Mar 25
Samsung showed off a whole slew of other Bluetooth headsets it plans to release throughout the year. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12261_7-20001223-10356022.html” class=”origPostedBlog”CTIA 2010/a/p
Mar 25
Bitbop hands-on: is this the Hulu of mobile?
Posted in: BlackBerry, ctia, hands-on, RIM, Today's Chili, TV, video
Fox Mobile unveiled its Bitbop venture this week that promises to provide a wealth of TV and movie entertainment from a variety of top-tier studios, and if you can get past the fact that you’re actually going to have to pay for this content, it’s shaping up to be a pretty promising system when it launches later this year. There’s no live programming — just a database of show episodes and movies that you have your choice of either streaming or downloading for later consumption over 3G or WiFi — which makes it a little bit like using an on-demand service from your cable company. Bitbop was only demoing the BlackBerry version of its app at CTIA this week, but it looks like there’ll be iPhone and Android versions on the way; at any rate, video quality looked plenty good on the Bold’s 480 x 320 display. Initially, there’ll be just one plan — $9.99 a month for access to shows, while movies will be pay-per-view exclusively — but we got the impression that the company is leaving the door open for other payment models down the road. Great, just what we needed: another really cool way to kill productivity. At least we’ll be able to catch up on Gossip Girl in the process, we suppose! Follow the break for video.
Continue reading Bitbop hands-on: is this the Hulu of mobile?
Bitbop hands-on: is this the Hulu of mobile? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 
Bitbop | Email this | Comments
Mar 25
Phone manufacturer Pantech’s stock in trade nowadays is the “QMD” – quick messaging devices, or inexpensive dumb-phones with keyboards. These phones are perfect for people who do a lot of texting and a little bit of Web browsing, and they’ve become a major part of AT&T’s portfolio.
At the CTIA Wireless trade show today, I spent some time with Pantech’s two newest models – the Link (at left) and the Pursuit. The Link looks like a solid texting phone along the lines of the Pantech Slate – a poor man’s BlackBerry for folks who don’t want to pay for a smartphone service plan. It’s quite slim at 10mm, and has a 1.3-megapixel camera on the back. The user interface on this 2G phone is basic AT&T, with their links to social-networking services, their unusually good Opera Mini-based Web browser and their basic email client.
The real news, though, is the Pursuit, which I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of. This phone has both a 2.8-inch touchscreen and a keyboard, and it’s a really, really cute design.
Mar 25
Baby Rolls maintains luxury rep
Posted in: Today's ChiliCNET Car Tech goes for a ride in the 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20001220-48.html” class=”origPostedBlog”The Car Tech blog/a/p
Mar 25
CScout Japan Founding Partner Sven Kilian is one of the interviewees in the Tokyo section of the latest edition of BMW Magazine. The chapter on the city is subtitled “pacesetter for the new decade”, an idea CScout has been proposing for years now through its trend tours and innovation reports.
Of course, no coverage of Tokyo would be complete without some photos of dancing stormtrooper Danny Choo, everyone’s favorite otaku. There are also lavish images of the Tokyo International Forum and Asahi brewery, as well as a rather striking one of our own Sven looming large with the ever-growing Sky Tree in the background.
Mar 25
AT&T’s Genus satellite/cellular phone still hasn’t hit the market, but at CTIA Wireless today I got to see some previously unseen details of the phone’s packaging and UI.
The Genus is a Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone that works on AT&T’s 3G network when it has cellular signal, and flips to satellite service when there’s no AT&T coverage. Unlike most satellite phones, it doesn’t have a giant antenna; it looks like a regular cell phone.
Before you mock its Windows Mobile 6.5 OS and non-super-high-end specs, understand that this $799 phone will initially be sold to large government, corporate and public safety clients. Microsoft’s Charlie Kindel said at last week’s MIX conference that Microsoft isn’t primarily targeting those sorts of clients with Windows Mobile 7, so it looks like Windows Mobile 6.5 may live on for a while in the enterprise sphere.
Click through to the jump to see what it looks like to make a satellite call on the Genus, or check out our earlier story for full specs and details.
Mar 25
LG Air Sync hands-on
Posted in: ctia, hands-on, LG, Mini, Today's Chili
We got a peek today at the new “3-way” synchronization service from LG that the company is calling Air Sync; it’s only available on the GD880 Mini right now in the UK, but they’re looking to expand it across Europe and Asia before too long and — if we’re lucky — North America eventually. So what is it, exactly? Basically, it’s a synchronization service for text clipping, photos, videos, contacts, and the like that integrates with your PC using a downloadable client. After it’s installed, you get a few new context menu items that let you fast-track content to your phone via the cloud, and we were pretty amazed at just how quickly the transfers consistently happened — within a few seconds, a dialog pops up on LG’s demo Mini notifying you that the goods have been received. It sounds like LG will be looking at deploying this with a subscription model in most markets, so don’t expect gratis awesomeness — but if you transfer tons of pictures from your desktop to your mobile, this might be the way to go. Follow the break for video.
Gallery: LG Air Sync hands-on
Continue reading LG Air Sync hands-on
LG Air Sync hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Mar 25
Spracht Aura EQ (the really real version) hands-on
Posted in: bluetooth, ctia, headset, Today's Chili
We got a glimpse at Spracht’s new Aura EQ Bluetooth headset back at CES this year, but in reality, we sort of didn’t — what was being shown back then didn’t constitute final ID, turns out. The company’s back at it here at CTIA showing something closer to what you’ll be seeing on store shelves later this half — though they only had one, and it wasn’t in final retail packaging — so we took a minute to check it out. It’s using the same tricky earbud that we saw before, but the front of the unit has changed significantly — gone are the matte ridges, replaced with a glossy black surface broken up by a few bumps that represent the range of the capacitive volume slider. If “understated” is the look you’re going for, the Aura EQ is generally going to do the trick — and even if you like something a little more edgy, it’s got those funky points on the front and rear. Quite the crowd pleaser, eh?
Spracht Aura EQ (the really real version) hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Mar 25
Eclipse Litetouch wireless touchscreen keyboard clears the FCC, on its way to retail (video)
Posted in: keyboard, Today's Chili, Wireless
OK, dudes — we don’t want to freak you out or anything, but the Wireless Litetouch Keyboard has cleared the FCC. Brought to you by Mad Catz, this bad boy (and its wired companion) was first unveiled at CES this year. Featuring an programmable LCD touchscreen with three different sets of “buttons” (number pad, media mode, and the user configurable MyEclipse mode) the latest entry to the Eclipse line has is sure to get admiring looks from the drone in the cubicle across the aisle. Compatible with Mac OS X as well as your many flavors of Windows, this bad boy will be out soon — wireless for $129, or wired for $99. Jaw-dropping video after the break.
Eclipse Litetouch wireless touchscreen keyboard clears the FCC, on its way to retail (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | FCC, Mad Catz | Email this | Comments
Mar 25
LG Wine II impressions
Posted in: Today's ChiliCNET takes a closer look at the LG Wine II for U.S. Cellular pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12261_7-20001218-10356022.html” class=”origPostedBlog”CTIA 2010/a/p
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.