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Sony Ericsson's P990i gains FCC approval
Announced way back in October, that Sony Ericsson P990i just got tagged with the FCC's good housekeeping seal of approval. With that out of the way, we might actually see this tri-band GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 with UMTS (2100) handset with Symbian OS 9.1 / UIQ 3 Stateside sometime in Q1, Q2, Q3 after the 2100MHz spectrum comes off the auction block and into the greedy little hands of your fave (or not so fave) wireless provider. And with a 2.8-inch touchscreen, 802.11b WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 2 megapixel cam, media player, QWERTY keypad, and suite of corporate email connectivity options, well, we're guessing that even with all the delays, you might still care. [Via Mobile Whack]
Vodafone Germany to snag Hermes, Star Trek
Looks like Cingular customers aren't the only ones expected to get an HTC windfall this summer; according to The Unwired, come July and August it appears that the Hermes and Star Trek will be launched on German Vodafone as the Vodafone VPA Compact III and Qtek 8500, respectively. Apparently the VPA Compact III will set you back as much as €900 ($1,150 US) without contract, or €409 ($522 US) with a two-year, whereas the 8500 will go for €600 ($766 US) and €170 ($217 US) the same ways -- something tells us they want their customers to snag these subsidized.
Hands on with Sony's would-be UMPC killer, the UX180P
Sony is never a company to back down from raising a few eyebrows or ruffling a few feathers in the standards game, and so shall it be with the not-quite-UMPC UX180P. There's little question that the UX whips up on the current crop of UMPCs in the marketplace, sporting a more powerful processor, higher-res screen, integrated keyboard and EDGE -- but at $1800, it needs to. And right there lies the million-dollar question: at almost double the cost of a UMPC, does the UX serve its function? And what exactly is its function, for that matter? Read on for our take on the answers, along with some in-depth imagery.
Cingular, Verizon slapped with class action suits
Wireless carriers in this country are no strangers to all manner of legal action, so it comes as little surprise to us to hear that we have a couple fresh lawsuits brewing of the class-action variety. In Cingular's case, it seems a group of former AT&T Wireless customers are worked up over the degredation of AT&T's legacy network following the merger, forcing many of them to either deal with the inferior reception, buy so-called "orange" phones and get on Cingular's network proper -- often incurring a transfer fee in addition to the cost of the phone, or leave Cingular entirely and pay the early-termination fee of $175. Verizon meanwhile is taking heat for covertly slapping some of its customers with their roadside assistance option starting in January 2004 at $2 / month, then later refusing refunds when folks got wise to the charge. We dream of one day achieving world peace between human- and carrier-kind -- but in the meantime, good luck sticking it to the Man, folks.
Nokia N93 gets put through its paces
With S60 3rd Edition, UMTS, a 3.2 megapixel camera with optical zoom, WiFi, miniSD slot, and QVGA display, Nokia's N93 dual-pivot clamshell pretty much does it all -- at the cost of some considerable bulk, that is. Mobile-review had a chance to spend some quality time with the beast, and if you can get past the portly 188 grams of mass in your pocket, they appear to come away liking the device for all that it does. As flimsy as it may look, we're told the stalk connecting the display to the remainder of the phone is rock-solid: "Even if you shake the phone with all your strength, there is no way the halves will move towards each other." Triband GSM plus UMTS 2100 make the N93 a tough sell in the States, but everyone else seeking out a worthy N90 replacement can expect Nokia's latest superphone to drop this month for around €600 ($765).
HTC TyTN (Hermes) gets a possible ship date
We may not be able to pronounce the name of HTC's self-branded variant of the Hermes -- TyTN -- but we will be able to rock one toward the end of this month, if Expansys' UK site is to be trusted. Expansys is showing an alleged July 17 availability date for the device, and while our European friends are already well-acquainted with its imminent availability in several flavors of carrier, this could be the only shot Americans have at 1900MHz UMTS smartphone goodness until it officially drops on Cingular in the fall (knock on wood). The Hermes is physically a dead ringer for the Wizard it replaces, but mercifully upgrades the woefully underclocked OMAP to a 400MHz Samsung piece, adds a second camera for video calling, and bumps the primary to 2 megapixels. The price north of $1,000 USD might seem stratospheric to most of us, but we suspect we can find a few Wizard-toting folks willing to shed it to get themselves out of EDGE purgatory.[Thanks, Daniel S.]
Palm "Lennon" and "Nitro" in the flesh?
