February 22, 2010

Engadget Mobile

Engadget Mobile

Windows Marketplace tweaked, installs to storage cards now possible (Android, take note)

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 04:02 PM PST

Microsoft has released an updated version of its Marketplace for Mobile application for WinMo 6.0 and up recently that makes a few key changes -- nothing that's going to shake you to your very core the same way that Windows Phone 7 Series did last week, certainly, but there's some good stuff in here nonetheless. Most importantly, Marketplace will now allow for app installs straight to memory cards, a critical capability for devices that don't have gobs of storage built in (and something that Android tragically still lacks -- for the moment, anyhow). We've also got deep links to app product pages, user-selectable regional stores, Russian support, and the list goes on, so it seems like a must-have upgrade for anyone on a 6.x device. Just don't break the bank going on a wild, Red Bull-fueled app buying rampage now, alright?

[Thanks, Stair]

Windows Marketplace tweaked, installs to storage cards now possible (Android, take note) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vertu Ascent X dazzles FCC with its expert craftsmanship, supple leather

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 02:18 PM PST

We don't really know the fully story behind this new certification just yet, but it's not every day that Vertu -- Nokia's ultra-luxury brand -- passes a device through the FCC, so we figured we'd broadcast the exciting news anyhow. Other than a line art shot of the back and a few particularly sparse lab documents, your guess is as good as ours, but there's one bit in the RF test results that reads right out of a Tourneau brochure: "The Vertu Model: Ascent X, FCC ID: P7QRM-589V is a mobile phone in the Luxuary [sic] category. It is differentiated from standard models in terms of craftsmanship/materials and quality. The model is available in a number of cosmetic finishes, where substituted on a like for like basis, Metal for Metal, RF Neutral/leather and cover materials for the same in a variety of colors and finishes (Mat/polished/color etc)." Metal for metal indeed, Vertu. Interestingly, the phone appears to support quadband HSPA on the 800, 850, 1900, and 2100MHz frequencies -- not something you see every day -- and although we can't find any details on the phone, Vertu's official data configuration service lists an "Ascent X Design" model, so this might very well be it. Start raiding the trust fund, ladies and gentlemen.

Vertu Ascent X dazzles FCC with its expert craftsmanship, supple leather originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG SV770 Waffle isn't as edible as it sounds

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 01:37 PM PST

Throughout much of the world, 3G is a welcome change from the surly slow-speed bonds of older wireless techs, but in South Korea, there's still a huge contingent of subscribers stubbornly hanging onto their 2G service for a simple reason: upgrading requires a number change. Anyone can relate to why changing phone numbers sucks so badly, so LG's actually using the 2G nature of its SV770 Waffle as a selling point -- well, that, and the waffle-esque backing, of course. The trendy slider will be available shortly in three shades -- white, black, and champagne gold -- and feature Bluetooth, FM radio, and an emergency siren in case someone tries to enjoy your Waffle a little too much rather than getting his or her own. Look for it to hit SK Telecom in the next couple weeks; now if you'll excuse us, we could really use some breakfast.

LG SV770 Waffle isn't as edible as it sounds originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Devour goes hands-on, hits Best Buy for $99 this week (update: video!)

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 01:19 PM PST

We've got Motorola's latest Blur handset in hand, Devour-ing ill-advised puns like it's a full time job. You can check out this aluminum slider in all its consumer-friendly glory in the gallery below, see it sized up against big brother Droid right below that, and there are some initial impressions and a video walkthrough after the break.

Continue reading Motorola Devour goes hands-on, hits Best Buy for $99 this week (update: video!)

Motorola Devour goes hands-on, hits Best Buy for $99 this week (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Earth now available on Android 2.1

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 12:02 PM PST

After a totally nonchalant, non-announcement type of showing by Erick Tseng at Eric Schmidt's MWC keynote last week (thanks to Phone Scoop for pointing that out), the Android version of Google Earth is now available in the Market for download to the Nexus One (and, in the future, "most" other devices running 2.1 or newer). Previously, it'd only been available as a mobile app on the iPhone -- a rare example of Google treating Apple's platform better than its own -- but with modern Android handsets getting extraordinarily speedy, it makes sense that they'd want to bring the graphics-intensive app home. It's not as useful as Google Maps in the strictest sense of the word, but with touch control (multitouch in particular), it's endlessly entertaining -- and assuming you've got an unlimited data plan and a few free megabytes of app storage space, it's probably a must-download.

Google Earth now available on Android 2.1 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rogers getting Android 2.1-equipped Acer Liquid e this spring

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 09:37 AM PST

Acer may make plenty of cellphones, but they've so far been a pretty rare sight on North American carriers. That's now set to change this Spring, however, when Rogers will reportedly be the first carrier in North America to offer Acer's new Liquid e phone -- and, incidentally, the first carrier in Canada to offer an Android 2.1 phone (not counting the upgradable Milestone, that is). In case you missed its debut at MWC, the Liquid e packs a 3.5-inch touchscreen, along with a slightly underclocked 768MHz Snapdragon processor, a 5-megapixel camera, 7.2Mbps 3G and Wi-Fi and, of course, a basic implementation of Android 2.1. Still no indication of a price or exact release date, but Rogers is promising to say more as that approaches.

Rogers getting Android 2.1-equipped Acer Liquid e this spring originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile Pulse Mini does cheap, tiny, prepaid Android for Europe

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 09:09 AM PST

In the US, the concept of a prepaid Android phone is about as foreign as the concept of an effective high-speed mass transit system, but abroad, T-Mobile is following up its Pulse with a cuter, smaller sibling in the Pulse Mini. Like the original the Pulse is sourced from China's Huawei and offers Euro HSDPA, but the similarities end there: the new model will run Android 2.1 out of the gate, step down from an HVGA to a QVGA display, and sport a Qualcomm MSM7225 core. Look for it to launch in the UK and Germany in April; pricing will vary by market, but Britons can look forward to shelling out £99.99 (about $155) contract-free.

T-Mobile Pulse Mini does cheap, tiny, prepaid Android for Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mexican 3G auction attracts phalanx of bidders

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 08:21 AM PST

Mexican wireless regulator COFETEL probably has peso signs in its eyes this week on news that 17 -- yes, fully seventeen different firms have filed the requisite paperwork to participate in upcoming auctions for 3G services in the 1900MHz and AWS ranges. Officials are hoping to spur 3G competition with the move -- and certainly competition doesn't seem to be a problem here, what with 17 different firms trying to get in on the action -- with bidding wrapping up on May 25 and winners being announced 30 days thereafter. As you might expect, all four of the country's major wireless operators (America Movil, Telefonica, Iusacell, and Nextel) are signed up, but other participants include cable companies and landline operators, so we could potentially see a fifth major wireless player in the mix by the time all is said and done.

Mexican 3G auction attracts phalanx of bidders originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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China sent 23 billion text messages during Chinese New Year

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 07:01 AM PST

23 billion text messages in one week, with 13 billion from the first two days alone. Pretty mind-boggling, isn't it? And this 10 percent growth in the number of gung-hey-fat-choi messages is the work of just 747 million phone users in China -- imagine what would've happened if all 1.3 billion people in the country had a phone during Chinese New Year. Throughout the same period, China also produced 1.33 billion MMS messages -- a staggering 40 percent increase from last year -- while China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom operated 127.6 percent, 19.5 percent and 15.7 percent more voice calls respectively. Looks like someone's bagged themselves some extra red pockets here. Now, any guesses for next year's figures?

China sent 23 billion text messages during Chinese New Year originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia hints at augmented reality Maps and 3D smartphones in its future (video)

Posted: 22 Feb 2010 01:32 AM PST

You know what happens when we see a video pop on Nokia Conversations (Nokia's official blog) featuring a senior VP from Nokia's smartphone division? Everything stops -- who knows what might be revealed during an informal, semi-scripted chat. When asked about Nokia's future smartphone technologies and experiences, Jo Harlow, SVP of Smartphones dives right into a discussion of augmented reality as a means to enhance existing Nokia services like the Ovi Maps experience. She then shifts to an entertainment perspective since "everyone's talking about 3D." As she sees it, there's an opportunity for mobile to be earlier to 3D than typical television development to mobile. That means content, specifically 3D games, which Jo says "could be very, very interesting in terms of enhancing that experience." One can only imagine that what interests Nokia's Senior VP of smartphones will ultimately interest manufacturers on the way to retail. And it's not like Nokia's been shy with its 3D prototypes in the past. Watch the discussion unfold in the video after the break.

Continue reading Nokia hints at augmented reality Maps and 3D smartphones in its future (video)

Nokia hints at augmented reality Maps and 3D smartphones in its future (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Bloom Box: a power plant for the home (video)

Posted: 21 Feb 2010 10:57 PM PST

Those two blocks can power the average high-consumption American home -- one block can power the average European home. At least that's the claim being made by K.R. Sridhar, founder of Bloom Energy, on 60 Minutes last night. The original technology comes from an oxygen generator meant for a scrapped NASA Mars program that's been converted, with the help of an estimated $400 million in private funding, into a fuel cell. Bloom's design feeds oxygen into one side of a cell while fuel (natural gas, bio gas from landfill waste, solar, etc) is supplied to the other side to provide the chemical reaction required for power. The cells themselves are inexpensive ceramic disks painted with a secret green "ink" on one side and a black "ink" on the other. The disks are separated by a cheap metal alloy, instead of more precious metals like platinum, and stacked into a cube of varying capabilities -- a stack of 64 can power a small business like Starbucks.

Now get this, skeptics: there are already several corporate customers using refrigerator-sized Bloom Boxes. The corporate-sized cells cost $700,000 to $800,000 and are installed at 20 customers you've already heard of including FedEx and Wal-mart -- Google was first to this green energy party, using its Bloom Boxes to power a data center for the last 18 months. Ebay has installed its boxes on the front lawn of its San Jose location. It estimates to receive almost 15% of its energy needs from Bloom, saving about $100,000 since installing its five boxes 9 months ago -- an estimate we assume doesn't factor in the millions Ebay paid for the boxes themselves. Bloom makes about one box a day at the moment and believes that within 5 to 10 years it can drive down the cost to about $3,000 to make it suitable for home use. Sounds awfully aggressive to us. Nevertheless, Bloom Energy will go public with details on Wednesday -- until then, check the 60 Minutes sneak peek after the break.

[Thanks, Abe P.]

Continue reading The Bloom Box: a power plant for the home (video)

The Bloom Box: a power plant for the home (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Telstra boasts it's got the first live HSPA+ Dual Carrier network

Posted: 21 Feb 2010 05:50 PM PST

It may not be the fastest live HSPA network today, but Telstra -- a carrier with a history of world's firsts -- is touting that it's now the first operator on the face planet to flip the switch on HSPA+ Dual Carrier, the very same tech that Ericsson has been demoing recently. That means that customers will be able to expect about double the peak 3G speeds they get today (so Telstra claims) once they latch onto Sierra Wireless' new modem, expected to be available "later this year." The fun doesn't end there, though: Telstra says this is just the first stop on a wild ride up to 84Mbps once MIMO is added into the mix with expected commercial availability in 2011, cutting deeply into the territory enjoyed by first-gen LTE networks. Any chance we could have the modem in something besides Smurf Blue? No worries if not, Sierra; just figured we'd ask.

Telstra boasts it's got the first live HSPA+ Dual Carrier network originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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