Hasta La Gadget!

We’re still not totally clear on how exactly Verizon intends to enter (or rather, re-enter) the Palm stage in 2010; we know there’s definitely a WiFi-equipped CDMA Pixi out there that’ll likely find its way into Big Red’s clutches, but otherwise, we really need to wait for this event at CES next month. Well, maybe — we’ve got another little clue here in the form of some tips to PhoneArena stating that a “Pre Plus” has found its way into the carrier’s systems, which fits in nicely with info we’d previously received from one of our trusted sources that Verizon’s Pre would be somehow “different” from Sprint’s though we don’t yet know how. As far as we can tell, this isn’t the same as that WiFi Pixi (wouldn’t it be confusing if it was?), so we should probably expect at least two webOS models on Verizon over the next few months. In other news, that Motorola Calgary (pictured) appears to be shaping up as the “Devour” with a 3 megapixel cam and Blur running on Android 2.1 — yes, 2.1, not 1.5, which should give hope to CLIQ owners that an update is probably in the works. Finally, there’s talk of an LG VS750 in a mega-thin form factor running WinMo 6.5 with global roaming capability, but we don’t have a picture of that one just yet. Anyhow, back to the Pre Plus, we’re accepting all guesses as to what the “Plus” in the name might stand for — 16GB of integrated storage or a microSD slot seem like obvious candidates, but feel free to get creative with us.

[Image via BGR]

Verizon getting Palm Pre Plus and Android-powered Motorola Devour? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Swedish cell phone carrier TeliaSonera has powered up what it calls the world’s first commercial Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G network in Stockholm, accessible via Samsung cellular USB modems.

The Ericsson-supplied network supposedly can run up to 100 Mbps when maxed out, though real-world speeds will be nowhere near that number.

Last month, several major telecoms around the world–including TeliaSonera, Orange, AT&T, Telefonica, Verizon, and others–finally agreed on a standard for voice and SMS communication over LTE 4G networks, in an effort to ensure that they’re used for more than just faster Web browsing and other data services.

Verizon is still expected to be first out of the gate with LTE in the U.S. sometime in the second half of 2010.

If you were looking for just one more reason to ditch Sprint then this could be it. A CDMA-flavored Palm Pixi just cleared the FCC — yes, another one — and we can say with confidence it’s not coming to Sprint this time around. Better yet, Palm’s model P121EWW matches up with that P121 code we saw leaked a while back for Big Red (Sprint’s model is P120EWW), and this sucker got tested for 802.11b/g WiFi. Looks like that Sprint ad touting the Pixi’s non-existent WiFi was more than just wishful thinking. With webOS-powered Palm gear already confirmed on Verizon for “early next year,” are you really going to make the jump to a WiFi-less Pixi on Sprint knowing what’s on the way? And more importantly, can we expect another terrifying series of ads targeting Sprint this time instead of AT&T?

Palm Pixi clears FCC with Verizon frequencies and WiFi in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sorry, no Android 2.0 here (yet), but Verizon’s version of the HTC Hero is now getting its first over-the-air update. Known by its affection title of Droid Eris ROM:1.16.605.1, the patch is more or less the usual minor tweaks and improvements, although those who like to dramatically hang up on someone should be advised that the phone goes into screensaver while on call, and two presses of the End key will be required to exit the mode and then conclude said conversation. The week-long rollout starts at midnight ET tonight, but as usual, it could take up to a week to hit your system. Full patch notes after the break.

Continue reading First Droid Eris update makes the slow OTA rollout starting tonight

First Droid Eris update makes the slow OTA rollout starting tonight originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every time an Android phone launches, a stopwatch quietly starts ticking, because we all know it’s just a matter of time before the thing gets rooted. This time around, it’s a big one: it appears that the mighty Droid has fallen to the hands of hackers looking to drop whatever they please onto the phone’s firmware — and anyone enjoying Cyanogen’s works over in the HTC world understands full well the benefits of being able to do this. We’ll hold off on cracking open the bubbly until we start to see some practical benefits to the root, but this is a stellar way to start if it’s legit and functional.

[Thanks, Eliot]

Motorola Droid finally rooted? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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