Today is the International Day of the DROID. Well, not really, but Verizon did follow through and officially announced its new flagship Motorola Android device – DROID.
Along with the official presser, Motorola was also kind enough to provide some glistening press shots of the DROID, “A no-compromise supergenius” as they like to call it, along with an official DROID by Motorola Fact Sheet (all after the jump).
Earlier today, Sony Ericsson announced the launch of its newest flip phone, the Equinox. The new clamshell that “encourage[s] individualism through unique pulsating night effects that enable users to never miss a call or text message” will be available exclusively from T-Mobile.
Among other things, the “unique” flipper features 3G and quad-band GSM/Edge radios, user-defined lighting “accents” for caller ID/messaging alerts, a 3.2MP camera, an integrated FM radio, and stereo Bluetooth. The Equinox begins drops on October 28. It’s not the most exciting phone ever, but… er, we don’t really have anything to finish that sentence.
There is cool and then there is cool. Alright, I guess this isn’t that cool — it seems sort of dangerous, after all — but it’s still neat. Neat is a good way to describe iDriver, an iPhone app that turns regular automobiles into full size remote control cars. Yup. Full. Size. Remote. Control. Cars.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), aka the telecomm branch of the United Nations, has recently approved a standard for a universal phone charger. The standard is based on the GSM Association’s earlier suggestion for a Micro-USB-based universal mobile phone charger.
This is really good news for anyone who has been following the ‘universal phone charger‘ story. The ITU joins the GSMA and the CTIA, which jumped on board earlier this month, in making a universal mobile phone charger that much closer to becoming a reality. Hooray for cooperation!
As many of you are aware, Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple last week in the Federal District Court in Delaware. Nokia’s complaint alleges that Apple has infringed on 10 of Nokia’s patents for various, “fundamental” GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN (WLAN) technologies. In particular, the patents cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption. Nokia believes that all 10 patents have been infringed by all Apple iPhone models shipped since the iPhone was introduced back in 2007.
According to a new report put out by DFC Intelligence entitled “The Market for iPhone and iPod Touch Games and Applications,” the iPhone (/ iPod touch) platform has the potential to take the lead in the lucrative portable gaming market over its chief competition, Nintendo and Sony, by as early as 2014.
The ability to keep tabs on mobile visitors is becoming increasingly important as more and more users surf the web via mobile browsers. With that said, there are a variety of website tracking / analytic reporting tools available across the Net that include mobile reporting.
However, one of the more popular (and free) apps, Google Analytics, has essentially been asleep at the mobile analytics wheel…until now. Google has announced the addition of new mobile tracking and reporting features (among other new features) to its analytics suite.
I’m a big fan of WordPress, be it their free blogging service (WordPress.com) or their free blogging platform (WordPress.org). Heck, the entire TechCrunch Network and my personal blog run on the stuff.
Sometime yesterday, the one and only United States Postal Service launched a mobile-friendly website – m.USPS.com – for any web-enabled mobile device. Hooray!
The new mobile site sports the USPS’ most “popular [online] functions” including Track & Confirm, Post Office locator, and everyone’s favorite application (according to the USPS itself), ZIP Code lookup.
According to MarketWatch, Sprint Nextel, the number three US wireless carrier, has agreed to buyout yet another of its affiliates, iPCS. Having just recently finalized a deal to acquire Virgin Mobile USA, Sprint is looking to further shore up its customer base with the addition of iPCS’ 700,000 subscribers. Not to mention, the acquisition will mark the end of long and drawn out legal battles with iPCS and should save Sprint Nextel some $30 million/year starting in 2010.
Fresh off its weekend of new found fame and glory, Verizon’s upcoming Android 2.0 device, the Motorola Droid, appears to have found its way into the hands of the Boy Genius.
