As work on the Android “Cupcake” build (Firmware 1.5) continues, the developers continue to slip more little features in under the radar. We were spending a few minutes with the just announced HTC Magic last night, and we noticed one bit in the live folders screen we hadn’t seen before: YouTube Favorites. Live folders are a new addition to Cupcake which allow you to add self-updating folder to the homescreen. Previously, we’d only seen the first three on the list in the screenshot above: All Contacts, Contacts with Phone numbers, and Starred Contacts. The YouTube Favorites live folder, as you probably could guess, pulls your favorites from your YouTube account and makes them accessible with just 2 clicks. It’s the first non-contact-related Live Folder we’ve seen so far – and the one that seems the most useful, as well. → Read More
It wasn’t quite final hardware (the face buttons are slightly different – a bit larger and round) and we weren’t allowed to touch the thing, but we just got back from spending a bit of time with the second-ever Android phone to make its way into a carrier’s line up. The HTC Magic, essentially a polished up and physical keyboard-less G1, totes a 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.2″ HVGA (480×320) capacitive touchscreen, on-screen keyboard, and all of the Google-powered services we’ve come to know and love with Android. Read on for our impressions. Update: We just got to spend a bit of actual one-on-one time with the Magic, and walked away with a few more things to say. → Read More
Earlier today, the GSMA announced that it has successfully brokered a deal with leading handset manufacturers and network operators to standardize mobile chargers by 2012 (for most, but not all cellular phones). The primary goal of this new agreement is to cut down on the environmental impact created by trashing old chargers. According to the AP: The GSMA calculates a reduction in greenhouse gases from manufacturing and transporting replacement chargers of 13.6 to 21.8 million tons a year. Cast-off chargers currently generate more than 51,000 tons of waste a year, it says. → Read More
Oh Samsung OmniaHD, how lovely your 3.7″ AMOLED touchscreen is. Really – it’s friggin’ gorgeous. Be it the 8 megapixel camera, the 720p video recording, or the deafeningly loud stereo speakers, we love just about everything about it from a hardware standpoint – but we’re not too sure about the software. We got to put our mitts all up on the Samsung OmniaHD for far longer than we expected Samsung to allow – read on for our impressions. → Read More
We were just starting to worry that Mobile World Congress 2009 would go without pass by without an Android press announcement, but Vodafone and HTC have swooped in to save they day. They just announced the HTC Magic, a full touchscreen Android device which bears quite the resemblance to the HTC G1 – except with a bit more polish, and without a keyboard. It’s also a perfect match with the shot that leaked out yesterday. The HTC Magic will have a 3.2 megapixel camera, trackball, 3.2″ HVGA (480×320) capacitive touch screen, GPS, accelerometer, and WiFi. Look for it on the shelves this spring exclusively from Vodafone in UK, Spain, Germany and France, and non-exclusively in Italy. No plans have yet been announced for US availability, but it’s something they’re working on. Update: Full specs after the jump. → Read More
We’re live at the relatively low key Vodafone press conference at Mobile World Congress, where they’re apparently announcing the Android-powered HTC G2 – otherwise known as the HTC Magic (Update: They specifically said that this is not being referred to as the G2. Looks like the G-numbering is a T-mo-only thing.) → Read More
We first saw the MiFi 2352 Mobile Hotspot’s CDMA brother back at CES; we loved it then, and we love it just as much in its GSM form. Novatel announced yesterday that Telefónica would be the first carrier to launch the MiFi sometime during this quarter, so we figured we’d stop by their suite to give it a spin. → Read More
In a fairly huge win for VoIP fans everywhere, Skype and Nokia have just announced a partnership to preload Skype onto handsets beginning later this year. But they’re not just throwing the app onto the devices and calling it a day – the integration will run at least contact list deep. Once you’ve tied Skype contacts to their relative contacts in your address book, their Skype status will appear right within the contact list. Both text and voice chat will be supported over 3G or WiFi. The first Nokia device to get the Skype-treatment will be the N97, beginning in Q3 of 2009. Full release after the jump. → Read More
