Even if all you Samsung Epic 4G owners out there were particularly naughty this year, Sprint will give you some festive love the day after Christmas: a much anticipated Froyo update for your favourite toy.
Of course, Froyo is by now getting a little stale, with the much fresher (and festively themed) Gingerbread on the scene, but that doesn’t mean you guys won’t enjoy the extra speed that the Just-In-Time compiler brings, or the ability to install applications to the external memory. → Read More
If there’s anything that my cold, black heart loves, it’s slide-out phone keyboards (and fluffy bunny wabbits). So, despite its enormous name, and fact that I’ll never see it in my home country of Australia, I like the HTC EVO Shift 4G.
So, I’m happy to report news today of some more spy shots of the HTC E-S-4 emerging over at Phone Arena. And not just spy shots, mind you, also information. And if there’s anything I love more than than slide-out phone keyboards and fluffy bunny wabbits, it’s information.
So, on with it then! → Read More
Verizon has a shiny new 4G network, but only have a USB modem that you can use with it.
We’ve previously heard rumours of two HTC phones making their way over to the big red 4G waves in 2011, but Verizon have now said — in a WSJ interview with Verizon chief operating officer, John Stratton — that Motorola will soon bring a handset to their new network. → Read More
Like we needed any more evidence that the Galaxy S is slowly taking over the world, but Samsung recently announced that they have sold 2 million Galaxy S units since its June launch in their home country of Korea.
They also announced that, at 9.3 million worldwide sales since launch, Samsung are on track to reach 10 million sales by the year’s end — giving the Galaxy S the (somewhat dubious, given the number of variants out there) title of first Android handset to hit the 8 figures mark. → Read More
Now, I have a pretty good idea that pretty much every Nexus One owner out there is overly eager for the Android 2.3 (aka Gingerbread) update to be pushed to their handsets. And now, in lieu of an actual date, we have a vague idea of the kind of wait you’re in for. According to Google’s Nexus Twitter account, you Nexus One owners will get the update “in the coming weeks.” What that’s not good enough for you? Perhaps take some of Google’s advice, and “hang tight” while enjoying the remainder of the silly season. [via Mobile Burn] → Read More
If you thought that Best Buy selling the Droid 2 Global for $100, or the Droid Pro for $50, was a crazy-mad bargain, it seems that you weren’t the only one.
Engadget are reporting that Best Buy have issued a “stop sale” on the two handsets, and are officially dubbing it a recall. It’s so serious, in fact, that it seems Verizon are no longer activating any phones bought at Best Buy.
But, with no serious issues known on the handsets, why would they do such a thing?
Jump through the break for the full, sordid tale. → Read More
In order to better judge the hardware requirements for some ready-made satellites that Skynet Google may or may not be making in the future, Google decided it would be a pretty cool idea to strap a few of its brand-spankin’ new Nexus S phones to some weather balloons, and send them skyward and out into the edges of our atmosphere.
There, the phones met with tiny little aliens, and they discussed the future of smartphone computing. You can clearly see one of the little fellows peeking into the camera in the screenshot, above.
Don’t just take my word for it, though, check it for yourself in the video, after the jump. → Read More
It’s not really news to anyone reading this blog that Nokia have kinda fallen behind in the smartphone race. That isn’t to say that they won’t catch up again, but as far as ranking devices on compelling user experiences goes, Nokia aren’t leading the pack.
Well, it’s good to know that they’re trying to change all that, with Nokia senior manager Gunther Kottzieper announcing at the 2010 International Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing on Tuesday that the first of many incremental upgrades to Symbian OS coming in 2011 will arrive in Q1, and include more than 50 enhancements, including an updated user interface for the browser.
But no, they’re not stopping there! Jump on past the break for the full skinny on what else Nokia have up their sleeves. → Read More
Huawei, makers of the super cheap Ideos U8150 (aka T-mobile Comet) Android phone, announced this week two new (and likely cheaper than you’d expect) Android handsets: the Ideos X5 and Ideos X6.
First up, the Ideos X5 comes with a 3.8″ capacitive screen, 5MP camera with LED flash, WiFI b/g/n, GPS/A-GPS, and HSPA/HSUPA.
