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BlackBerry Storm shipments delayed due to apparent version glitch

BlackBerry Storm shipments delayed due to apparent version glitch
If you're one of the many, many BlackBerry Storm buyers who cleaned out inventories at Verizon stores on Friday, all that time spent waiting in the cold just became a bit more worthwhile. Online orders are being subject to shipping delays and, while you might think this is just another case of holiday supply versus demand, many are calling shenanigans. Supposedly the Storm was set to launch with OS version 4.7.0.82, but due to a last-minute security glitch every last handset had to be downgraded to .65 -- a surely time-consuming task that resulted in many fewer handsets in-store and online for release. Right now Verizon is indicating that orders placed before noon on November 21 should ship on the 25th, those received after noon will ship on December 5, and anything received on November 22 or later will not ship before December 15. That's close enough to a certain major holiday to make BlackBerry-loving kids of all ages nervous. If a Storm is high on your Christmas list you might just want to plan a few extra good deeds on your schedule to boost your placement on the "nice" list -- nobody wants a 7100i in their stocking.

[Via CrackBerry]

Doro brings immensely simplistic phones to the US via Centennial Wireless


Now that the baby boomer generation is booming louder than ever and the geriatric set is quickly growing larger, Doro is hoping to grow its market share by coming to the States. A mainstay in the European market, the company focuses on producing overly simplistic mobiles that ditch cutting edge features in favor of easy-to-use interfaces. The GSM-compatible HandleEasy 330gsm and HandleEasy 326i gsm have arrived on US soil courtesy of Centennial Wireless, and both should be the easiest phone you've ever had the opportunity to use. Unfortunately, there's no mention of a price for either, but we can't imagine 'em being too pricey.

Aptina producing cellphone image sensor that shoots HD video

It sounds like your camera phone's video capabilities may get exponentially more awesome in the near future. Aptina -- a division of Micron that manufactures one out of every three sensors for mobile phone cameras -- has announced the high resolution 5 megapixel MT9P013. There are better sensors out there already, but this one will also be able to record 720p HD video at 60 frames per second, and 5-megapixel video at 15fps. The sensor is going into production in January of 2009, according to Aptina, so it shouldn't be too long before we start seeing much better quality amateur films out there in the world.

[Via SlashGear]

Apple approves third-party email client for the App Store, violates its own policies


Recently we were sent a PR email about an iPhone app called BdEmailer. No big deal, press releases about new iPhone applications show up in our box in large bundles every day -- but this one was different. According to the release, the program is the "the first wide email iPhone app that supports client SMTP." That means, in essence, that it duplicates an exact function of Apple's Mail application on the iPhone and touch. That's kind of a huge deal, because up until this point we've been led to believe that this duplication of functionality is one of the company's red flags when it comes to approval. Now mind you, we're not complaining. The idea of having more apps to choose from for doing things like sending email is a great idea, but Apple... what the hell is going on? You refused MailWrangler and Podcaster for similar reasons, yet BdEmailer passes through your review process, SMTP functionality intact? This means one of two things as far as we can tell -- either you've relaxed your policies on duplicate functionality, or you've gotten incredibly lazy when it comes to approving applications. We're inclined to believe it's the latter, as BdEmailer has a fair share of bugs that need working out, but really, people need some clarification here on what will and won't pass -- and moving the goalpost all the time isn't going to help.

FCC Fridays

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 SGH-T301G
Read - Samsung B5712C
Read - ZTE X760 [Awesome HTC Touch fake, check it out! -Ed.]
Read - LG GT365

Peripherals
Read - Plantronics Voyager Pro
Read - Plantronics BackBeat Adapter

T-Mobile G1s now shipping with 3.5mm headphone adapters included

It's not going to somehow magically conjure a jack where there's currently nothing more than a sad-looking ExtUSB port, but new G1 buyers can take some solace in the knowledge that they'll be able to plug in, turn it up, and tune out right out of the box. We've received official word from HTC that 3.5mm headphone adapters for the ExtUSB port are now being bundled with the phone, meaning you won't be stuck with that janky (no, seriously, it's insanely terrible) headset with the special connector that you get free of charge; after all, when we're blasting the Jonas Brothers at full tilt, we need the kind of fidelity that only high-end earbuds can provide. What, you got a problem with that?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Palm axes an undisclosed amount of employees, sort of blames itself


My, my -- how's this for truth in advertising? Palm InfoCenter has confirmed with a Palm spokesperson that the flagging outfit will be laying off an undisclosed amount of employees as the economy worsens and the firm attempts to keep that final nail from being slammed down on its coffin. According to the spokesperson, the company will undergo a certain amount of restructuring (sound familiar?) that will "result in company reductions in the US and internationally." Incredulously, the statement also included this gem: "The global economic downturn continues to dampen demand for consumer goods around the world, and the impact on the economic environment is worsened by our maturing Centro line and the length of time it is taking to ramp our new Windows Mobile products." We won't say for sure that it's actually taking some of the blame here, but it sure sounds like it. Now, if only it would take charge of its future...

