Hasta La Gadget!

We’re not sure what kind of wilded-out party people need a single phone that can use both AT&T and T-Mobile 3G in the States, but your dreams have finally come true: the Pharos Traveller 137 is finally available. Hope you like Windows Mobile 6.1, cause that’s what you’re getting for your $350 on two-year T-Mo contract or $600 unlocked. Expensive, yes, but you’re basically getting every feature you can think of and Pharos says the 137 is WinMo 6.5-ready, so there’s an upgrade path here — too bad no firmware will ever make that resistive touchscreen feel good.

[Via PhoneScoop]

Filed under: Cellphones

Pharos Traveller 137 now available, can use both AT&T and T-Mobile 3G originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While the Economic Daily News doesn’t cite any sources, its claim that HTC will launch its Android-powered Hero handset on June 24th makes a lot of sense to us. Something’s up on that day since we’ve already seen the press invite to a June 24th event in London, the same place that witnessed the launch of the HTC Touch Diamond last year. The EDN reports two variations of the Hero: one without the QWERTY and another, the HTC Memphis (better known as the HTC Lancaster around AT&T) with full keyboard in tow. What confuses us though is the EDN claim that the Memphis/Lancaster will be an AT&T exclusive for 6 months when it ships in Q3… so why the London launch then?

Filed under: Cellphones

HTC Hero / Lancaster running Android and “Rosie” UI launching on June 24th? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look, we know all about desperate — those youngsters are cute and all, but any self-respecting parent starts having some seriously evil thoughts about three hours in to any road trip. In a presumed effort to keep you off of the evening news and in good standing with your relatives, AT&T is launching its CruiseCast in-car TV service today. If you’ll recall, we knew the in-car satellite TV solution was being tested in various spots, but today marks the first day that the proverbial beta badge has been ripped off. Of course, such a unique offering ain’t running anyone cheap, with the initial hardware package totaling $1,299 and the monthly fee ringing up at $28. If those numbers have yet to faze you, hop on past the break for a look at the channel lineup.

Continue reading AT&T CruiseCast in-car TV finally launches nationwide

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video, Wireless

AT&T CruiseCast in-car TV finally launches nationwide originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve heard in the past that the Palm Pre would be available at other carriers “next year” sometime after Sprint’s exclusivity period is up, and now we have a vague verbal confirmation from AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson that he “sees” AT&T grabbing hold of the Pre once it’s available. The remarks were made today at the D7 conference. If this pans out, it fits with rumblings we’ve heard of the Eos being AT&T’s low-end, Centro-style webOS device, with the Pre snapping up the higher end.

[Via Phone Scoop; image courtesy of PreCentral.net]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

AT&T expects to sell Palm Pre when Sprint’s exclusivity ends originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 May 2009 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve known it’s coming for ages now, but AT&T today officially announced they’re rolling out HSDPA 7.2, the latest version of their 3G network. HSDPA 7.2 should double AT&T’s effective 3G download speeds.

According to AT&T, the network upgrades will start later this year and be completed in 2011. AT&T isn’t promising any specific real-life speeds, but they’ll presumably be about double what we’re getting today with AT&T’s HSDPA 3.6 devices.

The only problem there is, in our tests we’ve gotten wildly varying speeds with HSDPA 3.6 devices – anywhere from about 400 kbps up to 1.6 mbps downstream, with speeds heavily affected by what metro area we were testing in. So the only thing we can promise with HSDPA 7.2 is, speeds will be better than they are now.

HSDPA 7.2 is just one of several steps AT&T has going forwards. AT&T is moving more of their valuable 850 Mhz spectrum to 3G, which will dramatically improve capacity in pinched cities like New York. They’re deploying 2,100 new cell sites and adding more bandwidth at the sites themselves, which should also expand coverage. And they’re testing 3G microcells, which will let people put tiny cell sites in their homes and offices.