Cell Phone Hub

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Filed under: Cellphones

According to the oracle-like superbrains at J. Gold Associates, Google’s Android OS and Nokia’s Symbian will “combine to provide a single open source OS,” sometime in the very near future… say, three to six months. Sure, Android is just about to launch on devices in late 2008, and Nokia just announced in June that it will be moving Symbian towards open source — and of course the two companies have no formal relationship that would come close to permitting such a collaboration. Still, J. Gold assures us this is happening, stating, “A combination of the Android and Symbian efforts would be good for the industry, good for Google and good for Symbian.” In related news, we understand a handful of similar mergers are in the offing: Linksys and Belkin, Red Hat and Ubuntu, Engadget and Gizmodo, and the inevitable one-two punch of Coke and Pepsi.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Details are scarce right now, but you can make of it what you will. Sprint hasn’t been in the best of situations since it acquired Nextel in 2005, and while this move may not be seen by everyone as definitively negative, it certainly is worth noting. The flagging carrier sold off “nearly all” (around 3,300) of its wireless communication towers to TowerCo for some $670 million in cash. According to Sprint Nextel’s Bob Azzi, the move to lease rather than own these network facilities will enable it to “better focus on its core business of providing communications services to consumers, businesses and government customers.” He continued by noting that the transaction “provides Sprint Nextel with additional liquidity [for] greater flexibility in managing the company.” Whatever you say, sir.

[Via InformationWeek]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Ask Engadget, Cellphones

We know, we know — this one’s going to be a doozie, but it’s something that just has to be done. For folks out there too far from the reaches of GSM or simply unwilling to cough up the requisite dough to pay for AT&T’s comparatively pricey plans, we figure Kevin’s question will hit very close to home:

“What is the best alternative for the iPhone / iPhone 3G? I am looking for a touchscreen phone that has most of what the iPhone can provide, such as media and decent web browsing. I am also looking for a device with a lower cost (with or without a new plan). Could you please help point me in the right direction?”

Feel free to dish our your best options for GSM and CDMA, particularly if you’ve wondered this yourself and found your answer. Keep it civilized down there, alright? Got a question you’d like to pose to Engadget’s fine, fine readers? Shoot it over to ask at engadget dawt com and hope for the best.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones

Continue reading Samsung’s i8510 INNOV8 gets official in Europe, shown off on video

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve already seen the iPhone 3G got unlocked to function on any carrier (and you can already buy unlocked versions in several countries), but we haven’t seen a locked handset get unlocked via software only, and the folks at gsmphone-unlocking have the first video we’ve seen of Steve’s newest baby doing the SIM swap dance without any adapters. Yep, there it is, going from Rogers to Fido. Sadly, the video is more of a shameless ploy for publicity than actually useful information, and until we’re told otherwise, we’re just going to assume that they’ve just gotten hold of an early copy of the Dev Team’s unlocking tool — which should be free to the public sometime soon. So, you know: video after the break, but feel free to ignore the obnoxious phone numbers and URLs.

Continue reading iPhone 3G SIM unlock demoed on video, zero details given

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

We know you’re not really down with digesting any more catchphrases, but the technology formerly known as Ultra Low Power Bluetooth / Wibree is now being dubbed Bluetooth low energy. Now that we’re clear on nomenclature, you may be thrilled to know that CSR showcased its recently unveiled BlueCore7 dual mode (Bluetooth low energy and Bluetooth v2.1) chip at a Bluetooth SIG Medical Working Group meeting. According to onlookers, the handset was able to transfer data to another nearby mobile using just 3 frequencies rather than 32, resulting in an unquantifiable decrease in power consumption. Sounds like a winner on the surface, but we have this weird that mass adoption of this tech is like, years away.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Sure, Apple alleges to have flipped over a million iPhone 3Gs at this point, but what does that mean? The devil’s in the details, as always; yes, true, the first one took 74 days to reach that same milestone, but it was available in less than one-twentieth the number of countries and an even smaller fraction of carriers. Hell, the very definition of “sale” is under scrutiny here, with some suggesting that Apple’s making reference to the number of phones it’s sold to its carrier partners, not end users — a metric that would make sense from Cupertino’s perspective since Apple’s payday technically ends there. We have some metrics on hand here that paint an interesting picture of the iPhone 3G launch that might be a little different than what you expect; head on over to Engadget Mobile for the scoop.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones

The tried-and-true Hamburger phone is still our fav (what, there a problem with that?), but Marc Schömann’s baton-styled concept phone is very worthy of a look. Laden with LEDs and ready to be turned, users can dial up friends and family in painstakingly long procedures that involve all sorts of inefficient rotating maneuvers. Still, we can’t help but adore the hat tip to yesteryear’s rotary phones, though we have no doubts that this will never, ever see a retail shelf. Please, someone, prove us wrong.

[Via PhoneMag]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

A heaping handful of fresh alleged screen shots of S60 Touch’s user interface are floating around, apparently yoinked off the platform’s PC-based theme editor — not as cool as if they’d been lifted from a Tube, granted, but still good enough to give us some clutch insight into where Nokia’s taking this thing. As revolutionary as the move to touch control might be for S60 as a platform, the UI looks shockingly evolutionary so far; in fact, to the untrained eye, there are portions that are virtually indistinguishable from S60 revs of yore. That’s good news (we suppose) for S60 diehards who aren’t interested in learning a new paradigm — and we’re all for the VGA support here — but it’s bad news for anyone who was planning on having their noodles positively baked by Espoo’s engineering manpower and massive R&D budget. Let’s all just hold off on the negativity until Nokia gives us something official to ogle; for the time being, though, our boring UI-dar is definitely on high alert.

[Via Symbian Freak, thanks Misha]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Saying that Samsung’s new BlackJack IIs are pink and blue is really only telling part of the story. Unlike the originals, the stylish new models feature contrasting white fronts with color-coordinated keys and fancy designs on the back — perfect for that fashion-conscious Windows Mobile nerd in your life (if that’s not an oxymoron, we don’t know what is). Collect the whole set now for $99.99 a pop on contract.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments