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Motorola makes i1 official, melds Android and push-to-talk this summer on Sprint
Right on cue, just after the aptly-timed teaser poster, Motorola signs on just the right dotted lines to make its i1 push-to-talk Android handset official. Let's run through the specs quickly, shall we? A 3.1-inch HVGA (320 x 480) touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and 4x zoom, WiFi, and microSD expansion -- no mention of the processor, so we'll have to find out on our own later. The OS version is 1.5 and, while there's oddly not a single mention in either the press release of fact sheet, given the official images and unofficial leaks, it's definitely got Motoblur. The browser of choice is Opera Mini 5 with support for Flash 8, and if you're worried about Mother Nature's wrath, the i1 meets Military 810F standards for handling averse weather conditions. iDEN lovers can pick up the call sometime this summer on Sprint, with price yet to be named. Update: Motorola's just sent word that the i1 does not have Motoblur, despite the presence of the traditional green call / blue contacts buttons. That begs the question, then, of what exactly defines Motoblur here (is just the Happenings widget missing?), and what Android skin is on the i1 -- the press images here are definitely not showing vanilla 1.5. We're still awaiting a response to that, stay tuned. %Gallery-88737%
Motorola's Android-powered i1 launching at CTIA
With CTIA still a day away, we're stoked to have already seen a giant billboard near the convention center confirming the rumored Motorola i1. Of course, billboards rarely offer much insight into the device's specifics, but there is a pretty decent view of the UI and its slogan: "Grab Life by the Calls." As you'd expect, we'll be all over this set just as soon as we can get at one, but in the interim follow on for one more pic after the break that features the i1's poster boy, Mike Rowe of Discovery's Dirty Jobs.
Dell Aero is AT&T's second Android phone
Looks like Dell's finally entering the modern US smartphone market with a renamed Mini 3 called the Aero for AT&T. There's some serious Android UI skinning going on here -- it looks like a riff on what we've seen on the Streak / Mini 5 -- but that's all we know specs-wise at the moment. To be honest, we're somewhat concerned that this custom UI skin will be built on top of Android 1.5 or 1.6 instead of 2.1, and that AT&T will mandate a Backflip-style app lockdown -- until we get some hard details all we have is this pic and our usual hope for the future.
Official: Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus for AT&T 'in the coming months'
Yes folks, it's finally really happened. Today Palm announced that its dynamic duo -- the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus -- will be making their way to AT&T's network "in the coming months." We won't bore you with too many details on the devices, since you can read our review of the non-Plus Sprint variations here and here, and the Verizon versions right here. What we will tell you is that at an undisclosed time, the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus can be yours for just $149.99 and a deep-discount $49.99 (with a $100 mail-in rebate and two-year contract), respectively. The Pre Plus will be similarly equipped to its Verizon counterpart (16GB of storage, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1), and the Pixi should look awfully familiar as well (8GB storage, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1), though AT&T will be offering a variation with a blue back plate (in addition to the standard black and other swappable covers). Both UMTS / HSDPA devices will support AT&T's new Address Book service as a Synergy sync option, and will have free auto-connect access to the carrier's WiFi +20,000 hotspots. We don't know when we'll get our hands on these guys, but Palm will be showing off the AT&T-ified versions of the handsets at the upcoming CTIA... which we will of course be attending. It should be interesting to see if hopping on AT&T's network will move the needle for Palm, let's just hope those "coming months" are, you know... pretty soon. Full PR and one more pic after the break.
AnyDATA to preview new embedded 2G, 3G wireless modules at CTIA
It looks like Novatel isn't the only outfit that's figured out something useful to do with Qualcom's Wearable Mobile Device module designs. In advance of CTIA 2010 the kids at AnyDATA have announced the new DTW line of embedded 2G and 3G wireless modules. At 21 x 22 x 4.5mm they're smaller than a quarter, which means that your dream of having a wireless quarter might someday be realized! (But not a wireless Susan B. Anthony Dollar -- that would be crazy.) All modules in the line include GPSs and accelerometers, and at least two of 'em -- the DTW-200 (CDMA 1X) and DTW-500 (3G EVDO Rev A) modules -- feature A-GPS as well. Check out the PR after the break for all the details juicy details -- you know, except price and availability. Apparently those are still TBA.
RIM BlackBerry 'T' (Talladega?) slider launching next month?
Hang with us for a sec as we conjure up a speculative device from a sordid collection of rumors. By now we've all seen the leaked BlackBerry slider right? How about the "Mr. T" phone, heard of that? Maybe you've heard of it by its other codename of Talladega? The connection here is that all of these devices are thought to be one and the same although that's definitely not confirmed by any stretch. Things got a bit more interesting today after a loose-lipped CEO of a RIM parts supplier (Woojeon & Handan) mentioned a brand new BlackBerry "T" phone launching next month during an interview posted on joins.com (a popular Korean news site). According to our translation or the Korean jibba jabba: "The Canadian company RIM famous for BlackBerry smartphones is releasing a new model next month. Known as the "T," The new model is an ambitious product aimed at competing against iPhone's storm of success. Rim will present it ("T") as its flagship model to compete in global markets such as the U.S. and Europe." Funny, we thought that the original Storm was RIM's answer to the iPhone. Anywho, Reuters picked up on the Woojeon & Handan interview today but shied away from mentioning the name or the "next month" timing, saying only that W&H would supply parts for a new RIM product to be released later this year. With any luck, we'll get a full reveal of the mythical BB slider next week with the kickoff of the big CTIA show. [Thanks, Frank] Update: You know what's next month? WES, RIM's own trade show, which runs from the 27th to the 29th of April. Perfect timing for something like this, if we do say so ourselves.
WiMAX-enabled HTC Supersonic rumored to debut on Sprint at CTIA
There's hardly anything here that we didn't already know, but an unveiling date of "next week" sure catches our eye. A new report over at The Wall Street Journal confirms earlier details that were fed to us over Sprint's first-ever WiMAX smartphone, and now we're learning that the HTC Supersonic will be officially revealed to the world at CTIA next week. We've heard before that the carrier anticipates selling a 4G phone "this summer," but you can bet we'll be digging for a hard ship date and price tag when we hit the scene in Las Vegas in just five short days. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
