M32 - Shut up, I'm doing stuff

As Windows Mobile 6.5-based handsets go, LG's eXpo unquestionably stands near the top of the pile thanks to its WVGA display, 1GHz Snapdragon core, and optional pico projector hump for the rear -- but there's a problem: it's really, really hard to find. Nigh impossible, actually, especially now that AT&T has pulled it off its online store altogether (it had been showing out of stock for weeks anyway). The reason for that isn't entirely clear -- LG and AT&T are happy to cite "strong demand," naturally, but the company that supplies the eXpo's fingerprint sensor says there are actually some outstanding antenna problems that have the production line backlogged. So when's it coming back? "Soon," according to LG, but in this business we've seen "soon" mean anything from a few minutes to a few years, so that doesn't mean much -- and in the meantime, we're thinking T-Mobile's HD2 stands to eat its lunch.

[Thanks, Luda]

AT&T's LG eXpo pico projects itself right out of stock, production problems to blame? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Want to know how to sell Motorola's CLIQ XT for T-Mobile in 60 seconds? Look no further than this pamphlet that's circulating now that the carrier is (well, probably is) just days away from release, where we learn all about its 3.1-inch display, touch controls, Flash Lite support (avert your eyes, CLIQ users), and pinch-and-zoom browser navigation, all paired up with a 5 megapixel camera and that love-it-or-hate-it Blur skin atop Android 1.5. Between that little pitch and the gallery down below, we figure it'll take you about 60 seconds to finish flipping through the whole mess -- so are you sold, or what?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Gallery: T-Mobile's CLIQ XT pamphlet out and about

T-Mobile's CLIQ XT pamphlet out and about originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Like clockwork, we've just been dropped a line by T-Mobile USA asking us to join them for a very special media event to check out the HTC HD2 -- "a larger than life entertainment powerhouse" -- in fabulous New York City on the evening of March 16. That lines up nicely with the company's earlier assurances that we'd see a launch in March -- but what day in March, exactly? Well, we're hearing from a number of tipsters (including trusted sources) that the 24th is the day this thing breaks loose at retail, so set your watches and calendars accordingly -- assuming you haven't been wooed into Windows Phone 7 Series' tender, loving grasp, that is.

Update: MobiTV -- which has an app bundled with T-Mobile's version of the HD2 -- says the HD2 is launching on the 23rd, and frankly, they're probably in a position to know. Thanks, Stephen!

T-Mobile invites us to 'come experience the HTC HD2' on March 16; release on the 24th? (update: or 23rd!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

It's still far, far too early to call WiMAX a dead technology, but with the second major infrastructure supplier moving away from it in as many months, that's a pretty damning sign, isn't it? After Alcatel Lucent's announcement that it would be scaling back WiMAX investment last month, Cisco has now pulled the plug on its own efforts, citing a desire to stay as "radio-agnostic" as possible in the 4G race. That makes sense for a company that hasn't traditionally played in the wireless game the same way stalwarts like Ericsson and Nokia Siemens have, but the move still lies in stark contrast to Cisco's 2007 acquisition of Navini Networks that brought a host of WiMAX-focused equipment into the fold. Of course, CDMA has managed just fine in the shadow of GSM's global domination over the past decade, so these early warning signs could amount a fat load of nothing by the time we've reached a 4G steady state.

Another one bites the dust: Cisco steps out of the WiMAX game originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

So you thought awesome gear never made the transition from Korea to the USA, huh? Not so in the case of the infamous sausage stylus we spotted a month ago. That cold weather peripheral -- allowing its ingenious users to operate a capacitive touchscreen with gloves on -- has made the big leap over to the Americas and can be yours for the low (seriously low) price of $0.99. Naturally, it's a sausage, so it will be compatible with not just iPhones but anything receptive to capacitive touch, although you should be cognizant of the "not for consumption" label -- compatibility with human stomachs is unlikely.

Sausage stylus for the iPhone now on sale in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

We know from a brief spat of iPhone 3GS controversy that OpenGL ES 2.0 brings a new level of immersive realism to 3D gaming on mobile devices, so Android developers (and users, for that matter) should be delighted to hear that a new release of the official Native Development Kit exposes its capabilities to anyone targeting Android 2.0 or higher. As a refresher, the so-called NDK is a bolt-on to the standard Android SDK that gives folks the ability to write and compile critical pieces of functionality in native code, closer to the processor without that pesky Java virtual machine standing in the way -- in other words, it's exactly what gamers and game devs need to make Android a serious gaming platform, and better access to badass 3D capabilities are a fun little piece of the puzzle. The latest NDK's available for download now -- so seriously, hurry up and go wow us with your revolutionary first-person shooter. Git!

