Hasta La Gadget!

After over a three year run,the Acetrax-powered Samsung Movies is about to fade to black. We received an email advising UK subscribers that the service will no longer be available as of December 15th and that its website would drift into oblivion. It’s uncertain if this will affect customers in other European territories, but Acetrax references its plans to offer extended service for those looking to continue after Samsung Movies officially meets its maker. In addition to deep-sixing the service, the gloomy message advises that support has ended for the Galaxy Tab, Galaxy S, Wave, S8300 Tocco Ultra Edition, S7350 Classico, M7600 Beat DJ, i8910 HD and Jet. Check out a snapshot of the customer email after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Movies UK coming to an end, final screening on December 15th

Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile, Samsung

Comments

We’ve kept anxious eyes on Huawei’s Ascend W1 for a while now, so imagine our disappointment when it was a no-show at the Windows Phone 8 launch. Fortunately, a Huawei employee has tweeted a pair of pictures that show the device in all of its budget-handset glories. Gone are the rounded corners of handsets like the Ascend D Quad, in favor of a boxier aesthetic that sits well with Metro Windows 8 Style whatever we’re calling it this week. Hardware-wise, it’s believed to be carrying a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, 4-inch, 800 x 480 display, 2,000mAh battery and a 5-megapixel camera. There’s also an unconfirmed rumor that we’ll first see the China-exclusive device at CES 2013, breaking the hearts of impoverished westerners everywhere.

Continue reading Huawei Ascend W1 makes an appearance in Blue and White

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft

Huawei Ascend W1 makes an appearance in Blue and White originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Nov 2012 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink WP Central, WMPowerUser  |  Arkady Markaryan (Twitter), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Owners of older Windows Phones who expect to run out of railroad after 7.8 could actually have some cause for hope — meager though it may be. A leaked slide, said to originate from a 25-page Nokia roadmap sent to WParea by an anonymous tipster, points toward at least one more update after Windows Phone 7.8 lands. However, it’s clear that whoever drew up the slide isn’t fully in the know, since the mystery version is simply described as “7.x.”. Meanwhile, the official Russian Windows Phone Twitter account has also kept the wheels rolling by promising 18 months of support for 7.8. We can’t exactly vouch for this either, since the tweet appears to have been deleted, but it does suggest that those last-year Lumias will keep chugging on for a good while longer.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

Nokia leak suggests there’s something between Windows Phone 7.8 and 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Nov 2012 06:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhoneArena  |  WParea (German), Windows Phone Live (Russian)  | Email this | Comments

Rogers kicked off Canadian NFC mobile payments at the start of the month through what was mostly a ceremonial gesture — until the CIBC app arrived, locals simply had to wait. It’s at last time try some Suretap mobile shopping now that the CIBC Mobile Payment App has popped up in BlackBerry App World. As promised, the title will let Canucks tap to pay with a credit card (up to $50 at once) at the 17 store chains offering use of a MasterCard PayPass or Visa PayWave terminal. The catch remains the sheer number of conditions that need to be in place: on top of requiring an NFC-aware SIM card, a CIBC credit card and the right stores, the early software only works its magic with the BlackBerry Bold 9900; Curve 9380 support depends on a future update. Having the crucial app is still a step forward, and the handful of trailblazers can always recount tales of buying Timbits with their Bolds while those on other platforms have to sit tight until 2013.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, RIM

CIBC Mobile Payment App reaches BlackBerry App World for the rare chance you can actually use it originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Nov 2012 03:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MobileSyrup  |  BlackBerry App World  | Email this | Comments

LTE’s frequent gotcha has been indoor coverage: as it often relies on high frequency ranges outside of the US, the signal can drop off quickly at home or in the mall. There have been LTE femtocells before to fill in the gaps, but NTT DoCoMo claims to have the first mini cell site that would cover our needs much more thoroughly. The Japanese carrier’s new base station run simultaneous 112.Mbps LTE and 14.4Mbps HSDPA (sorry, no HSUPA upload speeds) on the 2GHz band to keep 3G data and voice working side-by-side with 4G, piping both through a wired broadband connection; there’s no need to sacrifice the basics or legacy support just for a better LTE signal. NTT DoCoMo plans to sell the dual-mode femtocell to local homeowners, offices and stores in December. Sadly, there’s no immediate word of plans for femtocells that support networks abroad, although the technology’s existence gives us hope that we’ll see it spread to other providers — and that black holes in cellular coverage will be distant memories.

Continue reading NTT DoCoMo readies first dual-mode HSDPA, LTE femtocell for December

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Networking, Mobile

NTT DoCoMo readies first dual-mode HSDPA, LTE femtocell for December originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Nov 2012 10:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments