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November 30, 2007

Talks between Apple and China Mobile squelched… or are they?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Darren Murph @ 7:58 pm

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Barely a fortnight after Apple began talking with China Mobile about getting the iPhone into the ginormous Chinese market, it seems that negotiations are off -- or still on, or something. Yesterday, Nanfang Daily reported that China Mobile's CEO felt that the "iPhone model was not suitable for China," but unnamed reporters suggested that the real reason behind the call-off was the inability for both entities to agree on -- surprise, surprise -- a revenue sharing model. Today, however, a report over at Bloomberg notes that Apple has in fact not ended discussions with China Mobile, and moreover, it was said to have "denied newspaper reports" claiming otherwise. 'Course, we've got two sides of the story here, and while Apple may feel that there's still room to negotiate, China Mobile may see things quite differently. Time will tell, we guess.

[Via Macworld]
Read - Nanfang Daily report
Read - Bloomberg report

 

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Ask Engadget: Best 3G smartphone?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Paul Miller @ 7:07 pm

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You might've noticed the recent uptick in mobile industry news, which comes courtesy of the annual Mobius conference currently taking place in Amsterdam. It's pretty clear that the future is bright, what with 700MHz, 4G, a new Windows Mobile, Android, and a 3G iPhone all on the way, but what about the here and now? What we're wondering is:

"What's the best 3G smartphone currently available in the States?"

And yes, we mean 3G. You know, that hip cool thing that Apple isn't terribly fond of, which brings high speed internets, effective tethering, streaming video and music downloads on the run -- while supposedly beating battery life to a pulp. We're also talking about what's available in the here and now, but it could very well just be time to wait for the next great thing to come along, so be sure to let us know if that's the case for you. If you'd your own question answered, you can to hit us up at ask at engadget dawt com.

 

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Android fever, catch it: Verizon joining Open Handset Alliance?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Chris Ziegler @ 12:35 pm

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In a recent chat with clients, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster did a little name dropping regarding Google's Open Handset Alliance, casually mentioning in passing that Verizon "is a member." Hold up there, chief; last time we checked, that isn't the case. Among US national carriers, only T-Mobile and Sprint have publicly thrown their hats into the Android ring, so we're not sure whether Mr. Munster knows something we don't (which is entirely possible) or whether he's just a little confused. For what it's worth, we can understand why he'd be confused in light of Verizon's recent commitment to open its airwaves to all comers -- the initiative appears to share much of the same spirit as the OHA's charter, after all -- but by the same token, Google's intention to snap up 700MHz bandwidth would seemingly pit the two juggernauts against one another. We'll have to wait and see whether Big Red's name magically appears on the Alliance's member list, but if it does, the pressure's gonna get pretty high on AT&T to cave, eh?

 

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NEC develops real-time Japanese-to-English mobile translation software

Filed under: Uncategorized — Darren Murph @ 11:32 am

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We've already seen the idea of data-to-voice translation passed around, but NEC's latest software is far beyond the drawing board. Reportedly, the firm has developed a system that can understand around 50,000 Japanese words and translate them to English text on the mobile's display in just a second or two. The software was made compact enough to "operate on a small microchip mounted in a cellphone," and was designed especially to help users convert common travel phrases. Notably, it would be technically possible to make the English translation vocal, but according to NEC spokesman Mitsumasa Fukumoto, the firm isn't looking into that possibility at the moment. No word on when we'd see this technology hit the masses, nor if any other language combinations were in the works, but this would certainly make touring English-speaking locales a lot less strenuous for Japanese speakers.

[Via Physorg]

 

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Zander to be replaced by Brown as Motorola CEO

Filed under: Uncategorized — Evan Blass @ 8:59 am

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Motorola announced today that Ed Zander will be relinquishing the role of Chief Executive Officer in January 2008, a title he will have held for four years. Greg Brown, current President and Chief Operating Officer, will take over as CEO, while Zander will remain Chairman of the Board of Directors until at least May of next year. Zander, who came to Moto from Sun Microsystems, will perhaps best be remembered for overseeing the company during its RAZR-led handset revival.

 

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Man charged with manslaughter in “exploding battery” case

Filed under: Uncategorized — Joshua Topolsky @ 8:55 am

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In one of the more bizarre turns we've seen stories take, new information has come to light in the recent exploding battery death we reported on. It turns out that the LG battery which had initially been blamed for the "accident" wasn't the cause at all, rather, a co-worker of the victim has admitted to hitting the man with a 15-ton hydraulic rig while driving in reverse, and has been charged with manslaughter. Kwon Young-sup, who had originally reported that he had heard an explosion and discovered the man's body, has now told police that he invented the story as a cover-up for an accident. So, you can now return to placing calls on your LG without fear -- but watch your back on the job-site.

[Via Sky News, thanks Barry T, image courtesy of Yonhap News]

 

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Motorola’s DEXT, next?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Thomas Ricker @ 5:13 am

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Rumors are circulating that Motorola is prepped to launch a series of multimedia handsets under the ZiNE brand. Meanwhile, Moto was just spotted (November 26th, to be exact) begging the USPTO for a trademark on "DEXT." That's the rather serious looking mark pictured to the right which sounds like a mashup of DECT and NEXT. The request covers "mobile telephones, pagers, radio transceivers, electronic personal organizers, headsets, microphones, speakers" and the related software for such things as the transmission of audio and video. We'll just have to wait and see whether this has anything to do with their accidentally on purposely "leaked" 2008 lineup.

[Via Trademork]

 

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November 29, 2007

HTC’s CLIO200 mystery device shows up at the FCC

Filed under: Uncategorized — Joshua Topolsky @ 9:36 pm

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Oh HTC, you cads. What did we find while carefully sifting through mountains of seemingly useless and definitely boring FCC data? Well, for starters, we unearthed reports on the HTC-made CLIO200, a heretofore unknown device that appears to be making its way through the approval process. Using our Miss Cleo-like "sixth sense," we've discovered that the unit will sport CDMA, EV-DO, 802.11b/g, and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity. The FCC is referring to this little guy as a UMPC (and it does have the telltale air vents of a such a device), though it also seems like it could be a mobile phone of the TyTn variety (at least from the looks of the diagrams depicting it being held to a user's ear). Despite this minor confusion, we can promise you that at the very least it is certainly not a Sony Clie, nor an Clio NXT. Want to get "all" the "details?" Direct your browser towards the FCC site and immerse yourself in a world of impenetrable digits and charts.

 

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Cartel’s nostalgic handsfree system brings back the car phone

Filed under: Uncategorized — Darren Murph @ 6:04 pm

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Yeah, we did a double take upon seeing the above image too, but believe it or not, that car phone is actually a new Bluetooth handsfree system. Developed by Cartel Mobile Solutions, this in-car setup can reportedly be installed into nearly any whip and will connect up with most every BT-enabled handset. From there, it mysteriously warps you back to the 1990s where you can dial on near-Chiclet sized buttons; once the haze clears, it ushers you back to modern day by enabling motorists to chat without holding anything up to their yapper. Users can opt to wire it to their vehicle's sound system or plug in an external speaker, and yes, that display you see does indeed handle Caller ID duties. Unfortunately, no price was readily apparent, but you can can bring that 1979 Buick of yours a few years closer to the 21st century by hitting Cartel up for purchasing details.

[Thanks, Mickel]

 

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Mobile phone subscriptions hit 3.3 billion

Filed under: Uncategorized — Darren Murph @ 3:59 pm

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Just last month we heard that there were some 2.68 billion mobile accounts currently active in the world, but a new study by Informa has found that there are actually 3.3 billion subscriptions. This number is somewhat significant considering that it's approximately half of the world's population, but alas, not half of all Earthlings actually own a cellphone. Researchers found that 59 countries had mobile penetration over 100 percent, suggesting that some individuals actually accounted for numerous mobile subscriptions. Sure, the figures here could be picked apart in a myriad ways, but why not just raise your handset to commemorate hitting the big three point three? You are one of them, right?

[Image courtesy of W3]

 

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