Cell Phone Hub

Some might say that the phone you’re peering at above is the most un-Nokia-like Nokia device produced in quite some time (if not ever), but remember, this one was custom made for US consumers and AT&T’s audience — something that’s not true for too many Espoo-sourced handsets. Once known as the Mako, Nokia’s Surge (or 6790 in international speak) is certainly unorthodox in design, though the actual specs list is fairly familiar. We get the feeling that Nokia was aiming to hit a very specific niche with this device, somewhere in-between the text-happy handsets adored by tweens and the smartphone desired by Mr. Suit. Care to see if we think Nokia accomplished said goal? Then head on over to Engadget Mobile for the rest!

Filed under: Cellphones

Engadget Mobile reviews Nokia’s Surge originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know, there’s something to be said about making something easy: people usually take advantage. So seems to be the case with AT&T’s WiFi connections after the release of iPhone OS 3.0, which finally became useful when users could seamlessly connect to one of the thousands of AT&T hotspots around the nation rather than having to stumble through a painfully long process on iPhone OS 2.x. According to an AT&T spokesperson speaking with AppleInsider, the amount of iPhone users linking up with AT&T’s WiFi network tripled in June, and overall, it saw a 41 percent increase in connections compared to the prior quarter. It comes as no surprise to hear that AT&T is working feverishly to expand said network in order to relieve strain from its house of cards-styled 3G network, and while we’d definitely prefer a bit more reliability with the latter, we’ll happily accept more WiFi in the meanwhile.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Captain Obvious reports: AT&T sees surge in WiFi use post-iPhone OS 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Still having doubts that an iPhone will ever come to China via legitimate means? Have a gander at this. According to the listing after the break, which was discovered on China’s State Radio Regulatory Commission (SRRC; basically the Chinese version of the FCC) website, we’re looking at a GSM / WCDMA cellphone complete with Bluetooth, an internal model number A1324, a little-known manufacturer called “Apple Inc.” and an approval date of May 7th, 2009. We’re also told that the certificate expires in five years, which should give China Unicom plenty of time to capitalize on its reported three-year deal to offer the phone in mainland China. So, all we need now is what’s we’ve needed for years: a handwritten note from El Jobs himself saying that this whole thing is more than some sick charade.

[Thanks, Joe]

Update: Looks like this may be the first live look at a China Unicom iPhone 3G, complete with no WiFi to speak of.

Continue reading China Unicom’s iPhone gets regulatory approval, pictured

Filed under: Cellphones

China Unicom’s iPhone gets regulatory approval, pictured originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know, we love fighting the good fight — especially if it means calling out corporations on their untoward business practices. Today we’re joining David Pogue of the New York Times in calling foul on cellphone carriers’ insistence that users be forced to listen to those maddening, pointless 15-second canned carrier messages. In case you’ve held off on owning a cellphone or calling anyone who has one, they go a little something like this:

At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press 1 for more options. To leave a callback number, press 5. (Beep)

Not only is Pogue mad-as-hell-and-not-going-to-take-it about the ridiculous idea that we still need to be told how to use voicemail, it turns out those additional messages are actually costing you cold, hard cash. He estimates that Verizon, for instance, is netting around $620 million a year thanks to these little annoyances. So what’s to be done? Well Pogue wants the citizens of the internet to take up virtual arms… and complain like nobody’s business. He’s wrangled together all the best contact points for the four largest carriers in the US (included for your convenience after the break). Let them know you know don’t want to pay for voicemail instructions. And hey, while you’re at it, tell them the price-gouging on text messages needs to go, too.

Continue reading David Pogue launches all-out war on canned voicemail messages

Filed under: Cellphones

David Pogue launches all-out war on canned voicemail messages originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that alleged SMS-based security hole on the iPhone allowing evil-doers to execute arbitrary code and do all sorts of nasty crap like create an army of mobile zombies ready and willing to execute a DoS attack? The guy who found it, security expert Charlie Miller, said that he’d reveal the details of it at Black Hat — and Black Hat’s this week. Sure enough, Miller and his cohorts plan to unleash details of the hack today, and while they claim they informed Apple of the problem over a month ago, Cupertino’s yet to make a move. We’d stop short of suggesting iPhone owners all turn off their handsets and take themselves firmly off the grid and into a completely disconnected underground bunker the moment the attack becomes public, but if it’s as serious as Miller claims, it definitely bumps up the pressure on Apple to get a fix out on the double — preferably before 3.1 drops.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

