| Palm outs SDK for webOS 1.4 Posted: 02 Mar 2010 05:31 PM PST  Lagging by the big OTA push by just a couple short days, Palm has published its SDK for devs looking to target webOS 1.4 -- and it's got some pretty important changes in the mix. Besides the obvious addition of Flash 10.1 on the Pre, 1.4 now incorporates WebKit 4 (along with an updated V8 JavaScript engine), better conformance with the HTML5 Media API spec, and additions to the platform's camera API to interact with the new video recording support. It sounds like a must-have download if you're looking to target Pres or Pixis any time soon, so have at it, won't you? Palm outs SDK for webOS 1.4 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Nokia's Series 40 to 'offer a compelling touch experience' Posted: 02 Mar 2010 03:52 PM PST Even though it's lived a long, fruitful (some might even say wildly successful) life as Nokia's one and only high-end feature phone platform, Series 40 is suffering from a bit of an identity crisis now that S60 pushing deeper than ever into categories traditionally considered dumbphone strongholds -- one needs to look no further than the C5 to see that strategy in action. So, what's next? Quite a bit, actually. Cellularmania appears to have gotten hold of an official document assuring developers that the company is continuing to drop money into taking Series 40 to the next level this year, promising a "compelling touch experience" along with confirmation of earlier rumors that we'd see dual-SIM devices for certain markets where it's a big deal. It's still unclear what kind of mix we're going to see in Nokia's product portfolio 5, 2, or even a single year from now, but Series 40's still got a seat at the table -- for now, anyway. Nokia's Series 40 to 'offer a compelling touch experience' originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| LG's LU2300 set to challenge Samsung's M100S for Korean Android dominance? Posted: 02 Mar 2010 02:14 PM PST Eternal archrivals-to-the-death Samsung and LG have a tendency to match one another tit for tat in virtually every consumer electronic category, but for whatever reason, LG's been far less interested in going for broke with Android over the past year -- though a preoccupation with Windows Phone 7 Series is a solid guess at this point. Things may be changing, though, now that we've got news out of Telecoms Korea that they're prepping a more brutal assault than the weakling GW620 could ever provide in the form of a so-called LU2300 for the domestic market (we're assuming the actual thing will be a little more... well, "designed" than the snow-white mockup above). The site is playing up LG's announcement that the phone will bundle a bunch of popular apps in ROM (awesome?) but the real news is the impressive spec sheet, which is said to include a Nexus One-like 1GHz Snapdragon and WVGA AMOLED display paired with Android 2.1 and a 5 megapixel cam capable of 720p video. It certainly sounds like it's ready to give Samsung's M100S a run for its money, but we'll need to wait until its second quarter release to know for sure. LG's LU2300 set to challenge Samsung's M100S for Korean Android dominance? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Apple vs HTC: a patent breakdown Posted: 02 Mar 2010 12:09 PM PST Apple suing HTC over 20-odd patents before both the US District Court and the International Trade Commission has certainly caused some chaos this morning, but we thought we'd take a quick breath now that we have the complaints and tease out exactly what patents are at stake here. Of note, most of the patents were granted in the past year, but overall they span a range from 1995 to February 2. Yes, last month. That's a pretty big gap, and most of the patents are pretty dry and technical -- and none of them cover anything like pinch-to-zoom. In fact, you might remember #7,479,949, "Touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics" -- we blew apart the myth that it was Apple's "multitouch patent" back when Cupertino was making noise about Palm. It's impossible for us to say exactly how this case is going to play out -- just like the Apple / Nokia lawsuit, it could settle tomorrow, or it could last for 10 years -- but what we do know is that Apple's going after Android as much as it's going after HTC. Some of these patents are from 15 years ago and cover OS-level behavior, so it's hard to see how they can relate only to HTC's implementation of Android and not Google's OS as a whole. Yeah, it's wild, and while we're not going to blow out all 20 patents to sort out what they mean -- not yet, anyway -- we can certainly walk through the claims. Let's see what we've got. Continue reading Apple vs HTC: a patent breakdown Apple vs HTC: a patent breakdown originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Virgin Mobile postpaid goes to the big MVNO in the sky in May Posted: 02 Mar 2010 10:49 AM PST  In the US, Virgin's never been known as a serious postpaid player outside of its Helio acquisition, so it makes some sense that new corporate parent Sprint is killing off its postpaid services -- what's rather wild, though, is that they're doing it in dramatic, scorched-earth fashion. The service is simply ending on May 25, a little under three months from now, with no automatic transition to any other service in Sprint's portfolio -- Virgin prepaid, Boost, Sprint, or Sprint Direct Connect -- but the good news is that anyone interested in moving over to Sprint postpaid specifically will get a $50 discount off any device with a new two-year contract plus waived activation fees. It's far from a slam dunk for either Sprint or legacy customers -- we're certain that not all of them will stay within the company's ecosystem -- but with Virgin clearly part of Sprint's prepaid strategy, there was apparently no good business reason to continue supporting a handful of postpaid customers off to the side. For what it's worth, a Virgin Mobile spokesperson reached out to us today to emphasize that the company's prepaid brand is here to stay: "Virgin Mobile with Boost Mobile will be the cornerstone of Sprint's prepaid strategy in 2010." 2011, though... well, that remains to be seen. Virgin Mobile postpaid goes to the big MVNO in the sky in May originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Apple specifically going after Android in HTC lawsuit Posted: 02 Mar 2010 09:06 AM PST There's no delicate way to put this: at least part of Apple's patent lawsuit against HTC appears to be a proxy fight for a larger issue with Android as a whole. Apple's complaint with the International Trade Commission makes an explicit distinction between HTC's Android devices and its WinMo phones (referred only to as "DSP Products"), and the Android sets are repeatedly called out for infringing certain patents. We don't know exactly what Apple's issue is yet -- the problem could be the specific way HTC implements Android, rather than Android itself -- but it's certainly a big shot across Google's bow. We'll keep reading and let you know what else we find out. Update: We've gone through each of the patents in both lawsuits and we're more convinced than ever that this lawsuit is really about Android, not HTC. Check here for the full rundown. Apple specifically going after Android in HTC lawsuit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Apple sues HTC for infringing 20 iPhone patents Posted: 02 Mar 2010 08:38 AM PST  Looks like Apple's going on the warpath, kids. Just a few months after Cupertino got into it with Nokia over phone patents, Apple's filed suit against HTC, alleging that the company is infringing 20 patents "related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture, and hardware." Steve, you have something to say? "We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours." Okay then. We're pulling the complaint filing now, we'll let you know the exact details as soon as we learn them. Update: HTC just gave us a statement -- this is apparently coming totally out of the blue for them, since Apple hasn't even served the complaint yet. We only learned of Apple's actions based on your stories and Apple's press release. We have not been served yet so we are in no position to comment on the claims. We respect and value patent rights but we are committed to defending our own innovations. We have been innovating and patenting our own technology for 13 years. Update 2: We mean it when we say this was all just filed in the past few hours -- it's not yet in the court's systems. We just got the PDFs and put the full list of claims from the federal lawsuit below, but remember not to take the names of the patents literally or directly, since they don't mean much. We'll poke each one apart and tease out what's really at stake as we go along. [We've now looked at each and every patent in both cases in-depth -- check it out here.] Update 3: We've just learned that Apple submitted over 700 pages of exhibits to the District Court, which is a little nuts. In addition, the ITC complaint lists a number of specific HTC handsets as exhibits, including the Nexus One, Touch Pro, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro2, Tilt II, Pure, Imagio, Dream / G1, myTouch 3G, Hero, HD2, and Droid Eris. That's really a full range of HTC phones, running both Android and Windows Mobile, with and without Sense / TouchFLO. Interestingly, the Android sets are specifically included because they run Android, while the WinMo sets are called out specifically for including DSP chips, not anything to do with Windows Mobile. Apple sues HTC for infringing 20 iPhone patents originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| RedEye mini converts iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into IR-beaming universal remote Posted: 02 Mar 2010 06:30 AM PST ThinkFlood's original RedEye was pretty swank, but unfortunately, it was both expensive and somewhat convoluted. It's only been four months since that very device hit the scene, but it's safe to say it's already history. Today, the RedEye mini is setting a new bar in the world of iPhone / iPad / iPod touch remotes, with a single plug-in Infrared (IR) adapter enabling your Apple device to beam out a near-limitless array of IR commands. All that's needed is the 3.5mm dongle (read: your dock connector remains open), the latest iPhone OS and the free RedEye app; once you're setup, you can then control your TV, AV receiver, Blu-ray player and whatever else is lucky enough to be in your home theater rack and support IR dictation. Better still, the app allows users to customize the way they control their gear, with full multitouch and accelerometer support complementing the ability to add (soft) macro buttons. Oh, and did we mention that this wealth of functionality will only set you back $49? Huzzah! Continue reading RedEye mini converts iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into IR-beaming universal remote RedEye mini converts iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into IR-beaming universal remote originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| HTC HD2 and Moto Cliq XT pricing revealed in T-Mobile database? Posted: 02 Mar 2010 04:45 AM PST Alright, we know there's a big old watermark covering it up, but the HD2's price when it makes its eagerly awaited US debut on T-Mobile has been identified as being $199 after rebate, presumably as part of a two-year commitment with the carrier. As usual with such screen grabs, we can't be 100 percent sure, but that number seems to be in the right ballpark, and is joined by a $129 price for Motorola's Cliq XT and a $69 sticker for Nokia's Nuron handset. All three are expected to arrive at some point this month, though we urge caution with the HD2 -- it's still only a Windows Mobile 6.5 device, in spite of Microsoft's equivocations about Windows Phone 7, and should be obtained solely on the basis of what you know. That is to say, you'd better really love HTC's Sense UI and that 4.3-inch screen, because you'll be buying into an OS with a very short remaining shelf life, no prospects of future app development, and no guarantees about upgrades. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] HTC HD2 and Moto Cliq XT pricing revealed in T-Mobile database? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Orange and T-Mobile UK merger approved by EU, forms 29.5 million customer juggernaut Posted: 02 Mar 2010 02:47 AM PST The European Commission has decided it doesn't mind the crass splicing of pink (okay, magenta) and orange, and has therefore provided its tastefully hued green light to the UK merger of the two mobile operators. Once the transaction is completed this Spring, we'll still be looking at two delineated entities on the consumer market, but there'll be one back office and one consolidated network servicing the two brands. That'll remain the case for at least the next 18 months, when the joint venture between Deutsche Telecom and France Telecom, the respective parent companies of T-Mobile and Orange, will likely complete the process by rebranding itself into one entity. The press announcement is littered with vague references to synergy leveraging and value generation, but those all-important questions as to what the new operator will eventually be called and what colors it will sport are left unanswered. All that really matters for now is that the UK has a new market share leader and the mobile space became that little bit less competitive. [Thanks, Mitchel] Orange and T-Mobile UK merger approved by EU, forms 29.5 million customer juggernaut originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Nokia C5 arrives with S60 3rd edition OS pretending to be a 'smartphone' Posted: 02 Mar 2010 12:25 AM PST We're not going to kid you, the already leaked C5 is not going to woo many smartphone hunters as we traditionally understand this defining term for high-end handsets. Although Nokia dubs it as such, the 2.2-inch display riding 2GB of microSD storage and S60 3rd OS just doesn't hold up. It does, however, come with Nokia Messaging baked in as well as GPS with free Ovi Maps turn-by-turn navigation making it a heck of a featurephone for the price: just €135 (about $183) unlocked, before taxes and any carrier subsidies are applied. So what we're looking at here is execution of Nokia's strategy to push Symbian downward throughout its product catalog as Maemo, eh hem, MeeGo starts filling in the top slots (give it a few years). Besides complicating smartphone marketshare reports, the emergence of the handset also confirms Nokia's new Cseries of middling devices while giving credence to the Nokia roadmap leaked last month. So while the C5 might not tickle your fancy, maybe the rumored 12 megapixel N8-00 with 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen rumored to be launching this summer will. Nokia C5 arrives with S60 3rd edition OS pretending to be a 'smartphone' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Verizon's 2010 LTE launch: 'it's looking better each day, not worse' Posted: 01 Mar 2010 06:37 PM PST By and large, Verizon hasn't flinched once in its march to LTE -- the proof is obviously going to be in the pudding, but leading up to the first commercial launches, they're talking as confidently as they ever have. Take last weeks Network World interview with the company's CTO Tony Melone, for example, where he's once again reiterated the carrier's intention to bring 25-30 markets live commercially this year and achieve roughly a complete overlay of its 3G network in 2013. That's nothing new or particularly interesting, but Melone's choice of language is encouraging, saying that they're "ahead of where [they] thought [they'd] be as far as site readiness goes," going on to report that the 25-30 market goal for 2010 is "looking better each day, not worse each day." That's bold, but he got a little less bold when talking about LTE voice: "The question for us will be whether our footprint will be sufficient at that point to provide customers with a good experience for voice over LTE, or whether we'll be better off offering 3G coverage for voice and 4G for data." The hesitation has us believing that an initial round of dual-mode handsets is basically a forgone conclusion, but at least we'll have the modems up and running in the meantime. Verizon's 2010 LTE launch: 'it's looking better each day, not worse' originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments |
