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iPhone for T-Mobile Germany announcement on the way?
Ever since (and perhaps before) the iPhone hit the US market, we've been hearing rumors of an imminent European release, which was confirmed by the company many, many months ago. Of course, there's been no movement besides rampant speculation and high-school style gossiping... but that may all be changing. According to the ridiculously-respected Reuters in an article published today, the German telephone giant Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile to you and me), has inked a deal with Apple to release the iPhone in the Fatherland (AKA Germany), with an official announcement to be made next week. The report (which is still considered rumor) claims that the phones will go on sale for the initial price of €399 ($554), and that Apple and T-Mobile will split voice and data revenue generated by the phones. Additionally, Reuters says that Apple will make similar arrangements with O2 for the UK, and Orange in France. If this news is accurate, it all but squashes the Vodafone deal rumors, but still leaves questions as to whether Apple will introduce a 3G version of the iPhone when it makes its announcements. Only El-Jobso knows for sure.
An iPod touch ships without OS X -- hints at disabled Bluetooth
You can argue that the iPod touch is an iPhone without the phone. So what's an iPod touch without OS X? You're looking at it. That's Dave's swanky new iPod touch, fresh off the boat and out of the box with nothing more than a diagnostic utility. Ha, Cheerios icon for the cereal serial number -- clever Apple. Not quite as clever as shipping a working product though. Now besides a temperature sensor, what's interesting here is that Bluetooth icon showing a disabled radio. Does that mean the hardware is there like we heard but disabled in firmware? Not sure. Still, we'll chalk this little snafu up to first production run jitters unless you tell us differently, dear readers.Update: Video now embedded after the break. Seems David's not the only person experiencing this problem judging by the comments. See reader Chris' hapless touch after the break as well with a new twist to the Bluetooth mystery.
Alltel releases Motorola RAZR 2 V9m
Alltel has followed up three of its four national competitors today in releasing a variant of Motorola's RAZR 2, the V9m. As you might expect, Alltel's version has some carrier-specific customization -- Celltop, XM Radio, and TeleNav GPS are all on board, features well suited for the V9m's EV-DO radio -- and it seems to be sporting the most conservative color scheme we've seen to date for a RAZR 2 launched in the States (could be good or bad depending on your taste and your line of work, we suppose). Otherwise, the V9m comes with stereo Bluetooth support, microSD expansion, and that huge external display that we've fallen in love with. Grab it today for $299.99 on contract after rebate.
Apple "Mum is no longer the word" press briefing in London next week
Word on the high street is that Apple is holding a press briefing at their Regent Street Apple store on September 18th. The invites are circulating as we speak to various members of the UK press. That's not exactly the biggest of venues for a 3G iPhone launch for Europe but who knows? Really, does anybody know?[Thanks, Chris P]
Qualcomm ban on hold, US importing may return to normal
What a system we live in. After having multiple requests denied, Qualcomm (or at least those third-parties using its 3G chipsets) was just granted a stay which again opens the door for the US import of Qualcomm-based handsets. Right, those same handsets banned by the ITC at the request of Broadcom on June 7th. In essence, the ruling means that Qualcomm can not import phones but others -- namely, Motorola, Samsung, T-Mobile, LG, AT&T -- can. Note, this isn't a reversal of the original decision and only remains in effect pending appeal. In other words, this is nowhere near to being over. [Via Phonemag]
Nokia and AT&T announce 6555 3G flip
Hey, we'd been told we'd see this next month -- but who are we to complain when the phone fairy drops in a couple weeks early? Nokia and AT&T today have announced the immediate availability of the 6555, a rather attractive flip -- "smoothback design," as they call it -- sporting UMTS, a QVGA primary display, microSD expansion in case the 30MB onboard ain't enough, and the full spread of GSM / EDGE bands for global dominance. It hasn't shown up on AT&T's site just yet, but we're told we can get it today for $49.99 on a two-year agreement.