Playing the roll of big brother, the Ideos X6 packs a beastly 4.1″ screen, 1GHz CPU, 5MP camera with flash and HD video support, WiFi b/g/n, GPS/AGPS, HSPA+ 14.4mbps compatibility, and HDMI out.
More info and full press release after the jump. → Read More
Virtualization. There are few words quite as able to make a geek’s heart all a-flutter. Teaming it up with a smartphone? Man, you gonna give a geek a cardiac arrest!
LG have now teamed up with VMware to help bring virtualization to the smartphone world.
But why? Well, it’s purely for the enterprise geeks.
Having to carry two phones around is a pain in the ash, but the requirements of enterprise phones are usually so specific (and restrictive) that you can’t really use your personal phone as a work phone. What’s the solution? Put a seperate work phone inside your personal phone using the magic of virtualization. → Read More
Luxury phones, eh? There’s something peculiar about the idea that glueing bits of shiny mineral to a phone increases its worth by 25x.
I mean, I know that diamonds are rare, and I know that they are representative of your social status, but I just can’t comprehend the value in shelling out £15,000 for a device that otherwise costs £599.
Ok, so they throw in a cool phone number (they give the example of 07XXX 111111), and also a 24hr global concierge service, and hey, you can even snag one in white… → Read More
As the eventual launch of Sony’s not-Playstation-branded Playstation phone nears, leaks inevitably start to happen with greater frequency.
Today’s leak? A super-secret spy video filled with intrigue, espionage, evil geniuses, and — yes — even the Playstation Phone*!
Jump on past the break to have a gander. → Read More
If you’re the type of person that craves high download speeds, but doesn’t go for the whole “smartphone” thing (plus you live in SF), then — as strange as it may sound — MetroPCS have you covered.
Today MetroPCS launched their LTE network in San Francisco, and — just like before — are only offering the one device to use on it.
Namely, the Samsung Craft.
Yup, it’s a featurephone. I dunno, maybe you want it so you can be ironic or something. → Read More
If you’ve been drooling over that LG Tegra 2 powered 4″ beast that we recently spied, but wanting more than what a few spy shots can deliver, then check this out: there’s now a video available.
The guys over at GSM Israel have managed to get their hands on the device, and have given it not only a thorough photo-shoot, but also a video. → Read More
If you can’t wait until January to add custom ringtones to your new Windows Phone 7 handset, and aren’t afraid of a little hackery (and warranty-void-ery), then listen up: the same folks behind the WP7 unlock and side-load tool have just released their custom ringtone manager for WP7.
Now, this isn’t as simple as loading up a ringtone Android stylee, so check out the caveats after the jump. → Read More
In an interview with Mobilized today, Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci mentioned that they are working to create a Windows Phone 7 powered handset.
Gianfranco also talked about why they originally turned to Android (over Windows Mobile 6.5), and why Windows Phone 7 has them interested again.
Jump on past the break for the quote, and an unrelated video. → Read More
Do you remember that 4″ beast from LG that we talked about the other week? Well, a member of the Android Forums managed to get his hands on one, and has done a little photo-shoot with it. He’s also unearthed a name and some specs.
First up, the name: LG Star. No idea if that’ll make it to retail, but that’s what it’s called at the moment.
Jump on past the break for the specs. → Read More
Google/Samsung’s well-leaked follow up to the Nexus One — the Nexus S — has once again shown up in some super-secret spyshots, this time, however, we’re treated to a close-up look at its curved display.
Yes, those wonderful folks over at XDA have managed to get their hands on some top-secret pics of the upcoming device, including the yet-to-be-announced Android Gingerbread release.
Notably, they confirm that Gingerbread will, indeed, be v2.3 of Android. Although we pretty much knew that already.
Their tipster also confirmed (well, sort of) some of the specs, which you can see after the jump. → Read More
Our brother-from-another-mother, Engadget, is currently showing off some super-secret spy-shots of what his tipster says is an upcoming Tegra 2 powered Motorola Olympus “iPhone killer”.
Clichéd sentiments aside, what it does look like is a modified Motorola Defy, but — as Engadget point out — with an elongated speaker, different volume controls, and what could very well be a front-facing camera. → Read More
