Author: Greg Kumparak

Oh, February 11th. I remember it like it was just a few weeks ago. A report came out claiming that Palm was halting production of the Pre and Pixi, and everybody panicked. Then it turned out that it was an entirely pre-planned production vacation for the sake of their Taiwanese employees who wanted to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Well, that little hiatus is now over. While the company didn’t release a press release indicating that the Palm factory lines were fired up again (and why would they?), Palm’s VP of PR Lynn Fox told CNBC, “Yes, I can confirm that manufacturing is back up and running.” They may be having a hard time selling them right now, but they Pre and Pixi aren’t going anywhere just yet.

Uh oh.

On at least a few occasions, Android developers have mentioned to me that the multi-touch sensors on certain Android handsets — especially the Nexus One — seemed a bit.. flaky. I’d had nothing but solid experiences while dabbling with multi-touch in all of the apps I could find that support it, so I chalked it up as a coding error on the developer’s part until something a bit more solid came forward.

Well, something a bit more solid has just come forward.

Our buddy Taylor Wimberly of AndroidAndMe was chatting with Robert Green of Battery Powered Games, who was reporting the same Nexus One multitouch sketchiness we’d heard of previously – but Robert had proof.

Robert threw together a simple multi-touch application called Multitouch Visible Test. As the name implies, it makes your multitouch input visible by drawing large circles beneath your fingers wherever the phone thinks they are. It’s all pure sensor data right from the phone; there’s not any data processing going on here, so there’s not a whole lot of room for software bugs on Robert’s end.

As you can see in the video below, the Motorola Droid seems to handle all of the default multitouch gestures with ease. The Nexus One, however, flounders; while it handles slow pinch-and-zoom motions just fine, it goes all kinds of crazy once your fingers get too close together. The output data gets flipped, reporting your fingers as being in the polar opposite locations of where they actually are.

It’s somewhat understandable how this bug slipped through the cracks: for standard pinch-and-zoom behaviors, things would seem to behave correctly enough that the difference may not be noticeable. It’s a different story with games, however; imagine having to control two things on the screen at one time, and having said things mysteriously rocket off in the wrong direction because your fingers got too close together. Suck.

It’s not a bug that’s likely to come up on a daily basis, but its not exactly trivial – and either way, a bug is a bug. If you have a drink tonight, cheers to the idea that this might be fixable with a software update.

Have you ever noticed any multi-touch oddities on the Nexus One (or any other Android handset)? Let us know in the comments.

Alright, lets pat the pockets and run through the mental checklist one last time before security: Passport? Check, front pocket. Headphones? Definitely in your backpack. Boarding pass? Uh oh. Where’d that boarding pass go?

Oh, that’s right! It’s on your phone – because you, like a rapidly increasing number of other people, opted to have it sent straight to your handset. Security scans the barcode right off of your handset’s display, and you’re on your way with one less thing to lose.

Trinity Mobile, one of the leading companies behind the mobile ticketing push, is today announcing a 1200% year-over-year increase with their mobile boarding pass offerings.

In 2008, Trinity Mobile saw 50,000 users opt-in to receive mobile boarding passes rather than the more traditional options. In 2009, this number shot up to 600,000. That’s still a drop in the bucket compared to the number of people flying with ol’ fashion boarding passes each and every day – but considering that that growth is almost entirely driven by users picking the option when its offered to them (without any real marketing push by Trinity or the airlines they’ve partnered with), it’s pretty impressive.

Jupiter Research backs up the fact that the trend is skyrocketing; according to their 2010 Mobile Ticketing report, over 2 billion mobile boarding passes will be sent out in 2010, with that number expected to blast up to 15 billion by 2014.

Anecdotally, I can honestly say I’ve also noticed a massive uptick in mobile boarding pass usage. As someone who travels somewhat frequently, I’ve seen at least a handful of people going that route on each trip I’ve taken over the past few months – especially on flights in Europe. I’ve yet to be offered a chance to do it myself – but given that I’m the type of person who clutches on to their boarding pass like it’s ice water in Hell, I’d jump on it on a heartbeat.

What about you? Have you used a mobile boarding pass yet? What were your experiences?

[Image Credit: Paramount Pictures]

If you’re trying to keep track of how all the app stores are performing in relation to each other (or are otherwise just a stats geek), this one ought to make your day. Nokia has just released a pocketful of statistics regarding their app store, Ovi, detailing just how well it was doing as of the end of February.

The Stats:

• Each registered user has downloaded an average 12 apps since the store launched in May. That seems a bit low, considering that the Ovi Store launched over 9 months ago.
• Ovi Store is now supported on over 100 devices (60+ of which are Symbian-based). The Ovi store sees the most downloads from Nokia’s touch handsets, like the N97, 5800 XpressMusic, and 5530 XpressMusic.
• New user registrations and downloads both doubled in February as compared to January
• The top downloading countries (in alphabetical order): France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UK & Vietnam.
• On average, the Ovi Store is hitting around 1.5 million downloads each day — which, when broken down, works out to 22 applications download each and every second, around the clock.

Solely for the sake of perspective: between September of 2009 and January of 2010, the iPhone App Store averaged about 30.5 million application downloads per day, or 350 per second. In other words, the App Store is pushing out downloads at about 16 times the average rate of the Ovi Store — but, being that Apple’s store launched in July of 2008, it also had nearly a full year head start.

So what do you think – given Nokia’s massive hardware presence around the world (outside of the US, especially) whilst factoring in the relative newness of their App Store, how well do you think Ovi is performing?

A few months back, Directed Electronics launched an iPhone app that, when paired with Viper remote start system, would allow you to start your car from just about anywhere on earth. For the bargain price of just $500, you’d never again have to worry about your car being too hot, too cold, or too not on when you got in. Alas, not everyone has an iPhone – what about the remaining chunk of the world that wants to look like James Bond and/or scare people?

Today, Direct Electronics is letting another big group of people in on the slightly-extraneous fun with the release of Viper SmartStart for BlackBerry.

Depending on what sort of car you’ve got and what features it makes available to the SmartStart system, the free BlackBerry app can fire up the engine, toggle the door locks, enable and disable the security system, pop the trunk, ring the panic alarm. It can’t pick up your dry cleaning or drop your grandmother off at the airport, but we can probably expect that from a (distant) future model.

The module that makes your car friendly with the free iPhone app will set you back $200 bucks, which is on top of the $300-or-so security system that you plug it into. That said, if you’ve already got a compatible remote start system from Viper, Clifford or Python, you’ll only need the module and the free app.

It’s a bit different than the “developers get the new firmware first” mentality we’ve grown used to from those other guys, but Palm has now released the SDK for webOS 1.4.

The flagship feature of webOS 1.4 (besides Adobe Flash support, which isn’t available just yet) is its new found ability to record video. With this latest SDK, access to video recording has been extended to third-party applications — which, as Electronista points out, could open the doors for the likes of Qik, Ustream, and other live video broadcasting applications.

There are a handful of other bug fixes, performance upgrades, and little dev-centric features thrown in the mix – but unless you’re an uber geek (and I mean that in the most loving way), you probably don’t care too much. If you are an uber geek, however, you can find the full SDK changelog along with the SDK download right here. You don’t even have to sign an NDA!

Why hello there, Mr. Inventory Screen! How kind of you to pop by and spill all the pricing details on the T-mobile HTC HD2 and Motorola CLIQ XT. Wait – the HTC HD2 will be how cheap?

TmoNews just got their mitts all over this screen grab, which clearly shows the pricing details for the slightly underwhelming (but still Android powered!) Motorola Cliq XT along with the awesomely overwhelming (but still Windows Mobile 6.5 powered [frownie face here]!) HTC HD2.

The HD2 appears to be coming in at just $199 on contract ($449 off contract), which is a damned awesome price for a phone packing a mammoth 4.3″ display, a 1 Ghz processor, and a 5 megapixel camera. I mean, compare that to last years T-Mobile Touch Pro 2 – that was a far lesser phone (albeit one with a great slide out keyboard, which the HD2 lacks), and it went for $349 — on contract!

