Archive for February 12th, 2008
Filed under: Cellphones 
Modu lives! We had opportunity to check out one of Mobile World Congress’ most unique offerings today, and we were impressed to say the least. This handset could completely change the way people use handsets giving them a really simple way to actually use your set for music, in-car, or on the go. Hit up Engadget Mobile for a huge gallery showing off some of what modu can do.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Filed under: Cellphones  While rumors of a touchscreen BlackBerry are nothing new — and hey, we’ve even got ourselves a patent to go on nowadays — it’s still encouraging to hear promising hints from the likes of RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie. When asked if RIM would release a touchscreen version of the BlackBerry, Balsillie sounded optimistic. “For sure we’re looking at all kinds of different device packaging and presentation,” he said. “I think getting religious on packaging is not the way to go, it’s really user preference-oriented.” Whether that means we’ll be seeing an iPhone look-alike, or something completely different in the near future is yet to be seen, but at least we do have word that HSDPA is showing up in a BlackBerry near you before long: “Certainly going to HSDPA is something that’s very important to us in the near term,” said Balsillie.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Filed under: Cellphones  Sorry Microsoft and Apple, you may have had some fancy smartphone sales this year in your cute little American way, but globally there’s no question who’s the real leader in this segment: the Symbian OS shipped on 77.3 million units in 2007. That’s a 50% growth over 2006 sales, with over 141 different phone models from eight licensees. If the new hotness from Nokia this year at MWC is any indication, those numbers aren’t going to go away very soon, but Sony Ericsson’s adoption of Windows Mobile for its flagship XPERIA X1 certainly spells a modicum of trouble for Symbian land. Of course, there are many more low-end Symbian smartphones than there are cheap Windows Mobile phones, and Apple’s iPhone is still a premium product , but the line is becoming increasingly blurred.
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02
2008
T-Mobile’s HotSpot @Home Talk Forever: same service, lower pricePosted by: in Technology newsFiled under: Cellphones, Wireless  Don’t get us wrong, it’s great that T-Mobile has lowered the price of its unlimited WiFi calling service both at home and at T-Mobile Hotspots everywhere from $19.99 down to $9.99 per month (forgetting for a moment that it was $9.99 per month as an introductory price, anyway), but in changing the name from HotSpot @Home to HotSpot @Home Talk Forever, we’d been hoping for something just a little more compelling. Previous intel had indicated that we’d be seeing the introduction of T-Mobile’s first SIM-sporting routers, allowing the use of traditional landline phones in conjunction with the service — but at this point, it looks like it’s going to be at least a little longer before the hardware launches, and it’s unclear whether there’ll be yet more trademarked service branding introduced when it does.
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02
2008
ZiPhone: jailbreak any version iPhone out of the box, including 1.1.3Posted by: in Technology newsFiled under: Cellphones  We’re not yet entirely sure how it works, but iPhone hacker Zibri’s just released a new app he’s calling ZiPhone, which claims to jailbreak any version iPhone — including new 1.1.3 phones right out of the box — without messy downgrades and baseband changes. We haven’t tested it ourselves, but prepare for the onslaught of downloaders to take it offline in five… four… three… [Thanks, Tyler and Eugene]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Filed under: Cellphones  Whew, it was quite a day for cellphones at the Mobile World Congress, and there’s more to come this week — but if you haven’t been watching Engadget Mobile (where the full coverage is being posted) or are just getting up to speed, here’s everything that’s gone down. Sony Ericsson
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