[Image courtesy of DayLife]

sWaP watch phone likely won't change your opinion of watch phones


While watch phones have gotten a tad more "wearable" in recent years, they still haven't exactly caught on like some folks may have thought they would in their younger, jetpack-filled visions of the future, and we're going to go out on a limb and speculate that this new so-called sWaP watch won't change that situation. As far as watch phones go, however, this one looks to be fairly capable, with it packing a SIM card slot to let you easily hop onto your cell network of choice, a 1.3 megapixel camera, 128MB of built-in memory, a T-Flash card slot to add up to 2GB more, and even an included Bluetooth headset to avoid the embarrassment of actually talking into your watch. You'll have to pay a bit of a premium for this particular slice of a future that might have been though, with the device sporting a price tag of £249, or roughly $370.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

RAZR stops a bullet, its owner reports "feeling lucky, punk."


New Orleans resident Ronald Richard was mowing the lawn when he felt a hard object hit him in the chest -- precisely where he'd been keeping his pink Swarovski-encrusted (just kidding) RAZR. It was only after Richard took off his sweater that he discovered the .45-caliber slug and realized that the phone had literally taken a bullet for him. According to paramedics, the angle of the bullet and the modest stopping power of the cellphone were all that stood between the man and serious injury or even death. Instead, this lucky gent got away with little more than a fairly significant bruise and an excuse to pick up that Aura he's been coveting.

Velocity Mobile's 83 hits the FCC


Guess what? You'll be able to use Velocity's weak-sauce 83 without any strongly-worded objection from the boys and girls at the Federal Communications Commission! Okay, okay, maybe that's not fair -- with WiFi and GPS, it does its job at the bottom end of Velocity's lineup -- it's just that when you compare it to the 103 and the 111, it comes up a little short (ahem, QVGA display, EDGE radio, we're looking at you guys). We're not really feeling that gnurled back, either -- especially in light of the FCC lab's less-than-stellar photography skills -- but if it floats your boat and you're stationed stateside, you can start to feel a little less illegal now.

Samsung's Omnia found in the unforgiving wilds of a Verizon store


They're apparently not for sale yet -- stores don't even know what the pricing situation is -- but Verizon has starting shipping Samsung Omnias to at least some of its stores. For anyone not needing the global...um, "globalness" of the Saga or the QWERTY-ness of the upcoming Touch Pro, the Omnia certainly makes for an interesting option -- espeically in light of the TouchWiz support and the 5-megapixel cam. With units in stores now, it can't be long until we can actually buy these, can it?

BlackBerry Storm sells out hard and fast


We don't have official confirmation of this yet, but we're hearing from all over that Verizon's launch of the BlackBerry Storm has so far been a raging success -- from what we can tell, it's sold out nearly everywhere, and the online store is buckling under the load of thousands of eager buyers. Sounds like RIM's on track for a hit -- any of you have any luck scoring a Storm today? How'd it go? Digging the SurePress screen? Hit us up in comments!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Scalado demonstrates zero-lag cellphone camera


Great news for all you aspiring paparazzi -- it looks like someone has finally figured out how to eliminate that nasty camera phone shutter lag. By sending image data directly to the camera's display and capturing it as a modified SpeedTagged JPEG when the time comes to immortalize that precious moment (or romantic indiscretion), the Scalado Camera Solution not only takes nigh-on instantaneous photos, but also provides high quality, real-time preview, pan and zoom. With several camera phone sensor and module manufacturers (including Aptina, OmniVision Samsung, and MtekVision) already on the SpeedTags tip, it looks like that laggedy old camera phone may soon be a thing of the past. Don't believe us? Take a look at the demo video yourself. It's after the break.

[Via Slashphone]




Get a Storm for a C-note less than usual


If the BlackBerry Storm's $199.99 retail price on contract after rebate isn't sitting particularly well with you, there's an alternative you may want to investigate. LetsTalk, purveyors of the free Bold, have outdone themselves with a rebate-laden $99 Storm; granted, the catch is that you've got to sign up for a plan package of $69.99 or higher, but let's be honest -- plenty of Storm buyers are going to be doing just that anyway.

[Via BlackBerryNews]

GSM Association proudly endorses NFC and Carrier ENUM

The GSM Association has been gung-ho about near-field communications (NFC) for a good while now, but just recently at a meeting in Macau did it take the opportunity to officially proclaim its support for NFC and Carrier ENUM. As for the former, it's urging manufacturers to have NFC technology (which is most commonly used for mobile payment systems) in "mainstream mobile phones by mid-2009 by using the standardized single wire protocol (SWP) interface, which enables communications between NFC hardware and a SIM card." Furthermore, it gave a hearty thumbs-up to ENUM (previously known as Number Resolution Service), which is an IETF-sanctioned standard for converting traditional phone numbers into IP addresses. It also announced that a related service (dubbed PathFinder) was generally available to mobile and fixed network operators from NeuStar. All this sounds fine and dandy, but what we're really interested in is what these folks did in Macau after the business was settled. Lucky...

[Via phonescoop, image courtesy of ISOC]

Read - Official GSMA support for ENUM
Read - Support for NFC / ENUM
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