LG GD880 Mini (Just Arrived) $369 No Contract

The LG GD880 Mini is a looker. Quite the way to start really, but the Mini isn’t all about looks. From the hardware design through the high-res screen to the software – everything was crafted by skillful hands. Beauty is function in design – nothing is more complex than it needs to be, but beneath the deceptive simplicity there’s a myriad of functions.

The LG GD880, despite its name, is not a small phone, in the sense of some recent minis (*cough*X10mini*cough*). It is darn small next to the LG BL40 New Chocolate, but by no means tiny.

Indeed, Mini also refers to the design concept – there are barely any hardware keys on the device, and the GD880 has one of the cleanest faces in business.

Minimalism does not mean lack of functionality. The scratch-resistant 3.2” display of the impressive WVGA (480x854 pixels) resolution opens the door to HTML5 and Flash capable browsing over a zippy HSPA connection.

Then there’s the multitasking, the social networking, and the multimedia features. Here’s a list of goodies that make the Mini quite big in terms of functionality.

Key features:
Quad-band GSM support and dual-band 3G
7.2Mbps HDSPA and 2Mbps HSUPA
3.2" 256K-color TFT capacitive touchscreen display of WVGA (480x854 pixels) resolution; multi-touch support, scratch resistant surface
Latest S-Class UI; Flash and HTML5 support
Cool minimalist styling and great build quality
5 megapixel auto focus camera; image stabilization, geo-tagging, face detection, Smile Shot, Beauty and Art shot
VGA@15fps video recording
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with DLNA and built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support
Bluetooth with A2DP and microUSB v2.0 (chagrining)
Hot-swappable microSD card slot; up to 32GB cards supported
Stereo FM radio with RDS
3.5mm audio jack and Dolby mobile
DivX/XviD support
Social networking integration (Facebook, Twitter)
Accelerometer sensor for automatic screen rotation; proximity sensor
Office document viewer

Acer Liquid Stream gets official as the Acer Stream

Acer has just made the high powered Liquid Stream official via a press release. Acer describes the Android 2.1 device as a, “high-end multimedia smartphone, optimized for watching movies, listening to music and enjoying web browsing like at home,” and judging by the specs sheet, it looks to fit that bill. Here is the official skinny: 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 512 MB of RAM, 3G+ HSDPA @ 7.2Mb/s, 3.7″ WVGA touch-screen display, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), GPS, 5 megapixel camera, 720p video recording, HDMI out, and a microSD card slot with support for up to a 32 GB card. Availability and wireless carrier are currently unknown. What do you think? Are you impressed, or have you see an Incredible stat sheet like this before? We’ve got the official press release and a video ready for you after the break.

US lags behind world in broadband speeds

According to Net Index, a new website operated by Seattle-based Ookla (the people behind Speedtest.net), the United States is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to wired broadband speeds. Based on user test info generated over the past 30 days, Net Index ranked the US 26th in the world for downlink speeds with an average downlink speed of 10.16Mbps. Such speeds might not seem all that bad at first glance, but considering that the global average is 7.67Mbps, it’s clear that US ISPs have a lot of ground to make up. South Korea finished first with an average of 34.14Mbps, followed by Latvia, the Republic of Moldova, and Japan at 24.29, 21.37 and 20.39Mbps respectively.
Moving to uplink speeds, South Korea once again led the pack with an average of 18.04Mbps while the US’s 2.21Mbps was barely above the world average of 2.10Mbps. In an attempt to keep things as even as possible, Net Index only counted results from nations in which tests were taken from at least 75,000 unique IP addresses. And though the results are by no means scientific, they will no doubt provide a lot of talking points for those currently engaged in the ongoing battle between advocates of net neutrality and ISPs whose interests are best served by imposing caps on data speeds and usage Results from colleges and businesses were excluded from the results.

just arrived SE X10 Mini at $379.99 (upnextwireless.com)

The X10 mini is here to show how a mini phone should live up to its name – sheer smartphone power in a half-size package. There’re always sacrifices involved to fit the new cut but if size is what matters it’ll hardly get any better than that.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 Mini at a glance:
General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 1900/2100 MHz, HSPA
Form factor: Touchscreen bar
Dimensions: 83 x 50 x 16 mm, 86g weight
Display: 2.55" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen with QVGA resolution
Platform: Android OS 1.6 with Sony Ericsson Timescape UI
CPU: 600Mhz processor
Memory: 128MB internal memory, microSD card slot, 2GB card included
Camera: 5-megapixels auto-focus camera, LED flash, geotagging
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS, digital compass, 3.5mm audio jack
Misc: Accelerometer for screen auto rotate, FM radio with RDS, TrackID music recgnition
Battery: Non-removable Li-Po battery
OK, there are downgrades in most departments compared to the original XPERIA X10 but those are never too painful, especially if they’re reflected in the price.

Some might argue that the 600 MHz processor is nowhere near as impressive as a 1GHz Snapdragon but the X10 mini doesn’t seem underpowered at all – screen resolution makes quite a difference. In fact, it is the most capable handset with a QVGA screen to date and we have seen those kinds of devices perform admirably on weaker CPUs.

T-Mobile Garminfone available June 9th for $199.99

Good news for everyone who has been waiting on a launch date for the T-Mobile Garminfone, as today it was announced that the GPS-centric and Android-powered smartphone will be available starting June 9th. Priced at $199.99 after a $50 MIR on a 2-year contract, the Garminfone isn’t exactly cheap for a phone that offers a 3.5″ display, 3 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and HSDPA to the table, but let’s be real here — the Garminfone is all about its amazing GPS and navigational features. Right, we almost forgot… T-Mobile is currently running a contest in which it’s giving away 5 Garminphones. Check out all of the details for the contest here. Good luck!

T-Mobile CEO Robert Dotson stepping down

In a press release issued early Wednesday morning, T-Mobile announced that its current CEO Robert Dotson will be stepping down after 15 years with the company. Citing a desire to spend more time with his family, Dotson will pass the reigns of the company to CEO-designate Philip Humm on July 1st. Humm, who served as CEO of T-Mobile Deutschland from 2005 to 2008 and is currently the CRO of sales and services in Europe for Deutsch Telekom, will officially be given the role of CEO in February. Dotson will stay on board with T-Mobile as a non-executive board member until May of 2011.

BlackBerry Pearl 3G with AWS 3G passes the FCC

Although T-Mobile has remained mum on the issue of whether or not it will carry the BlackBerry Pearl 3G, it’s good to sell the phone so far as Uncle Sam is concerned. Both the SureType and T9 siblings have passed, as the AWS 3G variants just received FCC certification. Of course with rumors recently circulating saying that T-Mobile had passed on the Pearl 3G in favor of a cheaper, 3G-capable Curve floating around, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not we’ll ever see these hit the shops.

Dell Streak gets official in the UK

As if resident of the UK didn’t already have a line-up of handsets to chose from that would make even the most reserved American green with envy, today Dell announced that it and O2 will be releasing the Dell Streak in early June. A giant amongst smartphones, the Streak features a 5″ WVGA capacitive touchscreen display, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, 16GB of internal memory, support for microSD cards up to 32GB, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, 7.2Mbps HSDPA and 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. To debut with Android 1.6, Dell says the Streak has been “designed with the future in mind” and will be subject to OTA updates which will bring Adobe Flash 10.1, Android 2.2 “Froyo”, and video chat apps to the Streak before the year’s end. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the Dell Streak will be available online and in stores from O2, at Carphone Warehouse, and later “later in the month at Dell.co.uk.” Oh, anyone whose thinking of making an easy buck brining these bad boys over to the US better move fast — it’s coming here “later this summer.

T-Mobile brings HSPA+ with “4G speeds” to the Northeast U.S.

If you live in the Northeast U.S. and T-Mobile is your poison carrier of choice, there’s reason to smile this morning, as the nation’s fourth-largest carrier has announced that much of Upstate New York, Connecticut, and Providence, Rhode Island are now basking in the electromagnetism of its HSPA+ network. Capable of theoretical speeds of 21Mbps, T-Mobile had cojones to say in its press release that the network is capable of delivering “4G speeds today” while its competitors with geniune 4G “are asking consumers to pay more for faster wireless service with limited coverage and very few capable devices.” T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network currently reaches 30 million Americans, and is on track to offer coverage to 155 million more by the year’s end. Boston and Washington, D.C. are on deck and should feel the HSPA+ love “in the coming weeks.” Hit the break to check out the press release.

New BlackBerry Bold 9800 pics leak out

Can’t get enough BlackBerry slider action? Well today’s your lucky day, as a bunch of new images of the handset have leaped out by way of TheBerryFix. Showing off what looks to be a late prototype / early production model, the images give us a pretty good glimpse of not only the handset itself, but some of the new niceties of the BlackBerry 6 OS including a virtual QWERTY keypad, a clone of Cover Flow in the media player, and, of course, the much-hyped WebKit browser. Anyone else excited to see this sucker launch on AT&T during the June/July timeframe?

All white next-gen iPhone shows up in Hong Kong

Considering the country that these photos were snapped in, we can’t help but hear the words “fake” in the back of our minds, but Apple.pro is claiming what we’re looking at is proof positive that the next-gen iPhone will be available in an all white body. If you look closely at the pics you’ll notice a curiously big gap between the fascia and the aluminum mid-section, but in fairness, that alone is not enough to rule this as fake. Same goes for the holes for screws seen next to the 30-pin dock connector, something we know to be a hallmark of early prototypes. We’ve got one more pic after the jump, but man, wouldn’t it be nice to have such a fresh looking device?

myTouch 3G Slide coming to T-Mobile on June 2nd… for $180

Today, T-Mobile announced that the fabled myTouch 3G Slide will be available to the masses starting on June 2nd. Despite the fact that the 3G Slide is nowhere near the most advanced Android smartphone on the market, we know for a fact that a lot of readers are really looking forward to picking one up from T-Mo. There is just one problem…for some unknown reason, T-Mobile is going to ask customers to pay in blood $179.99 for the Slide after a $50 MIR. For those of you keeping track — and we know you are — that’s only $20 cheaper than Sprint’s EVO 4G which launches 4 days later for $199.99. The question is: Are we the only ones who think $180 is way too much to pay for the myTouch 3G Slide, or are the folks at T-Mobile smarter than we are?

Google TV gets official

Combining the web and TV in an orgy of awesome, today at I/O 2010, Google announced Google TV. With the goal of mashing together the web and TV without accepting compromise, Google is hoping to let people take advantage of the biggest and best screen in their house. Check out all of the features after the jump! We promise it’s awesome.

