After much speculation and talk that the phone would be released soon, the BlackBerry Pearl 8220, formerly the KickStart, is a RIM flip phone, and though it’s still smart, the new form factor should act as a middle ground option for those that love a flip but need smartphone functionality.
Read the full press release after the cut.
We’d forgive you if you’d given up on Sprint’s AIRAVE. We’ve seen the femtocell – which promises to boost your CDMA signal by re-routing calls via your broadband – rolled out at so many tradeshows and events, even our tech-hungry eyes had begun to glaze over. Finally, though, the AIRAVE is here, and Sprint sent one over so that we could see whether the long wait was worth it.
Check out the Sprint AIRAVE unboxing video after the cut
It hardly seems like a year since the first-gen iPhone stormed the cellphone market, grabbing Apple a coveted spot in the top ranks of handset manufacturers and redefining the sort of usability people could expect from a touchscreen device. Now, however, the iPhone gets its first significant upgrade; you’d have to have been hiding under a rock to have missed the news that Apple have added both 3G and GPS to the handset – if you were, check out our WWDC 2008 keynote coverage – as well as dropping the entry price to just $199. The iPhone 3G launched this morning, and we were there bright and early to cover the event of a new cellphone.
In a move to further the transition from standard home phones to that of phones with similar features as our cell phones VTech has created a new cordless home phone that is capable of signing onto and messaging people using the following services: MSN Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, and AOL Instant Messenger. All you have to do with this phone to get these amazing extra features is connect the base station to your computer. I mean, it has a full QWERTY keypad and can also work with VoIP services, how much more amazing can a home phone get without adding a cellular chipset to it?
So first it was those new notebooks I told you about the other day, the Jisus ones, and now the guy is cranking out a very fashionable cell phone watch. The WM2 is due out on April 14th and boasts a 1.3-inch 260k color touchscreen.
The press release is in French, so I suppose I could give them a break on the spelling. The deal is they are trying to create a companion to a regular cell phone. It would offer up a lot of the web capabilities of a normal cell phone, but on a larger screen, over WiFi, and with a full keyboard.
Ever been in the middle of nowhere wishing you and your friends could share a single cellular-based internet connection across multiple devices? Yeah me neither, but if such an issue were to ever come up, this little gadget will allow you to do it.
The LG Vu isn’t all that exciting of a device on its own, but Qualcomm’s MediFLO mobile TV service that works with the device is quite impressive. There have been several, horrible attempts at mobile TV, but I think this one might work.
In Japan, the government has finally embraced a private-sector initiative to have Mobile Gurus guide you to the best handset, carrier all that stuff for you. No more guessing, or hoping that the guy at the local store isn’t just guiding you to what will net him the most profit, they are actually looking to get you what’s best for you.
Furthermore, once you have your handset and cellular plan, they are more than capable of helping you figure out how to do whatever it is you are trying to do, what accessories work with your phone, all that stuff. They aren’t just some tech-savvy yahoos off the street either, they are professionals who have to take and pass exams in order to maintain their position.
The terrorists are at it again threatening to manually (a.k.a. things that go boom in the night) disrupt cellular service if all 4 cellular providers in Afghanistan don’t start shutting down their networks at night. Their reasoning? They believe that occupying forces are using the networks to track members of the Taliban.
Chances are they are right; it’s quite easy to track people by their cell phones thanks to the large numbers of towers that are required for even remotely decent coverage triangulation is quite easy. Cell phones not only transmit to these towers when they are in use, but all the time, for some phones, even when they are turned off.
SlashGear Japan
