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FCC Fridays

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 6th 2009 @ 11:54PM

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend ~~a lot of~~ way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Huawei U7517
Read - Huawei G6600
Read - Samsung B5310L
Read - Samsung C3510
Read - Samsung SCH-F339
Read - Pantech P7040
Read - LG GS107a
Read - LG 900G
Read - LG UN430
Read - LG GD350
Read - Panasonic 940P

Peripherals
Read - ZTE MF10
Read - ZTE K4505-Z
Read - Haier HC-CE310

HTC Hero / Eris mega faceoff on video

by Paul Miller posted Nov 6th 2009 @ 5:45PM

Now that we've got the DROID ERIS in the mix, we're up to our ears in HTC Hero-derivative devices. We decided to sit the whole crew (GSM, Sprint and Verizon editions) down for a little modeling session, and we're finding ourselves reticent to pick a favorite. There are really plusses and minuses to each of them, but any way you lean it's a pretty good handset with some perhaps overly bulky software, a wonderful pricepoint (on Verizon, anyway) and probably a limited time in the sun with upcoming Android 2.0 devices, faster processors and wild new screens rolling on in. Check the video out after the break and you can make up your own mind.

Continue reading HTC Hero / Eris mega faceoff on video

iPhone vs DROID multitouch keyboard showdown (video)

by Nilay Patel posted Nov 5th 2009 @ 6:31PM

I just dashed off this quick video for my Twitter followers to demonstrate that the DROID doesn't have a multitouch soft keyboard, and pretty much instantly realized that I should probably share it with everyone else, since we've been getting a lot of questions about it. Long story short, while Android 2.0 and the DROID's hardware support multitouch, the device itself doesn't do multitouch out-of-the-box, and the soft keyboard suffers mightily for it. Why it's missing is certainly open for debate, but for now just know that no amount of hoping, wishing, or booze is going to make the stock keyboard register more than one press at a time. Don't despair, though -- while I'm not a fan, Chris Ziegler absolutely flies on this same keyboard on his DROID. Videos after the break.

Continue reading iPhone vs DROID multitouch keyboard showdown (video)

Verizon's BlackBerry 8530 and LG Chocolate Touch go hands-on

by Paul Miller posted Nov 5th 2009 @ 12:41PM

Rounding out the flurry of interesting Verizon Wireless launches today are the BlackBerry Curve 8530 and LG Chocolate Touch (pictured). The 8530 is pretty much just the Verizon edition of T-Mobile's 8520, but the LG Chocolate Touch bears closer examination. Basically it's just a war on the eyeballs of anyone who's ever seen the BL40, with the front, back, materials and interface of the device all falling incredibly short of aesthetic pleasure. However, the $80 phone does have a relatively responsive and usable touchscreen interface for a "dumbphone," and we've used worse touchscreen keyboards on Windows Mobile. So it's not a complete tragedy, but we really feel sorry for someone who skips over the DROID ERIS for this just handset just to save $20.

Gallery: LG Chocolate Touch

Gallery: BlackBerry Curve 8530

DROID ERIS hands-on and unboxing!

by Paul Miller posted Nov 5th 2009 @ 10:03AM

Hey look, it's a Hero! We've got the brand new DROID ERIS for Verizon in hand, and it's not hard to see which particular family of phones it hails from. Still, Verizon has its own twist on the form factor, almost scoring a compromise between the "shiny" Sprint Hero and the more angular, matte GSM Hero. Confusingly, the capacitive touch buttons along the bottom of the ERIS' screen are a haphazard twist on the DROID's arrangement (though it's really Motorola that's the non-standard one here), but the phones don't look completely unrelated. In all the rounded, black matte body of the ERIS sort of "fades away" and you're just left with a nice, bright LCD -- it's not making a statement, which is sort of the statement. There's also an iPhone-style face proximity sensor for turning off the display during calls, and HTC has multitouch pinch-to-zoom on here, something Motorola hasn't seemed to manage. Sure it can't stack up to the DROID for aggressiveness or sheer specs, but it's got it's own sort of budget-friendly charm that's not overshadowed by the DROID's bombastic ways, and two out of three Engadget editors agree that the HTC keyboard beats the pants off the stock Android keyboard.

Gallery: DROID ERIS hands-on and unboxing!

BlackBerry Bold 9700 hands-on and impressions

by Laura June posted Nov 5th 2009 @ 12:00AM

RIM's successor to the original Bold -- the BlackBerry Bold 9700 -- has finally landed on our doorsteps. The 9000 is in many ways a hard act to follow. Hardware-wise, it lived up to its name, going where most phones never went with its retro, leathery, nearly clunky looks in an age of rounded edges and shiny curves. Don't get us wrong -- we loved the 9000's aesthetics obsessively -- which is why we couldn't wait to get our hands on its newborn child. A few questions we had in mind: would the 9700 live up to its predecessor's notoriously uncompromising fashion sense? Would the new Bold feel as good to hold and use in the hand as its loving parent? How would it stack up against other, new devices from RIM? If these are the kind of questions you think you might want answers to, read on for our impressions.

Continue reading BlackBerry Bold 9700 hands-on and impressions

Ears-on with Sony Ericsson MH907 Motion Activated Headphones

by Richard Lai posted Nov 4th 2009 @ 3:57PM

What we have here today isn't just another pair of ordinary headphones: Sony Ericsson's MH907s are button-free, minimalistic headphones that activate upon the magical touch of your skin. Well, your ears to be precise. You must bear in mind that the MH907s are exclusive to Fast port-equipped Sony Ericsson phones thus excluding the forthcoming XPERIA X10 -- so chances are you're already not interested. That said, we shall see if Sony Ericsson is really going to change things forever with these gleaming buds featuring SE's SensMe Control technology, or by just stopping everyone from using their 3.5mm headphone jacks. Read on to find out how these €39 ($57) headphones fared.

HTC's HD2 has landed at Engadget (hands-on)

by Joshua Topolsky posted Nov 4th 2009 @ 10:12AM

That's right... the HD2 has landed. Actually, we took the phone over to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the other day, but didn't get a chance to show it off, so here we are. Sure, you've seen this guy in action in earlier videos... but it's still nice to get a look at this monster up close. We're still blown away by the fact that this is a Windows Mobile 6.5 device -- the skinning job that HTC has done here is nothing short of a miracle. So far we've found the phone to be snappy and responsive, but we're currently putting it through its paces. We'll have a full review shortly, but for now, feast your eyes on the photos below -- and start saving for that imminent US launch.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 announced, we go hands-on

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 2nd 2009 @ 11:00PM

The first Android device from Sony Ericsson may have undergone an upgrade in the naming department, jumping from X3 all the way to XPERIA X10 (probably to avoid confusion with Nokia's X3 handset), but what lies under the hood is reassuringly in line with what we've been hearing. That is to say, a 1GHz Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm, wide 4-inch capacitive touch display, 8.1 megapixel camera with LED flash, and a thoroughly tricked out Android skin named Rachael. Sony Ericsson stressed to us the symbiotic importance of both the new flagship device and "open OS" UI -- they see the X10 as the patriarch of a whole new family of handsets, which we can expect to see in the first half of 2010, all sporting the beauty of Rachael and perhaps helping to bridge the gap between featurephones and, well, more advanced featurephones. So don't be shy, come along to Engadget Classic to see our full and uncensored first impressions of both, along with hands-on video and pictures.

FCC Fridays

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 30th 2009 @ 10:29PM

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend ~~a lot of~~ way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - LG GB280
Read - LG LN510
Read - LG MT310
Read - LG GW825
Read - Samsung B5310
Read - Samsung i6330C
Read - Samsung S3600i
Read - Samsung SCH-W259
Read - Samsung SPH-M8400
Read - Samsung SPH-W9700
Read - Sanyo SCP-6760
Read - Huawei U8220-6
Read - Panasonic 840P

Peripherals
Read - Huawei ePico3801
Read - ZTE AC2766
Read - Parrot Grande Specchio

Motorola DROID review on Engadget!

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 30th 2009 @ 11:23AM

It's finally here: the Motorola DROID, perhaps the most hotly-anticipated Android smartphone yet. We've been poring over every nook and cranny of this svelte QWERTY slider, and our full review is up on Engadget Classic -- so what are you waiting for? Hit the read link and dive right in!

Samsung Moment review

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 26th 2009 @ 5:30PM

In the world of Android, it's not yet clear who's going to come out victorious -- QWERTY sliders or their keyboardless brethren -- but does there really need to be a winner? We say there's room for just about everyone in this open-source party, and Sprint is starting to round out its Android offerings by introducing the keyboard-equipped Samsung Moment to saddle up alongside the HTC Hero that was released a few weeks ago. In the scheme of things, the platform is still extraordinarily young which means that virtually every new handset that's announced brings "firsts" to the table; in the Moment's case, it's both the first Android device with an 800MHz ARM11 core and the first Android QWERTY phone with an AMOLED display (you'd have to go back to another Sammy, the Galaxy, to find the first AMOLED Android phone regardless of input method).

Being able to stuff Android, AMOLED, QWERTY, and 800MHz all into one sentence certainly sounds like a winning combination, but does the Moment deliver? Let's find out.

Gallery: Samsung Moment review

Continue reading Samsung Moment review

FCC Fridays

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 23rd 2009 @ 11:32PM

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend ~~a lot of~~ way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Huawei G1157
Read - LG GR700
Read - LG GT550
Read - Kyocera Domino S1310
Read - Samsung SCH-R860
Read - Samsung i5700L
Read - Samsung X01SC
Read - Samsung 940SC
Read - HTC myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition

Peripherals
Read - Motorola CPEi 725
Read - Novatel Ovation MC998D

iGOG VelAUcity brings velocity-sensitive drums to your humble iPhone

by Paul Miller posted Oct 23rd 2009 @ 1:20PM

Mom / wife / building superintendent still won't let you get a drum set, huh? Well, you can show them, you can show them all with the new iGOG VelAUcity app, which for a mere $5 lets you do velocity-sensitive drumming on the iPhone. It works pretty great, too... to an extent. The technology appears to be based on the iPhone's built-in mic (VelAUcity doesn't work on an iPod touch), and the app recommends you use it with headphones, but not a headset with its own built-in mic, which would gum things up. In practice the drumming is really great, with multiple hit points on the drum pads and pretty good velocity sensitivity (for an iPhone app), but there are plenty of mic-introduced foibles like the potential for feedback or stray noises messing things up -- you basically would have trouble using this in a live application, though there are plenty of sliders so you can tweak things and give it a shot. Our favorite part perhaps is the mic trigger mode, which lets you do your fake drumming next to the iPhone, adding a whole new level of fake realness. Our least favorite part was the crashiness and the buginess -- part of which might've be blamed on our speed-strapped 3G. Don't say we didn't warn you. Video demonstrations are after the break.

[Via Create Digital Music]

Continue reading iGOG VelAUcity brings velocity-sensitive drums to your humble iPhone

Jabra STONE Bluetooth headset review

by Engadget staff posted Oct 23rd 2009 @ 11:36AM

Finally, the teaser's over. The latest delivery to Engadget's UK penthouse is the Jabra STONE Bluetooth headset due out in the US on 8th November, and we took no time to extract the pebble from the transparent cylinder. In front of us are the two parts of the STONE: an earpiece of a breakthrough form factor that instantly makes you pity its rivals, and behind it is the accompanying portable charging base which serves as an external battery. The latter is equipped with a micro-USB port and an LED indicator -- simply green or red -- to show whether there's enough battery juice for one full charge. It's a pretty neat idea as this is the only feasible way to fit eight hours of talk time (or twelve days of standby time) into such tiny package: two on the earpiece and an extra six from the surprisingly light battery base -- our scale reckons it is just under one ounce. We also dig the auto-off function when you dock the earpiece and vice versa. Docking and undocking are pretty straight forward too: just snap in for the former, and poke your thumb through the bottom hole of the base to push the earpiece out. The generic click button hidden under the Jabra badge is easy to access and responds well. Above that is the invisible vertical touch strip for volume control and similarly it responded nicely to our strokes. What's left on the earpiece are the two LED indicators on the underside for Bluetooth connectivity and battery. So far so good, but what really matters is the ear-on experience and the audio quality -- listen for yourself after the break.