Sep 16

FCC Fridays: September 16, 2011

Posted in: 4G, HTC, LG, live, lte, mobilepostmini, motorola, samsung, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili
We here at Engadget tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol’ Federal Communications Commission’s site. Since we couldn’t possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we’ve gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don’t need). Enjoy!

Phones

Read – HTC PH98100
Read – HTC PI06100
Read – Huawei C2931
Read – Huawei G1000 Plus
Read – Huawei G2800S
Read – LG E906
Read – Motorola MB865
Read – Motorola EX139
Read – Samsung GT-C3520
Read – Samsung SCH-R680
Read – Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman
Read – Sony Ericsson Xperia active
Read – ZTE N285
Read – ZTE UX720

Peripherals and tablets
Read – Novatel MC679 (AT&T LTE)
Read – Huawei BM1012
Read – Samsung SGH-T859

FCC Fridays: September 16, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 14

Motorola Admiral outed as mystery Sprint Direct Connect device, strikes a pose for the camera

Posted in: Android, cdma, exclusive, gingerbread, Google, mobilepostmini, motorola, qwerty, Sprint, Today's Chili
That unnamed Motorola smartphone coming this fall to help usher in Sprint’s new CDMA-based Direct Connect service? It appears to be the Admiral. If the name sounds familiar, its trademarked logo actually appeared simultaneously with the Samsung Epic 4G Touch. But it’s so much more than a name now, thanks to a tipster who sent in an image of the device next to some well-detailed specs. The Admiral will likely be a portrait QWERTY Android 2.3 device powered by a 1.2GHz single-core Qualcomm MSM8655 CPU, and will feature a 3.1-inch VGA display, 5 megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording and a stellar 1,860mAh battery. Oh, and it’s a rugged phone that’s built according to 810G military specifications. If this truly is the mystery Motorola Direct Connect smartphone we’ve been waiting for, it’s bound to turn a few hard-hat-donning heads.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Motorola Admiral outed as mystery Sprint Direct Connect device, strikes a pose for the camera originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 01:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 14

Google outbid itself by 33 percent in Motorola Mobility acquisition, SEC filing reveals

Posted in: Android, financial, Google, industry, merger, mobilepostcross, money, moto, motorola, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, price, smartphone, Software, Today's Chili
Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility is already starting to lose that new car smell, but a fresh batch of financial details has now emerged, providing deeper insight into how the deal actually went down. According to an SEC filing that Motorola Mobility released yesterday, Google made an initial offer of $30 per share on August 1st, but soon raised that bid to $37 per share on August 9th, after Moto and its advisers asked for $43.50. On that same day, Google again raised its offer to $40 per share, even though Motorola wasn’t accepting bids from other firms, for fear that a public auction would jeopardize its sale. This 33 percent increase ultimately added some $3 billion to the pot, bringing the final price tag to $12.5 billion. A Mountain View spokeswoman declined to comment on the negotiations, though its aggressive bidding suggests that the search giant desperately wanted the deal to go through. The documents also reveal that patent-related issues were at the forefront of discussions from the very beginning, when Google’s Senior Vice President Andy Rubin met with Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha to talk about their mutual concerns, way back in July. According to the Wall Street Journal, these talks eventually convinced Jha that his company would be better off under Google’s stewardship, amid fears that Moto could get swallowed by the stormy seas of patent litigation — anxieties that the exec made all too apparent just four days before the merger was announced. You can dig through the full SEC filing at the source link below.

Google outbid itself by 33 percent in Motorola Mobility acquisition, SEC filing reveals originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 04:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 13

Apple wants to press pause on patent suits, calls Motorola a lame duck

Posted in: Apple, Google, lawsuit, mobilepostcross, motorola, patent, patents, Today's Chili

In what could turn out to be a very expensive lesson in minding one’s mouth, Apple plans to use Google’s and Motorola’s own words against them in court. Over the weekend, Cupertino’s lawyers filed two motions to stay in patent-related litigation with Moto, claiming the OEM’s pending merger renders its patent suits indefensible. According to Apple’s legal team, the proposed Motorola Mobility acquisition effectively transfers patent control over to Google, an allegation that public-facing statements from both companies seem to corroborate. Citing the potential waste of resources and probable reversal of future pre-merger settlements, the house that Jobs built is hoping to hold off on the court room fisticuffs until after the GoogMo consolidation is settled. With both cases set for far-off trial dates in April and August of 2012, it looks like all parties involved have plenty of time to sort this mess out, and then battle it out once again.

Apple wants to press pause on patent suits, calls Motorola a lame duck originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 13

Motorola Droid Bionic Review: It’s Superfast, But…

Posted in: 4G, Android, dual-core, lte, motorola, review, Smartphones, Today's Chili, top

It’s funny, the way that Motorola keeps awkwardly scraping away at the future of computing. The Atrix was a phone with a dual-core processor-like your laptop!—that also turned into a laptop. The Droid Bionic is the next step—a dual-core transforming thing of a phone, but it pulls down real internet from the sky. More »

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Sep 12

Motorola Electrify coming to US Cellular this month as a rebranded Photon 4G

Posted in: Android, mobilepostmini, moto, motorola, smartphone, Today's Chili
We shouldn’t be completely shocked by the news, but it’s great to hear regardless. US Cellular announced the upcoming availability of the Motorola Electrify, which is essentially its rebranded version of the Photon 4G — sans WiMAX, of course. The device will be ready for your purchase sometime later this month for $200, which is the same starting cost as Sprint’s variant provided you don’t factor in the initial $100 mail-in rebate. The Electrify is a 1GHz dual-core handset with Android 2.3, a 4.3-inch qHD display, webtop support and 8MP rear / VGA front-facing camera set. We definitely love seeing powerhouses like this make it to the smaller carriers, so if you’re an interested US Cellular fanboy or girl, just be sure that you’re not dying to see what the company will offer when its LTE network launches.

[Thanks, ChuckyTee]

Continue reading Motorola Electrify coming to US Cellular this month as a rebranded Photon 4G

Motorola Electrify coming to US Cellular this month as a rebranded Photon 4G originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 12

Engadget’s smartphone buyer’s guide: fall 2011 edition

Posted in: Android, Apple, att, BlackBerry, droid, galaxy s ii, GalaxySIi, Google, HTC, ios, LG, Microsoft, motorola, nexus s, NexusS, research in motion, ResearchInMotion, RIM, samsung, smartphone, Smartphones, Sprint, t-mobile, TMobile, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless, windows phone, WindowsPhone

Shopping for a new smartphone is an exciting and arduous experience. It holds the promise of something better and the fear of a two-year commitment. For gadget enthusiasts, it also involves pouring over specs and reviews, and fretting over what’s coming out in the near-term. As we publish this buyer’s guide, we face potential upheavals in the mobile space. Samsung’s Galaxy S II lineup will arrive at three major US carriers, the next iPhone perpetually looms in the distance, and a new generation of Windows Phone handsets is close upon us. You might ask, “Why would anyone buy a smartphone today, when something better is coming tomorrow?” Friends, that’s the blessing and curse of the mobile world — there’s always something better coming. You can’t wait forever, though, and if you want to purchase a smartphone today, we’re here to make the process easier and help you make an informed decision.

While our choices are sometimes contentious, they’re backed with experience that you can rely upon. If you’re looking to make a quick decision without much effort, you can rest assured that our selections won’t steer you wrong. Still, we encourage you to educate yourself before you decide on a smartphone that best fits your needs. Our Primed series is an excellent place to start, where you can learn about dual-core processors and mobile displays. As always, you’re encouraged to share your own experience in the comments, and we hope you have fun listing your own favorites, too. Just remember that we have an $80 ceiling for our budget selections. Compared to our previous buyer’s guide, Samsung has begun to lose ground, and while Android maintains dominance, it’s found some unexpected competition. Curious to see how it played out? Read on, as we round up the best smartphones of the day.

Continue reading Engadget’s smartphone buyer’s guide: fall 2011 edition

Engadget’s smartphone buyer’s guide: fall 2011 edition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 11

Is Motorola joining the Facebook phone bandwagon with its EX225?

