Hasta La Gadget!

Perhaps the most common complaint about the iPhone is that it’s available only on AT&T–the network, which, according to a recent survey, has far and away the most dropped calls in the U.S. for smartphone owners.

A five-year exclusivity agreement between the two companies has been rumored for some time, but until now, we hadn’t seen any evidence that such a contract actually existed. Three years after the release of the original iPhone, the proof finally appears to have surfaced, thanks to an ongoing class-action lawsuit in California that alleges that the two companies have an illegal monopoly over iPhone service.

Engadget, which dug up the proof, explains:

[The accused monopoly was established] by telling customers the iPhone’s required service contract was two years long when the Apple / AT&T exclusivity deal was actually for five years–thus requiring buyers to re-up with AT&T for three years (and not, say, T-Mobile) if they wanted to keep using the iPhone.

In response to the suit, the appeal shed some light on the deal:

The duration of the exclusive Apple-[AT&T] agreement was not ‘secret’ either. The [plaintiff] quotes a May 21, 2007 USA Today article – published over a month before the iPhone’s release – stating, “AT&T has exclusive U.S. distribution rights for five years-an eternity in the go-go cellphone world.

Look up there, at the photo at the top of this post. No, really look. What’s that? You feel nauseous? Don’t whine to me about it: tell Pentax (and stay away from Japan).

The multi-colored monstrosity that just burned itself into your poor retinas is a special-edition Pentax K-x, available online only from Tower Records Japan. Thankfully, there will only be 1,000 made and sold for ¥74,800 ($800), or $150 more than the almost as hideous bright-red version. You even get a custom-designed, vomit-inducing rainbow image on the LCD when you start up, encouraging you never to power the camera up (and extending battery life to infinity).

The 12.9MP, 720p-shooting DSLR is, apart from the Fisher Price colors, identical to the standard K-x, with its auto HDR and face detection functions. But that’s not what this is about. The rainbow scheme ties in with a summer campaign from Tower Records, and you should be able to find matching sunglasses, t-shirts and bags. Here’s a snippet from Google Translate for you to snicker at:

This year’s theme is also a handy compact body but a woman a “rainbow” color scheme is a drop-supplied, POP achieved in CUTE and form.

A drop-supplied woman? What?

TOWER RECORDS X PENTAX Kx RAINBOW [Tower Records via Akihabara News]

If recent rumors prove to be correct, a device previously nicknamed the Motorola Twist should be arriving next month. The forthcoming Flipout would be Motorola’s first Android 2.1 handset as well as the first to wear the new Motoblur 1.5 user interface. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-20004641-251.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Android Atlas/a/p

HyperMac, the company that almost single-handedly silenced the handful of people who complained about the MacBook’s lack of a swappable battery, has updated its battery-bricks to juice the iPad.

The HyperMacs are external batteries which can power your MacBook for up to 34 hours via a MagSafe adapter actually clipped from a real Apple power-brick (Apple doesn’t license the design). They also have USB ports to recharge other gadgets, and these have now been upgraded to supply the 10 watts needed by the iPad.

This means that, if you go for the top-end, 4.7-pound, 222 watt-hour HyperMac then you can get a 99 hours of use from an iPad. That’ll cost you $500. For “just” $200, the far more sensible 60 watt-hour version – which weighs in at 0.8-pounds – will give you a total of 34 hours, more than enough for a weekend away.

The HyperMacs are available now, with a wait of a couple of weeks for delivery. With any luck, if you order one today it should turn at the same time as your equally delayed iPad order.

HyperMac batteries [HyperMac via MacWorld]

We did ponder how you can rename the Orange and T-Mobile coalition (topical word, eh Britain?) without offending either party, and the strategy seems to have been to just go for a name so bombastic that it overshadows all other concerns. Say hello to Everything Everywhere. Such is the strident new moniker attached to the joint venture between the French and German telecoms, with the justification being that the resultant “super-network” will be the biggest in the UK and therefore capable of providing both universal coverage and limitless services. We’ll see how that works out, but for now it’s important to note that the high street brands won’t be changing. T-Mobile and Orange will retain their separate identities (and eye-searing color schemes), while offering you all the synergistic benefits resulting from the scale of the new company. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Orange and T-Mobile become Everything Everywhere (in the UK)

Orange and T-Mobile become Everything Everywhere (in the UK) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 08:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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