Hasta La Gadget!

8 megapixel cameras and 3-plus-inch wide VGA displays are the order of the day in NTT DoCoMo’s 18-strong summer 2009 range of phones from Panasonic, LG, Fujitsu, NEC, Sharp, HTC, and Toshiba, but a few are definitely standing out for us. First would be the unforgettable N-09A from NEC, integrating patent leather right into the phone’s case; it’s not often that you need to condition your handset with saddle soap, so that one definitely caught our eye. Next up, we have a couple smartphones (not to say that anything in this lineup can be labeled “dumb” by any stretch) from HTC and Toshiba — the expected HT-03A and T-01A, respectively, which are localized rebrands of the Magic and TG01. Only a Japanese carrier lineup oozes enough machismo to make a TG01 look like a 16-ounce can of weak juice, so our hats go off to you, NTT DoCoMo — thanks for ruining one of 2009’s most promising devices for us. Hey, at least they’re offering the Magic in both white and black.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

NTT DoCoMo counters SoftBank with 18 new handsets of its own originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 May 2009 05:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Up until now, if you wanted Mozilla’s dearly anticipated mobile port, you had a couple options: you could buy a Nokia N800 / N810, or you could score a Touch Pro and deal with a build ominously described as pre-alpha. Now the software’s finally matured enough to hit Alpha 1 status — although the Touch Pro requirement’s still in place, so you fake Touch Viva owners are sadly still have to hold off a while longer. The major release improves memory behavior, moves the UI to a CSS-based solution that’ll make resolution independence easier, and — here’s the biggie — adds support for add-ons, so it seems like it’s a worthwhile download if you’re doing even a modicum of browsing from your phone. Next up, Mozilla plans to tackle overall Fennec performance on the WinMo platform head-on; maybe they’d care to have a go at Firefox 3 while they’re at it?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Firefox Fennec now available for WinMo in alpha form originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 May 2009 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yeah, we know you. You devoured all 50+ pages of licensing agreements and developer regulations that Microsoft posted on its Marketplace for Mobile developer page yesterday, and now you’re just itching for more. How about 45 minutes and 45 seconds of hot roundtable, Windows Mobile 6.5 developer action from TechEd 2009? Jorge Peraza and John Bruno from MS talk up widgets, which will be simple little gadgets that run within the UI, yet will still be treated like full apps from a developer perspective, meaning they’ll be signed, secured, and only be able to be submitted by certified developers (those who have paid their $99 fee). Also discussed is the reasoning behind 6.5’s less than groundbreaking UI, which comes down to deadlines. Eight or nine months were all the team had to write the OS; not nearly enough time for a complete presentation overhaul — or for any Silverlight integration for that matter. Coming in version 7.0? Wouldn’t surprise us. Full vid after the break.

Continue reading More Windows Mobile 6.5 app information from Microsoft’s TechEd 2009

Filed under: Cellphones

More Windows Mobile 6.5 app information from Microsoft’s TechEd 2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 May 2009 07:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Up until now, Microsoft has taken a rather laissez faire attitude toward application development — anyone with a copy of Visual Studio and half an ounce of coding know-how could whip up and share whatever little programs they want. That won’t be the case inside Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Microsoft’s answer to the App Store, and the company is now listing a number of guidelines that devs must follow for the fruits of their labor to be included. Top on the prohibited list? Apps that themselves sell other apps. Second rule of the Marketplace? No apps that link to apps that sell other apps. Also banned is VoIP over cellular networks, apps that run non-managed code (i.e. don’t stay inside the sandbox MS has set up), anything that distributes a user’s information, and downloads that are bigger than 10MB. Not mentioned? Anything to do with naughty content, meaning purveyors of explicit executables might not have to make concessions. Full list of 12 commandments after the break.

Update: In case you didn’t figure it out for yourself, Arnoud from Tweakers.net wrote in with confirmation that the no-VOIP rule is in place at the request of the providers.

[Warning: PDF read link]

Continue reading The first rule of Windows Marketplace for Mobile is that you don’t subvert Windows Marketplace for Mobile

Filed under: Cellphones

The first rule of Windows Marketplace for Mobile is that you don’t subvert Windows Marketplace for Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 May 2009 07:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While avoiding the juicier questions surrounding the mystery of Project Pink and its potential ties to Verizon for maximizing Pink’s launch, a Microsoft spokesperson has issued new comments that reiterate the stance Redmond has held from time immemorial: there’s no Zunephone, and furthermore, there won’t be any Microsoft-branded phones.

Of course, the devil could lie in the precise wording, and the exact quote was as follows: “Microsoft is not going into the phone hardware business. Microsoft is not building a Zune-specific phone.” Just because there’s not a “Zune-specific phone” doesn’t mean you can’t steal some Zune tech for the phone business, and we have every reason to believe that Microsoft would want to be building Zune-esque features into Windows Mobile — you can start to see tiny slivers of that in 6.5 with the home screen design, for example — so we’re still pretty confident that Pink (or another project) will ultimately marry portions of the technology and branding. In other words: Zunephone, no; Zune on Windows Mobile, though? Yeah, sure, why not?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio

Microsoft reiterates what we knew: no first-party handset, no Zunephone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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