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HTC's Android-driven Dream revealed in glorious spy photos

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Aug 30th 2008 at 12:25PM Breaking News


Sure, we've seen some blurry videos and a few stolen glimpses when Andy Rubin demonstrated this beast, but now we've gotten our hands on a slew of pictures showing off a very real T-Mobile-branded Dream in all its Android-running glory. Not only does this confirm the design spied in those FCC docs as well as show off that nearly-done version of Android, but it seems to confirm the fact that this will be headed to T-Mobile, and sooner rather than later judging from the looks of the above device. Needless to say, our inner-geeks are completely geeking out right now. Hit the gallery below for a handful of other views of the phone.

[Thanks, Michael]

BlackBerry Kickstart 8220 surfaces on eBay, trigger fingers get itchy

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 30th 2008 at 8:36AM


Not that you won't be able to buy this thing from carriers here shortly, but there's just nothing quite like being the first on your block to own a new handset. For those with cash to burn and an insatiable desire to play with RIM's forthcoming Kickstart 8220, look no further than eBay. Up for auction right now is an unlocked version of the aforesaid mobile, but it looks as if the final bid will end up well over a grand. Good luck (being patient).

[Via CellPhonesMarket, thanks ghengis]

FCC Fridays

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 11:10PM Featured Story

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Samsung SPH-M540
Read - Samsung SGH-M200
Read - Samsung SCH-i910
Read - Samsung SCH-R800
Read - Samsung 930SC
Read - LG KP270
Read - LG RD6200
Read - LG KP570Q
Read - Alcatel OT-I650A
Read - Huawei T520A
Read - Huawei C2906
Read - Huawei U1107
Read - Huawei U1307
Read - ZTE C362
Read - Pantech CDM8975
Read - Pantech C630
Read - Sharp WX-T825
Read - Sharp 830SH
Read - Kyocera K38-01

Peripherals
Read - Option GlobeSurfer 311
Read - Option ICON 322
Read - LG HBM-520
Read - Iqua Vizor SUN PHF-603

Mobile payments coming to Mexico

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 8:56PM

Like Canada, Mexico's getting mobile payments, too, but these are just a bit different in two very important respects. One, this is a full-fledged service being underwritten by Telefonica, Iusacell, Citibank, and BBVA -- not just a trial. Two, unlike the NFC-based Canadian system, this one will rely on text messages to get the cash flowing. The service is expected to launch in the next few months and get backing from restaurants, stores, and taxis, all places where we can recall specific times when we would've rather kept our wallets in our pockets when the time came to pony up. Of course, considering how miserably unsuccessful mobile payments have been across North America so far (we've still got our fingers crossed that NFC is going to take off one of these days), this one could die off as quickly as it started unless it catches a break and goes big.

The Engadget Review: Palm Treo Pro

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 6:40PM Featured Story


The Treo Pro is the first of what is clearly a new design direction for Palm -- a shiny, black mutation of the popular Centro coupled with a few lines from the Treo 500 and a dash of the original Xbox thrown in for good measure. Under the hood is the staid and familiar Windows Mobile 6.1, with few changes save for the typical Palm shortcuts and the inclusion of an HTC-licensed task manager. Is this combo powerful enough to lift the smartphone-maker out of the doldrums of its current lineup, or is it just another half-step along the uneven pavement the company has been treading? Read on to find out.

Continue reading The Engadget Review: Palm Treo Pro

Qualcomm slapped with fine for violating Broadcom injunction

by Nilay Patel, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 5:04PM

Ooh, Qualcomm you been naughty. You might remember that last year Qualcomm was banned from selling various 3G chips that infringed on Broadcom's patents, but the big Q apparently believes that being in trouble is a fake idea, because it kept right on doing it -- to the point where a judge yesterday found the company in contempt for violating the injunction and ordered it to pay up gross profits from sales of its QChat push-to-talk tech to Broadcom. The court gave Qualcom 30 days to figure out how much it owes -- Sprint's paid over $93M to use the tech since last December, so it's not going to be peanuts. Qualcomm says it'll immediately comply, but is planning on appealing the order, so we'll how this all goes down.

Rogers announcing new data plans, peace of mind in October

by Sean Cooper, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 3:03PM


Now that Rogers' iPhone users have had a month to play and Rogers have had time to look at usage, it comes as no surprise some new data plans are in the works. First off, the good news is that the $30 6GB plan will be extended until the end of September from the end of August -- mind you, this is less generosity and more wanting to sign new BlackBerry Bold owners on to the plan. On October 1st Rogers -- and Fido -- will launch a new $15 2MB plan, $25 500MB plan, $30 1GB plan, $60 3GB plan, and an $80 8GB plan. These new plans will apply to smartphones, data cards, tethering, and of course BlackBerry devices. Most notable in the good news binge are a few "peace of mind" protection tools also being launched in October, including SMS data alerts, Freedom of Data, and a $100 data charge maximum. SMS data alerts will let subscribers know before, when, and after they've emptied the data bucket for the month. Freedom of Data will give 3 months of real unlimited usage just on the off chance you completely blow it out, the overages will be zeroed out and you can learn, adjust and move on. The $100 maximum idea means that no matter what data plan you're on, your monthly bill will never be higher than a hundred bucks as a combination of your fixed cost plus your overage. It seems this may spell the end of outrageous data bills in Canada, and we're thinking that deserves some applause.

The HTC S740 gets handled

by Nilay Patel, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 1:24PM


HTC is keeping the S740 under wraps at IFA, but the crafty folks at newmobile managed to score some time with the new QWERTY slider, and it looks pretty decent. Thinner than the Touch Pro, the keyboard is basically the same, with the same sort of stealth-look backplate as the Diamond. No motion sensor, so the display only rotates when the slide is open, but that's really all we know -- the unit wasn't running a production-ready version of Windows Mobile, so impressions are a little up in the air. Hit the read link for more shots.

