Hasta La Gadget!

What’s the point of investing $100 million in a mobile payment system if you don’t have the goods to back it up? AT&T may be adopting this philosophy, beginning with the Galaxy S II. With the aid of eagle-eyed Android dev François Simond, we conducted an extended analysis of Ma Bell’s latest gem and discovered it’s rife with NFC. In addition to containing kernel drivers and a pre-installed APK, the system files also indicate the device is running in a mode named NDEF — short for NFC Data Exchange Format. We haven’t been able to determine if the handset will be capable of making payments, but the presence of Near-Field Communications in the Galaxy S II is definitely a good sign. T-Mobile is keeping a tight lid on its variant for the moment, preventing us from getting an in-depth look, but FCC filings confirm it will contain NFC as well.

As for the third handset announced last night, the Epic 4G Touch contains no mention of NFC. Upon further analysis, we uncovered something else potentially more disturbing: it’s using the same WiMAX module (cmc732) as the Samsung Nexus S 4G, a handset that was plagued with performance issues when it was originally released (those concerns were eventually resolved in a later update). In this case, it’s hard to tell if that means we’ll relive the painful experience once again, or if it will come with improved firmware to ensure it doesn’t take the same path as its 4G brother. We’re starting to unravel the mysteries, folks, and will continue to fill you in as we learn more. If you’re considering one of these three lovely models, will these discoveries sway your decision in a particular direction?

[Thanks, François Simond]

Samsung Galaxy S II logs confirm NFC support for AT&T, none for Sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You heard right. Bloomberg is reporting that the United States government (!) just filed court papers in Washington, D.C. to block the much ballyhooed tie-up between AT&T and T-Mobile USA. Oddly enough, T-Mobile and AT&T promised this morning that a total of 5,000 jobs would be hand delivered to the US if the two telcos were allowed to become one, but it’ll take a heck of a lot more convincing now. For what it’s worth, this doesn’t mean that the deal is or isn’t happening — it’s just another step in the process — but it most certainly doesn’t bode well for proponents. Nor for AT&T’s share price.

According to the report, the Justice Department feels that the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the wireless space. In fact, it boldly stated the following: “AT&T’s elimination of T-Mobile as an independent, low-priced rival would remove a significant competitive force from the market.” If things end up falling apart, it’s important to remember that AT&T would be forced to pay Deutsche Telekom $3 billion as a break-up fee, which ought to make Tiger Woods’ misfortunes look like an outright bargain.

Update: Full press release is now embedded after the break, and meanwhile, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has issued the following public statement: “Although our process is not complete, the record before this agency also raises serious concerns about the impact of the proposed transaction on competition.”

Update 2: Wayne Watts, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel, issued the following statement (seen after the break)…

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading US government files to block proposed AT&T / T-Mobile merger (update: companies respond)

US government files to block proposed AT&T / T-Mobile merger (update: companies respond) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s like AT&T just wants its consumers to only buy the 3G iPad. Just days after we snuck out leaked shots of the HTC Puccini, said tablet has gone official as the HTC Jetstream. As predicted, it’s packing a 10.1-inch WXGA capacitive touchscreen, 1.5GHz Snapdragon dual-core processor, Android 3.1 and HTC’s latest tablet-centric edition of Sense (that’d be Sense UX). Of course, it’s the first LTE / HSPA+ tablet to be announced for Ma Bell’s network, but it’s not like it matters. For whatever reason, the powers that be decided to price this thing at $699.99 on a two-year contract, which has somehow managed to top Verizon’s equally comical pricing for its LTE-equipped Galaxy Tab 10.1. Sure, that tally enables you to sign up for a $35 / month 3GB plan, and yeah, the HTC Scribe digital pen accessory is being tossed in “at no extra cost” for a limited time, but let’s be real — neither you, nor anyone else you know, is buying one. So much for even pretending to compete on price, eh?

Update: It’s going for $849 outright, which is even more silly. Why not just price it at $2,000, guys? Might as well milk the most from the four folks that’ll accidentally mash the “buy” button.

Continue reading HTC’s 10-inch Puccini tablet gets official as Jetstream, brings LTE and laughable price to AT&T

HTC’s 10-inch Puccini tablet gets official as Jetstream, brings LTE and laughable price to AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung announced the U.S. debut of its Galaxy S II smartphone, available on the Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile networks (though, conspicuously, not Verizon’s).

The smartphone has been available in Europe and Asia for a while now, where it has sold over five million units. It currently holds the title of best-selling smartphone in the world, surpassing its similarly hot predecessor.

The Galaxy S II has an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, flash, and 1080p HD video recording. The phone also includes a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for easy and clear Skyping. The Galaxy will run the latest Gingerbread version of Android and the latest version of Samsung’s TouchWiz interface. Vlingo is providing the phones voice-activation software.

Sprint’s version of the phone — the Epic 4G Touch — will be first to go on sale beginning September 16 for $200. Other carriers have not yet announced pricing or release details.

LG Thrill 4G will arrive on September 4th, AT&T confirms originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 04:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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