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HTC releases official update for AT&T 8525
Don't get your hopes up, it's not Windows Mobile 6 or anything cool like that, but HTC and AT&T have thrown 8525 owners a bone today with the official release of an expected (albeit a tad late) firmware upgrade. HTC's page for the update is about as vague as it could possibly be without totally concealing the fact that it is, in fact, an update -- but we've heard through other sources that it should offer up a functional push-to-talk button, miscellaneous bug fixes from the 8525's original firmware, and that love-it-or-hate-it AT&T branding. Can't have your flagship smart device dressed up in outdated branding, now can you?
LG CU500v, first Video Share phone, launches on AT&T (not)
Nope, we didn't screw up the image here -- the LG CU500v is, for all practical purposes, identical to the older CU500, save for the critical detail that the CU500v's firmware supports Video Share. We can basically think of the new feature as a poor man's video calling; video is transmitted only one way during calls, though callers with compatible handsets can switch direction mid-call. Rumor has it AT&T intends to launch true video calling along with its HSUPA network, but for the time being, this is as good as it gets. The good news? With a swiveling 1.3 megapixel cam, microSD expansion, stereo speakers, external music controls, stereo Bluetooth, and a slim, metallic body, the phone is no slouch -- and being the first kid on the block with Video Share is only going to run you $29.99 after the typical contract and rebate discounts.[Thanks, Kyle A.]Update: Um, April fools, or something! The CU500v has been taken down from AT&T's site after apparently being put up prematurely. Oh well, we didn't want crippled video calling anyway! Hmph!
AT&T refunds up for grabs after BlackBerry outage?
Cash money revenge is at hand dear BlackBerry users. After suffering a 12 to 15 hour e-mail outage last week, Cingular, uh hem, the New AT&T is offering its business subscribers a prorated credit as long as your willing to call and complain. We're talking a mere $1 to $2.50 refund depending upon your plan -- but hey, what were you expecting? If that doesn't slake the retribution jones then perhaps you should up the Methadone.
AT&T gets ExpressCard, USB modems
As expected, AT&T has launched the GT Max 3.6 Express from Option to satisfy the needs of the many, many road warriors toting nothing more than an ExpressCard slot to satisfy their 3G data needs. Tragically, the ExpressCard/34 device isn't being shipped with Mac OS support out of the box, though Option touts Apple compatibility and we're pretty confident that determined MacBook Pro owners will have little or no issue getting it up and running. Another intriguing option for laptop data, the Sierra Wireless 875U, hooks up to the USB port of your choice; like the Option, AT&T's only supporting Windows at the moment even though Mac OS drivers exist for the device. Get the GT Max 3.6 Express now for a penny shy of $50 on contract after rebates -- pricing hasn't been announced for the 875U just yet, but it'll be available in "early May," so we don't have terribly long to wait.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Read - Press releaseRead - Option GT Max 3.6 Express
The Boy Genius Report: The LG CU500v's guide to Video Sharing
Field report tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, the Boy Genius.Always wondered just how AT&T's one-way Video Share system was going to work? Us too, so we were more than happy to get a gander at the quick start user guide for the upcoming LG CU500v, a phone that's destined to be among the very first to support the feature. It sounds like setting it up will be a breeze (as long as both caller and callee have Video Share handsets and are in a 3G coverage area): just wait for "Video Share Ready" to appear on the display and press the camera button. Strangely, disconnecting the video feed is a more complicated operation, requiring no fewer than three button presses to accomplish. After the share is finished, the sender can save the feed to memory -- sorry receivers, you're left out of the fun here. Click on for a closeup of the instructions!
The 2006 Engadget Awards: Vote for Gadget of the Year
This is it, the moment you've been waiting for. After all these long months you can finally cast your ballot for the 2006 Gadget of the Year! Our Engadget Awards nominees are listed below, and you've got until 11.59PM EST on Wednesday, April 18th to file your vote. You can only vote once, so make it count, and may the best gadget in all of 2006 win! The nominees: Apple MacBook Pro, Dell 3007WFP-HC, HTC Hermes / 8525, Nintendo Wii, SanDisk Sansa E280R, Slingbox PRO, and Sony PlayStation 3. %Poll-368%
AT&T sells 1M Samsung SYNCs, 0.5M BlackJacks
Score one for North American HSDPA! Samsung has triumphantly reported that the SGH-A707 -- better known as the "SYNC" to AT&T customers -- has been sold over a million times since its introduction five months ago, a figure that was apparently boosted significantly by the introduction of red and blue variants on store shelves. Coming in at half a million units shipped is the BlackJack; an impressive figure, considering its higher price point and classification as a smartphone. Here's to another million, folks -- keep the 3G love coming.[Via I4U News]
Verizon retakes US wireless subscriber lead from AT&T
The one-upping in the US carrier industry of "who has the most subscribers" sometimes seems to be a driver behind mergers and the like. Well, we're half joking, but it certainly seems that way sometimes. When Cingular combined with the old AT&T Wireless years back to leap ahead of Verizon Wireless as the largest U.S. mobile carrier, we're sure Verizon was a little steamed. It took some time, but Verizon Wireless has clawed its way back to the top of the pile, as IDC now says that Verizon's 56.8 million U.S. subscribers has caused AT&T to fall into second place in the country with 56.3 million subs insofar as direct retail customers. Add the fact that Verizon Wireless also has the top spot for wireless data usage and percent of subscriber revenue used on data, and pow -- AT&T just got dealt a blow. AT&T won't be down for the count though with its retail customers, we think. It just might buy T-Mobile USA if Deutsche Telekom wants to sell it -- or not. Perhaps Alltel? Why, we love GSM and CDMA carrier combinations! In the meantime, we suppose they can still tout their status as the nation's largest GSM carrier, but it just doesn't have the same ring to it, now does it?[update: added additional description]
Apple sends out iPhone email
Ooh, the anticipation is mounting! When the iPhone was first introduced, I (and a few other TUAW bloggers) signed up to receive notification of the devices availability. Today, a few of us received the following email from Apple. It features an image of the phone, a link to the iPhone homepage and the message:"Talk to you soon. Thanks for signing up. You'll be the first to hear the latest about iPhone - coming this June. That gives you just enough time to think of ways to break the news to your current phone."Sounds good, Apple!Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Cingular says June 11 is iPhone Day
My fellow Carnegie Mellon alum Declan McCullagh (go Tartans!) has a unique investigative style: when he wants to find out a product release date, he calls customer service and asks someone. Genius, I say! In this case, he called AT&T/Cingular and spoke to a sales manager who confirmed an on-sale date for the iPhone of June 11, 2007. The alert reader will note that Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference also starts on June 11. Coincidence? Uh, survey says no.What's that noise I hear... is that the sound of millions of customers checking the contract expiration dates for their current cellphone service? Sounds like gophers.Thanks Marcus![via News.com]
AT&T to add HSUPA this year
Not to be outdone by the impending reality of nationwide EV-DO Rev. A from both Sprint and Verizon, AT&T's apparently felt enough heat to come clean with its intentions for an HSUPA launch. The technology -- the second half of the equation in GSM's HSPA 3.5G strategy, the first being HSDPA -- works the same magic for uplink speeds that HSDPA did for downlink, giving users uploads in the 1.5Mbps range. For the record, users of AT&T's present HSDPA network get hooked up with plain ol' UMTS uplink speeds in the high 300kbps range, so needless to say, this is an upgrade we can throw our support behind. Look for AT&T to roll out the requisite software upgrades to its equipment over the course of 2007, with the first compatible modems hitting midyear. Hint, hint: ExpressCards, AT&T. Please.
LG's 575 for AT&T
We were just casually wandering the expanses of LG's slick booth here at CTIA (stay tuned for more goodies from it) when we happened across this gem: a glass-encased flip simply known as "LG575." What caught our eye, though, was the telltale stylized AT&T globe on the OK button, so yeah, we pretty much know where it's headed. Judging from its appearance, we'd say its a midrange 3G piece in the same vein as the Samsung SYNC, but with an exterior that might be real metal (we couldn't be sure) and a clever-looking touch strip below the external display, presumably for music control. Judging from LG's recent naming convention for Cingular handsets, we wouldn't be terribly surprised to see this one turn into the "CU575," but who knows? LG's 575 for AT&T
Still no iPhone provider in Europe
While Steve was quick to announce Cingular (or is it AT&T now? Who knows...) as the American carrier for the forthcoming iPhone, they're yet to line up a carrier in Europe. Market Watch is reporting today that Apple is actively courting providers, and may select Vodafone as their sole European iPhone carrier by the end of the year.Meanwhile, Google is supposedly considering Telefonica SA to carry a rumored "GPhone" in Europe.[Via My iPhone]
AT&T teams up with Napster, again
AT&T and Napster have joined hands to offer customers access to some three million songs for a year via Napster To Go. This 180 dollar freebie -- if, of course, you have the right plan -- will allow subscribers to download, organize, and create playlists on a PC and then sync them to their handset or compatible music device. This offer is a bit of a rehash from back in November 2004 when Cingular owned AT&T, but this time instead of 14.95 a month, it's free (and we love free). Reading through the list of qualifying plans is a bit of a daunting affair, so our advice is to hit up your local bricks and mortar AT&T shop on or after the April 1st launch for the lowdown.
Cingular's Treo 750, Blackjack and 8525 get WM6 treatment
We had a chance to peep an "eyes-only" presentation from AT&T with the dirty details on WM6 for current and future devices, with the newly-branded Cingular apparently poised to introduce patches for three of its hottest handsets. The word is that the Treo 750, 8525, and the Blackjack will see downloadable updates released for current owners, and that WM6 will be pre-installed on all devices launched in 2007. In a separate tip, our peeps tell us that the Blackjack update should be in Cingular's hot hands by May 26; with an expected eight week soak period for testing, this could hit by late July this year. We suppose that if the ROMs prove bulletproof, the cheering masses could theoretically get this update sooner, but until then we can only sit and wait. No word on timing for the other two devices, but we are seriously hoping that Blue has its ducks in a row and that they are on an similar schedule.
Pantech shows five-pack for AT&T at CTIA
The FCC spoiled some of Pantech's secrets here, but Korea's number three purveyor of cellies still managed to bring some heretofore-unknown goodness to CTIA this week. Five new models are on the show floor to be exact, every last one of which seems destined for AT&T on account of the "C" prefixes in their model names. FIrst up, the C3b takes the ridiculously-small-flip concept of the C3 and adds Bluetooth, MMS, and some new software miscellany into the mix. Next, the C150 (pictured) does A2DP, over-the-air music downloads and a VGA cam in a thin candybar shell (in white or black... decisions, decisions!). The C510 -- not to be confused with the C150 -- also lies in the 2.5G realm but makes do with a "front scrolling digital display" and music controls, A2DP, and a 1.3 megapixel cam in a green shell (unlike the silver version the FCC saw, we suppose). Turning our attention to the 3G stuff, the C600 gets a Flash-based UI and stereo Bluetooth, presumably at a fairly reasonable price point. Finally, the C710 could end up being the most interesting of the bunch with the promise of Video Share support (geez, finally), stereo speakers, push to talk, stereo Bluetooth (notice a trend here?) and a 1.3 megapixel cam. No word yet on when we'll see any of these, but rest assured we'll be working hard to get these snapped in the flesh at the show!
AT&T finally gets Nokia 6126
After it had been rumored in the pipe many, many moons ago without ever materializing, we'd assumed AT&T had given up on making the Nokia 6126 a reality. Silly us -- we forgot that American carriers have no qualms with releasing phones 11 agonizing months after they've been announced by the manufacturer! We digress, though; the Finnish clamshell is still a totally decent low-end piece with microSD expansion, a 1.3 megapixel cam, EDGE data, and dual color displays. Look for it now in stores and online -- price will likely vary from market to market, but we're showing $80 after rebates on a two-year contract.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
AT&T sues NASCAR for sponsorship rights
When you're a big telecom outfit and you don't get your way with sponsoring certain events, better bring out the hankies when you start whining. That's just what AT&T did in a recent tiff with NASCAR, after racing officials refused to slap the AT&T logo on Jeff Burton's car. The Number 31 car already had the Cingular logo on it, but as AT&T eradicates all traces of that brand, it apparently wanted the AT&T logo instead (understandable, we suppose). The beef, though, comes from NASCAR's current sponsorship deal with Nextel for the Nextel Cup; with AT&T calling the logo placement an "integral part'' of the its brand name change, NASCAR is prohibiting the company's ability to "attract new customers and retain existing ones.'' Let us see here: logo change equals automatic new customers... sounds pretty logical to us.
AT&T's red Pearl -- the RIM CranBerry?
There are two things worth noting about that image to the right. First, it's red. No, not (PRODUCT) RED, just red as in the rumored red Pearl we heard was coming to AT&T. It's not even that red making this more of a RIM CranBerry. The pic comes to us by way of a helpful anonymous tipster who claims it will pop as early as Monday (along side a crimson Treo 680) to business channels even though this would be RIM's least business-y release to date. The other thing to note here of course is the new AT&T branding. Is this the real deal? We're not sure, but we'll see on Monday now won't we.
AT&T bringing wrestling to mobile phones
If you're bustin' to get that jumpin'-off-the-ring wrestling action anywhere you are, you're about to be in luck. That is, if you're an AT&T wireless customer. In a paradoxically odd way, the larger-than-life pro wresting stars of WrestleMania and other pro wrestling shows are about to land hard on that 2 inch cellphone screen. What will the content be? For starters, graphics ($1.99 each) and videos featuring wrestling stars, ringtones with wrestler's voices ($2.49 each) and updates from weekly matches and the like -- just don't let that wrestling scream ringtone out on a Honolulu bus. Even select World Wrestling videos will be on tap as part of AT&T's media service offering at $20/month. And, of course, the cherry on the parfait will be a premium WrestleMania video package for $4.99 a month extra. Let's get ready to rumble.
