Others -- Engadget Mobile

Mobinnova Ice given lobotomy, reemerges as Highscreen PP5420 with Android

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 6th 2009 at 5:32AM

If you don't remember the Mobinnova Ice, we can't say we blame you -- apart from its unique and mildly amusing (but poorly implemented) secondary display, the Windows Mobile-powered handset really didn't have anything going for it to set it apart from the pack, and our hands-on experience with it left us questioning its build quality, its robustness, and indeed its very reason for being. Anyhow, it seems that a Russian company has taken the Ice's guts and remixed them as the Highscreen PP5420, offering Android atop the 528MHz Qualcomm core with a WQVGA primary display, 3 megapixel camera, GPS, and full HSPA. As other fly-by-night companies have already learned, Android really looks like garbage on anything but half VGA right now -- and who the hell knows what (if anything) that secondary OLED is going to be programmed to do -- so we'd probably stay away from this one. If you're still feeling it, though, it should be available now for 15,990 rubles (about $511).

[Via Unwired View]

Sneak peek at Meizu M8's new user interface

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jul 3rd 2009 at 8:08PM

Heads up, Meizu fanboys! We just got a sneak peak at the M8's new UI (said to be dropping in August when the handset gets its firmware update) and you know what? It looks like a UI. Pretty k-rad, right? Check out the other two face-melting pics after the break, if you dare.

[Via Meizu Me]

Continue reading Sneak peek at Meizu M8's new user interface

Ogo CC-10 throws time-tested formula to the wind, goes portrait QWERTY

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 3rd 2009 at 6:29PM

We haven't heard a solitary peep out of IXI Mobile in a hot minute, even though its Ogo line -- once a member of Cingular's lineup -- had found some niche popularity among teens and the deaf community. We'd even thought they'd gone into R&D hibernation, actually, but apparently not -- they're innovating. They're innovating so much, in fact, that they've innovated themselves right out of the landscape clamshell form factor that made the Ogo famous. This Inventec-sourced CC-10 we just spotted in the FCC looks more Centro than Ogo, though all of the original's features -- notably strong IM and social networking support -- carry on through to the new model. At any rate, we can say that IXI doesn't intend to break back into the North American market -- at least not with this exact unit, anyway -- since GSM 1900 and Bluetooth are the only features it bothered testing.

Land Rover's S1 handset withstands torture tests, almost comes out on top

by Sean Cooper, posted Jul 3rd 2009 at 4:52PM

Of course the first question we have when a handset maker launches a set with an unconditional guarantee is, could we break it if we worked hard enough? Seems the tests Land Rover put its Sonim manufactured S1 through, including baking in a 300 degree Fahrenheit oven, tossing it off a second floor balcony, drowning it in a pint of beer, and even having an elephant stand on it didn't bother the S1 in the least. It did, however, finally meet its match when run over by the wheels of a three-tonne forklift. The Land Rover S1 includes and extra loud ringer to help it get noticed around jack hammers and such, a 2 mega pixel camera, 1,500 hour standby time, and that military meets weekend warrior look we know so many adore. The S1 will apparently be available on Orange from £25 -- though, we're not having any luck finding it -- and from Tesco for £250.

[Via Slashdot]

BluAnt Wireless' S1 speakerphone reviewed, is well liked

by Sean Cooper, posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 2:33PM

BluAnt, maker of many fine Bluetooth accessories launched the S1in the recent past and CNET's taken some moments to review it. Sure, we've seen gazillions of speakerphones that attach to the visor in your car but this one adds a fairly low price -- roughly $69 -- A2DP support for streaming your tunes, voice answering, and multipoint connectivity to the mix. CNET liked the price, tiny size, and the call quality, but were down on the volume rocker's stiffness, and the fact that S1 doesn't announce the incoming caller's info. We're all for music streaming and answering a call by speaking to it, but if you drive a convertible, you may want to look for something in the higher end that'll handle all the wind noise.

