Cell Phone Hub

Filed under: Cellphones

Today Apple announced that it's sold 4 million iPhones in the 200 days since launch, at a rate of roughly 20,000 a day. The phone apparently attained a 19% share in the smartphone market in the first quarter of its existence, and Steve Jobs says the phone bested Palm, Motorola and Nokia put together in the space in the first 90 days. It sounds like a pretty impressive pace, especially given the fact that only 1 million had sold by September of last year, but Apple still has a ways to go to compete with the likes of RIM.

 

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Filed under: Cellphones

According to a report from the market-mindful Bloomberg, old Jobsy could be dropping the iPhone on Canada come tomorrow's keynote. If you believe what RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky says (and that's a big if), Apple will unleash the phone via Rogers Communications -- the country's largest mobile service provider. "There's a very good chance that Apple will announce or discuss some kind of other carrier roll-outs, beyond the ones it has done in Europe and the U.S." He said, adding that, "There is definitely very strong demand and interest here." To which we say, "Duh," and, "Hey, we've heard this before." Though we're not sure Steve will have time for the Canadian launch in his keynote, what with all the algae-based hard drives, unicorn laptops, and rays of pure energy he'll be introducing.

[Thanks, Paolo]

 

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Filed under: Cellphones

We wish we were kidding. Palm is sticking with its early-2009 projection for the upcoming Linux-based relaunch of the Palm OS -- possibly codenamed Nova. That means this date isn't exactly a surprise, but we've really been hoping that this 2009 business was some sort of bad dream, since it's abundantly clear that Palm needs a new OS yesterday. To clarify further, Palm's Stephane Mass stated that Palm expects to wrap the OS late in 2008, and get tool to developers in time for devices early in the next year. Palm plans to keep offering Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices, and to make Centro the heart of its 2008 lineup.

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

While we wait impatiently for a WiMAX implementation in our hometown, Sprint employees have something a bit more serious on their minds: more layoffs. Though 5,000 jobs were cut from the company's 60k strong workforce last year, there's a new sheriff in town, and he seems to think that more fat can be culled from the struggling wireless company. Brand new CEO Dan Hesse purportedly is trying to show a tough face to investors, and is rumored to have "several thousand" layoffs in the works. There's also word of a move by Sprint to consolidate company headquarters to better integrate Sprint and Nextel, and it appears the future of WiMAX is still a bit uncertain, since some investors aren't entirely thrilled by the $5 billion outlay required to build the network. It's not easy being number three.

 

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Filed under: Cellphones

Mmmm, the LG Prada (AKA, LG-KE850) was just turned out in silver. 18 European countries including the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy will see the new version of LG's touchscreen later this month. Besides the color change the phone now features a proper on-screen QWERTY, not just T9 -- thank you LG! Really, that's all we could hope for.

[Via Akihabara News]

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

It wouldn't be the first time a company has used the press to bolster their negotiating position. Nevertheless, after saying the "iPhone model was not suitable for China" back in November, a spokesperson for China Mobile now says they've "terminated" discussions with Apple to bring the iPhone to China. China's largest carrier gave no reasons for the decision though the fee sharing agreement is likely a contributing factor. Well Steve, there's always China Unicom.

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video

A fancy mirror contraption not quite what you had in mind for video conferencing on your iPhone? Fret not, friends; Ecamm Network is back at it, this time devising a way to stream video from the camera -- at 30fps, no less -- to the Mac of your choice over WiFi. Even better, the clever cats hooked it up with Bonjour, so the Mac just sorta sees it as a camera without any configuration needed. The possibilities are pretty endless (or limited, depending on your point of view), but we suppose it's nice for iPhone owners to instantly have a free, remote cam for iChatting, if nothing else. The download isn't available yet, but Ecamm is teasing that they just might be willing to demo it at their Macworld booth this week.

[Via TUAW]

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

California-based a la Mobile has crafted a somewhat complete set of phone apps in prototype form -- you know, the most basic kinds of things you'd need on a smartphone to make it usable -- on top of Android, claiming it's the first group to show off a fully functional prototype. The firm installed its goodies on a Qtek 9090, a rather ancient, janky HTC device from days gone by, proving that a wide swath of devices already in the marketplace will be ripe targets for Android transplants once solid, fully functional code is widely available. Though no one in the 34 member strong Open Handset Alliance has publicly committed to a particular Android software stack -- let alone a particular hardware design -- a la Mobile says that it's making a play among OHA member manufacturers to take a good, hard look at its wares as they navigate the process. The head of the LiMo Foundation, a sorta-competitor to the Open Handset Alliance, naturally downplayed a la Mobile's efforts, calling Android "just like a big lab experiment" -- though he did manage to call the prototype "interesting." How about we keep the verbal volleys to a minimum and get some friggin' Linux in the mainstream, ladies and gentlemen?

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video

We already know that the Prada-esque LG CU920 Vu is one of AT&T's two launch handsets in support of its MediaFLO-based mobile TV rollout, but what's the other one the carrier mentions? Mobiledia has scored gorgeous shots of this not-so-gorgeous phone, the A827 "Access" from Samsung, and the combination of AT&T branding and a dedicated "TV" button next to the d-pad has us believing that it'll be stepping up to the plate for that role. Unlike the Vu, the Access seems to be a lower-end handset on account of a 1.3 megapixel cam, unremarkable design, and smallish display, so we're certainly hoping its price point reflects the specs accordingly. Good to see that AT&T wants to bring mobile TV to every price segment, we suppose.

[Thanks, Matt D.]

 

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Filed under: Cellphones, CES

While wandering around the "International" wing of this year's CES, we stumbled upon a number of questionable (and familiar) items. One line of products that stood out, however, was a company offering a modular solution for adding GSM capability to a wide variety of devices. Using what appears to be a proprietary type of connector, the SIM-ready card can imbue an assortment of gadgets (phone, e-book reader, GPS... teddy bear) with GSM functionality. It's unclear whether this technology is being deployed overseas (or at all), and whether or not we'll see it Stateside (doubtful), but it does take a novel approach to cell-ing up your gear.

 

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