Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones The Motorola Charm was officially announced back in early July, but at the time Motorola did not announce an availability date nor pricing. Several days later, reports were surfacing that the Charm faced battery issues and its release would be delayed until August 25. Even though we are already a good week into August, we have still not heard official confirmation from T-Mobile or Motorola regarding pricing and availability. However, at one T-Mobile store, the dummy/demo unit of the Motorola Charm had a price tag attached to it. Interestingly enough, the Charm is priced similarly to that of a high-end Android smartphone - on a two year contract the Charm will sell for $189. In case you want to purchase the Charm off contract, it will cost $309. Of course, this is not the official price of the Motorola Charm, but it seems pretty legit. Also, there is still the possibility it will be available for free in a special back-to-school deal. With August 25 quickly approaching and the back-to-school craze, I’m sure T-Mobile will announce the information we’ve all been waiting for. Via [DroidDog] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones 
Earlier today, our Robert Nelson reported Sony was getting ready to announce something big, probably the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Android smartphone. It turns out Nelson’s prediction was indeed correct because AT&T and Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia X10 just a little while ago. The Xperia X10 will be available through AT&T starting August 15 for $150 on a new two year contract. The high-end Xperia X10 features a 4 inch touch screen, 8MP camera, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, and 2GB memory onboard. While the hardware specs look awesome, the Xperia X10 will, unfortunately, launch with Android 1.6 onboard. At a time when the latest and greatest Android smartphones sport at least Android 2.1, it comes as a disappointment that the Sony Ericsson device will be upgraded to Android 2.1 at a later date. Additionally, Sony Ericsson will pre-install two native apps - Mediascape and Timescape. Here is a brief description of the two apps: Mediascape on the Xperia ™ X10 gathers music, photos, videos and content from your phone’s memory card and online, letting you browse, search, listen and share your media from one unified view. For example, view photos taken on the device as well as your Facebook® and Picasa™ web albums. Or, when listening to a favorite song on your phone, press Sony Ericsson’s infinite button to access related content about the artist pulled from the phone’s memory as well as albums, songs and video content from YouTube™ and search results from Google.
Timescape™ is a unique communication application that automatically organizes social interactions in chronological order, leaving users free to concentrate on keeping in touch on-the-go. From Facebook® and Twitter® updates to photos, emails and text messages, a scrolling menu offers easy viewing and organization of all communications. Additionally, tap the Timescape™ infinite button to bring up and view all communications from a single person in a single place.
$150 on a two year contract is a pretty good price point for AT&T and it should attract Android enthusiasts who do not wish to spend $199 on the Samsung Captivate. Read [PR Newswire] Full press release can be read below: Smart meets entertaining - Sony Ericsson’s flagship Android smartphone offers an open and integrated world of communication, entertainment and social media
DALLAS and ATLANTA, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—AT&T* and Sony Ericsson today announced a dynamic multimedia experience with the Android™ based Xperia™ X10, available August 15. The Xperia™ X10 introduces Sony Ericsson’s unique and entertainment-driven Xperia™ platform to U.S. customers in a cutting-edge, beautiful and fun package.
The Xperia™ X10 comes fully loaded with a 4-inch crystal clear touch display, superfast 1GHz Snapdragon processor and aGPS. The smartphone also features an 8.1 megapixel camera with smile detection, face recognition, autofocus and LED flash. The device comes with a 2 GB in-box memory card with expandable memory up to 32 GB.
Sony Ericsson’s custom user experience is great for the intersection of communications and entertainment. Two signature applications, Mediascape and Timescape™, build on the Android platform to enhance the experience for users.
Mediascape on the Xperia ™ X10 gathers music, photos, videos and content from your phone’s memory card and online, letting you browse, search, listen and share your media from one unified view. For example, view photos taken on the device as well as your Facebook® and Picasa™ web albums. Or, when listening to a favorite song on your phone, press Sony Ericsson’s infinite button to access related content about the artist pulled from the phone’s memory as well as albums, songs and video content from YouTube™ and search results from Google.
Timescape™ is a unique communication application that automatically organizes social interactions in chronological order, leaving users free to concentrate on keeping in touch on-the-go. From Facebook® and Twitter® updates to photos, emails and text messages, a scrolling menu offers easy viewing and organization of all communications. Additionally, tap the Timescape™ infinite button to bring up and view all communications from a single person in a single place. “Sony Ericsson has created a unique choice for our smartphone customers looking for a fun and smart device,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, Mobile Phone Portfolio, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.
“Sony Ericsson is raising the bar for entertainment-rich phones with the launch of the Xperia ™ X10,” said Paul Hamnett, senior vice president, Sony Ericsson North America. “With the convergence of our user experience platform and the Android OS, we are bringing consumers a smartphone experience that is not only exciting, but also very refined. Following the successful global launch of the Xperia™ X10, we are pleased to partner with AT&T to launch this phone in the U.S. market.”
