Hasta La Gadget!

AT&T and HTC have unveiled the HTC Tilt 2 and the HTC Pure, two Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones that could potentially signal a comeback for Microsoft’s eroding market share in the wireless industry.

The HTC Pure is essentially a successor to the Touch Diamond, but with a larger, higher-resolution (480-by-800-pixel) screen and a 5-megapixel camera. The Tilt 2, meanwhile, is a spiritual successor to the popular, two-generations-old QWERTY-equipped AT&T Tilt–which HTC had also built, although it wasn’t branded as such, along with last year’s Fuze. The Tilt 2 now includes a 3.6-inch touch screen and a 3.2-megapixel camera.

Both devices feature HTC’s TouchFLO 3D interface, which offers a smooth interface for basic tasks like browsing the Web, managing contacts, and listening to music. Windows Mobile 6.5 itself is a significant update, with direct access to the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile app store and Microsoft’s My Phone service. Its refreshed interface is largely irrelevant with these two devices, though, since HTC grafted TouchFLO 3D on top.

The HTC Pure will be available online today and in AT&T stores for $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract. The Tilt 2 will cost $299.99 after mail-in rebate and with contract when it arrives in the next several weeks.

AT&T wants you to know that you don’t need a smartphone just to get a rich, full web experience from your handset — theoretically, anyway — with the introduction of four new models from longtime partners Samsung and Pantech alongside a new featurephone browser. First up from Samsung comes the Flight (pictured left), billed as a “next-generation messaging device” on account of its full QWERTY portrait slide paired with a full touchscreen up top; it’ll be available next month for $99.99 on contract after rebate — that is, if you didn’t buy it on Craigslist already. That silvery slate in the middle that’s more likely to be catching your eye is the Mythic, rocking TouchWiz on a 3.3-inch display along with AT&T Mobile TV, making it a fitting successor to the Eternity and big brother to the Solstice; like the Flight, it swings onto retail next month, but you’ll be paying a stiffer $199.99 on contract after $50 rebate.

Turning our attention to the Pantech side of the table, we’ve got the Reveal (pictured right) that lets you have it both ways with a numeric keypad up top twined with a QWERTY slider underneath. It’s 3G-capable, AT&T Navigator-equipped, and available for your enjoyment on October 18 in red and blue. Finally, the Impact (not pictured) has an OLED touchscreen up front, but when the texting gets hot and heavy, the phone opens up to reveal a second display along with a QWERTY keyboard. It’ll be available in pink and blue, though neither pricing nor availability are being announced just yet.

Gluing everything together is AT&T’s new mobile browser, described as “a rich hybrid experience that gives you a HTML experience similar to your PC browser at home” that “works really well on a feature phone.” Additionally, users visiting att.net from their PCs will be able to send bookmarks to their phones’ mobile portals — kind of a neat trick, especially when you’re trying to minimize the number of URLs you have to mash out on an on-screen keyboard. Of course, featurephone browsers have a reputation for generally sucking, so considering that AT&T bills its new line of devices as “full web browsing phones,” it’ll be interesting to see how close they actually come to delivering on the claim; it’s said the phones use “advanced data compression from Opera Software,” which we’re thinking is very likely some variation of Opera Turbo — not a bad start.

Filed under: Cellphones

AT&T touts Opera-powered full web browsing with new phones from Samsung and Pantech originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We’ll withhold judgment until we have a far more intimate encounter with the device, but at a glance, the HTC Pure — AT&T’s branded, customized version of the Touch Diamond2 — might carry the least-exciting industrial design of any variant launched thus far. Considering the business-oriented clientele, that might not be a big deal for the phone’s bottom line — but when you take a look at the slightly better-equipped Imagio that’s about to launch over on Verizon, we would’ve liked to have seen something with a little more spunk here. At any rate, it seems Pure units are starting to flow into AT&T retail locations, which inevitably leads to some time in front of the bright lights and camera; AT&T was mentioned as one of Microsoft’s global launch partners for Windows Mobile 6.5 on October 6, so if we connect the dots, we’re guessing this is the phone that’s gonna make it all happen. So where’s that Touch Pro2, then, eh?

[Via wmpoweruser.com]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

HTC Pure starting to show up in AT&T stores, not for sale just yet originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

AT&T and TerreStar on Wednesday jointly launched the Genus, a Windows Mobile smartphone that will connect to AT&T’s network, and, when out of range, can connect to the TerreStar satellite network.

The phone looks virtually identical to the Electrobit reference design that debuted in April, which is based on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and a 2.6-inch 320-by-240 touchscreen.

One caveat, however: although our earlier story claims that the phone does not need an external antenna, that’s not totally true: if you’re traveling outside the continental 48 states, you will.  The coverage area also formally includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Genus will launch in the first quarter of 2010 for an unspecified amount for enterprise and government customers. A consumer version is also planned, to launch sometime later in the future.

TerreStar successfully completed in-orbit testing on its TerreStar-1 satellite in mid-August, and is currently completing its integration with its ground-based beam forming system and its IP network. That also implies that the satellite capabilities won’t work on the other side of the globe in China, for example.

AT&T said that its monthly invoice will include the customer’s cellular voice
and data service charges, the satellite network access subscription
feature charge and the satellite voice and data roaming charges.

The phone will use GSM/EDGE/WCDMA/HSDPA. In conjunction with Windows Mobile, users will have 100 Mbytes of memory available, with microSD support for additional storage. Other features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and vanilla GPS. There are also some interesting extras: a light sensor, a 2.5-mm stereo headphone jack, a SIM connector, and a 3.0-Mpixel camera. Finally, TerreStar claims that the phone will include a VOIP app, an interesting addition.

Potential customers should be warned that using the satellite capabilities to place calls will have a disastrous effect on battery life, however: talk time will be up to 5 hours using GSM, but only 1.3 hours via satellite. Likewise, standby times will be between 150 to 170 hours with GSM, and between 34 to 40 hours with satellite. Presumably, there’s an option to turn the satellite radio off when not in use.

To be sure, a certain number of dropped calls are to be expected when you’re dealing with the wonders of cellular communication, but some phones do seem to fare worse then others when paired with certain carriers in particularly congested regions. Apparently fed up with such problems in New York, Gizmodo reader Manoj decided to stop by an Apple Store to see if something might be wrong with his iPhone — this, after apparently being assured by AT&T that everything was all right on its end. After a few tests, the Apple Genius determined that Manoj’s phone was dropping 22 percent of its calls, which turns out to actually be “excellent” compared to most iPhone users in the New York area, where a dropped call rate of 30 percent is said to be average — according to the dude at the store, anyhow. The Genius further went on to confirm that the phone was indeed “fully functional,” and that the problem is “consistent with the service provided by AT&T.” So, nothing to worry about, folks — everything is “normal.”

[Thanks, Canis]

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple Genius says 30 percent iPhone call drop rate is average in New York originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments