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OTECH F1 handset holds four SIM cards, enables you to live a quadruple life
So look, you feel pretty special toting around that dual-SIM phone, right? Being able to switch numbers and carriers as you hop back and forth between Germany and Amsterdam is fairly nifty, but you've been considering a daily route around the Benelux. Of course, tri-SIM phones aren't impossible to find either, but should you ever wander into France, Switzerland or any other nation, you'll be forced to pop one of those out and insert another the old fashioned way. Well, unless you can score an OTECH F1. This here handset -- which can only be found in the wilds of Asia right now -- actually has room for four SIM cards, and it's also packing a full QWERTY keyboard, 2.4-inch touchscreen, support for mobile TV, an FM radio tuner, Bluetooth module and what appears to be a 12.1 megapixel camera. Unsurprisingly, a price on this bad boy is eluding us, but if you're an industrious jetsetter, we're confident you won't have any issues running one down. Whether or not you want to, however, is another matter entirely...
Droid 2 Global ads now running on Verizon's 800 number
Whoever said being on hold was a bad thing? Verizon customers who call in and get stuck in limbo right now are being treated to a minor device scoop: an ad for the mythical Droid 2 Global, which has leaked out here and there but hasn't yet been officially announced. The ad doesn't reveal much apart from the existence of the CDMA / GSM slider and the fact that it'll work in 221 countries, but that's all we needed to hear -- listen for yourself after the break. Update: Ha, as commenter Spider-Man points out below, that 221 number is mighty suspect, as there are only between 191-195 countries in the world today, depending on how you count them. Sounds like Verizon needs to take this one back to the studio. Thanks, Spidey! [Thanks, Anonymous]
Motorola and Verizon's crazy portrait Droid Pro unveiled (update: specs!)
Whoa -- we knew Motorola likes to get funky with the form factors, but the new Droid Pro on Verizon might be the strangest (and best) yet: it's a portrait device (the rumored Venus) with a BlackBerry-esque keyboard below the screen. It's not the Droid 2 World Edition we were expecting, but damn -- we're in love. We don't know much specs-wise apart from Android 2.2 with Blur and global roaming support in more than 220 countries, but we're digging for as much as we can, so stay tuned. Update: Motorola's Sanjay Jha just formally announced the Droid Pro on stage, following the typical sizzle reel of the company's business partners praising the company's business leanings. It's going to have a 5 megapixel auto-focus camera, 3.1-inch display, 1GHz processor -- and a dual-mode CDMA/GSM chip for worldwide roaming. It'll be available in the first week of November. Follow the break for the press release.
Verizon gets official with Wireless Fivespot mobile hotspot, touts awful global roaming plans
Really, Verizon? Play up the global roaming features of your new-but-not-unexpected Wireless Fivespot, only to strangle it with GlobalAccess plans that top out with 200MB of international data? Thanks, but no thanks. For those still interested in the new WWAN modem for domestic use (psst... the MiFi 2200 is a better deal), this ZTE-built device is the first in VZW's stable to offer global data access. That's due to having both a SIM card slot (for GSM roaming) and a CDMA radio inside, and as with the aforesaid MiFi, it'll handle up to five simultaneous WiFi connections. The unit itself will run $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a two-year agreement, and Verizon's providing both postpaid and prepaid domestic data plan options: $39.99 per month gets you 250MB with a $0.10 overage, while $59.99 nets you 5GB and a $0.05/MB overage (the prepaid details reside after the break). Where it really gets ludicrous is GlobalAccess -- customers traveling abroad have the choice of two plans, a $129.99/month option with 5GB in the US / Canada and 100MB elsewhere, or a $219.99/month alternative that simply adds an extra 100MB on the international end. That's $90 for an extra 100MB. We'll spare you the chore of stressing over all of this and point you to Xcom Global -- trust us, if you're touching down in a foreign land for over an hour, you'll need close to 100MB just to digest the inbox explosion from being in the air 14 hours.
