Filed under: Handsets, China Unicom, Apple, OS X, China Mobile

Barely a fortnight after Apple began talking with China Mobile about getting the iPhone into the ginormous Chinese market, it seems that negotiations are off — or still on, or something. Yesterday, Nanfang Daily reported that China Mobile’s CEO felt that the “iPhone model was not suitable for China,” but unnamed reporters suggested that the real reason behind the call-off was the inability for both entities to agree on — surprise, surprise — a revenue sharing model. Today, however, a report over at Bloomberg notes that Apple has in fact not ended discussions with China Mobile, and moreover, it was said to have “denied newspaper reports” claiming otherwise. ‘Course, we’ve got two sides of the story here, and while Apple may feel that there’s still room to negotiate, China Mobile may see things quite differently. Time will tell, we guess.

[Via Macworld]
Read - Nanfang Daily report
Read - Bloomberg report

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, GSM, EV-DO, CDMA

So when Motorola gets around to launching the dual-mode GSM / CDMA Z6c slider, these are pretty much the high-style shots you’re going to see in publications. A little swankier and more refined than the harsh light offered by the FCC’s labs, eh? On behalf of world travelers everywhere, we await thee!

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

%Gallery-11135%

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, UTStarcom, Verizon Wireless, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA

We’ve been patiently waiting for a national US carrier to launch a version of HTC’s Libra for nearly a year, and by golly, it looks like it might finally happen (and not in the hideous green Verizon was showing back in the day, either). The UTStarcom-sourced XV5800 lies somewhere between the Vox and the S730; although it shares 3G functionality with the S730, it’s from the same vintage as the Vox (its GSM cousin) and has launched on a number of carriers. No word on a price or release date just yet, but it’d be a nice Festivus gift if we got ‘er before the end of the year, yeah?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

%Gallery-11137%

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, T-Mobile, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA

It was only a matter of time til T-Mobile’s answer to Orange’s Touch Dual arrived, and it has, in the form of the MDA “Touch Plus”. Thankfully, T-Mobile has also opted for the 16-key layout, and aside from the obvious branding we don’t expect any surprises — by surprises, we mean, anything new — in the device. Word from Paul at MoDaCo is that Orange has some type of exclusivity deal, so don’t hold your breath if you were hoping to gift yourself this holiday season. Check the read link for a glance at the manual.

[Thanks, Paul at MoDaCo]

Read - MDA Touch Plus manual [Warning: PDF link]

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Culture, Handsets, Misc

We love when people appreciate a mobile enough to immortalize it via sugary sculpture and this seems to be the case for this Sony Ericsson K850i created by Michelle Wibowo of Michellecakes for Carphone Warehouse. We’ve seen keepin’ it real fake cake before, but this is far “sweeter” and definitely “takes the cake” — all puns intended and double quoted for those that missed them, and yeah, we know — for attention to detail. We’re not sure about the back story here, but suffice it to say we really don’t care as we’re more interested in how we can get a slice of K850i and find something cool to have sculpted for us. Any ideas friends?

[Thanks, Michael]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola

Rumors are circulating that Motorola is prepped to launch a series of multimedia handsets under the ZiNE brand. Meanwhile, Moto was just spotted (November 26th, to be exact) begging the USPTO for a trademark on “DEXT.” That’s the rather serious looking mark pictured to the right which sounds like a mashup of DECT and NEXT. The request covers “mobile telephones, pagers, radio transceivers, electronic personal organizers, headsets, microphones, speakers” and the related software for such things as the transmission of audio and video. We’ll just have to wait and see whether this has anything to do with their accidentally on purposely “leaked” 2008 lineup.

[Via Trademork]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, EV-DO

Oh HTC, you cads. What did we find while carefully sifting through mountains of seemingly useless and definitely boring FCC data? Well, for starters, we unearthed reports on the HTC-made CLIO200, a heretofore unknown device that appears to be making its way through the approval process. Using our Miss Cleo-like “sixth sense,” we’ve discovered that the unit will sport CDMA, EV-DO, 802.11b/g, and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity. The FCC is referring to this little guy as a UMPC (and it does have the telltale air vents of a such a device), though it also seems like it could be a mobile phone of the TyTn variety (at least from the looks of the diagrams depicting it being held to a user’s ear). Despite this minor confusion, we can promise you that at the very least it is certainly not a Sony Clie, nor an Clio NXT. Want to get “all” the “details?” Direct your browser towards the FCC site and immerse yourself in a world of impenetrable digits and charts.

Update: As some of our astute readers have pointed out, this appears to be nothing more than the HTC Shift, no stranger to the pages of Engadget. We have no idea why the company has decided to start calling the device the Clio, but at least now that this mystery has been solved, we can all get some much needed rest.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, Others, Windows Mobile, GSM, China Mobile

When customers finally get to rush in on networks running China’s homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G standard next year, it looks like there’ll be at least one honest-to-goodness smartphone in the mix. China Mobile has revealed that Inventec has supplied it with the S876 for testing, a Windows Mobile 6 Professional device rocking a 2.4 inch touchscreen, 3 megapixel cam with autofocus, touch wheel navigation, and dual-mode support for seamless switching between TD-SCDMA and GSM — especially important considering that the new network will only be available in 10 markets to start. Seeing how this is the largest carrier in the world’s most populous country, getting 3G devices in the pipe seems like an automatic boon for anyone involved — let alone the network’s first Windows Mobile-based smartphone — so we suspect the S876’s arrival in the second quarter of next year is going to make it a darned good time to be an Inventec employee.

[Via the::unwired]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, E-TEN

Like the just-announced glofiish X600 but wanted that certain something extra? You know, that intangible feature that could’ve set the X600 well apart from the crowd. Okay, here’s an idea: how about an FM transmitter? Yep, the X650 goes all Fusic on us by taking the X600’s formula, changing the color scheme just a smidge, and adding an FM transmitter for sending its tunes onto whatever radio in the vicinity that’s tuned to the right frequency (according to the filed user’s manua. Unfortunately, the X650 gains no 3G advantage over its cousin, but we’re hearing it might rock a VGA display versus the X600’s QVGA — and if that’s the case, screw the FM transmitter, 640 x 480 is the real reason to get this sucker.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This

Filed under: Handsets, T-Mobile

Well, would you look at that. If not for the gaudy packaging, $69.99 price tag and blatant Oasis Media branding, we’d swear the Playr was a T-Mobile Shadow (or HTC’s P3300, we guess). Yep, this knockoff does a fairly decent job of mirroring its inspirer, sports 2GB of storage and a miniSD expansion slot, comes with 35 free eMUSIC downloads and includes a built-in media player for good measure. Interestingly, we get the feeling that this thing won’t actually send or receive calls, but if you’re quick, no one will even notice.

[Thanks, Rick]

Update: Turns out this thing is actually the MachSpeed Oasis Video Player, and is readily available on Amazon (among other places). Still, it could stand some originality in the design department. [Thanks, Rob!]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Popularity: 1% [?]

Share This