Hasta La Gadget!

Let’s start with the obvious proviso here, the above image is so painfully easy to fake that even our computer illiterate grandparents could mock one up within a few minutes. That said, it’s purportedly a screenshot of a little oopsie by Google’s online store, which is said to have briefly displayed the Verizon option for Nexus One handsets as available to buy for $199 plus the relevant contractual shackles. We wouldn’t normally credit such unverifiable information, but then we’re also hearing from Soft Sailor that a highly trusted “inside” source of theirs is reporting that Verizon-carried, Sense-less Nexus Ones will be out and about “by the end of next week.” Given that the earlier mooted date of March 23 has now come and gone, we’re apprehensive about investing too much of ourselves in these rumors, but those supposed CDMA Nexus One shipments from HTC have to come out and play at some point, right?

[Thanks, Carson]

Update: jkOnTheRun has more insider info to share with us on this topic. James Kendrick’s people “in positions to know” tell him that the Verizon Nexus One will definitely show up in April, which meshes with the Spring timeframe we’ve already been given, but there’s also word about a “surprise” that other US carriers lack. Whether that refers to Sense-related enhancements or some other software optimizations, we’ll have to wait and see.

Verizon’s Nexus One could be arriving ‘by the end of next week’ (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 07:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember when we heard that Verizon Wireless just might be able to bump its commercial LTE rollout to the first quarter of 2010? Man, talk about having our hopes and dreams dashed. Here at CTIA, we heard a few details on the company’s most up-to-date deployment plans, and it sounds like things are pretty well locked into place at this point. Tony Melone, the company’s Senior Vice President and CTO, seemed remarkably enthused that a bona fide LTE network would be launching “in the not too distant future,” and when pressed for specifics, he stated that they would launch “25 to 30 networks this year, covering one third of America by the end of 2010.” Beyond that, we’re looking at a footprint twice that size “15 months” after the initial rollout, and by the end of 2013, the company’s 4G coverage map will be the same size, “if not larger,” than its existing 3G map. Of course, the carrier insisted that they wouldn’t be abandoning 3G advancement while being fixated on 4G, noting that it was moving “fast and aggressively” on both fronts, with hopes that its LTE network would eventually eclipse even the 3G networks (in terms of coverage size) of competitors. Them’s bold words, VZW, and we’ll be carefully watching to see if that really does come to fruition.

Verizon to blanket ‘one third’ of America with LTE this year, double coverage in 15 months originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you recall, about a month ago Sprint tweeted that it was working on delivering Android 2.1 upgrade for its HTC Hero and Samsung Moment in early Q2 this year. An optimistic guess would be April, right? Funnily enough, Techie Buzz has heard that two eager customers managed to squeeze a more precise date out of Sprint over a phone call — end of March or even March 26th. Don’t go reaching for that champagne just yet, though — a self-proclaimed Sprint employee shared a recent internal memo on XDA-Developers forum, revealing that it’s “actively working on having the Android 2.1 platform available to our Hero and Moment customers over the coming weeks,” and that “more information coming in April.” Oh Sprint, you do love playing with our little minds, don’t you?

Sprint to release Android 2.1 update for Hero and Moment ‘over the coming weeks’ originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, bollocks! After hearing for days that Verizon Wireless would be pushing out the highly anticipated Android 2.1 update to its stable of Droid users, along comes this. Internal company documentation clearly states that the aforementioned update won’t be going down today, and there’s no clear indication of when it will. To quote:

• “The OTA software update for the Droid by Motorola is TBD. A new date will be communicated as soon as possible.
  
• The 3/18 OTA software update will not happen as planned. A new date will be communicated as soon as possible.”

We knew things were just too quiet after the noon hour, and now we know why. An impromptu support group meeting has been scheduled for 1:30PM ET, though we’re hearing the location is still being decided…

Verizon delays Android 2.1 rollout to Motorola Droid, new date is TBD originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not much here in the way of verifiable detail but we’re hearing that a CDMAified Nexus One is en route to Verizon (or Google’s warehouses, anyway) from HTC’s factories. The Economic Daily News (EDN) adds that Verizon will begin to “market” Google’s superphone this month or in April at the earliest which lends some credibility to that March 23rd date tossed about previously. As for the Vodafone branded handset; EDN says HTC will ship it “soon” — something we’ve been hearing since January.

Nexus One shipments headed to Verizon, Vodafone soon? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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