Apr 15

Windows Phone 7-certified microSD cards emerge at AT&T stores: $32 for 8GB

Posted in: att, exclusive, flash, Microsoft, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

Well, well — what have we here? For avid users of Windows Phone 7, you no doubt remember the hubbub last year surrounding the so-called difficulties with Microsoft’s latest and greatest mobile OS accepting microSD cards. We’d been pounded with news of “WP7 certified microSD cards,” but even now, they’re more ghost than reality. That said, it looks as if the tables are turning, with an nondescript AT&T store grabbing fresh stock of “certified” 8GB Class 4 microSDHC cards. Based on the packaging, it’s fairly clear that Microsoft’s taking the lead here, but SanDisk has been knighted to provide the hardware. $32 will soon get you a card that doesn’t destroy itself upon insertion in your Samsung Focus, and we’re guessing that they’ll be available to purchase sooner rather than later. So, you sizing up, or what?

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Gallery: Windows Phone 7 certified microSD cards emerge at AT&T stores

Windows Phone 7-certified microSD cards emerge at AT&T stores: $32 for 8GB originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 12

Froyo-based LG Thrive becomes AT&T’s first prepaid smartphone, ships April 17th alongside Phoenix

Posted in: Android, att, froyo, LG, mobile hotspot, MobileHotspot, smartphone, Today's Chili

A G2x they ain’t, but AT&T’s newest duo from LG should certainly satisfy the cravings of less-demanding Android loyalists. Along with every other carrier in the world, Ma Bell has decided to pick up a couple of Optimus One variants, with the LG Thrive being christened as the operator’s first prepaid (GoPhone) smartphone. Aside from a tweak in hue, the postpaid Phoenix is the exact same handset, with both offering a totally familiar 600MHz processor, 3.2-inch (480 x 320) touchpanel, Android 2.2, a 3.2 megapixel camera and unlimited WiFi usage on the entire national AT&T WiFi Hot Spot network. Those opting for a contract-free affair can select the Thrive for $179.99, while the dark blue Phoenix will run $49.99 and demand two years of your cellular soul. In related news, AT&T is introducing a new prepaid data package with the LG Thrive, offering 500 MB of data for $25, with the fully skinny detailed just after the break.

Continue reading Froyo-based LG Thrive becomes AT&T’s first prepaid smartphone, ships April 17th alongside Phoenix

Froyo-based LG Thrive becomes AT&T’s first prepaid smartphone, ships April 17th alongside Phoenix originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 08

Gadget Lab Podcast: Android Is Still ‘Open,’ Uber Car Service

Posted in: Android, Apple, apps, att, Google, iPhone, Smartphones, Today's Chili

          

In this week’s Gadget Lab podcast, the usual dorks gawk at a homemade gear composed of möbius strips. It’s probably not very useful, but it sure looks awesome.

We shift gears into the debate on whether Google’s Android operating system is “open” or “closed.” Google is holding off on opening the source code for Honeycomb, a version of Android for tablets. We think it’s a good idea for Google to exert some control to avoid hardware fragmentation.

Speaking of Google, the company inserted a clever Easter egg in its search engine: Search for the word Tilt, and you’ll get a little surprise. An extra surprise is that the search brings up an outdated AT&T ad for the Tilt cellphone, which is no longer available.

Last, we zoom in on Uber, an extremely cool startup using iPhone and Android apps to run a car service. Booking an Uber car is simple: Launch the app and tap a button to request a ride. However, under the hood, Uber is an extremely complex operation, crunching crazy mathematical algorithms to station drivers effectively throughout the city.

—

Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast on iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds.

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #111

http://downloads.wired.com/podcasts/assets/gadgetlabaudio/GadgetLabAudio0111.mp3


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Apr 07

White Nexus S with AT&T 3G bands hands-on! (video)

Posted in: att, exclusive, gingerbread, Google, hands-on, nexus s, NexusS, samsung, Today's Chili, video

Well, what do we have here? Sure enough, it’s that coveted white Nexus S with AT&T-compatible 3G that we mentioned yesterday, and we just got our dirty little paws on it thanks to a friendly tipster. This particular handset was purchased from Negri Electronics, and it’s both unlocked and running Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread), the version that just barely started rolling out to existing AWS Nexus S units in February. As you can see, it’s pretty much identical to the current model, except of course for that white tuxedo and 850 / 1900MHz-friendly 3G radio. Feast your eyes upon Google and Samsung’s latest prodigy in our gallery below, and hit the break for our hands-on video.

