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China finally awards 3G licenses, winners no surprise

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jan 7th 2009 at 12:29PM

If you thought Vodafone or Telefonica would somehow emerge as a big winner in China's 3G spectrum launch... well, yeah, think again. China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom have now been armed with licenses for TD-SCDMA, WCDMA (UMTS and HSPA that is), and CDMA2000 / EV-DO, respectively, meaning the world's largest carrier will be rolling out China's homegrown 3G standard -- not to say Unicom's or Telecom's footprints will be anything to sneeze at, either. In fact, in the long term, it's suggested that Unicom and Telecom will actually be able to grow faster since they're using standards that other countries have actually heard of, but for the next few years, Mobile's still the safe bet if you absolutely, positively must have the most insane Chinese coverage available.

[Via mocoNews]

Pantech's SKY IM-S390 "Cupid" doesn't inspire a lot of love

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jan 7th 2009 at 9:20AM


We're not sure why Pantech would bother attaching such a lofty, lovely name to such a positively pedestrian handset, but let's be straight: any manufacturer with a phone named "Duke" probably works in ways we don't fully understand. Like just about every domestic Korean handset you can find, this one features a T-DMB tuner -- which is cool, we guess -- and it's just 12.5mm thick on the slim battery. Thing is, the QVGA display and lousy 1.3-megapixel cam aren't going to turn any heads, so we s'pose they'll be leaning on the cute name and the three-pack of cute colors to do that, eh?

[Via Unwired View]

Hands-on with Novatel's MiFi 3G hotspot

by Sean Cooper, posted Jan 6th 2009 at 9:37PM


We've talked about the svelte silver -- and a black version is in the works -- MiFi card and of course CES gave us a chance to put one to work. And, well, what can we say, it works as advertised. While we've not had a chance to speedtest it, hide it in the darkest corners of the temporary Engadget Mansion or otherwise abuse it, we know we want. Launch is expected sometime midway through 2009 on some US CDMA carrier with two GSM / HSDPA variants coming shortly after. Short video of it doing its blinky thing after the break.

Continue reading Hands-on with Novatel's MiFi 3G hotspot

LG's VX8360 for Verizon in gory detail

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jan 6th 2009 at 11:12AM


So Verizon's still trying to clear out VX8350 inventory, but as soon as it does, we'll all start to see this little gem show up. The VX8360's been rumored for some time now -- heck, it was originally pegged for an October '08 launch -- but there's really no need to get too worked up about the delay, seeing how your $50 on contract after rebate is only going to land you a 1.3-megapixel camera and a positively forgettable design. EV-DO and VZ Navigator support are nice, but frankly, it's starting to get hard to find a Verizon phone that doesn't support nav, so call us when this is free on contract, guys!

Gallery: LG's VX8360 for Verizon in gory detail

Samsung's R470 looks destined for US Cellular

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jan 2nd 2009 at 9:16PM


If we have to pick between a flip CDMA dumbphone and, say, a Touch Pro, we're going to take the Touch Pro ten times out of ten -- but as flip CDMA dumbphones go, this thing really isn't half bad looking at all. The Samsung R470 just passed FCC muster this week, and as Phone Scoop astutely notes, the manual's mention of "easyedge" indicates that the dazzlingly orange clamshell will likely see duty on US Cellular. We're looking at fairly comprehensive external controls -- likely with a music slant -- along with Bluetooth and microSD expansion, but strangely, we can't find any mention of EV-DO in the test docs. Seems kinda strange for a phone in this category, doesn't it?

[Via Phone Scoop]

Fun rumor du jour: BlackBerry Bold coming to Sprint this quarter

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jan 2nd 2009 at 6:14PM


We're hearing from a source -- a source who's pegged big stuff before, we'd like to add -- that Sprint will be replacing its BlackBerry 8830 this quarter with a CDMA version of the Bold. The move would certainly make sense, seeing how the Bold is essentially a direct replacement for the 8800 series (though this could be bad news for those who appreciate the 8830's camera-less nature) and the handset's probably just about due for a refresh. We're told that the Bold will feature EV-DO Rev. A, more memory, and a revised UI to match Sprint's current corporate branding. We'd also guess that it's a global phone in the same vein as the 8830 and the Storm, though we don't know that for certain. More as we get it!

Verizon offloading Pearls for a Jackson

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jan 2nd 2009 at 11:25AM


The age of the ultra-cheap (and non-repulsive) smartphone is officially upon us, and Verizon would like to throw its hat into the ring by offering the BlackBerry Pearl 8130 for the ridiculously low price of $19.99 on contract after $100 mail-in rebate "while supplies last." We'd obviously rather be able to slap down twenty right in the store and take the Pearl home with us, but 'round here, rebates are more the rule than the exception, so we're used to it. Keep it up, Verizon -- maybe Storms for $20 next?

[Via Boy Genius Report]

RIM's president calls BlackBerry Storm a small netbook

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 31st 2008 at 6:49AM


Clearly, Mike Lazaridis has the chops when it comes to running a business. What he clearly lacks, however, is a firm definition of the term "netbook." To his credit, we still feel the exact boundaries for netbooks have yet to be determined (fret not, Psion Teklogix is hammering out those details), but calling a BlackBerry Storm one is -- how do you say? -- a bit of a stretch. During a recent sit down with RIM's president, CNET Asia heard the bigwig answer like so when questioned about viewing netbooks as competitors: "No, I think I can put netbooks in here [referring to the BlackBerry Storm]. These are netbooks. They are just smaller." Wait, Mike -- don't you think smartphones are more like MIDs or UMPCs? Or do we just have you all wrong here?

