Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Sprint, EV-DO, CDMA

Motorola, the patron saint of iDEN, is departing its own safety net in preparation for the imminent launch of Sprint’s next-gen push-to-talk network based on EV-DO Rev. A and Qualcomm’s QChat technology. The V950 flip — unannounced, save for an FCC mention — appears to maintain some elements of the ruggedness its iDEN line is famous for, but by the same token, there’s a certain… shall we say, CDMA-ness that undeniably exudes from the new piece. There’s a camera, external music controls, and microSD expansion, too, so it’s clear that Sprint won’t just be targeting this one at the construction worker types. No word on a release date, but the first volley of QChat-enabled devices should be launching any minute now, so we could theoretically see this in the next few weeks.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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

Well, here are three that we didn’t see coming or anything — Verizon has officially announced the Motorola Q9c, LG enV(2), and HTC-sourced XV6900 today, all for April availability. The Moto Q9c is a more business-savvy version of the consumer-focused Q9m that was launched on Verizon late last year, with the carrier playing up the new model’s VZ Navigator support, Windows Mobile 6 Standard load (yippee?), and — unfortunately for those whose companies distrust photography — a 1.3 megapixel camera. This one will launch for $249.99 after rebate on a two-year plan.

Next up we have the enV(2) — a phone we mistakenly identified previously as the enV2 because we just never could’ve seen those bonus parenthesis coming — which succeeds the wildly popular enV and injects a fresh dose of industrial design. Features include a 2 megapixel cam, 2.4 inch internal display accompanied by a smaller screen up front that’s just big enough for doing calling duty, microSD slot, and the flip-up QWERTY keyboard the enV series is famous for. It’ll run $129.99 after rebate on contract when it launches next month.

Finally, the XV6900 brings Verizon in line with Sprint’s Touch, though in a far paler shade. It features the full host of Windows Mobile 6 Professional goodies alongside a 2 megapixel camera, microSD slot, 256MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, Bluetooth, and HTC’s TouchFLO interface. Like the others, it’s slated for April availability and will run $349.99 on contract after $50 rebate.

Read - Motorola Q9c
Read - LG enV(2)
Read - Verizon XV6900

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Alltel, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA, US Cellular

Don’t you dare say green wasn’t already in style, as in all actuality, it’s US Cellular and Alltel following the crowd yet again. As the run-up to CTIA 2008 continues, the aforesaid outfits have both announced that a lime green variant of the Motorola Q9c will soon be on their shelves. Aside from that, prospective customers can also snap up the WinMo 6-powered Q9c in licorice, and of course, they’ll find a 1.3-megapixel camera, 2.4-inch display and 128MB of onboard memory. As for pricing, you can call Alltel’s version your own for $99.99 on contract, and while US Cellular is being mum on the subject, both providers will have ‘em available “this summer.”

[Via CNET]

Read - Alltel’s announcement
Read - US Cellular’s announcement

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Filed under: Handsets, Sony Ericsson, ATT, GSM, EDGE, UMTS

It’s not a surprise, but it’s still overwhelmingly refreshing to see Sony Ericsson finally (and we do mean finally) bringing some 3G action onto AT&T. The “a” variant of the glossy, colorful Z750 clamshell will be hitting AT&T in an official capacity come early April, featuring an OLED external display cleverly concealed by the phone’s translucent shell, a 2 megapixel camera and media player both backed up with Memory Stick Micro M2 expansion, stereo Bluetooth, and of course, that lovely HSDPA 850 / 1900 that’s eluded Sony Ericsson’s AT&T offerings for far, far too long. Look for it to go out the door for $49.99 after a $100 rebate.

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Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Installs gone wrong certainly aren’t all that uncommon, but the tale told by one VTECnical of the 8thcivic.com forum is undoubtedly a cut above the rest, and could well have you reconsidering that suction cup option. As VTECnical tells it, he bought a Pioneer AVIC Z2 GPS unit and some other components from Circuit City last July for more $3,000 and decided to let their installers do the installation work for him — apparently after he was told that it’d slide into his Honda Civic without any modifications.The problems then allegedly began when the installer whipped out a heat gun, which was purportedly intended to be used to mold a mounting guide for the GPS unit but instead wound up melting one of the Civic’s heating ducts. As if that wasn’t enough, the installer apparently also used tape to hold the GPS unit in place, installed the antennae on the inside of the car instead of the outside, and used a glue gun to install the speakers instead of bolting them in place. All told, that apparently not only resulted in over $12,000 worth of damages but, according to the estimate from a Honda dealership, left the car “unsafe to drive.” For its part, Circuit City apparently did eventually remove the equipment and refunded the full $3,000+, but VTECnical is now left dealing with Circuity City’s third party insurance company to recover the rest of the damages.

[Via Autoblog]

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Filed under: HDTV, Media PCs, Storage

Okoro Media Systems has been offering up well-spec’d HTPCs for quite some time, but it has finally seen fit to jump on the flash-based storage bandwagon. The firm’s new ZX series of Extreme Digital Entertainment Systems gets going with the OMS-ZX100, which comes standard with a 32GB SSD (for the OS and such) and a 1TB HDD for media storage. Moreover, you’ll find a 3.0GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor, 3GB of DDR2 RAM, NVIDIA’s 256MB GeForce 8600 GT graphics card, Blu-ray / HD DVD playback and your choice of “any automotive color” on the chassis. ‘Tis a shame it costs $5,995 to even join the ZX100 club, but look to spend even more if you’re hankering for a built-in CableCARD tuner and WiFi adapter.

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Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA

After seeing it kicked around the Net for a few months, it’s good to see the BlackBerry Curve 8330 finally go live on Verizon Wireless. Well, almost — you’ll have to wait until May to lay thumb to QWERTY while riding that cool EV-DO wave of data. It’ll cost you $270 after a $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract with further discounts available when signing up for eligible voice and data plans. Your cash will be rewarded with the wee 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6-inches / 4-ounces curve sporting a 320 x 240 pixel display, 2-megapixel camera, media player, stereo Bluetooth audio, microSD / SDHC expansion, and 260 minutes talk / 11 days standby. Unfortunately, it’s missing WiFi like the early prototype and GPS like the rumored Sprint version coming in April.

Update: Sorry, scratch that. It does have GPS which Verizon touts as vzNavigator.

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Filed under: Handsets, LG, GSM, EDGE

Remember the KU990 Viewty? Of course you do, well, meet its twin — but decidedly duller — sibling, the KE990 — notice that E? That means EDGE. This handset apparently brings most or all of the same goods to the table as the KU990 did but lacks HSDPA and dumps tri-band for dual. So yeah, rather than stuffing this thing with another HSDPA band — ah-frickin’-hem — LG has chosen to head in another, less interesting direction by stripping it of some of what made it glorious in the first place. Of course, if rumors of it going to China prove true, we get that removing the 3G radio will improve battery life and shrink the price a bit for that market — as not all markets want that 3G speed — but this still hurts as we’re way cooler with more, better, faster around here. Hopefully we’ll hear a little something announced at CTIA but until then, we’ll simply pretend none of this ever happened.

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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA

PhoneMag is reporting on a post at the Esato forums that mentions the N96 may well be getting itself an update before it even hits the shelves — this is a bit friend of a friend stuff, so please think rumor while reading. Word has it that the lowly LED flash is being replaced with a Xenon number which has some advantages in low-light situations — such as useful pictures. Of course, there’s always a rub, the dual-LED version that’s being replaced could have been useful for shooting video and its replacement isn’t going to fill that void — and is a wee bit more power hungry. We guess we won’t know ’til Nokia lets us know, but we’ll do our best to shake an answer out of them next week in Las Vegas. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on which flash would make you the happiest N96 owner — or, perhaps we could have both please Nokia?

[Via PhoneMag]

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Filed under: Handsets, LG, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA

The lads at phoneArena have gotten their mitts on the first shot of the LG VX8560 and a new pic of the upcoming LG VX9700. The VX9700 hasn’t been priced yet, but word has it we can expect it to be landing in Q2 and that it could be called the LG Dare. The new kid on the block, the LG VX8560 seems to be sporting a camera above the front display, has a large d-pad / dial on the front, and looks to be a pretty thin handset for those looking for that RAZR feel. Sadly, that’s about it for info on that device, though with CTIA just around the corner, we’re bound to be getting some more newsworthy info in the near term.

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