Alright, dear readers, proceed with caution. It's with a healthy dose of skepticism that we present to you some slightly clearer pictures (allegedly straight off Cingular's site) of Palm's "Lennon" and "Nitro" GSM devices that our resident rumor MC, The Boy Genius, scooped for us not long ago. Now, we'll plainly admit that these look pretty much like what we'd expect them to look like -- but these would also be fairly trivial 'Shops to throw together based off the 700w and 700p. Either way, if Palm's track record is any indication, we can look forward to plenty more leaked shots in the near future to keep us occupied before (hopefully) a late-2006 release.[Thanks, Jon]
O2 Atom Exec gets the full rundown
CNET has gone ahead and upgraded its preview of the O2 Atom Exec to a full review, and it appears they've come away with a very positive impression of the refreshed non-HTC -- yes, non-HTC -- Pocket PC. To refresh your melon, the Atom Exec is O2's Asia-only update of the Atom, adding an extra 64MB of ROM (for a total of 192MB), boosting the device's PXA272 core from 416 to 520MHz, and toning down the glossy finish to a more matte one. CNET concludes that the Exec is a great device thanks largely to its roomy ROM and snappy performance, but that it probably isn't worthy of an upgrade for owners of the original Atom. European Atom owners: feelin' any jealousy here?[Thanks, Ash]
Vertu Constellation To Be Launched
According to, of all sources, a video on Google Video, the next Vertu line will be dubbed the Constellation; we understand it will feature quad-band EDGE (finally!), Bluetooth, and significantly higher resolution and larger screen. This new model should launch in the September time period; stay tuned as we expect further details to start trickling in shortly.
Hands-on with Samsung's 3-megapixel SGH-P858
Considering what Samsung has managed to do with 9.9mm, we're struggling to understand how they're just now trying to position the tri-band SGH-P858 as their crown jewel -- all brick-like 26.5mm of it. Nonetheless, it's worthy of a review, and that's just what our counterparts at MobileBurn have undertaken. You might recall mention of the P857 earlier this year, and we're told these phones are functionally identical, which means the 3 megapixel camera carries over -- as does the, uh, pleather coating on the phone's surface. MobileBurn's reaction to the phone is overall a negative one, panning the lack of multitasking support, sluggish microSD access, lack of simultaneous vibrate and ring, and generally exorbitant price tag considering its spec sheet. Check a couple more shots of the P858 doing its thing after the break.
UTStarcom goes dual-mode with GSM / CDMA T66
The dual-mode concept is a big deal in Asia where carriers like China Unicom have both GSM and CDMA networks floating around, and it looks like UTStarcom wants to cash in with its T66 clamshell. The press release claims the T66 sports not one, but two 2.6-inch displays (we're having a hard time picturing that), music player, 1.3 megapixel camera, and "MP3 broadcasting" and is destined for China Unicom's World Wind dual-mode service. The T66's major selling point is apparently its ability to stand by on both networks simultaneously, a feature missing from first-generation World Wind devices. No word on availability outside China, which doesn't necessarily break our hearts -- but we have to admit, we're a little curious about the "MP3 broadcasting" feature. An FM transmitter, perhaps?[Via Mobilewhack]
The LG CG225: Cingular gets another low-end flip
There are definitely LGs we'd rather see appear in Cingular's shipping lineup, but hey, the quad-band CG225 is free on contract after online rebate, has a VGA camera, dual color displays, and a speakerphone. The stub antenna is unfortunate, but all told the little clamshell doesn't look half bad -- and it's hard to complain about the price. Cheap backup phone, anyone?[Via MobileTracker]Update: Several readers have pointed out that the CG225's external display is not actually color, but rather black and white with a deceptive colored background. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Samsung's midrange E380 flip approved by FCC
The SGH-E380 has popped up courtesy of the FCC with precisely nothing interesting about it: Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel camera, dual color displays, music player, and EDGE support round out the completely typical spec sheet. Strangely, the FCC lists this as a single-band GSM 1900 device, but they also make mention of an SGH-E388 sister product that might be more friendly to American frequencies. If you, for whatever reason, thought that there weren't enough midrange Samsung clamshells in the pipeline, hopefully we've made your day.[Via Slashphone]
HTC Trinity revealed?
We've just spotted what purports to be the HTC Trinity, and while it's looking quite a bit different (and a bit less sleek) than the last time it surfaced, the specs are just as spiffing. The Windows Mobile 5.0 actually doesn't look too much different than HTC's Hermes, with the main addition of GPS and some reworked face buttons. There's 64MB of RAM, 128MB of ROM, a 2.8-inch QVGA display, Bluetooth, WiFi, EDGE, HSDPA and a microSD slot. Just like the Hermes there are VGA and 2.0 megapixel cameras, and the phone is similarly slim at 0.7-inches thick. No more info as to when this will be out, and we can't say we aren't disappointed about the fairly generic look, but there's always a chance (hope) this report is a bit off.[Thanks, Sean]
m300 "Mobile Watch" to finally deliver on watch phone promise?
In the "we'll believe it when it starts shipping" department, we present to you the m300 GSM watch phone by SMS Technology of Australia, a company that appears to be better known for mobile poker tournaments than for manufacturing phones. Our heart has been broken enough times to know that watch phones make better prototypes than they do shipping products, but we can't help get a little excited here: the m300 promises a speakerphone, Bluetooth, and color display in a fairly normal-looking waterproof casing. You can preorder the device for for $499 (possibly Australian dollars) with a promised shipping date of December 2006, but we think we're going to sit back and let this one play out a bit before we bite.[Via Slashphone]
SmarTone-Vodafone launches thin Toshiba TS30
9.9mm might not be close to breaking any records these days, but Toshiba's TS30 candybar is thin enough to confortably slip into pretty much any nook or cranny you had in mind. With a QVGA display (quickly becoming par for the course in Europe and Asia), music player, MicroSD slot, and FM radio, SmarTone-Vodafone customers in Hong Kong shouldn't find much missing when the phone hits for HK$1680 (about $215) unsubsidized. Rumor has it the tri-band GSM TS30 will eventually find its way to Taiwan and Europe, though possibly under a different moniker -- but per protocol, no US launch plans are in the works.[Via MobileBurn]
Samsung breaks the bank with HSDPA SPH-W2100
A month after SK Telecom rolled out Korea's first commercial HSDPA network with the SCH-W200, #2 Korean carrier KTF is getting theirs, launching the lookalike SPH-W2100 along with its own 3.5G service. Deets on the W2100 have been hard to track down, but we know that it trades the W200's S-DMB for terrestrial DMB and comes in at 21.1mm thick; if we were betting folk, we'd wager that the W2100's innards are otherwise similar, likely sporting 2 megapixel external and VGA video calling cameras, music player, and multitasking capability. Apparently, the W2100 allows the user to text and video call at the same time, though we think that might be information overload for our little brains. Koreans readers needing 1.8Mbps of sliding KTF action best have some available credit limit -- expect the SPH-W2100 to retail in the neighborhood of $800 USD when it drops next month.[Via Slashphone]
Deets on Samsung i770 Pocket PC phone come together
So much for the six months of confidentiality asked of the FCC on this one. Phone Scoop is reporting some new info on Samsung's upcoming i770 Pocket PC flip phone, noting that the device sports an M600-esque rocker keypad for alpha input, MicroSD slot, dual color displays, 2 megapixel camera, and external keys for music control when the flip is closed. The remainder of the information was previous spilled by our boys at the FCC -- Bluetooth, tri-band GSM and EDGE are in the box, but UMTS appears to be left out. We previously speculated that this might be a swivel phone, but on closer inspection, it looks like a straight-up flip to us. Without GSM 850, this isn't the most US-friendly piece on the market, but with Pocket PC flips being as rare as they are, we know a few of you are ready to roll anyhow.
LG's U400 3G slider for music
It looks like LG and Hutchison 3 had another ace up their sleeve this week, announcing the U400 slider alongside the lower-end U300 clamshell. The glossy black finish of the U400 is vaguely reminiscent of LG's Chocolate, but the similarities end there: the U400 is thicker, packs UMTS, and trades the Chocolate's hidden music controls for an honest-to-goodness scroll wheel. Other features include A2DP support, 2 megapixel shooter, and MicroSD slot -- but if this is a Hutchison 3 exclusive like the U300, most of us'll have to get our 3G scroll wheelin' kicks vicariously.
BBB largely rules for Cingular in ad battle with Sprint Nextel
We're not sure what this means for Cingular's pending lawsuit regarding its right to claim the "fewest dropped calls," but the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division has issued a ruling in the ongoing marketing war between Cingular and fellow child wireless giant Sprint Nextel. Apparently, after thorough, utterly scientific analysis, the BBB has determined that Cingular can continue to claim that they have "more bars in more places," the "fastest national wireless data network" and the "largest push-to-talk network in America." They also ruled that Cingular doesn't have the right to make some claims about its B2B offerings, but all told, we imagine that the boys in Atlanta are chalking this up as a victory for their confusing, largely meaningless ad campaign.[Via Techdirt]
