Hasta La Gadget!

We suspected that both Sprint and Verizon Wireless would eventually pick up RIM’s hot-off-of-the-press BlackBerry Bold 9650, and sure enough, the former has already come forward with a glowing press release stating as much. Starting on May 23rd (that’s just under a month, for those operating sans any sense of time), Sprint loyalists will be able to score this very smartphone for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and 2-year contract. It’ll reportedly be available in “all Sprint sale channels,” tempting you with that 480 x 360 resolution display, BB OS 5, Wi-Fi module and 3.2 megapixel camera. So, VZW — got a similar announcement you’d like to make?

[Thanks, Travis]

Continue reading Sprint gets BlackBerry Bold 9650: $200 on contract, ships May 23

Sprint gets BlackBerry Bold 9650: $200 on contract, ships May 23 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Sprint  | Email this | Comments

According to BGR, we’re apparently looking at the first shots of a phone numbered 9670 in RIM’s BlackBerry parlance, a true QWERTY flip running BlackBerry OS 6.0 on a 480 x 360 display with WiFi, a 5 megapixel camera, optical pad (as is the case with every new BlackBerry these days), microSD expansion, and a huge external display that’s eerily reminiscent of Moto’s RAZR 2. The device is said to be running CDMA, which almost certainly means it’s being shopped around to Sprint and Verizon exclusively among major carriers — the only other big potential takers would be Bell and Telus, and they’re in the midst of migrating to HSPA — so we’ll just sit back, relax, and see if this thing materializes at WES next week. Granted, we’ve got to see it in person and gaze at a few non-blurrycam shots before passing final judgment, but we’re admittedly a little worried about the merciless beating the ugly stick may have delivered up in Waterloo this time around.

BlackBerry 9670 flip spotted running OS 6.0, causes eyes to bleed, children to cry originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  BGR  | Email this | Comments

So this is what all those “yo’ network’s so slow” jokes were about. The Wall Street Journal has today penned a story framing AT&T’s hefty recent investments in building out its network as a defensive move against a “huge exodus to Verizon” when its rival gets the iPhone. These preventative measures include working with Apple on streamlining the iPhone’s network load, and infrastructure spending that is expected to be $2 billion more in 2010 than in 2009. The WSJ claimed yesterday that Apple was working on a CMDA version of its iPhone that could hit mass production as early as September. However, concluding that the iPhone on Verizon is a done deal seems something of a stretch. Sprint has shown a remarkable ability to attract cutting edge phones, and China Unicom’s exclusivity agreement is about to hit its precarious first anniversary about the time this handset is set to roll out. Still, setting aside the analyst blather and extrapolation, the picture that emerges is of AT&T feverishly patching up its service offering in the face of a rapidly expiring exclusivity arrangement.

AT&T building out network capacity to prevent exodus to Verizon’s iPhone? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 04:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

Let’s start with the obvious proviso here, the above image is so painfully easy to fake that even our computer illiterate grandparents could mock one up within a few minutes. That said, it’s purportedly a screenshot of a little oopsie by Google’s online store, which is said to have briefly displayed the Verizon option for Nexus One handsets as available to buy for $199 plus the relevant contractual shackles. We wouldn’t normally credit such unverifiable information, but then we’re also hearing from Soft Sailor that a highly trusted “inside” source of theirs is reporting that Verizon-carried, Sense-less Nexus Ones will be out and about “by the end of next week.” Given that the earlier mooted date of March 23 has now come and gone, we’re apprehensive about investing too much of ourselves in these rumors, but those supposed CDMA Nexus One shipments from HTC have to come out and play at some point, right?

[Thanks, Carson]

Update: jkOnTheRun has more insider info to share with us on this topic. James Kendrick’s people “in positions to know” tell him that the Verizon Nexus One will definitely show up in April, which meshes with the Spring timeframe we’ve already been given, but there’s also word about a “surprise” that other US carriers lack. Whether that refers to Sense-related enhancements or some other software optimizations, we’ll have to wait and see.

Verizon’s Nexus One could be arriving ‘by the end of next week’ (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 07:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink jkOnTheRun  |  Android Central, Soft Sailor  | Email this | Comments

Remember when we heard that Verizon Wireless just might be able to bump its commercial LTE rollout to the first quarter of 2010? Man, talk about having our hopes and dreams dashed. Here at CTIA, we heard a few details on the company’s most up-to-date deployment plans, and it sounds like things are pretty well locked into place at this point. Tony Melone, the company’s Senior Vice President and CTO, seemed remarkably enthused that a bona fide LTE network would be launching “in the not too distant future,” and when pressed for specifics, he stated that they would launch “25 to 30 networks this year, covering one third of America by the end of 2010.” Beyond that, we’re looking at a footprint twice that size “15 months” after the initial rollout, and by the end of 2013, the company’s 4G coverage map will be the same size, “if not larger,” than its existing 3G map. Of course, the carrier insisted that they wouldn’t be abandoning 3G advancement while being fixated on 4G, noting that it was moving “fast and aggressively” on both fronts, with hopes that its LTE network would eventually eclipse even the 3G networks (in terms of coverage size) of competitors. Them’s bold words, VZW, and we’ll be carefully watching to see if that really does come to fruition.

Verizon to blanket ‘one third’ of America with LTE this year, double coverage in 15 months originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments