Hasta La Gadget!

The HTC EVO 4G for Sprint is big for a smartphone, but small for a device that outputs HD video over an HDMI cable. So today Monster Cable showed off a “SuperThin” Micro HDMI cable that is perfect for connecting smartphones to big-screen TVs. Monster’s SuperThin cables, introduced last year, are 65 percent thinner than standard HDMI cables, measuring 3.5 mm in diameter.

Of course, the new cables will also work with the upcoming Motorola Droid X, if the Droid X’s HDMI port is a standard Micro HDMI. We’ll find out tomorrow when the Droid X launches.

Monster said the SuperThin Micro HDMI cables are so new, they couldn’t provide a release date or a price. Generic Micro HDMI cables are selling online for $12-20, and you can bet Monster’s versions will cost a lot more. SuperThin cables with standard HDMI connectors cost $79.95-119.95 when they launched last year.

Prepaid carrier Virgin Mobile will be introducing a Novatel MiFi router next week, the company told us after the device appeared at a Best Buy summer preview event this morning.

Virgin Mobile’s MiFi, like the models available for Sprint and Verizon Wireless, is a slim little router that turns 3G signal into a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to five devices.

Since this is Virgin Mobile, this MiFi will be entirely prepaid – $149 for the device, and then anywhere from $10 for 100 MB to $60 for 5 GB. When you need more data, you can re-up. (Virgin has a full chart of their data rates on their Web site.) Activation is simple and there are no activation fees; you can top up
your account with credit or debit cards, or Virgin Mobile top-up cards
bought at local retailers.

Virgin is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sprint and uses Sprint’s 3G EVDO Rev A network, so I’d expect download speeds around 1 Mbps. The device has 4 hours of battery life while online and 40 hours of standby time, the company said.

We reviewed Virgin Mobile’s Broadband2Go USB modem last year, and Virgin has since improved their service plans. You get 5 GB for $60 on both Sprint postpaid and Virgin prepaid now, but you can also buy smaller buckets of data on Virgin, and you don’t have to sign up for a contract.

The MiFi will be available at Best Buy, Radio Shack and online starting next Monday, June 28.

Check this out: it’s free, live mobile TV on the iPad, enabled by a little box called the Tivizen. We previously saw the Tivizen back in January when it was called the Valups Tivit. It receives a new form of over-the-air TV broadcasting called Mobile DTV, and sends it out over a Wi-Fi network so gadgets live iPads can watch through their Web browsers.

Here at the CEA Line Shows, the Open Mobile Video Coalition is showing off a bunch of Mobile Digital TV devices, including Samsung and LG phones, portable DVD players and a potential in-car system. And they have a list of dozens of channels planning to broadcast Mobile Digital TV or running channels for testing right now, from WNUV in Baltimore to KAIL in Fresno, CA.

Unfortunately, the march to mobile TV has temporarily stalled because of a 1964 law which apparently mandates that all TV receivers get analog channels, the OMVC’s Dave Arland said here at the show. (Mobile TV receivers are digital only.) So the OMVC has asked the FCC to give an official thumbs-up to digital-only receivers. With the government’s blessing, MDTV receivers should start appearing on shelves in July, Arland said.

It looks like we may be hearing about Android super-phones coming to more carriers week after next. Back in March at the official launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S line, the company said they wanted to bring their 1-Ghz Android platform to all the US carriers. They announced their first model, the Captivate, for AT&T earlier this week.