Nokia E73 Mode rumored to land on T-Mobile June 16th

AT&T made a pretty big splash last year when it launched the Nokia E71x, and now it appears that T-Mobile is hoping to do the same on June 16th. That’s the date Engadget has been informed T-Mobile will introduce a new, business-centric and Symbian-based QWERTY smartphone from Nokia known as the E73 Mode. Other than it will have 3G and Wi-Fi, concrete specs have yet to emerge (although we think it pretty safe to assume it will best the E72 based upon nothing but our knowledge of Nokia’s naming conventions). We’ll hit up some of our T-Mobile connects and try and find out what we can, but in the meantime please feel free to speculate at will.

T-Mobile officially announces new BlackBerry colors for the summer

T-Mobile just officially announced what we’ve all heard for a pretty long while — they’re going to be adding some summer colors to their BlackBerry lineup starting today. First up is the BlackBerry Curve 8520 in Fuchsia Red. It hits T-Mobile’s retail stores and online today and will retail for $49.99 with a two year service agreement. In terms of the big boy toys, T-Mobile is rolling that luxurious-looking BlackBerry Bold 9700 in “Flash White”. That device will start to become available on May 26th for the same price as the current 9700, $129.99 with a two year agreement. Lastly, T-Mobile’s BlackBerry 9700 OS upgrade that just became available will be pre-loaded on the new Casper Bolds out of the box. We’re not complaining.

Google announces Chrome web store for apps

Today at I/O 2010, Google announced the Chrome web store for apps. To debut later in the year at an unspecified time, the Chrome web store will allow users to install web-based applications that will run in native code such as Flash. Some of the applications featured in live demos included Dark Room, Plants vs. Zombies (it looked awesome), and Lego Star Wars. Google also announced it will be brining magazines to the Chrome web store. Sports Illustrated was on stage and showed off a pretty slick looking example which included slideshows, videos, live scores and more. Feature-rich advertisements were also shown off.

iPod touch with camera spotted in Vietnam

That Asian Pacific pipeline of prototypes continues to flow with a new iPod Touch now gracing the front pages of blogs across the world. This latest leak showcases an iPod Touch with a rear facing camera and the designation DVT-1 which indicates that it is an early design. Very similar in appearance to the iPod Touch pair that appeared on eBay recently, this latest leaked prototype has a bare bones OS that is chock full of diagnostic utilities. Despite the iPod’s pristine condition, it is unclear whether this is an older prototype left over from Apple’s failed attempt at placing a camera in the iPod Touch last year or if it is indeed the next generation model. We may have to wait until September to find out whether this is a prototype hot off the presses or if it has been stored safely in someone’s drawer for a long time. Hit the jump for a another shot of the iPod Touch and a hands on video.

Amazon brings Kindle to Android

Amazon is turning up the heat in the e-book market by porting their popular Kindle for iPhone and BlackBerry application to Android. The Android app will resemble its iPhone counterpart with the ability to read, preview, and purchase books from Amazon’s Kindle bookstore, navigate with the flick of a finger, and sync reading progress across all supported platforms. The Android app also looks to be compatible with all the popular Android handsets including the DROID, Nexus One, and the HTC Incredible. It is expected to debut in the Android Market soon and you can sign up at Amazon to be the first to know when it lands.

T-Mobile introduces unlimited pre-paid plans

No doubt a response to Virgin Mobile’s serious push to reign supreme in the pre-paid market, T-Mobile today announced two new unlimited pre-paid plans which go live this Wednesday. Under the new plans, $15 will net users unlimited text, picture and video messages with nationwide voice calls at 10¢ per minute, while $50 offers the same in terms of messaging but allows for unlimited nationwide calls with no per-minute fees. Definitely not bad plans if you’re looking to kill off a landline and not get locked into a lengthy contract commitment, but we’d have loved it if T-Mobile were to introduce a third plan with data. We mean, they are trying to play it both ways, right?

HTC announces the Wildfire

Well, well, well, look what we have here. No, it’s not some Chinese knockoff of the Desire — it’s the entry-level Wildfire, announced today by HTC. Running Android 2.1 with HTC Sense UI, its key specs include a 3.2″ QVGA display, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, A-GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, microSD, dual-band (900/2100MHz) 7.2Mbps HSPA, 512MB ROM / 384MB RAM and 528MHz processor. One interesting feature the Wildfire brings to the table is its “app sharing widget” which allows users to recommend apps to family, friend and peers via email, SMS and social networking sites. The HTC Wildfire will be available in Europe and Asia starting in Q3. No word yet on potential U.S. availability. Yay or nay?

Analyst expects Apple to burn through 24 million next-gen iPhones in 2010

It’s not even official, but that’s not stopping Digitimes Research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from estimating that Foxconn — manufacturer of the next iPhone — will deliver some 24 million units to Apple in 2010. According to Kuo, an initial shipment of 4.5 million devices will be followed throughout the rest of the year with 19.5 million additional units. Kuo also echoed John Gruber’s claims that the iPhone will have a 960×640 IPS display with FFS technology for a higher quality image with better visibility under direct sunlight, and that the phone will have 512MB of memory, or double the memory of the iPhone 3GS. This assertion is at odds with the findings of a recent next-gen iPhone prototype teardown which revealed the iPhone to be using the same 1GHz A4 processor with 256MB of system DRAM as the iPad. A more capacious battery is said to be included thanks to a 33% thinner display. Anyone else going to be on pins and needles for the next 21 days until WWDC?