DLP’s first Pico projector phone, Samsung Show aka W7900, is shipping this month in Korea, but DLP just revealed the second generation chipset today at MWC. → Read More
Last week we saw a couple phones drop from Acer, namely the DX650 (which is weird) and the X960 (which is generic). Well, they’ve expanded the lineup and now they’ve got a few more phones ready to hit the market. They all run WinMo 6.1 and with a little luck and legwork we’ll have hands-on with all of them soon. → Read More
Last week we saw a couple phones drop from Acer, namely the DX650 (which is weird) and the X960 (which is generic). Well, they’ve expanded the lineup and now they’ve got a few more phones ready to hit the market. They all run WinMo 6.1 and with a little luck and legwork we’ll have hands-on with all of them soon. → Read More
Microsoft just took the wraps off of the latest WinMo release. Just like the dozens of leaked screenshots indicated, the OS has a totally revamped feel with a Zune-inspired user interface. The Marketplace and MyPhone are included too although details are a bit light at the moment. There isn’t any word about about paid apps or who will host the contents, although we expect those details shortly. Screenshots after the break to tide you over until we get to poke and prod the update. → Read More
We hear about loose-lipped employees leaking stuff all the time around these parts. Less frequently, but still pretty often, companies that have partnered together on a project will unintentionally leak the related products prior to announcement. Least common of all, however, is the treasured occasion in which a company leaks their own product. Such is the case with the 8-megapixel Nokia N86, which makes an appearance in a stray info document (Look out! It’s a PDF.) within the press kit handed out at Mobile World Congress today. “But wait,” you say, “isn’t the entire point of a press kit to provide details on the just-announced products at events like MWC?” Yes – usually, that’s the case. But the N86 has made no other appearance at MWC – neither on stage nor in the rest of the press materials. Besides the form factor, all we can glean from this leak is the N86 model number, the 8MP sensor, and that it’s sporting a Carl Zeiss lens (as that was the topic of the document it was hiding in). As Symbian-Guru points out, the UI sure doesn’t look like it’s built for a touchscreen, so we’re probably looking at a slider here. → Read More
Microsoft just took the wraps off of the latest WinMo release. Just like the dozens of leaked screenshots indicated, the OS has a totally revamped feel with a Zune-inspired user interface. The Marketplace and MyPhone are included too although details are a bit light at the moment. There isn’t any word about about paid apps or who will host the contents, although we expect those details shortly. Screenshots after the break to tide you over until we get to poke and prod the update. → Read More
Huawei has big plans for 2009. The OEM handset maker plans to launch two to three different Android phones and maybe even a Symbian and LiMo handset all this year. Even with the global economic doom and gloom? Wowzers! → Read More
This can’t end well. We stopped by Huawei’s MWC09 booth to ask about their previously discussed Android phone and were presented with what you see here. Now, we’re not ones to yell “iPHONE CLONE!!!!” at every phone with a touchscreen – but come on, seriously? It wasn’t powered up, they weren’t letting people touch it, and details were as sparse as can be. The only real detail the Huawei rep could share was the Q3 release date they already announced in December. When we asked about the name, the rep jokingly responded “uPhone”. At least, we hope he was joking. One more shot after the jump. → Read More
As much as we wanted HTC to announce the G2 at MWC, we knew it would be too much to ask. But if you’re into Windows Mobile (6.1) or, more importantly, TouchFlo 3D then you’re in luck. It looks like HTC took a page from Palm’s playbook on these updated Touch devices, but more on that later. The Diamond2 (4.25 X 2.09 X 0.54 inches) features a 3.2-inch WVGA touchscreen with a touch sensitive zoom bar located across the bottom. A 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A proc, 512MB ROM, and 288 MB RAM handle things under the hood. The D2 comes with a 5-megapixel AF camera, 1100mAh battery and a microSD slot. It weighs 4.15 ounces. → Read More
It was just about undeniable at this point, but Nokia has officially announced the E75. It will be available in March at the unsubsidized price of 375 euros (roughly $483 USD), with pre-orders beginning today. Nokia has yet to release the full specs, but the previously leaked (and most likely accurate) specs are as followed: → Read More
San Francisco, CA
