Hasta La Gadget!

AT&T’s been extraordinarily coy about its Android plans, right up through our interview with Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega back in February — but rest assured, the carrier does plan to get in the game, and it might just beat a number of T-Mobile’s planned launches to market. Meet the HTC Lancaster, which kinda looks like a Magic when closed — but open, it takes on more of a traditional Touch Pro-ish form factor for a QWERTY slider than the G1 / Dream. It’s got triband EDGE and 850 / 1900MHz HSPA, AGPS, a 3 megapixel fixed-focus camera, Bluetooth 2.0, microSD expansion, and a “unique HTC social messaging user interface” that we’d assume takes cues from that Hero stuff we’ve been seeing recently. It’s lined up for a full six months of AT&T exclusivity and — according to our materials, anyway — has a target availability date of August 3, meaning we could see this pretty shortly. Unfortunately, there’s a note here that “Initial Lab Entry dates were based on Google Mobile Services (GMS) UI, AT&T standard UI has been requested, which puts schedule in question.” In other words, AT&T wants its fingerprints all over the interface, which risks pushing out the launch — and that’s a double whammy of suck. Follow the break for a larger shot of the phone!

Continue reading HTC Lancaster is a QWERTY slider with Android for AT&T

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

HTC Lancaster is a QWERTY slider with Android for AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 May 2009 17:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Palm Pre and iPhone are sucking all of the air out of the smart phone world, but that doesn’t mean everyone else has gone on vacation. At a press event yesterday, AT&T showed off two of their new smart phones, the Samsung Jack – the latest in Samsung’s Blackjack line – and the BlackBerry 8900.

The Jack looks like it’ll be a great Windows Mobile phone for messaging and Microsoft Exchange syncing. It’s comfortable and well designed, feeling quite similar to the BlackBerry Bold or 8900. There’s a 3.2-megapixel camera on the back, and the phone has both 3G and Wi-Fi. The keys are large enough, and feel good under your thumb. The Jack doesn’t have a touch screen, which makes it feel a little faster than other Windows Mobile devices; as I clicked through the menus, it responded well thanks to the 528 Mhz processor. The phone runs Windows Mobile 6.1 right now, but AT&T reps said it will be upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5. For $99.99 with a two-year contract, you’re getting a great deal with this phone. That said, I still like the Nokia e71x a little more.

AT&T’s BlackBerry 8900 is very similar to T-Mobile’s model, which we reviewed and loved. The main difference is that the AT&T model doesn’t let you use voice over Wi-Fi, but does come with a subscription to AT&T’s network of Wi-Fi hotspots for data use only. Otherwise, this is a great device – terrific keyboard, sharp screen, and a $199.99 price that’s $100 below the BlackBerry Bold because the 8900 lacks 3G.

Both the Samsung Jack and the BlackBerry 8900 are available on AT&T right now.

AT&T has announced plans to offer subsidized netbooks nationwide, which include access to its 3G data network.

The company in April was testing subsidized netbooks in Atlanta and Philadelphia, and soon the devices will be offered in 2,200 AT&T stores throughout the United States, as well as through att.com.

AT&T also plans to offer additional model choices, including netbooks from Acer, Dell and Lenovo. The company has not yet specified which models.

The growth suggests that the subsidized-netbook pilot program went well for AT&T, meaning consumers are actually buying these.

We’re surprised. As I pointed out months ago, buying an AT&T-subsidized netbook for $100 requires committing to a 2-year broadband plan. The plan costs $60 per month, amounting to $1,540 over two years.

On the plus side, you do gain internet access anywhere you can get a cellphone connection. But that’s $60 per month to use the internet on one computer — an extremely limited, low-powered netbook at that, which is typically a companion device.

Why not purchase a smartphone with a tethering plan? That way you’d be able to use the internet on various computers as opposed to just one. Plus, you’d be able to simply add on to your smartphone monthly plan. The idea of another data contract on top of my two-year smartphone commitment is a huge turn-off to me.

Other than that, netbooks are cheap to begin with. On average a pretty decent netbook costs no more than $350, so why pay $100 for a netbook and agree to a $60-per-month, two-year contract?

What do you think, readers? Would you commit to one of these?

Press release [AT&T]

See Also:

• The Next Netbook Trend: Cellphone-Like Contract Deals
• The Netbook Effect: How Cheap Little Laptops Hit the Big Time
• RadioShack’s $100 NetBook Costs $1500 Over Two Years

It wasn’t exactly hard to see this one coming, but AT&T has now officially announced that it’ll soon be making 3G-equipped netbooks available at AT&T stores throughout the US (and on its website), following what the carrier has deemed to be a “successful” trial run in Atlanta and Philadelphia back in April. While complete details are still a bit light, AT&T will apparently be offering most if not all of the same netbooks that were available during that trial period, including various models from Acer, Dell and Lenovo. Unfortunately, AT&T also isn’t getting any more specific than “this summer” in terms of a rollout date, and it’s not ready to announce any pricing either, although the netbooks sold for as little as $49 in Atlanta and $99 in Philly (where AT&T wasn’t able to rely on its residential DSL to further defer the costs).

Filed under: Laptops

AT&T announces plans to expand netbook sales nationwide originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 May 2009 17:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At what appeared to be a totally wild and awesome search for Wheel of Fortune contestants in a mall, Vanna White confessed on camera her deep love of gadgets, particularly her excitement about Slingbox and the new Slingbox app for the iPhone. We suppose it’s fitting for somebody who’s been playing with touchscreens since before most of us knew how to spell “technology,” though it’s really too bad she can’t enjoy her daily The Price Is Right fix without hunting down a WiFi connection first. In an even more bizarre twist, it turns out Vanna White sued Samsung back in 1993 for using a robot that looked like her (pictured) in an advertisement. You may be a “geek girl,” Vanna, but we bet your robotic doppelganger is using VOIPover3G with SlingPlayer on her Jailbroken iPhone right this second. The brief segment of her talking about Sling starts at the 2:06 mark, the video is after the break.

[Thanks, Lonny P.]

Continue reading Vanna White loves Slingbox on her iPhone — if only she could find three Gs!

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Home Entertainment

Vanna White loves Slingbox on her iPhone — if only she could find three Gs! originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 May 2009 22:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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