T-Mobile's Cameo Picture Frames Come With Their Own Phone Numbers
Samsung No. 1 in US Cell Phone Market, Dethrones Motorola
by Chris Ziegler, posted Nov 7th 2008 at 10:10AM
No longer, though -- Samsung has finally dethroned Moto, upping its share of the US market to 22.4 percent from 16.2 percent a year ago. That leaves Motorola in number two with 21.1 percent, a shocking fall from 32.7 percent in 2007. LG's knocking on the door at 20.5 percent, so unless the boys and girls in Chicago can get their Android-supportin' butts in gear on the double, we could see a drop to number three within a quarter or two.
Sprint Launches Touch Pro at "Select National Retailers" This Week
T-Mobile G1 "Google Phone" Now Available
by Chris Ziegler, posted Oct 22nd 2008 at 1:02PM
Update: Full press release with all the details just hit the wires.
[Thanks, Elisha]
AT&T Announces Four Phones Focused on Texting
by Chris Ziegler, posted Oct 15th 2008 at 8:57AM
First up, the Pantech Matrix is available now in your choice of blue or green, with red being added on Thursday, October 16. It slides two ways -- a conventional vertical slide to reveal a numeric keypad, and a second side slider for the full QWERTY action. It's got 3G, AT&T Navigation, Video Share support, and a 1.3-megapixel cam, running $79.99 on contract with rebate.
Next, the Samsung Propel apes the i620's industrial design -- but make no mistake, there's no Windows Mobile to be found here. It also does 3G and features the full host of AT&T services, packs a 1.3-megapixel cam, and will run the same $79.99 as the Matrix when it hits in late October in blue, green, red, and white with red accents.
Next, the Pantech Slate is pretty appropriately named -- if its claim of being the thinnest QWERTY device in the world ends up holding water, anyway. It'll be available in late October alongside the Propel for $49.99 on contract with a 1.3-megapixel camera, but there's no high-speed data to be found in this sucker.
Finally, the long-rumored Quickfire -- you may know it better as the Knick -- will come in November bearing AT&T branding and a Sidekick-esque style that'll likely appeal to the young'uns among us. It's got a touchscreen in addition to a slide-out QWERTY deal, a 1.3-megapixel camera (notice a trend here?), and 3G in your choice of orange, lime, and silver for $99.99 after you've inked up the dotted line.
LG Announces Prada II Cell Phone
iPhone-Killing BlackBerry Storm Coming to Verizon Next Month
by Chris Ziegler, posted Oct 8th 2008 at 10:01AM
Beyond that, the Storm becomes RIM's very first touchscreen phone, mounting a 3.26-inch 480 x 360 glass display on a unique clickable surface so that the entire thing can be pressed downwards -- just like a real button -- for tactile feedback when making selections.
The phone also includes a full HTML finger-navigable browser, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint editing capabilities, Bluetooth 2.0, 1GB of on-board storage with an 8GB microSD card bundled in the box, 3.5mm headphone jack, automatic orientation and ambient lighting sensors, and a 3.2-megapixel autofocus cam with dedicated flash, making it a legitimate jack-of-all-trades that seems likely to be able to handle even the most chaotic personal and professional lives users can throw its way.
It'll allegedly do 15 days of standby or 5.5 hours of talk time on either GSM or CDMA networks.
No word on pricing yet -- we're told all will be revealed "in the coming weeks" -- but it'll launch on both Verizon and Vodafone in November.
Amazon's Kindle 2 Spotted in the Wild?
by Chris Ziegler, posted Oct 6th 2008 at 10:51AM
Sony Ericsson Patents Cameraphone Auto-Zoom Technology
Happily, Sony Ericsson feels your pain, and a new patent application reveals that they're hard at work on a system to control your cameraphone's zoom level simply by moving it back and forth. Just get the phone closer to the subject, and boom, welcome to telephoto city, population one. We're still totally cool with the old-fashioned way of capturing Pulitzer-winning shots, but we're happy that someone's thinking of this type of stuff so we don't have to -- that'd be work. [Via Unwired View]
Nokia Debuts Its Touchscreen-Equipped 5800 XpressMusic
It'll be available in three versions -- European HSDPA, North American HSDPA, and GSM only -- and ships this quarter in black, red, and blue for €279 (about $392) unlocked with an 8GB card thrown in for good measure. Music fans with voracious appetites for new tunes might want to hold out, though, for the Comes With Music-equipped version that follows on "early next year" at a to-be-announced price.
For additional coverage, check Engadget for a hands-on, video, and more.
