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Motorola Morrisson with T-Mobile 3G and UMA hits the FCC

by Nilay Patel posted Jul 29th 2009 at 7:44PM

Well well, what's this? Seems a certain Uncle Sam's been poking around the lab with the Android-powered Motorola Morrison, and published his findings to the "World Wide Web." And hey -- are those T-Mobile 3G bands with UMA support we see in these action-packed RF reports? Why yes, they are -- too bad Sam didn't see fit to include any actual pictures of his new toy. Still, we've got a feeling this is one unreleased Motorola we'll be getting our hands on real soon.

[Via CellPhoneSignal; thanks William]

Nanoradio fesses up to world's first 3G UMA phone: Samsung P270

by Darren Murph posted Sep 26th 2008 at 1:19PM

We must say, we didn't really expect Samsung's P270 to get official in this manner, but we'll take what we can get. Nanoradio has today unveiled that its "Always On WiFi" solution has been "commercially launched inside the world's first 3G UMA phone." The tech was already available in the 2.5G P250, but its inclusion in the 3G-capable P270 makes it a world's first. For those unaware, this creates a dual-mode cellular / WiFi mobile which doesn't require WiFi to be toggled on or off in order to save battery life. Sadly, that's about it for details, but hopefully Sammy will come along soon and flesh things out.

Sony Ericsson's hot G705 slider gets real, YouTube video uploads

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 9th 2008 at 3:21AM

There it is, Sony Ericsson just went live with its new G705 powerhouse, 3G slider. Just as we heard, it sports a 2.4-inch display with automatic screen rotation courtesy of an accelerometer, WiFi, aGPS with Google Maps for Mobile, 1GB included M2 memory, built-in FM radio, RSS reader, and full HTML browser. It also features a 3.2 megapixel cam that can capture video and then upload directly to YouTube under a new partnership with Google. Also announced in a UMA variant (G705u) -- an SE first -- built exclusive for Orange to bridge GSM and WiFi networks. Headed to the US in Q1 2009.

Update: US version to support GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSUPA 850/1900/2100 with Bluetooth A2DP. Orange model available in its markets in early Q4.

Gallery: Sony Ericsson's hot G705 slider gets real, YouTube video uploads

T-Mobile Shadow II to support HotSpot@Home?

by Nilay Patel posted Jun 26th 2008 at 7:33AM

We've seen the HTC-sourced T-Mobile Shadow II peeking out from around the dark corners of eBay and the harsh lights of the FCC, but the latest word is that the WinMo slider will also come equipped with UMA, allowing it to work with HotSpot@Home. That's a first for an HTC handset and a first for Windows Mobile, but before you get all excited, check the source of those whispers: "market sources" quoted by Digitimes. Yeah, we'll believe it when we see it.

Up close with Dell's Latitude E4300 and E4200 ultra-portables with DisplayPort

by Thomas Ricker posted Mar 21st 2008 at 7:19AM

Ultra-portables are by the far the sexiest class of laptops. Especially when they start at just 2.2-pounds (1kg) like Dell's upcoming 12.1-inch E4200 or 3-pounds for the 13.3-inch E4300. Both pack LED backlit displays; Centrino 2 chipsets; Firewire, eSATA, 2x audio, ExpressCard 34, and at least 2x USB ports; integrated UMA graphics; DDR3 800MHz with Intel Turbo Memory 2.0; DisplayPort; and a host of security features to keep corporate IT types happy. The E4300 differs with a higher WXGA+ resolution, modular optical bay, peppier CPU options, and a choice of beefier hard disk drives instead of the 32GB or 64GB SSD restriction of the E4200. Plenty more in the gallery including a head-to-head comparison's of each new model with the D430 they'll replace. Stay tuned as our exclusive Week o' Dell Scoops continues.

Gallery: Up close with Dell's Latitude E4300 and E4200 ultra-portables with DisplayPort

T-Mobile trials HotSpot @Home Talk Forever Home Phone in Seattle, Dallas

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 21st 2008 at 2:18AM

Well, goodness, try saying that five times fast. T-Mobile has officially unveiled its rather longwinded "HotSpot @Home Talk Forever Home Phone" plan add-on for folks that aren't quite ready to put their landlines out to pasture quite yet, though there's a catch: much like the original, it's beginning life as a trial in just a couple of test markets. Lucky folks in Seattle and Dallas will be able to march into their local T-Mobile outlet and pick up the long-rumored WRTU54G for $49.99 on contract, at which point $10 a month tacked onto their T-Mobile bill will allow them to jack in their old-school landline phones and get unlimited domestic calling. In the event they need a landline phone (o rly?) or are looking to upgrade their 70's vintage AT&T Slimline, stores will also be offering this lovely DECT system from VTech to complete the package. There's no word just yet on when we might see the hardware outside the test markets, but with landline popularity waning the way it is, we'd suggest they get a move on.

T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home Talk Forever: same service, lower price

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 12th 2008 at 1:42AM

Don't get us wrong, it's great that T-Mobile has lowered the price of its unlimited WiFi calling service both at home and at T-Mobile Hotspots everywhere from $19.99 down to $9.99 per month (forgetting for a moment that it was $9.99 per month as an introductory price, anyway), but in changing the name from HotSpot @Home to HotSpot @Home Talk Forever, we'd been hoping for something just a little more compelling. Previous intel had indicated that we'd be seeing the introduction of T-Mobile's first SIM-sporting routers, allowing the use of traditional landline phones in conjunction with the service -- but at this point, it looks like it's going to be at least a little longer before the hardware launches, and it's unclear whether there'll be yet more trademarked service branding introduced when it does.

The Samsung Katalyst, T-Mobile's latest Hotspot @Home phone

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 10th 2007 at 12:26AM

The rumored t739 Katalyst from Samsung has gotten official today for T-Mobile, shoring up a Hotspot @Home lineup that presently features the lowly Nokia 6086 down in the basement and the BlackBerry Curve 8320 up top. The t739 is the first slider certified for T-Mobile's WiFi-enabled calling service, giving it an instant dose of street cred among folks that love the UMA concept but can't stand clamshells. In fact, with a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and a 220 x 176 display, the Katalyst is essentially a slider rendition of the t409 with the addition of a microSD slot. Yeah, we'd still like to see a little more meat in the lineup -- a 3.2 megapixel camera and 3G would get us to shut up, just as a fr'instance -- but in the meantime, we're always happy for a little choice of form factor. Grab it for a penny shy of $80 on a two-year contract.

T-Mobile announces BlackBerry Curve with WiFi, we check it out

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 24th 2007 at 12:01AM

RIM decided (and we tend to agree) that it could improve upon the already solid BlackBerry 8300 Curve by adding GPS or WiFi -- carrier's choice -- in the form of the 8310 and 8320, respectively. T-Mobile has announced today the release of the 8320 variant, offering @Home branded UMA service and speedy data to supplement T-Mobile's EDGE network (in hotspot range, anyway) in your choice of "titanium" and carrier-exclusive "pale gold." We've had a few minutes to play around with the champagne hued version, and with WiFi added into the Curve's already solid mix, it pretty much goes without saying that this is the best BlackBerry yet. Setting up our wireless network on the Curve was a breeze, though we had some trouble keeping calls from dropping over an Airport Extreme; fortunately, T-Mobile's offering up optimized Linksys routers for a song, and you can always set it up as a separate network if you can't bear to tear down your 802.11a/n setup. We've heard some intermittent reports of Curves starting to show up in retail locations, but we can expect them to start shipping everywhere in early October. In the meantime, check out our hands-on gallery over on Engadget Mobile!

Update: T-Mobile's bumped the release date up to today -- no complaints here -- at an on-contract price of $249.

Hands-on with T-Mobile HotSpot @Home

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 27th 2007 at 8:44AM

Roaming from cell towers to WiFi hotspots and back on the same phone sounds pretty cool, right? Engadget Mobile has the lowdown on T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home service -- the Nokia 6086, the Linksys router, the whole shebang -- so head on over to get an up-close peek at the goods!

T-Mobile goes national with HotSpot @Home WiFi calling

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 27th 2007 at 12:01AM

Following a limited launch last year in its hometown of Seattle, T-Mobile's finally pulling all the stops and taking its "HotSpot @Home" hybrid GSM / WiFi calling service national. A first among the US' big four carriers, @Home relies on traditional cell airwaves out in the field but switches seamlessly to WiFi when it gets within range of a T-Mobile hotspot or any other wireless router you've configured your phone to latch onto. For the millions of us with less-than-stellar reception in our homes, the service could be a life-saver -- and even better, WiFi minutes aren't deducted from your plan. Launch handsets are the Nokia 6086 and Samsung t409, both of which will go out the door for $49.99 on contract and include a Linksys or D-Link router -- both specially designed for @Home service -- for free after rebate, though any 802.11b access point should work. The service itself will run $9.99 per month on individual and $19.99 on family plans for up to five handsets. Look for the equipment today in T-Mobile stores and on the carrier's website.

