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ZTE Smart Tab V55 tablet shows its face at the Bluetooth SIG
After flaunting its rear side at the FCC, ZTE's unannounced Smart Tab V55 has now given us a full frontal courtesy of the Bluetooth SIG. Aside from the flash of Honeycomb, the official listing tells us nothing beyond what we already know: there's a CDMA modem inside, along with WiFi and Bluetooth. Oh well, at least it's good to see that the slate is still alive and jumping through all the right hoops for a possible release early next year. Is there any hope that it'll pack Tegra 3, like that curious T98?
Acer's Iconia Tab A200 Honeycomb tablet emerges at Bluetooth SIG
Who's amped about another Honeycomb tablet? Go on, we'll wait for the hands to rise. All jesting aside, Acer's presumably forthcoming Iconia Tab A200 has just surfaced over at the Bluetooth SIG, where a filing has proved that a) Acer's new Honeycomb tablet will look pretty much like every other Honeycomb tablet we've seen, and b) it'll have Bluetooth and WiFi. Sadly, the rest of the details are still under wraps, but you can bet we'll be bringing 'em to you as soon as we hear more.
Bluetooth SIG unveils Smart Marks, explains v4.0 compatibility with unnecessary complexity
Bluetooth has been through bevy of official versions to date, and now its eponymous Special Interest Group is announcing Smart Marks to differentiate device types in v4.0. Products will now fall under three brands including Bluetooth Smart Ready, Bluetooth Smart and the original itself. According to Bluetooth SIG, the new visuals are intended to help gauge device compatibility and also denote what form of radios they have. Essentially, Smart Ready refers to any electronics that feature Bluetooth v4.0 with a dual radio, like the iPhone 4S, while the Smart tag covers "devices like heart-rate monitors or pedometers that run on button-cell batteries and were built to collect a specific piece of information." In terms of compatibility, Smart Ready devices can interface with themselves and both of the others, while standard Bluetooth lacks compatibility with Smart, which can only hookup with Smart Ready-enabled gadgets. If you ask us, it's all a bit confusing at the moment, but at least there's a chart for memorizing it all. Hit the source link below for all the details.
ZTE N860 heading to Sprint, granted FCC and BlueTooth SIG approval
It's not often that a phone swings through the FCC with its carrier branding already in place, but here is the ZTE N860 with a nice big Sprint logo emblazoned across its regulatory label. Interestingly, it doesn't appear that the N860 (which we hope picks up a catchier name on its way to market) packs a WiMAX radio. Instead this Android smartphone only has test entries for its EVDO connection, but we wouldn't rule out a 4G hiding in some of the unreleased documents. In addition to its trip through the FCC, the handset also hit up the BlueTooth SIG and we can tell it sports A2DP capabilities - but, beyond that (even what particular version of Google's mobile OS it's running) this thing is still a mystery.
Is Motorola joining the Facebook phone bandwagon with its EX225?
A funny thing just happened over at the Bluetooth SIG's website: the group may have just outed Motorola's first Facebook phone. As Unwired View rightfully points out, the EX225 is likely a feature phone that's based on BREW, as Android's navigation buttons are nowhere to be found. The handset offers two variants, one that supports dual-SIMs and another that accommodates only one. Further, a nearly identical version, the EX226, is displayed in a separate listing that lacks the notorious "F" button. Both models share a common 2.4-inch TFT-LCD display, a 3 megapixel camera and five row QWERTY keyboard -- along with a sizable protrusion at the bottom rear of the device. That's all we have for the moment, but it seems that the Status shouldn't be too concerned about this Moto.
Bluetooth SIG takes aim at sensor market, adds Apple and Nordic to board of directors
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (aka Bluetooth SIG) has some fairly grand plans for the future of its wireless technology, and it's now recruited some big players to help get it there. The group announced yesterday that it's added both Apple and Nordic Semiconductor to its board of directors -- companies that it says will help it "drive Bluetooth technology's expansion into platform and sensor markets." In particular, the group is setting its sights on wireless health sensors, which it hopes to finally gain a real foothold in thanks the lower power requirements of the Bluetooth 4.0 standard, and thanks to the experience of Nordic, which has a long history of working with such devices. Full press release is after the break.
Apple joins Bluetooth SIG board of directors
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has announced that Apple and semiconductor firm Nordic have both joined the board of directors. Apple is an obvious choice; not only is the company now at the lead of the mobile device industry, but it's also been very faithful to the standard, including Bluetooth in all of the eleventy billion iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches out there these days. [Well, other than the first-gen iPod touch anyway. --Ed] Bluetooth says the confirmation to the board will help push a world of Bluetooth connections between mobile devices forward, bringing together "mobile phones, laptops, tablets, TVs, homes, and even cars [to] soon serve as hub devices to capture data from hundreds of millions of small sensors." That's an ambitious vision, to say the least, but that's what Apple is supposed to help out with while serving on the board.
Nokia C5-04 with T-Mobile branding gets Bluetooth certified: is the Nuron 2 still on?
Does that shot up there look just a little bit like T-Mobile's allegedly shelved Nuron 2? Why yes, it does -- so it would seem that the phone has a model code of C5-04, according to the Bluetooth SIG's certification database. That would make a lot of sense since the rumored Nuron replacement was looking like a rebranded C5-03 already, and Nokia would need to bust out a new model code since T-Mobile's version would require support for AWS 3G. Question is, does this mean that the phone is back on T-Mobile's roadmap? It wouldn't be out of the question for a canned device to continue its zombie-esque stroll through the world's certification bodies -- but this could also mean the carrier still wants to get this done; Nokia doesn't have Windows Phone gear ready quite yet, after all.
Motorola's mysterious Olympus MB860 gets certified for Bluetooth, UPnP and dual-band WiFi
What is the Motorola MB860? It's hard to say for sure, but it could be one of the infamous Tegra 2 tablets that Motorola's been allegedly working on. Ameblo recently discovered that the MB860 had been certified for Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, and then noticed that the UPnP Forum had attached a curious codename -- Olympus -- to the device. This is where things get fairly fuzzy, but Android and Me recently reported that the Olympus was one of two Motorola tablets in testing -- though it may not be the Stingray, as that supposed 10-inch device has an alphanumeric designation of its own: MZ600. For those of you inspired to go sluthing on your own, we've got a couple final notes. First, the Bluetooth SIG has already changed its MB860 filing to read BT0001, according to Google's cache. Second, though the WiFi interoperability certificate above reads "smartphone," that's not necessarily true -- according to the Wi-Fi Alliance, Samsung's Galaxy Tab is a "phone" as well.
LG C900 due to bring Windows Phone 7 to market near September 28th, according to Bluetooth SIG
The Bluetooth SIG has a long history of promoting its members' "special interests" by leaking valuable tidbits about their handsets before they're announced. The recently unearthed LG C900 is the latest of these, being pegged for a launch date "around" September 28th by the SIG's detail page on the phone. The QWERTY slider, which is referred to in C900N, C900k, and C900B versions, will be available in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Phone Arena conjectures that the launch date lines up with AT&T's marketing materials timing and the slated Q4 launch of Windows Phone 7, so the C900 probably has a decent chance of being the first Windows Phone 7 phones to market if LG's own GW910 or some more secretive set doesn't beat it to the punch. Still, September is a bit earlier than any of the launch windows Microsoft has managed to let slip, and as far as we know Microsoft won't even be accepting apps in the Marketplace before October.
Samsung's Cetus SGH-i917 sashays into FCC database, winks seductively at AT&T
AT&T came right out and confessed that it would be "the premiere carrier" for Windows Phone 7, and while it's obviously far too early to say if that'll be the case, this ain't a bad way to start proving one's point. Samsung's Cetus (SGH-i917) was just recently confirmed to be one of the first commercial Windows Phone 7 devices last week, and now the always-disclosing FCC database has shed even more light on the phone's intentions. Based on the mention of 850 / 1,900MHz frequency support -- and that whole "SGH-i917 (ATT)" marking on the label -- it's pretty safe to assume that this 4-inch, AMOLED-packin' superphone will soon be fighting with the iPhone 4 for shelf space. There's obviously no indication of when Ma Bell plans on releasing this one to the wilds, but it's typically not too far out after hitting this milestone. Giddy yet? %Gallery-98984%
Samsung's 4-inch Windows Phone 7 handset gets named: Cetus (SGH-i917)
You'd probably assume that Samsung would have a difficult time overshadowing the Galaxy S right now, but all it really takes is a salacious Bluetooth SIG entry that leaves only the most important parts to the imagination. We've known for some time now that Sammy would be one of Microsoft's closest Windows Phone 7 launch partners, and we've even taken the time to toy with a prototype earlier in the year. But a new Bluetooth certification is now all-but-confirming a name: Cetus. The SGH-i917 is apt to be North America's first WP7 device from Samsung, a 4-inch smartphone with an 800 x 480 AMOLED display, 5 megapixel camera, a VGA front-facing camera, an FM radio tuner, inbuilt GPS, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, USB 2.0 and of course, Bluetooth. As for pricing, availability and form factor? "Not yet."
Bluetooth 4.0 specification gets official, devices expected by Q4 2010
Outside of Samsung's Wave, we're having a hard time thinking of a meaningful device that has shipped with Bluetooth 3.0 onboard. Kind of crazy when you think about it, being that the protocol offered some pretty promising stuff when it went official in April of 2009. Fast forward to today, and it looks as if the Bluetooth SIG is storming forward regardless, as the Bluetooth 4.0 core specification has now been adopted with "low energy technology" as the standout feature. This step means that companies can begin to work towards integration of BT 4.0 in actual end-user products, and if the SIG has its way, the tech will begin to show up in minuscule devices that haven't been able to take advantage of Bluetooth thus far. In fact, they want this stuff in applications "not even possible or imagined today." Looks like someone better get those imagination gears turning, 'cause Q4 2010 certainly isn't an eternity from now.
Motorola XT502 another Android phone for North America?
There's no shortage of Motorola buzz going around lately -- thing is, nearly all of that buzz is focused on the Verizon side of the camp. What about the other six-odd national carriers in the States and Canada, five of which are using GSM? Well, for you guys, we submit this so-called XT502 -- a phone that may be codenamed "Greco" thanks to the naming of the image file found over in the Bluetooth SIG's certification directory. We can't gather much from the microscopic image the SIG is using, but they've kindly listed radio details, which indicates we can expect a triband HSPA setup working on the 850, 1900, and 2100MHz bands -- perfect for AT&T, Bell, Telus, and Rogers with a little dash of Europe thrown in for good measure. It'll also have WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, and AGPS; in other words, all the basics you expect on a modern Android device. No word on a release plan, but at least it'll be coming out with some totally legal Bluetooth, right?
Bluetooth 4.0 with low energy (almost) finally ready to roll
Molasses, snails and glaciers: none are slower than an organization developing a new wireless standard. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is no exception -- it's been nearly three years since it announced it would roll Wibree into Bluetooth and four months since it made Bluetooth 4.0 official, but still no dice. This week, the SIG says the low-power specification is ready for action, its minutiae finalized. However, fine print in the org's press release disagrees. The main reason for Bluetooth 4.0 was to include lower power devices, but that all-important integration is still pending a "before June 2010" completion date. That means we still won't see Bluetooth-toting cats till the end of the year, and we have no idea what SIG has accomplished in the meanwhile. Press release after the break.
Samsung Galaxy S coming to AT&T?
We'd already heard from Samsung itself at CTIA that we'd see the high-end Galaxy S complete with blindingly brilliant Super AMOLED display on American soil in 2010 -- and considering that Sammy doesn't play the unlocked, unbranded game in these parts, that means with certainty that it'll be coming to a carrier. Here's where it gets interesting: the Bluetooth SIG has recently certified a "full touch" device (read: no keyboard) from Samsung identified as the SGH-i897 with a 4-inch display and TouchWiz 3.0 -- in other words, a dead ringer for the unbranded Galaxy S that's identified as the i9000. Historically, Samsung models that start with SGH and end with a number 7 land at AT&T (it's a tradition that goes back years) so it stands to reason that this i897 is destined for the orange and blue. Is AT&T actually planning on getting serious about solid Android hardware this year?
Bluetooth 4.0 devices to make the scene later this year
We were glad to see Bluetooth low energy actually added to the Bluetooth 4.0 spec, but of course the question remained: when are we going to get our hands on it? By Q4 this year, apparently -- at least according to the Bluetooth SIG. But don't expect any dramatic changes in battery life for most of your gadgets: while the low energy spec introduces connectivity to a host of lower-power devices that have in the past relied on proprietary technology (such as watches, pedometers, and cats), your traditional Bluetooth devices, such as phones and laptops, will consume roughly the same amount of power. Indeed, the low energy spec is merely throwing smaller devices (with smaller amounts of data to transfer) in to the mix: if you want Trans-Siberian Orchestra to sound as glorious as ever on your wireless headphones, you'll need to push as much data (and hence draw as much power) with version 4 as you would with version 3. If you've ever heard "A Mad Russian's Christmas," you'd know what we're talking about.
Acer's E110 Android / P300 WinMo phones unearthed by Bluetooth SIG
Ah, Bluetooth Special Interest Group, our second-favorite source for mobile leaks (next to the FCC, of course). Here's two new entries care of Acer, both touchscreen devices with quadband GSM. The Android-powered E110 (pictured, right), however, also touts the AT&T-friendly 850 / 1900 frequencies and A-GPS. As for the P300, it's got an unknown version of Windows Mobile, 802.11b/g, and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR. That's quite a bit of detail for two tiny entries -- now let's get Mobile World Congress started already, give Acer a nice platform to spill the beans.
ZTE's F350 has a Verizon logo on it, you do the math
The Bluetooth SIG's device database isn't typically the most helpful when it comes to tracking down specs and gorgeous, high-res photos -- but often, it's first way we hear of a new device, so we'll take what we can get. Take this F350 from ZTE for example; from the single picture the SIG's given us, we can't even make out whether it's a landscape or slider, a pivot, or a full touchscreen (doubtful) phone, but we can make out a shiny little Verizon swoosh three-quarters of the way down. It'll apparently have a camera, voice command capability, Bluetooth (of course), and a 1X radio, but we're not clear on whether that means it won't have EV-DO. Now that we know Verizon's working with ZTE, this makes quite a bit of sense, doesn't it?
Samsung GT-S8500 is first with Bluetooth 3.0
And here we have it: what's likely to be the world's first Bluetooth 3.0 phone courtesy of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). According to the filing's description, the "compact and slim" Samsung GT-S8500 is a touchscreen slate phone with a "high resolution" 3.1-inch OLED sporting a TouchWIZ UI and quad-band GSM/EDGE radios. The advantages of the 3.0 Bluetooth spec approved in April are faster throughput (up to 24Mbps) and more frugal power usage -- both welcome advances in modern media-playing handsets. Although it's not stated we can assume an official launch in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress.
