Hasta La Gadget!

As promised, Verizon and Alltel tied the knot today, in a $5.9 billion acquisition, plus $22.9 billion of Alltel debt. Combined they form the nation’s largest wireless carrier, with 83.7 customers (12.9 of those from the Alltel fold). For the time being, Alltel customers can sit tight and continue to use their devices and service plans as usual, with re-branding operations to happen Q2 and Q3 of 2009.

Filed under: Cellphones

Verizon completes Alltel acquisition, now covers 83.7 million customers as nation’s largest wireless network originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unrelated candid photo aside… it’s no lie: if you’ve managed to load Android onto your device, no matter how lame it may seem, you’re probably a good looking person. Not only that, but you might’ve built Touch Revolution’s NIMBLe, which is a billed as a Home Touch Phone, but runs the Android OS and holds a full 7-inch touchscreen. The most basic functionality is that of a speakerphone, but obviously Android — along with the built-in WiFi, Bluetooth and Ethernet connectivity — opens this up to so much more functionality. Touch Revolution is actually dabbling in all sorts of hardware and software configurations, building a “Touch Device Development Platform” for farming out to companies for all sorts of purposes. Current builds include 600MHz StrongARM or greater processors, 128MB of RAM, 512MB of flash memory, SD card slots, 4.3-inch, 7-inch or 10-inch LCDs, 2 megapixel cameras and up to 800 x 480 resolutions. The unit we played with seemed responsive and only a little bit pointless, and we look forward to seeing this sort of thing hit the market — we know MC Hammer would agree. Action video is after the break.

Continue reading NIMBLe is MC Hammer-approved, brings Android to even the most boring of countertops

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household

NIMBLe is MC Hammer-approved, brings Android to even the most boring of countertops originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is it! Our first go-round with Palm’s newest entry to the smartphone field — the pre. Watch this page for updates on our first impressions, a live stream of photos after the break, and observations on the company’s rebirth into the marketplace.

1:19PM – First photos are up. They’re running us through a demo of the phone, so we haven’t gotten to touch it just yet — the tension is killing!

1:38PM – They let us play with it a bit — while they held the other end, of course. The keyboard is Centro-esque, with shallow presses and cramped spacing. The actual keys are rubbery and easy enough to find with the fingernails of our massive man hands, other folks might have better luck using the pads of their fingers. The touchscreen isn’t quite as responsive as the iPhone or G1 — or it could be the OS, there seems to be a tiny lag between a tap and an action — but it’s still pretty great. We spent mere seconds toying with the OS, but all the actions seem ultra-intuitive.

Update: You can watch some video after the break!

Continue reading Palm Pre first hands-on with live updates!

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm Pre first hands-on with live updates! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The new-ness is underway, and Palm just debuted its long(est) awaited all-new handset, the Palm Pre. The curvy touchscreen handset has a 3.1-inch 320 x 480 multitouch display, with a rollerball down below and touch sensitivity all down the face — the lower part is for “gestures.” A full QWERTY keyboard slides out from the phone in a portrait orientation, and you can flip the phone on its side for accelerometer-sensed widescreen browsing. The phone is running Palm’s all-new webOS platform, with TI’s new OMAP CPU under the hood — which Palm claims provides laptop-style power, and which juices the phones smooth transitions, scrolling and “deck of cards” app-switching. Other internal specs include EV-DO Rev. A, 802.11b/g WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth with A2DP and 8GB of built-in flash storage. There’s a 3 megapixel camera with LED flash, mass storage-friendly microUSB plug and a good ol’ 3.5mm headphone jack, but most exciting is the wireless charger — a first for a mainstream phone. More shots are after the break, including a fancy FCC diagram depicting a removable battery. The phone is exclusive at launch for Sprint in the first half of 2009, no word on price just yet.

You can check out our other Pre coverage below:

Live from Palm’s CES press conference
Palm Pre’s wireless charger, the Touchstone
Palm’s Pre gets its own spot on Sprint’s website
Palm Pre website now live with official images, video
Palm pre first hands-on with live updates!
Palm stock on a rocket to recovery
There will be a GSM-friendly 3G Palm Pre
Palm Pre in-depth impressions, video, and huge hands-on gallery

Live from Palm’s CES press conference	Palm Pre official shots	Palm Pre hands-on: hardware
Palm pre first hands-on with live updates, part 2!	More Palm Pre hands-on shots

Filed under: Cellphones

The Palm Pre originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm just got official with its new webOS platform, running on the new Palm Pre. According to the company, anyone who knows CSS, HTML and XML will be able to develop for the OS without having to learn any new languages — sounds kind of like it’s a jacked up browser with memory management, like Google Chrome. The UI itself is simple and touch-based, with flick scrolling through lists and gesture support that goes “beyond the screen.” The launcher comes up over apps without leaving them, and you can quit apps by just swiping up — multiple apps and windows are managed using a “deck of cards” metaphor. The Synergy sync system automatically manages your contacts — all you have to do is log into Facebook, Google, and Outlook. You also get consolidated IM from multiple services — so, so sweet. Typing on the keyboard brings up an instant search which pulls up apps, contacts, and even web queries. All apps have access to an Android-like popup notification system, and urgent messages pop up, causing running apps to automatically resize so you can see everything. There’s also a dockable control area that any app can use for persistent controls — Palm’s using it for its music player, for example. More pics after the break!

Update: The press release is now live.

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm announces webOS platform originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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