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RIM and Samsung make nice on naming dispute
And by "make nice" we mean they probably exchanged large amounts of money behind closed doors to keep this lawsuit from getting out of hand. RIM's lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for Central California in December, alleges that not only does Samsung's BlackJack phone cause consumer confusion, but the very fact that Samsung called the phone i600 in Europe proves that it was specifically targeting the US-centric BlackBerry types. RIM, in a statement Wednesday said that the settlement includes "immediate provisions for the protection of RIM's valuable trademarks," and that it "does include limitations on use of the Blackjack trademark, withdrawal of the trademark application for Blackjack, Cingular's retention of common law rights in the Blackjack trademark, and certain reasonable measures to avoid confusion in the marketplace." So it sounds like Samsung won't be getting much more mileage out of this naming convention, though the deliberate "Blackjack" misspelling by RIM -- with that lowercase "j" -- has to grate on Sammy just a little bit, unless of course that was part of the deal. So, can we all just get along now?[Thanks, Marty H]
Samsung BlackJack and Motorola Q, mano-a-mano
Q, meet BlackJack. BlackJack, Q. Now play nice, fellas.
Hands-on with the Samsung BlackJack
The date: November 16, 2006. The network: Cingular. Smartphone meets HSDPA for the first time on a North American market, with the Samsung i607 BlackJack launching alongside the HTC-sourced 8525. We headed down to our local Cingular corporate store on that fateful day, trying to get a feel for what (if anything) the landmark launches were doing for foot traffic and sales. Much to our surprise -- our very pleasant surprise -- the store is busier than we'd ever seen it, with virtually everyone in the joint inquiring about that sleek new Samsung with a keyboard they've seen on the telly. As it turns out, the store didn't even have any of the bigger, more expensive, less hyped 8525s; the curious customers and would-be customers had all wandered in on the strength of the BlackJack alone. By the end of the day, they'd sold out. What is it about the device that has everyone fired up? More importantly, is it justified?
How To: Tether a Samsung BlackJack to get your Mac online
About a month ago I swallowed the poison and picked up a Cingular BlackJack, a new Windows Mobile Smartphone (I know, I know). I had been looking to step up to some sort of a PDA phone so I can surf and keep on top of WIN/TUAW business without having a MacBook sewn to my head, and so far it's been working out well. The one thing I haven't been able to figure out yet is how to use this cutting-edge HSPDA phone (a new high-speed wireless data network) as a modem - until now. While cruising Smartphone Thoughts (a good resource for other WinMo5 users in the audience) and their forums, I found this post at Mobility Today by David Ciccione that describes how to use a BlackBerry 3G Driver (of all things) to tether a BlackJack to a Mac for getting online. It isn't a simple process, but I just went through the paces and can confirm - it works. Now before you run off and start tethering your BlackJack to your Mac all over the place, I want to add a few things to Mr. Ciccione's awesome work so everyone in our diverse audience knows what they're getting into. First off: if you don't have the proper data plan with Cingular, I have no idea if or how much they'll charge you per KB or MB for connecting, even if you're just testing this out. Try this at your own risk - we can't be responsible if you connect and start downloading movies from the iTunes Store, only to get a $300 bill for data next month. Call Cingular, like I did, before you goof around with this to make sure you have the right data plan. For what it's worth, I have the $20/month Smartphone unlimited data plan, which gets to fly under the radar of their ~$50 PDA data plan since it's a 'Smartphone' instead of a full-blown Pocket PC phone or data card for a notebook.Continue reading after the jump for some add-on tips and gotchas to make this a smooth and worthwhile process.
BlackBerry versus BlackJack: RIM sues Samsung for trademark infringement
Thoroughly annoyed by Samsung's entry into the smartphone sector with its new BlackJack, RIM (maker of the BlackBerry, of course), has sued Sammie for trademark infringement in US Federal Court in Los Angeles. Oh, RIM, we understand that you want to protect your trademark over the BlackBerry name. But do you really, honestly, believe that just because another smartphone has the name "Black" in it, that throngs of people will rush out to buy the BlackJack when they meant to buy the BlackBerry? Or is this just a ploy to squeeze some money out of Samsung when you two finally settle this dispute? Yeah, that's what we thought. (Needless to say, Cingular must find this whole thing pretty hilarious.)[Via Textually]
Got cash in the new phone budget? Do some good
'Tis the season for giving, which leaves the rabid phone fans among us in a tight spot: how do we get in on a little new mobile tech for ourselves and help those less fortunate at the same time? Our friends over at Phone Scoop are hoping to fill the bill by auctioning off a handful of hot, current handsets graciously provided by carriers and manufacturers with all proceeds going to benefit The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria -- the same fund (RED) benefits. Loot includes a T-Mobile Dash, LRG Sidekick 3, Motorola MOTOKRZR K1, unlocked Samsung i320, M500 for Sprint, and BlackJack, and a Helio Drift (see, we told you the goods were hot). Bidding will take place via Phone Scoops' forums, with all auctions ending this Friday. Bid generously, and bid to win!
