Hasta La Gadget!

We don’t know whether this is going to be the Droid 2, the Droid X, or both, but Motorola, Google, Verizon, and Adobe — yes, Adobe — are all getting on stage out in New York on the 23rd of the month to announce some new Android gear. Should be exciting, so keep it locked — because naturally, we’ll be on-hand for all the festivities.

Motorola, Verizon announcing ‘next generation of Droid’ on June 23 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sometimes, hackers hack without any constructive purpose — they do it just because they can. This, however, decidedly isn’t such a case; in fact, it’s one of the more enviable hackjobs we’ve seen in recent weeks. Basically, a dude split open his 3G iPad, removed the AT&T modem, and installed the circuit board out of a Verizon MiFi, providing power from the iPad’s battery and hooking in the borrowed AT&T antenna for hotspot range. The hack wasn’t without its trials and tribulations — the MiFi’s green LED initially shone through the back of the iPad’s display, for instance — but ultimately, the proud owner ended up with a fully functional iPad that doubles as a Verizon WiFi hotspot. It’s not exactly turnkey enough to recommend to lay folk, but at least Verizon customers can take heart knowing this kind of craziness is possible if you’ve got the stones for it.

[Thanks, Peter]

Verizon MiFi surgically implanted in iPad to create world’s first bionic tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might imagine that we’re getting a pretty wild variety of EVO 4G-related tips today, seeing how it’s launch day and all — but a couple really stood out for us:

• Sprint’s activation system is apparently buckling under the pressure, an issue that’s giving us nightmarish flashbacks to iPhone launches of days gone by. We’ve even heard reports of poor shoppers being “turned away” when reps are stymied by the situation. A wildly successful product is both a blessing and curse, is it not?
• One corporate store clerk says Sprint’s system is now entirely down, and employees are being forced to write receipts by hand. “We have sold out (and pretty fast at that), but can’t do anything at this point, not even a bill pay,” he adds.
• We’ve gotten multiple tips saying that Radio Shack now lists a $400 early termination fee in its contract for the iPhone on Verizon and Sprint. Our guess is that this is just some generic verbiage, not a sign of an impending CDMA launch, but you never know.
• One tipster said his EVO came with a Samsung microSD card, rather than a SanDisk. We don’t know what to make of that, as it was far too late for HTC to head off storage bugs at the pass.

Keep us updated with your launch day travails, folks!

[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]

EVO 4G launch day antics: Sprint’s computers overwhelmed, Radio Shack listing CDMA iPhones? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re wondering why T-Mobile doesn’t have 3G in the middle of the Mojave, the answer’s pretty simple: it’s hard for any of the Big Four to justify spending millions of dollars on infrastructure in sparsely-populated areas. Rather than ignore it and leave the spectrum blank, though, Verizon’s asking other companies to step in and share the responsibilities — sort of — by letting partners do most of the hard work (build towers and operate backhaul) while Big Red chips in its 700MHz spectrum holdings and “core LTE equipment.” Presumably, Verizon will help itself to a share of the proceeds, which from their perspective, makes it look like a win-win scenario: they’re helping to bring 4G technology to underserved areas, doing less work and spending less capital than they’d have to otherwise, and profiting off the spirit of an initiative that FCC chief Julius Genachowski is pushing very, very hard at the moment. And hey, we bet you’ll be getting some insane throughput when you’re rocking the LTE modem in the middle of nowhere.

Verizon looking to partner up for rural LTE deployments originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If the whole “smoke -> fire” adage proves true once more, it’s looking like Verizon loyalists can expect to see a Shadow at least a few milliseconds before a CDMA iPhone. Following up on months of leaks and rumors, we’ve got yet another snippet of evidence pointing towards a VZW release of the so-called Motorola Shadow. Spotted here in the carrier’s inventory database, the MB810 moniker aligns perfectly with that WiFi certification we saw earlier in the month. Combine that with the fact that this is definitely some sort of Motorola smartphone, and you’ve got everything you need to start pinching those pennies for a June / July debut. Oh, you already threw down a Benjamin for Memorial Day grub? Good luck with that return policy.

[Thanks, tuan tran]

Motorola Shadow slithers into Verizon’s inventory database as MB810 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 May 2010 12:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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