Hasta La Gadget!

“An iPhone, an iPhone, my carrier’s reputation for an iPhone.” Grab a cup of coffee and get yourself comfortable, fans of behind-the-scenes industry drama. Wired has published an exhaustive and fascinating expose on the “loveless celebrity marriage” that is Apple and AT&T — all from sources familiar with the matters but who cannot (or will not) be named, of course. In other words, don’t take this as gospel, but frankly, none of this sounds too crazy or outside the realm of what we’ve already surmised ourselves. In brief, the two companies have been contentious towards one another since just after the iPhone was unveiled. For AT&T’s part, the carrier was reportedly taken aback when its requests (delivered by Senior VP Kris Rinne) to restrict YouTube’s bandwidth usage (or make it WiFi-only) while the network infrastructure was built up fell on deaf ears in Cupertino. Word has it Apple also refused to allow its devices to be used in campaigns to combat Verizon’s Map for That ads: “It was [effective] because of AT&T’s network. We would have been letting them use the iPhone to put lipstick on a pig,” remarked one anonymous Apple exec.

What’s most interesting to us here is the ongoing reported discussion to drop AT&T in favor for Verizon. That chapter apparently begins just months after the original’s launch, with an investigative team (including Scott Forstall) ultimately concluding that Qualcomm‘s CDMA (or CDMA / GSM hybrid) chips would require a complete redesign of the device, not to mention a nasty lawsuit with AT&T over its exclusive contract (perhaps a minor issue, knowing Apple). Back then, Verizon wasn’t seen as a guaranteed improvement, and according to one executive privy to such meetings, the carrier switch has been discussed at least a half dozen times, with the general consensus always being that it would “cause as many problems as it solved.” We can’t imagine this is gonna help stem the perpetual VZW iPhone rumor mill.

Hit up the source link for the full tale, which does hit on a fundamental issue of the mobile industry going forward: as smartphone makers continue to push their devices’ capabilities, bandwidth concerns will continue to grow and carriers are likely to take the majority of the blame. If you ask us, David Fincher has just found his ideal follow-up to The Social Network — we’d especially love to see someone film the part where AT&T asks Steve Jobs to ditch the turtleneck and wear a suit when meeting with its board of directors.

Apple discussed Verizon switch ‘at least half a dozen times,’ and other stories about its AT&T relationship originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, this one’s a complete and very welcome surprise — some extremely blurry pictures and a quick video of what appears to be a smaller Motorola portrait QWERTY Android slider for Verizon just popped up on the Chinese Hiapk forums — and yes, it’s got the glowing red Droid eye. We’re not sure if that means the Droid line is about to get a smaller midrange sibling or what, but Motorola’s definitely pushing out some of the more interesting Android form factors lately, and this mini Droid certainly fits right in with the Flipout and the Charm. A couple more shots and the video after the break.

Continue reading Motorola mini Droid slider caught by Mr. Blurrycam

Motorola mini Droid slider caught by Mr. Blurrycam originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that the Droid 2 has officially reached “leaking like a sieve” status, we thought we’d toss you another couple shots of the Droid X’s QWERTY-equipped cousin, which we’re being told is locked for an August release on Verizon. If you’re more of the BlackBerry type, though, we’ve got some news for you, too: our source is telling us that both a Curve 3 and Storm 3 are “possible” for the holidays this year. If we had to guess, the Curve 3 is likely a variant of this 9300 we’ve been seeing lately, whereas the Storm 3 could be a version of the 9800 slider or an entirely new keyboardless slate. There’s also a 10.1-inch tablet on the docket; the carrier has already confirmed that Android tablets are in the pipeline, but this could also be a version of the rumored BlackBerry beast. More on this noise as soon as we get it; in the meantime, follow the break for another shot of that Droid 2, won’t you?

[Thanks, RWN]

Continue reading Verizon leaks another Droid 2, getting BlackBerry Storm 3, Curve 3, 10.1-inch tablet later this year?

Verizon leaks another Droid 2, getting BlackBerry Storm 3, Curve 3, 10.1-inch tablet later this year? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Verizon’s about to take its mobile data game worldwide — we just got this snap of the “FiveSpot,” a “global ready” mobile WiFi hotspot . That certainly sounds like a hybrid CDMA / UMTS mobile hotspot to us, which makes sense — Verizon already sells a bunch of world phones with dual CDMA and GSM radios, so a globetrotting riff on the MiFi fits right in. Based on the name, we’d guess this supports five simultaneous users, but that’s a guess. No idea when this will hit or how much it might cost, but we’ll keep our eyes open — check the box shot after the break.

[Thanks, RWN]

Continue reading Verizon FiveSpot CDMA / GSM mobile WiFi hotspot leaks out

Verizon FiveSpot CDMA / GSM mobile WiFi hotspot leaks out originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not that Verizon really cared much for it anyway, but according to WMExperts, the carrier is preparing to cease sales of the Microsoft’s Kin altogether. As for the fate of the remaining stock, it’s apparently being sent back to, well, somewhere. While a few retail stores we called disavowed any knowledge of such a thing, PhoneArena has a supposed internal screenshot that suggests they may soon change their tone. Either way, Verizon’s not selling Kin online anymore, that’s for sure — quoth the raven, 404.

Verizon halting Kin sales, supply getting returned to sender? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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