Motorola announced at CES that both T-Mobile’s Cliq and the new Backflip will be jumping from Android 1.5 to 2.1. They didn’t officially announce a carrier, but there’s plenty of information out there pointing to AT&T.
With a folding keyboard that leaves the QWERTY exposed when closed, and a “backtrack” touch pad on the back side of the display panel, Backflipe definitely has a few tricks up its sleeve. Novelty or practical design? I guess we’ll find out when the review units start turning up.
We were hoping for an announcement of the rumored Courier, the dual screen tablet PC that would take the mobile computer industry by storm. Unfortunately, we had to settle for a regular old single screen tablet PC, though it does feature a touchscreen. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled a new slate PC from HP, complete with Windows 7 and mutli-touch capabilities that will be released later this year. Ballmer described it as “something that’s almost as portable as a phone and as powerful as a PC running Windows 7.” The prototype that he was using was running the Amazon Kindle software.
Could this be the Zeen product that HP filed a trademark for not long ago? Coinciding with this announcement from Microsoft, HP yesterday released the TouchSmart tm2, “a powerful, convertible, touch-enabled notebook PC”, and a few new Minis including the Mini 5102 which is also available with a touch-enabled screen. So is this the Zeen? We’re not sure for now, since Microsoft didn’t release a lot of details about the prototype slate PC that Ballmer featured on stage.
What we do know is that Microsoft isn’t quite ready to give up just yet. They’re staying on top of the competition by announcing these new tablet PCs and showcasing their own drool-worthy smartphone – the HTC HD2 which will (officially) be coming to T-Mobile. Not only that but Xbox Live is taking on a life of its own and bringing together the features that Microsoft offers through Zune, Windows 7, and Windows Mobile. According to the Microsoft Press Release, Live is a community of users now 20 million strong and about 1/3rd of the time spent on Live is with non-gaming activities. Microsoft is continuing to provide applications like Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm, Sky, Canal and Zune so that people can use their Xbox “as a way to stay connected to friends and family.”
Another big announcement, Project Natal will be released in time for Christmas this year. Project Natal is Microsoft’s break through gaming experience that requires absolutely no controllers. (The “no controller” part also plays a roll in using features of Live as well.) There is no word yet on the price tag for Natal.
Basically, Microsoft is geared up for a war. They’re not backing down in the PC, tablet PC, smartphone, or gaming fields. In fact, they’re stepping it up a notch, offering consumers even more reasons to choose Microsoft. Not only is this nice for you, but it’s also a smart business plan – integrating each feature of the Microsoft experience. It’s not just about having their phone or their music player or their gaming system. It’s about bringing it all together and making everything work together, like an ecosystem.
What do you think? Is Microsoft really putting up a heavy fight? Or are they just shelling out products to keep people interested? What about Project Natal? Is it something you would consider purchasing for your Xbox 360? Drop a line in the comments or in our new forums.
We were hoping for an announcement of the rumored Courier, the dual screen tablet PC that would take the mobile computer industry by storm. Unfortunately, we had to settle for a regular old single screen tablet PC, though it does feature a touchscreen. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled a new slate PC from HP, complete with Windows 7 and mutli-touch capabilities that will be released later this year. Ballmer described it as “something that’s almost as portable as a phone and as powerful as a PC running Windows 7.” The prototype that he was using was running the Amazon Kindle software.
Could this be the Zeen product that HP filed a trademark for not long ago? Coinciding with this announcement from Microsoft, HP yesterday released the TouchSmart tm2, “a powerful, convertible, touch-enabled notebook PC”, and a few new Minis including the Mini 5102 which is also available with a touch-enabled screen. So is this the Zeen? We’re not sure for now, since Microsoft didn’t release a lot of details about the prototype slate PC that Ballmer featured on stage.
What we do know is that Microsoft isn’t quite ready to give up just yet. They’re staying on top of the competition by announcing these new tablet PCs and showcasing their own drool-worthy smartphone – the HTC HD2 which will (officially) be coming to T-Mobile. Not only that but Xbox Live is taking on a life of its own and bringing together the features that Microsoft offers through Zune, Windows 7, and Windows Mobile. According to the Microsoft Press Release, Live is a community of users now 20 million strong and about 1/3rd of the time spent on Live is with non-gaming activities. Microsoft is continuing to provide applications like Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm, Sky, Canal and Zune so that people can use their Xbox “as a way to stay connected to friends and family.”
Another big announcement, Project Natal will be released in time for Christmas this year. Project Natal is Microsoft’s break through gaming experience that requires absolutely no controllers. (The “no controller” part also plays a roll in using features of Live as well.) There is no word yet on the price tag for Natal.
Basically, Microsoft is geared up for a war. They’re not backing down in the PC, tablet PC, smartphone, or gaming fields. In fact, they’re stepping it up a notch, offering consumers even more reasons to choose Microsoft. Not only is this nice for you, but it’s also a smart business plan – integrating each feature of the Microsoft experience. It’s not just about having their phone or their music player or their gaming system. It’s about bringing it all together and making everything work together, like an ecosystem.
What do you think? Is Microsoft really putting up a heavy fight? Or are they just shelling out products to keep people interested? What about Project Natal? Is it something you would consider purchasing for your Xbox 360? Drop a line in the comments or in our new forums.
Adriana takes a quick look at the huge 4-inch HD widescreen display of the candybar LG phone “the rest of the world” (outside the U.S.) is enjoying: The BL40. Is there reason to be jealous? You be the judge. Filmed live at CES 2010.
Two new phones were announced by LG today – the LG Lotus Elite and the LG Rumor Touch.
First, the LG Lotus Elite. Sure, it’s not dramatically different from the LG Lotus when it comes to design (still the box design that you either love or hate), but the LG Lotus Elite bumps it up to executive status with a 2.4-inch display (262,000 colors), support for up to 32 GB of external memory (Sprint’s not leaving you hanging, though – they offer a 2 GB microSD card in the box), and support for the usual Sprint products and services. Expect the red version to launch on January 12th for $99 with a new two-year agreement, with a black version available four days later.
Hot on the heels of the LG Lotus Elite, the LG Rumor Touch was announced. Sporting a 3-inch touchscreen, 2.0-megapixel camera, EVDO Rev. 0, and a full QWERTY keyboard, it’s a nice little upgrade to the existing Rumor line. Pricing is unknown, but expect the device to land at Sprint stores sometime in the quarter.
Think we would leave you hanging when it comes to video footage? Absolutely not! Be sure to check out Noah’s hands-on video of the LG Rumor Touch!
Via Engadget Mobile
Aaron gets some hands-on time with Sprint’s newest 4G product, the Sprint Overdrive. Sporting 4G WiMAX connectivity, is it worth writing home about? We’ll find out.
Noah goes hands-on with SE’s eco-friendly(er) Greenheart phones: Elm and Haze
LG and Sprint rolled out the Rumor Touch – a new touchscreen version of the Rumor messaging phone. Noah checked it out at CES 2010.
Palm showed off 3D gaming on the Pre with the help of EA Mobile. Check out Sims and Need for Speed live demos from Palm’s CES press conference.
The PhoneDog crew was on-site at the Motorola event, where the Backflip was formally announced. Though there’s not a specified carrier at the moment, the device will offer a 3.1-inch touchscreen, Android v1.5, and 5.0-megapixel camera. Check out the video, and sound off here and in the PhoneDog forums with your comments!
Palm just wrapped up their CES 2010 press conference. The big news: Lots of webOS enhancements and two new Verizon exclusive devices:
– Pre Plus and Pixi Plus hit Verizon as exclusives on Jan 25. No pricing announced.
– Pre Plus: 16GB internal memory, slight redesign including no more front-panel navigation button, and Touchstone-compatible back plate standard
– Pixi Plus: Now with Wi-Fi
– Pre Plus and Pixi Plus feature mobile hotspot app: Use the phone as a mobile WiFi router to tether up to 5 devices to your 3G data stream
– Sprint users, you get none of the above 🙁
– webOS 1.4 hits in Februrary, will feature video capture/share for all webOS devices
– Flash 10 plug-in coming to webOS devices soon.
– 3D gaming on Pre (only) shown off by EA Mobile. First 3D games available now in app catalog.
