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qwerty posts

DROID and DROID Eris now cash sentient on Verizon

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 6th 2009 at 1:01AM

After weeks of buildup the day is here: the DROID (and his little HTC buddy, the DROID Eris) is now for sale on Verizon's website. As expected Motorola's new flagship will set you back $200 after $100 online discount and two-year commitment while his underhyped Eris little bro is a penny shy of $100 after the same discount and contractual prostration. If you're looking to shed your contractual duties then you can hand over $560 in non-Android green for the option of going month-to-month.

[Via Gearlog, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read -- Motorola DROID
Read -- HTC DROID Eris

Casio G'zOne Brigade brings whole new level of rugged insanity to the QWERTY clamshell

by Paul Miller posted Nov 5th 2009 at 11:21AM

We've seen some crazy phones in our day, many of them from Casio, as it turns out, but the G'zOne Brigade really pushes the envelope. It's a ruggedized, weatherproof, Push to Talk QWERTY clamshell, with some of the odder physical protrusions we've seen on a handset this decade. Unfortunately, the QWERTY keyboard, which is populated with large and very clickable keys, is arranged in possibly one of the least sensible layouts conceivable. Software-wise the handset runs the full gamut of V CAST apps and also includes a document viewer for opening Microsoft Office files and PDFs. Price and availability info will be revealed "closer to launch."

Gallery: Casio G'zOne Brigade hands-on

Verizon launches BlackBerry 8530, LG Chocolate Touch, Samsung Convoy, and prepaid data

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 5th 2009 at 9:45AM

HTC's DROID ERIS is arguably the biggest announcement out of Verizon today, but that's not the only thing getting real this morning -- far from it, in fact. If BlackBerrys, music-centric dumbphones, rugged flips, or commitment-free data are your bag, head on over to Engadget Mobile where we've covered the rest of the action!

Read - BlackBerry Curve 8530 brings optical trackpad to Verizon
Read - Verizon's LG Chocolate Touch skips on the BL40 influence
Read - Samsung Convoy is a rugged push-to-talker for Verizon
Read - Verizon broadband data goes prepaid

LG GW620 Eve coming to Rogers, Android deftly avoids AT&T yet again

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 9:16PM

It looks like Canada's Rogers will be among the first carriers in the world to offer LG's first Android device, the GW620 Eve -- and for North Americans, this is particularly notable since it means there's a version of the device at retail that'll theoretically work on Bell, Telus, and AT&T in addition to Rogers proper. We have no indication that AT&T's about to actually pull the trigger on this thing (or on any Android device for that matter), though, so if you're into the 5 megapixel AF cam, full QWERTY slide, and 7.2Mbps HSDPA capability, we'd recommend putting your unlockin' pants on. For Rogers customers, we're not seeing a release date just yet, but it looks like you'll be paying a downright reasonable CAD $49.99 (about $47) on a three-year deal when it launches.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sprint launches Samsung Moment, Android empire expands by one

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 5:22AM

And here comes more trouble for your wallet. Mixing up that unholy trifecta of a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, AMOLED screen and Android inside, Samsung's Moment -- in spite of its quirks and niggles -- is likely to lighten the load for quite a few Sprint customers today. Pricing is as expected, with a $279.99 initial outlay that gets reduced to $179.99 after rebates, but you'll also have to agree to a two-year contractual commitment. Unless you're locked in to Sprint for whatever reason, we might advise holding out for a couple of days and seeing if the DROID takes your fancy, but don't take our word for it -- check out what your fellow readers think right here.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Nokia's N97 mini gets its shipping papers

by Darren Murph posted Oct 28th 2009 at 2:31PM

Right on cue, the smaller-but-just-barely N97 mini is now ready for public consumption over in Europe. Granted, we're certainly at the tail end of October, but we can't say that we caught Nokia in a lie or anything based on what was said last month in Stuttgart. You've already committed the specifications to memory and read all about firmware 2.0, so now all that's left to do is run along, fork out €450 ($667) and wonder forever if this decision will positively or negatively change the course of your life.

