Hasta La Gadget!

If you needed another reason to frown upon the state of the North American wireless industry, allow us to go ahead and turn your attention to Exhibit A here. What you’re looking at is some promotional material backing up earlier rumors that the HD2 / Leo is en route to O2 in the UK, but what’s especially upsetting (though not terribly surprising) is the knowledge that customers will be able to scoop up HTC’s new ultra-high-end WinMo beast for zilch on an O2 1200 tariff — a plan that runs something like £45 (about $72) a month. Oh, and that’s on an 18-month contract, not 24. Meanwhile, we’ll be lucky to ever see the Leo land in its natural, original, HTC-approved state on a carrier at any price in the US, but hey, at least we’ve still got some more Touch Pro2 launches to look forward to, right?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

HTC Leo looking confirmed for O2 UK debut, will be free on the right plan originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Does WinMo butter your biscuit? Do you chuckle, not cringe, at the antics of Microsoft’s CEO? Then lean in close, we’ve got something that’s going to make your day. Benjamin Tan, senior director of Microsoft’s GCR Mobile Team Unit in China, says that more than 30 Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones from over 15 handset vendors will launch before the end of 2009. And you thought 15 to 20 Android phones were a lot.

Filed under: Cellphones

Microsoft: Over 30 Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones launching before year-end originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5 release is just a month away, and so too are the first phones that will utilize it. Boy Genius Report has managed to get its hands on one slide from a recent AT&T concall confirming a partial list of the handsets set to ship with the new, improved, more finger-friendly flavor of the OS, and even a few models that will be upgraded to it. Two from Samsung, the Epix and Jack, will receive version updates in October, while HP’s Obsidian, earlier targeted for November, seems to have been pushed back to December, and LG’s Monaco similarly has slipped to November. HTC’s Fortress (a.k.a. the Pro2), however, will apparently be ready with bells on next month. As will we, dear readers. As will we.

Filed under: Cellphones

Leaked AT&T presentation confirms remaining WinMo releases for 2009, that employees can’t spell ‘proprietary’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earlier this week the internet alarms rang loud with word that Microsoft had added an app “kill switch” to its upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 platform. Of course, such a kill switch is not unprecedented, as both the Android and iPhone platforms have their own variant. A Microsoft rep recently relayed a message of peace to assuage fears, telling Ars Technica that the vast majority of app rejections won’t cause a remote uninstall, and it’ll only be used if the app “exhibits harmful behavior or unforeseen effects” — not that we’re entirely assured by the latter scenario, but wording aside, it does echo statements from the aforementioned companies that have so far been very conservative with its use (i.e. we can’t recall a single instance of its use). “While we hope to avoid this scenario,” he said, “we will make refunds available in such cases.” Only time will tell just how trigger happy Microsoft gets, assuming they ever use it. Hey, just be happy we know about it — remember the last time we were surprised to discover such a feature?

Filed under: Cellphones

Windows Mobile 6.5 joins the ranks of iPhone and Android with its own app kill switch originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you knew nothing of Samsung’s lineup you might think that they’d just announced five Windows Mobile smartphones, but the reality is much, much less interesting: they’ve basically announced one (which was already widely known) and whipped up a rebranding and relaunch campaign for the other four. To the Omnia range, Sammy has now officially added the Omnia Pro B7330, essentially an upmarket B7320 with a square 320 x 320 display in place of the earlier model’s QVGA unit and HSUPA thrown in for good measure. The bigger news might be that the i8000, B7320, B7300, B7330, and B7610 — every current Omnia model — will be packaged with Windows Mobile 6.5 going forward, while updates will be offered to Omnia IIs, B7610s, and B7320s currently in the field running 6.1. The B7330 launches on October alongside the previously-announced Omnia Lite B7300; Samsung’s being a little more coy about dates for the upgrades, but we’re hoping owners aren’t waiting too long.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Samsung announces Omnia Pro B7330, spills WinMo 6.5 plans for entire Omnia range originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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