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Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 scores cameo on Vodafone's site for October release
The uncertainty of trying to predict exactly when -- and where -- Sony Ericsson's beastly X1 would launch has come to be one of the more entertaining dramas in the mobile world this year, but it looks like Vodafone's ready to shut down the rumor mill. The Windows Mobile superphone has now been slapped with an "expected" launch date in October for Voda's UK audience, which means we can probably expect it in at least a few other European locales in the same timeframe. Americans (of both the South and North variety), Asians, Africans, Australians, and Antarcticans, though -- well, there's no telling where you guys stand at the moment, so hang tight.[Via CoolSmartPhone]
HTC Touch Pro turning into the "Fuze" for AT&T?
We were personally pulling for the "Full Tilt," but WMExperts is citing a tipster that claims AT&T's rendition of the HTC Touch Pro will end up seeing the light of day as the "Fuze." That name would certainly make sense, because, you know, "Fuze" is a word that evokes ultimate productivity without sacrificing the hip style that today's young mobile professional demands. Whoa, did we just channel a marketing guru, or what? The tip goes on to say that we can expect the QWERTY slider to hit "sooner rather than later," so you might want to hold off on that imminent Tilt purchase if you can help it.[Thanks, Malatesta]
Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 gets early date with eBay
In this culture of instant gratification, it's comforting to know that there's at least one source out there for Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 well ahead of the official release. An eBay auction expiring this Saturday is offering up (or claiming to, anyway) the opportunity to be the first kid on your block with that sleek, sexy bundle of metal and Windows Mobile -- if, of course, the price is right. It looks like a sale price well above $1,000 is a foregone conclusion at this point, and there's no guarantee that the auction is even legit, so you'd better really want an X1 more than the next guy before plunking down that kind of cash for a prototype. We'll wait, thanks -- not because we're patient, but because we're not old money. Now excuse us while we go sob quietly to ourselves in that corner over there, okay?[Thanks, ginger.al]
Motorola Atila gets leaked: think Alexander sans QWERTY
While legend has it that the Alexander possesses a beauty that only a mother could see, Motorola's Atila looks pretty sharp from here. The codenamed handset is said to be Alexander's non-QWERTY counterpart, boasting quad-band GSM / GPRS / EDGE, tri-band UMTS / HSDPA / HSUPA, a 2.8-inch QVGA (320 x 240) display, 802.11b/g WiFi, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and a Qualcomm 7201A chipset. Mum's the word on a price or release date, but we'll be sure to keep you in the loop.
3 Italia, Ericsson blaze with 5.8Mbps HSPA uploads
We hate to make you feel like a loser with your 1-point-whatever Mbps upstream data card there, but over in Italy, Ericsson and 3 are doing everything they can to put that card out of business. It appears that through nothing more than a series of software and infrastructure tweaks, the companies have managed to establish uplink data connections at a whopping 5.8Mbps. Oh, and get this -- it's not some fancy, futuristic trial, either, this was all done using 3's existing commercial network. Good news for Italians, and ultimately, good news for anyone that's not looking forward to waiting for LTE to take over.[Via Phone Scoop]
Nokia offering 96 N96 handsets in limited edition packaging
Nokia's latest promotion isn't the most enthralling we've ever seen, but two aspects in particular stand out. First, those fortunate enough to be able to drop €759 ($1,206) on an N96 will be helping the WWF project to save the red pandas in Nepal. Secondly, the Face The Task website designed to highlight the limited edition kit is worth viewing for kicks alone. From what we can gather, 96 well-packaged N96 mobiles will be made available at the aforesaid price, but nothing about the device itself will be special. You will, however, receive a limited edition ash tree box in a raw silk bag along with an 8GB microSD card. Worth it? That's up to you.[Via TheNokiaBlog]
Sunrise offers pay-per-hour HSPA access in Switzerland
Remember those days when you'd beg your mom to hop online and watch GamePro.com load for 15 minutes in order to read the latest reviews, only to be shut down by pops who refused to pay $.50 per minute to be on the world wide web? Thankfully, Sunrise's latest mobile broadband plans aren't that bad, but each precious hour of surfing over HSPA will set you back 3 Swiss francs (or $2.97). On the upside, there's no commitment attached to the USB modem, and there aren't any data usage caps either, so who knows, maybe this deal will float your boat after all.[Thanks, Jay]
T-Mobile first to blanket UK in HSUPA
What's the first network to claim a true, full HSPA across all of the United Kingdom? Vodafone? Orange? 3? Nope -- try T-Mobile, which has just flipped the switch on its HSUPA upgrades nationwide to bring upload speeds to a blazing 1.4Mbps (theoretically, anyway). The figured they'd commemorate the occasion by giving download speeds a little boost, too, so those are now up to 7.2Mbps, making Great Britain an absolutely fabulous place to do a little mobile computing right now. Oh, and hey, T-Mobile USA, you could seriously learn a lesson or two from your counterparts across the Atlantic here.[Via Tech Digest]
Toshiba Portege G810 reviewed, cursed
Hopes had been reasonably high that Toshiba's G810 would rest near the top of the keyboardless WinMo food chain for a while, but if PocketNow's review is any indication, that's a tall order. Problem numero uno -- which we didn't need a review to tell us, necessarily -- is that the completely tactile-free directional pad and accompanying buttons make using the darned thing a challenge, no matter how cool the glowy blue lights may be. What's more, the screen is QVGA, which is unacceptable for a high-end WinMo handset in 2008, and the tester was unable to get even a single full day of battery life out of it with typical use. On the bright side, the camera appears to take some of the better shots we've ever seen come out of a cameraphone, but is that really enough to justify the $700-plus that retailers are commanding? Probably not.
