Archive for the 'Verizon' Category

Last week we heard about the first Motorola Android Phone headed to China – the Motorola Zhiling for China Mobile due on December 28th. But Chinese rival China Telekom looks to be getting their own MotoDroid – the Motorola Zeppelin XT800.  The phone packs GSM and CDMA so it will work on China Telecom’s up and coming 3G network.

Detailed sepcs of the rumored phone were found at qq.com while the above picture is from mobile-review:

• 5MP Camera
• Auto-focus
• LED flash
• 720P HD video capture
• HDMI Out
• Text scanning
• Bluetooth v2.1
• 3.5mm headset jack
• GPS
• MicroSD expansion
• Wi-Fi
• ARM Cortex-A8 processor

It seems the XT800 will be made available on December 25th in China which would mean it, and not the MT710, would be the first ever Motorola Android Phone in China. But what might be even MORE exciting – at least for reader’s of Phandroid – is that the Zeppelin could be headed to the States as the Motorola Titanium:

The above is from an FCC document tracked down by EngadgetMobile where they noted that any smartphone type device packing Wi-Fi is likely to be running Android since the company has ditched Windows Mobile. They say that QQ.com compares the Zeppelin to Titanium but personally I was unable to find the connection between the two. I’m hoping its something I accidentally skipped over because this would certainly have its fair share of users on either Verizon or Sprint, where it would most likely wind up.

We told you there would be more! A lot of you sent in some fantastic videos for us to look over in the last giveaway, but this time, we’re making it a lot easier on you. How simple is it to enter? Just drop in a comment and you can win — that’s all. We’ll be giving away the remaining two Motorola DROIDs we have in this giveaway so you have two chances to grab one!

• The giveaway will run for one week until December 21st at 11:59PM ET.
• To enter, leave a comment below. You’ll be automatically entered.
• (2) winners will be chosen randomly.
• You must be 18 years or older and be a U.S. resident (plus the device won’t do you much good outside of the country anyway).

Good luck!

The Google Phone. Or shall we call it the Nexus One? Or maybe Phone88? Regardless of name, the gPhone plot has thickened over the last 24 hours and we’re about to serve you what’s good. The latest scoop of the Google Phone soup:

First of all, Peter Kafka of AllThingsD reports Google will sell its phone from its website and also work in conjunction with T-Mobile to promote the phone. It will be unsubsidized and operate on both T-Mobile and AT&T 3G services – buy the phone and connect it where you want.

Initially Google wanted to work with Verizon Wireless on the project but the carrier rejected them, opting instead to promote the Motorola Droid, making way for a GSM Google Phone that will likely have more worldwide “reach” anyways.

But, sources say Google’s decision to use GSM came only, because Verizon Wireless (VZ), which uses the rival CDMA technology, has so far declined to help Google push the new phone.

Sources also added that Google–which is keen to change the way mobile devices are sold in the U.S. especially–would still prefer to cooperate with telecom giants in selling phones rather than fighting them.

It was only a few days ago that twitter blew up with word of Google Employees getting the Google Phone, something the Official Google Mobile Blog all but confirmed. So you figured it was only a matter of time before pictures of that phone, along with details, made their way to the interwebz. And now they have.

Take for example Cory O’Brien who tweeted a picture and some of his thoughts:

It does appear the gPhone/Google Phone/Nexus One/Phone88 are the HTC Passion/Bravo that leaked out not too long ago. The folks at Engadget do a good job exploring the details and talking about what this could mean in terms of the direction of Android, noting that technically the first two dev phones were “Google Phones”: both were made available unlocked for use on most any carrier.

Thought we were done? Not at all… although appearing to run Android 2.0.1 there are some interesting inclusions pointed out by Engadget that suggest Android is doing a few WebOS-ish things:

Just like we’ve heard before, the updated OS features new 3D elements to the app tray, as well as an extended amount of homescreens, though it looks like the lock screen / mute is the same as in Android 2.0.1. Additionally, there’s now a new grid icon at the bottom of the homescreen, which when pressed brings up a webOS card-style preview of all homescreen pages — which raises some interesting possibilities. Apparently there’s been a new software update for the device pushed tonight, and sure enough the phone is identified as the Nexus One on the system info page.

And then they had to go and make it all official by passing the Nexus One through the FCC. Three different documents (one, two, three) show details about the fabled Nexus One Google Phone but it seems that they might indicate T-Mobile as the only “real” benefactor in the USA:

The Nexus One Google Phone… wow.

The Palm Pixi as we know it has a number of shortcomings, the most notable and lamented is its lack of Wi-Fi. Left out in order to keep the devices profit margins as high as possible, the decision was about as well received as the handset itself. Of course after a software update or two the Pixi is now performing more or less as it should, but nothing can be done at all to address the lack of Wi-Fi. That is, of course, unless you are Verizon. It might strike many as odd to think Verizon could improve a smartphone as offered by others by adding in Wi-Fi, but that’s exactly what the company looks to be doing thanks to a new FCC filing. To feature nothing more and nothing less than the Sprint Pixi apart from the addition of Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, the Verizon Pixi has no set release date as far as we can tell, but we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Verizon roll out the device with its bigger brother on the very same day.

[Via Engadget Mobile

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It seems like a fact. If you were to ask someone, even someone who isn’t really into technology, “who has the best cellular network in America,” 9 out of 10 times the response you would receive would be, “Verizon.” Between the “Map for That” commercials, AT&T’s CEO making ridiculous statements about people needing to use less data, and the rumor of tiered data plans to curb the usage of iPhone owners those who use their smartphone to its full potential, there isn’t really any reason to think that Verizon’s network isn’t superior to AT&T’s. However, the New York Times has data from several wireless networking companies that seem to go against what we assume to be a simple truth.

One of the companies, Global Wireless Solutions, “covered more than three million miles of roads this year, while running almost two million wireless data sessions and placing more than three million voice calls,” and after compiling all this data concluded that, “AT&T’s data throughput is 40 to 50 percent higher than the competition, including Verizon.” A second company, Root Wireless, “ran 4.7 million tests on smartphones for each of the four major carriers, spread across seven metropolitan areas: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles/Orange County, New York, Seattle/Tacoma, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington.”  Root Wireless came to the conclusion that, “in every market, AT&T had faster average download speeds and had signal strength of 75 percent or better more frequently than did Verizon.” Note that San Francisco and New York City are included in that list. Now, we’re thinking the same thing as you, where is the disconnect (pun intended)?

When Root’s Chief Technology Officer was asked why his company’s data goes against similar tests conducted by Consumer Reports, and others, his rational was rather shocking, the tests were done on devices other than the iPhone. The iPhone does not allow Root Wireless’ software to run in the background as is necessary, so other smartphones are used to conduct the tests. Roger Entner, a senior VP a Neilson Research, was quoted as saying, “the iPhone has the nimbus of infallibility, ergo, it’s AT&T’s fault,” however the air interface within the iPhone itself that controls both voice and data communication has, “serious shortcomings.” Is AT&T taking the heat for Apple? Who knows, both AT&T and Verizon aren’t publishing their internal data on network performance. For the time being, as Root Wireless’ CEO put it, consumers will continue to be, “buried under opinions and advertising slogans,” and for those of us who are affected, the calls will keep dropping.

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