Cell Phone Hub

Filed under: Cellphones

Dell Mini 3i breaks cover for most complete photo shoot to date originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With the latest installment of Bell’s “Meet my Palm Pre” series, paid spokesman Bradley here has basically guaranteed himself that he’ll be visited by elderly American roller girls with bad attitudes and a taste for justice. Some of the gruesome highlights:

“Unlike our neighbors to the south, Canadians are an active people.”
“Coupe de Kill is kinda scary. I should probably get out of here before she goes on Twitter.”
“According to Wikipedia, this game was first played in 1299. And, uh, I think some of these people were maybe there.”

[Via MobileSyrup]

Continue reading Bell’s latest Pre ad insults Americans, old people, and bloody roller derby girls in one pass

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Bell’s latest Pre ad insults Americans, old people, and bloody roller derby girls in one pass originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you love TUAW, iPhones, and apps (and let’s be honest… you do), then today should be filled with wonderment and excitement. Why you ask? Because our homeboys and girls over at The Unofficial Apple Weblog have released their very own iPhone app — and it’s pretty darn slick. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get to downloading it right now. It’s what Steve Jobs would want you to do.

Read - TUAW’s post on the app
Read - iTunes link

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

TUAW’s iPhone app: it’s alive originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Now that Nokia’s Maemo-powered N900 is looking mighty nice and official, the company’s Germany and Italian arms have no problem going ahead and taking your hard-earned Euros in exchange for a pre-order. Both sites are actually listing it for €599 (US $860), or €99 more than what we heard yesterday. A pretty huge discrepancy, to be sure, but it’s not unlike Nokia to have a flagship phone fluctuate in price. That October release date is a ways off, but if you’re absolutely convinced this must be in your pocket by Halloween, you know where to go.

[Via Slashgear]

Read - Nokia Germany
Read - Nokia Italy

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia N900 now giving Germany and Italy a way to pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The big rumor out of Japan today has NEC locked in heated negotiations with existing joint venture Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications to add itself into the mix — a JV that’s currently a 51 / 49 percent ownership split between Casio and Hitachi, respectively — with NEC wanting to pick up a total of 50 percent of the combined operation. Japan’s one of the more competitive, low-margin mobile markets in the world (just ask Mitsubishi) so it makes sense that a lot of these guys would be looking to consolidate and work on their sourcing scales of economy; if it happens, the rumor has the deal targeted for an April 2010 close that would make the combined operation the second-largest in the market at 20 percent share behind Sharp at 23 percent. Does this mean they’ll be more friendly toward the crazy idea of wide-scale North American launches, by chance? Please?

[Via MobileCrunch]

Filed under: Cellphones

NEC rumored to want in on Casio Hitachi joint venture originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reports of iPhones exploding, starting fires and killing people in cold blood have been around since the inception of the handset. They’ve also been relatively sporadic, seemingly short on evidence, and Apple hasn’t given complaints much credence or response. So when we heard a story from France the other day about a security guard’s iPhone “exploding” and sending a shard of glass into his eye (though apparently not serious enough to warrant a hospital visit), it was a little hard to believe, but with a few other stories of cracking screens due to overheating cropping up in Europe over the past couple weeks, French authorities have taken an interest in the story. Anecdotally, a teen says his phone “imploded” in Belgium and gave him a headache, a woman’s phone cracked without warning, and ten or so victims in France have come forward to complain of similar problems, picking up the interest of a French consumer watchdog group. Apple is naturally not new to the concept of overheating in its battery-powered devices — in fact, it’s just entered into its first full-on iPod nano recall in Korea of the 1st-gen players after numerous reports of battery faultiness worldwide — but with 26 million iPhones out and about, and the iPhone 3GS tending to run a bit hotter than its siblings, a systemic problem with one or all models of the handsets isn’t something consumers or Apple would take lightly.

Herve Novelli, France’s top trade official, met with Apple France’s Michel Coulomb today to discuss the problem, and so far Apple is sticking to its guns: it claims that reported incidents are in the single digits, and that all cases it’s investigated fully so far have turned out to be blamed on “external force” to the screen. Herve and Michel seem to have parted on friendly terms, promising to keep in touch over the issue, and the EU’s alert system for dangerous consumer products (inexplicably dubbed RAPEX) is staying in the loop as well, asking the 27 member nations to keep tabs on the situation. Novelli says it’s “too early to blame anyone,” and we’d have to agree, but we hope Apple keeps up the (freshly) open communication about this issue going forward.

Read - French minister meets Apple exec over iPhone problems
Read - Apple denies ‘exploding’ iPhones
Read - Apple denies battery problem with exploding iPhones
Read - Belgian teenager latest victim of exploding iPhone phenomenon

Filed under: Cellphones

Overheating iPhone reports ‘exploding’ all over France, Apple responds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Still not convinced of the benefits of TomTom’s upcoming Car Kit for iPhone? Then perhaps a little FCC approval will change your mind. In addition to offering a bit more reassurance that the thing is actually coming, the new listing also reveals a few more details than TomTom’s been willing to dish out, including the fact that the mount / dock / charger packs some Bluetooth of its own for hands-free calling, and its very own SiRFstar GPS chipset to give you some better accuracy compared to the standalone TomTom iPhone app. Still looking for more? You can get a glimpse of the device’s manual, some internal and external shots, and slew of test reports to keep you busy by hitting up the read link below.

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

TomTom’s Car Kit for iPhone hits the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well would you look at those. Six snaps from Verizon’s internal inventory database showing the BlackBerry Storm 2, Touch Pro 2, Omnia II, the Samsung Convoy and a pair of previously unseen Palm devices tagged with “P101″ and “P121″ monikers. It’s just a guess, but we, like PhoneArena, think there’s a very good chance that these are the Pre (already shipping on Sprint as model P100 according to the FCC) and its little Eos cousin, respectively. Now, anyone still doubting a Q1 2010 release on Big Red?

Filed under: Cellphones

Possible Palm Pre, Eos, Storm 2, and more revealed in Verizon database originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Jitterbug comes to Verizon’s network, ‘Can you hear me now’ guy replaced by Wilford Brimley

Filed under: Cellphones

Jitterbug comes to Verizon’s network, ‘Can you hear me now’ guy replaced by Wilford Brimley originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Right on schedule, the Palm Pre has started shipping to Bell Mobility customers. The Bell exclusive marks the first international launch of Palm’s little savior and to celebrate, we’ve got commercials — a pair of knee-slappers featuring real live Canadians. And you thought that the mirror on the back of the Pre was only for the ladies.

Continue reading Video: Palm Pre jumps the border, now shipping on Bell

Filed under: Cellphones

Video: Palm Pre jumps the border, now shipping on Bell originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.