Hasta La Gadget!

First, the good news: T-Mobile’s HD2 is in stock online and apparently at many corporate-owned retail locations. Now, the bad: the carrier seems to be putting these things on lockdown right now, only offering them to new customers signing up for a fresh contract. This is a tactic T-Mobile has applied in the past, so we’re not terribly surprised to see them do it here, too — but it’s still a disappointment, especially considering that the phone has been out for a few weeks now. Just goes to show you that a net add is worth considerably more than a loyal customer is (particularly one who’s still under contract), but in the meantime, might we recommend the iHTC HD2?

Update: We’ve received an official statement from T-Mobile on the matter, and it sounds like they’re “giving priority to existing customers” with new inventory coming in. Sweet! Here’s the full verbiage:

“T-Mobile understands the inventory challenges for the HTC HD2 and continues to work diligently in order to supply our customers with this highly popular product. As we receive additional inventory of the HTC HD2, we are giving priority to our existing customers. However, the demand for the device is still exceeding our supply.

Depending on the location, some T-Mobile retail stores may still have some HTC HD2 inventory available. We suggest that interested customers contact their local T-Mobile store via phone before visiting to see if they have the HTC HD2 available. If they do not have the HTC HD2 available, some stores are taking names and contact information, and will be able to notify customers once that location has product available.”

Current T-Mobile customers having hard time upgrading to HTC HD2 (updated with statement) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 May 2010 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Xperia X10, one of the big mindshare-grabbing devices of the smartphone world, made us wait a cool six months between its November announcement and wide retail availability in April. One of the secret hopes while all that waiting was going on was that perhaps SE would surprise us and upgrade the dusty old Android 1.6 base installation to a fresh and creamy Eclair (2.1) or even a frosty Froyo (2.2) treat shortly after launch. Time to lay those dreams to rest, dear friends, as Sony Ericsson has come with an official schedule for upgrading the firmware on the Xperia X10 and its X10 mini and X10 mini pro siblings, which places the Android 2.1 delivery in the fourth quarter of 2010 — and knowing the company that probably means closer to Christmas than Halloween. All we can say is you’d better really like that UX platform a great deal, because it’ll be the only thing you’ll be seeing for quite a while on Sony Ericsson’s Googlephones.

Sony Ericsson X10 family to get Android 2.1 in ‘Q4 2010’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 08:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’d be hard-pressed to find a more direct competitor to the BlackBerry businessphone hegemony than Nokia’s E7x series. It’s therefore quite logical that only a day after RIM chief Mike Lazaridis made the white Bold official, Nokia is following up with its own pale-hued E72. Coming with a skinned UI to match the externals, the new handset is being announced alongside a firmware update (for E72s of all colors and creeds) that updates Ovi Maps, improves social networking integration, and allows location sharing through Facebook. You know, for when you wanna let your hair down after a hard day at the office. Internet radio of an unspecified variety has been included as well, along with general performance and stability improvements. Both the white handset and new firmware are available through Nokia today.

Nokia E72 gets white paint option, firmware update originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not in our nature to get all excited about firmware updates, but B&N sure seems to be bringing the good stuff in release 1.3 of the Nook’s software. The major new features include a Beta release of a “basic” web browser and a Read In Store feature that’s reassuringly true to its name. You’ll basically be allowed to browse and read the full versions of books while inside a Barnes and Noble outlet. That looks like a win-win to us, as it directly addresses the goal of using the Nook to get people in stores while affording consumers the opportunity to get a good idea about a book. The first Android apps on the device are also offered, in the form of games like chess and sudoku, both perfectly suited to the glacially refreshing monochome screen. Speaking of which, B&N claims it’s also improved page turning and loading speeds. The update is available via manual download now or you can wait for the OTA stuff to hit your Nook within the next week.

[Thanks, Davorin]

Nook gets web browser, free in-store reading, and games in new firmware originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alright, Devour users, we know the very first thing you want to know is whether this is Android 2.1 we’re dealing with here — and sadly, the answer to that is a forlorn “no.” That said, it looks like this update is going to tidy up a whole bunch of stuff for you with improved call performance, better UI response time, stability enhancements, a handful of minor email tweaks, better audio over headsets, and updated Google apps. As usual, Verizon and Motorola are rolling out this OTA in phases, so if you haven’t gotten it yet, just hang tight and see what the Firmware Fairy brings you over the next few days.

Motorola Devour graced with update, bug fixes are the main story originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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