Hasta La Gadget!

What is it about the word peel that screams “throw on the back of an iPod touch and grant it the power of mobile internet?” We spotted Yosion’s Apple Peel 520 just this morning bound for Chinese markets, and now the FCC has unveiled ZTE’s own Peel 3G router. Although the user manual and external photos don’t explicitly state it, one look at the (slightly enhanced) image above removes all doubt that this is made to fit snugly around a certain finger-friendly iDevice with a headset jack on the bottom right. Additionally, the user manual’s setup screens are all sketched out in what appears to be a more mobile Safari-friendly size. The Qualcomm-powered CDMA2000 case is brandishing Sprint logos on the front and back, which frankly wouldn’t be the first (or even second) time the carrier’s targeted the Apple faithful. Only this time, there’s no WiMAX — bummer. Crafty, wacky, zany? We’re sure Mr. Hesse is chortling, but perhaps he can catch a breath or two and disseminate out some proper release details post-haste.

[Thanks, The Kaiser]

ZTE Peel for Sprint outed by FCC, another 3G-equipped iPod touch case originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wondering about the fate of the MagicJack femtocell now that its promised second quarter launch window has passed? So was Computerworld, and what it found out isn’t exactly promising for the as-seen-on-TV company. According to a MagicJack spokesperson, it’s taken longer than expected to finish the software and patents associated with the product, which means it still hasn’t even been able to submit the device to the FCC for approval. The company says the software should be done within two weeks, however, but that still means a wait time of several more months while the FCC does its thing. Of course, that’s to say nothing of the many legal problems facing the device, which MagicJack is unsurprisingly not commenting on — although it insists the device will be available “this year.”

MagicJack’s femtocell misses its launch date, still hasn’t been submitted to the FCC for approval originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The National Broadband Plan may one day bring broadband to everyone in the United States but, as a new report from the FCC itself reveals, there’s still quite a ways to go. According to the report (issued every year by the agency), between 14 and 24 million Americans have no access to broadband, which is now defined by the FCC to be a 4Mbps downstream and 1Mbps upstream. That’s a significant revision from the previous 200kbps downstream standard used by the annual report, and brings it in line with the minimum goals set by the National Broadband Plan. What does that mean for the 14 to 24 million without broadband access? Not much at the moment, unfortunately. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says that those individuals are mostly in “expensive-to-serve areas with low population density,” and that “without substantial reforms to the agency’s universal service programs, these areas will continue to be unserved.” Of course, that finding is just one part of the report — hit up the source link below to check out the whole thing.

FCC reevaluates US broadband competitiveness, finds 14 to 24 million lack access originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re admittedly using our Jump To Conclusions Mat a little bit here, but we’re pretty sure Apple’s Magic Trackpad (or whatever they’ll end up calling it) just got FCC approval — and considering how tightly Apple usually manages its FCC dealings, this could mean it’ll be announced as early as this week. A device known only by its model number A1339 is the culprit here, described as a “Bluetooth Device” used in conjunction with a MacBook without any associated filings for WiFi or WWAN networks. The ultra-rough label location diagram is definitely the right shape for the accessory, and what’s interesting is that the test report was completed way back in October of 2009. Has Apple seriously been sitting on this thing for the better part of a year? Keep a close eye on the Apple Store for this one, folks.

Update: It’s been pointed out to us that the previous leak shows a model number of A1339… so yep, there you have it. Thanks, Eric!

Update 2: In case you needed any more evidence, page 45 of the test report specifically identifies the product being tested as a “Bluetooth Trackpad.” Thanks, Tobias!

Apple’s Magic Trackpad gets FCC approval? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The FCC has been unsuccessful in spurring competition in the set-top box market since Congress passed a law requiring changes in 1996. The current situation is exactly why we don’t see some of our favorite companies making cable compatible devices — remember when just about every electronics company made a VCR? CableCARD is a failure because, among other reasons, it is expensive to implement and requires the customer give up certain aspects of their service, like video-on-demand and guide data; on top of that it is a cable only solution and some people prefer satellite TV. And so after giving the market all this time to work out a solution, the FCC issued an Notice of Inquiry (NOI) in an attempt to devise a new mandate that would make give you as many options for a DVR as you have for something like a smart phone. An NOI is just one of the first of many steps on the way to new rules, but the comments do give us a great picture of where each party stands.

Two sides are clearly forming with Sony, TiVo and the Consumer Electronics Association leading up one side and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), its members, and satellite providers on the other. To sum it up the consumer electronics companies make suggestions for an IP video gateway nick named AllVid, which they hope will bring consumers choice in both hardware and software without having to change providers or sacrifice features. And on the other side, they believe that things are just great the way they are and that innovation is happening. They go on to describe how the plans in the NOI will not only fail to spur innovation, but will actually be detrimental to providers and consumers. Then just for good measure, they explain why the FCC doesn’t even have the authority to mandate such things.

The entire thing is an interesting perspective into how the Executive Branch of our government works, and while it’ll be some time before we are impacted by the outcome, we went ahead and laid out the highlights of a number of the comments after the break so you can play FCC commissioner at home.

Continue reading Sony, TiVo, NCTA and others chime in on CableCARD’s replacement

Sony, TiVo, NCTA and others chime in on CableCARD’s replacement originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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