Hasta La Gadget!

You’ve seen it before and now you’re seeing it again. The Droid X2 that Motorola seems unwilling to announce has made another unsanctioned appearance in the wild. It’s still rocking Android 2.2 and there’s sadly no indication of any LTE goodness for it, but we suspect the changes that justify the 2 in its name will be happening under the hood. The 8 megapixel camera round the back comes with the same dual-LED flash array and HD Video label as the original Droid X, once again giving us no hint of what exactly Motorola’s upgraded. Then again, what’s the fun in knowing everything in advance?

Droid X2 reappears in the wild, still indistinguishable from Droid X originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’d heard March 31st for this thing, but hey — are we about to complain when it goes on sale early? That would be a definitive “no,” and we’re happy to report that Samsung’s SCH-LC11 Mobile Hotspot with 1x, EV-DO Rev. A, and LTE compatibility on Verizon’s network is now being offered on the carrier’s website for $99.99 on contract after a $50 instant discount. That makes it the cheapest way to get five devices attached to some of the fastest wireless broadband around — sure, you can do it with a Thunderbolt, but it’ll run you a little more upfront and you need a voice plan. Who’s in?

[Thanks, Nick R.]

Verizon’s Samsung LTE Mobile Hotspot goes on sale: $100 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, there’s good news and bad. Naturally, we’re going to start with the former. A month after we spotted this character sneaking around at Mobile World Congress, LG has finally taken the (official) wraps off of its incoming WCP-700 Wireless Charging Pad. It’s a pretty familiar design — a slim (6.29- x 3.54- x 0.39-inch) inductive charging pad with a battery of LEDs to let you know the current status of things. We’re guessing this guy is designed to work initially with the Verizon-bound Revolution, but given that LG makes no mention of what phones / cases will eventually be compatible, it’ll have to remain just that for now. As for the bad news? Well, aside from not knowing what exactly this unit is for (in terms of compatibility), we’re also left in the dark when it comes to pricing and a ship date. But hey, at least we’ve got a trio of high resolution images to gawk at.

Update: Fulton Innovation has just confirmed that LG is using its Qi-compliant eCoupled technology for the charging pad.

Continue reading LG gets official with WCP-700 Wireless Charging Pad, fails to provide pricing

LG gets official with WCP-700 Wireless Charging Pad, fails to provide pricing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, isn’t this just something. It only took Sprint a matter of hours (on a Sunday evening, no less) to push out a detailed list of gripes concerning the proposed AT&T / T-Mobile USA tie-up, but Verizon Wireless won’t even be wasting its time. According to an interview with Reuters ahead of CTIA, VZW CEO Daniel Mead confessed that his company wouldn’t be lobbying the FCC or any other entity to stop the inevitable, noting that “anything can go through if you make enough concessions.” That’s a pretty bold quote in and of itself, but of course, this is coming from the man who made an awful lot of those so-called concessions in order to pick up Alltel a few years ago. Continuing on, he blasted out this gem: “We’re not interested in Sprint. We don’t need them.” In other words, there’s nary a chance in Hades that America’s current largest wireless carrier will be making a bid to keep it that way by shelling out for The Now Network. Why? Quite simply, he’d rather focus on being the most profitable US carrier rather than the largest. Not exactly what you’d expect coming from Verizon Wireless’ CEO, but hey — if he’s down for the competition, we’re down with watching from the sidelines.

Verizon Wireless CEO ‘not interested’ in buying Sprint, won’t waste time opposing T-Mobile / AT&T merger originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though never confirmed by Verizon, it seems likely that battery life (or more accurately, the lack thereof) played a part in the series of delays preceding the Thunderbolt’s launch. To combat this problem, Big Red and HTC are offering a rather unsightly extended battery pack that nearly doubles the handset’s capacity from 1400mAh to 2750mAh. All that extra juice will certainly come in handy for folks leaning heavily on the phone’s LTE radio. However, the device costs $50 and adds an ounce of junk in the trunk — on a device that isn’t svelte to begin with — so why not buy another standard battery for ten bucks less instead? Then you can use the Qi-compatible back and induction charging station Verizon’s releasing in April. It’s just under $100 ($29 for the back and $69 for the pad) for those who want to cut the cord and don’t mind the expanded waistline we assume comes with the privilege.

Verizon and HTC offer Thunderbolt extended battery, give your phone dumps like a truck originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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