NVIDIA Tegra smartphone due from a "top five" manufacturer before 2010?

by Tim Stevens, posted Jun 30th 2009 at 6:56AM

If you want to get HD in your handheld, NVIDIA's Tegra processor is the hot way to do it at the moment, and we've got reasonably concrete sounding rumors from disparate sources that a handset containing one of the chips is currently under development by a "top five" smartphone builder (we're guessing it's not Apple), and that it'll be out sometime before the end of the year, selling at T-Mobile and AT&T for just $199. The details of the device beyond that are scant, with Android being a possibility but Windows Mobile looking more likely, and a continued pledge of battery life of rated for "days and days" of mobile multimedia. We like the sound of that.

Read - NVIDIA Tegra phone due from "big five" firm
Read - Rumor: NVIDIA Tegra phones in Q409?

SciPhone Dream G2 Android charger is best ever

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 30th 2009 at 1:48AM

One of our favorite intellectual property rips of recent months is without a doubt the SciPhone Dream G2 from China. Having completely missed the point of Google's open-source OS being, well, open-source and thus free for SciPhone's use, the company instead chose to hack the G2's "proprietory" OS to look like Android. The charger, however, built to look like the iconic Android mascot is pretty damn cute; enough so that the idea of paying $150 just to get our hands on the 100-240V USB charger has crossed our minds. See the Android's naughty bits after the break.

[Thanks, Steven]

Continue reading SciPhone Dream G2 Android charger is best ever

Mio codename "Amber" on the way with WinMo 6.5?

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 29th 2009 at 1:40AM

As HTC's already eager to demonstrate with the Touch Diamond2 and Touch Pro2 and Toshiba with the TG01, Windows Mobile 6.5 should bring with it a pretty wide range of interesting compatible hardware -- and we'll admit that we're a little intrigued by this alleged device from Mio codenamed "Amber." All we've got here is a render, but it's certainly within the realm of plausibility -- it looks quite a bit like the company's G50, after all, and we'd certainly expect them to be releasing new WinMo devices in conjunction with 6.5. Anyhow, we're told that we can expect a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7200 series (we would've preferred Snapdragon-class silicon, of course), a whopping 3.61-inch WVGA display, 256MB of RAM paired with 512MB of ROM, a 5 megapixel AF primary cam, full HSPA, and an integrated FM transmitter. If it's real, it looks like this one has the Touch Diamond2 squarely in its sights.

[Thanks, msav]

Spanish firm GeeksPhone launches "One" Android set

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 27th 2009 at 8:39PM

It looks exactly like a Samsung Omnia, but don't be fooled -- what you're actually looking at here is Spain's first go at producing an Android handset (which is especially ironic considering we just reported on the andromnia project). Our colleagues from Engadget Spanish were live in Barcelona today for the grand unveiling of the GeeksPhone One, a Cupcake-powered phone featuring a 625MHz PXA310 core, quadband EDGE plus HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, AGPS, 3.2 megapixel primary camera plus a front-facing cam for video calling, and microSD expansion -- sounds great, but the package is marred a bit by the fact that it's rolling with a resistive 3.2-inch touchscreen. Hard to complain with the price, though -- GeeksPhone expects to sell the set for somewhere between €250 and €300 (about $352 to $422) unlocked when it launches this fall.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Lancer's iJector is the $700 projector for your $200 iPhone

by Tim Stevens, posted Jun 26th 2009 at 8:07AM

For that $700 price quoted above you were probably hoping for some sort of impossibly small and stylish pico projector, able to consume your iPhone, beam its contents onto the nearest flat surface, and make everyone nearby say "Ooh." Sadly the truth is not quite so charming, with Lancer Corporation's iJector looking to be smallish but not particularly svelte -- or stylish, for that matter. It sports the ubiquitous iPod dock on top that will accept a suite of Apple devices ranging from Gen 1 iPod nanos to iPhones running OS 3.0, and also has video input and output so that it can work with non-Apple devices, beaming a maximum 50-inch image at a disappointing 557 x 234 resolution. Did we mention that, at ¥64,800, it's nearly $700? It is, and it's shipping to Japan next month if for some reason you're still interested.