[Thanks, Steve]

Gallery: White Nexus S with AT&T 3G bands hands-on!

Continue reading White Nexus S with AT&T 3G bands hands-on! (video)

White Nexus S with AT&T 3G bands hands-on! (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 07

Google Easter Egg Makes AT&T Look Foolish

Posted in: ads, att, Google, iPhone, Today's Chili

Search for "tilt" on the iPhone version of Google, and you get a tilted search results page. Screenshot: Michael Calore/Wired.com

If you do a search for the word “tilt” on Google, and you’re using an iPhone, you get a nifty Easter egg.

The search results screen that Google shows you is tilted a few degrees off perpendicular, as shown in the screenshot here.

Funny, right?

It only works with the mobile version of Google, and may not work with every phone (we got the trick working with an iPhone and a Motorola Defy, but not a Samsung Nexus S).

But there’s a hidden joke inside this Easter egg. For at least some searches, the results page includes a sponsored ad for AT&T’s Tilt — a smartphone that launched about 4 years ago. If you click on the ad, you get taken to an AT&T page that states “The AT&T Tilt(TM) you’re searching for is no longer available.” Instead, it shows you couple of outdated feature phones and a refurbished 3G modem.

That’s right: AT&T is paying Google when people click on ads for a phone it doesn’t sell any more.

If you weren’t already laughing at AT&T? You will.

Update 4:30pm Pacific: Google confirms that this is an actual, paid advertisement. The ad itself no longer seems to be appearing in search results.


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Apr 07

Nexus S with AT&T bands available in white for $600, headed to Fido and Rogers

Posted in: att, available, Google, leak, nexus s, NexusS, samsung, Today's Chili
It’s been a long time in coming, but it looks like Google and Samsung’s love child, the Nexus S — a favorite around these parts — is finally available with AT&T’s 850 and 1900 MHz 3G bands from online retailer Negri Electronics, for $600 in your choice of black or white. It’s not the first time we’ve seen the elusive Samsung GT-I9020A in the wild: it’s already appeared both in the hands of the FCC and on the Bluetooth SIG’s website. We’ve also seen pictures of a Nexus S with a white battery cover before. And here’s more: we already knew the AWS version of the Nexus S was coming to Canada via Mobilicity, but according to MobileSyrup, you’ll soon be able to pick up the Nexus S on Fido and Rogers for C$500 contract-free or C$100 with a three-year commitment, and these two carriers use the same 3G frequencies as AT&T in the US. So, until we hear something official from Samsung or Google, hit up our plethora of source links below.

Nexus S with AT&T bands available in white for $600, headed to Fido and Rogers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 03:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Central  |  sourceNegri Electronics (white), (black), Samsung, MobileSyrup  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 06

Survey says AT&T drops more calls than Verizon, these bar charts don’t lie

Posted in: att, Sprint, study, t-mobile, Today's Chili, verizon, vzw
Chargepoint

Wondering which carrier you should buy your iPhone on? There’s a survey for that. ChangeWave Research has released the results of a poll that hit 4,068 users distributed across Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Among those four, VZW came out ahead when it comes to dropped calls, with 1.4 percent of respondents indicating they’d received one in the past three months. AT&T, meanwhile, came in last with 4.6 percent. If you look only at the iPhone 4 users the numbers change a little, 1.8 percent vs. 4.8, but the conclusion stays the same. No, this conclusion sadly will not get you around your ETF, but maybe making a pouty face at the AT&T store will help.

Update: AT&T let us know it has some doubts about these results. We’re not statisticians but we will, out of fairness, link over to this GWS survey from last year that showed 98.59 percent success rate for non-dropped calls. How do your numbers compare?

