Hasta La Gadget!

Whoa — we just got word that AT&T is suing Verizon for false advertising over Big Red’s “There’s a map for that” ads. We’re reading the complaint and motion to stop the ads right now, but here’s what AT&T says is the big problem:

In essence, we believe the ads mislead consumers into believing that AT&T doesn’t offer ANY wireless service in the vast majority of the country. In fact, AT&T’s wireless network blankets the US, reaching approximately 296M people. Additionally, our 3G service is available in over 9,600 cities and towns. Verizon’s misleading advertising tactics appear to be a response to AT&T’s strong leadership in smartphones. We have twice the number of smartphone customers… and we’ve beaten them two quarters in a row on net post-paid subscribers. We also had lower churn — a sign that customers are quite happy with the service they receive.

AT&T also says its network reaches about the same number of people as Verizon’s, so we’re thinking it’s a little miffed that it’s being portrayed as an also-ran here. We’ll update as we learn more, keep it locked!

Update: So this seems like a very narrow lawsuit, actually. As we’ve been told, AT&T thinks Verizon is trying to fool viewers into thinking that they can’t use any AT&T phone services outside of 3G coverage areas by showing two essentially different maps. Since Verizon’s entire network is 3G, the gaps in the red map are actual service gaps — but Verizon doesn’t show that the gaps on the AT&T map might be covered by AT&T’s huge 2G network. We can see how that could be misleading, but at some point you’ve got to compare apples to apples, and AT&T even says it has “no quarrel with Verizon advertising its larger 3G network” in its complaint, so we’ll see how the court reacts.

Update 2: Interestingly, Verizon’s already changed the ads once at AT&T’s behest, editing them to remove the phrase “out of touch” and adding a “Voice and data services available outside of 3G areas” small print disclaimer at the end. Apparently that wasn’t enough for AT&T, which says the ads still confuse non-technical viewers into thinking AT&T provides no service at all outside of its 3G coverage.

Update 3: Okay, we’ve read everything — there’s really not much more to this suit than the arguments over the maps. We’re thinking Verizon could have easily dealt with this by just using dark blue and light blue on the AT&T map to differentiate between 3G and 2G coverage, but at this point we don’t think Ma Bell is all that interested in anything except getting these ads off the air. All that said, it’s hard to deny that Verizon’s ads made a perfectly valid point: using an iPhone on AT&T’s network in New York or San Francisco is an exercise in frustration, regardless of whether you have 2G or 3G, and we’ve had zero problems on Verizon. Let’s just hope AT&T is working as hard to fight these ads with its actual service as it is with its lawyers.

Continue reading AT&T sues Verizon over ‘there’s a map for that’ ads

Filed under: Cellphones

AT&T sues Verizon over ‘there’s a map for that’ ads originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew something was up with the Spring Design Alex dual-screen ebook reader the instant we saw its hastily-prepared web site published the night before Barnes & Noble’s Nook launch, and it appears that our hunch was right: Spring Design just filed a trade secret lawsuit against B&N, alleging that their designers showed the Alex to the bookseller’s execs before the Nook was developed. According to Spring Design, the two companies had been in contact with each other over ereader designs since the beginning of the year, with various executives exchanging calls, meetings and product details under NDA — which would certainly explain why there are suddenly two Android-based ereaders on the market with dual electronic ink and capacitive LCD touchscreen displays. Definitely suspicious, but we’d also note that the Nook and Alex actually work quite differently: users browse the web on the Alex’s touchscreen and then “print” the content they want to read to the electronic ink display, while the Nook doesn’t have a browser and the touchscreen is only used for navigation, not content. We’re digging for as much info as we can, and we’ll hit you with more info as soon as we get it — stay tuned.

Filed under: Handhelds

Spring Design sues Barnes & Noble over the Nook originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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O2 Germany has confirmed a GSM version of the DROID for Europe going by the name of the Motorola MILESTONE. The news comes courtesy of a sliver of O2’s online store page that left itself exposed to the wiles of Google, complete with the above picture and the new moniker, and follows close on the heels of a leaked business guide which says the MILESTONE will retail for €404.20 to corporate customers, and will be available as of November 9th.

Update: It’s now official on the Motorola Germany (and english language Western Europe) website where it lists Vodafone and O2 as local carriers. Italy now too, on an unspecified carrier. Oh, and it also lists “pinch and zoom” as a feature not found on the Droid. See for yourself after the break. It’s carrying a public price tag of €481.

Update 2: As noted by a few readers, Milestone will ship with MOTONAV turn-by-turn directions, not Google’s Maps Navigation.

[Via Boy Genius Report, Thanks Vincenzo, Peter B.]

Continue reading DROID headed to Germany as Motorola MILESTONE (update: Italy too, no Google Maps Navigation)

Filed under: Cellphones

DROID headed to Germany as Motorola MILESTONE (update: Italy too, no Google Maps Navigation) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s October 2009 which means something very special for Linux fans: a 9.10 release of Ubuntu. Today we see the launch of “Karmic Koala” featuring a faster graphical boot sequence (no more scary text scrolls), a revamped audio framework that improves sound control across multiple applications, and a new Software Center that visually simplifies the Add/Remove Applications tool. These are just a few of the user-centric improvements meant to have a “transformative effect” on the OS experience and help bring “the world of open source closer to the user.” It’s available in desktop, server, and netbook editions now so get to it, before you know it you’ll be updating to Lucid Lynx.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Ubuntu 9.10 ‘Karmic Koala’ released, could decide your OS fate originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anyone with an existing Android device and a nasty case of DROID envy today might want to hold off before switching devices, emptying the bank account, and possibly switching carriers in the process, because HTC’s got a little bit of information here to end our day on a high note. Here’s the full quote:

“Yes, we are working on an Eclair update for the HTC Hero. Because Eclair is a significantly enhanced release, it will require some time to update Sense for this new version of the Android OS. Please be patient while we work to provide you with a tightly integrated experience like the one you are already enjoying on your Hero.”

Bottom line, the Hero is signed up for Android 2.0 and it’s just a matter of HTC getting Sense ported and tested — makes sense (no pun intended), and we imagine Motorola will have to go through these same hoops with BLUR. The company went on to mention that it intends to bring the update to all versions of the Hero, though it’s up to partners (like Sprint, for instance) to help coordinate how and when that’s going to go down. We don’t have any information on the sundry Dream and Magic variants around the world at this point — but it’s important to remember that the Hero uses the same processor as its older siblings, so at least there’s hope for a good xda-developers port if nothing else.

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC confirmed to be cooking up Android 2.0 update for Hero, other devices unclear originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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