Hasta La Gadget!

We first heard about the existence of the Acer M310 Windows Phone last week, but literally no information was given besides the fact that two test units were discovered on a developer’s traffic sheet. How about a few more shreds of meat to chew on? According to WindowsPhoneNZ, the Mango device was sighted at TechEd New Zealand with HDMI-out support. We may be seeing this feature across a large variety of Windows Phones coming out this fall, as the HTC Eternity has been rumored to include video output via HDMI as well. The observer claims the M310 has a “black shiny look” and “bevelled edges,” has a similar appearance to the Acer W4 (shown in the above image), and includes DLNA support over WiFi. The handset was also seen snuggling up to Asus’ entry into the Windows Phone market, which was said to have a matte black finish and may have a front-facing camera. Certainly, if these factoids are correct, this fall’s Mango lineup looks to be laden with all kinds of hidden gems we haven’t seen on Microsoft’s OS yet.

Acer M310 Windows Phone said to have HDMI-out, 8GB storage originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WebOS developers may not have had much good news in the past few days (apart from a slew of new TouchPad owners looking for apps), but they are at least getting some attention. That includes a message from Microsoft’s Senior Director of Windows Phone 7 Development, Brandon Watson, who offered free phones to published webOS developers on Friday, plus all the necessary tools and training to get them started with Windows Phone. Judging from his tweets since, the response has been fairly overwhelming — Watson says he’s received close to 600 emails from webOS devs as of Sunday evening.

Microsoft woos webOS developers with free phones, training originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 08:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here’s some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of August 15, 2011:

• Vodafone’s very own budget-friendly Facebook Phone, the Vodafone 555, is now on sale. £62.50 is all it will take to get the non-touchscreen featurephone in your fingertips. [via SlashGear]
• A spec sheet and screenshots of the Sony Ericsson Nozumi leaked this week. The handset will likely feature a 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm S2 CPU, Adreno 205 GPU, and 4.3-inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution. Interestingly enough, the phone is rumored to require a micro SIM, much like the iPhone 4. [via XperiaBlog]
• US Cellular launched two new Android devices for its prepaid lineup, the Samsung Gem and HTC Merge. The Gem offers a 3.2-inch WVGA display, 800MHz CPU, and Android 2.2 for $140, while the Merge is a global-capable QWERTY slider with a 3.8-inch display, Android 2.2, and more for $300. [via US Cellular]
• Immediately following Google’s acquisition of Motorola, discussion centered around the possibility of the latter company becoming the preferred OEM for Android — a privilege that would, in theory, include designing and producing the next Nexus. Andy Rubin, the head honcho for the open-source OS, put such rumors to bed by offering more insight on the approval process for upcoming Nexus phones, and insisted that HelloMoto will continue to be treated the same as every other OEM; it will have to bid for the job just like every other company does. [via AndroidCentral]
• The Huawei Blaze, a budget Android handset that runs on Gingerbread, may arrive in the UK as early as September. The Blaze would mark the first time we’ve seen the company offer a phone under its own branding in the UK. [via CNet]
• Shocked to hear the Kyocera Echo isn’t selling as well as the company had hoped? Yeah, neither are we. Nonetheless, in the hopes of sparking sales, it’s started offering twelve premium games for free to the first 10,000 downloads as part of its “summer of free apps” campaign. Good luck with that. [via Electronista]
• With all of the buzz rightfully centered around Nokia and its quest for Windows Phone dominance, how bright does Vertu’s future look? If Eldar Murtazin is to believed, Espoo’s luxury phone branch will also be on the receiving end of WP7 devices. The main difference with Vertu’s version compared to the rest of Nokia’s lineup? It’ll most likely be covered with gold and diamonds. [via WMPowerUser]
• The Samsung Galaxy Q, another name for the Gravity Smart, is now available on Rogers. The device is geared toward the lower end, so it may not be the most lustworthy letter in the Samsung Galaxy alphabet. [via MobileSyrup]

Mobile Miscellany: week of August 15, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Aug 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The fact that Nokia and Acer are busily preparing Windows Phones is no secret, but Sea Ray and W4 may not be the manufacturers’ only projects. Elbert Perez, a Windows Phone game developer with a keen eye for statistics, was looking through a list of the various devices that run his games, and a couple gems stood out — the Nokia 800 and Acer M310. The plot thickens when realizing that these names have never been seen before. Sadly, such a revelation prompts more questions than answers: are these completely new phones, or just the Sea Ray and W4 with new names? If testers are playing games on them, can we assume these are close to production? But don’t forget the lingering question that won’t ever be answered: are they winning the game?

Nokia 800 and Acer M310 caught on Windows Phone dev’s stats, likely in testing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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All the major Android players were, at least publicly, supportive of Google and its move to snatch up Motorola Mobility yesterday, and so is Nokia it seems. The company released a statement saying:

“This further reinforces our belief that opportunities for the growth of Nokia’s smartphone business will be greatest with Windows Phone. This could prove to be a massive catalyst for the Windows Phone ecosystem. Additionally, with our respective intellectual property portfolios, Nokia and Microsoft are working together to build and nurture an innovative ecosystem that benefits consumers, operators, developers and other device manufacturers.”

Clearly, the Finnish company isn’t buying the big G’s lines about keeping its mobile OS open and staying out of the way of its hardware partners. It also sounds as if Nokia is prepared to enter the patent battle fray on behalf of Microsoft, should the need arise. The Mountain View crew may have bolstered its legal weapons cache with Moto’s 17,000-plus patents, but things could get uglier before they get better for the mobile giant.

Nokia chimes in on Google’s Moto deal, reaffirms its dedication to WP7 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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