[Via Coolsmartphone]

BlackBerry Bold hitting AT&T on October 2?

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 12:55PM


With hope of a summer release fading with the passing of each and every day, Boy Genius Report cites a "pretty solid bit of info" that the BlackBerry Bold is now pegged for launch on AT&T on Thursday, October 2. So if you see a throng of three-piece suits starting to gather around your local store around September 28 or 29, yeah, that's probably why.

FCC approves an HTC Touch Cruise with North American 3G -- but why?

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 12:18PM


With the dull roar of frenzied anticipation (okay, that might be over the top, but you know what we mean) surrounding the launch of the Touch Diamond in all its variants around the globe, why would HTC take a step back in time to get one of its older models approved in a new flavor? Don't get us wrong -- for its day, the Touch Cruise was one of the hottest Windows Mobile devices going -- but the Touch Diamond has seriously muted an overwhelming majority of the WinMo kit out there, including much of HTC's older lineup. Put head to head, the VGA display and TouchFLO 3D alone are enough to make sure the newer handset spanks the Polaris, but for whatever reason, Mr. Chou and his gang saw fit to repurpose it with HSDPA 850 / 1900 and send it through an FCC lab. We're not sure whether this will end up on a carrier anywhere, but with the front-facing cam, we'd probably rule out AT&T off the bat.

Update: Touche, there's a Touch Cruise already in circulation with 850 / 1900 3G -- but the question remains, why was this just approved? Thanks, everybody!

Rogers BlackBerry Kickstart 8220 gets priced?

by Sean Cooper, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 10:43AM


Somebody has let the BlackBerry out of the bag chez Rogers, as we're now seeing alleged marketing material for the flippable Kickstart 8220 spinning its way on to the internet. As this ad proclaims, the Kickstart 8220 will be listed at $149 on a minimum $35 plan if you sign a three year stint. No word on if Rogers will have other plans, deals, or rebates, but we suspect if you're willing to throw more loonies their way, you'll be able to pick this up on a shorter term. Of course, if a flippin' BlackBerry isn't your thing, the recently launched BlackBerry Bold might fit the bill, though, that bill will be for at least a couple "brownies" more.

Vodafone UK tempts prepaid market with text incentives

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 9:11AM


The normally pedestrian procedure of re-upping your minute bank just got a little more exciting for customers of Vodafone's prepaid service in the UK, where the launch of the aptly-named "Text Unlimited" promotion offers incentives for topping up. Adding £5 worth of voice over the course of the month wins you unlimited texts on weekday evenings the following month; £10 get weekends, too, and £30 leads to an unlimited playground of messaging nirvana. The service launches September 1, and Vodafone's using the opportunity to tie it in with the prepaid launch of the Sony Ericsson K770i in "Touch of Pink" and "Star Heaven Silver". Whoever thought of the names of those colors should be rewarded with at least one month of unlimited messaging, eh?

There can be only one: "source" claims for iPhone 2.0.2 to not suck, 2.0 must die

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 4:02AM

Turns out there may have been some legitimacy to those nagging feelings that something just wasn't quite right about iPhone firmware 2.0.2 -- a build many initially hoped would be the holy grail to cure the iPhone 3G's reception woes. Here's where it gets a little weird, though: a "source close to AT&T," so RoughlyDrafted claims, says that 2.0 and 2.0.1 are actually the culprits responsible for holding back 2.0.2 from greatness, not lousiness in 2.0.2 itself. The story goes that the older versions have faulty power control software in their radios, forcing base stations to connect to phones at higher powers than they'd normally have to, which in turn leads to base stations running plumb out of power -- and once that happens, you get dropped calls, bad reception, and lousy data rates, among other UMTS ails. Following that logic, the network should improve on its own over time as more and more owners update to 2.0.2, which explains AT&T's uncharacteristic text message to owners urging them to take the plunge. This all sounds plausible, we guess, but if 2.0 and 2.0.1 were really screwing with base stations that badly, wouldn't owners of other 3G phones be affected equally?

[Via mocoNews]

Android Developer Challenge winners announced

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 29th 2008 at 12:03AM


Google has wrapped up judging on its very first Android Developer Challenge, and some twenty dev shops (or in some cases, individual developers) are finding themselves considerably richer as a result. Of the fifty apps to make it through to the final round, ten have been awarded $275,000 each and another ten have made off with a cool hundred grand -- good coin for some really good ideas. As you might expect of anything being backed by Google and the Android platform, a good number of the finalists made location-based services an integral theme; take grand prize winner Locale, for example, which automatically switches device settings based on your current location (if that's not a "why didn't we think of that?" kind of product, we don't know what is). The more we scan it, the more we realize that the list of winners reads like a who's-who catalog of apps we know we want installed on our Dreams out of the gate -- and more importantly, it looks like Google has a great way here to encourage best-of-breed Android development over the long run.

Palm Treo 800w and Treo Pro accessories revealed, boredom hard to fend off

by Chris Ziegler, posted Aug 28th 2008 at 8:50PM

Regardless of brand or model, one of the very first accessories many smartphone owners start rifling through the parts bin for is an extended battery of some sort. Unfortunately, Palm either doesn't know that or doesn't care, because a glance through its fresh round of accessories for the 800w and Pro doesn't reveal any. What we do see is a leather sleeve case for the 800w -- fancy! -- along with a "micro" charger that comes bundled with a spare battery. Depending on just how "micro" we're talking about, that could be a decent investment. It's not the most exciting group of SKUs, but for Treo fans, excitement is pretty hard to come by anyway.




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