If these fine specimens look familiar, well, they should — one’s already been announced (albeit on a different carrier) and the other two have been thoroughly scooped. Motorola’s CES haul includes the eco-tastic Renew W233, a simple candybar destined for T-Mobile that features a neutral carbon footprint and components made of recycled water bottles; the Tundra VA76r, a rugged 3G flip with push-to-talk that previously launched on Rogers and has its sights set on AT&T this time around for a January 13 release; and the headliner of the bunch, the SURF A3100. The WinMo 6.1-based SURF — alias A3000, alias Atila — features a full 2.8-inches of touchscreen adorned with a custom skin designed by Moto, 7.2Mbps triband HSDPA, a 3-megapixel autofocus cam, AGPS, and support for microSD cards up to a purely theoretical 32GB in size. Though the radio is fully equipped for North American action, no stateside launch is in the cards just yet; for now, you’ll find the SURF in Asian markets before the quarter’s out.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Motorola’s SURF A3100 headlines three-pack of new phones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: GPS, Wireless

Skyhook’s WiFi positioning service hasn’t really appeared in many devices despite its high-profile usage in the iPhone, but now it looks like it’s set to become downright ubiquitous — Broadcom is planning on building it directly into its extremely popular WiFi chipsets. Just like Skyhook’s deal with SiRF, the idea is to use WiFi positioning to supplement GPS in mobile devices, allowing location-based services to function indoors and in densely-built cities where GPS doesn’t always work well. No word on when we might see any devices with Skyhook-enabled chips in them, but given Broadcom’s reach in the market, we’d guess it won’t be too long.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Apple’s App Store, with its millions of downloads, is clearly a hit with consumers. But with developers? Not so much. Like a dashing hero to a scorned mistress, Google’s Andy Rubin is pledging a different, more loving and respectful relationship with those who would fill his company’s Android Market with selections — and his pockets with royalties. He indicates that the Market will enable free downloadable trials, something that Apple is stubbornly refusing to add, and that those downloads would not be subject to any arbitrary bandwidth caps. Meanwhile, T-Mobile at least will be levying a $2/month fee on developers of free apps expected to use more than the (somewhat arbitrary) amount of 15MB of data per user per month, though how they’ll be keeping track of that data outside of their own content stack is unclear — our guess is that they can’t.

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If you’re American, don’t even pretend you care about this. ‘Cause you don’t care about mobile TV at all, and we’ve got the facts to prove it. For those parked in Japan, though, you have every right to get jazzed. Softbank’s 1seg TV tuner / battery charger has finally been loosed on the carrier’s home turf, and the lucky cats over at DVICE were able to acquire one and give it a whirl. Setup was said to be a breeze, the 1seg pickup was crystal clear and the device itself was satisfactorily lightweight. As for downsides, the entire app is in Japanese, and even with the extra juice, watching TV on the go zapped the life out in around an hour with brightness maxed. Check the full writeup and unboxing gallery in the read link below.

[Via OhGizmo]

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video

Softbank’s iPhone 1seg tuner / battery charger gets unboxed originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Jan 2009 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Storage

Kingston has announced it’s teaming up with Intel — new to the SSD market itself — to market flash memory-based drives for laptops and servers. This is a bold move for Kingston, which is usually known to stick to mature markets; clearly, the company sees the technology’s potential. The effort “almost flies in the face of the usual Kingston model,” said spokesman Dave Leong. “We are large and in charge!” (OK, so we made that last part up.) This is all set to pop off in Q4 2008 — Samsung, you’ve been warned.

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It’s 2009, folks, so we figured we’d start it off with a bang (and about a gazillion comments in this post). George, a proud member of the USMC, is pondering what to do about a new smartphone, and given that your New Year’s resolution was undoubtedly to ditch your dumbphone in favor of a more sophisticated model, you’ll probably be interested as well.

“I am currently in the market for a new carrier and phone. I have Verizon now, but I am not all that happy with its service in my area. With the release of all the high end phones nowadays, one could get easily lost in the details. I currently have the LG Voyager; I like the phone, but I feel trapped and can’t do much with it unless I pay for every little thing. I would like a mobile with WiFi, camera (with flash if possible), touchscreen, etc. I would like to stay under $200 with a 2-year contract. Any advice would be wonderful.”

It’s tough, ain’t it George? There’s the G1, iPhone 3G, Bold, Storm — the list rolls on. So, let’s spark up a sane, intelligent conversation on the pros and cons of each, all while remembering that our ideal handset sadly didn’t arrive in time for Christmas. Interested in getting your own inquiry up in here? Send one over to ask at engadget dawt com.

Filed under: Ask Engadget, Cellphones

Ask Engadget: Best current smartphone for under $200? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At least overseas, Endless Ideas’ BeBook is competing most directly with Sony’s succulent Reader, and reviewers over at Trusted Reviews immediately noticed the step back in style. If you can get over that, the device was said to be delightfully light, though the user interface reverted their brief smiles back to frowns. This up and down (or love and hate, if you will) affair continued on throughout the review, with critics finding a nitpick for every glimmer of awesomeness. The real bummer came when they attempted to use USB 1.1 for mass transfers — it’s practically 2009 people, and USB 2.0 is a must. All in all, the crew couldn’t bring themselves to calling the BeBook a bad device, with the broad format support, satisfactory screen and longevous battery all earning high marks; that said, the clunky interface and sluggish overall performance really put a damper on things, particularly when you consider a Sony PRS-505 can be had for around £30 less.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

BeBook eBook reader gets reviewed: a library rental, at best originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Say wha’?! An iPhone in a hue other than black, white, or silver? While a red model has been rumored since before the 3G even launched, we’ve never thought about a pink one — let alone one hitting eBay. The text on the back of the device convinces us that this isn’t a simple ColorWare job, but there aren’t any photos of the back of the packaging either. Our take? Some OEM in Asia whipping up custom colors. But hey, Macworld’s just under a week away, so who knows?

[Thanks, Gav]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Mysterious pink iPhone 3G hits eBay, cue onslaught of rumors originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Steve Ballmer’s whirlwind UK media tour ahead of the Professional Developers Conference just keeps giving us sound bite gems: first it was Windows Cloud, then Zune on Windows Mobile, and now Stevie’s taking shots at Android and the G1. Calling Microsoft David to Google’s search Goliath, Ballms said that he wasn’t worried about Android because it won’t be “attractive” to other handset manufacturers because it’s “version one… and it looks like version one.” Not only that, but he apparently thinks Google’s going to sit still, saying “they’ve got one handset maker, we’ve got 55. They’re available through one operator, we’ve got 175.” True for now, sure, but we know Android isn’t going to languish on a single handset on a single carrier for long — and we’re pretty certain Steve knows that HTC and T-Mobile aren’t exactly minor players, regardless. Still, it’s some masterful bluster from a master of bluster — now if he’d just back it up with Windows Mobile 7, we’d be way more inclined to believe him.

[Via Cool Smart Phones]

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Consumers are being scammed when it comes to cell phone text messaging rates, cell phone carries incur virtually no costs when customers send text messages, yet text-messaging rates have doubled over the past several years. The reason carriers are able to get away with charging higher-than-necessary prices for their SMS text message service is that most people are unaware of what it actually costs to send a text message. Coupled with wireless operators’ practice of hiding their text message…