The CLIQ XT will be going for $129.99, bringing it in at $20 less than the original CLIQ (which, while an older model, has a keyboard). The same tipster also spilled the pricing beans on the Nokia Nuron, essentially a US Version of the Nokia 5230, which should launch on March 17th for $69.99 or $179.99, depending on if you sign a contract.

Man – what a terrible way to wake up on a Tuesday morning. You roll out of bed, pop onto your favorite gadget blogs to catch up on all the latest news bits. New hardware coming next week.. some service is shutting down in a few months.. your company is being sued by Apple for infringing 20 patents… wait, what?

That’s what happened to HTC this morning, who only found out that the folks in Cupertino were dropping the lawsuit hammer when they saw the stories lighting up across the web. Apple had literally just filed all the papers when they sent out the press release.

Steve himself emerged from the Jobs-cave to put out a comment, and he had no nice words 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.”

Engadget reached out to HTC for a response, who confirmed that they’d got wind of the suit by way of the Internet:

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.

The phones allegedly infringing on Apple’s intellectual property here are from all ends of the spectrum; from Android to Windows Mobile, from those running Sense/TouchFlo to those that are not. Name a popular phone made by HTC in the last 2 years, and it’s called out here: Nexus One, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro2, Imagio, G1.

Whether this is Apple’s goal or not (and I have a hard time imagining otherwise), this could do massive damage to Android’s momentum. HTC is and always has been the guiding hand that lead Android through some tough times — start throwing sticks in the Android machine that is HTC, and things will get tough for Google’s OS.

We’re tearing through this mountain of papers (seriously – it’s 700 pages thick) looking for details on exactly which patents HTC is allegedly tromping all over. With that said, I’d be willing to bet my finest pair of pants that HTC’s use of multitouch in there somewhere.

Update: Yep, looks like multitouch is in there. TechCrunch has torn through the documents and found a number of patents listed, including multitouch and a bunch of others.:

• Patent No. 7,362,331: “Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States”
• Patent No. 7,479,949: “Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics”
• Patent No. 7,657,849: “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image”
• Patent No. 7,469,381: “List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display”
• Patent No. 5,920,726: “System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device.”
• Patent No. 7,633,076: “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices”
• Patent No. 5,848,105: “GMSK Signal Processors For Improved Communications Capacity And Quality”
• Patent No. 7,383,453: “Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor”
• Patent No. 5,455,599: “Object-Oriented Graphic System”
• Patent No. 6,424,354: “Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods”

Update: This is now confirmed. See Virgin Mobile’s statement below.

According to a series of tips I’ve just received from multiple trusted sources, Virgin Mobile USA is planning to shut down the post-paid chunk of their wireless services on May 25th, 2010.

You see, there once was a little wireless carrier called Helio. Bringing over all kinds of crazy sliding what-nots from South Korea, they tried their damnedest to offer the coolest cell phones on the block. They also bled money like a busted spigot, burning $710 million before they were ready to call it quits. In June of 2008, Virgin Mobile (who then offered solely pre-paid wireless plans) came along and snatched up Helio for $39 million in stock, primarily to serve as a foundation for their then non-existent postpaid service.

A great plan, until Sprint acquired Virgin Mobile just a year later, primarily for their pre-paid service. Sprint obviously already has a big ol’ post-paid service, making Virgin Mobile’s (relatively small) post-paid service mostly useless.

As a result, Virgin Mobile will be ending their postpaid offerings come May 25th, less than two years after they purchased it in the form of Helio.

It’s currently unclear what will happen to active Virgin Mobile postpaid accounts, though they will presumably be transitioned over to Sprint’s postpaid services. We reached out for a comment from the two companies early this morning, and have not yet received a response.

Update: We’ve just confirmed this with Virgin Mobile. Current Virgin Mobile (ex-Helio) customers will not automatically be transitioned to Sprint. Here’s what they said:

No customer will be automatically migrated to Sprint’s postpaid service. However, Sprint has created a special offer for our customers.

Current postpaid customers are being given $50 towards the purchase of a Sprint postpaid handset with a new two-year agreement. This credit is in addition to any applicable rebates that may apply. Postpaid customers moving from Virgin Mobile to Sprint will also receive $150 off of handsets as part of Sprint’s standing new customer offer. Activation fees will also be waived.

Wowza. Consider me impressed. It took Microsoft 3 years to develop Windows Phone 7 Series — but its only taken 2 weeks for some far-too-talented dabbler to recreate the look and feel of the new OS as a skin for older Windows Mobile handsets, relying on nothing but screenshots and demo videos.

Get ready for tons of fake Windows Phone 7 videos and people saying “No! Seriously! I swear my buddy has Windows Phone 7 on his 3 year old WinMo handset!”.

While impressive as heck as a user-made mod, it’s important to clarify that this is just an interface tweak, built on top of Lakeridge Software’s WisBar Advance Desktop — it’s not a port of a Windows Phone 7 ROM or anything of the sort. Think of it like HTC’s TouchFlo interface: it’s fun to look at — but deep down, it’s still Windows Mobile 6.5 (in this case, running on a Toshiba TG01).

The man behind the mod, LeSScro, hasn’t released the mod for public consumption just yet – keep an eye on this thread at XDA Developers for its eventual release.

[Via PocketNow]

Cue the sad trombone, folks. If you were waiting around with your Windows Mobile 6.5 device with hopes that Microsoft would one day bless it with a new chance at life in the form of Windows Phone 7, it’s time to move on.

APC Magazine just got the full spiel from Microsoft themselves: Windows Mobile 6.5 devices won’t be upgradable to Windows Phone 7 series. (You hear that? Five hundred XDA hackers just scoffed and said “Yeah, we’ll see about that.”)

Why? Standards. Microsoft has a very, very, almost ridiculously strict set of hardware guidelines that they want manufacturing partners to follow when building Windows Phone 7 Series handsets — and for the most part, old handsets just don’t fit the bill. They either lack one of the three mandatory keys (search, back, and Windows key), or — get this — they have too many keys.

A while back, a shot of the HTC HD2 allegedly running Windows Phone 7 Series hit the net. We were quick to debunk it here, with our reasoning being that the HD2 lacked the mandatory search key. Sure enough: Microsoft’s GM of Mobile Communications in the Asia-Pacific, Natasha Kwan, says the HD2 won’t be getting the upgrade “because it doesn’t have the three buttons”.

Of course, this just means that they won’t be getting the upgrade treatment from Microsoft. As we mentioned above, there’s probably a mighty army of hackers just waiting to get their hands on Windows Phone ROMs for the sake of down-porting it to older handsets; if it’s feasible, it’ll probably happen.

Ever since the announcement of the Motorola Cliq XT back at Mobile World Congress, every whisper and rumor has indicated that T-Mobile US would be picking it up come March 10th.

While that date is still in no way confirmed, it’s looking pretty likely that the launch can’t be too far off. A handful of shots of the Cliq XT rocking T-Mobile’s logos have just made their way to the guys over at AndroidCentral, indicating that it’s made its way into the hands of someone not under 2 tons of Non-disclosure agreements — such as a store manager or inventory handler. Being that this ones running Android 1.6 and lacks the physical keyboard that the original Cliq had, I’m not feeling it – anybody out there going to be camping in line for this one?

Good news, Palm fans! If you’ve taken a break from jamming on the “Update” button, it’s time to go tap it one last time: the rollout of webOS 1.4 has just begun. The catch: it seems that it’s only for Sprint handsets right now (Update: In the US, that is – it’s also available on O2 UK, O2 Germany, O2 Ireland, and Movistar in Europe), with the Verizon Pre Plus and Pixi Plus still reporting that 1.3 is the latest release.

We knew it was coming in February thanks to Palm’s announcement at CES — and thanks to the rumor mill, we were all lead to believe it was coming a few weeks ago. All false starts and false hopes aside, it’s available now. We’re seeing reports (thanks Twitter!) that it has gone live on Sprint handsets.

Curiously absent, however, are any reports of the update hitting Verizon Pre/Pixi Pluses. With the update going out this late in the evening (a bit after 10:30 pm PST), I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were some last-minute snags; might the Verizon update have been held at the last minute?

The biggest new feature in webOS 1.4 — at least, of those available right this second — is its new found ability to record and edit video. webOS also lays all the necessary foundation for Adobe Flash support, though that bit will come as a download from the App Catalog at a later time. There are other smaller features and bug fixes throughout — for those, check out the full change log below. (Update: Palm has just released an even bigger, more in-depth change log here)

Changelog:
Enhancements:
– Updated SMS and chat features.
− Tap and hold on an email address to send an email or add
to contacts.
− Forward SMS messages to email.
− Dial a number from chat view without opening a contact card.
− Press and hold a phone number (identified via smart text) to get
more options for calls and SMS.
– New camera support for video capture.
− Record and edit videos right on your device.
− Upload videos to YouTube® and Facebook®, or send them to friends via email or MMS.
– Expanded calendar and task functions.
− Set custom alert sounds for calendar events.
-View times with added AM/PM and Now indicators. − Dial phone numbers shown in the appointment subject.
– More email options
− Customize your email alerts by specifying a distinct ringtone or
selecting mute or vibrate.
− Tap and hold on a phone number or email address to either dial or
send an email or add to contacts.
− Once emails are sent, you’re taken back to the inbox view.
− More sort options for messages, including by date, sender,
and subject.
– Mobile Hotspot application is now preloaded on the device.
– Enhanced universal search now includes Global Address Lookup, i.e.,
corporate address book.
– The light bar in the gesture area now blinks whenever there are
pending notifications.

Improvements:
– Better MMS functions and support.
− Support for sending an MMS message when connected to Wi-Fi
now included.
− MMS messages with multiple audio and picture attachments now
allow you to open all attachments correctly.
− MMS display updated so messages no longer appear to overlap
each other.
– Faster performance in several areas of the phone and calendar applications-

Everything moves at a lightning pace in the mobile world – everything, that is, except network rollouts. Where as handsets can go from announced to old news in the blink of an eye, network upgrades.. can’t.

Take Verizon’s upgrade to 4G technology, for example: they announced the move to LTE in February 2009, and began testing in one small market nearly half a year later. They’ll be firing it up for commercial use for the first time later this year, with plans to launch in 30 markets before the year is out.

Fortunately, things seem to be speeding up. Verizon has just disclosed plans to double their LTE footprint, just a bit over 1 year after launch.

In an interview with Network World (as first noted by the guys at FierceWireless), Verizon CTO Tony Melone says that their LTE network should be up and running in 60 markets 15 months after the initial launch. As we mentioned above, the initial launch should go down sometime in late 2010 – and by our count, “15 months after” that means some time around mid-2012.

Alas, they’re not specifying exactly which markets they’re talking about here, though it’s probably safe to assume that major cities are pretty close to the top of the list.

Interestingly, some areas that currently lack 3G will get bumped directly from the super-slow and pretty dang old 1XRTT network up to LTE. That’s like going from not having fire to being able to shoot magma out of your hands.

[Photo Credit: Jschumacher on Flickr]

Google has made it absolutely no secret that the Nexus One is heading to Verizon. They announced it the very same day they announced the T-Mobile version that’s already floating around, and have had it listed as “Coming Soon” ever since.

Alas, neither Google or Verizon is willing to spill the beans on when it’s coming. “Spring 2010!” they say, as if that satiates our desire for mundane details. But wait! There’s good news: the VZW Nexus One just took a huge step toward hitting retail.

Earlier today, a CDMA-friendly Nexus One (model PB99300, where the GSM version is PB99100) successfully fought its way through the FCC’s testing labs. Somewhere out there, there exists a fully functional, Verizon-compatible Nexus One, just waiting to be stuffed in a box and thrown on the shelves. FCC clearance isn’t a surefire indication that a launch is near, but we rarely ever see it more than a month or so before sales begin.

If the CDMA Nexus One launches any time soon, it ought to be Verizon’s first Android phone powered by a 1 Ghz Snapdragon processor. Excited? You should be.

FCC Clearance Doc:

All around the world, the Symbian-loving chunk of the population is waiting on the edge of their seats for Symbian^4 (pronounced “Symbian Four”). Intended as a complete overhaul from Symbian past, it could very well slingshot the visibly aged Operating System into modern times.

The first videos of Symbian^4 have just been released for public consumption, and we can’t help but notice that they seem very.. uninspired. Actually, perhaps that’s inaccurate. They’re very inspired. Directly inspired. By the competition.

I’m never one to shout that such-and-such handset is a clone of another, but the influences here are undeniable. The widget screen/mechanism is similar to that of Symbian^3, but nearly identical to Android’s. The photo screen looks damn close to the iPhone’s, though they did come up with a fairly slick way of switching from photo to photo.

It’s certainly a big step up for Symbian — it’s just less revolution, and more emulation. Hopefully they’ve got some tricks up their sleeves planned for the next year of development.

Via FierceWireless

If the most recent whispers from the webOS rumor mill hold true, we just might be seeing webOS 1.4 ship out to Pres and Pixis around the nation some time today. We know it’ll bring video recording support, and it’ll have a few UI enhancements tucked throughout — but what else? We want the details!

Fortunately, it looks like Palm’s own changelog might have just leaked out, jampacked with more details than you could ever want.

An anonymous tipster sent the log over to the guys at PreCentral. There are a handful of typos and oddities which make the whole thing seem a bit shaky – but then again, this could just be a rough draft.

What are you most excited about in webOS 1.4? For us, it’s definitely gotta be the “Time Zone bug fix”. I friggin’ love Time Zone bug fixes.

Change log:

Fixes

• Time Zone bug Fix

• Network time sync bug fix to reflect accuratenetwork time

• BT car-kit transition to device corrected

• No EV-Icon bug fixed (random)

• Random browser formatting bug fixed

• Fixed bug that incorrectly displayed Sprint when actually was Digital Roaming

Enhancements

• Phonebook Transfer

• Supports Video Capture Capability

• Performance enhancement within phone and calendar

Apps

Calendar

• Dial phone # from within a meeting event

• Allow custom Alerts sounds for Calendar event and reminders

• Added AM – PM detail within Calendar events

Email

• Embedded phone $ or email address (embedded inemail) can be easily added to Contacts app

• New email sort options  (date, Sender, Subject)

• Return to inbox view after send – email

Messaging

• Ability to forward SMS to email

• Ability to dial phone # from SMS chat session (No need to open contact any longer

• Press and hold on a phone # to get more options( Call, SMS)

Universal Search now includes EAS (outlook Exchange) GAL corporate address look up.

Application Launcher – Easier user interface providing usermore feedback during an application launch

Pre Button in gesture area blinks when notification pending

Added Adobe Flash 10 Beta – Palm Pre only

Supports Flash 10 Beta – download available in Palm AppCatalog

Given that past leaks have been indicating as much for a few weeks now, it doesn’t come as any surprise that the HTC Incredible is heading to Verizon.

Still, it’s always nice to see new, unannounced handsets make their debut in a carrier’s inventory, as the Incredible just has.

A tipster in cohorts with the guys over at BerryScoop caught it lurking around earlier this morning, and snapped the shot you see above. Inventory entries are too all-over-the-place for this to really indicate just how soon we might see the Incredible hit the shelves. With that said, it’s never a bad sign when we start seeing things like this pop up.

Remember the time when Apple added an “Explicit” category to the list of app genres that developers could submit to? You should, because it was only a few hours ago.

Well, it’s gone. The option has been pulled from the submission page, and the developer who spotted the backpedaling says a quick call to Apple confirmed that it has been pulled, and, while they’re considering an “Explicit” section of the store, its not likely to happen any time soon.

[Via Giz]

If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good that you’re not on a 4G connection. Why? Because outside of a handful of cities, 4G connections just don’t exist yet.

Take Sprint’s WiMax network, for example: as of right this second, it’s still only available in about 27 cities [coverage map], primarily in Texas and the East Coast. That’s about to get a little bit better, with Sprint announcing today that they’ll be rolling out to 8 more cities by the end of this year.

Sprint had hinted at or otherwise mentioned rollouts this year for some of these cities, but today’s announcement confirms 2010 launch dates for WiMax 4G in: Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. They’re also promising to sneak a few more launches in there before the year is out, but they’re not naming any names.

Not in one of the roll-out areas? Don’t fret; outside of the Overdrive WiMax hotspot, there’s really not too much to miss on the WiMax-front.