Posted in: mobilepostmini, motorola, qwerty, Today's Chili

A funny thing just happened over at the Bluetooth SIG’s website: the group may have just outed Motorola’s first Facebook phone. As Unwired View rightfully points out, the EX225 is likely a feature phone that’s based on BREW, as Android’s navigation buttons are nowhere to be found. The handset offers two variants, one that supports dual-SIMs and another that accommodates only one. Further, a nearly identical version, the EX226, is displayed in a separate listing that lacks the notorious “F” button. Both models share a common 2.4-inch TFT-LCD display, a 3 megapixel camera and five row QWERTY keyboard — along with a sizable protrusion at the bottom rear of the device. That’s all we have for the moment, but it seems that the Status shouldn’t be too concerned about this Moto.

Is Motorola joining the Facebook phone bandwagon with its EX225? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 11

Refresh Roundup: week of September 5, 2011

Posted in: 4G, droid, firmware, firmware update, FirmwareUpdate, gingerbread, honeycomb, HTC, htc sense, HtcSense, lte, mobile hotspot, MobileHotspot, mobilepostmini, motorola, refresh, rom, roundup, samsung, Screenshots, sense, Software, software update, SoftwareUpdate, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, update, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless, vzw, windows phone, WindowsPhone, Wp7, xperia

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Official Android updates

  • Verizon was spitting out new refreshes left and right this week, as we saw Gingerbread begin to roll out as OTA downloads on the Motorola Droid 3, HTC Droid Incredible, and — get this — even the Motorola Droid 2 R2-D2 edition. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
  • Interestingly enough, Android 2.3 for the Droid 2 Global was already getting pushed out, but was pulled just a couple days later after a Microsoft Exchange encryption issue was discovered. We’ve been told the updates will resume “soon.” [via Droid-Life]
  • Finally, Verizon also pushed out one other software upgrade — this time on its 4510L LTE MiFi. (Thanks, Matt)
  • HTC continues to expand its bootloader unlock tool to more phones, region by region. This week the company enabled support for the EVO 3D in Canada and Europe. [via Phandroid]

Unofficial Android updates / custom ROMs / misc hackery

  • The Motorola Droid 3 and Droid X both now have access to an SBF — System Boot File — to act as a safeguard for anyone who manages to brick their phones. [via Droid-Life (1) and (2)]
  • Recently we heard about the Honeycomb ROM for the HTC Flyer getting leaked by MoDaCo, but no screenshots were available at the time. This week, however, someone successfully grabbed a few images to share with the world (shown in the above image). The ROM appears to run on Android 3.2 with HTC Sense 1.1 for tablets as the featured UI. [via AndroidBugle — thanks, Dennis]
  • Let’s talk a little more about leaked Sense ROMs. We’ve already seen Sense 3.5 working on the Desire HD, and now we have another device to add to the list: the EVO 4G. [via XDA]
  • The first kernel for unlocked bootloaders on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is now waiting for your download, so head over to the link for instructions. [via XDA]
  • If you’ve been waiting and hoping for CyanogenMod 7 on your HTC Sensation or EVO 3D so you can shed the Sense UI, that time may be very close at hand. According to a member of the CyanogenMod team, an early alpha build for both devices may be available by the end of this weekend, so keep an eye out. [via Phandroid]

Other platforms

  • Two new unofficial ROMs — one for Windows Phone Mango and another for NoDo –are now available for the Samsung Omnia 7. The Mango ROM improves the device’s radio, camera drivers and motion sensors, in addition to a few other enhancements. [via WPCentral]

Refreshes already covered this week

Refresh Roundup: week of September 5, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 09

iFixit picks the Droid Bionic to disassembled pieces

Posted in: Android, mobilepostcross, motorola, teardown, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless, vzw

What do you do with a shiny and new dual-core LTE phone? You rip it to shreds and then poke around in its guts, like any respectable techie would. At least, that’s what the folks over at iFixit got up to with Verizon’s day-old Motorola Droid Bionic. By now, you should be well familiar with its slightly revamped Droid X2-ish casing and usual micro-USB / micro-HDMI ports. Pop off that back, however, strip out the internal barrier of stickers, screws and clips, and you’ll be treated to a silicon underworld of EMI shields, motherboard components and that hump-making 8 megapixel rear shooter. Of course, seeing is believing. So, go ahead and hit that source link below to get your rubberneck on.

iFixit picks the Droid Bionic to disassembled pieces originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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