[Via CoolestGadgets]

AT&T Quickfire on sale again, now less combustible

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 22nd 2009 at 9:41AM

We're not sure exactly when these came back into the system, but it seems AT&T now has a version of the Quickfire available that isn't a poetic fire hazard. It may have been a tough sell in some circles at its original $100 on contract, but the touchscreen QWERTY slider with 3G is now on fire sale (sorry, we couldn't help ourselves) for a killer price of $29.99 on contract after rebate. Heck, we think we'd risk a fire with the original model for that price.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXVIII: iPhome 3G for the wim!

by Laura June, posted Jun 20th 2009 at 9:10PM

Sure, we've seen plenty of iPhone clones in our day, but we'll say this: this is the clome to beat all clomes. It really takes the KIRF standard up a notch, running the best fake OS X we've seen to date. This one's identity is less confused than many of the knockoffs we usually see, and if you're lucky enough to get your hands on one of these 4GB having-babies... well, you just might be able to convince your grandma that it's the iPhone 3G S. Video is after the break.

[Via PMP Today]

Continue reading Keepin' it real fake, part CCXVIII: iPhome 3G for the wim!

SciPhone shocker! N12 handset features 'genuine' Android OS

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jun 19th 2009 at 11:41AM

It looks we don't have ol' SciPhone to kick around anymore. Sure, we had some laughs -- mainly due to the fact that the irony-resistant handset manufacturer was ripping off an open source OS -- but now it looks like all that has changed. The SciPhone N12 (apparently) runs genuine Android, sports both quadband GSM and WCDMA (3G), and packs a 3.2-inch touchscreen, WiFi, a GPS module, CMMB TV support, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and a 624MHz Marvell processor under the hood. Listed for CNY $1,600 (roughly $234), this bad boy should be out June 25. Check out a couple more pics after the break.

[Via PMP Today]

Continue reading SciPhone shocker! N12 handset features 'genuine' Android OS

Meizu M8 gets new UI, possibly Android?

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jun 19th 2009 at 9:31AM

This one's for all of you Meizu fanboys out there: To tide you over while you wait for the M8 3G launch in March 2010 (with a possible M8 3G S planned for Smarch 2043 or thereabouts) the company's announced that the handset will be getting a UI refresh with its firmware 1.0 release come August. Keep in mind that the above image only shows the flowchart that the kids at the eico design lab are using to concoct all their fantastic new transitions and animations, and not the interface itself. And if that isn't enough to keep you entertained this fine morning, it looks like Meizu has put together a team "with the sole purpose of investigating the Android platform." Whether or not this "investigation" will amount to anything remains to be seen, and it doesn't look like the company has any serious intentions for this device beyond the domestic Chinese market, but who knows? Maybe there is a Meizu handset with the open source OS in your (distant) future. Stranger things have happened.

[Thanks, nice2know_u]

Read - Meizu M8 interface getting completely redone
Read - Meizu Android squad hard at work

Huawei's E583X wireless modem turns 3G to WiFi, beautiful lights

by Tim Stevens, posted Jun 19th 2009 at 8:04AM

The smallest USB 3G modems look like grossly over-sized thumb drives, while the biggest ones sport hinges or fold-out antennas that serve as tripwires for absent-minded businessmen with venti frappuccinos walking by your tiny little coffee shop table. Huawei's E583X detaches all that bother, acquiring a 3G wireless signal and then beaming it out again as WiFi, meaning you can leave it in your pocket and get a double-dose of microwaves. It sports a 1,500mAh battery, giving it five hours of independent living, and in emergencies it can act as a tethered modem as well. Sadly this first version will only accept a single WiFi connection, but future ones will allow four others to mooch your data plan. That it also blinks randomly like a prop out of Star Trek's utopian future is just an added bonus. It's set to light up Europe next month -- likely with some hideous contracts attached.