Hasta La Gadget!

Though Verizon Wireless and corporate half-parent Vodafone are finally getting close to achieving technological synergy now that both are moving to LTE for their next-gen networks — and contrary to recent statements — rhetoric is heating up that suggests the marriage may not last forever. Speaking at an investor’s get-together this week, Voda CEO Vittorio Colao said that “the board continues to look at” the company’s investment in the joint venture with Verizon — which we take as executive-speak for “everything’s for sale for the right price.” The popular rumor is that Vodafone’s bummed about Verizon’s failure to pay dividends for the past four years, which effectively means that Big Red isn’t actively contributing to the wireless giant’s bottom line. Verizon’s made no secret of the fact that it’d love to own the joint venture outright, so come on, guys… Verizon’s got money, Voda’s got the goods, let’s sit down at that oaken conference table on the 45th floor and work this out.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Vodafone thinking long and hard about its Verizon stake originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The LiMo Foundation’s platform is far from vaporware — countless Japanese domestic market handsets run it in one form or another, which makes sense considering that NTT DoCoMo, NEC, and Panasonic are all counted among its founding members — but outside the land of the rising sun, LiMo’s had very little end-user impact even as it’s collected big-name members and released several rounds of specs and whitepapers over the last year and a half. To a certain extent, that’s by design; unlike Android, LiMo is as much about creating synergies for manufacturers and carriers as it is about giving subscribers flashy user interfaces, but a new Samsung for Vodafone leaked on Boy Genius Report today suggests that we might be getting flashy UIs nonetheless. We don’t know what this phone will ultimately be called, but it doesn’t take more than a couple glances to pick up on the fact that it’s relatively high-end, equipped with an 8 megapixel cam and full AMOLED touhscreen. The social-oriented interface looks seriously tricked out with faces (hopefully of people the user knows) moving in and out in three dimensions — usability is an open question, but at least it’s pretty to stare at, which is really what a good phone’s all about anyway, right? Word on the street is that this might be announced at a London event on the 24th, but here’s our question: where’s Verizon in all this?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

LiMo Foundation could be close to bearing fruit for Samsung, Vodafone in a big way originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We heard way back at CES that a GSM Pre was in the works, but not until now have we heard who exactly in the world would be using it. According to confirmation received by T3, Palm is gearing up to disclose the whos, whats and wheres behind the UK launch next week, meaning that we’ve got seven days (give or take) to twiddle our thumbs until we know which carrier (O2 or Vodafone, most likely), how much and when it’ll be available for purchase. We know it’s agonizing, but at least you’ve a time frame to circle in your Trapper Keeper now, right?

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm to disclose UK Pre launch details next week? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Vodafone, the world’s biggest revenue-generating mobile service provider, is looking to get a bit larger. The company is reportedly looking at acquiring the UK wing of T-Mobile, which is currently valued at $4.2bn-$5.6bn.

Such a move would give Vodafone 40-percent of the UK’s mobile revenue, making it the largest mobile provider in that country, a position currently held by the Telefonica-owned O2, which has a 27-percent market share.The move would likely be subject to a good deal of scrutiny by regulators.

With that May launch window closing fast, it looks like Nokia might get Ovi Store in under the proverbial wire: it just went live on Vodafone in Australia, which was soon followed by other carriers, and then Ireland and Singapore. According to a post that was subsequently pulled from Nokia’s Conversations blog, Nokia confirmed the rollout and said that it was progressively moving the Ovi Store to “production servers,” and that we could “expect a broader announcement and consumer availability soon.” Unfortunately, since that post has been pulled, we’re not really sure what to expect, but at least the lucky few with Ovi can beam back important missives on their Twittix apps about what life is like in the future. Above are shots of the store live on an N97.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Nokia’s Ovi store makes soft landing in a few markets, might be headed to your neck of the woods soon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 May 2009 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments