Hasta La Gadget!

Say it with us now: “Here we go again.” Just months after a particular eFuse predicament left legions of Droid X owners fuming, it seems that an all-too-familiar scenario is presenting itself to the earliest of T-Mobile G2 buyers. As the story goes, there’s a problematic microchip embedded into the handset which “prevents device owners from making permanent changes that allow custom modifications to the Android operating system.” That’s according to a lengthy New America report on the issue, which outright proclaims that a hardware rootkit “restricts modifications to a device owned by the user.” In other words, if you install some fishy (or not fishy, for that matter) third party ROM, the phone is capable of overriding your software changes and reinstalling the original firmware — makes perfect sense considering how earlier roots were “vanishing” post-reboot. Needless to say, this isn’t exactly going over well with the tinkering community, and a 40+ page thread has already exploded over at xda developers. The silver lining isn’t tough to spot, though — chances are someone with ample time and sufficient coding skills will be able to circumvent this nonsense by the time the G2 actually finds its way back into stock.

T-Mobile G2 said to have ‘hardware rootkit’ that restricts modifications originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been saying prepaid data plans are going to be the next big wave in mobile, and it looks like T-Mobile’s getting on board — we were just sent this employee training sheet detailing the upcoming Passes plans. All of T-Mobile’s mobile broadband products are eligible, which is nice, but the plans themselves are a bit lame — $10 gets you 100MB of data or a weeks’ access, whichever comes first, $30 gets you 300MB or a a month’s worth of access, while $50 nets you 1GB or 30 days. That’s an odd blend of tiered data pricing and prepaid limits, and it compares poorly to T-Mobile’s standard $39 / month data plan with a 5GB cap. But hey — flexibility isn’t cheap. Expect to see this one launched at CTIA for October release — the docs say the new plans will arrive with a new Jet USB modem and a prepaid SIM card retail package as well.

T-Mobile’s Passes prepaid data plans leak out originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 01:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Already got your pre-order in for the T-Mobile G2? Then you should count yourself lucky, as the carrier has updated its website for the phone with the short and sweet notice that “due to overwhelming demand, we’re no longer accepting pre-orders for the T-Mobile G2.” It does note, however, that you’ll still be able to buy the phone online starting tomorrow (though there’s no guarantee when it’ll ship) or, of course, at your local T-Mobile store. Then again, you could also try your luck at a few stores today, considering that official October 6th launch date isn’t exactly set in stone.

T-Mobile no longer accepting G2 pre-orders due to ‘overwhelming demand’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft is scheduled to announce its first line of Windows Phone 7 products in a New York press conference next week.

Reporters this morning received an invitation to an Oct. 11 event, where Microsoft will announce which carriers and manufacturers will be making and selling handsets based on Microsoft’s next mobile operating system. The company will also preview the first line of Windows Phone 7 hardware.

It’s evident that AT&T is on board as one of the carriers. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega will be jointly hosting the conference to discuss the latest developments of Windows Phone 7, according to the press invite.

Despite Engadget’s report that T-Mobile will be a highlight of the Microsoft press conference, a Microsoft spokeswoman said T-Mobile is holding a separate press conference on Oct. 11 that is not part of the Microsoft conference. She declined to comment on whether T-Mobile would be among initial carrier partners offering Windows Phone 7.

Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft’s complete do-over of its mobile operating system previously dubbed Windows Mobile. Microsoft established an early lead on mobility with its older mobile operating system, but in recent years the company has suffered substantial losses in market share. Windows Mobile hasn’t been upgraded substantially in several years, and more user-friendly competitors such as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android OS have taken market share away from Microsoft. As a result, Microsoft scrapped the Windows Mobile project and redid the entire OS into a tile-based interface incorporating elements of the Zune media player and Xbox Live gaming.

Microsoft is also tackling its competitors on the patent front. On Friday, the Redmond company sued Motorola over alleged patent infringement in its Android phones, covering features such as “synchronizing e-mail, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power.” And in an interview in the Wall Street Journal Monday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says that Android sales will generate licensing fees for Microsoft.

Though the company will announce details about Windows Phone 7 at the Oct. 11 conference, multiple reports have claimed that the official shipping date of the first Windows Phone 7 devices is Nov. 8. Wired.com has heard the same date from sources familiar with the project.

See Also:

• Microsoft Blends Zune Media, Xbox Live Into New Phone OS
• Hands-On With Windows Phone 7 Series
• Microsoft Tells Windows Phone 7’s App Story
• Microsoft’s Mobile Strategy Takes Aim at Apple, Google

If there was any scrap of doubt in your mind, we’ll obliterate it for you right now — October 11th is the day Windows Phone 7 will be unveiled in the US, not just at a fancy London event… and wonder of wonders, T-Mobile’s the star of the show. Looks like AT&T won’t be launching Metro UI handsets all alone, eh? The event agenda clearly states there will be “an exclusive showing of T-Mobile powered Windows Phone 7 devices” at 3:30PM EST, and you can bet your britches we’ll be there live to cover the whole thing.

[Thanks, James T.]

Confirmed: Windows Phone 7 launches October 11th in New York City, and T-Mobile’s on board originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Oct 2010 22:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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