FCC boss keeps driving home the ‘spectrum, spectrum, spectrum’ message for wireless broadband
Love him or hate him, it seems destined that the FCC's Julius Genachowski will leave as big of a mark on the agency he's leading -- if not bigger -- than his predecessor Kevin Martin did, because he's hell-bent on shaking up the wireless airwaves and landlines he oversees in some pretty huge ways. Pushback from broadcasters is apparently quite strong , but he's reiterated at a conference today that he intends to investigate freeing up TV spectrum for to make room additional wide-area wireless services , a move that certainly seems to make sense on the surface considering that universal broadband to the home -- which could carry all the TV you'd ever need -- is also high on Genachowski's to-do list
Categories: htc, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 1st-2009, broadcasting, chris-ziegler, engadget, fcc, juliusgenachowski, mobile, podcasts, replies, report, return-false, spectrum, universal service fund, universalservicefund, wireless
Square iPhone payment system gets itself a website, showcased in public
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and the quiet startup formerly known as Squirrel are finally opening up a bit. The company now called Square, as we noted back in October , has launched a website for its iPhone payment dongle, although it's still in somewhat private beta testing. TechCrunch managed to catch up with Dorsey, who gave a brief overview of the product and then showed it off by charging $4 for a cup of coffee -- so it goes in San Francisco.
Categories: Android, BlackBerry, htc, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 1st-2009, htc, iphone payment system, iphonedongle, iphonepaymentsystem, neutral, startup, twitter, unverified
HTC ‘Touch.B’ is an Android-powered Touch2?
If you glance at this thing for just a fleeting instant, you might actually mistake it for a Touch2 -- but it's not. A closer look at the button layout shows a decided lack of keys required by WinMo 6.5, which leads us to the logical conclusion that the so-called Touch.B here -- previously known under the codename "Rome" -- runs Android
Categories: Android, htc, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 1st-2009, htc, mobile, neutral, phone, replies, return-false, rome, rumor
Fring brings one-way video calling to the iPhone
Fring was the first to bring VoIP calls to the iPhone, and it looks like it's now finally done the same for video calling -- sort of. While it obviously can't do much to change the camera placement on the iPhone, the latest version of the app will at least let iPhone users (and iPod touch users, for that matter) see the person on the other end, and Fring says it'll add two-way video calling whenever "a front camera is placed on these." As with the company's app for Nokia devices, you'll also be able to make video calls to Skype users, but you'll have to make sure you're in the vicinity of a WiFi hotspot, as this one doesn't support calls on 3G
Categories: htc, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 1st-2009, chris-aversa, engadget, htc, iphone, iphone 3gs, iphone app, iphone3g, iphone3gs, iphoneapp, phone, report, unverified, video calling, video calls
T-Mobile pushing CLIQ firmware update today? (update: yes!)
TmoNews seems to have it on good authority that T-Mobile will be rolling out a firmware update over the air to the Motorola CLIQ today -- the device's first since launch -- and we've got good news and bad news. First, the bad: by all accounts, it appears that this'll still be an Android 1.5-based firmware, adding fuel to the fire suggesting that UI skins like BLUR are a huge barrier to keeping devices up to speed with Google's breakneck release pace.
Categories: Android, htc, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 1st-2009, cliq, moment, Ota, return-false, taxes, update, upgrade
Nokia asks own blog readers what their favorite part of the X6 is, gets funny answer
It's odd, because we were under the impression that Nokia was doing just fine shunning capacitive touch all these years, but apparently one in three readers of Nokia Conversations find the capacitive touchscreen to be the number one feature of the new X6 handset . Sure, Nokia uses some of the greatest resistive screens in the business, but we've always maintained that capacitive is simply the best when it comes to a finger-based touchscreen interface , and hopefully the Nokia X6 can usher in a new era of peace, understanding and higher-than-average WPM scores for all mankind.
Categories: htc, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 1st-2009, capacitive, capacitive touchscreen, highest, htc, nokia, Poll, replies, report, return-false
Winners of the Android Developer Challenge 2 are Announced …
Yesterday, Google announced the winners of the Android Developer Challenge 2. The way this is done is by a combination of votes from Google-selected judges, who.
Categories: Android, htc, Other Tags: 1st-2009, accessories, challenge, data, doodle, games, htc, motorola-droid, news, phone, video, videos
Samsung’s ‘glamorous’ Diva Collection 2010 officially announced
There's nothing like a faux quilted battery cover to get the blood pumping, so if you've been unable to sleep since laying eyes on those magnificent Diva phones from Samsung last week as you've desperately sought high and low for more information, trust us, we feel you. Fortunately, Sammy's now seen fit to drop some knowledge on the pair of handsets targeted squarely at the fairer sex; first up, the S5150 clamshell features a "glittering LED" (their verbiage, not ours) on the outer cover that lights up in interesting ways when calls and other events occur. Meanwhile, the S7070 goes full-touch with Samsung's usual TouchWiz UI but adds special features like "Beauty Effect" to make shots snapped with the 3.2 megapixel camera "flawlessly beautiful." Interestingly, Samsung says that it'll be re-upping the Diva Collection every year with new phones aimed squarely at girly buyers, but don't rush down to the shady wireless shop yet -- these first Divas won't be hitting until January when they launch in Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, and other parts of Europe with Asian availability coming at a later date.
Categories: Android, BlackBerry, htc, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 1st-2009, BlackBerry, clamshell, engadget, flip, netherlands, neutral, replies, report, s5150, s7070, samsung, taxes
Archos 5 MID gets Android Market and other Google Goodies …
There's always something to improve, or something to gain, every time someone hacks into a device. It appears someone has done just that to the Archos 5 MID, to.
Categories: Android, htc, Other Tags: 1st-2009, accessories, archos, carriers, games, google-goodies, hack, htc, knowledge-base, motorola-droid, news, video, videos, vodafone
New Sony Ericsson Rachael UI video hits, still looks nothing like …
Calling this Rachael UI an Android "skin" is like calling Windows 95 a "DOS skin," but that's not to say there's nothing to love about it. In fact, we're rather relieved that Sony Ericsson seems to be addressing Android's incredibly ...