Hasta La Gadget!

We know, Intel’s pretty much on a mission to confuse the heck out of us, what with its forthcoming Arrandale chips straddling different numerals in its Core i-something branding scheme, but the important thing here is that one of the beastlier models will soon be coming to a Fujitsu tablet near you. Expected to be identical in size and external design to the currently available LifeBook T5010, the T900 seems set to juice up the internals and leave the rest well enough alone. That might not be such a terrible idea, mind you, considering the original was a popular convertible tablet that eventually gained multitouch and integrated AT&T 3G skills. If you ask us, January can’t come soon enough.

Fujitsu sneaks Arrandale-based Core i7 tablet into FCC, gets us all excited originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you were looking for just one more reason to ditch Sprint then this could be it. A CDMA-flavored Palm Pixi just cleared the FCC — yes, another one — and we can say with confidence it’s not coming to Sprint this time around. Better yet, Palm’s model P121EWW matches up with that P121 code we saw leaked a while back for Big Red (Sprint’s model is P120EWW), and this sucker got tested for 802.11b/g WiFi. Looks like that Sprint ad touting the Pixi’s non-existent WiFi was more than just wishful thinking. With webOS-powered Palm gear already confirmed on Verizon for “early next year,” are you really going to make the jump to a WiFi-less Pixi on Sprint knowing what’s on the way? And more importantly, can we expect another terrifying series of ads targeting Sprint this time instead of AT&T?

Palm Pixi clears FCC with Verizon frequencies and WiFi in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s already selling in Europe with one of AT&T’s 3G bands, but the prospect of a US-friendly Acer Liquid A1 just got real, governmental-involvement style. The FCC has approved a 850 / 1900MHz version of the Android device, and while this is no guarantee of an AT&T berth — much of Canada is crowding in on this spectrum, not to mention the possibility of selling the phone unlocked and unsubsidized — we’re massaging our temples this very second with the appropriate good vibrations to get this thing out and about in the States and on the cheap.

Acer Liquid A1 hits the FCC with AT&T’s HSDPA flavors originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well we have to say we never saw this coming, but have dreamed of it for years, but it appears that the FCC is actually listening to the CEA and is asking for comments on how to replace CableCARD with something that would actually make the network open. For those just catching up, Congress mandated that cable had to be open with the Telecommunications Act of 1996 — yeah that long — and 3rd party CableCARD devices first became available in 2004 and five years later there are only 14 3rd party certified devices and 443k 3rd party devices in service. The fact that CableCARDs just don’t work is no surprise to anyone who has tried to use one — ok we’re exaggerating here, but we’ve had our fair share installed and every one makes for a funny story. Now obviously admitting you have a problem is the first step, but it also means we are years away from a solution. But since they asked, here’s ours. Instead of silly cards and middleware, just specify a two way communications protocol and embed signed certificates that CableLabs will control the distribution of in the box for authentication and encryption. It really doesn’t have to be any harder than that.

Hell freezes over, the FCC admits that CableCARD is a failure originally appeared on Engadget HD on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That projected Q1 2010 availability window for AT&T’s first dual-mode satphone (and first satphone, period, for that matter) is looking pretty dang obtainable now that Elektrobit — the device’s manufacturer — has secured FCC approval. As you can tell from the laboratory mugshot here, TerreStar’s Genus is a pretty unassuming-looking Windows Mobile smartphone, which is pretty amazing when you consider that it’ll more or less guarantee you coverage anywhere in the most ridiculously remote regions of North America and surrounding waters. Test documentation confirms that it’ll be ready with US HSPA out of the gate, so if you can hold out for a month or two and stomach some likely hardcore plans and per-minute / per-megabyte charges, get ready to impress your co-pilot in the midst of that next offshore race.

TerreStar Genus satphone gets beamed into an FCC lab originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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