Pricing and Availability
The Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 smartphone will be available in black at AT&T stores, authorized retailers and www.wireless.att.com on August 15 for $149.99 after a two-year service agreement and minimum smartphone data plan.
For the complete lineup of AT&T offerings, visit www.att.com.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
Viewable screen display area is measured diagonally.
A portion of memory is used for data management purposes.
Data charges apply for content and updates transferred through the mobile Web.
Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile  Reports are surfacing that RIM has reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia to keep BlackBerry service in that country. The bad news is that it has seemingly agreed to put a server in that country and give the government full access to all user data stored on it. The deal could have a serious ripple affect as Lebanon, India, the UAE and Indonesia have also demanded access to user data. I’m disappointed that RIM is giving in. They’ve built their reputation on provided a secure service that protects data and now they are throwing it away for money. That’s the bottom line here. They appear more concerned with keeping the profits generated by their service in these countries than with protecting their users’ privacy. Makes me very glad I live here in the USA where we have the basic right to privacy.
Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, Peripherals, Storage Just in case you happen to be a big fan of Dr. Martens boots, you can now grab a limited edition boot-shaped USB flash drive. The drive has been released as an official Dr. Martens product and comes as part of their 50th anniversary celebration. Except, unlike their boots that seem to last forever, the flash drive and its 2GB of storage space is probably not going to see the same life span. Still, this could be a nice way of adding a little subtle rebellion to your cubicle. Otherwise, the drive stands 2 inches tall, has a removable cap to cover/reveal the USB port and will set you back $25. And while the flash drive looks cool, I think I will stick to the real thing with the actual boots. Product [Dr. Martens] Via [The Gadgeteer] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Computers, Mobile Computers, Netbooks 
What is an iPad? Is it a consumer device or is it a new computing platform? For all we know about the iPad, we’re still not sure.
If it is a consumer device, then a pre-holiday update to drive sales in the gift-buying season is appropriate. This is what Apple does with it’s iPod line. If rumors of a smaller iPad being developed by Apple are true, wouldn’t it make sense to bring them out in September, before the holiday rush, instead of in January with the Mac line refresh? Last week, I wrote about the iPad already topping Christmas lists, “Jeremy Fennell, DSGi said: "there is no doubt that the iPad is going to be the number one Christmas gift this year.” We know Apple is under pressure from consumers to up the resolution to Retina display levels, FaceTime is rumored for the iPod touch, so extending that to the iPad makes some sense. More RAM also sounds probable as the iPhone got a nice bump with iPhone 4 hardware. There is no shortage of ideas Apple could use to make a convincing argument for the 2nd generation. When to refresh? Will it be April? I say yes for 3 reasons:
1. Apple sticks to it’s major products annual refresh like glue; and that doesn’t seem to be broke - so why fix it?
2. The cavalcade of Android tablet competitors is still at the gate. We expected to see a lot more by now, but so far, just the smallish Dell Streak has trickled out. If there is no choice, then the current iPad will do just fine for the holidays.
3. Apple still can’t make enough iPads to stock stores at this point. Will we see a smaller iPad (7”) this holiday season from Apple? One that could straddle the iPod/iPad families? The Pad-Pod, if you will? Let us know in the comments. Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile 
It’s been talked about since iPhone first came on the scene. It’s been dreamed about it, wished for, yelled with fists in the air. We’re talking (again) about the Verizon iPhone, a CDMA version for the USA’s most popular carrier. According to TechCrunch: “Sources with knowledge of this entire situation have assured me that Apple has submitted orders for millions of units of Qualcomm CDMA chipsets for a Verizon iPhone run due in December. This production run would likely be for a January launch, and I'd bet the phone is nearly 100% consistent with the current iPhone 4 (with a fixed internal insulator on the antenna).” AT&T has been fielding questions about life after the exclusive. In their latest quarterly report, AT&T said, ” while the expiration of any of our current exclusivity arrangements could increase churn and reduce postpaid customer additions, we do not expect any such terminations to have a material negative impact on our Wireless segment income, consolidated operating margin or our cash from operations.” It’s clear the game is afoot. This time though, it looks like a bit more than wishful thinking. Read: [TechCrunch] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile The Blackberry Torch 9800 was announced here in the US last week, and seems to have attracted a fair share of attention—most of which has been good. And to take that a step further, we have rumors of the Torch heading to Canada. First there were rumors of a Rogers launch, which makes sense given the Torch was announced for AT&T here in the US. But more recently we are getting word of a rumor suggesting the Telus plans to release the Torch 9800 on September 16th. Two rumors of a Canadian release in just a few days, I guess at this point we really just need to see which carrier is going to be first. Will it be Rogers or Telus? Via [The Berry Fix] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones 
RIM recently announced the new BlackBerry Curve 3G, which is also known as the BlackBerry Curve 9300. The latest addition to the Curve lineup boasts 3G connectivity, full QWERTY keyboard, optical trackpad, GPS, WiFi, 2 MP camera, and microSD memory card expansion. Unfortunately, the device will not ship with BlackBerry OS 6 onboard, as it will initially run BlackBerry OS 5, but RIM promises OS 6 to be available on the Curve 3G in the coming months. The device will officially be available around the world in August, and T-Mobile will pick up the Curve 3G and sell it in America for a price unknown at this time. In addition, T-Mobile will sell the BlackBerry Curve 3G in two different colors - smoky violet and graphite grey. Read [MarketWire] Full Press Release is below: WATERLOO, ONTARIO—(Marketwire - Aug. 9, 2010) - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today announced the new BlackBerry® Curve™ 3G, an exciting addition to the globally popular BlackBerry Curve series of smartphones. Designed to provide the growing mass of smartphone purchasers with a distinctly powerful, approachable and affordable choice, the BlackBerry Curve 3G supports high-speed 3G (HSDPA) networks around the world and gives users the exceptional communications features they need to accomplish more than ever, when they’re at home, at work and everywhere in-between.
“The majority of people in the worldwide mobile phone market have yet to buy their first smartphone and the BlackBerry Curve 3G is designed to provide an extremely attractive and accessible choice that will help convince many of them to make the leap,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “The new BlackBerry Curve 3G is a perfect choice for happily busy people who are looking for a user-friendly 3G smartphone to help them make the most of their day and to stay connected with their friends, family and co-workers.”
The BlackBerry Curve 3G smartphone features a comfortable full-QWERTY keyboard for fast, accurate typing, optical trackpad for fluid navigation, built-in GPS and Wi-Fi®, as well as dedicated media keys, so music lovers can easily access their tunes while on the go. The new smartphone also features a camera that can record video and a microSD/SDHC slot that supports up to 32 GB memory cards for media storage. Support for 3G networks makes browsing faster, streaming music smoother, and gives users the ability to talk on the phone while they browse the web, instant message with BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) or share their location with friends on popular social networking sites.
The BlackBerry Curve 3G ships with BlackBerry® 5 and is BlackBerry® 6 ready. BlackBerry 6 is a new operating system for BlackBerry® smartphones that was announced last week. It retains the trusted features that distinguish the BlackBerry brand while delivering a fresh and engaging experience that is both powerful and easy to use. BlackBerry 6 is expected to be available for the BlackBerry Curve 3G, subject to carrier certifications, in the coming months.
The new BlackBerry Curve 3G smartphone (model 9300) will be available from various carriers and distribution partners around the world beginning in August. Check with local carriers for details about availability and pricing.
For more information about the new BlackBerry Curve 3G smartphone visit www.blackberry.com/curve3G. For more information about BlackBerry 6, visit www.blackberry.com/6.
Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News  HP CEO Mark Hurd was forced to resign after a former contractor filed a sexual harassment charge against him. The company investigated and found the charge to be baseless but in the course of that investigation found that he had tampered with expense accounts to hide a “close relationship” with the woman. The contractor, Jodie Fisher, has since come forward to say she never meant for her charges to cause Hurd his job. Hurd has had no comment and the details of the alleged sexual harassment have not been released. Fisher said she and Hurd reached a “private” settlement.
Read [Reuters] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Computers, Mobile Computers Chinese website, Apple Daily, is reporting some new information regarding RIM’s tablet device, the BlackPad. Quanta is the manufacturing company that received the nod from RIM to create the BlackPad in time for a November launch. RIM wants two million devices ready to go by September and another eight million in 2011. By launching the device in November, RIM is setting itself up for a—hopefully—successful holiday season. The device is rumored to have a 9.7 inch touch screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a 3G connection through a BlackBerry device. In terms of pricing, Apple Daily claims it will sell for $499. I’m sure we will hear more and more details surrounding the BlackPad as we approach the fall season. Read [Apple Daily] Via [Digitimes] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  This weekend brought us a nice image of the HTC Desire HD, and now the handset has made a video appearance. The specs have been rumored in the past, but to offer a quick recap—the HTC Desire HD is expected to feature Android 2.2, a 4.3 inch WVGA display, 1Ghz Qualcomm processor, 4GB internal storage, microSD card slot and 8 megapixel camera with dual-flash and 720p video recording. And while nothing official has been announced, the above video does offer a nice 1 minute and 32 seconds worth of footage. Read [247 Android] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones Verizon is certainly making headlines with all of its latest Android devices, but whether or not Big Red launches the iPhone, it will have enough high-end devices to make its customers forget about the iPhone. The Motorola Droid 2 hasn’t even launched yet and we’re already talking about the possibility of another Droid device launching in November aptly named the Droid Pro. The Droid Pro is rumored to feature a 4 inch touch screen, 1.3 GHz processor, and global roaming. Not sure which version of Android it will launch with, but my guess is Android 2.2. Again, the Droid Pro is rumored to launch November 2010. Motorola has another Android phone up its sleeve in the form of a revamped Motorola Q. The phone will bear similarities to the Motorola Q, but will feature Android 2.2 and a new MOTOBLUR skin. No word on the expected launch for this device. HTC and Samsung are also set to get in on the Android action by launching a world phone sometime in the near future for Verizon. In terms of tablets, Samsung and Motorola will launch a 7 inch and 10 inch tablet, respectively. For the 10 inch Motorola tablet, it is rumored to run Android 3.0, 1GHz/1.3GHz processor, front facing camera, and should launch in February 2011. Details on the Samsung Android tablet are scant, but since it only has a 7 inch screen, it should be relatively affordable. In terms of LTE development, Verizon hopes to cover 75% of the States in LTE by 2012. A new MiFi device available in January or February will have the capacity to connect up to ten users simultaneously. The LTE data plan will probably cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $59.99 a month. Verizon certainly knows how to get its customer base excited, because I personally can’t wait to see what the fall and winter seasons bring. Via [BGR] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, VoIP  Ebay and Skype have announced they’ve settled the lawsuit and disputes filed against them by IDT. Net2Phone, an affiliate of IDT, had filed suit against both companies in 2006 claiming they had infringed upon their patent for IP based communications.Ebay was involved because they owned Skype at the time. More recently, IDT filed an anti-trust suit against them listing charges the they were monopolizing, attempting to monopolize, and conspiring to monopolize the VOIP market. The disputes were abruptly settled late last week and even though the details were not revealed, it’s a safe bet some money changed hands.
Read [PCWorld] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers To make a still developing story shorter, a company called Augen released an Android tablet called the GenTouch78 and was selling it at Kmart for $150. Said tablet received more than its fair share of attention when it appeared in a weekend sales circular. Said tablet then quickly became hard to find in stores. Said tablet then began receiving some not-so-stellar reviews. And then things became a little worse for Augen as Google announced that the GenTouch78 was running a pirated version of Android. Which was because the GenTouch78 included access to the official Android Market and did not have proper permission. Well, the latest chapter in the story now says that was “unintentional.” Yup, Augen loaded and shipped the tablet with Android Market access on mistake. “The Google Mobile Service and Android Apps were pre installed during the development process on our tablets for testing purposes, and were not removed unintentionally before releasing the products in the market place.”
You see, it was just a mistake. And of course, future versions of the GenTouch78, supposing anyone still wants one, will not be shipping with access to the official Android Market. Via [Previous Post Comment, Thanks Mike] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Web, Websites  The Pentagon is demanding WikiLeaks return the confidential war documents it posted on its site and cancel plans to post even more. So far the site has refused to give into the pressure being placed upon it, despite the fact the release of the documents has resulted in the arrest of Army Private Bradley Manning, who some in Congress say is guilty of treason and should be executed. The Pentagon has announced it is conducting a criminal investigation into the incident. WikiLeaks spokespeople contend that since the site is hosted in Sweden they are protected by Swedish law, and should they be shut down anyway, they are prepared with several mirror sites. Strangely, at the same time they are responding to the Pentagon’s demands with defiance, they are also seeking out the agency’s help with the next batch of documents they wish to publish, saying they want to make sure they don’t reveal the names of any officers or Afghan informants. This likely comes after the news that Taliban officials are said to be going over the published documents with a fine tooth comb looking for traitors. WikiLeaks insists they don’t want anyone to be hurt or killed as a result of anything they publish.
Read [Yahoo! News] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile And just like that, Best Buy has revealed the pricing for the yet-to-be-officially-announced Motorola Droid 2 smartphone. The handset, which we still do not know when it will become available for sale will be priced at $199.99. Of course, that price does mean a two-year agreement. Otherwise, the Droid 2 will set you back $599.99 to go contract free. Now if Verizon would kindly let us know when the Droid 2 will come available, I think that will just about wrap up the details. Then again, given we have seen everything else about the Droid 2 come by way of a leak as opposed to official channels it seems more fitting if Verizon does not make the announcement. Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile The countdown timer on the Sony Style website is getting closer and closer to hitting 0 and that means a reveal. But what could it be? Well, our guess is on the Xperia X10 Android smartphone, but then again that does not seem like much of a guess given the source code has a few x10 references included. Or maybe that is part of the trick. After all, these companies that choose to tease have to realize that someone is going to check that. Don’t they? That said, check back in a few hours and find out how much the Xperia X10 is going to cost what is going to be revealed. Read [SonyStyle] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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