Our own Myriam Joire was in the thick of things for Canada’s iPhone 4 launch today out in lovely Vancouver, and as you might expect, hysteria was reaching… well, iPhone 4 levels. Lines formed early and stayed strong through much of the day, and generally, camaraderie seemed high — always a good thing when you’re standing a foot away from the same handful of people in summer heat for hours on end. As you might expect, the wait for subsidized phones was longer than for the considerably pricier unlocked ones. Weren’t able to make it yourself? Aren’t Canadian? Want to pretend for a few sweet moments that you are? Follow the break for our video!

Continue reading iPhone 4 launch day in Canada: the experience

iPhone 4 launch day in Canada: the experience originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As T-Mobile continues to smother America in its quasi 4G HSPA+ 21Mbps network, we’re still lacking an actual HSPA+ T-Mobile USA handset to enjoy the fruits of that labor. Well, we might not have that much longer to wait: a tweet from the official @TMobile_USA account says “Later this summer, T-Mobile will unveil its first HSPA+-capable smartphone.” It goes on to add that “More details will be available in the coming weeks.” Now, the last we heard from T-Mobile on this subject was that the first HSPA+ phone would be an HTC-built Android phone, and this doesn’t really contradict that. Let’s just hope T-Mobile decides to start off with a bang and indeed kicks things off with that rumored HTC Vision / G1 Blaze (pictured).

[Thanks, Ryan]

T-Mobile promises to unveil an HSPA+ phone this summer originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG didn’t hold back when it came time to market its Ally, but was a tie-in with one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters really enough? We found some rather unforgivable flaws during our testing, but that’s honestly beside the point — we’re here to hear about your thoughts on the device. Priced initially at just $100 on contract, it was (and still is, to an extent) one of the best deals going for an Android-based smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard, but has it really lived up to your expectations? Are you wishing you had held out a bit longer? Is the keyboard really a winner? How do you like / dislike the UI overlay? How’s it handle when held left-handed? Go on, get really real in comments below. We’re all ears.

How would you change LG’s Ally? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The rumored Charm has just gotten a proper unveiling from Motorola — and while it’s not getting nearly the media fanfare its Droid X corporate cousin did, it’s arguably even more unique. The phone features a full portrait QWERTY keyboard placed directly below a 2.8-inch landscape touchscreen, but for most operations, you don’t have to touch it if you don’t want to because you’ve also got a touchpad mounted on the back of the phone (the so-called “Backtrack”) much like AT&T’s Backflip. Not only is this the first widely-launched Android phone to employ such a form factor, it’s also the first to run Android 2.1 with Blur — and interestingly, they’ve carried over the old version’s general look and feel rather than going with the Droid X’s updated skin. It’s got a 3 megapixel camera (with Kodak co-branding, something we haven’t seen on a Moto in a long time), WiFi, and a noise-canceling second microphone. Pricing and availability haven’t been announced, but T-Mobile customers can expect it “this Summer.”

Motorola Charm official for T-Mobile: portrait QWERTY Android at long last originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s summer. It’s hot. Naturally, everyone wants to lick some frozen dessert in one form or another. Shortly after the Nexus One got its absolutely official Android 2.2 update, HTC has once again leaped out to tell us of its own Froyo offering. The Taiwanese mobile giant has informed Recombu that it’s expecting “several of our 2010 models including Desire, Legend and Wildfire” to join Google’s latest green bot party “beginning in Q3.” We went to the trouble of confirming this with HTC ourselves, and while this isn’t really much of an update from the company’s previous statement in terms of time frame, here’s hoping that at least some of its customers will get the delivery before the summer fiesta ends.

HTC: expect Desire, Legend and Wildfire to get Froyo ‘beginning in Q3′ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Move over, Kobo — following the promise of a Summer launch, Amazon’s Kindle app for Android is now live, bringing the usual array of features that existing Kindle users will hold near and dear: access to the Kindle store right from the app, adjustable font sizes, free book samples, and most importantly, wireless bookmark synchronization with your entire stable of Kindle-equipped devices (because we know you’ve all got an iPad, iPhone, and physical Kindle lying around somewhere). The app requires Android 1.6 to operate, which is going to leave a few people in the lurch — but it’s always good to have a compelling reason to upgrade hardware, is it not?

[Thanks, Neil]

Kindle for Android now available originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The popular rumor going around right now at the eleventh hour is that AT&T will only be offering the black iPhone 4 models for pre-order tomorrow and at launch, with their white counterparts coming “later this Summer.” Considering the fact that the white version of the 4 is quite a bit more distinctive than the 3G / 3GS, that’s a bummer if true — but what we don’t know is whether this is strictly limited to AT&T. It’s entirely possible that Apple and third-party retailers will be offering the white models, and AT&T’s own distribution channel might just be suffering from some sort of buffoonery (that’s our hope, anyhow). Lending credence to the rumor is the fact that Japan’s SoftBank has already officially announced that it’ll only be offering the black models initially — and when we pressed AT&T on the matter, we got “no comment” in return. It’s not looking good, folks.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

White iPhone 4 likely not available at launch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know the fine print of your EVO 4G contract that gives Sprint the right to limit throughput speeds without notice? Skipped past that part? Well, consider this your unofficial notice. If what we’re reading above is accurate, then Sprint appears ready to introduce data throttling this summer. Where and how are the big questions. The image above received from a tipster appears to have been grabbed from Sprint’s own “The Playbook,” though we have no way of confirming that at this time. It certainly make sense though given T-Mobile USA’s recent move away from overage charges in favor of throttling.

Update: We’re hearing from a couple sources that the shot here from The Playbook is a little out of context, and actually refers to a new feature for businesses looking to restrict disproportionately high usage by employees with company data cards. That sounds a little less painful, does it not? Thanks, everyone!

Sprint to begin throttling data this summer? (update: not exactly) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve just learned at D8 today that Dell will be offering the Streak to US customers direct from its website — unlocked — starting next month for $500. That’s later than the June 4 date that UK customers will be enjoying, but it’s earlier than it could’ve been — Dell had merely been giving “later this Summer” guidance previously. More on this as it develops!

Dell Streak: $500 unlocked in US, available next month originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don’t look for any crazy Android hardware here, but these three dumbphones are more notable than you might think: they mark the first time LG has hooked up with T-Mobile USA, believe it or not. The Sentio (pictured left) is the most interesting of the trio, featuring a 3-inch touchscreen, 3 megapixel cam with video capture, and support for visual voicemail. The dLite flip (middle) offers a nifty concealed LED array upfront — a feature you see occasionally on Japanese and domestic Korean handsets, but rarely on American models — along with a 2.8-inch display and a pair of color choices (“bubblegum” and “electric blue”). Both the Sentio and dLite also feature T-Mobile’s Social Buzz app for aggregating social network status updates, a helpful feature that’s quickly becoming the norm in this class of device. Finally, you’ve got the GS170 flip — a phone so basic that LG apparently didn’t deem it worthy of a proper name — offering a VGA cam, Bluetooth 2.1, and “large visible keys.” All three phones will be available this Summer for yet-to-be-disclosed prices. Follow the break for LG’s press release.

Continue reading LG kicks off T-Mobile relationship with Sentio, dLite, and GS170

LG kicks off T-Mobile relationship with Sentio, dLite, and GS170 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 07:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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