Jan 26

Facebook phone rumors resurface: cloud-based, HTC-built?

Posted in: Android, HTC, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, rumor, Today's Chili

Ah, the Facebook phone. Despite statements by the company that it is flat out not making a phone, the rumors persist, and not one but two separate stories have now cropped up on the same day that a mysterious “call” button has appeared on some folks’ Facebook pages. The first of those comes courtesy of BGR, which says it has heard from someone involved in a recent focus group that supposedly centered on a Facebook phone. As the story goes, the phone (which apparently wasn’t actually referred to as a “Facebook phone”) would have an always-on GPS service, no or very little local storage, a camera (with images stored in the cloud), a “news ticker-style message notification system” with all messages funneled into one “mass inbox” and, last but not least, some sort of location-aware coupon service that’s described as “Facebook Deals on steroids.”

Joining that is a report from the London-based City A.M. financial newspaper, which says it has learned from unnamed sources that HTC will debut two Facebook-branded phones at Mobile World Congress next month. Details on those are otherwise expectedly light, but the paper says the phones will run a “tweaked version” of Android and sport Facebook’s colors — supposedly, Facebook’s Joe Hewitt and Matthew Papakipos (formerly of Firefox and Google, respectively) are largely responsible for the launch. Of course, the paper also says HTC is responsible for “Google’s Nexus range,” which doesn’t exactly help its case, and leads us to suspect that we may simply be dealing with one big game of telephone here.

Facebook phone rumors resurface: cloud-based, HTC-built? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PC Magazine  |  sourceBGR, City A.M.  | Email this | Comments

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Jan 26

Ubiquisys unveils Attocell: personal femtocell designed to work internationally, make dreams come true

Posted in: Google, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, Today's Chili, Wireless, wwan

It’s definitely one of the first things we thought of trying with AT&T’s 3G MicroCell back in 2009, but our dreams were quickly dashed after finding that said device was hard-wired to only operate when receiving a GPS lock within the United States of America. Thankfully, it looks as if at least a few engineers at Ubiquisys are riding our same train of thought, and come Mobile World Congress, it’ll be debuting the device of our dreams. The Attocell is described as a personal femtocell for use with 3G smartphones, and best of all, it’s designed for use internationally. In essence, this would allow a smartphone from one country to use their international web connection to tunnel a cell call through — presumably free of charge — and definitely bypassing those nasty roaming fees that are incurred when ringing through an overseas cellular network. The company admits that it has been tested with the iPhone, BlackBerry handsets, a few Nokia phones and a gaggle of Android handsets, and we’re guessing that Windows Phone 7 and webOS users won’t have any issues, either.

The idea is fairly simple: connect the Attocell to your laptop via USB, which provides power and an internet connection. From there, it’ll analyze the IP address and radio environment to determine which country it is in, and sets its 3G radio power accordingly to below the licensed level. In some countries its range will be just five millimeters, in other countries, it could cover a whole room. For those in the former, you’ll need to place your phone atop the dongle and use a Bluetooth headset to make a call, but hey, it’s still better than paying AT&T two arms and the vast majority of a leg just to phone home from wherever you may be. Crazier still, Ubiquisys thinks that the device’s low power output — coupled with its ability to “continuously monitor its radio environment to ensure that there is zero impact on existing mobile networks” — will make the Attocell exempt from regulatory controls and the requirement for type approval. Here’s hoping it flies through just as the company hopes, and we’ll be hitting the floor in Barcelona to pry out a price point, release date any carrier deals they’ve managed to land.

Ubiquisys unveils Attocell: personal femtocell designed to work internationally, make dreams come true originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 23

1.2GHz Tegra 2 3D chips suggested by leaked slide, coming ‘spring 2011’

Posted in: arm, dual-core, leak, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, NVIDIA, rumor, speculation, tegra, tegra 2, Tegra2, Today's Chili

Darn, we’ve barely started getting acquainted with Tegra 2, yet NVIDIA seems to already be preparing the stage for a sort of Tegra 2.5 — a 1.2GHz dual-core chip that’ll be marketed as a 3D-capable mobile processor. This T25 silicon is apparently set for mass production in the first quarter of this year, with availability coming up in the spring. Given the noises we keep hearing about 3D going mobile, this is one rumor that makes a lot of sense — and even if you’re a staunch supporter of the 2D creed, you can’t deny that a sped-up Tegra 2 CPU sounds pretty delicious. We’ve managed to also track down some technical chatter about adding support to Chromium OS for a 1.2GHz T25 from NVIDIA, seemingly corroborating the leaked image above. Oh boy, it’s gonna be a hot summer for mobile computing this year!

