Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers Yesterday we witnessed Microsoft announce the Kin would not be released in European markets as the phone simply did not cut it. The SideKick has been around for the past six years and the last model was released in 2009. To put it bluntly, the SideKick LX and SideKick 2008 could not compete as well in a mobile world dominated by smartphones backed with actual OS’s. As of tomorrow, July 2, T-Mobile will be ending all sales of the two SideKick models including sales from retail stores, online, and telesales. The official word from T-Mobile can be read below: As T-Mobile looks to further innovate and raise the bar for the next iteration of the T-Mobile Sidekick, as of July 2, the Sidekick LX and Sidekick 2008 will no longer be available through T-Mobile, including retail stores, care, telesales and online. While we work on the next chapter of our storied Sidekick franchise, T-Mobile will continue to provide our loyal Sidekick customers with product service and support. Stay tuned for exciting updates in the months ahead, which we expect will provide customers with a new and fresh experience.
Fortunately for SideKick owners and fans, T-Mobile will continue to provide support to their users, and for the fans, it seems T-Mobile has plans for a “new and fresh experience” with the SideKick. Maybe we will see a similar model running Android. Interestingly enough, the SideKick phones were designed by Danger, who was bought out by Microsoft and helped design the Kin phones. Via [PhoneScoop] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, Household, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous Microsoft announced an interesting piece of technology that will change the way you insert batteries. The InstaLoad Battery Technology doesn’t take into consideration positive or negative polarity, allowing you to simply insert a battery however you wish. I don’t know about you, but I have to find another flashlight to see the tiny polarity sign in the flashlight whose batteries need replacing. With InstaLoad, I don’t have to worry about polarity, which is a pretty crazy concept but the science and physics behind it seems to work. Already, there are companies such as Duracell and AE lining up to use this patented technology in their products. Use of this technology includes products that require constant battery changes (Nintendo Wiimotes come to mind), military devices used in unfavorable environmental conditions, and products that use many batteries at once. Microsoft highlights products used in law enforcement, outdoor camping and sports, and construction. Interestingly enough, the patent will not require any additional power usage, nor expensive electronic circuitry. It is set to work with common batteries such as AA, AAA, C, D, and CR123. Microsoft is even offering royalty-free licensing to manufacturers of accessibility devices, which is certainly a nice gesture to people who would use these products on a daily basis. No word on when companies will start integrating this technology into their products, but hopefully it will be soon because it is a great idea and should be very helpful. Read [Microsoft] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones According to a screenshot which shows the internal pricing of various T-Mobile phones, the Motorola Charm (also known as the Motorola Basil) will cost $149.99, but $74.99 after a $75 MIR. In addition, the same screenshot shows the pricing for a mysterious phone known as the Samsung Supersonic. Apparently the Samsung Supersonic will cost $249.99, but $199.99 after a $50 MIR. The Samsung Supersonic pricing lines up with the Samsung Vibrant pricing, so it is quite possible that the Samsung Supersonic is simply the internal codename for the Samsung Vibrant. Of course, there is the possibility that the Samsung Supersonic is a different phone entirely. Keep in mind the above pricing is for a two year contract only. In case you want to pick up the Motorola Charm without a contract, the price is $269.99. The off contract pricing for the Samsung Supersonic is $499.99. Hopefully T-Mobile will confirm either the Motorola Charm pricing or what exactly the Supersonic is shortly. Via [TmoNews] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Audio, Accessories, Headphones, Portable Audio, Computers 
Today, Logitech announced two new headsets for use on a PC and for use on a laptop. The USB Headset H530 by Logitech has been improved from its predecessor to include laser-tuned drivers that provide better audio quality. It comes with on-ear audio controls to increase or decrease volume and access to other controls. It features a padded foam headband and cushioned ear cups for added comfortability. The main difference between this model and the H555 is comfort versus portability. The Laptop Headset H555 (pictured below) is lightweight and folds into a tiny size that fits conveniently in a carrying case. The headset fits behind-the-ears and has a sleek look to it. Both headsets are designed for listening to music, playing video games, and video chatting. Both models come with noise cancelling microphones to remove ambient noise, but the microphones only come into play when ambient noise is detected. No word on pricing or availability just yet. Via [Logitech] 
Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Computers, Netbooks, Peripherals, Printers / Scanners 
With everything in order from an investor standpoint, the acquisition of Palm by HP has completed with a transaction price of $1.2 billion. The announcement of HP acquiring Palm first occurred a couple of months ago and that is when speculation of what the two companies could create started. The future of HP and Palm together will be driven largely by Palm’s webOS and HP’s strong market share of all things computers. As of now, Palm is being tight lipped about the future, but it is clear they want developers to stay on and keep developing apps for webOS as they have been waiving the developer fee. From the HP standpoint, HP simply wants Palm to focus on webOS development and integration into smartphones, slate PCs, and netbooks. Let’s face it, webOS is a great concept, but just needs to be executed a little better. Slate PCs and netbooks sounds great, but will we ever see the interesting webOS printer? It should be an interesting summer to see what HP and Palm announce together. Read [HP] Read [Palm] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Networking, Wireless, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle  Today, Starbucks across the US and Canada are opening their WiFi up for all with the simplicity of two clicks. Previously the company required participation in their loyalty program or a purchase every two hours to gain WiFi access. The move comes one of the ways Starbucks is hoping to add to their store experience.
The WiFi access is both free and unlimited. The company has previously stated applications like Skype and even Apple’s own FaceTime will not be restricted. The store could become a road warriors favorite climb as they connect back with the office or family while picking up some hot java. Thanks to Starbucks junkie Dave Zatz, here’s a picture of the log in screen:
 Read:[Starbucks] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Web Apps  This morning, Yahoo! announced the availability of two new apps for Android for Yahoo! services: Mail and Messenger. The apps look to be loaded with features such as push notifications, IM to SMS trickery and powerful search features. The apps are free and support Android 2.0 and higher.
Yahoo! Mail features include the aforementioned push notifications and powerful search, the ability to address emails to contacts in your local folder or in the Yahoo! address book, easy management of folders. The Messenger app features status updates and the ability to view friends status updates, send IMs via SMS, background push notifications so users stay in the loop, full use of emoticons (yay!) and easy access to camera and photos. It appears Yahoo! covered the bases on what good apps should do. iOS users have a bonus too, Yahoo! has updated it’s mail and news pages to HTML 5 so users can get a “faster and more sophisticated” experience. From the web, Yahoo! Mail users can manage folders, compose rich text emails, even access folders when offline. Read: [BusinessWire] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking 
To further their effort to keep your information private, Facebook is now requiring applications to request your permission to access anything that is not public. If the application wishes to access your birthday to send you are card, it must explicitly ask for that bit of private information. However, current applications users have running are grandfathered in and are exempt from this new rule. With this new authorization process, when you log into an application with your Facebook account, the application will only be able to access the public parts of your profile by default. To access the private sections of your profile, the application has to explicitly ask for your permission.
This move was a long time coming after being announced last August. Facebook continues to work with the Privacy Commissioner in Canada in efforts to stem privacy-related lawsuits. Read [Facebook] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  Nokia N9 from Techno Buffalo on Vimeo. It looks like more is being shown off in regards to the Nokia N9. And this time the details are once again coming by way of images and video. Granted we saw some of this stuff in the last round, but still nice to see a new video and images with new angles. That said, here is what we have read as confirmed in regards to Nokia N9 features. - 3G support for 850/1900 Mhz bands
- nHD display at 640 x 360
- 4 inch capacitive multi-touch display
- 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash
- Front facing camera (expected to be VGA, but not confirmed)
- Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth
- HDMI out
In the meantime, check out the video and image below and then hit the read link to check out a few more… Read [TechnoBuffalo] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile 
As of late, Palm has been doing some interesting things with pricing on the apps and the costs that developers are charged to submit apps for entry into the App Catalog. But just in case you missed some of that, Palm is offering all apps at 50% off until July 23rd and they have also stopped charging (and refunded to those who paid) the $50 app submission fee. Well, now it looks like they are permanently waiving the $99 developer fee. Of course, in the past that fee had been a little off and on, mostly off from what we understand. But either way, the good news here is that they are not planning to charge it in the future. And just like that, webOS app developers can now sign up and also submit apps for entry into the App Catalog for free. Maybe this will help attract some to the platform. Read [Palm Developer Forums] Via [PreCentral] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks Amazon has been pretty busy with the Kindle lineup lately, first a price drop on the regular Kindle from $259 to $189 and now a new Kindle DX has been unveiled. The new model retains many of the same features found on the original DX, in other words its still sporting a 9.7 inch Eink display, 3G, QWERTY keyboard, internal storage for 3,500 books and measurements of 10.4 x 7.2 x 0.38 inches. The good news, the display is now offering a 50% improvement in terms of contrast, its changed color from white to graphite and perhaps most important—a price cut. And a fairly significant price cut at that—going from $489 down to $379. Finally, the new and improved Kindle DX is currently available for pre-order and will begin shipping as of July 7th. Product [Amazon] Via [Kindle on Facebook] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Web, Websites, Online Music/Video, Google According to Baljeet Singh, Senior Product Manager of Video Monetization, over at Youtube, we will be able to skip those highly irritating thirty second ads sometime later this year. The ad-skipping feature will be in its beta stage near the end of this year. This ad-skip mode will be somewhat similar to that of Hulu’s where viewers will be able to decide between one long ad prior to their video or three shorter ones throughout the video. Singh went on to say that revenue will not be affected as Google will not charge them for any ads that are skipped as he hopes that this will force advertisers to improve their ads. Research indicates that high-quality ads were not skipped. Sound too good to be true? Well it most certainly is. Advertisers will need to get theirs somehow and all signs seem to point towards a subscription oriented future for the tube. Google’s VP of Global Media and Platforms Henrique de Castro said that the video site would be available over “the entire spectrum between subscriptions and advertising.” Read [WSJ] Via [Gizmodo] Full Story » | Written by Tarun Kunwar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones It looks like CLIQ and CLIQ XT users will be stuck with Android 1.5 for a little while longer. Android 2.1 was scheduled to be rolled out to CLIQ and CLIQ XT owners before the end of Q2, but according to Motorola, that will not happen. On the Motorola Support Forums, Matt, an employee at Motorola, says development is still ongoing to make Android 2.1 as good as possible. The full announcement is below: For those asking for an update regarding a software upgrade on CLIQ in the U.S., we’ve made a decision to take more time on the release to optimize the experience in some key areas. We will continue to work to deliver it as soon as possible and apologize that we have been unable to provide an upgrade to these users in Q2 as planned.
We are working hard to provide an upgrade to Android 2.1 as soon as we can. Our consumers' experience is our first priority and we will provide an upgrade when we can deliver the best possible user experience.
At least they haven’t completely scrapped the idea of updating the CLIQ and CLIQ XT to Android 2.1? Hopefully it will only be a few weeks until it is ready to go, as opposed to months. Via [Motorola] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks Amazon purchased the deal site woot! yesterday and it looks like they decided to celebrate that purchase by offering up a discounted Kindle. The model you will get is the current generation of the Kindle, which has the 6-inch display and built-in 3G. Otherwise, its priced at $149.99 with $5 extra for shipping. Not bad considering this is the same model that is selling for $189 on Amazon. Of course, as this is woot! it should go without saying, but this deal will not last long. Product [woot] Via [woot Blog] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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