SMS vulnerability on iPhone to be revealed today, still isn’t patched originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If trashing your push messaging wasn’t enough to steer you clear of using your iPhone in unauthorized ways, this next bit of news might have you back on the straight and narrow. According to Wired, Apple’s latest salvo in the fight over jailbreaking is a claim that pernicious, iPhone wielding techno-hackers at home or abroad could modify the baseband and use it to attack cellphone towers, “rendering the tower entirely inoperable to process calls or transmit data.” Of course, the idea that this would become more likely if the legal status of jailbreaking changes is totally absurd, but why let that stand in the way of a legal argument?

In a related note, one of our editors (whose jailbroken iPhone shall remain nameless) got a strange baseband pop-up error this morning — the very same morning that AT&T is suffering a “massive connectivity outage” throughout the northeast and midwest. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.

Read - iPhone Jailbreaking Could Crash Cellphone Towers, Apple Claims
Read - Anyone Experience the AT&T Outage?

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple: Jailbreaking encourages cell tower terrorism, “catastrophic results” originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s already been banned by a number of states and the District of Columbia, but a group of Democratic senators led by New York’s Charles Schumer are now set to introduce legislation that would ban texting while driving throughout the United States. That, as you may be aware if you’ve been watching the news this past week, follows a study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which found that truck drivers that texted while driving were 23 times more likely to get into an accident than non-texters — to say nothing of several calls for a ban from major safety groups over the years. While complete details on the proposed bill are still a bit light, it would apparently withhold 25% of the annual federal highway funding from states that did not comply with the ban, and would reportedly be modeled on the way the national drunken driving ban was introduced.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation

Senators to introduce legislation banning texting while driving originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, at least some of the mystery is solved. If a machine translated source is to be believed — not to mention a healthy gathering of screengrabs — Philips’ elusive V808 smartphone will be a China Mobile exclusive. As with other Android-based phones on the operator, it’ll be the reworked OPhone OS handling the dirty work, which basically means a carrier-customized app market and a few other tweaks that seem to be frowned upon in the Chinese community. We’re also told that the phone will lack support for 3G, WiFi and multitouch, leaving us grieved, lugubrious and lachrymose. C’mon guys — why hamstring a good thing?

[Via Cloned In China]

Filed under: Cellphones

Philips V808 smartphone to run Android-based OPhone OS on China Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 06:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Software

Microsoft confirms leaked retail store plans are legit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is it really happening? Is the world’s most thickly settled nation finally getting the iPhone in earnest? If a bold (albeit woolly) report from China’s own national news agency is to be believed, China Unicom has just locked down a deal that’ll grant it exclusive rights to sell Apple’s heralded smartphone in mainland China for three whole years. Unfortunately, most of the nitty-gritty details are absent, but we are led to believe that this will be the first-ever iPhone sold with any branding at all outside of logos splashed on at Cupertino. The “Wo” icon you see just below the speaker signifies that this here device is ready to rock on the carrier’s 3G network, though we still can’t say with any amount of certainty if said image is fully legitimate. We’re also waiting to hear whether it’ll be the iPhone 3G or 3GS (or both) that’s sold, and we’re particular curious as to whether or not these handsets will include WiFi modules.

In related news, it does sound as if China Unicom bent over backwards a bit to make this all come together, with the article stating that it signed on to move between one and two million units per year regardless of how many consumers actually show up to buy one. If you’ll recall, an eerily similar agreement has Russian operators in a world of financial hurt, but we get the feeling the reception in China will be quite a bit warmer. At any rate, it’s noted that Unicom will be snapping up the devices from Apple at a cost of around 3,000 Chinese yuan apiece ($439), with end users being asked to pay an undisclosed lesser amount on contract. If all goes well, the units could hit Chinese shops as early as September, though only time will tell how everything shakes out. Oh, and considering that Apple can hardly keep up with iPhone 3GS demand as it is, we suspect it’ll want to wait a few months anyway before stressing its supply channels further.

Update: A China Unicom spokeswoman has now been quoted as saying that “we have made progress but there are still some problems to be resolved.” Really? Another round of this?

Filed under: Cellphones

China Unicom finally bringing iPhone to world’s most populous country? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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