Hasta La Gadget!

Looks like the uproar over AT&T’s recently-tweaked wireless terms of service banning video streaming and p2p activity caused some hasty rethinking in Dallas — the company just sent us this statement:

The language added on March 30 to AT&T’s wireless data service Terms and Conditions was done in error. It was brought to our attention and we have since removed it. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Well, that settles that, at least for now — high fives all around, Internet friends.

Filed under: Cellphones

AT&T retracts new terms of service, apologizes originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it’s not quite the release date and price you were hoping for, but it’s definitely something. Today Palm — via a short keynote at the Web 2.0 Expo — announced that the company would begin taking names and numbers on the webOS dev site for potential developers who will receive an “early look” Mojo SDK. And that’s starting right this moment… as in now. That news alone would be big, but reps we spoke with said that the SDK would be made available to developers that the company will be cherry-picking as early as tomorrow. So if you were looking to get into the Pre app game, here’s your first big chance.

In addition to the SDK news, Palm is introducing a new set of “integrated cloud services” for developers (called Mojo Messaging Service) which will use a standardized publish / subscribe system to allow data to be bounced from the “cloud” to devices. Basically, it looks like this is Palm’s play for some of that push buzz — though the indication is that this service can and will be used for bigger tasks as well.

Finally, the company announced that third-party developer MotionApps will be making a Palm OS emulator available for purchase to coincide with the launch of the Pre. The application will be utilize the mass storage mode of the device to allow for drag-and-drop of PRCs, though according to the press release, the emulator “won’t be able to leverage core webOS functionality,” meaning that you probably can’t expect pure bliss across all of your applications, particularly those with roots that go deeper into phone databases and the like. What’s interesting to note about this app is that it’s being built on more than just the standard webOS SDK — an event which Palm called “unique.” They went on to assure us that this was a one-off to allow for emulation, but we’re thinking they might want to reconsider that policy by factoring in the clamor for serious gaming on a device like the Pre. You can check an image of the emulator after the break.

So, no pricing, no release date, but lots of movement on the developer front — which is big news if you’re a company trying to launch a completely new operating system. Still, we’re getting a bit antsy with all this waiting… it might be time to throw everyone a bigger bone than that tired “first half of 2009” line, guys.

Read – Palm developer site
Read – MotionApps Palm OS emulator

Continue reading Palm announces webOS SDK availability, Palm OS emulation for Pre, new cloud services

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm announces webOS SDK availability, Palm OS emulation for Pre, new cloud services originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since the Excalibur and Cavalier, HTC’s shown an unhealthy aversion for the immensely popular portrait QWERTY format — until now, that is, with the introduction of the rumored 12mm-thick HTC Snap. The Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard smartphone features a 528MHz Qualcomm core, 256MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, 2 megapixel camera, microSDHC expansion, and the requisite QVGA display, all paired with AGPS, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, WiFi, and HSDPA data. “What kind of HSDPA?” is the next logical question in that progression, and the answer is that you’re looking at two versions of the device: one with 900 / 2100 for Europe and Asia, one with 850 / 1900 for North America (interestingly, the North American version won’t be known as the Snap — instead, it’ll simply be called the S522). The new device also marks the introduction of HTC’s “Inner Circle” feature, which can selectively pull emails from certain contacts to the top of your inbox — the perfect way to ignore Terry from Accounting who’s been on your case for the past three weeks about filing expense reports. Look for the Snap to launch globally this quarter, while the unlocked S522 hits “during the summer.”

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

HTC Snap snaps to life, coming to US as S522 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That didn’t take long. After Samsung showed off its Instinct S30 (a.k.a. Instinct Mini) last night with some official imagery — and less than an hour after we spotted it in the wild at CTIA — Sprint’s gone ahead and made it official with a press release. The carrier-exclusive touchscreen phone features a 2.0 megapixel camera, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, and virtual QWERTY keypad, along with Opera Mini 4.2, Sprint TV, and Sprint Music Store. It’s also got a Speech to Action function for controlling the phone by voice and alllegedly more access to the core Java API for development. Color options include Cobalt Metal or Touch of Copper. Launch date is April 19th, which is exactly what we saw in that leaked Sprint playbook, and price is $129.99 with a two-year contract.

[Via Gadget Review]

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung Instinct S30 now official, coming to Sprint on April 19th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Details are starting to come into focus on some of the finer points of Windows Mobile 6.5’s launch later this year after February’s announcement at MWC, and if you had to boil the news down to just two words, they’d be “pretty” and “support.” As “pretty” goes, it’s been announced that Microsoft has partnered up with Design Museum London and the Council of Fashion Designers of America to offer designer themes for 6.5-based devices — colors, wallpaper, and the like — with the first designs coming from fashion dude Isaac Mizrahi. If that’s not good enough for ya, the company will be releasing a Theme Generator later this year that’ll let you customize colors of UI elements on your device, pair it up with wallpaper culled from your own photo collection, and send the batch straight to your phone.

Over to the “support” front, over 25 companies will be announcing their full support for the Windows Marketplace at CTIA this week, including EA Mobile, Facebook (pictured), Gameloft, MySpace, Namco, Pandora, and Sling Media. To help improve the Marketplace’s public image, Microsoft is tweaking some policies, too: developers will now be able to issue unlimited updates to their apps free of charge, and users will have up to 24 hours to “return” apps they don’t like (very cool). Notably, Facebook’s new app will be available in April, offering direct video uploads straight to your wall if you’re into that sort of thing (you know who you are).

Finally, Microsoft’s issued a clarification regarding upgrades from 6.1 to 6.5: devices that are already out in the marketplace with a minimum of 128MB of RAM and a 400MHz processor or better are theoretically capable of being upgraded — it’s all up to licensees to decide whether they want to go to the trouble of offering the upgrades to their customers. Let’s hope, shall we?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Microsoft announces Windows Marketplace partners, tweaked policies, designer WinMo 6.5 themes originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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