Hasta La Gadget!

The Nexus One, grandaddy of Android’s latest pure-bred wonder, appears to have some fight left in it. Developer drl33tmd has managed to coax the old man into running an early port of Ice Cream Sandwich, although it’s not perfect. The somewhat unstable build is a bit sluggish, and suffers from media playback issues and a distinct lack of WiFi. Check out the demo after the break to see the original Google smartphone struggle up some increasingly steep software stairs.

Continue reading Nexus One takes a bite out of Ice Cream Sandwich, chews slowly

Nexus One takes a bite out of Ice Cream Sandwich, chews slowly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here’s some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of October 17, 2011:

• The HTC Rezound (codenamed the Vigor) started showing up in Cellebrite systems, just another indicator of its impending arrival — and likely name. [Droid-Life]
• AT&T’s current lineup of Windows Phones, such as the Samsung Focus, LG Quantum and HTC Surround, are now showing up as EOL — End-of-life — likely in preparation for the trio of incoming devices we saw earlier this week. [WMPowerUser]
• Cricket added another ZTE feature phone to its lineup this week, called the Memo (shown above). It’s got a full QWERTY keyboard and is available for $100. [Cnet]
• Google Maps for Android was the beneficiary of yet another update. This time, version 5.11 makes one critical feature change: it offers different-sized maps for phones with different screen resolutions. Thus, if you have a 3.5-inch HVGA screen, you’re not forced to download a map designed for a 4.3-inch qHD display, saving space on your phone in the process. [MobileBurn]
• Vodafone 360, launched in 2009 as a LiMo-based cloud synchronization and backup service, will be officially closed by the end of the year. The carrier stopped developing handsets that took advantage of the plan last year, so it really was a matter of time before this happened. [Wall Street Journal]
• Toshiba Mobile Display announced this week that it’s working on a new type of mobile display optimized for wide-angle viewing. Dubbed the “Soludina,” it’ll be shown off at next week’s FPD International in Japan. [Nikkei]
• Sprint announced a new plan called Wireless CapTel that’s designed for those who are hard of hearing. The service, which can be used on Android devices, allows the caller to view conversations in real time as word-for-word captions on their phone’s screen. [BusinessWire]
• Telus will officially launch the 4G Samsung Galaxy S II X on October 28th, according to its website. [Unwired View]

Mobile Miscellany: week of October 17, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’d heard rumblings that unlimited data for Sprint’s mobile hotspot plan was going the way of the dodo, but come November folks, it’ll be official. Data sent and received over tethering — not smartphone usage — will now be measured against a 5GB cap. The same applies to mobile broadband subscribers, who will lose “unlimited” WiMax, instead having all their bits counting towards 3GB, 5GB or 10GB buckets (as seen above). Going over your allotment in either plan naturally incurs overages, which could get pricey at 5 cents per MB, and worst of all, existing unlimited plans won’t be grandfathered in. So, start counting down those last few days of limitless bliss, as you weep peeping the full details that await at the source.

[Thanks, Darren]

Sprint to nix ‘unlimited’ from mobile broadband and hotspot plans in November originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft may not be jumping on the dual-core bandwagon just yet, but it does place a high amount of emphasis on making sure its phones run smoothly. To do so, Windows Phone President Andy Lees stated to Bloomberg that it would continue to keep Qualcomm as its exclusive chipmaker, and has no plans to work with any other company. According to Lees, the monogamous relationship was made to allow Microsoft to use specific technical details, ensuring a smoother experience on all Windows Phones across the board. Lees also mentioned that the kind of production volume generated by such an agreement also allows production costs to dip down, which makes the platform even more appealing to OEMs. If any of you have dreamed of a Windows Phone with NVIDIA or TI running the show, don’t try to pinch yourself — you may be dissatisfied with the results.

Microsoft to keep Windows Phone monogamous with Qualcomm’s chipsets, for now originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Boost Mobile announces ZTE Warp, hopes to push its lineup out of impulse on November 2nd for $250

Boost Mobile announces ZTE Warp, hopes to push its lineup out of impulse on November 2nd for $250 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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