Hasta La Gadget!

We hear so many iPhone-Verizon-tomorrow-OMG rumors that our nation’s brave also-ran carriers hardly get a word in edgewise. While Sprint remains a total longshot, T-Mobile USA is an interesting proposition for the mere fact that it’s a GSM network, though its 1700 / 2100 3G network remains ostensibly incompatible with the iPhone 4’s existing radio. According to Cult of Mac, a “highly placed source” at T-Mobile let it slip that they’ve got an 80 percent chance of getting the iPhone in Q3. Now, that’s an oddly specific number, and we have no idea what it’s contingent on, or how much exactly this source knows. Basically, we don’t know a lot here. Of course, the biggest evidence of this possible T-Mobile coup remains the statement from Deutsche Telekom’s CEO in March, saying that the USA branch is hoping to get the iPhone later this year. We really don’t know who or what to believe, but we do know one thing: if Apple decides to sell a T-Mobile USA iPhone, there’s an 80+ percent chance it will tell everybody.

iPhone headed for T-Mobile USA in Q3? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know, some people get married with less information about their partner than we already have about the Droid 2. Today, we have a pair of independent leaks seemingly confirming that the second coming of Moto’s QWERTY-sportin’ Doer will be running Android 2.2 right out of the gate. Droid Life has a tipster that’s apparently spent some quality time with the device, describing its keyboard as “phenomenal” and pointing out that it feels notably snappier than the original. The Froyo connection is reiterated by Phandroid‘s sources, which provide images of Verizon’s device database indicating once again that Android 2.2 and Droid 2 will be an appropriately matched pair when the launch codes get entered (last mooted for August 12) and this thing finally hits retail.

Droid 2 and Android 2.2 fated to be together from the start, according to latest leaks originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hang on to your megabytes, folks, because it looks like the Brave New World of limited data is truly upon us. AT&T and Verizon tend to follow each others’ moves pretty closely — the two carriers regard each other as their nearest competitors, after all — and we’re hearing that Big Red intends to move to some sort of tiered bucket strategy on July 29. We don’t have details on whether the pricing will be identical to AT&T’s ($25 for 2GB, $15 for 200MB), but we imagine it’ll be within shouting distance if not. Of course, Verizon has been sending this message for a long time — even before AT&T was — so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that this is going down. You might say that Droid Does Caps, eh?

[Thanks, RBF]

Verizon switching to AT&T-style limited data plans later this month? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ready to have your mind blown? Good, then sit down for a moment: we’re hearing from a trusted source that the thoroughly-leaked Motorola Droid 2 for Verizon will be launching on August 12 — although it seems to be something of a soft launch, because marketing efforts aren’t scheduled to kick in until a week and a half later on the 23rd. What’s even more interesting, though, is that there’ll be a Star Wars edition of the phone launching with a white R2-D2 on the back. For the record, this isn’t the first time Verizon has toyed with the Droid line’s Star Wars origins; Motorola actually had to license the name from Lucasfilm, and to promote the original phone, Big Red sent around remote-control Artoos last year to various media outlets. What we don’t know is whether the special edition will be launching at the same time as the stock version — so if the plain-vanilla Droid 2 comes out first, that might automatically make the decision of which to buy for some folks. What about you?

[Thanks, RBF]

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Droid 2 launching as soon as August 12, embraces Star Wars roots with R2-D2 edition originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“An iPhone, an iPhone, my carrier’s reputation for an iPhone.” Grab a cup of coffee and get yourself comfortable, fans of behind-the-scenes industry drama. Wired has published an exhaustive and fascinating expose on the “loveless celebrity marriage” that is Apple and AT&T — all from sources familiar with the matters but who cannot (or will not) be named, of course. In other words, don’t take this as gospel, but frankly, none of this sounds too crazy or outside the realm of what we’ve already surmised ourselves. In brief, the two companies have been contentious towards one another since just after the iPhone was unveiled. For AT&T’s part, the carrier was reportedly taken aback when its requests (delivered by Senior VP Kris Rinne) to restrict YouTube’s bandwidth usage (or make it WiFi-only) while the network infrastructure was built up fell on deaf ears in Cupertino. Word has it Apple also refused to allow its devices to be used in campaigns to combat Verizon’s Map for That ads: “It was [effective] because of AT&T’s network. We would have been letting them use the iPhone to put lipstick on a pig,” remarked one anonymous Apple exec.

What’s most interesting to us here is the ongoing reported discussion to drop AT&T in favor for Verizon. That chapter apparently begins just months after the original’s launch, with an investigative team (including Scott Forstall) ultimately concluding that Qualcomm‘s CDMA (or CDMA / GSM hybrid) chips would require a complete redesign of the device, not to mention a nasty lawsuit with AT&T over its exclusive contract (perhaps a minor issue, knowing Apple). Back then, Verizon wasn’t seen as a guaranteed improvement, and according to one executive privy to such meetings, the carrier switch has been discussed at least a half dozen times, with the general consensus always being that it would “cause as many problems as it solved.” We can’t imagine this is gonna help stem the perpetual VZW iPhone rumor mill.

Hit up the source link for the full tale, which does hit on a fundamental issue of the mobile industry going forward: as smartphone makers continue to push their devices’ capabilities, bandwidth concerns will continue to grow and carriers are likely to take the majority of the blame. If you ask us, David Fincher has just found his ideal follow-up to The Social Network — we’d especially love to see someone film the part where AT&T asks Steve Jobs to ditch the turtleneck and wear a suit when meeting with its board of directors.

Apple discussed Verizon switch ‘at least half a dozen times,’ and other stories about its AT&T relationship originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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