Toronto-based Quickplay is set to stream full length TV shows from networks, including CBS, MTV, and NBC. The PrimeTime2Go package will be offered for $7.99/month and will only stream over Wi-Fi to the Bold and 8900. Sorry, Storm owners, but Verizon hates you and crippled Wi-Fi, so you won’t be getting 30 Rock, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory or Nitro Circus. I have no idea if those shows will be apart of the package, but they’re some of my favorites. No word on when Quickplay will go live, though.
RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis is slated to take the stage later today in Las Vegas at the CTIA show and all eyes will be focused on RIM’s answer to Apple’s App Store. While we wished that RIM had held off on the launch of BlackBerry App World until Lazaridis’ little talk, there’s nothing that could have prevented this announcement from hitting at midnight. So, ladies and germs, I present to you BlackBerry App World. Please ensure that you have a PayPal account, OS 4.2 or higher and a trackball or SurePress touch screen (aka Storm) BlackBerry before proceeding. Read More
Samsung just unleashed the powerhouse that is the Mondi. This massive handset comes packing with speedy WiMAX support in a big daddy slider form factor. Winmo 6.1 powers the device and it seems that Samsung has big hopes for the huge device as it’s got just about everything possible in a mobile computing platform. Check it: MS Office, WiFi, BT 2.1, GPS with preloaded maps, 4 GB of internal memory, support for push email, instant messaging support, 3.0 MP camera and camcorder, Opera 9.5 browser, HDMI out, and a huge range of supported video and audio player formats.
Sprint and Samsung have just taken the wraps off the Instinct s30 aka Mini Instinct at CTIA. It launches on Sprint April 19th in two colors – Cobalt Metal or Touch of Copper. The s30 doesn’t deviate too much from the original Instinct, but developers can now jump on the s30 with open access to core Java APIs like, Multimedia, Messaging, Bluetooth, Contacts/Calendar and File Access. The Instinct s30 will cost $130 with a two-year contract extension. You can preregister now at the Sprint Instinct s30 page. Read More
I just saw this app the other day, and now — it’s gone! How shocking! It looks like “Wifi tether for root users” was in violation of T-Mobile’s terms of service, and Google has shown its cards by removing it. No one really thought the Android Marketplace was going to be a Wild West of G1 apps, but it’s a little disappointing to see just how locked-down it really is.
The question raised is this: will apps have to comply with all carriers’ terms of service once Android is on AT&T, Sprint and the like? That could lead to a lot of confusion. At the moment it’s hard to say since only T-Mobile’s terms apply, but it had better get hashed out soon or developers are going to get antsy.
We’re in good ol’ Sin City, fresh out of a pre-CTIA 2009 meeting with HTC. While most of the hardware they brought to the party were things we’d seen at Mobile World Congress last month, they had one thing on the software end that was just out of the oven: the latest build of the Android “Cupcake” release.
The firmware build number we were playing with was 1.5/CRA79. We didn’t spot any major new features in this build – but we did see a good number of things we’d heard about previously get their first implementations. Oddly, we also noticed at least one thing missing since last time.
WinMo 6.5’s Marketplace, basically a Microsoft App Store, is getting lots of ink this week at CTIA. 1800PocketPC has some interesting news including the addition of a 24-hour “return period,” carrier-based billing, and carrier specific stores. Read More
If you’re lookin’ for a barebones QWERTY candybar on the cheap, Sprint and Sanyo have a handset you should see. Well, they will in May.
We’re not quite sure why they announcing this one a whole month early, but Sprint and Sanyo have let it be known that the SCP-2700 will be hitting the shelves (exclusively at Sprint) come May 10th. For a cent shy of $30 dollars, a two-year contract, and a few weeks waiting for the $50 mail-in rebate, you’ll get the QWERTY keyboard, a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, threaded text messages, and Sprint Family Locator/Navigation/Social Zone. It’s not exactly a big deal – but hey, it’s $30 bucks. The handset will come in “Deep Blue” or “Impulsive Pink”. Impulsive? As in without forethought? Are they trying to rub in the fact that everyone who buys the pink one will feel buyer’s remorse by that evening, or something?
Tucked away in a Korean press release alongside the likes of the long ago announced Samsung Behold, Memoir, and Omnia HD was one little gem we’d yet to have seen in any official light: the Instinct S30. Of course, it’s not the first time we’ve ever seen it – but it’s nice to know it wasn’t some incredibly elaborate hoax put on by some crafty gent just looking to crush the spirits of Instinct fans everywhere.
Besides the press image to the right, confirmation of a 3.2″ touchscreen, and word that they’ll be showing it at CTIA 2009 this week, there’s not much to glean from the release – but if you wanna dig around it yourself, the full translated version is hiding right behind the jump.
Cellmania, a company that builds and licenses the software that drives many mobile phone stores, has launched a new platform called the Android Content Storefront for Android phones that will allow carriers and manufacturers to install their own, customized app stores on Android phones.
While Android phones already offer Google’s official app store, Cellmania CEO Ronjon Nag says that many carriers and manufacturers are looking for a way to offer their own stores, where they can feature localized content and sell media like music, ring tones, video, and graphics (none of which can currently be sold through Google’s store). The store also supports a variety of different payment plans, including subscriptions, charging purchases to the user’s phone bill, and ‘in-app’ purchases, which allow users to purchase virtual goods and other services from directly within the app.
As an added bonus to developers, Cellmania’s storefront includes software that can convert J2ME applications (which are common on many other mobile phones) into Android executables.
It’s certainly not the main Novatel device we’re hoping to see announced while we’re here in Vegas, but they’ve gotten the announcement party started a bit early with this morning’s debut of the Ovation MC935D.
It’s definitely not the first time we’ve seen the Novatel MiFi, or even the second – but they can keep cranking these things out in all sorts of different flavors and we wouldn’t mind a bit. A few weeks back, we found out that Sprint would be getting a MiFi of their own sometime in the next 3 months, and this latest leak indicates that Verizon will be getting one as well. No date is mentioned – but with CTIA 09 but a night or two away, we’d wager that an announcement is looming.
It’s not all that often you see a company issue a press release for a firmware update (that is, except for our lovely iFriends in Cupertino – iPhone 3.0 overkill anyone?), but after all the badpress the 5800 got at launch, Nokia’s probably tryin’ its best to appease its loyal fanboys and girls.
The Japanese App Store already offers Skype for the iPhone (v1.0.0.63) and we have some screenshots. Japanese bloggers say the contact list takes some time to load after logging in. Group chat is possible. In chat mode, users have three options: “Bookmark”, “Leave Chat” and “Close Chat”.
Today, like everyone else, Motorola announced a brand new handset to showcase at CTIA this week. The Evoke QA4 features a 2.8-inch touch-screen, slide-out 12-key pad and a touch-screen QWERTY. The handset is enhanced with widgets for RSS feeds, MySpace or YouTube. Also equipped with a full HTML browser and accelerometer, the Evoke evokes memories of all the other touch-screen handsets to come out in the last two years. Read More
Good morning and welcome to AT&T’s omnibus launch of multiple phones, including the Nokia E71x and the Samsung Propel Pro. The E71x, essentially one of Nokia’s best QWERTY phones, costs $99 with contract and the QWERTY Propel Pro costs $149.99.
The Impression is also coming out with an AMOLED screen for $199 and two LG lumps, the Xenon and Neon, will be popping off the periodic table and into your pocket for about $99. Fun fact: “The Xenon is also featured in MTV’s upcoming series “The Phone”, executive produced by Justin Timberlake.”
In what I’d assume was some sort of Twitter follower-hording publicity stunt if it weren’t for the fact that their account was set to private, some gent named Jim Van is claiming (Via Twitter) to not only have a Pre in hand, but to have some inside info pointing toward a release on April 30th.
Could the Pre be coming on April 30th? Sure. It is a date in the first half of 2009, and the number of those left is quickly dwindling.
Refurbished, schmeburbished. Pick up a free BlackBerry Bold and slap the $5-per-month insurance on it if the idea of not having a brand new phone makes you queasy. The phone normally runs for $299 new or $199 refurbished with a two-year contract.
Looks like the deal’s good for new AT&T customers today only.
Refurbished, schmeburbished. Pick up a free BlackBerry Bold and slap the $5-per-month insurance on it if the idea of not having a brand new phone makes you queasy. The phone normally runs for $299 new or $199 refurbished with a two-year contract.