BT Group chatting up FON for partnership

by Paul Miller posted Feb 15th 2007 at 12:50PM

Good news all 'round for BT Fusion, BT Broadband and FON lovers of the UK: BT Group is reportedly in talks with FON for a hefty partnership that extends the services of both companies extensively. In exchange for allowing BT Fusion users to replace those pricey Vodafone minutes on their phones with free FON WiFi UMA lovin', BT will officially give its blessing to users sharing their BT bandwidth over FON -- ISPs usually frown on the practice -- and even go so far as to push a FON firmware upgrade to its own users' broadband routers. Subscribers can opt out, but we're sure plenty of users will bite at the chance, since signing up for FON not only gives you profit sharing from people who pay to use your access point, but also gives you free WiFi access to other FON routers. With the 10,000 FON users already in Britain, the country could become one of the top spots for free-ish WiFi, and might give BT one of the best UMA services around, but neither company is talking about the deal just yet, so we'll wait for everything to be legit before we do our little "free WiFi party" dance.

[Via WNN; thanks R Gomez]

BT's Fusion VoIP service loosed on the WiFi public

by Thomas Ricker posted Jan 7th 2007 at 7:47PM

Good news punters, BT's Fusion wireless VoIP / cellular offering will be turned loose for home use tomorrow. Even better, the new system will use WiFi rather than Bluetooth like the system we previously saw. The service is designed to work with BT's OpenZone WiFi hotspots and should initially support three UMA handsets: the Nokia 6136, Motorola A910, and Samsung's P200 before the month is out. A total of 20 handsets should be up and running on the service by Q3 2007, according to BT. Initially, Fusion will only be sold to customers of BT's own broadband service with a more open plan, including a pre-pay option coming later in the year.

T-Mobile HotSpot @Home finally launches... in Seattle

by Ryan Block posted Oct 24th 2006 at 5:01PM

Right well, they did say they had a certain affinity for Seattle then, didn't they? It looks like the first round of T-Mobile's long awaited UMA service is now kicking around Seattle way, with open trial customers able to purchase two WiFi-capable UMA phones, as well as the D-Link router which enables home access. Right out of the gate we already have our qualms with the service -- namely in that they're charging customers an extra $20 per month for UMA access (and only if they have an eligible $40+ per month rate plan), which is kind of a bummer since in most cases UMA is cost-saving to the carrier in that consumers needn't consume as much cellular air time. But that $20 extra also covers T-Mobile HotSpot access too, so if you're not just planning on using HotSpot @Home, um, at home, then you'll be good to go when roaming elsewhere. (It's worth noting, however, that UMA does not require anything special to get going, and will work on any WiFi connection.) The D-Link router is probably a skipper -- it'll set you back $50 (and goes free with mail-in rebate), but isn't necessary to use the service, and will probably leave you in pain as D-Link WiFi gear so often does. Oh, and hows about a word on the two phones you'll be using with @Home: you've got the Nokia 6136, which, of course, features a 1.3 megapixel camera, FM radio, and GSM / GPRS / EDGE; then you've got the far more feeble Samsung t709, with GPRS, 176 x 220 display, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Both will go for $50 with a two year, $100 with a one year.

[Via NYT]

Marvell intros first combo WiFi / Bluetooth chip for portables

by Evan Blass posted Aug 18th 2006 at 12:50PM

We wouldn't even think of buying a cellphone that didn't incorporate both WiFi and Bluetooth, so you better believe we were excited to learn of semiconductor manufacturer Marvell's new combo 802.11a/b/g - BT chip for portables, which is supposedly the first of its kind. The so-called 88W8688 -- which supports Bluetooth 2.0 and hardware acceleration for UMA, IMS, etc. -- has a footprint of less than 80-square-millimeters, or about half the size of current two-chip combinations. For consumers, this will mean smaller versions of all the gadgets we love, and most importantly for us, those super-functional-but-chunky smartphones that we feel naked without. Although the chip is currently shipping to select Marvell OEM partners, it has yet to announced which specific device categories will see the first implementations; our plea: get these puppies to HTC as quickly as possible!