Palm gets official with webOS 2.0 and Pre 2: hitting France on Friday, Verizon ‘in the coming months’

And just like that, the rumor mill smirks. HP has just come clean with a device that we’ve been hearing more and more about over the past few weeks, and with it will come the next generation of webOS that we’ve been hearing about for even longer. The Palm Pre 2 will be the first device to ship with HP webOS 2.0, with the revamped and renamed (presumably to use on more than just Palm smartphones) mobile OS promising “true multitasking,” Stacks (for organizing apps) Just Type, HP Synergy (links your email and social networking accounts), Exhibition (enabling users to run apps designed specifically for the Palm Touchstone Charging Dock) and support for Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1 Beta. It’s also bringing along a new Favorites tagging option, Skype Mobile (on the Verizon version only), text assist, integrated Quickoffice, VPN support, a redesigned launcher and full support for Bluetooth keyboards and SPP peripherals.

As for Pre 2 itself? Little is being revealed at the moment, but we’re told to expect a 1GHz CPU, a five megapixel camera (LED flash, extended depth of field, geotagging, and video capture), glass display and a “sleeker, streamlined design” that still combines a touchpanel with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. In other words, it’s a faster, slimmer Pre, and some would argue it’s what the Pre Plus should’ve been. At any rate, SFR customers in France will get first dibs on Friday, with Verizon and an undisclosed carrier in Canada scheduled to get it “in the coming months.” Oh, and as for US-based developers? They’ll be able to purchase unlocked UMTS versions of the Pre 2 (!) in their homeland, though pricing remains elusive.

Update: The Pre 2 portal is now live, showcasing a 3.1-inch 480 x 320 (HVGA) multitouch display, a black enclosure, Exchange support, built-in GPS, ambient light / proximity sensors, an accelerometer, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 16GB of inbuilt storage space, a battery good for around 5.5 hours of talking and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Continue reading Palm gets official with webOS 2.0 and Pre 2: hitting France on Friday, Verizon ‘in the coming months’

Palm gets official with webOS 2.0 and Pre 2: hitting France on Friday, Verizon ‘in the coming months’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 3,2 rumored to be in near-final testing phase, cue the CDMA speculation

Apple’s all aglow with its fiscal triumphs, but that’s nothing new. Here’s something else that follows the Cupertino company like night follows the day: Verizon iPhone rumors. Boy Genius Report claims it’s heard from one of its “solid Apple sources” that iPhone 3,2 (seen previously in iOS code) has hit “AP testing phase,” which reportedly means final hardware and near-final software. Said source also claims it has a SIM card slot, which would be fine except for BGR’s assertion that 3,2 is the oft-rumored CDMA iPhone — you know, the one that Wall Street Journal is all but certain is coming next year. So how might these two apparently contradictory elements form some tangible paradox machine? One possibility the publication is suggesting is a CDMA / GSM dual-mode “global” phone that’d work on virtually all major carriers. Then again, it could just be a GSM iPhone 4 with some design finagling (antenna revision?). If any of this pans out, that is, but at least you can say you witnessed the Verizon iPhone rumor merging with existing iPhone 4 to form a mythical “carrier Voltron” device. Or something like that.

iPhone 3,2 rumored to be in near-final testing phase, cue the CDMA speculation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CDMA iPhone rumored for India as exclusivities end in Germany and Holland

More fuel for the CDMA iPhone fire today. The Wall Street Journal says that Apple is in talks with both Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices to bring a CDMA version of its iPhone — the one it again says will be on sale at Verizon early next year — to India. The discussions have apparently been ongoing for four or five months according to one WSJ source.

This comes out as news of iPhone exclusivity arrangements are ending in both Germany and The Netherlands. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom loses its exclusive now that both O2 and Vodafone will be offering Apple’s finest before the holidays. In Holland, T-Mobile just lost its exclusive arrangement as both KPN and Vodafone have announced plans to carry the iPhone — no specific dates were mentioned though, like Germany, in time for the holidays is a pretty good guess.

