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Mobile Miscellany: week of September 26, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of September 26, 2011: Last week we heard the rumor that Sprint would be launching the BlackBerry Curve 9350 on October 2nd, and we've finally received the official confirmation. The device will be hitting stores tomorrow for $80 with a two-year contract. [PhoneArena] The Motorola Photon WiMAX, referred to as the Photon 4G in the US, is now making its way to Japan as KDDI announced the launch of the device this past Monday. [Motorola] Verizon Wireless launched the Pantech Jest 2 this week, which is a feature phone with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. [Verizon Wireless] The Samsung Galaxy Y is now listed as "coming soon" on O2's website, which makes it the second carrier to announce upcoming availability in the UK. The actual date of release, however, is still unofficial. [O2] Softbank (Japan) looks ready to land the ZTE Lord V882, which appears to be an Android device running on Gingerbread, and comes packed with a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, 3.8-inch LCD at WVGA resolution and a 5MP camera. [LandofDroid] NTT DoCoMo and Orange have teamed up to offer the Sharp AQUOS SH80F, which features dual 8MP stereoscopic cameras and claims to be the world's first Android device capable of converting 2D content into 3D in real time. It'll first be launched in France on October 6th and will follow to other European and Asian countries shortly after. [Softpedia] Maybe Microsoft Canada just assumed nobody actually reads terms and conditions, because the company outed the names of a few upcoming Windows Phones in the T&C for a developer contest: the Nokia Sabre and a duo of Samsungs named the Yukon and Wembley. The Nokia Searay was also named in the list, indicating the Sabre is a second device running on Mango. [Nokia HDBlog (translated)] In preparation for its Windows Phone debut, Nokia is also rumored to be featuring a new voice navigation system with 3D maps, according to some leaked marketing materials. [WinRumors] Here's a rendering of the HTC EVO Design 4G, also known as the Kingdom or Hero S. [Pocketnow] Samsung may have a midrange device coming soon to AT&T's lineup as a complement to the Galaxy S II. We've already seen the I857 pass through the FCC and show up in a leaked roadmap, and now it appears to have been dubbed the Doubletime, according to uncovered Cellebrite records. [Pocketnow] Also appearing in Cellebrite records are the HTC Vigor (PH98100), Motorola Droid HD (XT912), and the Samsung Nexus Prime (SCH-i515). [Droid-Life]
Mobile Miscellany: week of September 19, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of September 19, 2011: Opera Software, builder of the popular mobile browser, announced it was acquiring Handster, an app store platform that supports Android, WP7, BlackBerry, and Symbian. [TechCrunch] Samsung unveiled three new HSDPA feature phones destined for India: the Champ 3.5G (S3770), Primo (S5610) and Chat 527 (S5270). [UnwiredView and SammyHub] A leaked image indicates the HTC Hero S will be coming to US Cellular in the near future. The device appears to be the Kingdom, and is expected to feature a 1.2GHz single-core Qualcomm CPU, 768MB of RAM, a 4-inch qHD display and Gingerbread. [PocketNow] Speaking of US Cellular, the Motorola Electrify officially became available for purchase online this week (expected in stores on September 26th), and can be yours for $200 after a $100 mail-in rebate. [AndroidCentral] Wirefly accidentally outed press renders of the Samsung Stratosphere -- on the retailer's Pantech Breakout page. The images have since been removed. [OwenJohnston] A white version of the Samsung Galaxy S II is making the rounds in the UK, but we learned this week that Bell Canada will be launching it well before the holidays. Interestingly, the device in the image (seen above) has retained the international version's three-button layout. [MobileSyrup] Among the barrage of new phones Sprint's releasing on October 2nd is the BlackBerry Curve 9350, according to another leaked employee memo. The price will likely be $80 after a $50 mail-in rebate. [CrackBerry] T-Mobile MVNO Simple Mobile announced a new unlimited prepaid plan for BlackBerry devices for $60 / month, which includes access to T-Mo's HSPA+ network. [N4BB] Huawei appears to have outed press images of the Honor, which is said to have a 4-inch FWVGA LCD, Gingerbread, 1.4GHz CPU (no specifics known yet), and an 8MP rear camera accompanied by a front-facing cam (again, no details on the resolution here). [EuroDroid] A member of the iPhone Dev Team has released a new version of Redsn0w, its popular iOS jailbreaking software, known as 0.9.9b1. Check the link to get the full list of new features. [Technobolt]
Sprint's BlackBerry Curve 9350 will be delayed until October
Well, it looks as if Sprint's going to miss tomorrow's launch date for the BlackBerry Curve 9350. A representative of the Now Network confirmed the news to us today, stating that the phone will not arrive until next month due to "unexpected circumstances." While the company has yet to announce a new target date, the anonymous tipster who initially outed the story tells Phone Arena to expect an October 2nd arrival. Seeing that Sprint already sells two BlackBerry models that are appreciably better than the Curve 9350, we hope you won't lose sleep over the revelation. Still, if you've got a personal grudge against touchscreens, you'd best reset that countdown timer, starting... now.
