Hasta La Gadget!

For better or worse, AT&T’s hampered 3G blanket in New York City may indeed save you from sending out a few tweets that would be better off unsent, but thanks to this new initiative, it looks like you’ll have far more opportunities to make illogical decisions with your Twitter application of choice. This week, Mayor Bloomberg and AT&T head honcho Randall Stephenson rolled out a five year plan to provide gratis WiFi at 26 locations in in 20 New York City parks across the five boroughs, meaning that you’ll no longer have to slog through Times Square just to get a few free bytes. As of this very moment in time, free AT&T WiFi is available to users at Battery Bosque in Battery Park, the north-end playground in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, and around the recreation center at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem, with 23 additional park locations to follow throughout the summer.

Back at D9, Ralph de la Vega made it clear that the company was spending countless hours on 3G handoff methods as a way to offload some of the strain on its cellular networks, and sure enough, those with “select” AT&T smartphones will be able to seamlessly switch over without even touching a thing. Thankfully, it’s also free for folks on other carriers (or no carrier at all), with a NSFW filter being applied only to parks located in the 9th district. Or, so we’re told.

Continue reading AT&T bringing WiFi to 20 NYC parks, Weiner envisions all new places to tweet from

AT&T bringing WiFi to 20 NYC parks, Weiner envisions all new places to tweet from originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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High-end automakers like BMW and Audi have already demoed their takes on the “connected car,” and even Intel’s gotten into the game with its safety-first, egg-shaped iteration. Now Panasonic and AT&T have partnered to explore the concept: Panny will provide hardware and integration, and Ma Bell will handle connectivity. All this concept-exploration will take place in Peachtree City, Georgia, and the team’s “connected lifestyle projects” will likely include basic in-car infotainment systems — think streaming music and video, along with social networking apps. But we’re also hoping for some really blue-sky stuff, more like the Mini Cooper’s driving-influenced playlist. After all, it won’t be long before the cars drive themselves, leaving passengers to demand some serious entertainment. Oh, and speaking of entertainment, check out the press release after the break.

Continue reading Panasonic, AT&T team up for connected cars, rule out extra-long Ethernet cables

Panasonic, AT&T team up for connected cars, rule out extra-long Ethernet cables originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 06:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM's expected the PlayBook to be released on all carriers. Thus far, Sprint is the only one to carry the device. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

A Wi-Fi version of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is now available through Sprint, despite initial skepticism about whether carriers would agree to service the device at all.

Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook hasn’t exactly been a critical darling. After lukewarm initial reviews and lackluster sales, it was unclear whether whether any of the big three U.S. carriers would sell the tablet, as was initially planned.

Details on the release raise questions as to Sprint’s commitment to distributing the PlayBook. For one thing, the tablet is only being released in its 16-GB version, with no 32- and 64-GB Sprint versions in sight. And instead of a 4G release on Sprint’s faster Wi-Max network, the company is pushing out a Wi-Fi only device.

Upon the PlayBook’s debut, RIM said publicly that 4G versions of the device would roll out on the three largest U.S. carriers: Sprint, AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Yet after initial unfavorable reception, not all the carriers seemed to be on board. Verizon backpedaled on its position, claiming the company was “still evaluating” the PlayBook and hadn’t “made a determination as to whether or not [they’re] going to distribute it,” according to a Verizon spokeswoman.

Even Sprint was rumored hesitant, as a leaked memo suggested an indefinite delay on a 4G PlayBook release.

As of April, AT&T plans to distribute the device on its network.

Both Verizon and Sprint did not respond to requests for comment.

Walmart temporarily drops iPhone 4 price to $147, not that you’ll be able to find one originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not going to mince words, the Motorola Atrix has a number of urgent software issues that make it tough to recommend, but at least AT&T is pricing the Blur-saddled smartphone into the realm of reason. As of right now, the dual-core Tegra 2 device can be purchased for $99.99 when signing a two-year agreement with Ma Bell. Its qHD display resolution, 1GB of RAM and 14.4Mbps HSPA+ capabilities are still pretty much top notch, so if you can figure out a way to make peace with Motorola’s software, now might be the time to strike.

[Thanks, Logan]

Atrix 4G available for $100 from AT&T, just 50 bucks per Tegra 2 core originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 03:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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