Android NDK hits Release 3, brings OpenGL ES 2.0 access to devs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The ability to remotely schedule DVR recordings hasn't hit every Comcast system yet (c'mon Ann Arbor) but that hasn't stopped the company from delivering version 2.0 of the Comcast Mobile app on iPhone (Blackberry is "coming soon," no word on webOS, Android or WP7 plans) complete with the aforementioned myDVR manager, an improved TV Guide browser, push notifications for emails and voicemails and more. Comcast Voices blogger Scott McNulty has put together a pretty thorough video demo, embedded after the break (also there for comparison, our video walkthrough of the original release), so give it a look while we doublecheck... again to see if our DVR has gotten a new firmware update, or punch the read link to go straight to the App Store and download.

[Thanks, Simon]

Continue reading Comcast Mobile 2.0 for iPhone flashes remote DVR scheduling skills on video

Comcast Mobile 2.0 for iPhone flashes remote DVR scheduling skills on video originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/tech_news/AT_T_s_Motorola_Backflip_doesn_t_allow_non_Market_apps'; Let's step into the time warp, shall we? Specifically, we'd like to go back to our interview of AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega at MWC last year when we asked him about the carrier's support for Android (or lack thereof): Chris: Okay, and expanding on that a little bit, I heard you speak at CTIA last year and you mentioned that... you mentioned basically the same comments about Android at that time. You said that you thought that it was promising, you liked what you saw, but that was at a time when there were a lot of questions about why AT&T wasn't in the OHA. I'm wondering if your thoughts, your opinions have changed since then. Has AT&T's direction with Android changed at all?

Ralph: No, actually, I think that they have been somewhat validated in that... we like the Android as an operating system on its own, but we want to make sure that we have, and customers have the option, to put applications on that device that are not just Google applications, so when the G1 came out and T-Mobile launched it, it's primarily a Google phone. And we want to give customers the choice of other applications on that device, not just the same Google applications.

Chris: So you're basically waiting for Android to be de-branded, so to speak?

Ralph: Well, to be open. (Laughter.) Right? I mean, the whole idea behind Android is that it's gonna be an open OS, and so I don't wanna roll an open OS to market that has primarily Google apps on it, and I think that's gonna happen. I mean, I see a lot of activity, I think it's got a good future, and I think it makes a lot of sense that the OS is open-source, separate from Google apps that are also very good. A year later, enter the Motorola Backflip -- AT&T's very first Android device. Does it hold true to de la Vega's principles? Well, it depends on whose glasses you read the statements through. Yes, true, it definitely doesn't have "primarily Google apps on it" thanks to the carrier's questionable decision to remove Google search and replace it with Yahoo -- but as for giving "customers the choice of other applications," that's another matter altogether. It seems that Backflips are being shipped without the ability to turn on non-Market installations, meaning that AT&T has effectively locked you into getting all of your content through the walled garden. Add in the Yahoo debacle and the egregious amount of unremovable crapware they've left in ROM, and we start to wonder: why did AT&T bother partnering up with Android if they weren't going to take it seriously? Certainly doesn't bode well for the Mini 3 and the rest of the pack, now, does it?

Motorola Backflip doesn't allow non-Market apps, proves AT&T doesn't get Android originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Wired broadband is all well and good, but significantly more high-speed internet access is going to come via wireless over the next several years, and everyone involved -- the carriers, the CTIA, and the FCC -- knows that it's going to be a technical challenge to meet that reality. Spectrum is one thing, but the bytes need somewhere to go once they hit the towers; that's where backhaul comes into play. AT&T and T-Mobile have both recently pimped fiber upgrades that should significantly widen the tubes connecting cell sites to the backbone, but they aren't going it alone: cable companies see the writing on the wall, too, and are looking to backhaul for a profitable new line of business. It turns out that Time Warner Cable tripled its backhaul revenue last year alone and is said to be making a heavy push to sign new deals with both AT&T and Verizon; AT&T, of course, has famously had trouble keeping its 3G network humming smoothly in Manhattan over the last 18 months as an endless barrage of iPhones slam it, so TWC probably sees this as a clutch opportunity since they basically own the cable market in New York. For its part, AT&T won't discuss its backhaul deals -- but it's told us in recent months that it has a backhaul advantage over some of its competitors since it operates a huge DSL business, so it's hard to gauge exactly how much benefit AT&T could reap by taking TWC up on its offer. Now, if Time Warner had some spectrum it wanted to offload, that'd be another matter altogether.

Time Warner Cable offering its tubes to AT&T, Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

As the clock ticks down on Verizon's opening salvo of commercial LTE availability, PR noise is growing into a dull roar -- not to say we necessarily mind, considering how desperately we're looking forward to more 4G footprint in the States. Today, the company is reporting that engineers have managed to coax up to 40-50Mbps down and 20-25Mbps up out of its test networks currently deployed in Boston and Seattle -- not what we can expect in a real-world environment where you're on a train surrounded by obstacles and other people trying to use the network, but a pretty nice, round set of numbers nonetheless. In actual usage, they're reporting more down-to-Earth figures of 5-12Mbps down (count on 5) and 2-5Mbps up (count on 2), which still bests EV-DO Rev. A by a healthy margin. Of course, this is just the beginning -- LTE will get better over time -- so this sounds like a nice start.

Verizon plays the obvious card: its 4G trials are faster than 3G originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

In Nokia's own words, what we're looking at is a "piezoelectric kinetic energy harvester." Working along the same principles as kinetic wristwatches have done for a long time already, Nokia's idea is to capture the energy generated by the phone's movements and to refashion it into beautiful, clean-as-a-whistle electric power. By allowing the heavier internal components to move on rails within the phone as part of a "force-transferring assembly," the Espoo think tank has figured out a way to capitalize on all the small forces of acceleration and rotation that we subject our phones to on a daily basis. It would seem overly ambitious to expect this to replace the trusty old charger, but we give credit to Nokia for even thinking about it. Check out some schematics of how this would work after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Nokia wants patent on self-regenerating phone batteries, piezoelectrics and much magic involved

Nokia wants patent on self-regenerating phone batteries, piezoelectrics and much magic involved originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

We don't see too many Gigabyte phones in these parts, but all indications seem to suggest that the company is throwing in with Android for future handset releases (which is what we would recommend, if it ever asked us -- which it doesn't). As we wait eagerly for the GSmart Android phone to make its debut, which should happen any second now (right, guys?) we have word of a second Donut-powered device with the oh-so-unappealing name Codfish. According to PointGPhone, this bad boy is of "good manufacturing quality," "very responsive," and counts among its many charms a 3.2-inch display and 5 megapixel camera. We're just hoping that Codfish is either a codename or translates into something really bad-ass in Mandarin.

Gigabyte 'Codfish' Android 1.6 handset outed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

HTC's HD2 is a near perfect combination of physical hardware and silicon that delivers impressive performance on a device that's surprisingly sleek given the display's massive 4.3-inch exapanse. Even Microsoft's much maligned Windows Mobile 6.5 is expertly masked by HTC's Sense interface. So it's easy to understand the anticipation felt by the HD2's first US release, questions of a Windows Phone 7 OS upgrade path notwithstanding. T-Mobile has the release honors and is now showing the HD2 as "coming soon" in its phone inventory. We've also got the first "in the wild" shots courtesy of TmoNews showing that big Blockbuster shortcut linked front and center for downloading On Demand movies directly to the device. Still no firm price or date but $199.99 on contract ($449.99 unlocked) sometime around 24 March sounds about right. One more shot with official T-Mobile branding after the break; the rest at the source link below.

Update: Tipster Nigel spotted a "†" footnote to nothing (yet) at the bottom of the page that requires 4 payments of $112.50 (or 20 payments of $22.50). That's $450, matching the rumored price of the unlocked handset.

[Thanks Taylor]

Continue reading HTC HD2 breaks free in the T-Mobile USA wilds

HTC HD2 breaks free in the T-Mobile USA wilds originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Looks like someone else out there thinks that non-removable batteries are seriously uncool. Olive Telecommunications' FrvrOn V-G2300 is a GSM phone with a 1.5-inch color display display and an FM radio -- small potatoes, right? That is, until you take into account the fact that it's dual-powered: not only does it pack a rechargeable Li-ion battery, but should that run out you can get an additional hour's worth of talk time from any standard AAA battery. Indeed, this is a pretty sweet deal if you're living / traveling in an area without consistent power. Throw in a decent price point ($37) and we're guessing this would do pretty well in Madhya Pradesh. Get a closer look for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Olive Telecom India announces AAA-powered handset