Data, text usage surpasses voice in the U.S.

Level with us — for all the complaining you do about your carrier not offering an affordable unlimited talk plan, how many minutes do you actually spend yapping on your cell phone per month? If you’re anything like the average person, you’re not doing it all that much. In fact, your use of data and texts far outweighs the voice minutes you log on a monthly basis, and what calls you do make are shorter. Since 2008, the CTIA has said voice calls are quickly going the way of the Dodo, with the average call length dropping over 20% from 2008 to 2009 alone. This comes at a time where the use of text messages alone increased 50% year-over-year, with half of America’s teens said to be sending more than 1,500 texts per month. So why is it that people are talking less? For starters, there’s convenience. Shooting someone a text, IM or email is far faster and less obtrusive than a phone call, allowing the recipients to carry on with their daily activities and respond at their leisure. Then there’s social customs. As rude as some might think it is to fire off a text in the company of others, we cannot imagine anyone who would prefer to sit in awkward silence as their friend carries out a 2 minute conversation about what’s happened on last night’s episode of The Hills. Not only that, but according to NPD analyst Ross Rubin, “handset design has become far less cheek-friendly” in recent years with most feature and smartphones requiring users to go through a multi-step process before initiating a simple phone call. So what does the future hold for the wireless industry? In lieu of the traditional charge for voice minutes, industry analysts are predicting that carriers will instead charge for the amount of data used…and we’re not sure that is going to be better.

U.S. Wireless carriers get graded, ranked for their Q1 2010 performance

Strategy Analytics released its Q1 2010 metrics report for the U.S. Wireless carriers and it paints an interesting picture of the mobile landscape stateside. As expected, Verizon and AT&T led the pack with 92.8 million and 86.9 million customers, but were pretty much neck and neck where it really counts with churn, service revenue, data percentage of service revenue and ARPU being fairly similar when scaled. T-Mobile and Sprint showed a slight decline with each losing tens of thousands customers and reporting churns more than double that of Verizon and AT&T. Despite losing more customers than T-Mobile, Sprint still had the upper hand in service revenue, data percentage of service revenue and ARPU. Those were the figures for the big and medium players, so hit the jump to see how the little guys did.

Report: 10 million CDMA iPhones on order

DigiTimes has released a pretty interesting report this morning, one that would have us believe that Apple has just placed an order for a whole whack of CDMA iPhones. The CDMA iPhone is to be built by Pegatron — a subsidiary of ASUStek — and the company is expected to deliver up to 10 million devices per year. Naturally, both Pegatron and Apple have declined to comment, but it’s pretty interesting that this rumor closely mirrors what the WSJ recently reported. Factor in that just two days ago we discovered that Verizon is working on an iPhone advertising blitz targeted for the end of summer and we’d say these CDMA iPhone rumors are getting really, really hard to ignore.

Android 2.2 (Froyo) to allow USB tethering, Wi-Fi hotspot creation

This really is great news. TechCrunch is reporting that the next version of Android — version number 2.2, code name Froyo — will have USB tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot creation built in. Built. In. Currently, no information is available on if the new feature can and/or will be blocked by mobile carriers…but seriously, good luck to them if they try. Nicely played Google, nicely played indeed.

Solid Gold iPad

We’re surprised it took this long! Created by Stuart Hughes, this iPad will set you back $189,000 and you better hurry since the price of gold is at an all time high, this thing could be well over $200K before you know it. Investment?

Android Garminfone $199 on T-Mobile

T-Mobile has announced pricing for the Android-GPS-phone hybrid, which we all know as the Garminfone. A quick recap of the GPSmartphone: 3G, Wi-Fi, 3 megapixel camera with autfocus and digital zoom, Bluetooth 2.1, and a Garmin-specific interface. All you Magenta loving, Android preferring, navigationally-challenged, freaks can head on over to T-Mo’s Garminfone splash-page and sign up to be alerted the moment the hardware will hit the streets. The Garminfone will set you back $199 on a two-year contract and is listed as being available in “June.” $199 for an Android device running OS 1.6? Eeeeeesh.

Virgin Mobile’s ultra-affordable Beyond Talk plans now available

Virgin Mobile fired shots across the bow of its pre-paid competition this morning as it officially launched the Beyond Talk plans that we told you about just under a week ago. Starting at $25, the main selling point of the Beyond Talk service offerings is that they all feature unlimited text, email, data and web. The reason for the difference in price between the plans is the number of minutes you get. The $25 and $40 plans are good for 300 and 1,200 minutes respectively, while the $60 plan offers unlimited voice. For an extra $10, you can add BlackBerry data. Of course you won’t be able to use a BlackBerry on Virgin until the end of this month when it launches the Curve 8530 for $299.99, but the prospect of a pre-paid BlackBerry plan for $35 is worth waiting a few weeks for, right?

