Hasta La Gadget!

Back in November, we reported on the rumors that Samsung could be working on a device called the Galaxy Grand Lite. The handset, if the rumors are to be believed, is said to be a slightly less powerful version of the Galaxy Grand 2 that was announced in South Korea back in November as well, and now thanks to an FCC sighting, a mysterious device has been sighted which some have speculated to be the Galaxy Grand Lite. Granted the filing did not actually specify the name of the device, but this has not stopped the internet from speculating anyway. There is no word on when Samsung could announce the device, but as CES and MWC 2014 are around the corner, perhaps we won’t have to wait too long to find out.

As far as its rumored specs are concerned, we have heard the Galaxy Grand Lite could sport a 5” 480×800 display, which is admittedly pretty low by today’s standards. It is also rumored to be powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of onboard storage that can be expanded via microSD, a 5MP rear-facing camera, a VGA front-facing camera, and a 2,100mAh battery. In any case take it with a grain of salt for now, but like we said with CES around the corner, perhaps Samsung might take advantage of the event to announce new smartphones as well, so be sure to check back with us for more updates!

Samsung Galaxy Grand Lite Passes Through The FCC original content from Ubergizmo.

The FAA has finally relaxed personal electronic device usage rules during various phases of the flight. Passengers can now use a number of electronic devices such as tablets and e-readers gate to gate. With that done and dusted, passengers now look towards the possibility of in-flight voice calls, and as per recent reports the FCC is certainly looking into it. Now some might say that letting people make voice calls would irk their fellow passengers who are essentially trapped in a giant tube some 30,000 feet up in the air, and it appears that Delta CEO Richard Anderson agrees. In a memo to employees, Anderson says that allowing in-flight phone calls would be a “disruption to the travel experience.”

A change to FCC rules won’t bind airlines to adopt them, and thus allow their passengers to make in-flight phone calls. Delta certainly isn’t standing alone, both Virgin America and Southwest Airlines have hinted that they too might not go down this path even if the FCC makes changes to its rules. Anderson has already laid down the law that Delta isn’t going to allow phone calls during the flight either over VoIP or through cell services. The commission has already clarified that the final decision will rest with the airlines, so even if changes are made, it is not likely that every single airline will adopt them.

Delta CEO Against In-Flight Voice Calls original content from Ubergizmo.

The original founders of TiVo are starting a new business venture called QPlay. It’s an adapter for streaming TV reminiscent of the plug-and-play ease of Google’s Chromecast dongle and app set, but with the all-under-one-roof simplicity of a set-top box. Plug the QPlay box into your HDTV, plug the USB-connected power cord into a wall […]

Earlier we had reported that the FCC would be reaching an agreement with wireless carriers on an unlocking policy for subscribers. Well it turns out that shortly after that report was revealed, it has since been announced that a deal had already been struck and for those interested, some of the agreed upon terms has been posted on the CTIA’s website in the form of a PDF document. This deal covers five carriers in the US, such as AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular, with the terms of the agreement expected to be implemented in the next 12 months, and while the deal has been struck, it is unclear as to what will happen to customers who might try to unlock their phones before the end of the contract.

The unlocking of cellphones has been a hotly contested topic as of late, especially with a ruling made earlier this year in which it would be considered illegal for customers to unlock their cellphones, which many felt was silly since it would make it hard to travel overseas or to switch carriers upon the end of their contract. It has since been petitioned with the FCC chairman vowing to investigate the matter, which we guess he did.  Either way at least now there are clearer steps that one can take in order to unlock their cellphones without any legal consequence.

FCC And Wireless Carriers Arrive On A Cellphone Unlocking Agreement original content from Ubergizmo.

The five largest USA-based carriers have come to an agreement through the CTIA (The Wireless Association) with the FCC over their policy for unlocking phones in North America. Barring those devices the institutions have reason to believe were stolen or otherwise fraudulently acquired, it would appear that the carrier unlock sequence has been made as […]