– webOS development kit open today, plug-in development kit (PDK) coming soon
– Pre and Pixi now on SFR France
– NOTHING mentioned about webOS on AT&T. Hmm.
– A new line of colorful backplates is available for Pixi. Including an orange one just for me 😮
Bad news for Sprint and Apple, but more for Sprint since we all know Apple’s just biding their time before the inevitable iPhone/iPhone OS version four announcement later this year, and they’ll find a way to deal with the Flash business. Sprint, on the other hand, now has last year’s webOS devices that don’t get the mobile hotspot app that the new Verizon phones get. Sprint’s Pre lacks the new design and double-up memory of Pre Plus, and Sprint’s Pixi lacks Wi-Fi while Pixi Plus on VZW has it. And the beat goes on …
We’ll have hands-on with the new Palm phones for you real soon. Stay tuned!
in the meantime, what say you? Will Palm’s new Plus phones on Verizon spell the beginning of something big for webOS?
As rumored many months ago when the Dell Mini 3 was but a twinkle in our eye, the device was officially announced this morning – and as expected, it’s headed to AT&T. Coming in the first half of 2010, the device is expected to offer a 3.5-inch 640×360 display, Bluetooth, 3.0-megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, microSD, and GPS.
An Android device confirmed on AT&T – finally! Fantastic news for Android fans eagerly awaiting a device on AT&T.
Via Engadget
Sony Ericsson isn’t announcing any new products at CES, but that didn’t stop the kids at GSMArena.com from getting a pic of what might just be the rumored Xperia X10 mini, codenamed “Robyn.” The device is said to be an Android device smaller in size and – I’d assume – capacity than the X10, and it may come in a range of color choices. If, you know, it’s real.
But it looks real in the pic, right? And those pink, green, and white backplates shown on GSMArena look real, too, don’t they? Hmm. I’ll see if I can get anything out of my SE peeps about the X10 mini when I meet with them later on here in Las Vegas.
Noah is at the CES Palm press event right now: 2PM EST. Follow his twitter updates below! UPDATE: Live coverage ended at 3PM EST. You can still follow Noah’s live twitter updates from this post for his up to the minute thoughts from CES Las Vegas 2010.
| {Widget type=”twitter” name=”PhoneDog_Noah”} |
American Windows Mobile users, rejoice, for the mighty HTC HD2 is coming to your land. T-Mobile and HTC announced that the massively large, thin, and fast capacitive touch smartphone that I fell head-over-heels for last month is coming to the US as a T-Mobile exclusive this Spring. More on the freshly minted T-Mo HD2 product page.
HD2 is the first ever Windows Mobile phone with a capacitive display, and the massive 4.3″ size of its screen combined with the device’s sleek shape and thin profile made it the first WinMo phone I’ve gotten all lusty about in quite some time. HTC Sense worked wonderfully on the unlocked GSM version of the device I demo’d, thanks in large part to the zippy 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor running under the hood. Frankly, using HD2 felt more like having a tablet computer in my hand than any mere phone. Then again, whenever I had to dig past HTC Sense to use WinMo, I was brought somewhat back down to Earth.
Power users who want/need Windows Mobile should, quite honestly, love this device provided that HTC and T-Mobile are able to iron out a few minor kinks I encountered on the demo I used. And when T-Mo gets that 7.2 Mbps HSDPA network rolled out across the country? Look out.
Check out my hands-on video with HD2 for more on this beastly smartphone.
HTC today launched the Smart which, ironically enough, is a dumbphone. You wouldn’t expect a plain Jane dumbphone from HTC, though, and Smart certainly looks to be a little more than your average voice-and-text machine.
The device, which will be available this Spring in Europe and Asia, features HTC’s Sense user experience running atop the Qualcomm Brew Mobile Platform, not Android or Windows Mobile as with other HTC Sense devices. The idea is to bring an afforable smartphone experience to the masses, as the press release attests to:
HTC Smart begins with a friendly, compact touch design and integrates an intuitive user experience that is centered around HTC Sense, an HTC design philosophy that puts people at the center by focusing on three core areas: Make It Mine, Stay Close and Discover the Unexpected. HTC Smart enables personal customization of each person’s own phone experience. It also provides a quick and easy way to see what friends are up to via various social networks as well as quickly communicating over the phone, through text messaging or e-mail.
No word on whether or not U.S. consumers will ever have the opportunity to, um, Get Smart.
More on HTC’s Smart product page.
Following the ever-popular app store trend, Nokia has announced the availability of the Ovi Store for select AT&T devices. The store will be available on the Nokia Surge, Mural, E71x, 6650, 6555, and 6350. What’s more, users will have the ability to download content and charge it to their AT&T bill.
My take? It’s great news. In today’s world, app stores can make or break a manufacturer, and it’s nice to see Nokia get into the game and open up the Ovi store to retail (mainstream) consumers. That being said, they’ve got a lot of work to do to keep up with the other app stores (Palm’s App Catalog, Android Market, and to a greater extent, the Apple App Store).
If you’re up for reading the full press release, it can be found below.
OVI STORE BY NOKIA DELIVERS CONTENT AND APPLICATIONS WITH CONVENIENT BILLING TO AT&T CUSTOMERS
AT&T customers using select Nokia devices can now download numerous pieces of content through Ovi Store with convenient automatic billing
White Plains, NY – January 6, 2009 – Today, Nokia and AT&T announced that Ovi Store by Nokia is now available to AT&T customers using the following Nokia devices – the Nokia E71x, Nokia Surge, Nokia Mural, Nokia 6650, Nokia 6555 or Nokia 6350 – with more devices to come. These AT&T customers will also be able to download free and paid content from Ovi Store with the convenience of charging their paid content purchases directly to their monthly AT&T bill.
To get started, AT&T customers with these select Nokia devices* can simply visit store.ovi.com from their device browser to begin downloading personalized content, like apps, games, ringtones, productivity tools, movie trailers and more.
· Step one: go to store.ovi.com from your Nokia device from AT&T
· Step two: once at store.ovi.com you will be prompted to download the Ovi Store application
· Step three: enjoy great content and applications for your Nokia device with AT&T.
“Nokia is happy to bring the exciting content available through Ovi Store by Nokia to AT&T customers in an easy way with a convenient billing solution,” said David Petts, Vice President and General Manager, AT&T account, Nokia. “Ovi Store provides consumers with mobile content and applications from some of the most recognized developers and publishers from around the world, and we are now thrilled to deliver compelling content to AT&T customers with a payment solution that simplifies access and use.”
Ovi Store is Nokia’s one-stop-shop for free and paid content, with support for a range of device types from smartphones to feature phones. Globally, an estimated 50 million Nokia device owners, in more than 180 countries, across more than 100 Nokia device models, have access to Ovi Store in 30 languages.
Many of the content industry’s biggest names along with independent application developers are distributing their media, applications and games through Ovi Store by Nokia. Content providers and application developers interested in distributing their content through Ovi Store should visit publish.ovi.com<http://publish.ovi.com/>.
* Nokia E71x, Nokia Surge, Nokia Mural, Nokia 6650, Nokia 6555 and Nokia 6350
About Nokia
Nokia is a pioneer in mobile telecommunications and the world’s leading maker of mobile devices. Today, we are connecting people in new and different ways – fusing advanced mobile technology with personalized services to enable people to stay close to what matters to them. We also provide comprehensive digital map information through NAVTEQ; and equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.
Though they’re a little late, Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T, announced that the wireless carrier will launch five new Android smartphones in the first half of 2010. Dell, HTC, and Motorola are the manufacturers of these new phones, and we’re told that three of the five phones will be exclusive to AT&T. The mystery of the Dell device was solved today when the computer giant released the Mini 3, their new smartphone previously available only in China and Brazil. Details on the specs of this phone are still a little sketchy since Dell hasn’t officially released any information, but we can gather from images that it is a full touchscreen phone. (The model sold in China is said to have a 3.5-inch, 640×360 display).
We can assume that the Motorola device is or will be something similar to the recently released Motorola Backflip. Seeing as how the AT&T Press Release described the Motorola phone as having a “unique form factor” and the Backflip is probably the most unique thing I’ve seen in a while, this is more than likely a safe bet. The device will be based on Android and powered by MOTOBLUR. So expect a Motorola Cliq but kind of weird-looking. If it is the Backflip, it will be running Android 2.1 along with all of Motorola’s other Android phones.
