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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Among the many ducks that Sprint (and Verizon?) will need to get in a row in order to launch their own version of HTC’s Touch Pro, FCC certification ranks pretty freakin’ high on the list. No worries, though — it’s all good, because that just happened. An HTC device with model number “RAPH800″ has now popped up in the filing system, featuring CDMA with EV-DO on the 850 and 1900MHz bands. Of course, certification is certainly no indication of when a product’s actually going to launch, but if (heaven forbid) the glossy QWERTY WinMo slider gets delayed, at least we can call out anyone trying to slide the “we’re waiting on FCC clearance” excuse past us.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Although Sony Ericsson just churned out a rather impressive array of new handsets this month, it seems the outfit is still having trouble securing record-setting profits. Truthfully, it’s struggling to break even, as evidenced by the second profit warning of 2008 that was issued last week. SE is pinpointing “disappointing European sales of its mid- and high-end mobile phones” as the reason it will likely not see a profit in Q2, and some analysts are suggesting that shipment delays and a dearth of low-end handsets also carry a share of the blame. ‘Course, the hotly-anticipated Xperia X1 could certainly make for a lovely Q3, but only time will tell if enough folks shell out for it to make a difference.

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Filed under: Cellphones

MetroPCS may not have the largest wireless footprint in the States, but they did take a jab at the larger two CDMA carriers by announcing their intention to take on any Verizon and Sprint customers ready to jump ship — as well as any “compatible” devices they may want to bring along with them. Sprint already supposedly does this (although we’ve still yet to hear of it actually really happening), but the specifics of MetroPCS’s MetroFlash seem equally unclear. It doesn’t sound like they’ll reprogram just any CDMA device that walks through their doors, though, just the ones they’ve had a chance to test on their network. Definitely kills the buzz (and the number of devices that can be ported), but a little open is still kind of better than totally closed, right?

[Via Seattle P-I and Mobility Site]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio

Analysts love to come up with all sorts of conjecture based on history, numbers, and general guesswork. In this case, FBR Research analyst Craig Berger has a few predictions to give us regarding the future of Apple’s iPod and iPhone lines. We’ll keep them short and sweet here and leave the static mulling to you. First, he expects an updated, lower-priced iPod nano in the near future along with product refreshes for both the iPod classic and touch. That sounds about right, as Apple is almost due for updates of those products anyway. As far as Apple’s production rate, he says Apple has increased iPod production around 15 percent and sees Apple shipping 15 million iPhone 3G by the end of the year (he’s a big fan of the number “15″). Nothing really surprising here, but if all this pans out, Apple will dig deeper into the smart phone market while tightening its stranglehold on the PMP landscape.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Remember that touchscreen Motorola Blaze we’d mentioned a while back that was on the hook to get Verizon’s visual voicemail service? It may not be in Verizon stores yet, but it’s all up in Boy Genius Report’s labs with a dark red body, MING attitude, and almost limitless mediocrity on board. The touchscreen apparently requires ridiculous amounts of effort to actuate, and that problem is compounded by a lame on-screen keyboard that makes texting tricky at best. EV-DO Rev. A is cool and all — and the visual voicemail support should be a pretty popular add-on feature — but that giant Motorola logo up front with the red ring and three pounds of chrome leaves the Blaze with a face only a mother could love. Let’s hope Verizon’s positioning this one as its low-end touchscreen offering, because we’re not seeing it cha-chinging many registers otherwise.

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’re not sure where our tipster got these pictures (nor are we going to ask), but they appear to be screens from the Treo 800w’s specification and knowledge training documentation. New tidbits include a 333 Mhz processor, 4.4.1 x 2.28 x 0.73-inch dimensions, 320 x 320 pixel screen, and a weight of 4.94 ounces. Windows Mobile 6.1 looks to be in full-force, the camera shoots at 2 MP, and the USB port is 2.0. As for other revealed features, you’re looking at threaded SMS chat, but MMS is mysteriously missing in lieu of Sprint Picture Mail, a trend that continues to confuse us. If all this pans out, look for the 800w to be available on July 13th for $249.99. Hit the continue link to see the rest of the juicy shots and details.