Verizon tells us all about the BlackBerry Storm's "WOW factors"
Flashy new slides circulating among Verizon staffers are calling out the Storm for everything that makes it just so darned Stormy, and the list is pretty impressive -- particularly the bit about the radios. As we've heard before, the Storm will pack CDMA / EV-DO Rev. A, quadband EDGE, and 2100MHz HSPA, making it one of the most global phones ever to hit the market. The list of "WOW factors" (Verizon's verbiage, not ours) doesn't stop there, though: we've also got a 3.25-inch 480 x 360 display dubbed "1/2 VGA+," which puts it just a notch above the Bold's 480 x 320 setup. The screen offers tactile feedback and auto-rotation to boot, plus you've got that 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with flash, 1GB of onboard memory with microSD expansion -- an 8GB card is included in the box -- and "enhanced background noise cancellation." Turning our attention to software, RIM calls the Storm's web browsing experience "best in class," which is a good sign if those guys really know their competition, and we've got AGPS and visual voicemail (post-launch, sadly) in the pipe. Still no solid date on a launch for this blasted thing, but we'll be listening for... ahem, thunder.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]%Gallery-32461%
BlackBerry Storm 9530 for Verizon gets boxed
So we might not have a physical device here, but these packaging renderings are pretty solid evidence of exactly what BlackBerry fans on Verizon -- particularly those jealous of the Bold -- can expect in a few weeks' time. It looks like RIM's first foray into the scary world of touchscreens will be officially branded the 9530 Storm, will be global (it includes a SIM card, after all), and will feature an 8GB SanDisk microSD card preinstalled. Wondering what happened to the Thunder name? Turns out that'll apparently be reserved for the version of the phone launching on Rogers up in Canada and on Vodafone across the pond. Those Storm users on the screen there sure look happy, don't they?%Gallery-30627%
BlackBerry Thunder getting October 13 date with destiny on Verizon?
We guess the BlackBerry fanfare is still focused on the Bold until we get past a whole bunch of launches around the world, but beyond that, the biggest news has to be the Thunder, RIM's first full touchscreen device (and indeed, its first touchscreen device period). Like the KickStart-to-Pearl metamorphosis, the Thunder name is anything but set in stone -- in fact, we'd venture to guess it'll be something else by the time it launches -- but it now seems that we can at least nail down a model number: 9530. Verizon documentation leaked to Boy Genius Report is showing a "RIM BlackBerry BB9530 Global" in its ranks, which is allegedly scheduled for an October 13 launch. Of course, we all know how this works: even if the October 13 date is legit, a whole host of contingencies could end up slipping the date by days, weeks, or even months, so don't plan a vacation around it just yet (and don't even act like you've never taken a day off to play with a new cellphone, you gadget lovin' son of a gun).
GN Netcom 9350 dual-function wireless headset now shipping
If you've been looking for a headset that'll work with your plain old phone service and also let you do that VoIP thing, you might want to take a peep at GN Netcom's new 9350 dual-function headset (or just look past it if you're on a budget). While GN's "future-proof" claim seems a little dubious, for $349 you do get a 300 foot range on 1.9GHz (think: "WiFi-friendly") with DECT 6.0 technology, as well as promised sound enhancements from the headset's noise-canceling microphone and DSP and IntelliTone capabilities. Expect to get about six hours of talk time when using it with a PC, or nine hours on regular phone duties, with a recharge time of three hours and forty-three hour standby time. If you really want to blow things out, you can also sync up to four headsets to a single base station for conference calls, which kinda negates the whole VoIP cost savings thing, but do your thing.