Palm's Treo 500v gets official
Well folks, you can't say we didn't warn you. Palm's European wing announced today that the Treo 500v was really real, and headed onto the monolithic Vodafone network in October. As expected, the new model will be coming in two colors, a bright white and gray finish (called Glacier White), as well as a muted charcoal tone (known as, surprise, Charcoal Grey), and will be running Windows Mobile 6. The phone will not have a touchscreen, as we reported, but will rock 3G / UMTS data (not HSDPA), have a 2-megapixel camera (so at least we know Palm isn't completely recycling older phones' guts), 256MB of onboard memory (150MB for users), plus a microSD slot and Bluetooth 2.0. Everything else about the phone should feel like standard territory, as Palm doesn't seem to be offering anything in the way of software that's different, though this phone could (and should) find some fans with those looking in the direction of BlackJacks, Qs, and Dashes. Still, we can't say we're not a little deflated... maybe the rumored "800" will blow our collective minds.[Via Pocket-lint]%Gallery-7352%
Sony launches four high-end Blu-ray recorders
It may be raining on AT&T's parade today but the sun is out and blasting Japan with plenty of Blu-ray. Four new Sony Bravia recorders in fact, capable of burning 50GB dual-layer, BD-R/RE discs with an additional disk packing between 250GB and 500GB of storage depending upon model selected. The ¥200,000 (about $1,755) top-end BDZ-X90 model brings 2x digital and 2x analog tuners, gold-plated HDMI 1080p capable of 60fps or 24fps output in DeepColor, and a DLNA-based "Sony Room Link" server function for streaming your media around the house. All use MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoding with support for lossless TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio and hi-definition bitstream output. Hell, they even include support for attached AVCHD camcorders. Damn. On sale in Japan November 8th. [Via Impress]
iUnlock released: the first free, open source iPhone SIM unlock software
It looks like the battle's officially over between iPhoneSIMfree and the numerous unique groups of open source hackers trying to software SIM unlock the iPhone. As we've been following in our previous post on the topic, earlier this afternoon iUnlock, the first free, open source iPhone SIM unlock app, was released to the underground just 74 days after the iPhone's release. Developed by the iPhone Dev Team, it's not (yet) for the faint of heart and it takes a little longer to do its magic than iPhoneSIMfree's method, but it works. To pull this off you'll need iUnlock + nor + the .fls file, which is available in ZIPs all over. We've got the app here, but this package doesn't include all of the files necessary. Good list of links here, or try here, here, here, here, and here.For the how-to, just hit up one of those guides down below. Naturally, we offer zero guarantees that any of this will work. (Read: don't whine to us if your iPhone gets bricked.) Big ups to the iphone.unlock crew, Draken, and, of course, the iPhone Dev Team. Let us know in comments if this technique works for you.Update: We've confirmed the hack! Yes, it's fully restore-resistant, too, which is great news. We'll get you all the juicy proof in a few, but we have indeed managed to software unlock an iPhone with iUnlock. Also, HaRRo says the app should be out "very soon" to make this easier on the noobs.Update 2: Depending on activation method, YouTube might not be working after the unlock -- ours isn't. This is, of course, expected behavior. There's a Windows script here that should hopefully fix you up (again, we don't make any guarantees), but Mac users will have to look elsewhere. Also, alongside the Mac GUI iUnlock app in the works, the iPhone Dev Team is prepping a Windows version, a simple bash script and an iPhone app -- and eventually an all-in-one app that can do everything from the Jailbreak to the unlock.Update 3: We've posted our terminal output from using the hack after the break. Go ahead. Nerd out. Also, the graphical version isn't out quiet yet, but we've got the first image of it above. Check it out.Update 5: Ok, the graphical unlock app still isn't yet out, but we've tested an early build, and it definitely works! Check it out here.Read - Official unlock guideRead - Unofficial unlock guide
iPhone SIM unlock open source code, application released!
We've got it fresh from the people who engineered this piece, people; hacker Zappaz and his crew have released an early, dirty, uncompiled version of their proof of concept iPhone SIM unlock source code. Hit the link and check it out -- we just suggest that unless you're a serious hacker you not use it yourself (yet) until the kinks are worked out.Update: iPhone Dev Wiki is reporting that another compiled unlock solution has appeared, called iUnlock, developed by the iPhone Dev Team with credit to Zappaz. We've yet to verify that either solution works, but the iUnlock software appears to be in a more complete state. More up here.
Developing: iPhone Dev Team one step away from free unlock?
Now that iPhoneSIMfree is in the wild, the iPhone Dev Team folks that started all this hackery have been looking to see how the iPhoneSIMfree hack works, and seem to have landed upon the solution. Apparently the thrust of what the iPhoneSIMfree folks figured out was that it's possible to write / flash to the baseband of the iPhone -- the chip that controls the main voice and system functions of the phone. Apparently Geohot resorted to his hardware hack because it was believed this couldn't be done. Now that the Dev Team people have observed this flashing in action, they've launched into writing their very own unlocker using the same method, which will naturally be released free of charge as soon as it's ready. All signs point to the free, standalone unlocker being ready soon. On a slightly shadier note, there seems to be a parallel effort to emulate the iPhoneSIMfree server that does the unlocking magic for those currently willing to pay for the privilege. If it's to be believed, the fake server (and free network unlocking) should be ready to go in a matter of hours.Update 1: The iPhoneSIMfreefree folks have apparently tracked down a willing iPhoneSIMfree licensee to test out the new methods, so it seems we're certainly getting closer to the server spoof method being ready to go.6:27PM EDT: Turns out that license they thought they'd scored fell through, so they're still on the hunt for a working one to get the server spoof up and running. No real word yet on the standalone software from the Dev Team.6:35PM EDT: On the standalone front, word is "they are in the process of compiling tools that will make a software unlock possible."7:32PM EDT: Purportedly the Dev Team has their new standalone unlock working and are making calls with a new SIM. At this point the code still needs a lot of cleanup -- the unlock takes 20 minutes, much longer than iPhoneSIMfree -- and certainly isn't ready for end users yet, but it does appear to be working according to those in the know.
NTP shows fall 2007 lawsuit fashions, sues AT&T, Sprint, Verizon
Remember those crazy sons of guns at patent holding firm NTP that ended up working RIM for a shade over $612 million? They're back at it, throwing lawsuits at AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon -- that's three of the States' four national carriers, in case you're keeping count -- for alleged infringements of eight patents involving mobile email. The firm seems to be something of a one-trick pony seeing how mobile email was the issue at hand with RIM and later with Palm; for a company that does nothing but sue other companies, two-thirds of a billion dollars seems like a plenty healthy bank account, but heck, what do we know? At this point, we're assuming that once they're done suing every company that's ever offered, used, or mentioned "mobile" and "email" in the same sentence, we'll finally be able to put this issue to rest -- but until that day comes, watch your back, folks, because NTP's back on the prowl.Update: Silly us for thinking NTP wouldn't just go ahead and make it a nice, round four! T-Mobile's been caught up in the suit, too, with its Sidekick services specifically called out (among others) for infringement of NTP's email patents.[Via Phone Scoop]
Sprint's Q4 lineup: Rumor, Centro, Touch, and Pearl 8130
What started as a trickle of unofficially official shots from Sprint's Q4 pipeline has suddenly become a deluge. Check the LG Rumor, Touch (aka, Vogue), and Blackberry Pearl 8130 all dressed up with Sprint logos and sales-goon positioning points for a Q4 launch. We already saw Palm's Centro, OQO Model 02, LG Rumor and Touch yucking it up in the wild this morning but this is the first time we've seen the 8130 in Sprint, not Verizon attire. The 8130 sports a GPS receiver but no WiFi like we saw in those RIM slides last month yet still packs all the rest of the EV-DO niceties you'd expect. The Touch is EV-DO revision A upgradeable like we heard while the LG Rumor does its QWERTY thing for the non-Pro crowd. See for yourself in the gallery below.%Gallery-7262%[Thanks, Stephen]
Sprint on parade: Centro, Vogue, Rumor, and OQO Model 02
Ugh, not more pictures of Palm's Centro, you gasp. Yes... and much more. This time, it's the Centro nuzzled up for some quickie shots with Sprint's Treo 755p and new Vogue (that's, HTC Touch to the rest of the world) and what must be Sprint's take on the new OQO Model 02. A veritable who's who of soon to be launched Sprint handsets. Better yet, our tipster -- contrary to previous reports -- "noticed little to no difference in typing on the QWERTY with the Centro to the Treo" while noting that the Centro was "much nicer to hold." He also says that the Vogue was running a 400MHz Qualcomm processor (not the standard OMAP 850) with 256MB ROM / 120MB RAM which suffered "no slowdown" even while running 15-20 applications. Check out all the sneaky pictures in the gallery below. Oh, as to the device to the right of the Vogue and below the OQO: that's a mystery, any ideas?Update: That other handset turns out to be the LG Rumor, which looks to be positioned for the Facebook and MySpace messaging crowd. More on this later.%Gallery-7251%[Thanks, Catharsis and Stephen]
Palm Treo 500 gets dressed for September 12 announcement
Okay, we suppose it might not be as silly looking as we'd originally thought, but let's be honest: would this be your first choice for a Windows Mobile 6 Standard device? Yep, that's right, we said "Standard," meaning there's no touchscreen in the cards for Palm's latest and greatest device, a distinct departure from Treos of yore. So yeah, anyway, if this document turns out to be legit, the long-rumored Gandolf is going to end up christened as the Treo 500 when it's announced for Vodafone on the 12th. 3G data will thankfully be in tow, too, though there's no word on whether it'll be HSDPA or plain ol' UMTS. Not bad, but seriously, there are plenty of solid WM6 Standard handsets in the pipeline from manufacturers big and small. Best of luck, Palm.[Via Boy Genius Report]
Wii Zapper, with Zelda minigame, shipping 11/19 for twenty bucks
As much fun as Wii Sports, Wii Play, and all the rest of the PG games on Nintendo's latest console are, we suspect that what gamers have really been waiting for is the ability to shoot all manner of enemy on-screen a la the Duck Hunt days of old, so itchy trigger fingers will be pleased to learn that we've finally been clued into the enabling Wii Zapper's $20 pricetag and November 19th release date. In announcing this all important info, Nintendo also revealed that the plastic housing for Wiimote and Nunchuk will ship with Link's Crossbow Training, which sounds like an archery sim set in the exciting world of Zelda. Other games that will support the Zapper include Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, Sega's Ghost Squad, and various other titles that will surely push Wii Chess even lower down your stack of games.
Apple confirms: iPod touch cannot add calendar appointments
Late last night some eagle-eyed Engadget readers spotted some disparities in Apple's international sites, with some claiming the iPod touch would be able add calendar appointments with its calendar app, and others omitting that language. We got in touch with our people down in Cupertino who just confirmed the (somewhat) bad news is real: "Like current iPods, the touch can only view calendar entries created on your computer". In other words, no, you can't make new calendar entries on the fly. Why Apple would want to remove this simple feature that's already built into the mobile OS X calendar experience is really beyond us, but we guess they're doing their damnedest to draw the line in the sand between iPod and iPhone. Still, makes you wonder what other minor, useful features Apple pulled from the touch.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
DirecTV's new HD channels to launch on the 19th?
With DirecTV 10 in position, all the new HD channels could be released any day now, it appears now that a leaked internal document from DirecTV has revealed the day. While most believe that this Sunday the 16th, was the big day, this internal documents seems to imply that the day when the HD comes is next Wednesday the 19th. The channel lineup appears to be the same as we saw last week, but it's nice to get additional confirmation. The only thing we know for sure, is that all these new channels can't get here fast enough.
iPhoneSIMfree's end-user solution tested, it works!
So last Friday we got two things from iPhoneSIMfree: the demo version of their software SIM unlock solution, and the promise that it would be available for purchase today. We can't confirm that anyone's actually received their iPhone unlock orders, but we did get to test the release version of the software unlock today -- the very same thing people all over will be paying to unlock their devices with -- and, not surprisingly, it works like a charm. In other words, while we can't vouch for any of the vendors selling the software, we can vouch for the software itself working exactly as advertised. We've got the full unlock on video, which we'll be posting shortly.
iPhoneSIMfree goes retail, let the unlocking begin
After numerous delays and endless cries of "hoax!", it looks like the iPhoneSIMfree iPhone unlocking software is finally available for purchase from four online retailers around the world. Wireless Imports in the US, iPhoneWorldwideUnlock in Australia, 1digitalphone in Germany, and iPhone4arab in Saudi Arabia (currently down) have all purchased bulk licenses from the iPhoneSIMfree team and are selling individual unlocks for around $100 (Update: that price is just from the US etailer, it seems; looks like the Aussies are letting it go for under 50 bucks American. Also, the Hackint0sh community is already busy at work trying to snatch these sites' code as we speak). Go nuts, and let us know your initial experiences below...Update: The Hackint0sh guys claim they will not be reverse engineering the iPhoneSIMfree software. Ok, well, whatever. Scratch that. That crew definitely seems to be reverse engineering the IPSF solution, and frankly we can't blame 'em.
