Sep 05

HTC Amaze 4G gets snapped with the lights on, confirms 1.5GHz dual-core CPU

Posted in: Android, gingerbread, Google, hspa, HTC, htc sense, HtcSense, leaked, leaks, mobilepostcross, prototype, rumor, rumors, Today's Chili
The only images we’ve seen of the upcoming HTC Ruby Amaze 4G, the high-powered smartphone inbound for T-Mobile, have left us eager for more substance; few pictures show the phone powered on, and even those offer no visual evidence of its rockin’ specs. Our thirst for more info about the beast has been slightly more quenched, as Droid Sans snapped some pics of the prototype proudly displayed at a public gathering. From what we can tell by the snapshots, the device’s “about” screen confirms the presence of a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 4.3-inch qHD display and an 8MP rear camera (2MP front) with dual-LED flash. The source tells us that it will come shipped with HTC Sense 3.5 running atop Gingerbread, so don’t let these photos — showing off stock Android — get your hopes up so fast. All in all, though, it looks like the Samsung Galaxy S II may have a fierce battle on its hands for the title of T-Mobile’s Next Top (smartphone) Model.

Continue reading HTC Amaze 4G gets snapped with the lights on, confirms 1.5GHz dual-core CPU

HTC Amaze 4G gets snapped with the lights on, confirms 1.5GHz dual-core CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 02

Apple Investigators Allegedly Posed as Cops in iPhone Prototype Hunt

Posted in: Apple, Phones, rumors, Today's Chili

Former CEO Steve Jobs handles the iPhone 4 at WWDC 2010. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

A little more light has been shed on the odd story of Apple losing another iPhone prototype in a Bay Area bar.

The man whose home was searched by what he believed to be San Francisco Police Department officers was Bernal Heights resident Sergio Calderón, SF Weekly discovered. And the police officers? They may have been investigators working for Apple who were actually impersonating police officers.

Impersonating a police officer is a misdemeanor in California, and is punishable by up to a year of jail time. Another option is that Apple was working with police officers, and a proper report was never filed. When the SFPD has been called and asked about the Apple incident, representatives said they had no knowledge of the search.

“This is something that’s going to need to be investigated now,” SFPD spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield told SF Weekly. “If this guy is saying that the people said they were SFPD, that’s a big deal.”

On Wednesday CNET News.com reported that in late July an Apple representative lost a “priceless” next generation iPhone prototype in San Francisco bar Cava 22. Apple reportedly used GPS to track the phone to a Bernal Heights area home, where police officers were given permission to search the home for the device. The resident was offered money by Apple for the iPhone’s safe return, but it was not turned in. The phone was sold on Craigslist for $200, according to CNET, but no independent evidence of the post has surfaced.

The incident is reminiscent of what happened last year when an iPhone 4 prototype was left at a Redwood City bar, and purchased for $5,000 by Gizmodo.

Here’s what went down, according to the new report by SF Weekly:

Calderón said that at about 6 p.m. six people — four men and two women — wearing badges of some kind showed up at his door. “They said, ‘Hey, Sergio, we’re from the San Francisco Police Department.’” He said they asked him whether he had been at Cava 22 over the weekend (he had) and told him that they had traced a lost iPhone to his home using GPS.

They did not say they were there on Apple’s behalf, but they said that the “owner of the phone” would offer Calderón $300 for the phone.

Calderón told SF Weekly that he was threatened by the law-enforcement officers when they visited his house, and said that he has no knowledge of the prototype.

One of the officers who visited the Calderón household was a man named “Tony”. He left his phone number with Calderón in case he discovered any information about the lost phone. It turns out the phone number belongs to an ex-cop named Anthony Colon, who apparently now works for Apple. A search on LinkedIn found that Colon works as a special investigator for Apple and is a former San Jose police officer. That page is now removed from the site, but caches can still be viewed.

This tale keeps getting weirder and weirder. Apple hasn’t returned phone calls on the matter from Wired.com.

via The Giz


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Sep 02

Report: Intel ‘Temporarily’ Halting Meego Development

Posted in: apps, intel, meego, nokia, rumors, Software and Operating Systems, Today's Chili

Nokia’s N9 smartphone is one of few Meego-running devices.

There may be another victim in the smartphone-strewn battlefield of the mobile OS wars.

Intel’s Meego OS could be dropped from the ranks due to a lack of enthusiasm from smartphone and tablet manufacturers. Industry sources say Intel will instead focus on hardware and turn to Android or Windows Phone 7 as a platform for mobile devices that debut in 2012.

We asked Intel about the report, from Taiwanese publication Digitimes, and got this response:

Intel does not comment on industry speculation or rumor. We remain committed to MeeGo and open source, and will continue to work with the community to help develop and meet the needs of customers and end users.

Nokia officially abandoned Meego, and its own Symbian operating system, in favor of Windows Phone 7 in February. The N9 smartphone is one of its few Meego devices, but the platform never garnered much confidence, either among handset makers or consumers.

Recently, another fledgling OS, HP’s webOS, was put to rest, but recent reports show it might be revived in the TouchPad tablet a bit longer.

Can smaller mobile operating systems stand a chance against big guys like Android and iOS? Even the former BlackBerry empire appears to be bowing to increasingly popular Android and Apple devices. Recent stats put Android at 39 percent of the mobile market, with iOS at 28 percent and RIM not too far behind at 20.

But big innovation often springs out of the little guys. For instance, with the Meego-running Nokia N9, there’s no home button. Returning to the home screen is done with a sideways swipe from any side of the screen. Fusion Garage employed a similar technique with their Grid OS tablet and smartphone and revamped what we think of as the home screen interface.

History has shown that as tech companies become bloated empires (cough Microsoft cough HP), their level of innovation doesn’t always match that of their smaller counterparts. You can blame it on bureaucracy, or perhaps employees’ lowered drive as they settle into a cushy, secure job.

Relentless patent-trolling and lawsuit-filing also prohibits creativity, in the software space in particular, as corporations and patent firms try to block one another’s progress in an effort to get ahead (or at least reap some cash).

Regardless, in the mobile space, apps — lots of apps — are a boon to the success of your OS. It’s a lesson both iOS and Android have taken to heart, one that makes a successful entry into the market exceedingly difficult, as webOS’s demise unfortunately shows.

But at least Intel has a strong hardware business to fall back on. It could use a little more TLC if it’s going to maintain its dominance and stand out in the mobile arena.

And why’s that? Apple reportedly has been considering switching to ARM processors on more of its devices, a move that would help unify the iOS/OS X computing experience, but at the expense of Intel’s business. Apple has pushed Intel to develop more efficient chips and threatened to take its business elsewhere if Intel doesn’t meet its power consumption demands. Some reports posit that Apple already has a deal to spread the ARM architecture to its laptops by 2013.

If that’s true, we could see Intel go the way of HP in the next few years.

via TechCrunch

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Sep 01

Bell prepping its LTE network, Samsung Galaxy S II LTE and Tab 8.9 to be offered at launch?

Posted in: 4G, canada, GalaxyTab, leak, leaks, lte, mobilepostmini, rumor, rumors, samsung, samsung galaxy tab, SamsungGalaxyTab, tab, Today's Chili

We’ve known that Bell’s intended to make the jump to LTE for nearly three years, but the Canadian carrier has kept incredibly silent about when or how it was going to leap. If we’re to believe an unnamed source, that silence may be soon coming to an end: supposedly the company will be launching its 4G network “soon” and is rumored to have a phone and a tablet prepped for launch right away. The suspected devices? None other than the Samsung Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy Tab 8.9. If this happens sometime in the fall, such a move would put Bell in the running to become the second carrier in Canada to adopt the next-gen standard — Telus and Sasktel are expected to upgrade next year — which gives advocates of choice some wonderful things to look forward to over the next twelve months.

[Thanks, Doug]

Bell prepping its LTE network, Samsung Galaxy S II LTE and Tab 8.9 to be offered at launch? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 01

Sprint to double Upgrade Fee to $36 starting September 9th?

Posted in: leak, leaks, mobilepostmini, rumor, rumors, Sprint, Today's Chili, upgrade
It’s time to either find your favorite teddy bear or pinch a few hundred pennies. In today’s second bout of unfortunate news coming from Overland Park, SprintFeed is reporting that we should brace ourselves for yet another hike in one-time charges on September 9th. This time, it’s the oh-so-beloved Upgrade Fee that’s the victim of inflation, getting beefed up to $36 for any existing customer who desires a new phone; if you’re hoping to renew contracts on multiple lines, Sprint is graciously willing to cap the fees at a maximum of $150. There’s speculation that these bumps may have something to do with the latest rumor coming out of Cupertino, but it may also simply be a routine policy change. Regardless of the motive, it means anyone holding out for the next best thing should start looking under every couch cushion they sit on, in hopes of scrounging up a few extra bucks.

Sprint to double Upgrade Fee to $36 starting September 9th? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 08:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 31

Toshiba’s rumored ultra-thin tablet plays peek-a-boo at IFA?

Posted in: Ifa2011, rumor, rumors, tab, tablet, tablets, ti, Today's Chili, top, Toshiba

Well, would you look at that? It appears someone just can’t manage to stay out of our field of vision. The shot you see above is apparently the same ultra-thin tablet we ran across two days ago in what appeared to be leaked renders. Now, it’s reportedly peeking out of a booth at IFA. From what we (and now you) can see, it’s running Android and sporting a front facing camera. Rumor has it, the slate will also carry a TI OMAP4460 dual-core 1.5GHz processor, micro-USB, micro HDMI and microSD slots. Of course, we’ll just have to wait see if things shake out, but we’ll be here at IFA trying our damndest to get this skinny sucker to come out of hiding.

Toshiba’s rumored ultra-thin tablet plays peek-a-boo at IFA? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 30

Samsung GT-i9220 confirmed as smartphone with dual-band WiFi, specs remain in rumorville

Posted in: 720p, Android, Google, mobilepostmini, rumor, rumors, samsung, smartphone, Smartphones, Today's Chili, wifi

Samsung’s GT-i9220 has been swirling through the rumor mills for a while now, and we’ve seen tons of conflicting reports regarding this little monster. While its specifications remain shaky at best, a few solid tidbits courtesy of the Wi-Fi Alliance indeed reveal the GT-i9220 as a smartphone, which counters previous speculation that it was merely a media player. Additionally, this Sammy will feature dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi, the latter being an uncommon (though entirely welcome) feature for smartphones, and lending credence to its high-end specs. As for those details, the most plausible rumors suggest we’ll see a dual-core 1.4GHz CPU, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display at 720p along with an 8 megapixel camera. Obviously, internals like these are fightin’ words in the smartphone domain, so we’re forced to take them with a grain of salt until something more solid crawls out of the woodwork.

Samsung GT-i9220 confirmed as smartphone with dual-band WiFi, specs remain in rumorville originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 22:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 29

Snow Leopard to get iCloud support in 10.6.9 update?

Posted in: Apple, mac os x, MacOsX, minipost, rumor, rumors, Today's Chili
Apparently those of you who aren’t upgrading to Cupertino’s latest and greatest desktop OS will be able to sling bits through iCloud with the upcoming 10.6.9 update. The screenshot above comes via an eagle-eyed developer, who’s already upgraded his MobileMe account to the service and also happened to open its forebearer’s preference pane on a machine running Tiger. No word on when it’ll drop (we’d place our bets alongside iOS 5’s launch this fall), but looks like those of you running Snow Leopard got some readin’ to do.

