Hasta La Gadget!

There’s naturally been a ton of feedback in the past few hours on AT&T’s new data pricing strategy, and the company has been responding to comments all morning over on its Facebook page; one of the key tidbits that’s come out of the discussion so far is that folks on the current $30 smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan when upgrading hardware. Translation: yes, you’ll be able to get a new iPhone without switching to the $25 / 2GB DataPro plan if you so choose. What you won’t be able to do, though, is keep the $30 plan and add on the $20 tethering option — tethering specifically requires DataPro, so your hopes and dreams of a soft 5GB cap are quashed (unless you want to pay $30 for 3GB of overage, of course).

On a related note, we’ve been tipped that some folks’ iPad orders from Apple have been pushed back to June 7 — an interesting coincidence, considering that’s when DataPlus and DataPro go live. If true, it’s likely so that Apple can pre-install new orders with updated software for managing the new plans, but it’s also a preemptive strike against a horde of people trying to grandfather into the $30 plan over the next few days.

[Thanks, John and Aaron]

AT&T users can keep $30 unlimited data when upgrading phones… unless they want tethering originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When Samsung launched its Behold II with Android 1.5 on board, it made something of a big deal about the fact the handset will be upgradeable to version 2.0 when that software became available. Such a big deal that it even put the promise of an OTA update into a promo video — a video that subsequently got yanked as the company realized it wasn’t going to be able to stick to its word. Well, that evidence has now been tracked down (see it after the break), and all those buyers who were left with a Cupcake in lieu of a promised Eclair have hardly forgotten about it either. Samsung’s position varies between the boilerplate “we don’t have a future release date,” to a stone cold “the SGH-T939 will never qualify for the Android 2X update,” depending on which rep you speak to. The disappointed users have therefore resorted to putting a petition together, which asks that either a refund, replacement Android 2.x handset, or a real update be provided to them, and concludes that “legal action will be taken” if Samsung fails them. That’s not exactly unreasonable , given the unfulfilled expectation — Samsung, what say you?

[Thanks, Yitzhak]

Continue reading Samsung Behold II fails to fulfill Android 2.0 promise, jilted users contemplating lawsuit (video)

Samsung Behold II fails to fulfill Android 2.0 promise, jilted users contemplating lawsuit (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 08:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Assuming you resisted the temptation to either root your Hero or update it with the recently leaked 2.1 firmware, this is your very first chance to finally slap a dash of Android future on your senescent device. Sprint has at long last made the update available, though it isn’t quite yet ready to download from its site. Fear not, the good folks behind the yellow network have put together a guide on upgrading through your phone and we’ll link up the download as soon as it’s ready for consumption. Time to start enjoying that Google Maps Navigation magic and all the other goodies constituting Eclair‘s delectable filling.

Update: It’s now available direct from HTC’s website, as well as Sprint’s own site. Thanks, all!

[Thanks, Jonathan]

Sprint’s Hero finally gets official Android 2.1 upgrade originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 06:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, hey — what do you know? If you’re a Samsung Moment owner on Sprint, you know exactly how glorious it feels to have and hold Android 2.1, which Sprint has confirmed to be rolling out to handsets as we speak. Notably, a tweet on the matter has the carrier promising that Hero owners will be “next” to see the same update, but sadly a time line wasn’t given. Enjoy and hang tight, respectively.

Samsung Moment gets Android 2.1 update from Sprint, Hero users promised to be next originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 May 2010 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’d been hearing rumors lately that HTC’s Droid Eris — a phone that has never quite made it out from under the Droid’s shadow — is in the midst of being discontinued by Verizon, but the imminent launch of an Android 2.1 update might just buy it a new lease on life. In fact, the update makes this phone just about the first Hero variant anywhere in the world to be graced with an upgrade to Google’s latest and greatest stuff, beating Sprint’s version thanks to a string of delays that have pushed it out to some unidentified period in the second quarter. We’ve yet to see any reports of folks actually receiving the update notification on their devices, but Verizon’s official support Twitter account is tweeting about the upgrade — which should fix numerous bugs on top of the hotly-anticipated Eclair boost — so we’d expect it to start hitting the wild shortly. Keep us on top of your experiences in comments, won’t you?

[Thanks, Richard]

Update: Verizon has now posted the PDF changelog for your perusal while you wait. Thanks, Michael V.!

Verizon’s HTC Droid Eris getting Android 2.1 any time now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 15:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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