Obama -- Engadget Mobile

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXVII: Not even Obama can sell us on BlockBerry

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jun 18th 2009 @ 11:26AM

The ad reads: "Obama have BlackBerry, I have BlockBerry." BlockBerry, of course, being haff-cmm's Huawei K3-based WinMo 6.1 handset. This Storm 9500 KIRF packs a 460MHZ processor, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and supports 3G and EDGE. Some people's audacity, it seems, knows no limits.

Obama makes a grave mistake

by Nilay Patel posted Jun 10th 2009 @ 1:58PM

Cool holster, dude.

Obama's proposed 2010 budget juices carriers for more cash

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 28th 2009 @ 10:41AM

There's no easy answer to erasing a staggering trillion-plus dollar deficit in a federal budget, but you've got to start somewhere -- and Obama's looking at the nation's wireless carriers as cash cows just waiting to be milked. The President's proposed budget for 2010 calls for an increase in spectrum license user fees from $50 million to $200 million, with further increases to $550 million over the course of the next decade, all of which would be on top of the billions carriers have already shelled out in spectrum auctions. A good way to bring in some extra cash? Yeah, probably, but considering that carriers will be more than happy to pass the increases on to consumers, let's just be straight: it's a tax.

[Via El Reg]

Microsoft's Randy Siegel equates using a BlackBerry with sending data to Canada

by Darren Murph posted Jan 27th 2009 @ 10:56PM

Whoa, Nelly! There's a 74.6 percent chance that Microsoft's Randy Siegel will never, ever live this down. After finding that newly inaugurated president Barack Obama could keep his BlackBerry, Mr. Siegel -- who is an enterprise mobile strategist that works on federal government projects -- was quoted as saying the following about using a device whose creator is based in Canada: "You would be sending your data outside the country; we wouldn't want the casual musings or official communications of the most important person in the world being intercepted by others." Everyone get that? Owning a RIM device means that every bit and byte you send and receive is being carefully monitored by Canucks up in the Great White North, regardless of your hometown or carrier. Thanks for the laughs, Randy -- we needed 'em today.

[Via RCRWireless]

Inauguration Day overloads cellular networks, but not tremendously so

by Darren Murph posted Jan 21st 2009 @ 12:40PM

We can't see how this is shocking to anyone who has tried to make or receive a phone call on New Year's Eve (right around midnight, in particular), but cellular networks in the Metro DC area were pretty much bombarded yesterday. The inauguration of America's 44th president brought most networks to their knees, though most carriers reported that interruptions were relatively minimal. AT&T made sure to bump its 3G capacity by 80 percent and its 2G capacity by 69 percent along the parade route, and while a spokesperson did admit that it experienced "some congestion" during the events, customers were generally able to get through. In all honesty, we expected reports to be much more negative than this given the incredible amount of people shoved into one place, so we suppose a round of golf claps is in order for the carriers responsible for anticipating the surge.

[Image courtesy of Zimbio]

Verizon CEO joins AT&T in backing digital TV delay -- as long as it's short

by Richard Lawler posted Jan 19th 2009 @ 6:32PM

After initially opposing the Obama administration / Jay Rockefeller digital TV delay -- pushing the analog TV shutoff date back from February 17 to June 12 -- Verizon CEO Ivan Seiderberg has jumped on board with competitor AT&T in support of the plan. Considering Verizon just dropped $9.63 billion on the soon / not-so-soon to be vacated airwaves for its 4G wireless rollout this is an interesting position to take, but it appears that as long as the delay is a mere 115 days he can join AT&T ($7 billion or so invested) in waiting for the DTV converter coupon program to work itself out. Of course, if anyone wants to take advantage of the extra time to subscribe to FiOS or U-verse, we're sure that wouldn't be problem either.

Obama-branded Chinese ripoff of a Finnish phone launches in Kenya

by Chris Ziegler posted Jan 15th 2009 @ 6:59PM

Interestingly, we hear a Mwai Kibaki-branded Finnish ripoff of a Chinese phone is launching in the States. Go figure.

[Via Unwired View]

NSA-approved smartphones give Obama some ugly choices

by Ross Miller posted Jan 13th 2009 @ 6:33PM

Next week's US presidential inauguration of Barack Obama will have one sour note for the Illinois senator. Sure, he's gonna be the leader of the free world, but the notorious BlackBerry addict will have to give up his smartphone -- and frankly, if given the choice, we'd probably choose cellphone over country. There is hope, however, as CNET outlines two Windows Mobile devices that met the NSA's seal of approval for governmental use back in 2007: General Dynamics' Sectera Edge and L-3 Communications' Guardian. Unfortunately, both options look about as dated as the Treo 650, with exceptionally large antennas to boot. Hey NSA, any chance we can get something a bit sexier on the approval list?

Possible new FCC chair could focus on net neutrality, not cable pricing

by Darren Murph posted Jan 13th 2009 @ 5:00PM

Make no mistake, we have all ideas that Julius Genachowski is very much concerned with cable pricing, but according to analysts, putting pressure on operators isn't apt to be his focus. Jules, as he's known around the Engadget offices, is expected to be named the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. His primary concern? Network neutrality. As with most things in politics, the appointment is likely to be a double-edged sword for consumers; on one hand, we'll greatly benefit from a higher-up pushing open internet development and increased deployment, but on the other, we can pretty much kiss any faint hopes of à la carte pay-TV arrangements goodbye. Of course, before he tackles any of that, he'll first have to deal with the impending digital TV transition, which should be immensely riveting to watch from the sidelines.