CDMA iPhone rumored for India as exclusivities end in Germany and Holland originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 04:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WSJ: Verizon to sell iPhone in 2011, fifth generation iPhone is in the works (updated)

We’ve been to this rodeo before (a few times, actually), but the smoke that leads to fire is getting far harder to ignore. Following a Bloomberg report in June that a Verizon iPhone was on track for a January 2011 release as well as independent confirmation from John Gruber, Yukari Iwatani Kane from The Wall Street Journal is now sounding mighty confident that the aforementioned plans are true. According to various people “briefed by Apple,” Jobs and Company will begin “mass producing a new iPhone by the end of 2010 that would allow Verizon Wireless to sell the smartphone early next year.” It’ll rely on a key Qualcomm chip as well as a CDMA radio, but curiously enough, there’s nary of a mention of LTE in this report. In closely related news, it’s bruited that Apple is also developing a separate iPhone model, though it’s unclear how soon VZW will be able to grab the fifth generation edition. ‘Course, it’s not exactly the shocker of the year to hear that Apple’s toiling on a new iPhone without a dubious antenna design, but the real question is this: will the Verizon iPhone beat AT&T’s elusive white iPhone 4 to market? Inquiring minds would love to know.

Update: The WSJ udated the story to be more clear, “Apple Inc. is making a version of its iPhone that Verizon Wireless will sell early next year.” So it’s not just a generic CDMA iPhone that may or may not end up on Verizon Wireless. The WSJ also added that the CDMA iPhone 4 variant will be built by Pegatron and would only work on a CDMA network (i.e., it’s not a dual-mode GSM/CDMA device). Also, according to one source, VZW has been working with Apple to test its network and adding additional capacity to avoid being overwhelmed a la AT&T.

WSJ: Verizon to sell iPhone in 2011, fifth generation iPhone is in the works (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Citrus budget candybar outed by Verizon, sports Android 2.1 and Blur

Motorola must’ve been real busy lately. Sharing the Verizon limelight with the Droid Pro today is this new entry-level Citrus candybar, which is actually the WX445 we saw exclusively back in July. Sadly, said handset will still be shipped with a slightly disappointing Android 2.1 OS and Blur skin, but hey, we did say it’s entry level, right? The good folks over at xda-developers will probably Froyo-lize the phone in no time, anyway. Not much else is known right now, but bear with us while we look out for more deets.

Update: Okay, the press release is out — check it after the break. It’s hitting this quarter for an unannounced price (a low one, we’d presume), and one of its claims to fame is the fact that it’s fashioned of 25 percent post-consumer recycled plastic and is both PVC and BFR free.

Continue reading Motorola Citrus budget candybar outed by Verizon, sports Android 2.1 and Blur

Motorola Citrus budget candybar outed by Verizon, sports Android 2.1 and Blur originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Switched On: Getting real about a phone that’s not (part 2)

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Last week’s Switched On looked at some of the reasons that a Verizon iPhone might not bring seismic shifts to the cell phone market or the balance of power between the two largest carriers in the U.S., focusing more on the AT&T incentive. This column discusses the carrier’s current CDMA network and its multi-year transition to LTE, which could lower some obstacles to a Verizon iPhone.

While reports have asserted that a Verizon iPhone may ship as early as January and that a CDMA version of the phone will go into production in September, there are reasons to doubt that Apple will create a CDMA iPhone for Verizon Wireless. Verizon Wireless is a large carrier, but it’s subscriber base is relatively small compared to the one that is served by having a single GSM device that Apple can sell around the globe. That massive audience creates certain scale advantages for Apple.

Continue reading Switched On: Getting real about a phone that’s not (part 2)

Switched On: Getting real about a phone that’s not (part 2) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Merge / Lexicon prototype previewed, 800MHz processor produces sweet scores (video)

Here’s a little something to make your weekend fly by — Android Central scored a hands-on look at Verizon’s dual-mode CDMA / GSM worldphone, the HTC Merge (or is that Lexikon?) and it’s looking like one hell of a handset. Though the prototype’s Android 2.2 build is saddled with HTC Sense and Bing for search, the hardware’s reportedly superb, with a “clicky and responsive and very well spaced” slide-out QWERTY keyboard with no Desire Z hinge nonsense, and a weighty, solid feel. There’s also a 5 megapixel shooter that does 720p video, a likely 2GB of on-board storage and 512MB of RAM, not to mention an 800MHz processor that’ll surely help derail the megahertz myth with superb benchmark scores. See it pull a 1,500 in Quadrant after the break, and start dropping those nickels into your piggy bank.

Continue reading HTC Merge / Lexicon prototype previewed, 800MHz processor produces sweet scores (video)

HTC Merge / Lexicon prototype previewed, 800MHz processor produces sweet scores (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Oct 2010 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint Epic 4G update delayed by ‘administrative issues,’ consumer rage released on schedule

And this, folks, is a lesson of what not to do if you’re a major carrier with a majorly perturbed user base. In a way, this sort of feels like the Instinct update debacle all over again, with users claiming that a promised software update was being held beyond the 30 day return window in order to keep contracts alive. 24 hours after a Sprint forum administrator proudly proclaimed that a long-awaited Epic 4G software update was rolling out over the next few days, another admin has chimed in with a nearly-audible “sike!” Rather than letting users cheer its hard work over the weekend, Epic 4G owners are now being told that “administrative issues” are to blame for a new delay — a delay that’ll stretch on for an undetermined amount of time, to boot. Oh, and back on the topic of what not to do, the operator’s forum admin has also thrown a jab at all of you out there that would even think of accusing Sprint of pushing this update beyond the 30 day return window. Look, we all know it’s a baseless conspiracy theory, but there’s really no need to get feisty, is there? Full announcement is after the break.

Update: Looks as if the update is out there if you’re brave enough to do it yourself. But honestly, is it worth it? Probably.

[Thanks, Edward]

Continue reading Sprint Epic 4G update delayed by ‘administrative issues,’ consumer rage released on schedule

Sprint Epic 4G update delayed by ‘administrative issues,’ consumer rage released on schedule originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NFL ‘currently talking’ with Verizon to distribute programming on tablets

Ah, so now we understand Verizon’s intentions to hastily roll out LTE service to NFL cities. The NFL, which has sided with Sprint over the years when it comes to cellular distribution of content, is apparently in even deeper talks with newfound partner Big Red in order to get its prized content into even more hands. As the idea of watching NFL games on-the-go because more and more sensible, the league is apparently mulling the decision to distribute games (and potentially more) on the next big thing. You know, tablets. Brian Rolapp, the NFL’s senior vice president of media strategy, recently said the following: “The NFL will be on a tablet. It’s a question of what shape or form. We are currently talking to Verizon about it.” VZW declined to comment on the rumblings, but it’s really not a shocker — the carrier’s doing everything it can to get a live LTE network here in the States, and inking a deal with America’s most popular sporting league would obviously bring in boatloads of revenue. The real question is this: what tablet is the NFL eying, and if it’s not the Samsung Galaxy Tab, what’s Verizon’s second tablet going to be? Inquiring minds would love to know.

NFL ‘currently talking’ with Verizon to distribute programming on tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint Epic 4G update now rolling out, promises ‘increased 3G upload speeds’

Sprint said it was coming, and lo and behold, the carrier has proven to be true to its word. Here on the final day of September, the year 2010, Sprint has issued a highly anticipated firmware update for the Epic 4G. We’re told that it’ll be pushed automatically to phones, bringing along four major fixes: WiFi standby battery drain, Amazon MP3 cannot download in 4G, large emails lag in upload speeds and increased 3G upload speeds. The new version is S:D700.0.5S.DI18, should take seven or eight minutes to download and will be beamed across The Now Network over the course of the next few days. Is that a congregation celebrating off in the middle distance? Sure is.

Sprint Epic 4G update now rolling out, promises ‘increased 3G upload speeds’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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