[Via phoneArena]

Sprint's pink Instinct shows up on Best Buy's site for outrageous price

by Chris Ziegler, posted Dec 31st 2008 at 3:31AM


We'd pegged early January for the release of a pink Samsung Instinct on Sprint's airwaves, and Best Buy's doing everything it can to help us hold the line on that with a new "Coming Soon" page advertising just such a product. Unfortunately, they're asking a whopping $599.99 for the pleasure of being the first kid on your block with this thing, but the off-contract pricing in Best Buy's system is usually way out of whack -- we wouldn't worry about paying anything close to $200 on contract by the time you actually step into the store.

[Thanks, Emilio]

Hands-on (once more, with feeling) with the Samsung Highnote

by Chris Ziegler, posted Dec 30th 2008 at 12:43PM Featured Story


After a brief interlude at CTIA earlier this year, we've had another chance to play around with Samsung's funky little Highnote for Sprint recently, so we wanted to give our quick, stream-of-consciousness thoughts on what this music-focused dual slider is all about. The phone's claim to fame is its hidden integrated loudspeaker for blasting tunes, which can be exposed by sliding the front downward (a la Nokia N95 and the like). While we found the speaker to be loud and reasonably clear enough for occasional impromptu dance parties, we didn't think it was any louder than similar handsets that have more traditional mono or stereo loudspeakers integrated into the body of the phone. In other words, the dual slide is a bit of a gimmick here.

Gallery: Hands-on with the Samsung Highnote

Continue reading Hands-on (once more, with feeling) with the Samsung Highnote

Pantech's Sky IM-S400L slider with "Glide Sensor" keypad debuted in Korea

by Laura June, posted Dec 29th 2008 at 3:32PM


Pantech's SKY division has just released the quite handsome, Korea-only IM-S400L. The CDMA slider boasts a 2.6-inch LCD, and a keypad using the company's new "Glide Sensor" technology which it says operates like a laptop trackpad. We don't have much else in the way of specs for this puppy, but we do know that it's available in white, pink, blue and green for ₩500,000 -- about $395. Crème brulée is, sadly, not included.

[Via Akihabara News]

LG's LU1400 swivels right into your heart

by Chris Ziegler, posted Dec 28th 2008 at 8:37AM


It's not every day that you see a wide VGA swivel with DMB support launching in South Korea. Oh, wait -- yes it is! The LU1400 from LG doesn't bring anything particularly new or fabulous to the table, but just about anything with a 2.8-inch 800 x 480 display is still pretty fabulous by our count. It's got a 3-megapixel cam, and if you care to take your glorious little toy outside the homeland, the LU1400 will roam on CDMA in 18 countries around the globe (including the States). And yes, if we see someone walking around New York with one of these, we will yoink it right out of their unsuspecting hands. Just a fair warning.

[Via Akihabara News]

Fuze, X1, and a couple Touch Pros: the ultimate WinMo smackdown

by Chris Ziegler, posted Dec 27th 2008 at 7:00PM Featured Story


2008 was, to say the least, a banner year for Windows Mobile hardware. Windows Mobile software... well, that's another story; we're still patiently waiting for the same thorough overhaul we'd hoped for years ago, but in the meantime, manufacturers have done an absolutely stellar job of taking the platform to its limits and packaging it in ways that could make any smartphone envious. For this first time, VGA screens (and beyond) have come to market en masse, and -- unlike the 8525s, Tilts, Moguls, and XV6800s of yesteryear, the latest batch of QWERTY sliders look like they've actually got a lick of intelligent industrial design in their DNA.

So these puppies are similar, yes, but they're not the same -- so let's take a quick look at what separates the Sprint Touch Pro, from the Verizon Touch Pro, from the AT&T Fuze, from the Sony Ericsson X1 (whew!).

Gallery: Fuze, X1, and a couple Touch Pros: the ultimate WinMo smackdown

Continue reading Fuze, X1, and a couple Touch Pros: the ultimate WinMo smackdown

TechFaith rolls out first touchscreen WinMo CDMA phone for Mexico

by Chris Ziegler, posted Dec 26th 2008 at 10:02AM


Mexican carrier Iusacell has scored itself a nice little exclusive, rolling out the very first Windows Mobile Professional-based phone running CDMA in all of Mexico. Problem is, it appears to be WinMo 6.0 -- a strange choice, considering 6.1 is already getting long in the tooth -- but it's a pretty smart-looking device, and hey, at least it's got EV-DO. The TechFaith-sourced "Moffett" has a 2-megapixel cam, 128MB of ROM and 64MB of RAM, Bluetooth, WiFi, and a 2.8-inch QVGA display, which compares favorably to... well, now that we think about it, nothing that we can think of off the tops of our heads. Sorry, Iusacell, we swear we were trying to be stoked.

[Via wmpoweruser.com]

Pantech PN-820 smartphone returns to Verizon for $9.99

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 24th 2008 at 7:02PM


Desperately in need of a "new" (in terms of a never broken seal only) smartphone? Don't mind tinkering with the last version of Windows Mobile? No need for a QWERTY keyboard? If you were miraculously able to answer "yes" to the aforesaid questions, you're in luck! Verizon Wireless has finally accepted that no one in their right mind wants to pay a decent price for a Pantech PN-820 smartphone that's rockin' WinMo 5.0 and a design that's straight out of 2007 (literally), so instead of just lighting the remaining inventory on fire, it's doing the next best thing: offering it up for $9.99 on contract. The sad part is that this thing isn't even worth ten bucks with that hundred pound agreement tied to it, but we're sure a few suckers will bite. They're born everyday, you know.

[Via RCRWireless]




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