Hasta La Gadget!

Google Nexus One customers could finally have a fix to at least one of their problems. Google says it will soon release a patch that will improve the spotty 3G coverage that has left many Nexus One customers frustrated.

“Our engineers have uncovered specific cases for which a software fix should improve connectivity to 3G for some users,” a Google employee commented on the company’s Nexus One forum.”We are testing this fix now and initial results are positive.”

Google hopes to offer the fix as a software update by wireless download to Nexus One users in “the next week or so.”

Nexus One is the first smartphone to be sold by the search company itself, rather than a manufacturing or carrier partner. The HTC-designed device runs the Android 2.1 operating system and is available for $180 with a two-year contract on T-Mobile. An unsubsidized version of the phone costs $530.

Though the Nexus One gained approval for its fast processor, vivid display and slim design, the device has also been plagued by consumer complaints. Unreliable 3G connectivity and Google’s poor customer service have been the biggest peeves. Customers have complained that the Nexus One does not latch on to 3G network and keeps switching to the slower EDGE network.

Google isn’t promising that all Nexus phones will be fixed with its update. “It may be, however, that users are experiencing problems as a result of being on the edge or outside of 3G coverage, which a product fix cannot address,” says the Google employee.

Still, at least for some, the 3G patch should put an end to those “Can you hear me now?” conversations.

See Also:

• Review: Google Nexus One
• Google Nexus One Sales Off to Slow Start
• Google Nexus One Leaves Customers Sour

Photo: Nexus One/ (Jon Snyder/Wired.com)

We’ve seen our fair share of unattractive leak photos in our day — Mr. Blurrycam is an extraordinarily busy, well-traveled individual, after all — but this might very well take the cake. What we see here is allegedly the first live shot of HTC’s killer Supersonic for Sprint, a phone that we’ve heard would feature HD2-like specs in an HD2-like shell: 4.3-inch display, fast processor, and an unbelievably thin body, to be specific. Where the Supersonic allegedly goes off the beaten path, though, is with the inclusion of Android 2.1 with Sense and WiMAX, perfect for Sprint’s budding 4G network. The site that’s leaked the photo also says we can expect an FM radio and a 1GHz clock on that Snapdragon plus a kickstand, something we’d heard before. It’s still not much to go on, but the fact that we’re this close to falling in love with a phone that we can barely make out through thick artifacting, censoring, and a dirty camera lens really says something, doesn’t it? Stay tuned — we’re hopeful the leaks are going to start flowing fast and furious on this one.

[Thanks, Jackson R.]

Update: They’ve posted closeups of the original shot without the masking — still not mega high-quality, but getting better. We’re not convinced it’s real, but we’re certainly not convinced it’s fake, either.

Update 2: Our trusted tipster (the one that tipped us off to the Supersonic’s existence in the first place) tell us that this is, in fact, the real deal. We’ll take two, please.

Update 3: And finally it appears in the clear — image updated above.

Continue reading HTC Supersonic for Sprint possibly spotted in the very, very ugly wild

HTC Supersonic for Sprint possibly spotted in the very, very ugly wild originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  The Android Mobile OS  | Email this | Comments

Man, Acer’s on the warpath. The world’s second-largest PC manufacturer seems hell-bent on radically changing the status quo, telling Bloomberg today that it’s “aggressively pursuing” Chrome OS “so there’s a change to the Microsoft-Intel environment,” with plans to be among the first to ship in Q3. That’s somewhat ahead of Google’s own schedule for reaching v1.0, so yeah, it’s definitely aggressive — and it also sounds like a strong hint towards an ARM-based Chrome OS machine in our future, but Acer wouldn’t confirm anything. Still, those are basically fightin’ words, especially since Acer’s framing the future as a choice between “either” Windows or “Google’s defined OS space.” Acer also promised to fully detail a 6-inch monochrome e-reader by June with an initial focus on European markets, and we’re also informed of a forthcoming free / cheap application store that will be compatible with Android, Windows Mobile, and, obviously, Chrome OS. And lest you thought Acer was ignoring the Apple tablet madness that permeates our world, we’re told that an Acer tablet is in the works, accompanied by the candid admission that the Taiwanese giant is waiting to see what Apple has in store before finalizing its own plans. Yep — things are getting a little nuts.

Acer to launch e-reader, app store, and Chrome OS netbook this year; wants to ‘change the Microsoft-Intel environment’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Bloomberg  | Email this | Comments

Okay, we’re not anywhere close to 100 percent on this, but we just got a blurry screenshot of something we’re told is the Motorola MOTOSPLIT, a Snapdragon-powered Android set in the vein of the Droid with a totally wild split-horizontal sliding QWERTY keyboard. Yeah, we want one — it reminds us of the beloved Nokia 6820, although it’s much thinner. We’re told this thing is coming to AT&T in Q3, which makes sense; we’ve only pinned down three of Ma Bell’s five planned Android devices, and this would be a nice higher-end compliment to the Backflip. We’ll keep an eye out — and you let us know if you hear anything good, okay?

Update: Yes, we know it’s a render, sheesh. We have a bit of a history with Motorola and renders, you know.

Is this the Motorola MOTOSPLIT? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

We needed to independently connect and verify a few dots before sounding the alarm here, but sure enough, it looks like Cell Phone Signal has unearthed the best smoking gun yet suggesting Motorola’s MOTOROI — the phone formerly known as the Sholes Tablet — is destined for T-Mobile USA. The evidence comes in the form of an FCC filing, a Motorola device with ID IHDP56KC6, that’s certified for quadband EDGE plus T-Mobile-friendly 1700 / 2100MHz HSPA humming at a peak of 10.2Mbps down and 5.6Mbps up (not too shabby) with Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, and magnetic compass. By and large, Moto managed to paint over revealing portions of spectrum analyzer screen shots that contained the product’s codename, but there are a couple they forgot to touch — and sure enough, the part they didn’t want you to see reads in part “SHOLES.”

So why are we so sure this is the keyboardless MOTOROI as opposed to an AWS-compliant form of the Droid / Milestone, which shared the Sholes name internally? The answer lies in the SAR report, which didn’t test the phone’s radiated power in both “slider up” and “slider down” configurations like we saw in the Droid’s documentation — there’s just one set of figures here. That, of course, means no slider, which in turn means no QWERTY, which ultimately means MOTOROI. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to close fourteen sets of FCC filings, restart our computer, and grab a quick drink — but in the meantime, T-Mobile folks, take comfort in knowing that your Moto rollercoaster doesn’t start and end with the CLIQ. Don’t suppose this would be a March release, would it?

Motorola MOTOROI almost certainly bound for T-Mobile (thanks, FCC!) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Cell Phone Signal  |  FCC  | Email this | Comments