Another next gen iPhone in the wild, also torn apart

This time, it is from the country of Vietnam and they have gone all out. Not only is the unit a little bit different physically from the one Gizmodo had (there are no screws at the botton of the device), but the gentleman who has the phone has torn it apart and revealed the custom Apple A4 processor. There is no working OS loaded (besides a test one called Bonfire) and the unit appears to be a 16GB mode, though it is pre-production obviously. Word on the street is that this unit was purchased for $4,000.

Verizon Wireless publicly showcases LTE in a Boston eatery

In April, Verizon Wireless took its new LTE network to the streets, publicly pimping their next-generation, 4G network in Boston, MA. In a three minute promotional video that hit Big Red’s official YouTube, Verizon showcases users canned spontaneous reactions to the 8.5 Mbps download and 2.2 MBps upload speeds offered by the carrier’s new network. Folks at the Sicilian Pizzeria in Beantown — where the video was mostly filmed — seemed thrilled with the mobile download speeds, repeatedly commenting that the connection was “fast” and items were downloading “almost immediately.” With Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G on the horizon, the timing of the video makes it pretty clear that Verizon is trying to keep its customers focused on the promise-land that is LTE — as opposed to the already available WiMAX from its competition.

MobileMe may soon become free

Introduced in June 2008 to much fanfare — although soon derided by critics and consumers alike for a series of shortcomings — Apple’s $99 per year MobileMe service didn’t exactly get off to the best start in life. However, according to a report from MacDailyNews, Apple is planning to make MobileMe a free service “soon.” MDN’s tipster couldn’t nail down an exact date for the change, citing that it all “depends on certain facilities going operational” (read: Apple’s $1 billion, 500,000 sq. ft. server farm in North Carolina), but allegedly everything should be sorted out in the near future. The question is: if MobileMe becomes free, will Apple dole out refunds to those who paid for the service within the past year, and will Apple generate revenue off the free service with iAds?

Square’s mobile payment service officially launches

If you are not familiar with Square, it is a mobile payment service (hardware and software) that hopes to change how mobile transactions are processed. Now available for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Android devices, all you need to get going and accepting credit card payments is Square’s credit card reader. If you have been down the merchant account road before, you are probably asking how much the device costs, right? Square is giving out the reader, which plugs into the 3.5mm headset jack on your smartphone, for free. Their transaction rates are also pretty competitive at 2.75% of the transaction + $0.15 for all major credit cards. If you have always wanted to pay that shady guy off of Craigslist with plastic instead of paper, your dream might finally come true as this propagates throughout the wild. Check out a video of the service after the jump!

Apple confirmed it signed a 5-year iPhone exclusivity deal with AT&T

Three years. That’s how long it took for the world to get confirmation that the iPhone exclusivity deal Apple signed with AT&T back in 2007 was good for 5-years. Here’s how the info came about. Back in 2008, Apple’s legal team was in a courtroom in San Jose fending off a lawsuit which alleged that it was benefiting from an illegal monopoly over the iPhone, saying that AT&T’s 5-year exclusivity would really require iPhone owners to re-sign with AT&T for an additional 3-years after their initial 2-year contract had expired. This, in part, was Apple’s response:
[...] there was widespread disclosure of [AT&T's] five-year exclusivity and no suggestion by Apple or anyone else that iPhones would become unlocked after two years. In fact, the iPhone box itself disclosed to the prospective purchaser that a “[s]ervice plan with AT&T [would be] required for cellular network capabilities on expiration of initial new two-year agreement.” This at-purchase information was more than enough disclosure to put consumers on notice that they might never have a choice of cellular service for their iPhone, and to thus preclude a Kodak-type aftermarket.
Moreover, it is sheer speculation –- and illogical -– that failing to disclose the five-year exclusivity term would produce monopoly power, i.e., would allow Apple, a brand new entrant in cell phones, to “exert raw power in the aftermarket without regard for commercial consequences in the foremarket.”
The only question now is whether or not the contract is still valid. As Engadget’s Nilay Patel points out, “Contracts can be canceled, amended, and breached in many ways, and AT&T’s spotty recent service history plus the explosion of the iPhone and the mobile market in general have given Apple any number of reasons to revisit the deal. In addition, the two companies obviously hit the negotiating table again to hammer out the iPad’s pricing plans, and there’s no way of knowing whether that deal involves the iPhone as well. But it’s nice to finally know for certain that AT&T’s initial iPhone exclusivity period was booked until 2012 — now we just have to see if all this recent chatter means something’s changed.”

Japanese iPads will be SIM-locked to Softbank Mobile

Computerworld is reporting that Apple, Inc. is reneging on the initial claim that “all the iPad 3G models are unlocked,” as the Cupertino company will be SIM-locking the Japanese version of the iPad 3G to WCDMA carrier Softbank Mobile. Softbank, currently the exclusive vendor of iPhones in The Land of the Rising Sun, will purportedly be selling the iPad 3G subsidized with a price tag comparable to other unlocked international versions of the device. In Japan, the practice of SIM-locking is far more commonplace — and stringent — than here in the States. Carriers are not required to, and therefore don’t, offer unlock codes to their customers and third-party unlocking services are, for the most part, non-existent. Apple’s decision to reverse course in the eleventh hour is not likely to win over the hearts and minds of potential iPad 3G buyers in Japan still on the fence — especially those who prefer a rival WCDMA network such as NTT DoCoMo. The iPad 3G is scheduled to go on sale in Japan on May 28th.

