Japanese carrier KDDI have unveiled their own Android based offering, and rather than a smartphone it's a 3G-enabled MID. The Sharp IS01 packs Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 5-inch 960 x 480 multitouch display and a full QWERTY keyboard, together with integrated EVDO Rev.A, WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.
Interesting news out of Novatel Wireless today, with the company announcing not only that they’ve completed testing a new, WiMAX version of their popular MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hostpot, but that they’re seemingly experimenting with wearable mobile devices. The new 4G WiMAX MiFi apparently achieved 18Mbps throughput, with a theoretical peak of over 30Mbps downlink and 10Mbps uplink.
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.
Sprint have announced their first EVDO-enabled netbook, though they don't quite seem to have figured out the magic tipping point that really pulls in the customers. The carrier is offering a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 with integrated EVDO Rev.A, but rather than do the sensible thing and hack great chunks off the up-front price (while knowing you'll make it back with the mandatory two-year agreement) their netbook is in fact $199.99, and that's after the rebate.
Remember the mysterious HTC smartphone that showed up this time last week, and that we all assumed was the upcoming Snapdragon-based HTC Dragon? Well, the source of those images, TheUnlockr, has decided it’s the Dragon too, or to be more exact Verizon’s version of the handset, the HTC Passion. He’s claiming 90-percent certainty on the ID, and if so you could be seeing this Android smartphone on shelves by the end of the year.
The Passion (aka the CDMA Dragon) is expected to be the Android version of the HTC HD2, which basically adds up to a huge capacitive touchscreen – the HD2 uses a 4.3-inch panel – together with all the wireless connectivity you could hope for an a 1GHz processor. The touch-sensitive buttons beneath the touchscreen on the Passion certainly look like those on Verizon’s other upcoming Android handsets, such as the Motorola Droid, and the white notification bar is similar too.
The surest way for someone to generate attention is by making an Apple prediction. Apple has a cult following, and its product development and launch strategy is famously secretive, so the fact that your source is the lunch counter guy across the block from the Hon Hai factory in Taiwan won’t be discovered (or may even be considered authoritative!). Financial analysts are often the worst offenders – we have been promised an Apple tablet more times than I can count, assured that an iPhone nano was on the way, and where’s that iPod touch with a camera?
However, market analysts like me (and fellow SlashGear columnist Michael Gartenberg) rarely talk about specific products before they’re launched. Often, that’s because I can’t: vendors frequently tell me what they are working on ahead of time under non-disclosure agreements. Another reason that I don’t make specific predictions is that I simply hate being wrong: my job depends on my being both trustworthy and generally accurate, and I’m not about to jeopardize that for a bit of extra attention in the press.
Samsung have announced their first US Android smartphone, the Samsung Moment, and it's headed exclusively to Sprint. The Moment has a 3.2-inch 320 x 480 AMOLED touchscreen together with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, optical joystick, EVDO Rev.A and WiFi b/g; as a "with Google" device, it has the usual Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube and other software.
As expected, IREX have just announced their latest ebook reader, the IREX DR800SG, an 8.1-inch e-ink device within integrated Qualcomm Gobi wireless. The DR800SG will use Verizon's network in the US (and switch to GSM 3G when roaming) to allow access to Barnes & Noble's eBookstore, Newspaper Direct and LibreDigital. Priced at $399.99, the IREX DR800SG will arrive at "select" Best Buy stores come October, followed by a European launch in the first half of 2010.
Full specifications for Palm’s second webOS smartphone, the Palm Pixi, have emerged, this time courtesy of Qualcomm. The Pixi is based on Qualcomm’s MSM7627 chipset, and there are more than a few interesting details among the new chip’s capabilities, not least its dual ARM cores and ability to deliver both CDMA and GSM connectivity.
The HTC Touch Pro2 isn't the only QWERTY handset Verizon are unveiling today, but it's certainly far more traditionally-shaped than the Nokia 7705 Twist. The square device swivels open to reveal its keyboard, as well as packing a 3-megapixel camera, EVDO Rev.0 (not Rev.A), a 2.5mm headphones jack and a 2.4-inch LCD display.
Verizon has become the third US carrier to offer the HTC Touch Pro2, with the slide-out QWERTY Windows Mobile smartphone priced at $199.99 following a mail-in $100 rebate. That means it neatly undercuts the Sprint and T-Mobile versions, though still offers the same jam-packed spec sheet.