Snow Leopard to get iCloud support in 10.6.9 update? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 29

Toshiba rumored to be announcing ultra-thin tablet at IFA after chunky Thrive did anything but

Posted in: Ifa2011, rumor, rumors, tab, tablet, tablets, ti, Today's Chili, top, Toshiba

With a tablet market dominated by the svelte iPad 2, a device with a “chunky design” isn’t bound to Thrive. According to Notebook Italia, Toshiba’s expected to announce a new ultra-thin tablet at IFA this week, swapping full-size USB and HDMI ports for micro-USB, micro HDMI, and microSD slots in order to shave off a few millimeters from last year’s model, leaving the new device with a sleeker, much more appealing design. The rumored slate is expected to ship with a TI OMAP4460 dual-core 1.5GHz processor, an edge-to-edge screen, and a brushed-metal housing. Other specs, including Android version and screen size are a bit thin at this point, but we should have only a few more days to wait before Toshiba’s new tab makes its glorious IFA debut in Berlin.

[Thanks, Marco]

Toshiba rumored to be announcing ultra-thin tablet at IFA after chunky Thrive did anything but originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 28

Refresh Roundup: week of August 22, 2011

Posted in: Android, att, BlackBerry, firmware, firmware update, FirmwareUpdate, HP, HTC, leak, leaks, mango, mobilepostmini, motorola, nokia, refresh, research in motion, ResearchInMotion, RIM, roundup, rumor, rumors, Software, software update, SoftwareUpdate, Today's Chili, update, verizon, vzw, webos, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

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

  • Motorola’s Photon 4G was the recipient of a minor over-the-air firmware revamp that offers improvements to responsiveness and voice calls, and offers more bug fixes and other enhancements. [via PhoneArena]
  • Want another bug fix update? The HTC EVO 3D is the next contestant, rolling out its second OTA refresh in as many weeks. This time it appears that a new “Corporate 4G” widget and a new radio have been added. [via AndroidCentral]
  • Gingerbread 2.3.4 is now rolling out to Bell’s Motorola Atrix 4G OTA. [via MobileSyrup]
  • Now that its official Gingerbread support page has gone live, Verizon’s Motorola Droid 2 will likely be receiving Android 2.3 in the very near future. [via AndroidCentral]
  • Sasktel’s HTC Incredible S is now the beneficiary of Android 2.3.3 in an OTA install. [via MobileSyrup]

Unofficial Android updates / custom ROMs / misc hackery

Other platforms

  • The Nokia N8 was recently blessed with Symbian Anna, but a few camera-related upgrades were left out. No need to fear, as an “experimental” update is now being offered, which adds continuous auto-focus and tweaks the UI to allow for faster access to the camera — among other improvements, such as a boost to 30fps. Check out the change log here. [via ZOMGitsCJ]
  • Given last week’s news about webOS, we were concerned the newly-launched Pre3 would be DOA, with no promise of future updates. HP’s proving this isn’t the case, however, as the device got a minor update that brought the phone’s help center live and fixed a few bugs along the way. [via PreCentral and PhoneArena]
  • Research in Motion released an upgrade to its Tablet OS for the BlackBerry PlayBook. Unfortunately, it’s not the 2.0 version we saw leaked screenshots of earlier this week, but it still brings a nice feature to the tablet: differential updates. This means that in future OS refreshes, only the affected sections will be changed. In addition, the new version, dubbed 1.0.7.2942, will improve WiFi connectivity via WEP and enhancements to BlackBerry Bridge. [via RIM]
  • WP7Mod showed a video of the HTC HD2 booting up with Windows Phone Mango’s RTM build installed. We’ve been told that it’s almost ready for any daring souls interested in a new challenge for their Windows Mobile device. [via WMPowerUser]

Refresh Roundup: week of August 22, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Aug 2011 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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