WiGig, the next generation of Wi-Fi

The Wi-Fi Alliance and the Wireless Gigabit Alliance have been working diligently on the next generation of high-speed, consumer Wi-Fi…and its name is WiGig. WiGig, which will run on the 60 GHz (yes, Gigahertz) spectrum, can reportedly reach speeds of up to 7 gigabits per second. In all likelihood the 60 GHz band will be used for short-range, extremely fast transfers within a local network, while the more familiar 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels (802.11 g/n) will be used for backwards compatibility, improved Wi-Fi range, and connection stability. “We have practically all of the Wi-Fi chip manufacturers on board,” boasted WiGig Alliance President and Chairman Ali Sadri. The Alliances hope to see the new hardware in routers and computers within the next one to two years.

Google’s Android devices now outselling Apple iPhones?

If the latest NPD report is to be believed, then yes. It really should not be a surprise, however. There are multiple Android devices scurried across every major carrier in the U.S. alone, and in addition to be priced very competitively, Verizon’s BOGO has no doubt moved quite a few units. NPD’s consumer research data comes from self-reported online consumer surveys and it does not include corporate sales information which will most likely change some of these numbers. Regardless, the actual split in terms of U.S. smartphone share, as reported, has RIM at 36%, Google Android at 28%, and Apple coming in at 21%. Apple hasn’t released a new model since June of last year, and we can’t help but think some of those tech-savvy people out there (BGR readers) are just holding off, but you have to give it to Android this time around — the Android Army has spoken.

Sony’s latest VAIO P sports an accelerometer, optical trackpad, GPS and PS3 Remote Play

Some might argue it’s a case of too little, too late, but Sony looks to have a pretty darn good “don’t call it a netbook” netbook on its hands with its much-needed and long-rumored upgrade to the VAIO P. Featuring a “new design for two-handed operation while standing or walking”, the refreshed VAIO P has a built in optical trackpad to the right of the 8″ 1600×768 display which neighbors the left/right mouse click buttons on the left. Thrown in for good measure is an an accelerometer which allows you to shake and flick your way around the internet, Everywair 3G, GPS, digital compass and support for PS3 Remote Play (provided you’re running firmware 3.30 and up). Running Windows 7 Home Premium with an optional upgrade to Professional, the entry-level model features an Intel Atom Z530 clocking in at 1.6 GHz while the top-of-the-line model packs an Atom Z560 at 2.13 GHz. RAM tops out at 2GB, and you have your choice of either a 64, 128, or 256GB SSD. The new VAIO P starts at $799.

Android and iPhone driving smartphone sales

Twenty-Ten may be written down in the annals of history as the year of the smartphone. According to IDC’s analysis, smartphone shipments increased a whopping 56.7% year-over-year with vendors shipping 54.7 million converged devices in Q1 2010 alone. This impressive growth rate doubles that of the overall handset market which grew a comparatively low 21.7% YoY. Rising stars within the handset manufacturers include Apple, which saw its handset shipments increase a mind boggling 131% YoY, Motorola which posted an impressive 91% increase, and HTC which came in third with a 71% increase. The driving force behind these three smartphone manufacturers is the iPhone OS for Apple and Android for both Motorola and HTC. Though Nokia is still king of the hill with 39% of the market share and handset shipments of 21.5 million, the company out of Espoo should keep an eye on its back as Apple and the little green robot are coming on fast and furious.

Samsung steals U.S. mobile marketshare crown from Motorola

According to comScore, Samsung is now the number one handset brand in the United States. Having managed to squeeze past Motorola by a fraction of a percent thanks to its 0.7% gain and Motorola’s 1.6% loss from January to February, the two manufacturers now stand a fraction of a percentage apart. Now in the number three spot, LG’s share of the market remained virtually unchanged dropping 0.1%. Of the top 5, RIM made the largest gains at 1.5% while Nokia’s decline accelerated having lost 0.9%. Apple was said to stand in 6th place which with an overall marketshare of 5%.

International iPad launch set for May 28th (Updated with pricing)

Yes, the delay sure does suck, but everyone living in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK will be able to grab an iPad to call their own on Friday, May 28. Just don’t bother calling your local Apple Store to ask how much it’ll set you back because pricing will be announced at a later date. Live elsewhere? If so, we sure hope its either Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand or Singapore as they’re all penciled in to get the iPad come July. Just promise us you’ll play it safe and pre-order, okay? We wouldn’t want anyone to get left behind.

Google Goggles now does translations

Camera-happy, jet-setting, Android users should take another look at Google Goggles today. Google has added a translation feature to its Goggles application that allows you to photograph a word or phrase in a foreign language and have the application generate the appropriate translation. A prototype version of the translation feature was originally introduced at MWC 2010, however at that time it only supported German. The updated multi-language version of Goggles now supports English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish — and will eventually be expanded to include non-latin languages including Chinese, Hindi and Arabic. In addition to the updated translations, the new version also adds improved barcode recognition, an improved user interface, the ability to launch a search from within your phone’s photo gallery, and a larger database of: art work, products, and logos. The new Goggles application will set you back $0.00, is compatible with Android 1.6 or higher, and is ready for download from the Android market.

Nintendo’s yearly profits drop, Wii sales fall

Today, Nintendo posted its 2009-2010 fiscal earnings, and the Japanese gaming giant is beginning to stumble. For the first time in six years, Nintendo’s annual net profit fell, dropping 18% to ¥228.64 billion ($2.45 billion) in this fiscal year, which ended in March 2010. Nintendo blamed the slide on the appreciation of the yen, a late 2009 price cut on the Nintendo Wii, and the lack of strong game titles to drive the sale of hardware. Speaking of hardware sales…they lagged a bit, with Nintendo selling 20.5 million Wii consoles, down from 26 million in the previous year. The DSi showed a similar decline as Nintendo sold 27.11 million units, down from 31.18 million in the previous year. Despite the decline, Nintendo remained optimistic for the current fiscal year with a forecast of: ¥200 billion in profits, 18 million Wii units, and 30 million DSi units. The Japanese gaming company dismissed concerns over increased competition from the XBOX 360, the Playstation 3, and the Apple iPad citing its knowledge of the gaming business and its unique hardware, which appeals to a wide audience. Nintendo did not comment on the future of the Wii hardware, but did confirm the rumored 3DS, a new handheld gaming device that will allow 3D gameplay without the need for special glasses.

AT&T extends exclusivity with Apple, no Verizon iPhone until 2011?

Take this one with the largest grain of salt that you can find…the latest rumor on the status of the Verizon Wireless iPhone suggests that the phone may not come to fruition until 2011. As we all know, AT&T is offering data plans for the iPad on a non-contract basis at the lowly price of $15 for 250MB of data and $30 for unlimited data. According to analyst Brian Marshall of BroadPoint AmTech, AT&T would not have agreed to such a drastic price reduction, and no-contract plans, without receiving something big from Apple in return. That “big something”, he hypothesizes, is an extension of the iPhone exclusivity agreement that AT&T currently has enjoyed with Apple in the U.S. Under this quid pro quo agreement, AT&T’s exclusivity would be extended until the end of 2010, effectively shuttering any plans to launch the iPhone on Big Red in 2010.

Sprint gets super serious about the prepaid mobile market

Some huge news this evening in the world of prepaid mobiles as Sprint has announced its new strategies for Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile. With some 60 million Americans using prepaid mobiles, Sprint feels the time is right to make an all-out assault on the market. Said Sprint’s Dan Schulman: “This is the year that prepaid moves to the forefront of the wireless industry. In the first quarter of 2010, more than half of the mobile gross additions in the U.S. selected prepaid, and we predict that approximately 70% of the net adds in 2010 will choose plans without a contract,” adding that “the no-contract market has clearly moved beyond the credit-challenged and lower income segments.” Here’s what’s in the pipeline.
As of May 12th, Virgin Mobile will begin offering Beyond Talk plans. Ranging from $25 to $60 per month, each plan includes unlimited SMS/MMS, email, data and web. The $25 plan includes 300 minutes, the $40 plan 1,200 minutes and the $60 plan has unlimited minutes. Throw in an extra $10 per month and you’ll be able to hook a BlackBerry up to BIS. Yes, you read that right. $35 for a BlackBerry with unlimited data. If you’re a bit puzzled as to why Virgin is more focused on data and texts over voice minutes, the reason is simple: the amount of voice minutes used by young adults continues to plummet as email, IM and SMS grows at a rate of 150% during the years 2007 to 2009. Factor in 1800% growth in mobile data in this segment and it’s pretty obvious Virgin is one of the few companies that actually caters to the demands of its customers. This brings us to its new handsets. Virgin Mobile will be bringing the LG Rumor Touch and Rumor 2 ($149.99 and $89.99, both only available off contract), and Kyocera Loft ($69.99) into the fold with the BlackBerry Curve 8530 launching at the end of May with a retail price of $299.99.
As for Boost, not much is new in terms of plans (keep in mind it just announced that unlimited calls to 411, email and IM were recently added to its $50 unlimited plan which also includes all the talking, texting and web you wish), but now we know for sure that it will soon be carrying the Samsung Rant and Kyocera Incognito, Mirror and Juno.

Upcoming iPhone to record video at 720p HD?

While some are exploring the outward functionality of the latest beta of iPhone OS 4, others are slowly picking apart the underlying architecture and mining clues about the potential hardware and functionality of the upcoming iPhone. The most recent discovery teases us with 720p HD recording which is revealed in the following two video presets:
AVCaptureSessionPreset640×480
AVCaptureSessionPreset1280×720
The secondary value is the familiar resolution for 720p HD and is a feature that would fit in nicely with the rumored iPhone HD name. Anyone excited by the potential of HD recording and a new naming convention for the upcoming iPhone?

Intel targets the smartphone market with new Atom processors

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor might be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of powerful mobile chipsets, but Intel is hoping to change that with the launch of its next-generation Atom processing platform. Better know as Moorestown, the Z6xx Series Family of processors pack an impressive amount of processing power, with clock speeds ranging from 1.5 GHz for smartphones to 1.9 GHz for tablets. Featuring a 45nm core with support for 3D graphics, decoding at 1080p and video capture at 720p, the CPUs also fully support Wi-Fi, HSPA and WiMAX. When it first went public with information about the Moorestown line, Intel was estimating up to 24 hours worth of use out of mobile devices, but…now that everything’s finalized, it looks like a 1550 mAh battery will be good for: 10 days of standby, 48 hours of music playback, 6 hours of talk-time, and 4-5 hours of web browsing and video playback. For those who can never get enough stats, Intel says the new chips are have a 50x reduction in idle power, 20x reduction in audio power, and a 2-3x reduction with video and web. Intel isn’t willing to discuss just who it is that has taken delivery of these chipsets and who has orders being fulfilled, but so far we know that the Z6xx Series Family of processors will be powering Android, MeeGo and Moblin devices at the very least…hopefully in the not-so-distant future.

Google jumps on the online bookstore bandwagon

Following in the footsteps of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple, Google announced today that the search giant will be launching an online bookstore this summer. The bookstore will launch as Google Editions and will include a Google-managed online storefront as well as an affiliate program that will allow book retailers and independent shops to sell Google Editions’ books on their own website. Google will leverage its current book search service to provide customers with the ability to search and purchase books from the online bookstore. The list of publishers and expected pricing was not revealed but given the current competitive climate, we would expect Google Editions to follow suit with the current offering from Amazon, B&N, and Apple. Depending on the outcome of its settlement with book publishers and authors over the publication rights to out of print books, Google may be able to distinguish themselves from the competition by offering millions of out-of-print books that the search giant has been indexing and compiling for the last several years. Note to all the Android coders out there: you may want to start designing that knock out e-reader pronto.

AT&T international data plans for iPad detailed, costs are still high

Those iPad 3G owners who have standing plans for a romantic trip with your new iToy to Paris in the fall, or the Mediterranean this winter might want to think again. AT&T has released the international data roaming plans for Apple’s latest creation, and the pricing is still out of control not cheap. The available “Data Global Add-On” packs look like this:
■20 MB: $24.99/month
■50 MB: $59.99/month
■100 MB: $119.99/month
■200 MB: $199.99/month
The packs can be purchased directly from the iPad 3G by navigating to: Settings > Cellular Data. The international roaming pricing is in line with the international data packs for the iPhone; however, the iPad add-ons do not auto-renew every month. The iPad also gives you the option to schedule when the data bucket will be added to your account, allowing you to purchase/schedule the service before you travel — the add-on packs stay in effect for 30 days, and you must have a domestic data plan in order to purchase an international data plan. What do you think? It’s 2010, is $1.00-$1.25/MB still too much to be paying for international data, or have we been spoiled with our unlimited data buckets in the U.S.?

T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide gets official

Dream about a sliding Android device for T-Mobile? Well, your wish is HTC’s command as the T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide just got official. No stranger to leaks, the device slides in at 15mm thick and features a 3.4″ HVGA screen, Android 2.1, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, 3G, and even a Genius button powered by Dragon Dictation that’s ready to take your voice input and convert it into calls, sending text messages, and more. If that roomy slide-out QWERTY keyboard and aforementioned specs tickle your fancy, then you won’t have to wait much longer as this handset is geared up to hit in June in either black, white, or red, exclusively from T-Mobile. Pricing information isn’t available at this time.

Apple iPhone surpasses BlackBerry as the #1 Opera Mini device in the US

Opera Mini launched on the iPhone a mere few weeks ago and the Apple handset has already has taken the top spot as the device with the most Opera Mini users, as measured by number of installs, in the US. The iPhone ousted BlackBerry, the previous reigning champ in the US, and is reportedly well ahead of its mobile competitor from Canada. Globally, the iPhone is in third place and is surrounded by Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets which occupy 19 of the remaining top 20 slots. Not only a US-based phenomena, the iPhone is also top dog in the UK and has a strong presence in Australia, Korea, Canada, Germany, and Japan. Though impressive, these initial numbers may be boosted artificially by iPhone owners who download the app merely because it is new and noteworthy. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues as the novelty wears off.

Samsung: 50% of our smartphones will run Android, 33% bada

Samsung wasn’t kidding around when it promised to boost its Android offerings in 2010. Speaking to analysts on Friday, Samsung executives noted that over 50% of the Korean company’s smartphones slated for release in 2010 will run Google’s mobile OS. Taking up much of the remaining slack will be bada, Samsung’s very own OS. As it stands, the Wave is the sole announced bada handset (keep in mind we have seen more), but by the end of 2010 approximately 1/3 of Samsung’s smartphones should run the Linux-based platform. Samsung is the world’s second largest manufacturer of mobile phones having sold 64.3 million devices in Q1.

iPad Wi-Fi + 3G gets jailbroken

Don’t pretend you didn’t see this coming — the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G was successfully jailbroken the very day it was released. Utilizing comex’s “Spirit” jailbreak, the userland exploit works by taking advantage of security holes currently present in the iPhone OS. It’s not publicly available as of yet, but word is it’s coming real soon. Just promise us you’ll back up your SHSH blobs when the time comes to jailbreak, okay?

Official Twitter for Android app released

Android has never had a seriously good Twitter application, but the official Twitter for Android app, now available in the Android Market, looks to be one of the best offerings for the platform yet. The UI is clean as can be and the app has pretty much all of the features you’d expect from a premium application including: full support for widgets, viewing users’ tweets from the Quick Contact bar and uploading images and videos straight from the Gallery. The only drawbacks are that it requires your phone be running Android 2.1 and above and lacks support for multiple Twitter accounts, but we’re sure those will get ironed one way or another…