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Rumor: Microsoft Abandoning Pink Cellphone Project

Pulkit Chandna — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:43:28 -0500

After Gizmodo crowned constant rumors of a Zune phone by posting the first pictures of two phones it claimed were part of Microsoft’s secret "Pink" phone family, other rumormongers scampered to find (or fabricate) more Pink rumors. Now, rumors of Pink’s prenatal demise are assuming pace.

MobileCrunch was recently approached by an anonymous source “with a seemingly exhaustive knowledge of Microsoft’s Project Pink.” Their source told them that it is highly unlikely that the Pink will ever see the light of day and cited many reasons for its imminent scrapping.

Apple Insider has also found its anonymous knight in stealthy armor. It identified its source as a Microsoft/Danger insider. For those of you who don’t know, Danger is the company that developed the T-Mobile Sidekick before being bought by Microsoft for $500 million in 2008. Danger is rumored to have been converted into “Pink”.

The insider source echoed the claims made by MobileCrunch’s source. But then the anonymous-source ego came into the picture and he made a desperate attempt to prove his superioriy as the more conscientious anonymous source of the two. He believes that the person who originally spilled the beans is clearly a “disgruntled former or current employee.”

“I have my share of disgruntlement about the situation, but it never occurred to me to do something like that. This is actually the worst possible timing for Microsoft for this information to come out (on the heels of the awful reviews of WM 6.5), and I suspect that it has already caused irreparable damage to their relationships with a number of key partners, to which I say, 'Bravo, leaker, well played.' Now allow me to twist the knife...,” he said. He is quite certain that Microsoft had intentionally leaked photos of “Pure” and “Turtle” – the two Pink phones.

But the move seems to have backfired as the tepid response to the leaks seems to have given Microsoft cold feet. I hope you are in the vicinity of a few grains of salt.

Image Credit: Gizmodo

BlackBerry Tour Facing Major Return Rate Due to Clogging Trackball

Paul Lilly — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:12:02 -0500

A major defect in Research in Motion's (RIM's) new BlackBerry Tour could turn into a financial SNAFU for the smartphone maker, cautions Gerard Hallaren, director of research at TownHall Investment Research.

According to Hallaren, RIM is "having a big trackball problem," one which puts BlackBerry Tour owners in the unenviable position of having to frequently apply a blast of compressed air to avoid letting the trackball get all gunked up. We suppose it could be worse, as anyone who is 'old' enough to remember using mechanical mice can attest, but Tour owners are understandably displeased.

The research firm says that return rates on the Tour at Sprint are approaching 50 percent, while Verizon is also "experiencing serious problems." And according to Hallaren, Sprint has determined that a needed increase in quality control could add 2 to 3 percent to production costs, which would be offset by a lower return rate.

Image Credit: thetechherald.com

LG Gets Official on First Android Phone

Paul Lilly — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:34:34 -0500

Score another win for open-source fans, and Google's Android platform in particular. While earlier this year LG seemingly committed to only releasing Windows Mobile-based smartphones, the handset maker today announced its first Android device, which the company hopes will give it "a broader and more dominant position in the market."

The new LG-GW620 comes with a 3-inch full touchscreen display, along with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to mash out those Twitter updates and emails on the go.

"The LG-GW620 will appeal to first-time smartphone customers by offering a new and different kind of user experience," said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "Our objective is to provide a wide selection of smartphones to satisfy the diverse preferences of today's consumers."

Perhaps looking to smooth things over with Microsoft, LG was also quick to point out that it will be introducing at least 13 other smartphones over the next 16 months, each one based on Windows Mobile.

As for the LG-GW620, it will be available in the fourth quarter in "select European markets." No word yet on price or U.S. availability.

Image Credit: LG

T-Mobile Subscribers are the Most Text Happy

Paul Lilly — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:59:23 -0500

OMG! Have u herd da newz? T-Mobile subscribers spend more time mashing their thumbs on tiny keys ferociously text messaging their contacts and updating their Facebook profiles than any other mobile customers, T-Mobile boasts.