Survey says AT&T drops more calls than Verizon, these bar charts don’t lie originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AppleInsider  |  sourceChangeWave Research  | Email this | Comments

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Apr 06

Isis NFC payment system gets its first market in Salt Lake City, Utah, launches in 2012

Posted in: att, launch, market, nfc, official, plans, roadmap, schedule, t-mobile, Today's Chili, verizon, Wireless

Like 3D on high-end HDTVs, NFC-based payment systems seem set to invade our mobile lives whether we like them or not. Isis, a collaborative venture between AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and a bunch of banking big timers, has today announced the first market for its rollout of a contactless payment scheme, and it’s none other than Salt Lake City, Utah. That’ll surely raise eyebrows in locales that may consider themselves more tech-savvy, but we reckon starting off with a city of a smaller scale might be good for getting this “mobile wallet” system off the ground. And then there’s the added benefit of Isis snagging a deal to enable compatibility with the entire Utah Transit Authority footprint. If all plans are executed properly, that should mean that by summer 2012 the good people of SLC will be able to NFC their way around town with just their smartphone in hand, while also swiping it through checkouts like some form of highly advanced techno-humans.

Continue reading Isis NFC payment system gets its first market in Salt Lake City, Utah, launches in 2012

Isis NFC payment system gets its first market in Salt Lake City, Utah, launches in 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 04:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 05

AT&T Raises Early Upgrade Fee On iPhone

Posted in: att, iPhone, Today's Chili, Windows Mobile

 

att-logo-parental1.jpgAT&T has doubled the iPhone’s early upgrade fee by $50.00. This is on top of the end of contract fee that was already written up in the original contracts. It is safe to assume that this new fee will be in place for those who leave the contract for another phone service provider as well.

AT&T is also increasing the same amount for the Windows 7 phones. No word on if the increase will affect Android phone users. AT&T says the increase is a result of the rising cost of the smartphone market.

Via TG Daily

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Apr 05

Survey: Verizon’s iPhone Gets Better Grades Than AT&T

Posted in: att, iPhone, Phones, Today's Chili, verizon

Apple's iPhone 4 landed on the Verizon network in February. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

iPhone owners responding to a research firm’s survey reported a significantly higher percentage of overall dropped calls on the AT&T network than on Verizon.

ChangeWave polled roughly 1,300 iPhone customers on each of the networks, on how frequently they experienced a dropped call in the past 90 days.

AT&T iPhone customers reported an average of 4.8 percent of calls dropped, and Verizon iPhone customers reported a 1.8 percent average dropped-call rate.

Despite the differences in dropped-call rates, iPhone customers on both networks reported nearly equal satisfaction ratings: 82 percent of Verizon iPhone customers say they’re “Very satisfied,” versus 80 percent of AT&T customers reporting the same.

Wired.com’s tests in San Francisco also found that the iPhone experienced fewer dropped calls on the Verizon network than AT&T, but the differences were minor. Our tests also found that the iPhone on AT&T’s network is significantly faster with 3G transfer rates than Verizon’s.

The equal satisfaction rates are noteworthy, because they suggest that Verizon customers aren’t perturbed about slower bandwidth speeds. On the other hand, it’s not surprising that people would value reliability — having a connection at all — more than speed.

ChangeWave’s substantially higher dropped-call rate on AT&T is questionable, however, and should be taken with a grain of salt. Asking people to recall how many of their calls dropped over the past three months isn’t a very scientific method to measure a network’s reliability. Also worth noting is that the iPhone hasn’t even been on Verizon for 90 days; it’s been on the network for less than two months.

Independent wireless firm Metrico did a more comprehensive study on network performance. The company found that the Verizon iPhone was an average performer in voice quality, whereas the AT&T iPhone ranked low in call performance. Also, the AT&T iPhone was a top performer in download rates, whereas the Verizon iPhone ranked “below average” in data downloads.

On the subject of dropped-call rates, an AT&T spokesman claimed that AT&T’s dropped-call rate is about one tenth of 1 percent. A study performed by a third-party wireless firm corroborates that statistic.

See Also:


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