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iPhone 3GS coming to Orange UK on November 10
So you've been lusting after that spit-shined touchy-swipey device from Apple, huh? If you're in the UK, come November 10 you'll finally have a choice of iPhone provider (both for 3G and 3GS flavors), with The Guardian confirming the date as Orange's launch of the coveted handset. O2's exclusivity runs out on the ninth of that month, but we shouldn't be too quick to rejoice, as Orange will seek to "add value" rather than undercut O2's pricing. Independent retailers Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U are also expected to stock the iPhone on behalf of Orange, and lest we forget Vodafone will be joining in with its own offering in early 2010. The CEO of 3 has also indicated a strong desire to bring Cupertino's baby onboard, though that's unlikely to happen before the midpoint of next year. So it'll get cheaper, just very... very slowly.
Motorola Sholes / Droid comes in US HSPA flavor, probably not US-bound
We've been led to believe in the past that there'd be a GSM version of Motorola's mighty Sholes for markets outside the US, but this particular version that passed the FCC this week -- ID IHDP56KC5, if you must know -- has us particularly interested. Why? Well, it's packing WCDMA on the 850 and 1900MHz bands, which means it'd work on AT&T, Rogers, and HSPA newcomers Bell and Telus. We've been led to believe, though, that this particular device is destined for Latin America where 850 / 1900 is also used in favor of the 2100MHz spectrum more prevalent in Europe. That doesn't rule out Canada, but our instincts tell us that Verizon has every intention of locking up the Sholes as a US exclusive, which means AT&T is a likely no-go -- the carrier's been strangely silent on Android, anyhow, and we haven't heard a peep of recent intel suggesting they're prepping Google-powered gear in time for the holidays. Of course, enterprising individuals will probably figure out how to unlock and import this bad boy, so if you're an American and the thought of switching to Big Red for a Droid makes you physically ill, take heart that there might yet be hope. [Via MobileCrunch]
Verizon launching Storm2 on October 28 for $179.99?
Say you're North America's largest wireless carrier -- how do you go about burying a product you're about to carry that you secretly wish didn't exist? One creative option would be to opt out of announcing it when its manufacturer does, then quietly launch it on the same day that you're announcing the phone you're calling the "must-have device of the year." Tricky, eh? Yeah, sure enough, by all appearances it seems that Verizon doesn't plan on celebrating the arrival of the Storm2 with the same fanfare it gave the Storm, despite the fact that the new device directly addresses the biggest complaints dogging the original model. It's a "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" sort of situation, we suppose. Anyhow, it looks like pricing should come in at $179.99 on contract, though $100 of that comes in the form of a mail-in rebate that you'll get on a prepaid debit card, so you'll actually be laying out close to $300 before taxes when you march into the store on October 28. Hey, look at it this way: at least you can keep refreshing Engadget on your old Storm to learn about the Droid while you're waiting in line for the Storm2, right? [Thanks, anonymous tipster]
BlackBerry Bold 9700 gains FCC clearance in T-Mobile trim
You can't make heads or tails of what carrier might be getting this version of the Bold 9700 just by looking at the wireframe diagram buried in the ID label documentation, but here's an important clue: it got tested for WCDMA Band IV, also known as AWS -- so yeah, that would be a pretty solid indicator that this puppy is T-Mobile USA's version. You could spend literally hours thumbing through the hundreds of pages of RF test results here, so curl up on a cushy futon and geek out -- just do us a favor and don't actually print it out, okay?