1.2GHz Tegra 2 3D chips suggested by leaked slide, coming ‘spring 2011’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Jan 2011 15:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 20

Nokia N9 to bust loose with MeeGo on Intel Atom power?

Posted in: intel, maemo, meego, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, nokia, rumor, speculation, ti, Today's Chili

Nokia has to do something big if it wants to crack the US smartphone market. We can agree on that, right? And believe us, Nokia wants this — nothing will make the mighty Finns (and the company’s global investors) prouder than to gain some traction in the home of Apple pie and Google desserts. So how will the company do it? With
Symbian? Oh, hell no.
By introducing another MeToo handset? Nope, with MeeGo on a rockin’ platform like the rumored N9 slider pictured above.

Nokia announced its hardware plans for Maemo 6 a long time ago. At that time, the company was clear that it would continue using TI OMAP processors. Much has changed since then, however. In addition to several key leadership changes including a new Canadian-born CEO who spent much of his time working in the US, Nokia has joined Intel to roll up Maemo 6 and Moblin into MeeGo with Nokia’s first Maemo 6 MeeGo/Harmattan handset pushed into 2011. Simultaneously, Intel has also been doing its best to show its new Moorestown platform as a powerful ARM alternative, even showing off MeeGo handsets exploiting a Lincroft SoC and Atom processor core.
And Intel has said that Medfield-based smartphones (Moorestown’s
successor) would arrive in the middle of 2011.

So why the build-up? Well, we’ve just been tipped to a claim by
Prosessori, a respected Finnish technology magazine, that the Nokia N9 will launch with a 1.2GHz Atom processor. Better yet, it could be unveiled as soon as Mobile World Congress in February, presumably during Stephen Elop’s keynote. Do we believe it? Not entirely, but it is possible given the chain of events that have taken place. And you can bet that the first commercially available Intel smartphone with a brand new Nokia user experience would certainly grab headlines in the US and around the world. Something that should translate into high-end market share (and profits) if it’s as “exciting” as Elop claims.

[Thanks, Janne]





Nokia N9 to bust loose with MeeGo on Intel Atom power? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 07:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 20

Sony Ericsson MT15i / Vivaz 2 ensnared by Eldar Murtazin, given glowing preview

Posted in: Android, gingerbread, in the wild, InTheWild, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, preview, qualcomm, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, xperia

The choice of Android Gingerbread handsets just grew by one, courtesy of the Sony Ericsson MT15i and Russia’s premier mobile reviewer, Eldar Murtazin, who has put it through his rigorous preview cycle. The typically curmudgeonly gent was pleasantly surprised by SE’s latest (and entirely unofficial) handset, claiming that the company “has developed and is about to launch truly cutting edge devices and … has almost nothing to fear in the hardware department as well.” He has praise for the above-average front-facing cam, the endurance offered by the 1500mAh battery, and the 854 x 480 res on the Reality Display — though he does warn that Sony’s Bravia Engine is only used when consuming multimedia and therefore has limited impact on improving output quality.

Internally, you’re looking at 512MB of RAM and a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM7630 with Adreno 205 graphics, all of which resulted in perfectly smooth, lag-free operation. In spite of its many pluses, Eldar describes the MT15i as a phone targeting the mid-range, which invites all sorts of delicious pricing speculation, though we’re not entirely sure we agree with his postulation that this handset will be called the Vivaz 2. The Xperia branding up front and the replacement of Symbian with Android would collectively suggest it’ll bear an altogether new name when it’s unveiled — which we’ll go ahead and presume is going to happen at MWC next month.

Sony Ericsson MT15i / Vivaz 2 ensnared by Eldar Murtazin, given glowing preview originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 02:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 19

HTC Flyer tablet tipped for US landing in March, to be followed by two more slates in June

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, gingerbread, HTC, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, plans, roadmap, rumor, schedule, slate, speculation, tablet, Today's Chili

Given current trends, it’s reasonable to believe that the foremost question regarding an HTC tablet is no longer if the Taiwanese company will produce one, but when. So, who could we possibly turn to for help but those ever-loquacious upstream component manufacturers that DigiTimes knows and loves so well? Their latest info points to an Android tablet dubbed the Flyer arriving in the US in March (just early enough to potentially beat the Xoom and PlayBook to market), which will roll out across the world in the second quarter of 2011 and be joined by two more slate devices (Scribe?) in June. Further details are a little murky, including the dubious suggestion that the Flyer will come with Android 2.3 on board and be upgradeable to Honeycomb (3.0), but we’re inclined to consider the overall roadmap credible. In spite of its Thunderbolt launch at CES, HTC was relatively quiet in the big January event, so we suspect it’ll bring the big(ger than a smartphone) guns to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.