As for the HTC device(s), we’re not really sure. We assume that since there are five new devices coming and Dell and Motorola have only claimed two spots, HTC will claim the remaing three, by either releasing three totally new phones or taking models they’ve designed for other carriers and switching up the form factor for AT&T. There is some speculation that one of these phones could be an AT&T version of the Nexus One.
To follow up on the Android release, AT&T has set up a new page for consumers: www.att.com/android.
There weren’t a lot of details released on the new WebOS devices, but we’re assuming he’s talking about the Palm Pre and Pixi. I mean, these are the only two WebOS devices on the market right now and it’s doubtful that Palm will surprise us with two new ones. However, stranger things have happened. (Remember when Furbys came out? Tell me that didn’t totally catch you off guard.)
Along with new smartphones, AT&T has also launched “a major initiative to expand the universe of mobile applications beyond smartphones to more mobile phones”. This so-called “Apps for All” program will give developers the initiative and tools they need to create apps, not only for the iPhone or other prominent smartphones, but Quick Messaging phones as well. AT&T will do this by working with Qualcomm and adopting the BREW Mobile Platform to standardize apps development. Instead of developers only creating apps compatible with one phone or being forced to develop several versions of an app for wide usage, BREW, which will be featured on all new AT&T Quick Messaging Devices by the end of 2010 or early 2011, will allows developers to create a single app that can be available to millions of users on several different devices. As a way of solidifying this promise, AT&T announced a new SDK which is available today.
Not only that, but AT&T will work with these developers, giving them technical support via live chat, a 70/30 split of revenue for third-party developers, a virtual network called Sandbox that will give developers a place to test their apps, and the Developer Dashboard, which will allow developers to track the progress of their apps, set prices, and receive vital performance stats.
All in all, it’s clear that AT&T takes their role in the cellular industry seriously. No longer will it be just one phone that has access to thousands of apps while the rest are left in the dark. They’ve also given their customers more choices when deciding on which models and operating systems to use. It’s a big step for the wireless giant, and quite frankly it’s nice to know that they aren’t content with providing only one option to their customers, but branching out and even improving the products they already have.
Now if only they could fix that “dropped calls” problem
Sprint held a very over the top event tonight to announce … well, kinda not much.
The Sprint Overdrive 3G/4G hotspot will sell for $99.99 with a two-year contract. The device serves as a 3G/4G mobile hotspot (WiFi modem) and integrates GPS and a microSD card slot. The device is manufactured by Sierra Wireless and everyone from to comedian Frank Caliendo to Dan Hesse (Sprint CEO) to the head of Best Buy to that Ballmer guy from Microsoft got up on stage to trump it up.
But, honestly, how many markets is Sprint’s 4G available in? And why does the rest of the US market care?
I love you, Sprint, I really do. I admire your pluck and your ultra-solid network performance and your willingness to take risks in the consumer product space (“Upstage,” anyone?) … but without a nationwide 4G rollout this was kind of a yawnfest punctuated by old white guys with not much to say.
But hey, I hear Mario Batali made snacks for everyone …
Sprint held a very over the top event tonight to announce … well, kinda not much.
The Sprint Overdrive 3G/4G hotspot will sell for $99.99 with a two-year contract. The device serves as a 3G/4G mobile hotspot (WiFi modem) and integrates GPS and a microSD card slot. The device is manufactured by Sierra Wireless and everyone from to comedian Frank Caliendo to Dan Hesse (Sprint CEO) to the head of Best Buy to that Ballmer guy from Microsoft got up on stage to trump it up.
But, honestly, how many markets is Sprint’s 4G available in? And why does the rest of the US market care?
I love you, Sprint, I really do. I admire your pluck and your ultra-solid network performance and your willingness to take risks in the consumer product space (“Upstage,” anyone?) … but without a nationwide 4G rollout this was kind of a yawnfest punctuated by old white guys with not much to say.
But hey, I hear Mario Batali made snacks for everyone …