Mobiado's Grand 350 Pioneer is fit for an extraterrestrial
Say your phone is accidentally lost in the void of space, never to be seen or touched by a human being again. Wouldn't it be comforting to know that any alien creature coming in contact with it a hundred, a thousand, or a million years from now would be able to deduce that you come in peace? With luxury phone maker Mobiado's latest version of the Grand 350, finally, you have that option available to you. As its name suggests, the 350 Pioneer is some sort of oddly-conceived tribute to NASA's Pioneer missions that features an engraving similar to the ones launched on its early craft; it describes our solar system, Earth's orientation within it, and basically tries to let your foreign friend know that you mean no harm using diagrams alone. The out-of-this-world spec sheet doesn't end there, though: you also get a meteorite embedded behind the display's sapphire crystal and etched text on the side letting everyone know your commitment to supporting the Pioneer program in as gaudy a way as possible. The Nokia E71-based phone is limited to just 37 examples, so you'd better get in line now -- and don't forget your space suit. [Via Mobile Phone Helpdesk]
BlackBerry Bold 9700 gets handled, appreciated for its nuances
Our dear colleagues over at Engadget German have had a chance to play with RIM's just-announced BlackBerry Bold 9700 today, and every indication we've gotten is that this thing is a perfect -- if not extremely conservative -- successor to the first-generation Bold. Interface and network speed are both praised (both the 9700 and the Bold before it feature a 624MHz core, so there's some magic going on here) and the microSD card is now hot-swappable, meaning that you've got a theoretically limitless supply of storage space if you happen to be carrying around a pocketful of 16GB cards. Check out the full gallery below, and naturally, stay tuned for a review of this bad boy just as soon as is humanly possible. %Gallery-76157%
BlackBerry Bold 9700 announced, launching globally starting next month
Properly replacing one of the most popular, recognizable BlackBerrys ever made is no easy task for RIM, but it looks like they've done a respectable job in officially announcing the Bold 9700, a device we've seen rumored as the "Onyx" through much of 2009. The new model gently massages the original Bold's time-tested formula by moving the camera up to 3.2 megapixels, giving the screen another 40 lines of vertical resolution (480 x 360, up from 480 x 320), and shipping with the brand new BlackBerry OS 5.0 out of the gate. Also notable is that the 9700 replaces the trackball with an optical trackpad --continuing a trend started by the Curve 8520 -- and will ship in both 900 / 1700 / 2100 and 800 / 850 / 1900 / 2100MHz 3G varieties, making the phone a perfect fit for AT&T, T-Mobile, and a multitude of networks in Canada and Europe. RIM isn't announcing specific carrier availability, but they're teasing that it'll be coming on "carriers around the world" starting in November. Follow the break for a quick teaser video from the boys and girls up in Waterloo. Update: Engadget Germany is at the launch event with RIM's co-CEO Mike Lazaridis. We'll be back shortly with a hands-on. Update 2: T-Mobile just announced its flavor of the Bold 9700 for the US which it says will be the first BlackBerry that allows voice calling over WiFi. Update 3: And here comes AT&T, which says the 9700 will be out in the "coming weeks" for $199 after $100 mail-in rebate.
T-Mobile Tap coming November 11, Samsung Behold II on November 18?
The CLIQ might be getting the lion's share of the Android spotlight on T-Mobile at the moment, but it's not the only Google-equipped gear in the carrier's pipeline -- the other big news there would be the Behold II from Samsung, a logical successor to the myTouch 3G with an AMOLED display and 5 megapixel cam. Seems like there's a little bit of a wait left, because TmoNews has scored some launch documentation suggesting that they're planning on a November 18 to get it pushed out to the public (and let's be honest, we'd all rather have that positively sick nasty myTouch Fender Limited Edition anyhow). Moving our attention downmarket, there's apparently a self-branded (read: a manufacturer you've never heard of) full touch device called the "Tap" that'll be hitting on the 11th of next month, likely slotting in below the Highlight in the carrier's range. No offense, there, Tap, but we're going to have to take a Behold II over ya.
Acer's beTouch and neoTouch smartphone series made official
It feels like these phones have been on sale for a solid six months for some weird reason, but in reality, Acer's 2009 line of WinMo 6.5 devices -- including the range-topping F1 -- are finally out and about with shiny new names to boot. As we'd previously heard, the Snapdraon-powered F1 is actually going to market as the S200 and will sit in the high-end neoTouch range, while the E100, E101, and E200 will slum it down in the beTouch series. All four are touch-equipped and range in price from £159 to £295 ($259 to $481) at retail, and when you consider that they're all fully unlocked and unbranded, that may not be so bad of a deal -- particularly for that sexy S200 up there. [Via Slashgear]
LG BL40 review
You know the deal by now: we grab a slab of fresh new hardware, fiddle, play, and tinker with it until exhaustion or boredom is reached, then wax poetic about the whole experience, with a side serving of pictures and videos thrown in. Today's candidate for a grilling is LG's BL40, which is now available in Europe. You'll be familiar with it already from our hands-on look last month, but do join us past the break where we explore what's under the glossy hood in more detail, and give you a definitive answer on just how useful that elongated screen really is. %Gallery-75858%
Motorola CLIQ available to T-Mobile customers now, great masses November 2
Well now this is a pleasingly rapid transition from announcement to review samples to market availability. Motorola's Android-loving CLIQ (already on sale under the moniker DEXT in the UK), its QWERTY keyboard and all the apps you could desire are now ready to be had, should you already have an account with T-Mobile, the device's exclusive US carrier. It was expected that only pre-orders would be taken today, but it appears for all the world that T-Mobile is ready to start shipping the CLIQ to its loyal customers ahead of the November 2nd full release date. Prices start from the previously reported $199.99 on a two-year agreement -- a move that will give you plenty of time to wonder if you shouldn't have waited for more details about the Droid mashup from Verizon, Motorola, and Google.
HTC Tilt2 now available on AT&T
Those looking for a slightly more QWERTY-equipped WinMo 6.5 device for AT&T than the HTC Pure need look no further than its stablemate, the Tilt2, now that it's officially available to all comers. The carrier's second model to use Microsoft's latest and greatest cut of Windows Mobile stays pretty true to its Touch Pro2 roots, offering an industrial-strength full duplex speakerphone, 3.2 megapixel cam, WVGA tilt-up display, and of course, that five-row QWERTY keyboard that makes banging out long emails and extended MMS tirades just a little more tolerable. Interest parties should come bearing gifts and plenty of cash, because it'll run $349.99 on contract before a $50 mail-in rebate. [Via PhoneDog]
Samsung, KT hooking up for new WiBro-enabled phone
If this picture looks a little "off," yeah, we know what you're talking about -- it's hard to say how any graphic designer could've mis-rendered a mocked-up screenshot this badly -- but just squint your eyes a little bit and play along, won't you? This is apparently a conceptual view of Samsung's new SPH-M8400 for South Korea's KT, which will become just the manufacturer's second phone to feature WiBro (and KT's first) after the M830 / M8300. In fact, they've coined a fun little term for it -- 3W -- which means you're getting WiBro, WiFi, and WCDMA all wrapped up in one for the total 3G / 4G experience. Neither a date nor pricing are easy to come by at this point, but unless you happen to be around Seoul, that WiBro compatibility isn't going to do you a heck of a lot of good anyhow. [Via Unwired View]
Samsung i5700 Galaxy Lite renamed Spica, spied and specced in Italy
At long last, some apparently definitive details on Samsung's i5700, the handset formerly known as Galaxy Lite and now reportedly called the Spica. Italian site Cellularmania has a pretty exhaustive hands-on gallery and a much-coveted list of specs for the lime green HSDPA Android vessel. We're looking at a 3-inch AMOLED screen with 384 x 240 resolution, a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, 1500 mAh battery, accelerometer, GPS, FM radio... and yes, sad but unsurprising, it's soft-rocking a 528MHz Qualcomm processor. Unlike our last glimpse, there now seems to be that requisite Android home bottom on the right side of the lower panel, but no such luck for any trackball. We're also lacking price or release date details for any region, but at least for US enthusiasts, we're pretty confident that you shouldn't get your hopes up, given how the i7500 has been relegated stateside. [Via Slashgear]
Vodafone puts BlackBerry Storm2 up for 26 October preorder
And it's out. The BlackBerry Storm2 just made its first official carrier appearance with Vodafone. The promising followup to the much maligned BlackBerry Storm will be free on pay-monthly contracts from £35 on up. Specs include a 3.25-inch 360 x 480 pixel capacitive SurePress (new and improved) touchscreen display, 802.11b/g WiFi and 2100MHz UMTS/HSPA data, 256MB of flash memory (double that of the original Storm), 2GB of onboard memory with microSDHC expansion, 3.5-mm standard headset jack, 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, and 1400mAh battery giving about 6 hours of 3G talk. BlackBerry OS 5 too, of course, when it lands on October 15th in the UK, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Spain -- France, Italy, and South Africa in time for Christmas. Update: Now on official RIM page too with a detailed comparison against the original Storm. %Gallery-75629% [Thanks, James] Read -- Press Release Read -- Pre-order
Samsung's solar Blue Earth launching in Sweden this month, elsewhere soon
First, the good news: that slide we saw back in August promising Blue Earth deliveries in October was spot on, seeing how Samsung just made an official announcement to that effect. Now, the bad: unless you're in Sweden, that doesn't mean much -- at least, not yet. The HSDPA-equipped full touch handset with an integrated solar charger is set to launch in the Nordic nation this month, with France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal, and "other European and Asian countries" following on shortly; notably missing is the US, which wouldn't benefit from the 900 / 2100MHz 3G radio anyhow. Pricing hasn't been announced, but does it really matter when you'll be saving all that cash on your power bill?
Garmin-Asus nuvifone G60 review
Had the device you're peering at above come out just a few months later, it would've taken two full years to go from introduction to on sale. Thankfully, the good folks over at Garmin and ASUS (and Garmin-Asus, as it were) were able to get the nüvifone G60 out to AT&T before the holiday shopping season of 2009, but were they still too late? There's no doubt that this very smartphone had a lot of folks drooling in early 2007, but to say a lot has happened in the mobile realm between then and now would be doing the truth a grave injustice. The iPhone 3G has fallen to $99, a slew of Android handsets have hit the market and dedicated PND (portable navigation devices) have found themselves in the bargain bin. Oh, and some pretty fantastic GPS software has managed to land within Apple's App Store and the Android Market. In other words, competition couldn't possibly be hotter, and considering that the specifications haven't been updated on this $299 device since it was originally announced, you're probably wondering if it even deserves a chance. Read on to find out the answer. %Gallery-74444%
AT&T makes white Bold official: October 18 for $199.99
RIM kinda already spilled these beans last week at CTIA, but just for good measure, AT&T went ahead and officially announced the white version of the BlackBerry Bold today, and it's exactly as we expected: the launch will come on October 18 for the same price as the black version -- so unless they cut the black's price between now and next week, we're looking at $199.99 on contract after rebate. That's a lot to pay for a year-old phone when the successor is seeming weeks away (at most), but then again, we'll admit it, the white accents suit this phone insanely well -- so well, in fact, that it almost qualifies as a new model as far as we're concerned. Are we crazy?
Sony Ericsson Satio, HTC Tattoo, and LG GM750 now on offer at Vodafone
Hey, Britons: about a nice three-pack of "wow!" to start your week off right? We'd like to direct your attention over to Vodafone, where three particularly notable handsets that we've been following in recent months are now in stock and ready for delivery. The HTC Tattoo represents the new low end in Android fare, bringing a resistive QVGA display and a 3.2 megapixel cam to the table -- it'll go out the door for free on a £25 monthly plan. Heading over to the Windows Mobile side of the trailer park, the GM750 is a Voda exclusive loaded to the hilt with that newfangled WinMo 6.5 everyone's been talking about these days; it comes loaded up with a 5 megapixel camera and, like the Tattoo, can be yours for nary a penny on a £25 plan. Finally -- get ready -- the Symbian-powered Satio from Sony Ericsson is ready for your consumption, all 12.1 megapixels of it, for just another 10 quid a month. We'll take all three, thanks. [Via Electronista] Read - Sony Ericsson Satio Read - HTC Tattoo Read - LG GM750
Deutsche Telekom CFO on T-Mobile USA: 'we lost customers because many... couldn't get 3G'
Sometimes, properly taking your lumps is the best way to learn a lesson and move forward, and Deutsche Telekom -- T-Mobile USA's corporate parent -- isn't pulling any punches about the mess it's gotten itself into in recent years. CFO Timotheus Hoettges has gone on the record in Germany this week saying that there's "no question that [they] lost customers because many of [their] customers couldn't get 3G," a painful acknowledgment that T-Mobile's old attitude toward high-speed data -- rely on EDGE supplemented by an extensive WiFi hotspot network -- as its larger competitors built out large swaths of genuine 3G coverage has ultimately hit the company in the pocketbook. For what it's worth, they seem to be making up for lost ground with a mega-rapid HSPA+ rollout (which Hoettges says will command some €3.5 billion -- about $5.2 billion -- of DT's investment cash this year), and there's still this whole Project Dark mystery to occupy our collective imagination, so the depth of the company's commitment to its American subsidiary seems genuine. Interestingly, Hoettges went on to say that they still haven't decided on a 4G strategy with "all options" still on the table. Ultimately, "all options" is going to mean either WiMAX, LTE, or capitulation, so we'll just have to sit back and wait to see how this develops. [Via mocoNews]