HTC Flyer tablet tipped for US landing in March, to be followed by two more slates in June originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 01:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 19

LG G-Slate to have an 8.9-inch 3D display? Rumor mill says ‘maybe’

Posted in: Android, honeycomb, LG, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, rumor, screen, slate, speculation, t-mobile, tablet, Today's Chili

If 3D and tablets are the two unstoppable forces of modern consumer electronics, doesn’t it make sense to meld them into one, fearsome, trendsetting device? LG’s T-Mobile-bound G-Slate might be doing exactly that, we’re hearing, as a pair of different sites are reporting it’ll come with a 3D-capable display. The guys at GPS And Co have apparently heard directly from LG’s French arm, who told them the G-Slate would have a glasses-free 3D display and 3D camera, though the validity of that information is diluted somewhat by TmoNews‘ source finding 3D glasses listed as future accessories for this rather mysterious tablet. Yes, it’s contradictory information, but then Pocket-lint has also heard directly from LG and received a promise of “an actual working 3D device,” which should be expected shortly. That could be the 4.3-inch autostereoscopic panel we scoped out at CES or it could be another hint that the G-Slate’s been camera-shy for a very particularly, three-dimensional reason.

LG G-Slate to have an 8.9-inch 3D display? Rumor mill says ‘maybe’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Unwired View  |  sourceGPS And Co, TmoNews  | Email this | Comments

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Jan 18

Samsung’s Galaxy S is set for an ‘evolution’ at MWC in February

Posted in: 4G, lte, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, refresh, samsung, teaser, Today's Chili

That Samsung intends to bring a Galaxy S successor to MWC 2011 was already a known known, but now the company’s turning up the hype machine with an update to its Samsung Unpacked website. There, for the pleasure of your eyes and the tickling of your imagination, Sammy has positioned its familiar super-selling Android smartphone alongside a not-too-cryptic message promising that “evolution is fate.” We’re smelling a cute play on words here, similar to what LG did with its Revolution handset, potentially implying that the next Galaxy flagship will have LTE (Long Term Evolution) connectivity built in. That, along with the promised dual-core chip within, should easily outshine the Infuse 4G (which has HSPA+ and a single-core Hummingbird inside) recently announced for AT&T in the States. We’ll get the next dose of our teasing on February 1st, the site promises, before the full unveil in Barcelona on February 13th. Our hearts are all aflutter already.

[Thanks, Patrick]

Continue reading Samsung’s Galaxy S is set for an ‘evolution’ at MWC in February

Samsung’s Galaxy S is set for an ‘evolution’ at MWC in February originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 01:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink BestBoyZ, Fone Arena, Android Central  |  sourceSamsung Unpacked  | Email this | Comments

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Jan 07

Samsung promises dual-core smartphones, new tablets for MWC 2011

Posted in: 4G, dual-core, lte, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, official, plans, roadmap, samsung, schedule, smartphone, tablet, Today's Chili, WiMAX

CES isn’t even over yet, but Samsung’s already looking forward to its next big event: Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. That show gets started on February 14th, but Sammy plans to get things going early with an announcement of dual-core smartphones and new tablets on February 13th. Such is the word straight from the company’s mobile biz president, JK Shin, who says Samsung is “in a position to supply 4G smartphones and tablets to all the carriers in the US.” Naturally, this 4G strategy will include both LTE and WiMAX, while another major prong of the company’s future roadmap is to curtail its featurephone offering in favor of low-cost smartphone devices. Interesting times certainly lie ahead.

Samsung promises dual-core smartphones, new tablets for MWC 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 11:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 10

Microsoft said to be planning second Windows Phone 7 update for MWC in February

Posted in: Microsoft, mwc, mwc 2011, Mwc2011, rumor, Software, software update, SoftwareUpdate, speculation, Today's Chili, update, upgrade, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

Coming this February, at a Mobile World Congress near you, from the company that popularized the Service Pack: a second major update to Windows Phone 7. The observant among you will already be leaping out of their seats to point out that the first WP7 update hasn’t even been delivered yet, but it seems like Microsoft’s calendar stretches beyond the next month and the company’s already churning away on enhancing and improving its rebooted mobile OS. Such is the scuttlebutt coming out of WinRumors, and it’s kind of hard to argue with the postulation that Steve Ballmer wouldn’t be keynoting MWC in 2011 without something significant to announce. Word is that users will be getting added customization options for their phones, while developers will gain an extra few API hooks and controls that will ideally lead to more sophisticated apps in WP7’s future. Sounds good to us, now how about some landscape love, Microsoft?

[Thanks, Jay]

Microsoft said to be planning second Windows Phone 7 update for MWC in February originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 07:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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