure indicating how many people enjoy paying too much for text messages and signing their lives away on lengthy contracts.
Best Buy-sponsored survey shows that Americans want smartphones even though they don’t understand them originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Android
We doubt the July 15 delivery date is set in stone, but UK residents itching to get a little Hero in their lives are now able to pre-order HTC’s latest for £429 ($708). That’s pretty much what we’d expect for an unlocked set, but Orange is planning to offer the Hero free on contract, so we’d be inclined to hang on just a teensy bit longer. Video after the break.
[Via Phandroid]
Continue reading HTC Hero up for pre-order on Amazon UK: £429, July 15 delivery
HTC Hero up for pre-order on Amazon UK: £429, July 15 delivery originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, Others, Android
Mr. BlurryCam, meet Dell’s first cellphone. At least that’s what the forum jockey’s are claiming on Chinese site PDAFans. We have no way to authenticate the claim but whatever we’ve got here is sporting a Dell logo on a Pre-esque handset running Android somewhere in China where the handset is rumored to be launching by the end of the year. A scenario that matches the Dell smartphone rumors to a tee.
[Thanks, LesterW]
Is this Dell’s Android smartphone ditty? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, Others, Android
Mr. BlurryCam, meet Dell’s first cellphone. At least that’s what the forum jockey’s are claiming on Chinese site PDAFans. We have no way to authenticate the claim but whatever we’ve got here is sporting a Dell logo on a Pre-esque handset running Android somewhere in China where the handset is rumored to be launching by the end of the year. A scenario that matches the Dell smartphone rumors to a tee.
[Thanks, LesterW]
Is this Dell’s Android smartphone ditty? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, Peripherals, Others
We knew good and well that Freescale wouldn’t let Qualcomm go and have all the fun with these newfangled smartbooks, and already we’re seeing a few new devices powered by Freescale-branded semiconductors. In the video posted just after the break, the company’s own Steve Sperle sat down to talk about a new Pegatron netbook (which handles 720p video playback with ease) as well as an Inventec “smartbook” which is just marginally larger than your average smartphone. In fact, we’re rather impressed with the layout: a larger-than-average 4-inch display, a slideout QWERTY keyboard and Google’s Android OS. Unfortunately, Mr. Sperle would only stick close to the “later this year” launch time frame that we’d already heard about, but so long as these smartbooks end up looking like overpowered smartphones, you can certainly consider our interest piqued.
Continue reading Freescale netbook and Android-powered smartbook debut
Freescale netbook and Android-powered smartbook debut originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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