Motorola DROID spotted in fine GSM form (video)

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 28th 2009 at 11:41AM

While the newly launched DROID is keeping us plenty busy, we'd be remiss if we didn't hep you to this hands-on video that's recently popped up on the YouTubes. Of Vietnamese origin, we do believe that this is the first GSM version of the phone we've caught on tape. All seems to be going well until about 2 minutes 7 seconds, when the viewer encounters a considerable lag in between gesturing to open the app drawer and the event itself. But don't take our word for it -- see for yourself after the break.

[Thanks, Vincenzo]

Continue reading Motorola DROID spotted in fine GSM form (video)

Samsung Moment review

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 26th 2009 at 5:30PM

In the world of Android, it's not yet clear who's going to come out victorious -- QWERTY sliders or their keyboardless brethren -- but does there really need to be a winner? We say there's room for just about everyone in this open-source party, and Sprint is starting to round out its Android offerings by introducing the keyboard-equipped Samsung Moment to saddle up alongside the HTC Hero that was released a few weeks ago. In the scheme of things, the platform is still extraordinarily young which means that virtually every new handset that's announced brings "firsts" to the table; in the Moment's case, it's both the first Android device with an 800MHz ARM11 core and the first Android QWERTY phone with an AMOLED display (you'd have to go back to another Sammy, the Galaxy, to find the first AMOLED Android phone regardless of input method).

Being able to stuff Android, AMOLED, QWERTY, and 800MHz all into one sentence certainly sounds like a winning combination, but does the Moment deliver? Let's find out.

BlackBerry Storm update landing tomorrow, bringing lots of good stuff (update: now with changelog!)

by Darren Murph posted Oct 24th 2009 at 11:01AM

Hey, you -- yeah you, the BlackBerry Storm owner over there. You listening? Good. That mythical software update we heard about just last week is obviously the real deal, and a screen grab from Verizon's internal systems has shown up to prove it. We're told that it should go live tomorrow (that's October 25th for those in strange, potentially illegitimate time zones) at 6PM. On the whole, it'll make your Storm act a lot more like the forthcoming Storm2, but specifically you can expect a "faster, more accurate and more natural text input experience, word completion, a virtual QWERTY keyboard in portrait view and enhanced sensitivity when editing, copying and pasting." You'll also get the ability to "enable Auto Correction as opposed to Word Completion in landscape view." The full changelog should be coming soon, so hang tight! Oh, and cancel those plans for tomorrow night, okay?

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Update: Check out the full (purported) changelog after the break!

Continue reading BlackBerry Storm update landing tomorrow, bringing lots of good stuff (update: now with changelog!)

Motorola Droid gets fully previewed, 'must-have' claims may not be far off

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 23rd 2009 at 7:04PM

Boy Genius Report has thrown up a full preview of the Motorola Droid -- or some prototype of it, anyhow -- and any way you slice it, it looks like Android fans, Verizon fans, phone fans, and red-blooded Americans alike should all be feeling pretty good that this thing is gonna kick some ass. As if feeling and looking like a rock-solid, metallic beast wasn't enough, Big Red's first Android outing is said to have killer battery life -- surprising, considering how mediocre the CLIQ's is -- and the seemingly flat keyboard apparently performs admirably, all things considered. Android 2.0 clips along at a nice pace thanks to an OMAP3 core, and obviously, there's not much to complain about visually when you're staring at a 3.7-inch capacitive display sporting roughly WVGA resolution. The icing on the cake, though, might be a magnetic sensor that detects an accessory dock that'll be sold at launch, turning the Droid into a desktop clock and weather station -- perfect for those rare moments when you're not out and about scaring little kids with the phone's robotic red eye. Needless to say, we're looking forward to the 28th.

Nokia N900 not coming until some time in November

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 22nd 2009 at 5:45AM

We've just heard some pretty sour news. Peter Schneider, head of Maemo marketing, has waxed official about the N900's release and quite casually noted that it'll "start shipping during November 2009," which as you very well know is a whole month later than originally expected. An interesting tidbit to his post is that he notes Nokia had lent out 300 pre-production units to the community, and he stresses the importance Nokia places on the feedback received. Connecting the dots might suggest that feedback wasn't quite as hot as Espoo had hoped, and a few last-minute refinements are now being applied. Either way, you're gonna have to refill your patience for potentially another month of waiting.

[Via Chronicles of N900; Thanks, Habib Q]

Motorola CLIQ available to T-Mobile customers now, great masses November 2

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 19th 2009 at 4:56AM

Well now this is a pleasingly rapid transition from announcement to review samples to market availability. Motorola's Android-loving CLIQ (already on sale under the moniker DEXT in the UK), its QWERTY keyboard and all the apps you could desire are now ready to be had, should you already have an account with T-Mobile, the device's exclusive US carrier. It was expected that only pre-orders would be taken today, but it appears for all the world that T-Mobile is ready to start shipping the CLIQ to its loyal customers ahead of the November 2nd full release date. Prices start from the previously reported $199.99 on a two-year agreement -- a move that will give you plenty of time to wonder if you shouldn't have waited for more details about the Droid mashup from Verizon, Motorola, and Google.

HTC Tilt2 now available on AT&T

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 19th 2009 at 2:45AM

Those looking for a slightly more QWERTY-equipped WinMo 6.5 device for AT&T than the HTC Pure need look no further than its stablemate, the Tilt2, now that it's officially available to all comers. The carrier's second model to use Microsoft's latest and greatest cut of Windows Mobile stays pretty true to its Touch Pro2 roots, offering an industrial-strength full duplex speakerphone, 3.2 megapixel cam, WVGA tilt-up display, and of course, that five-row QWERTY keyboard that makes banging out long emails and extended MMS tirades just a little more tolerable. Interest parties should come bearing gifts and plenty of cash, because it'll run $349.99 on contract before a $50 mail-in rebate.

[Via PhoneDog]

Motorola CLIQ review

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 14th 2009 at 10:45PM

Palm and Motorola have taken very different paths to get where they are today; one began life as a scrappy Valley start-up founded by a tablet computing pioneer, the other traces its roots to all the way back to the early days of consumer electronics and the automotive industry. Yet somehow, through years (decades, even) of adventure, success, and misfortune, they've found themselves in exactly the same situation here in 2009: it's do-or-die time. Palm, of course, has elected to try its hand at resurrecting the very thing that took it to superstardom in the first place -- an elegant, tightly-controlled software platform of its own with hardware to match -- while Motorola has thrown virtually all of its remaining weight behind Android in the hope that it can catch a little mojo from Google's ecosystem.

For Motorola, it's the wireless equivalent of stepping up to the roulette table, putting what's left of your depleted life savings on red, and letting it ride just as you see security guards off in the distance coming to throw you -- penniless -- off the premises. It's a gamble of the highest order, but it's also a gamble Motorola's painfully aware that it needs to take. North America's only top-five handset manufacturer needs nothing less than magic (and a little luck) to earn its way back into the world's wireless elite -- and that risky play starts right here, today, with the CLIQ / DEXT.

So does the CLIQ pave the way to a New Motorola, or did the RAZR's checkered legacy ultimately dig a hole too deep to escape? Read on.

Gallery: Motorola CLIQ review

Continue reading Motorola CLIQ review

Samsung's WinMo 6.5-powered Armani smartphone gets previewed

by Darren Murph posted Oct 10th 2009 at 4:01AM

Got a cool grand to drop on a Windows Phone? Oh, yeah? Then have a gander at Samsung's latest fashion piece, the Armani-branded M7500. The cool cats over at PhoneArena managed to get their paws around a unit, and as predicted, they didn't hesitate to bust out the camera and give us all a good look. They also took the chance to give us a brief overview of how the handset handled, calling it "bulky even for a WinMo smartphone," though praising the high-res display and well-spaced keyboard. Feel free to hit the read link if you're interested in more, but don't be shocked to hear more than a little criticism.

[Via MobileTechWorld, thanks Arnaud]