Cell Phone Hub

This is one story that only gets more bizarre with each passing day. The 25-year-old Foxconn employee who committed suicide this month, apparently after one of the iPhone prototypes he was responsible for went missing, is now reported to have misplaced other prototypes previous to this instance. According to Foxconn (who spoke with the New York Times), his employer and the company charged with manufacturing all of Apple’s handsets, Sun Danyong had had products go missing “several times,” but that he had gotten them back. Foxconn itself is the subject of some mystery in all this, after a security officer connected to the company was suspended and turned over to the Chinese government — apparently in connection with the case. The company has also paid roughly $44,000 (plus an Apple laptop) to Sun Danyong’s family who was reportedly interrogated and possibly beaten after the prototype went missing, though Foxonn and those connected with the company have denied this.

Filed under: Cellphones

Foxconn claims employee who committed suicide had history of misplacing prototypes, does nothing for its case originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While Palm is busily engaged in a game of domination with Apple to see which one can keep iTunes sync working or broken the longest, the Pre homebrew community hasn’t been sitting idle, introducing two new and painless ways to get homemade software up in your handset. The first is a desktop app called WebOS Quick Install that works on Mac, PC, and Linux, allowing installation with just a drag, a drop, and a click. The other is called fileCoaster, enabling users to download and install IPKs right on the phone itself, plus other files too. Two great apps for fans of unofficial softwares and good tidings for a warm future of basement innovation — only a month after the first custom apps came to light.

Filed under: Cellphones

Installing Pre homebrew apps: now even easier originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sadly enough, this is pretty much par for the course with RIM. We talk about a BlackBerry for months on end, and after everyone grows acquainted with its features via less-than-official sources, the company finally confesses. At any rate, the long-awaited BlackBerry Curve 8520 (which may or may not go by Gemini on T-Mobile) has finally found a dedicated landing page on its maker’s website, and while the list of specifications aren’t a surprise, there is one thing that caught our eye. Alongside the 2 megapixel camera, video recording mode, WiFi radio, 1,150mAh battery (which is good for 4.5 hours of talk time or 17 days in standby), a fairly robust multimedia player and a 320 x 240 resolution display, RIM also promises “out of the box Mac compatibility.” Specifically, we’re told that users will be able to “sync contacts, calendars and notes” by using BlackBerry Desktop Software on Apple computers. Of course, when clicking for more information, we’re simply ported over to a page informing us that the Mac-specific version of the aforesaid platform won’t arrive until September. So, is the 8520 special, or is that August 5th ship date around 30 days off?

[Thanks, Marcus]

Filed under: Cellphones

RIM officially intros BlackBerry Curve 8520, promises “out of the box” Mac compatibility originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Interesting — just a couple days after Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told a conference that “it’s too early to tell” if the Pre’s a hit, the latest Best Buy ad shows the handset on sale for just $99 on a two-year contract. That ought to spike some sales, but we’ll see if its just a one-week special or a permanent drop before we start trying to read any tea leaves here — anyone running out to grab one?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - Hesse’s comments
Read - $99 Pre at Best Buy

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm Pre drops to $99 at Best Buy originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day to lucky readers until we run out of stuff or companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got an array of iSkin Vibes BlackBerry cases on offer, perfect for keeping your Curve, Bold or Storm safe from the elements. Read the rules below (no skimming — we’re omniscient and can tell when you’ve skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff!

Big thanks to iSkin for providing the gear!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. Twelve (12) winners will receive one (1) iSkin Vibes BlackBerry case — 4 for Curve; 4 for Bold; 4 for Storm. Approximate retail value is $32.99 each.
  
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Sunday, July 26th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

Engadget’s recession antidote: win an iSkin Vibes BlackBerry case! originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Android’s official code repository has been updated with a fresh load of Donut stuff in the past day or so, and as you might imagine, the dev community is already having a field day with it. Early reports show that all of the features demoed at I/O this year have made it into this cut in one form or another, including universal search, text-to-speech, and gesture support, allowing users to draw symbols on the screen to trigger actions. What’s more, though, the codebase is showing signs of CDMA support — a must for Sprint and Verizon, of course, both of whom will almost certainly have Android sets at one point or another — and a cool 5-in-1 bank of toggle switches in a home screen widget that can be used to control common features like Bluetooth and WiFi.

Perhaps more excitingly, the community is hard at work on a couple major fronts here: first off, the Donut build is actively being ported to current handsets, and an Android Dev Phone 1 / T-Mobile G1 version is already available (though very, very crashy and incomplete right now). Secondly, work is being conducted to extract major elements of Donut (some of the new widgets, for example) and roll them into cooked 1.5 builds, making the best stuff available in a more solid, accessible form without having to wait for 2.0 to become stable. If you’re an adventurous — nay, borderline mental — G1 owner, though, you can start your journey to Donut right now.

[Thanks, Yoav R.]

Read - Donut availability
Read - G1 port

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Early Android 2.0 “Donut” build available, up and running on G1 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Looking to enjoy all those fancy augmented reality apps on your iPhone, like for finding nearby stores or subway stops? Apparently what’s standing in your way from enjoying a life more akin to “gargoyles” from Snow Crash is Apple’s next update to its touchscreen devices, OS 3.1, and according to Nearest Tube developer Acrossair, that’ll be arriving sometime in September. Something we heard whispered at the time of the beta 2 release. We wouldn’t be surprised to see that release window fluctuate, but if that’s our estimate, there’s still plenty of time for someone to prep an AR zombie shooter.

[Thanks, Peter S]

Filed under: Cellphones

iPhone’s augmented reality apps coming with September OS 3.1 launch? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So we already knew Verizon was looking to push LTE out the door and to about 20 to 30 markets in the second half of 2010, but Tech Crunch’s got it on good word that the company’s doing everything in its power to get the service ready to go in a number of areas in time for Q1 2010. That’s interesting in and of itself, but together with this morning’s whispers of Apple’s tablet coming early next year and past talk of an Apple / VZW partnership, and the tale gets exponentially more intriguing. As TC suggests, a tablet lacking voice service on the LTE network wouldn’t violate AT&T’s not-at-all permanent exclusivity. Its source said there was one LTE device, not a wireless card, that this early launch was being “specifically geared towards,” but even if so, that could apply to any number of other non-Apple gadgets (from Nokia, perhaps?). Of course, much of this is rumor built on rumor, so no matter how well these pieces might seem to fall in place — or how potentially awesome the idea might seem — there’s a large grain of salt you should be taking with you.

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops

Verizon rumored to be pushing up LTE plans to Q1 2010, new Apple device the catalyst? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft’s very real brick-and-mortar stores are not too far off now, and it looks like Gizmodo got its hands on a Powerpoint presentation purportedly from “design and brand strategy” consultant firm Lippicott for how these retail outlets might turn out. The presentation overall is reminiscent of Apple’s stores, complete with its own “Answer Bar” for troubleshooting. Other highlights include lots of Surface demos scattered about the interior, a massive “digital media wall” screen that wraps around the store, and stage areas for Windows 7, Media Center, WinMo, and netbooks. Additionally, the slides discuss in-store events centered around Project Natal, the ever-secret project codenamed Pink, and most importantly… the option to throw your birthday party on location. While it’s not 100 percent clear what the purpose of some of these slides might be — or if this is even the firm the big M has gone with — there is a lot here that’s piqued our curiosity. Whether or not this ends up being indicative of the final product, something tells us that last bit about the birthday parties is gonna be key to its success — get on it, Steve.

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Software

Microsoft Store concept revealed in leaked design presentation? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You should be refilling that popcorn bucket right about now. While we thought the next round of the Pre / iTunes syncing fiasco would probably be something simple like Apple releasing another quick patch, Palm has stepped it up a notch by complaining to the USB Implementers Forum over what it sees is “improper use of the Vendor ID number” by the gang at Cupertino. What the company means is that when an ID is applied for, a form is signed that states:

“Unauthorized use of assigned or unassigned USB Vendor ID Numbers and associated Product ID Numbers are strictly prohibited.”

Finally, now’s as good of a time as any to take a look at some of the peripheral casualties from this war of attrition. In an essay on his personal site that’s been circulating the interwebs, Marc Deslauriers outlines the pangs he and the Linux community have felt over the years trying to use iPods on the open source platform, surmising that Apple is intentionally and repeatedly seeking ways to block non-iTunes programs from syncing in any way with its devices. This story is far from over, and as ugly as it looks now, it’s probably only gonna get worse.

[Via Digg and Pre Central]

Read - Marc Deslauriers, “Goodbye Apple”
Read - Palm’s lodges complaint with USB IF
Read - USB Vendor ID application
Read - Palm Pre USB hack confirmed

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Palm complains about Apple to USB governing body, while Pre / iTunes sync “fix” is explained originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.