[Thanks, brian]

Continue reading Treo 800w spec sheets and training materials reveal details, lack of MMS

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Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola so had this down pat last year, but we suppose O2 is just showcasing its pedal-powered charging system now that such devices are all the rage. Just days after we had a look at two unorthodox chargers from Orange, along comes rival O2 with a bicycle-related alternative. Reportedly, the eco-friendly device will be demonstrated at the O2 Wireless Festival in London’s Hyde Park, but unfortunately, each of the demo bikes will be stationary. Still no word on whether O2 has a mind to take this thing commercial, but for cyclists the world over, here’s to hoping it does.

[Thanks, Adam]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Money-losing companies with interesting technology and a small, if rabid, customer base still frequently tend to sell for healthy chunks of change — especially in the wireless space. We know Helio was burning cash like crazy, but that doesn’t entirely explain why SK Telecom was so absurdly desperate to dump their $500m investment. At a $39m acquisition price, SK didn’t just lose its shirt — it lost that, the shoes, and then the pants. You know, the pants with a half-billion dollars in them.

Now, if you look at nothing other than the price per subscriber of some other, larger mobile acquisitions, Helio’s numbers seem even crazier. Alltel’s subscriber base is going to Verizon for about $2,100 per customer, and back when Nextel sold to Sprint, each sub went then for about $2,350. Helio’s $39m sale to Virgin nets them $230 per subscriber. That’s now what you’re worth to Virgin, Helio subscriber — $230 on an $80 ARPU. Clearly there’s a lot more value in acquiring more than ten million subs than under 200k, but is that value ten fold?

And then to add insult to injury, the piddly $39m Helio did get from Virgin was an all-stock deal, which basically means SK won’t be recouping material costs any time soon. Granted, that does amount to 17% of Virgin Mobile USA’s market cap, and SK gets two seats on VM’s board, but damned if Helio isn’t like the reverse-Brewster’s Millions of cellphone companies. Basically our pet theory right now is that either SK is playing the Korean tax system for the maximum possible write-off, or they literally didn’t have another soul to turn to in this whole wide world. We know Helio wasn’t in good shape, but a $39m all-stock deal means they basically stood on the corner and gave the company away to whomever was passing by at the time.

We wanted some more expert opinions, so we hit up a couple of old Engadget pals. Om Malik had this to say: Their losses are huge and there is no hope in sight. Why Virgin bought so few subscribers, I don’t get. My best guess is that SK Telecom wants to do something with Virgin. Helio was one giant misexecution — it is a micropennies on the dollar sale.

Michael Gartenberg offered this: I suspect there were not a whole lot of options… who else would have bought this thing? It’s clear the MVNO model doesn’t work for the most part. Virgin was probably the only buyer who had interest and it was probably the best chance for Helio’s investors to get some of that money back.

Bottom line, it looks like Virgin and its shareholders should be pretty stoked today, because by all accounts they got a pretty killer deal.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming

Look, we’ve heard our fair share of PSP phone rumors, and there’s really no reason to trust this one any further than your average baseless musings, but if Marketing Week’s “sources in Japan and Korea” can be trusted, Sony’s PSP phone could be hitting shelves as soon as Christmas 2009. What does seem clear to these shady sources is that Sony won’t be forking over the PlayStation branding to its Sony Ericsson partnership, and instead will build its PSP phone all by its lonesome. Other “details” from “analysts” are slightly less legit-sounding, with some stating it would be “relatively easy” to work phone features into the PSP since it already includes WiFi. Um, ok. Still, reasonable or not, this is clearly a rumor that will never die — until Sony builds the dang thing, in which case we can start talking up a sequel.

[Thanks, Alex]

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Filed under: Cellphones

It’s official, MVNO lone survivor Virgin Mobile is picking up the struggling Helio from SK Telecom and Earthlink for a cool $39 million in Virgin Mobile USA stock. They expect the deal to close in Q3 2008, pending regulatory approval. The acquisition comes as no surprise, but it’s still sad to see the one true innovator in a mostly doomed MVNO space fall to that pesky little “completely failing to make money” thing. The good news is that it while the Helio brand will be phased out, Virgin Mobile isn’t just in this for the 170,000-ish subscribers it’ll be picking up. They plan to leverage Helio’s technology and content offerings, not to mention the willingness of its customers to pay a few extra bucks for the perks, to build the Virgin Mobile brand into new spaces — spaces which hopefully prove profitable and Ocean 2-ey.

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