While the US goes DROID crazy after Friday’s launch of the Android 2.0 smartphone, O2 Germany are not far behind when it comes to the GSM version. The Motorola MILESTONE – as the DROID will be known outside the US – was spotted on the carrier’s site last week and officially announced on Monday; it’s now being listed on the O2 Germany site, priced at €549.99 ($816).
Remember the Saygus VPhone V1, the mysterious Android smartphone that was spotted clearing the FCC earlier this week? The company have followed up the less-than-perfect FCC shots with some glamour photos of their own, and while opinion on the V1’s looks is split – one Android Community comment suggested it “looks like a VCR” – we’re still interested to see the fruits of what looks likely to be the first Verizon Open Development device.
Dell’s upcoming Android smartphone has been caught clearing the FCC, complete with support for AT&T’s 3G bands. The Dell Mini 3iX was spotted in Brazil earlier this week, when it was said to support triband UMTS; the FCC listing for the handset mentions 850 and 1900 band support, which are the 3G bands AT&T uses for its high-speed network, together with WiFi (missing from the Chinese-version Mini 3i).
Verizon’s BlackBerry Curve 8530 isn’t quite on sale yet – you’ll have to wait until November 20th for that – but Sprint would like you to know that they’ll also be offering the QWERTY smartphone. The Sprint BlackBerry Curve 8530 gets the same WiFi, GPS, 2-megapixel camera and EVDO Rev.A connectivity, which means the only thing really lacking right now is a price and a release date.
Continued »
Is Apple planning a quiet iPhone update? That's what The BGR has heard, with two AT&T sources suggesting that the iPhone 3G 8GB will be replaced with an 8GB entry-level iPhone 3GS in time for Christmas. The move is apparently intended, one of those sources claims, to better battle the DROID army from Verizon.
Continued »
Verizon have announced a new set of prepaid data plans that the carrier is hoping will lure in some occasional mobile users currently turned-off by the contract offerings. As of November 16th, the Verizon Wireless USB760 modem will be available with a $15 daily access rate (with a 75MB allowance); alternatively the carrier is offering weekly or monthly rates.
As well as their headline smartphone announcements this morning, Verizon have also officially confirmed a couple of featurephones that have each been rattling around the rumor mill for a while. The LG Chocolate Touch and Samsung Convoy – a touchscreen candybar and rugged flip, respectively – don’t have the Android magic or hardware QWERTY of the Verizon DROID Eris by HTC or the BlackBerry Curve 8530.
It comes as little surprise given we’ve already seen it unboxed and know the pricing, but Verizon Wireless have officially announced that, as of tomorrow, they’ll be offering the DROID Eris by HTC. Basically another version of the HTC Hero, the HTC DROID Eris packs a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, 5-megapixel autofocus camera, EVDO Rev.A and the HTC Sense UI.
Samsung’s latest AT&T cellphones, the Samsung Mythic and Samsung Flight announced last month, will both go on sale today. Each handset has a touchscreen and the Flight throws in a slide-out QWERTY keyboard; neither are going to cause as much excitement as a proper smartphone, though, and the Mythic’s support for Samsung’s TouchWiz UI will seem like little consolation when your friends are taunting you with Android.
Remember the talk in early October about a third Verizon Android smartphone from a small company and certified through the carrier’s Open Development program? The HTC DROID Eris and Motorola DROID pushed that mystery device to the back of our minds, but an FCC filing has seemingly revealed the device as the Saygus VPhone V1, another sliding form-factor with a 3.5-inch 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, 624MHz Marvell PXA310 processor and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera.
JP
