Hasta La Gadget!

The pieces of the BlackBerry Z10 puzzle are slowly coming together — and today, that’s almost literally true. ETrade Supply has obtained what’s claimed to be the LCD, touchscreen digitizer and housings for RIM’s future flagship device. The more production-worthy components appear to fit together properly, and they hint at a mid-size smartphone with a 4.3-inch screen and a microSD card slot. The biggest surprise may be the SIM slot, whose position varies depending on the parts at hand: the incongruity could either reflect late-stage design tweaks or else variants for different networks. We’ll have to sit tight until January 30th to know what the individual elements represent when they’re part of a working device, but those who don’t mind seeing an upcoming phone in its rawest form can catch a video after the break.

Continue reading BlackBerry Z10 parts reportedly surface, include a 4.3-inch display

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, RIM

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Via: N4BB

Source: ETrade Supply (1), (2)

Hey everybody, there’s a new BlackBerry in town! But don’t get too excited, this isn’t one of them fancy BB10 handsets we’re all so eagerly anticipating, this is yet another 7.1 model. In particular it’s a slight rehash of the Curve you’re all quite familiar with. The 9315 is a QWERTY-sporting device bound for T-Mobile that also features a dedicated BBM key and a 3.2-megapixel camera. And, if you haven’t fully embraced the digital music revolution yet, there’s an FM tuner for pulling in your favorite terrestrial radio stations. (Just in case the internet isn’t providing you with your daily dose of Gangnam Style.) Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new phone is the wallet friendly price of $50 — after a mail-in rebate and with a two year contract, of course. The only question is, how many people will care since a week after its January 23rd debut RIM is set to take the wraps off its next-gen devices. PR awaits you after the break.

Continue reading T-Mobile launches Curve 9315, BlackBerry 7 still alive and kicking

Filed under: Mobile, RIM, T-Mobile

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Want a bit of Sprint, without signing on the dotted line? Okay, there are other ways of riding its waves without committing to a contract, but starting on the 25th of this month you’ll be able to do it in the network’s very own colors. The “Sprint as you go” service will launch with a somewhat limited selection of four handsets. LG’s Optimus Elite, and the Samsung Victory make up the “higher” end of the offerings, costing $149 and $249 respectively. If you want to keep a little more coin in your pocket, there are two feature phones available too: Samsung’s M400 ($50) and Array ($79) models. There are two associated plans, an all you can eat (talk, text and data) for smartphone option (no talk of LTE just yet) for $70 per month, and $50 per month for the feature phone plan. The finer details are yet to be ironed out, so we’ll have to wait until the official reveal, but with that launch date not too far around the corner, it should all become clear soon enough.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sprint

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Source: Android Police

If you cherish saving coin and don’t mind owning secondhand devices, Vodafone’s Nearly New program is angling to hook you up with previously-loved smartphones. The UK firm’s new effort takes handsets returned by users in “very good condition,” repackages them with the appropriate accessories and doles them out at cheaper prices with pay-as-you-go or contract plans. According to Vodafone, the offering is particularly aimed at bringing pay-as-you-go users into the smartphone fold without breaking the bank. Available devices will vary each month based on return inventory, but the outfit already has iOS and Android choices on tap. Customers happy with off-contract service can choose between an iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, with an 8GB flavor of the latter ringing up at £250. Folks who have their eye on a contract plan can pick between a Samsung Galaxy S III, which is free with a £33 subscription, or an HTC One X. On-contract Nearly New devices are already available online and in select stores, while commitment-free phones are up for grabs in-store and will find their way online next week.

Filed under: Mobile

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The somewhat unexpected shutdown of Hackulous’ community, and the corresponding departure of related tools like Apptrackr and Installous, left iOS app pirates in something of a panic: many of those who jailbroke their devices expressly for ill-gotten goods suddenly lost one of their main sources. While they haven’t earned much sympathy, they’ve also triggered a surge in services that don’t require a jailbreak at all. Months-old pay service Zeusmos has seen a spike in popularity, but more recent upstart Kuaiyong is drawing the most attention. It’s offering others’ commercial releases through the web, for free — and on a scale into the thousands of bootleg installs per app, suggesting that it may be abusing enterprise policies rather than Zeusmos’ apparent reliance on developer slots.

There’s no immediate sign of a crackdown, but those app writers concerned about their revenue might take consolation in knowing that the risks might outweigh the rewards. iTunes syncing breaks the moment a pirated app reaches a device, and there’s no guarantee that every copy will be malware-free. Zeusmos also claims to be clamping down on questionable sources in an attempt to steer users towards homebrew apps. Even with those disclaimers, it’s still possible that Hackulous’ end may have created more problems for some developers than it solved.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple

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Via: Gizmodo

Source: The Next Web, Pastie.org