Droid Pro is the global Droid 2: the evidence grows
We'd reported before our belief that the rumored Droid Pro is nothing more than the dual-mode version of the Droid 2, but the question remained: knowing that the Droid 2 has a model code of A955, what the heck is the difference between the model codes A956 and A957 that have been showing up in Verizon's systems? Looks like we might have some clarification on that question this afternoon thanks to a new shot clearly calling out the A957 as the R2-D2 version of the Droid 2 that's launching late next month. What does that mean? Well, it means that if the Droid Pro is a separate product with insane specs, it hasn't shown up in any screen shots and we don't have a model code for it. Our original tipster was pretty insistent that Verizon didn't have any product on its 2010 phone roadmap with crazier specs than the Droid X -- and besting it inside of six months would seem like an awful business move anyway -- so now, the only question seems to be whether Big Red will go with the "Droid 2 World Edition" or "Droid Pro" branding when this thing launches in the coming weeks. [Thanks, anonymous tipster]
Exclusive: Droid Pro is the global version of the Droid 2, LG enV Touch 2 will be Android-powered
We've learned from a source close to the situation that the rumored global version of the Droid 2 with GSM and CDMA radios is actually the same phone as the also-rumored Droid Pro -- although Verizon apparently has a tendency to fiddle with branding right up until the last minute, so the retail name could still change. It's identical to the current Droid 2 in every way except for the fact that it houses a GSM / HSPA radio for global roaming, though we're not able to confirm previous rumors that it'll be available in a white version; presumably, you'll pay a bit more than the Droid 2's $200 on contract for the privilege of being able to take your buddy overseas. Barring any last-minute delays, we should see it launch within weeks. If you're sick and tired of Motorolas, let's switch gears a bit and talk about the follow-up to LG's enV Touch. Interestingly, LG will be switching from a proprietary featurephone platform to Android for this one -- called the enV Touch 2 -- and will give it dual touchscreens: one on the outside, and another on the inside for when you flip open the clamshell. As you might expect for an enV-branded device, there's also a full QWERTY keyboard. It's currently running Android 2.1, though it's not clear whether that'll be upgraded to 2.2 by the time we see a release toward the holidays. It's said to be pretty big and heavy, which could be a disadvantage for some -- but on the flipside, it's apparently a global device, so that's a plus. enVs historically haven't been the most exciting things in Verizon's stable, but we'll admit, we're curious to see this one get fleshed out. Update: A tipster has written in to point out that the Droid 2 and Droid Pro are showing as two different devices in Verizon's inventory system, model numbers A956 and A957, respectively; our original source is adamant, though, that they're the same device, so we'll need to wait to see how this pans out. As we mentioned, Droid Pro isn't necessarily the go-to-market name for the phone, but it is the name being tossed around internally right now for the device that we know as the Droid 2 with global roaming.
Acer gains ground on HP as ASUS bumps Toshiba out of top five global PC vendors
Did you know that since the inception of the great and glorious PC industry the world leader in shipments has always been an American company? The biggest threat to this hometown hegemony right now looks to be coming from Taiwan, as Gartner's latest figures show significant growth from both Acer and ASUS, with the latter improving its global shipments by a stonking 78.5% between this time last year and now. Acer's ascent was a more modest 31.6%, though the whole PC market has taken a big uptick from 2009 with a 20.7% average growth in shipments. That's meant that even though HP and Dell have registered double-digit growth, both lost market share over that time. Toshiba has similarly had a strong showing, but ASUS' exponential growth has relegated the Japanese company to sixth in the world. That Toshibasus merger isn't looking like such a bad idea now, is it Toshiba?
Chrome now beating Safari in the US also
StatCounter's US browser share page shows that Chrome has now overtaken Safari in these United States, moving up into third place for browser share, behind Internet Explorer and Firefox. Astute TUAW readers among you will remember that Chrome already beat Safari once, but that was for the global browser share -- now Google's browser is bigger than Apple's right here among the amber waves of grain. You have to wonder how much Apple actually cares about this. Lately, the company has called itself a "mobile device company," focused on iOS devices, and of course on those, Mobile Safari reigns supreme. Then again, if Apple does care, maybe Chrome's big surge will start up another browser war, which means we customers will win again anyway. [via GigaOm]
Acer expects to overtake HP as world's biggest laptop vendor by year's end (updated)
Ah, the inexorable rise of a once-small Taiwanese company. Acer chairman JT Wang has told investors in a conference call this week that his company is on track to overtake HP in worldwide laptop shipments before the year is through. That assertion is backed up by Gartner's data, cited in the Wall Street Journal, which indicates that Acer shipped 9.49 million mobile computers in the first quarter of 2010, just ahead of HP's 9.47 million. Positive vibes are also being felt on the desktop front, where Acer aims to shift 10 million units this year, while a decent $15 million is being invested into "developing a smartphone platform based on Google Inc.'s Android." We'll be curious to see whether this thrifty strategy pays off against HP's ebullient $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm, but one thing's for sure: PC vendors are hungry for some of that sweet smartphone pie. Update: Gartner has corrected Acer's worldwide shipments number down to 9.12 million, placing it a close second behind HP for Q1.
