Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve known for some time that Cox — a name traditionally associated with cable television — is on the cusp of turning over its trial CDMA networks in a handful of markets to the public as it marches towards LTE on a swath of 700MHz bandwidth, but what we don’t know is the kind of hardware selection we can expect once these guys go live. Take it for what you will, but it seems that an unbranded CDMA HTC Hero that looks suspiciously like Sprint’s version of the handset has just changed hands on Craigslist, and — you guessed it — it’s got a Cox splash screen when you power it on. Cox’s strategy boss said just last week in an interview with Light Reading Cable that there’d be Android devices in the mix for the launch, but he played coy when pressed on details; the Hero could certainly be on the short list, but doesn’t it seem a little long in the tooth to kick off a brand new network launch? Of course, this could be a hoax or a cobbled-together prototype to help test the trial network, so we’ll just have to hang tight and see how this cookie crumbles; in the meantime, follow the break for the damning video evidence of the Cox Hero in the wild.

Continue reading HTC Hero spied with Cox firmware?

HTC Hero spied with Cox firmware? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 May 2010 21:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, hey — what do you know? If you’re a Samsung Moment owner on Sprint, you know exactly how glorious it feels to have and hold Android 2.1, which Sprint has confirmed to be rolling out to handsets as we speak. Notably, a tweet on the matter has the carrier promising that Hero owners will be “next” to see the same update, but sadly a time line wasn’t given. Enjoy and hang tight, respectively.

Samsung Moment gets Android 2.1 update from Sprint, Hero users promised to be next originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 May 2010 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM has a longstanding track record of refining its hardware with near-surgical precision — from one generation of BlackBerry to the next, you almost always see a very careful, deliberate evolution, from the Storm2’s revamped SurePress tech to the Bold 9700’s optical pad and countless examples in between. “Evolution” is exactly how we’d describe the CDMA- and GSM-equipped Bold 9650, the Tour’s spiritual successor that ditches the old name to join forces with the remainder of the Bold line. Dimensionally, the Bold 9650 is a dead ringer for the Tour — it’s still 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.56 inches — but it packs on two-tenths of an ounce worth of weight in exchange for oft-requested WiFi support and an extra 256MB of internal storage (it’s now up to 512MB total). The other big difference, of course, is the replacement of the dodgy trackball with an optical pad, continuing a trend that has now permeated throughout virtually all of RIM’s lineup. Look for the Bold 9650 to hit American carriers — presumably both Verizon and Sprint — in May. Follow the break for a second shot and RIM’s full press release!

Continue reading BlackBerry Bold 9650 announced, targets Tour owners’ big complaints

BlackBerry Bold 9650 announced, targets Tour owners’ big complaints originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every so often, an American wireless carrier will toss out a no-holds-barred 15 or 30-day money back guarantee, likely initiated to spur customer walk-ins, and in turn, boost the adoption rate. Sprint, however, is sick and tired (but mostly tired) of playing such games, and it has today announced a new “Satisfaction Guaranteed or Money-Back” program that it has no current intentions of ever nixing. We spoke to Sprint this morning regarding the news, and a spokesperson affirmed that it will be in place for the foreseeable future, with no expiration date already dialed up in the background. The new deal (which starts tomorrow, all kidding aside) enables any customer to open up a new line of Sprint service for 30 days; if they aren’t feeling it, they’ll get “reimbursed for the device purchase and activation fee, get the early termination fee waived, get a full refund for service plan monthly recurring charges incurred and get all associated taxes and Sprint surcharges associated with these charges waived.” We’ll confess — that’s pretty darn thorough, but do you seriously expect to return that EVO 4G? No, no you don’t.

Sprint rolls out new 30 day ‘money back guarantee’ trial, claims it’s not a promo originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flippin’ finally, right? Verizon Wireless put the long-awaited Android 2.1 update on hold for its cadre of Motorola Droid owners earlier in the month, with an all-too-vague “TBD” as the only detail as to when we could look for it to actually, really land. We’ve just happened upon what looks to be an internal Verizon email that went out this morning, and sure enough, it sounds as if the update will at long last begin hitting Droid owners in just a few minutes. At noon on 3/30 (that’s today, vaquero), a grand total of 1,000 users will receive notification of the update, while 9,000 more will get a similar alert just before midnight. If all goes well, the rest of ya will see v2.1 slide down starting on Thursday, though it looks as if patience will be your only friend as you await your turn. Head on past the break for the full memo, but don’t get your hopes up too high — wouldn’t want to be let down again, would you buttercup?

Continue reading Verizon begins Android 2.1 update rollout for Motorola Droid

Verizon begins Android 2.1 update rollout for Motorola Droid originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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