Olive Telecom India announces AAA-powered handset originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Here's a little spicy rumor for you Palm fans on this tranquil Sunday: according to TopTongueBarry who claims to work for AT&T, his company has just finished certification tests with GSM flavors of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus ahead of a possible April 26th launch -- a date not far from what we've heard earlier. However, the bigger news from Barry is that the big A will soon be testing a third mysterious webOS device by the name of Palm Elan, which may greet us mere mortals on May 10th (but possibly in Europe first). Another forum member Shadow-360 also dug up some cached pages that claimed to have accessories for the non-existent device, as pictured above. Of course, this could be just a crude joke for a keyboard-less Palm device that many of us seem to desire -- as reminded by the good folks at PreCentral, Elan is also the name of the company that sued Apple over multitouch patents last April. So, any thoughts on this leak? Are we all ready for a new webOS phone?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Turns out the Elan may just be the Pixi. Or it could be your wildest dreams about to come true.

Palm Elan to be the next webOS smartphone, heading to AT&T? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Heads-up, kids -- AT&T's first-ever slice of Android is now available. Just let that sink in a minute. Feels good, doesn't it? Motorola's Backflip has gone on sale just as promised, and that debatably awesome Blur action can be yours for $99.99 after mail-in rebate and a 2-year agreement. So, you pulling the trigger, or you are you waiting for whatever Dell and / or HTC are bringing to the party?

[Thanks, mittens]

Motorola Backflip now on sale at AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Just days following its announcement, the FCC saw fit to grant Nokia's low-end C5 all the regulatory approval it needs (well, not all, but some) to start hitting shelves stateside. Whether it'll actually be sold in any official capacity in North America is another story altogether -- but the prospect of a sub-$200 unlocked smartphone from any top-tier manufacturer is a difficult one to ignore; in any event, this isn't the model you'll be seeing in American stores since it's quadband GSM with 900 / 2100MHz 3G only. While you wait for manufacturing to ramp up, there's a 91-page manual included with the filing for you to flip through, so you may as well get started.

Nokia C5 wastes no time getting FCC blessing originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/microsoft/single_game_running_on_Windows_Windows_phone_iPhone'; Guess we don't have to wait until MIX to have all our Windows Phone 7 Series questions answered! Microsoft's Eric Rudder, speaking at TechEd Middle East, showed off a game developed in Visual Studio as a singular project (with 90% shared code) that plays on Windows with a keyboard, a Windows Phone 7 Series prototype device with accelerometer and touch controls, and the Xbox 360 with the Xbox gamepad. Interestingly, not only is the development cross-platform friendly, but the game itself (a simple Indiana Jones platformer was demoed) saves its place and lets you resume from that spot on whichever platform you happen to pick up. Pretty impressive stuff, and while the words "Windows Phone 7 Series" weren't spoken by Eric, the use of the prototype ASUS device and the clear emphasis that this would place on Xbox Live for making the magic happen make it obvious that this is the "wave of the future" for all three platforms -- at least for casual gaming. Check out the demo on video below the fold.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Microsoft shows off single game running on Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox

Microsoft shows off single game running on Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

As mocoNews points out, Google CEO Eric Schmidt made a fascinating (if not obvious) observation at his MWC keynote last month: for his company, mobile's now the primary focus while the desktop plays a secondary role. Yahoo seems to be reaching a similar conclusion on news that it has officially broken up its Mobile unit, instead moving mobile-focused employees into other divisions within the organization -- in other words, mobile will become integral to every group rather than an afterthought pushed to a separate set of bodies. Yahoo's been playing second fiddle to Google and Microsoft in this game -- understandably so, considering both of its biggest competitors have their own mobile operating systems -- but it remains to be seen how big of an impact this'll have. Defaulting an Android-powered phone to Yahoo search is a good start, we suppose.

Yahoo smites dedicated Mobile group originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/tech_news/AT_T_Announces_Slew_of_Network_Investments_for_2010'; AT&T's preaching about the mucho dinero it's dropping into renovating its network to pretty much anyone who'll listen these days, and a veritable cornucopia of press releases this week start to go into detail on some of the upgrades we'll be seeing over the course of 2010. We're counting at least a dozen here, covering everything from New York City to Florida to Oklahoma, but the message is basically the same in every one: more cell sites, more 3G coverage, more backhaul. AT&T liberally pimps its nine-figure investments in most states over the past several years, too -- but of course, phones need spectrum to communicate, not blank checks and promises. Let's see how we finish the year after those iPads, next-gen iPhones, and AT&T-compatible Nexus Ones (our fingers are crossed) have had a chance to slam the airwaves for a bit, shall we?

AT&T announces slew of network investments for 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments