Hasta La Gadget!

There’s no doubt the demand for mobile broadband has skyrocketed worldwide, but the US is leading the LTE charge(s) — plural, ’cause you know, battery life sucks on a… nevermind. According to Pyramid Research, by the end of the year, the United States will claim 47 percent of LTE subscriptions globally. This is thanks in large part to three mobile operators: Verizon, MetroPCS and AT&T have created seven million connections across the country. Combine that with the fact that 71 percent of all LTE handsets will be in the pockets of Yanks by year’s end, and you’ve got a formula for domestic LTE domination. It comes as no surprise that VZW is the largest LTE operator in the US as it’s been making money hand over fist lately — which has allowed it to expand its high speed network at a dizzying pace. We salute you, Big Red, for carrying the banner for the ol’ US of A, blazing the trail littered with dead batteries and over-worked phone chargers.

US leads global LTE adoption, rides Verizon’s coattails originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 16 Oct 2011 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What once was there now is gone. Earlier today, Google Voice was just two clicks away in the iOS App Store. Now, all that remains is a page cache (at the source link below) and versions of the app that were already installed on iPhones and iPod touches. Vincent Paquet, Senior Product Manager for Google Voice confirmed that the app had been pulled, explaining “our last update of this week had a bug that caused the app to crash at sign in. We removed it so it did not affect additional users until the fix gets published.” We’ve been using the most recent version — 1.3.0.1771 — on an iPhone 4 running iOS 5 without issue, but recent reviews cite the reported crashing, so it’s definitely affecting at least some users. We don’t have an ETA for when you can expect the app to return, so if you don’t already have it installed, you’ll need to hang tight for the time being. The service should function normally otherwise, assuming your phone number has already been registered, though you won’t be able to begin new text threads or make outgoing calls using your Google Voice number.

Google Voice pulled from App Store following iOS 5 crash originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re among the teeming masses holding a brand new iPhone 4S in your hands, you may be surprised (as we were) to find there’s something conspicuously absent from the Network Settings menu on your new device: specifically the ability to manually shut off 3G data. After receiving word, and a screenshot, from a helpful tipster, rocking a 4S on Vodafone’s network, we found the same option missing from our own AT&T iteration. Of course this isn’t the sort of thing that’s likely to have an impact on most users, but if you’re the type that likes to squeeze every last bit of juice out of that Apple, the omission could cause some frustration. We gave Apple support a call to see what they had to say, and were told AppleCare has no official response on the matter. If you’re lamenting the loss of the 3G flip-switch sound off in the comments below.

Update: A few of our readers are reporting that the original Verizon iPhone 4 also lacked the 3G switch, which means the absence is most likely on a carrier-by-carrier basis.

[Thanks, Chris and Charlie]

iPhone 4S lacks “Enable 3G” switch originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ready to play PC with your smartphone? If you aren’t picking up a Lapdock 100 from AT&T on the 17th, you won’t have to wait very long — Motorola’s faux-laptop phone dock has been outed for a October 21st launch date for Sprint via an employee rewards email. Passing the Lapdock 100 Sprint Rewards Me training quiz nets employees $10 in Sprint scratch and the opportunity to sell you a rig that lets a handful of devices play netbook. The laptop shell gives users a full Firefox browser, Quick Office, Google Docs, Adobe Flash, a PC-like File Manager and a luxurious 10.1-inch screen. Still no word yet on just how much this ultra-portable peripheral will set us back, but we’ll keep hoping that it’s cheaper than the Atrix 4G’s axed lapdock.

[Thanks, David]

Motorola Lapdock 100 hits Sprint October 21st, earns employees extra scratch originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 09:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola just unleashed a countdown clock for its Daft Punk-esque tease: Faster. Thinner. Smarter. Stronger. We already knew the Spyder was on its way, but we noticed that the clock stops dangerously close to the Google / Samsung Ice Cream Sandwich event set for this Tuesday, missing the mark by only seven hours. We can’t say for sure that Motorola is trying get in on the Google magic, but if it wants to push its news during the same business day, it makes sense for them to reveal their goods ahead of the event’s 10pm showtime. The teaser’s epileptic flash of buzzword images doesn’t tell us much, but it ends with a speedy bullet smartly slicing through the event date. Hit the break to see for yourself, we’ll let you make your own connections between that date-slice happy bullet and the Droid HD’s alternate names.

[Thanks, Robert]

Continue reading Motorola teaser counts down to ICS event date, ends a few hours early (video)

Motorola teaser counts down to ICS event date, ends a few hours early (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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