Engadget Podcast 094 - 11.17.2006
Big, big week for gadget news (as we all well know). The Zune, the PS3, and the Wii, it's been pretty crazed around the hallowed halls of Engadget HQ. We're not going to spend a lot of time talking about the news surrounding the gadgets since something tells us a lot of you are wondering what they're like, and whether you should buy one. We also briefly touch on some other noteworthy announcements, including the Lenovo X60, Nikon D40, the Core 2 Duo MacBook, and those sweet new Cingular Windows Mobile devices. It's going to be a hell of a holiday season this year. Get the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in AAC) to your RSS aggregator. [RSS OGG] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in OGG) to your RSS aggregator. Hosts: Peter Rojas and Ryan Block Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Solvent - Instructograph (Ghostly International) Program: 0:01:25 - Zune review 0:20:37 - PS3 unboxing! 0:35:03 - Wii hands-on, unboxing! 0:43:03 - Xbox HD DVD hands-on 0:48:03 - Xbox Live Video hands-on 0:52:54 - Hon Hai cops to iPhone contract 0:56:02 - Apple's MacBook goes Core 2 Duo, too 0:56:16 - Cingular 8525, BlackJack now for sale 1:00:46 - Nikon D40 officially announced 1:03:40 - Hands-on with Lenovo's X60 Tablet PC LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com
Cingular 8525, BlackJack now for sale
Hey you -- yeah, you. Cingular 8525, you know the one, right? Ok, and the BlackJack? The i607? Right, those two hype HSDPA WinMo handsets are now officially for sale, $400 and $200, respectively, after two year contract (with unlimited data) and rebates. Just save some for the kids, ok? They're tired of getting coal in their stockings because of your sick device addiction.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Cingular's Samsung BlackJack i607, announced and reviewed
We love the Dash and all, but if you're Stateside and have been waiting for a formidable Q competitor complete with 3G, you've probably had your eye on the i607 BlackJack. It's a little chunky, a little clunky, and the keys and keyboard are not exactly our favorite (think: i320 meets Q), but it's the only GSM phone on the block with EDGE / UMTS / HSDPA. Other notable features include a QVGA display, new Cingular Music support (as well as Cingular Video), Bluetooth 2.0, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Like its other holiday 2006 QWERTY smartphone competitors (see: Treo 680, Dash, Q), it too will be priced at $200 with a two year contract (and unlimited data plan). And hey, lucky you, both Phone Scoop and LAPTOP have reviews of the device, both of which seem pretty positive about Cingular's latest (even despite that sad lack of WiFi).Read - Phone Scoop's reviewRead - LAPTOP's review
Cingular's latest rebate form hints at holiday releases
Cingular's rebate forms are about as accurate at predicting the carrier's releases as weathermen are at predicting blizzards, but nevertheless, there are several juicy tidbits in the latest form (dated November 5 to December 30, 2006) worth pointing out. First up, the Samsung ZX30 and LG CU400 make appearances, both presumably destined to bring yet more clamshell love to the HSDPA game, and it'll be interesting to see how the ZX30 slots in against its SYNC stablemate. Also showing up to the party is the CU500v -- a phone we know nothing about -- but we're guessing it represents some sort of incremental upgrade to the CU500 (video calling, perhaps?). Next up, the SGH-i607 seems to have been officially christened the "Blackjack" for Cingular's release of the slim, 3G, QWERTY smartphone. Finally, the Treo 680 and 750 get some rebate love with both models coming in camera and non-camera variants. Conspicuously missing from the form, though, is the hotly-anticipated Nokia N75, suggesting that American S60 fans might be waiting until early '07 to get some 3G action.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Update: Looking closer at the form, we find a couple other goodies in the mix -- the Motorola K1 KRZR (in its GSM flavor, of course), the V3r (basically a red V3i, we hear), and the Pearl, a phone we'd previously heard wouldn't drop until 2007. Oh, and if you look really close, the ZX30 actually reads "ZX20" (how boring!). [Thanks again, everyone]
Sega creating surgery game for DS
It appears that one Osamu Tezuka license wasn't enough as they've acquired the license for Black Jack to keep Astro Boy company. In Black Jack, you play as Dr. Jotaro Honma, who can best be described as a medical mercenary, selling his talents to those who are willing to pay the most. The operation takes place on the touch-screen, tasking the player with drawing shapes over manga panels to successfully complete the operation. Siliconera describes the system as being "sort of like Jet Set Radio's graffiti system except instead of turning the analog stick you draw patterns."[Via Siliconera]
BlackBerry Pearl 8100c and Samsung SGH-i607 coming to Cingular?
This one's a little difficult to explain, but it would appear that a Cingular developer's site of some kind is under construction at a design firm's domain, and in it they show with some accuracy their 2006 roadmap, including two new devices we hadn't yet seen coming to Cingular: the BlackBerry Pearl 8100c (due Q4) and the Samsung Blackjack SGH-i607 (due Q3, which will be ending in short order). The specs on the quad-band Pearl look to be in place and has that tweaked appearance, and the i607 pictured retains the i600's front-facing camera, as well as quad-band GSM / GSRS / EDGE / HSDPA data, and Bluetooth; of course, we knew the Pearl was headed to Cingular, but the Blackjack will make a nice little addition to the cadre of Q-killers making their way to the states.P.S. -Oh, and the 8525 is listed as Q3, too. Big surprise.[Thanks, Jaybo]
Orange shows small army of Windows Mobile devices
Talk about sensory overload -- MoDaCo got its hands on a bunch of semi-official Orange debuts for a number of devices over the weekend, and we have to admit, we're insanely jealous. Perhaps the most interesting of the bunch, Samsung's "Blackjack" WM5 Smartphone comes fresh on the heels of the i320, offering basically the same functionality plus 3G data and a forward-facing camera for video calling (feeling the heat, Moto?). Also shown were the HTC Breeze and Oxygen, known on Orange as the C700 and C100 respectively; no real surprises here, though we can now confirm that the Oxygen won't be sporting DTV like we had previously heard might be the case. In case that all doesn't have ya impressed, the Hermes (M3100) and Star Trek (F600) showed up for the party, too. Don't know about you, but we're feeling a bit overwhelmed here; excuse us while we lie down for just a few minutes.
Play BlackJack on your iPod
As further evidence to support my theory that Apple should make a gaming iPod to compete with the Gameboy, Nintendo DS, and Playstation Portable, iPod Downloads has created a blackjack game for the iPod that runs off of the iPod's Notes feature.
