Filed under: Handsets, LG, Orange
We’ve been tracking
LG’s G910 pretty closely since it was announced late last year, because as you can clearly see it’s a
videophone in a watch and that concept doesn’t get your gadget senses tingling you’re probably dead inside. But, we were somewhat afraid when early reports indicated that the couture-phone’s exclusive partner in Europe, Orange, was going to be engaging in a bit of
price gouging, selling the thing at a whopping £1,000 / €1,144 (about $1,500 at the time — now well over $1,600 thanks to our flimsy currency). The official price has finally been confirmed, and it’s an ever so slightly more palatable figure of €899 ($1,290) when signing up for a 12 or 24 month contract. That’s still too rich for our blood, or wrists, but hopefully you fabulously wealthy commenters will give us some real-world impressions free of
marketing inanity.
LG’s GD910 watchphone cheaper than expected, still worth more than your Dick Tracy collection originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, Sprint, Android
Ûber-green Reclaim might be taking center stage today, having found itself a home with Sprint, but Samsung had a couple other forward-thinking comments that we think are worth highlighting. For starters, the Now Network should expect to carry a high-end, AMOLED device from the phone maker in the fourth quarter of this year. That description, however, fits the bill for any number of Sammy phones currently in the works — if we had to take a shot in the dark, we’d be anxious to know what screen technology is inside the oft-rumored InstinctQ. Looking ahead to 2010, Reclaim product manager mentioned to NY Times that it’ll be launching an Android device “for well under $100″ next year — looks like the HTC Click is gonna have itself some competition, after all. Hey Sammy, you know what’d be great? A smartphone that was Android, AMOLED, and under $100 — we can dream, can’t we?
Read – High-end AMOLED phone
Read – Sub-$100 Android phone
[Via OLED-info]
High-end Samsung AMOLED phone coming Q4 to Sprint, sub-$100 Android phone due out next year originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Accessories
By far the slickest, most mystical way to charge a smartphone these days comes courtesy of Palm’s Touchstone system — but that doesn’t do iPhone owners much good, which is where WildCharge steps up to the plate with a jacket that makes all iPhone models compatible with its wire-free charging mat. It’s not as elegant by any stretch of the imagination, but if you squint a little, the jacket (or “adapter skin,” as WildCharge calls it) looks like a totally believable case that you might buy in your local Apple store, especially if you can get past the hump at the bottom. iPhone Buzz took the $79.99 pad / jacket combo for a spin recently, and while they’ve yet to post impressions, the shots of the system doing its thing in its natural habitat might be enough to turn folks on or off. Ultimately, we still think we fall on the “just drop it on the dock before you go to bed” side of this argument — especially considering the weird hump-laden jacket with exposed metal contacts on back — but if you’re looking for an easy way to charge from a second location that doubles as a conversation piece, WildCharge might have your answer.
If Apple had a huge, shiny Touchstone: WildCharge for iPhone checked out originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 08:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: ATT
If you find yourself frequently dialing Guadalajara, Chihuahua, or La Paz, you might take a gander at a newly-introduced calling plan from AT&T that’s offering a package of features custom-tailored to the needs of the carrier’s largest long-distance destination. The so-called “Viva Mexico” plan bundles 1,000 anytime minutes for use in the US and Mexico, a total annhiliation of international long-distance charges, and the ability to benefit from rollover on the Mexico-friendly minutes. This all only applies to voice — messaging and data are still on the hook for international fees — but if voice is your thing, it’s might be worth the $54.99 AT&T is commanding for individual plans (or $84.99 for two lines on a family plan).
[Via Phone Scoop]
AT&T’s new ‘Viva Mexico’ plan serves up bucket of minutes originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS
Eldar Murtazin over at mobile-review has chimed in on those alleged Nokia N97 Mini shots that leaked last week — and as anyone who follows the mobile industry knows, when the ridiculously well-connected Eldar speaks, folks tend to listen. The dude says that the N97 Mini is very much real, as is the name, which — get this — he claims was leaked by Nokia itself in an effort to stave off an unnamed competitor who’d also been planning to release a smaller version of one of its handsets with a “Mini” label slapped on the name. At any rate, the N97 Mini apparently isn’t pulling any punches — it’s said to be exactly what you see, little more than a smaller N97 with a reconfigured keyboard and no camera lens cover. That sounds like a tough sell at first, especially when you throw in Eldar’s claim that it’ll step down to 8 and 16GB versions from the N97’s 32GB, but the good news is that Espoo’s seemingly looking to get this on the market for about €100 less ($144) than the N97. As for an official announcement, Eldar says that Nokia’s planning to unveil it at Nokia World next month; the original model was revealed at last year’s show, and frankly, we’re hoping for a little bit more innovation than this by the time they’re done unveiling the new lineup. Rover, perhaps?
[Via Unwired View]
Nokia N97 Mini is seriously just a smaller, cheaper N97, it seems originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Software, Android
Of Android’s weaknesses that prevent it from seeing wider-scale acceptance, its lack of any native enterprise-friendly features has to rank high on the list; sure, HTC and others have taken baby steps to smooth that situation over, but it’s going to take a more deep-rooted effort from the OHA proper to fully support policies and those other totally boring security features that make corporate IT managers swoon. Without going into too much detail, Android patron saint Andy Rubin is now saying that business-specific capabilities will be baked into the platform’s trunk this year — though he cautions that the timing for manufacturers to pick up that code and include it in retail devices is totally out of his control (in other words, you realistically shouldn’t expect them this year). With Google, Palm, and Apple all gradually making headway into the suitspace — yes, we just made that word up — we’re guessing RIM’s gotta be feeling a little heat.
[Via mocoNews]
Google warming up to enterprise support in Android this year originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, Palm, Sprint
If you love the Pre, but hate Best Buy or Sprint, now you’ve got the option of nabbing one through an online reseller you can live with: Amazon. The device has just popped up on the super-retailer’s site, and like the aforementioned blue and yellow reseller, you don’t have to worry about any pesky mail-in rebates — the phone is $199.99 out the virtual door. Also of note, you can nab the non-contract version for $499.99, which is a $50 savings over the Sprint pricing, and certainly a value compared to Best Buy’s $749.99 price tag. Only bummer note? Amazon says these babies won’t ship for 4 to 6 weeks… which basically sucks.
[Via PhoneNews]
Palm Pre sales go live at Amazon originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, Android
Hm, maybe Motorola should have stuck with the render a while longer, cause this first shot of the Verizon-bound Sholes Android smartphone is looking mighty rough. Of course, it is just a blurrycam leak, and there’s a chance we’re not seeing this set’s true beauty, but honestly, we’re not sure even the most loving press photographer can make that red D-pad attractive. We’ll find out soon enough, if things go as planned.
Motorola Sholes Android phone for Verizon appears in the flesh originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Motorola, Misc
See that image there on the right? Yeah, it’s a pretty drastic departure from the Sad Moto[TM] face that had become all too common when talking about the company’s financials. Just a quarter after posting a dreadful $291 million loss, the outfit responsible for creating the RAZR and then doing nothing for half a decade is finally showing a profit once more. The Q2 numbers show an “unexpected” $26 million profit on sales of $5.5 billion, $1.8 billion of which came from the handset division. Of course, that very division managed to lose $253 million and see its global market share slip to 5.5 percent, but with a big bang from Android reportedly just months away, CEO Sanjay Jha ain’t taking time to frown.
Just hours after the Verizon-branded Sholes smartphone surfaced, Mr. Jha was quoted as saying that two Android devices would be “in stores for the holiday season,” with launches occurring on “two major carriers in North America and multiple carriers outside the US.” He also noted that plans were in place to ship “several additional Android-based devices in the first quarter of 2010,” but details beyond that were vague. So, is this the beginning of a new, happier Moto? Our aged copy of Photoshop certainly hopes so.
Read – Motorola’s Q2 results
Read – Jha on future Android devices
Motorola posts $26m Q2 profit, promises cheap Android thrills, does a little dance originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA
The word “Rogue” conjures images of awesome X-Men characters, small Nissan SUVs, and badasses who don’t take crap from nobody — but QWERTY sliders on Verizon? We’ll admit, we didn’t see that one coming. The would-be Glyde replacement is apparently lined up for a release date around the 15th of August, and we’re seeing it now for the first time in pristine press shots following some in-the-wild action early in the month. We can tell already that it’s going to be a better-looking phone than its predecessor, and the word on the street is that it works as good as it looks; if anything, it’s a shame they didn’t just go ahead and slap WinMo on here and call it an Omnia Pro. Can’t win ‘em all, we suppose.
Samsung’s u960 Rogue for Verizon has best name ever; looks alright, too originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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