Gartner: Apple, Android, and RIM winners in 2009 smartphone growth, Nokia and Symbian still dominate
Gartner just released its annual numbers for worldwide mobile phone sales to end users in the year known as two thousand nine. Looking at smartphone OS market share alone, Gartner shows the iPhone OS, Android, and RIM making the biggest gains (up 6.2, 3.4, and 3.3 percentage points from 2008, respectively) at the expense of Windows Mobile (off 3.1 percentage points) and Symbian (off 5.5 points). Although Gartner says that Symbian "has become uncompetitive in recent years," (ouch) it concedes that market share is still strong especially for Nokia; something backed up by Nokia's Q4 financials and reported quarterly smartphone growth by 5 percentage points. Regarding total handsets of all classifications sold, Nokia continues to dominate with 36.4% of all sales to end users (down from 38.6% in 2008) while Samsung and LG continue to climb at the expense of Motorola (dropping from 7.6% to 4.5% of worldwide sales in 2009) and Sony Ericsson. See that table after the break or hit up the source for the full report.
VoxOx Universal Translator makes multilingual communication a breeze
Despite being launched at Mobile World Congress, VoxOx has yet to make a mobile version of its Universal Translator. That said, the desktop version is still quite useful for those with Windows or OS X-based rigs who attempt to communicate with friends -- particularly with friends who speak a different native language. The new software build enables real-time language translation for SMS chat, social media and email, and so long as the VoxOx client is pulled up, you can send and receive any of those messages in your own tongue while receiving translated messages in return. Granted, we get the idea that some phrases will be quite literally lost in translation, but this sure beats accessing Google's Language Tools for each questionable phrase. Hit the download link below to grab a copy, and head on past the break for a video demonstration of what's on offer.
Microsoft Zune music / video services going wherever Windows Phone 7 Series goes
Hear that, globetrotters? Just months after your hopes and dreams were obliterated, we're now hearing that the Zune HD and its associated music / video services are going international, and it could happen by the end of the year. At least that's the word given to Mary Jo Foley from Casey McGee, Microsoft Senior Marketing Manager. In a recent sit-down, Casey noted that the company's Zune music / video service "would be available in all countries where Windows 7 Phones will ship," and while it has yet to make that full list of nations publicly available, we already learned that the new mobile OS has gained support from mobile operators all over Europe. Putting two and two together can be difficult at times, but hopefully we aren't reading too much into this (painfully simple) equation.
Apple hires two more for mobile ad sales
In addition to their Quattro Wireless buy last month, Apple has picked up two more new employees that seems like additions to an incoming mobile advertising business. Theo Theodorou was picked up from Microsoft's mobile advertising sales department and will head sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. And Todd Tran, from mobile ad agency Joule, will serve as general manager in Europe. Apple hasn't announced exact details of what they plan to do with all of this mobile advertising, but they did say in the conference call last week that they plan to use their Quattro Wireless acquisition to help app developers make money, especially on free apps. We don't yet know the exact specifics of that plan ("iAds," coming soon to an App Store near you?), but it looks like Apple is making a significant investment in putting mobile ads on their devices.
Apple shifts focus from sales to quality in China
There was quite a bit of discussion from Apple yesterday about their sales in China (you can see that in our liveblog from yesterday afternoon), and AppleInsider points out that Apple is changing priorities over there, from straight up sales to brand quality. Tim Cook said yesterday that Apple has activated more than 200,000 iPhones since the release in China last year, and only in relation to the iPhone can anyone think that number could have been better. Apple is behind the pack in China -- there are a significant number of competitors over there, and unlike the market in the West, multifunctional smartphones have been popular for a long time already. But Apple recognizes the potential overseas, and Cook says the company does "...realize we must do well in these markets to continue to grow." What changes can they make? Price for one -- Apple says that as a premium brand, they're going to have to tweak a little bit to fit into the lower-income middle class in China while still competing on user experience. Apple didn't say that they weren't happy with what's happening in China, but compared to other countries in Asia (Japan came out of last quarter with a 400% year-over-year growth), Apple has a little more work to do there.
Truphone's Local Anywhere SIM gives you a local number anywhere, as long as 'anywhere' is the US or UK
Truphone -- better known for its VoIP services than anything else -- is getting into the rough-and-tumble world of international roaming with the introduction of its Local Anywhere SIM. At a glance, you might think that it works like countless other global prepaid SIMs that are ready to get shoved into the unlocked quadband phone of your choice, but here's Truphone's secret: on its higher-end packages, you can add local numbers for countries you visit frequently. To borrow the company's example, this means local pizza delivery dudes can buzz you without placing a multi-dollar call. The big hangup is that you can only get numbers in the US and UK at this point, but they'll apparently be adding in Australia, Netherlands, South Africa, and "many more" this year.
Amazon Kindle DX with global wireless: ships January 19th for $489
Well, what do you know? Seems that Amazon's Kindle DX will indeed be offered in a Global Wireless flavor, and it'll soon be shipping to over 100 nations for the tidy sum of $489. Bezos and Company confirmed an earlier slip tonight by trumpeting the impending release of its 9.7-inch e-reader around the world, where we presume it'll work exactly like the recently released International Kindle. 'Course, you overseas folks will probably need to budget for a power converter and import duties, but you can get your pre-orders in right this moment.
International HD news roundup
Here at Engadget HD, we'd prefer not to just focus on high-def happenings in the US of A. Thus, we round up the best of the best from the international front each week and present it here, bundled together in a single, easy to digest list. If something went down in your corner of the globe over the past seven days, let the rest of the world know it in comments. 'Til next week, Doei! Read - AFN's planned move to high definition will mean costlier decoders Read - Bell TV Uses New Satellite for HDTV Services (Canada) Read - ASTRO commenced HD services in Malaysia Read - VTC selects AsiaSat 5 for DTH service in Vietnam Read - ZON TVCabo goes for HD Read - Welho Preps 2010 3DTV Launch (Finland)
Ericsson demos 42Mbps HSPA Evolution for the laypeople
Talk about making good on a promise... and then some. Back in March, Ericsson proudly proclaimed that it would be able to make 21Mbps look like child's play by reaching 28Mbps before the dawn of 2010, and now the company is tooting its horn once more after demonstrating 42Mbps equipment to common folk over in Stockholm, Sweden. Reportedly, it's the planet's first 42Mbps HSPA achievement on commercial products, and better still, it's now available for mass deployment. Unfortunately, details beyond that were few and far between -- we're guessing Ericsson just needed an avenue to gloat -- but we suspect carriers like Telstra will be pushing out their own releases once the upgrades start rolling out. Granted, we've seen mobile data rates tickle the 42Mbps mark before, but those showcases were hardly ready for public consumption. Meanwhile, Verizon and AT&T are spending bundles arguing about their comparatively glacial "3G networks." Way to go, America.
Reversed decision enables Globalive to enter Canada's cellphone market 'immediately'
Tired of being badgered by your contemporaries over in the Northwest Angle about having to deal with those silly "three-year contracts?" Buck up, 'cause a new player has just been cleared to go head-to-head with the likes of Telus, Bell and Rogers in the Great White North. In a surprising reversal of an October CRTC ruling, the federal government in Canada has cleared Globalive to begin operations as a wireless cellphone operator in the country. The most amazing part? No changes are required in the outfit's debt structure or ownership hierarchy. You see, Canada generally requires that its wireless carriers be Canadian-owned, but as it stands, the majority shareholder in Globalive is Egypt's Orascom. Whatever the reasoning, we're just stoked to hear that the company can kick open the doors "effective immediately," and we're hoping to hear that it's doing just that in short order. [Thanks, Martin] Update: Whoa, that was quick! Looks like WIND (the brand this will all fall under) already has a site ready to rock. No sales or anything yet, but it looks like they won't be taking this reversal of fortunes lightly. Thanks, Leon!
Vodafone reportedly ditching the HD2 as iPhone launch looms (update: nope!)
Here's an interesting one. Vodafone, which is one of the few carriers in the world right now with access to HTC's HD2, is reportedly not going to stock the handset any longer once its current supply evaporates. The reason? Why, that's a fantastic question! According to a company spokesperson, there has been a "massive amount of interest" in the big-screen mobile, with initial stock "selling out quickly and subsequent deliveries used to fulfill backorders." Call us crazy, but it seems a wee bit foolish to can a product that's selling well -- unless, of course, Voda has a certain amount of iPhones that it'll be required to sell just a few months from now (or else buy 'em itself). Whatever the case, we're told that the operator "will not [be] re-stocking the HTC HD2 for general consumer sales once current stock runs out," so if you're jonesing for one, ten minutes ago would've been a great time to buy. Update: Here's the latest from Vodafone: "We haven't recalled or stopped selling it, at the moment we have simply ran out of stock. When our next batch of stock arrives, this will be used to fulfill our outstanding back orders but we won't be taking any additional orders via Telesales." Update 2: HTC pinged us directly and apologized for being unclear. Here's the bottom line: "[The] HD2 will continue to be available on Vodafone, even after the iPhone launches." Update 3: Wow, this is a train wreck. Now we're hearing that it'll only be available for "business users," making both Vodafone and HTC correct thanks to tricky wording. Sheesh.
