Motorola Krave ZN4’s successor named Inferno, now moving to field trials?

That Motorola Inferno is looking more real than ever for a couple reasons: first, we’ve been able to confirm it with a trusted source of ours, and two, Boy Genius Report has it on good authority that it’s about to start field trials this coming week. In keeping with the pyrotechnic theme pioneered by the Krave ZN4’s “Blaze” codename, it seems the production device may now be called “Torch” — and, somewhere along the course of its R&D evolution, may have lost the translucent cover. Ironically, we really liked the cover on the ZN4 — the touch sensitivity is one of the more trick features we’ve seen on a handset in recent memory — but, you know, we wouldn’t want to question Moto’s infinite wisdom.

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Motorola Krave ZN4’s successor named Inferno, now moving to field trials? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon gets official with Network Extender: $249, no monthly fees

Right on cue, Verizon has launched its very own femtocell into the world: the Network Extender. For those unfamiliar, this here box connects to one’s broadband internet connection and essentially acts as a mini cell tower right in the home. In other words, it’ll make your at-home VZW coverage absolutely amazing. Unlike Sprint’s AIRAVE, though, there are absolutely no monthly fees attached — simply plunk down $249.99 up front and watch your signal improve. As for limitations, you can only use this within the Verizon Wireless Enhanced Services coverage area (read: not overseas), and there’s no support for EV-DO data speeds or Location Based Services such as VZ Navigator and Chaperone. It’s available now for ordering online or over the phone, and all the nitty-gritty details are covered in the FAQ section linked below. So, AT&T — you’re next, right?

[Thanks, Anonymous]

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Verizon gets official with Network Extender: $249, no monthly fees originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon Hub in the wild on way to February 1 release

Our tipster tells us these bad boys can’t be activated just yet, but they’ll be available in stores as of February 1 — and you won’t need anything crazy like FiOS to get ’em. The Hub is the evolution of the Verizon One concept first shown at CES two years ago, featuring family-friendly features like a digital corkboard, scheduler, photo frame functionality, and integration with Verizon Wireless handsets to fire MMS shots straight to the screen. In a way, you can think of it as the watered-down realization of that awesome videophone in Back To The Future II, but with less teleconferencing and fax capability and way, way less Lea Thompson.

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Verizon Hub in the wild on way to February 1 release originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon launching Wireless Network Extender femtocell on January 25

Sprint had the jump on this by a few months with its AIRAVE, but Verizon’s not far behind in bringing femotcells to the masses with its less-elegantly-named Wireless Network Extender later this month on the 25th. The little black box will puke out a cloud of CDMA covering up to 5,000 square feet of domicile with support for up to three simultaneous calls — enough for you, the hubby / missus, and little Joey / Susie to all be yapping away at the same time. Like Sprint’s solution, the Wireless Network Extender uses GPS to verify that you’re not creating little tiny Verizon networks in Laos, Kenya, or Uruguay and plugs into the internet source of your choice via Ethernet. It’ll be available in Verizon stores and online starting January 25 for $249.99 — not a bad deal for Verizon, considering you’re saving them the expense of erecting a tower.

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Verizon launching Wireless Network Extender femtocell on January 25 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon’s Hub ultra-deskphone finally coming soon

The Hub is shaping up to being one of the greatest untold gadget dramas of the past decade. Okay, maybe that’s an overstatement — but seriously, what exactly is this thing? Part of the story is that it’s a virtual corkboard and picture frame for families in the same vein as the Verizon One and AT&T’s HomeManager, but we’ve also heard that it’ll play nice with picture messaging and other services from Verizon Wireless phones — in other words, it’s the secret sauce that’ll let Verizon control your entire communications ecosystem. Word on the street is that Hubs have arrived in Verizon stores with strict orders from corporate not to bust open the boxes until told to do so, so in the meantime, enjoy a shot of the surprisingly attractive box design. We’re being told that the official launch will come before mid-February, so we’ll get this all sorted before too long.

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Verizon’s Hub ultra-deskphone finally coming soon originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon’s Samsung Saga hands-on

We spent a few brief moments with Samsung’s dual-mode Saga for Verizon recently, and let’s just put it this way: our reaction wasn’t what we’d expected. Head on over to Engadget Mobile for the pictures — oh, those glorious pictures — and our quick take!

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Verizon’s Samsung Saga hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 11:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC’s 2009 haul seemingly leaked, packs all sorts of gorgeous

It’s no secret that HTC wants to step up its Android game, and if this new stuff is to be believed, 2009’s shaping up to be a banner year. Some cat over on PPCGeeks seems to have leaked a pretty believable ’09 roadmap for HTC, showing tons of glorious hardware that appears — at least on the surface — to go toe-to-toe with the best Palm, Apple, and the rest of the gang can bring to the table. AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint all have dedicated stuff in here, including a “Jasper” that looks to combine the Touch HD with the Touch Pro, a successor to the monster Athena called “Ihoth,” and this little guy, a garishly pink Android handset dubbed “Hero.” We’d expect at least some of these to be announced at MWC next month, so we don’t have long to wait — assuming they’re real, of course.

[Via wmpoweruser.com]

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HTC’s 2009 haul seemingly leaked, packs all sorts of gorgeous originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon and Alltel to join in holy matrimony January 9th

Following a good half year of courtship while the regulatory miscellany ran its course, Verizon’s finally ready to take the plunge and call this $5.9 billion deal done. The combined juggernaut will amass a staggering 78 million subscribers, putting it roughly 3 million ahead of its closest rival, AT&T, though it’ll do so at the cost of assuming some $22.9 billion in Alltel debt. Ultimately, the merger means some positions at Alltel headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas will get axed — but hey, AT&T Mobility HQ’s just a stone’s throw away in Atlanta, so Verizon’s headcount loss could ultimately be AT&T’s gain.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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Verizon and Alltel to join in holy matrimony January 9th originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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