It feels like just yesterday (er, two days ago) when we first caught wind of Acer’s new, Android-powered smartphone, Liquid. Unfortunately, at that point in time, we were left hankering for the new ‘droid’s specs (and pics). Fast forward some 48 hours and voila, the Liquid’s specs have leaked (god, I love bad puns) all over the Intermess!
Late last night, around midnight if you really must know, the ATSC (aka the Advanced Television Systems Committee) ratified the A/153 ATSC Mobile DTV Standard which “defines the technical specifications necessary for broadcasters to provide new services to mobile and handheld devices using their digital television (DTV) transmissions.”
In other words, digital TV will soon be playing on mobile handsets all across the U.S. of A.
HTC, formerly known as High Tech Computer Corporation, has become quite a household name over the past couple years, what with all its high profile WinMo and Android-powered phones saturating the global mobilesphere.
It comes as no surprise, then, that HTC has decided to update its company catchphrase from the old ‘ HTC Innovation’ to a new, better representation of its quick rise to the top: HTC Quietly Brilliant. That’s right folks. HTC. Quietly. Brilliant. Bam.
Don’t let today’s news of Nokia’s financial failures troubles fool you. Just because the mobile powerhouse isn’t raking in profits at the moment, doesn’t mean the Finnish giant has stopped working on future devices…at least according to Pocketables.
Rumors have been swirling about a Dell smartphone for what feels like an eternity. Sure, the Round Rock crew managed to launch a smartie over in China at the end of the summer, but until last week, a US-bound device was still more vaporware than fact…until now.
9 to 5 Mac has received word that Apple is working on bringing FM radio capabilities to its iPhone and iPod touch lines. More specifically, Radio.app (as it is known) will purportedly have permission to operate in the background (because Apple’s apps are better than the 80,000 other apps that don’t get to run in the background, or something) and “will offer the same functionality as the FM radio in the new iPod Nanos.”
Starting all the way back in December of 2008, Acer let it be known that it was working on a self-branded smartphone. Then, this past June, Acer up and joined the Open Handset Alliance and said that it would release its first Android device by Q4 of 2009. Well what do you know. Q4 is here and Acer has actually put its money where its mouth was with the announcement of its first Android-based, Snapdragon-powered smartphone, Liquid.
Verizon Wireless is offering 25% off a trio of its QWERTY-equipped phones: the Motorola Rival, LG enV3, and the Samsung Alias 2.
Attention AT&T customers in Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, and along the Front Range…Christmas (Hanuka and/or Kwanza) has come early for you this year thanks to AT&T’s new and improved 850 Mhz Spectrum roll-out across Colorado!
If you love irony, you’ve come to the right post. In one corner, we have Microsoft working on / killing off a secret scheme known as Project Pink. Now, in another corner, there is rumor of T-Mobile, the defenders of all things pink (well, magenta to be exact), working on its own secret strategy known as Project Dark. If you ask us, it sounds like the colors got a bit mixed up in the automagical secret-plan-naming-machine all these guys use.
Motorola has made no secret of its new-found love affair with Google’s mobile OS, Android. Having just recently kicked WinMo to the curb, word on the mobile street is that Motorola has now dumped LiMo as well.
According to jkOnTheRun, Motorola VP, Christy Wyatt, has abandoned her seat on the LiMo Foundation Board. In order to make sure its new position is clear, Motorola took things one step further by changing its association with LiMo from that of a founding member to lowly associate member.
300+ developers attending the Maemo Summit were given a (pre-production) Nokia N900 for a 6 month “trial” period. One of the lucky attendees was kind enough to share his unboxing video (above) with the world. See, kids. Dreams can come true.
[via UMPCPortal]
As anyone who follows the mobile space knows, the CTIA, aka the International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications Industry, is holding its annual conference this week in San Diego. Besides serving as a stage for new wireless products and services, the CTIA Board has convened to discuss a variety of issues that affect the industry as a whole.
Perhaps the most important news to come out of the conference this week is the Board’s decision to back universal standards to “[s]implify input/output features on mobile devices.”