European 3G users break 100 million, 2G laughs maniacally
As much fuss as we make about 3G, the impact it has on the mobile experience, and the death of old-school GSM as a viable technology, deployed WCDMA networks in their various forms are still just a drop in the bucket when compared to the GSM subscriber pool as a whole -- even in 3G-rich Europe. A new report from market research firm Informa Telecoms and Media reveals that European 3G users now number 101.5 million, which works out to about 11.1 percent of the some 910.8 million wireless users in the continent. Norway, Sweden, and Italy all individually broke 25 percent 3G penetration, but even so, that paints a very interesting picture of the overwhelming importance of the legacy infrastructure. With EDGE Evolution on the way, it could continue to play a majority role well into the next decade, too.
HTC Touch Pro gets handled, keyboard better than X1's?
The question on quite literally every WinMo fanatic's mind as we go into the second half of the year here is, "Touch Pro or X1?" It's not an easy question to answer, and anyone hoping to sink some cash on either one of these models in a few months is going to want to do so with a crap-ton of research and anecdotal information under their belts lest the buyer's remorse set in particularly quickly. MobileBurn scored an early look at the Touch Pro -- which won't be available at retail for a month or three yet -- and came away impressed with the all-important keyboard, saying that it was "much more" usable than the QWERTY found on Sony Ericsson's rival superphone. Closed, it's said to be virtually indistinguishable from the Touch Diamond (which we'd say is a good thing) other than being a bit thicker to accomodate they keyboard and picking up a matte-finish rear cover. Unfortunately, HTC refused to show off the Touch Pro's interface -- apparently on account of some new tricks up TouchFLO 3D's sleeve that haven't already made their way into the Touch Diamond -- but they did share that the new model will handle landscape mode with particular aplomb. So this one might have the X1 beat in the keyboard department, but the X1's WVGA display takes the crown for sheer pixel count. Decisions!
Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 hands-on, sorta
So here's the scene. We're at the Digital Experience show, trying to get our hands on a powered-up Sony Xperia X1. Sure, we found a unit that wasn't powered up, but that does you -- and us -- no good. Sony told us to come back in 15 minutes, so we grabbed some press kits, made a round of booths, and came back.Sure enough, when we came back the X1 was powered up, but the nice booth lady tried to tell us that things weren't working just right and the unit was stuck on the config screen. After some jiggering, we determined the little X1 was just stuck on the touch screen calibration, and we were cruising through menus within minutes. It's pretty clear this unit wasn't ready for primetime -- you'll even see some HTC test apps in the below gallery -- but we were impressed by the screen's resolution and brightness. Windows Mobile 6.1 showed it face often in the UI, but the phone app and general utilities were looking good.Overall, the X1 is a pleasure to behold -- it's one sexy device. That said, we'll have to wait how Sony Ericsson's user interface shapes up and just look at the pretty pictures in the gallery until mid-September.You can find the gallery over here at Engadget Classic.
HTC Advantage X7510 available to USers for $1,300
It doesn't sound like Qualcomm has all of its legal woes here in America worked out just yet, but apparently that won't stop fat-walleted USers from snapping up the forthcoming HTC Advantage X7510 real soon. Both Dynamism and On The Go Solutions are expecting stock any day now, and they'll be shipping to your US-based address so long as you're willing to accept a $1,299 charge on your preferred piece of plastic. Before you brush this off as absurd, listen to that devil on your shoulder whispering things like "5-inch VGA display" and "HSDPA." Hmm.[Via Pocketables]Read - DynamismRead - On The Go Solutions
China Unicom to fetch iPhone 3G in August?
Chalk this one up as just another rumor for now, but whispers around the Chinese web have it that China Unicom could be netting Apple's latest handset (yeah, that 3G one) this August. If you'll recall, Steve had issues in the past getting Chinese carriers to buy into his demanding revenue sharing model, but now that those days are gone, we suspect talks may go a little smoother. And c'mon, Apple didn't add in Chinese character recognition for kicks and giggles, now did it? As of now, China Mobile has yet to make a peep on the rumblings, but we've only got a few months before finding out either way.[Via IntoMobile]
Sony Ericsson pops out MD400 / MD400g HSPA USB modems
In case you couldn't tell, Sony's getting down at CommunicAsia. Next up from Singapore is a fresh pair of HSPA USB modems, the MD400 and GPS-packin' MD400g. Both sticks pull double duty as a M2 / microSD card reader, but it's not like we haven't seen that functionality tossed into similar units already. Nevertheless, these buggers support 7.2Mb/s download and 2.0M/bs upload speeds and feature a swiveling antenna to complement the built-in one, a retractable USB connector and compatibility with Windows and OS X-based machines. SE tells us that the currently unpriced duo will be available worldwide in Q4, with the biggest decision to come when choosing between Exquisite Ebony and Lustrous White. %Gallery-25348%
Sony Ericsson's 8.1 megapixel C905 breaks free
No surprises here but at least Sony Ericsson's C905 Cyber-shot is now official. As a camera, we're talking Xenon flash, face detection, image stabilization and 8.1 megapixels crammed into a tiny sensor of unspecified make or dimensions. As a phone we're looking at quad-band GSM (9-hours talk / 380 hours standby) and tri-band UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100 on the C905a worldphone variant. It also comes packing an auto-rotating, 2.4-inch scratch-resistant QVGA display, aGPS with Google Maps, A2DP stereo Bluetooth, TV-out, 2GB of included Memory Stick Micro (M2), and WiFi with DLNA support when this slider is loosed upon the globe in Q4. Check the gallery here.
Toshiba's Portege G810 set for release June 20th
We've heard a great deal about the Toshiba's glossy Windows Mobile Speed Racer and now we're finally getting a date. Akihabara's reporting that the Portege G810 should be hitting shelves on June 20th for some as-of-yet undisclosed price -- though we'd throw our money at it being in the higher end for Windows Mobile devices. A quick review of the spec sheet shows us Windows Mobile 6.1, HSDPA and HSUPA, 2.8-inch touch screen, Bluetooth, WiFi, FM radio, GPS, and 4GB of storage via microSD. So there you have it, hop back over shortly before launch day and hopefully we'll have a dollar value to throw your way.
NXP unveils world's fastest cellular modem with multi-mode GSM support
3G is so Monday. Today, NXP Semiconductors is getting down with the "world's fastest high-bandwidth cellular soft modem," which will obviously be aimed at smartphones, MIDs and other handhelds thirsting for WWAN. Notably, the PNX6910 supports multi-mode LTE / HSPA / UMTS / EDGE / GPRS / GSM capability, and it's reportedly capable of achieving data transfer rates of 150Mbits down and 50Mbits up. To put things in perspective, NXP suggests that users could download an "entire HD movie in less than 7 minutes," though we're not sure what constitutes an "entire movie." Oh, and before you get too excited in here, you should probably know that the chip won't even be available until Q2 2009 at the earliest.
Goldstriker's work makes the LG Secret decidedly less secretive
As members of LG's fashion line, neither the KF600 nor KF750 Secret were ever designed to be completely anonymous, per se, and they definitely won't be if you procure yours through the folks at Goldstriker. The masters of conspicuous embellishment have added gold-plated versions of the new LG sliders to its line -- 24 karat gold, natch -- which should go nicely with the gilded Mercedes Benz medallions that Goldstriker also sells. It seems that your choice of the KF600 or Secret will run £329.95 or £529.95 respectively (about $648 or $1,035), which at least in the case of the KF600 isn't much of a premium over what you'd pay for a standard unlocked version. Just don't let that micron of gold rub off, and you should be golden. Yes, pun intended.[Via Pocket-lint]
AT&T touts 20% boost in 3G data speeds
It looks like AT&T is getting a bit more generous these days, with the company now following up its supposed plans to offer free WiFi to LaptopConnect and smartphone users with a promised 20% boost in 3G data speeds. That translates to "typical" downlink speeds of between 700 Kbps and 1.7 Mbps (up from 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps), and uplink speeds of between 500 Kbps and 1.2 Mbps (formerly 500 to 800 Kbps). To get those slightly improved speeds, however, you'll have to use one of the company's aforementioned LaptopConnect cards, and no doubt situate yourself in some prime signal real estate. What's more, AT&T says those speeds are only a taste of things to come, with it promising that peak data speeds will eventually reach 20 Mbps as it switches over to HSPA+ between 2009 and 2010.[Via Gear Diary]
