Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve got this image burned in our brains of the Pre as this slick, black, streamlined, ultra-glossy pebble of a phone, and by and large, that’s an accurate image — unless you spring for the Touchstone. The inductive charging accessory — which seems like an almost automatic purchase for any Pre buyer with a single geeky bone in their body — needs magnets in the Pre to hold it in place when it’s attached, but it turns out that the standard glossy battery cover doesn’t have those magnets. Instead, the Touchstone will include a replacement cover that has the magnets and loses the gloss for a stickier matte soft-touch surface, ostensibly to help secure the phone against the charger’s slanted top. For some, the soft-touch is going to be perceived as an upgrade — but others are undoubtedly going to be bummed that they won’t be able to see their own reflection against the shiny Palm logo dead center. What’s more, if you want the matte without the Touchstone, you’re out of luck (at launch, anyway) — it won’t be available separately. Whatever; it’s not like you weren’t planning on getting this thing Colorwared anyway.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Palm Pre’s Touchstone charger requires matte, soft-touch battery cover originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, an Android RAZR would have been amazing, but sadly Motorola didn’t announce anything at all at MWC, so our dreams are on hold for the moment. In fact, day three was bereft of any major announcements, but there was some action: Telstra boss Sol Trujillo’s prototype HTC handset running Windows Mobile 6.5 was pickpocketed, we played with a few real Android prototypes, and we even saw Windows Mobile hacked into compatibility with a capacitive touchscreen. What else did we learn?

Continue reading MWC day three: return of the Jedi

Filed under: Cellphones

MWC day three: return of the Jedi originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen many wonderful, exciting things at Mobile World Congress this year.

This isn’t one of them.

Chris: “Listen, you (expletive), I’m only two months behind on the Easy Bake.”
Darren: “Hawha? Iaowe u six five dolars? Huh? Moommiieeee!”
Josh: “It will be a $35 charge to reinstate service, and no, you can’t have a cookie.”
Richard: “How could I have sent that many SMS? I can’t even read. Put your manager on.”
Joe: “Is this what they mean by ‘the future underwriting the present?'”
Jose: “Sshhhh! I’m talking to my marketing consultant – he loves the banner!”
Paul: “Sure, the hold times suck, but at least they play tunes from The Wiggles in the background.”
Nilay: “I’m sorry, but they just haven’t taught us the difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents in math class yet.”

Filed under: Cellphones

Caption contest: the most depressing thing we’ve seen all day originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not clear if Telstra chief Sol Trujillo was sporting an HTC Touch Pro2 or a Touch Diamond2 at MWC this week, but one thing’s for sure: he’s doesn’t have it anymore. A pickpocket apparently lifted the handset off another Teslsta exec who was checking it out today — and making matters worse, it was running an early build of Windows Mobile 6.5. Oops. Of course, we doubt Microsoft is too concerned — 6.5 ROMs are leaking all over the place anyway — but it looks like Sol’s picking up Ballmer’s tab at the bar tonight.

[Thanks, Boy Genius]

Filed under: Cellphones

Thievery at MWC! Telstra exec’s HTC with WinMo 6.5 stolen originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Never mind the Magic — we’ve run across another Android device lurking in the midst at MWC, and if you squint, you might just see some HTC influence in this one, too. We’d heard General Mobile’s dual-SIM DSTL1 would launch here, granted, but given its reasonably high-end look and the fact that we’d only seen renders ahead of the show, you have to appreciate our skepticism. Of course, we’re delighted to be proven wrong in these sorts of situations, and we had a chance to play around with a DSTL1 today; WQVGA feels weak and there might be just a little too much Touch Diamond influence, but you have to respect the 5 megapixel AF cam, 4GB of internal storage plus microSD expansion, dual SIM slots, and on-board FM radio. Ultimately, the fact that this thing’ll only be available in two tri-band EDGE flavors kills the dream, but goodness, these guys are getting close, aren’t they? Follow the break for video!

Continue reading General Mobile’s DSTL1 Android phone eyes-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

General Mobile’s DSTL1 Android phone eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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