Hasta La Gadget!

We have absolutely no idea what this means for iSpot owners’ service plans if they go through with this — for all we know, they’ll detect un-iPad-like amounts of usage and threaten to up your monthly fee — but if you’re the risky type and you’ve got an iSpot lying around, its pesky MAC filtering can be a thing of the past with just a tiny bit of effort. There’s a blog out there that now has concise instructions posted for gaining root access on the hotspot and tweaking config files to obliterate the MAC filter and enable USB tethering (by default it’ll only do WiFi), but if that’s too much effort for you, another site — cheekily named “iSpot instant jailbreak” — just hooks you up with a binary that you can upload to the iSpot to take care of the filtering in one fell swoop. Again, proceed with caution, because it’s anyone’s guess how Clear is going to take all this.

[Thanks, Travis]

Update: We’ve pulled the iSpot instant jailbreak link after hearing reports that it might be doing more harm than good — and there might even be some malicious intent involved because it apparently opens a backdoor that allows remote access to the admin console. Welcome to the seedy underbelly of device hacking, folks.

Update 2: The creator of the iSpot instant jailbreak just reached out to us know that the remote admin issue was “an error on [his] part” and that the latest version of the config file has it removed; we’ve re-added the link to it, but as always with these sorts of things, use caution here and be ready for potential flakiness.

Clear iSpot’s device filtering falls to the hackers in near record time originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Updated to include HTC comment

After Google’s Nexus One, HTC’s Evo 4G phone is the first device to get upgraded to the latest Android 2.2 Froyo version of the operating system. But some users are not happy about it.

The Froyo update has broken the syncing of multiple Gmail accounts on the device. The results is that only the primary Gmail account is updated automatically. Second and third Gmail accounts  have to be manually refreshed to pull in new e-mails, say Evo users on forums such as Android Central and Google’s Android support board.

“My two Gmail accounts have always worked great on 2.1. Moving to 2.2 my primary Gmail pushes instantly. My secondary Gmail account doesn’t sync at all. I have to manually sync to get it to work,” says ‘tommy m‘, an Evo user who first posted about the issue on the Android Central forum.

The problem also means that users don’t see new e-mail notifications from secondary accounts.

A HTC spokesman told Wired.com the company is aware of the bug but does not see it as a widespread issue.

“The good news is that it has not affected a majority of users,” says Keith Nowak. “We are working to find a fix.”

HTC and Sprint, the exclusive carrier for the Evo, started pushing out Froyo to customers on August 3. The update offers features such as voice dialing over Bluetooth, the ability to store apps on the external memory card and browser improvements including a faster JavaScript engine and Flash support.

The problems with syncing of multiple Gmail accounts flared up right after the Evo moved to Android 2.2. Some Froyo users have been offering homebrewed solutions on message boards including deleting the accounts and adding them again with a change to the mail setting of ‘notify once.’  But the solution hasn’t worked reliably for all users.

See Also:

• Storage Bug Hits HTC Evo 4G Phone Just Before Launch
• Wired Video: HTC Evo 4G Dissected
• Overclocked HTC Evo Runs Almost 30 Percent Faster
• Oops! Sprint Says it Overstated HTC Evo Phone Sales
• Independent App Stores Take On Google’s Android Market

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

BGR’s lined up a handful of very believable rumors for Big Red today — and if you’re an Android fan, you’re going to want to pay very close attention (heck, even if you’re not, you should probably take a look). First up, Motorola’s said to have a full-touch Android 2.2 handset in the works with global roaming capability on GSM and presumably HSPA — a first in the CDMA Android world — that apparently looks a bit like a Motorola Q (without the keyboard, of course). Interestingly, we’ve recently been clued into a global roaming Moto from a trusted tipster of ours with the codename “Venus” that’s slated to enter internal testing on the 27th of this month, so that lines up pretty nicely with this rumor — but Venus could also be another global Android smartphone allegedly in the pipeline from Motorola, the Droid Pro. As its name suggests, BGR says the Droid Pro will be a monster, featuring a 1.3GHz core (faster than the 1GHz Droid X and Droid 2) and a 4-inch screen with a target street date in November — just in time for the holidays. There are also apparently global Android handsets in store from Samsung and HTC; additionally, our tipster tells us that there will be a Motorola “Ciena” sans global roaming, a phone could possibly be that WX445 we saw not long ago. It’s entering carrier acceptance testing on the 17th.

Follow the break for the rest of the lowdown!

[Thanks, HTC Kid]

Continue reading Verizon rumors: LTE, Android 3.0 tablets, a Droid Pro, and more

Verizon rumors: LTE, Android 3.0 tablets, a Droid Pro, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tired of waiting for that video to download? Want a blazing Internet connection regardless of where you are? Apple owners, the choice is Clear.  iSpot is a hotspot that lets you connect up to eight Apple mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch) and boosts the signal strength to 4G speeds over Clear’s WiMAX network, with a range of up 150 feet. 4G means 5 seconds to download a song and 4 minutes to download a 200 MB video.

Weighing in at 4.5 ounces, the iSpot fits in your (roomy) pocket to for on-the-go surfing, even in your car. You can password-protect your iSpot so you can control who has access to the hotspot. It supports 64-bit and 128-bit WEP, WPA, and WPA2 security standards.

Unfortunately, Clear is not available anywhere. Well, not quite: Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas, are some of the lucky few areas. Texas is best served, with coverage in all of the major (and many no-so major) cities (Abilene, really?). Midwest coverage is practically nonexistent unless you are in Chicago, St. Louis, or Kansas City. The entire Northeast region is a dead zone. And I’m still scratching my head over the logic of having coverage in Lancaster, PA (A.K.A. Amish county).

Regularly priced at $99 for the iSpot and a $29 month-to-month plan, Clear is having a special sale today with a $25 plan and getting the iSpot for free, with shipping fees waived. It hits the sweet spot for those who travel a lot to Clear cities and can’t bear to miss anything online.

When you keynote one of the biggest consumer electronics trade shows of the year, it’s usually a Big Deal — and you’re also plainly aware that when you step up on that stage, your audience (read: us) is fully expecting you to unveil something new and awesome. On that note, we’re intrigued to hear that Verizon Communications’ Ivan Seidenberg has been selected to do the honors for the opening address at CES 2011 next January. The press release — which you can find after the break — says that Seidenberg will “highlight [the] company’s vision for its LTE 4G wireless technology,” so we’d expect those LTE handsets expected early next year to factor prominently into the equation; of course, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a tablet or two, either. In the wake of Ballmer’s milquetoast showing at the 2010 show, the pressure’s definitely on to deliver a rousing address. Oh, and Ivan? If Ralph de la Vega says “break a leg,” he might mean it quite literally, so watch your step.

Continue reading Verizon chief tapped for CES 2011 keynote

Verizon chief tapped for CES 2011 keynote originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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