"Our users are sending 600 messages per user per month on average. And, a lot of the users on our higher-end smartphones update their status on social networks a couple times a week," said Cole Brodman, T-Mobile USA's CTO.

Brodman said much of the activity can be attributed to Android users, who now have both the G1 and newer myTouch 3G to play with, as well as access to around 10,000 applications through the Android Market. In order to support these high-tech phones, a growing list of apps, and an active userbase, T-Mobile said it plans to update its 3G network to HSPA 7.2 by the end of the year, followed by another upgrade to HSPA 21 by next year.

AT&T to Beef Up their 3G Network with HSPA 7.2 in 6 More Cities

Paul Lilly — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:21:52 -0500

iPhone owners and anyone else using AT&T's cellular network can look forward to faster WiFi, as the telco on Wednesday announced plans to rollout High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 technology to boost its 3G network.

"Our deployment of HSPA 7.2 and supporting backhaul connectivity will enable our customers to continue to ride the leading edge of emerging devices and thousands of mobile applications," said John Stankey, president and CEO, AT&T Operations.

AT&T says it will begin deployment of HSPA 7.2 in six major cities, including Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami, all of which should see upgraded service by the end of the year. By the end of 2010, AT&T expects that list to include 25 of the nation's 30 largest markets (sorry Booger Hollow, Arkansas).

Coinciding with the rollout of HSPA 7.2 will be multiple compatible handsets and devices, including at least six new smartphones and two new LaptopConnect cards.

Image Credit: Engadget

Modder Crams HTPC Into 25-Year-Old Cellphone

Paul Lilly — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:52:02 -0500

Finnish modder Jani Pönkkö scores major geeks points, both for holding onto a 25-year-old cellphone and for breathing new life into the mobile monstrosity by modding it into an HTPC.

Pönkkö started off with the handset, installing LEDs, a WiFi card, a soundcard, a speaker, and the crème de la crème - a 128 x 182 OLED display.

Inside the briefcase-sized Mobira Talkman's base, Pönkkö managed to cram a 3.5-inch form factor motherboard, Intel T5500 Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of DDR2 notebook memory, and a 32GB SSD. The modded cellphone also boasts a DVI port and USB hub.

Check out the full worklog and video here.

Image Credit: metku.net

Qualcomm Preparing to Launch FLO TV "Personal Television Device"

Andy Salisbury — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:49:19 -0500

According to a recent report, Qualcomm is looking to launch a new personal television device called FLO TV. While it won’t have a station dedicated to our very own Ms. Florence Ion, it will support broadcasting of Qualcomm’s terrestrial digital TV service.

While the FLO TV service is already included with a handful of cellphones from Samsung, Motorola and LG, the idea behind the device will be to get better video through a terrestrial broadcast, rather than using the bandwidth of a 3G wireless network. This way, there shouldn’t be any network congestion or buffering to worry about.

It’s reported that the device will come with a capacitive touchscreen that will take advantage of a swipe and gesture-driven UI, 4GB of built-in memory, stereo speakers, and enough battery life to watch five hours of TV, or listen to 15 hours of music.

No word yet on pricing or availability.

Image Credit: gdgt

Specs and Shots Released of Dell's Smartphone

Paul Lilly — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:08:35 -0500

We've been hearing rumors and seeing leaked pics and specs of a Dell smartphone for over a year now, so isn't it time Dell finally made an official announcement? Nope.

But we do have what The Boy Genius Report claims are "real pictures of Dell's Chinese market smartphone," code-named Benzine, along with a list of specs. According to Boy Genius:

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE class 12
Size: 68.6cc
Weight: 103g
Dimensions: 58 x 122 x 11.7mm
Display: 3.5-inch nHD 640x360 LCD, 18 bit, 262K colors
OTA capable
Microsoft Exchange support
Google, AIM, Yahoo, and MSN IM support
3MP camera with auto-focus, flash, 8x digial zoom, and 30fps video
USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
A-GPS
Virtual QWERTY keyboard, hardwriting recognition, mutli-touch
MicroSD slot

No word yet on price or availability, but if you put any stock into the latest rumblings, Dell's smartphone is "launch ready."

Image Credit: Boy Genius Report