MobileCrunch

Video: The Evolution Of Mobile, As Told Through A Fancy 3D Projection Setup
U.S. Senate To Hold Hearing On AT&T’s Acquisition of T-Mobile
TerreStar’s Genus Satellite Phone Goes On Sale To The (Rich) General Public
BlackBerry Torch 2 Gets A Pre-Announcement Hands-On, As Well
Verizon Wireless To Stop Offering One-Year Contracts On April 17th

Video: The Evolution Of Mobile, As Told Through A Fancy 3D Projection Setup

Posted: 08 Apr 2011 11:11 AM PDT

What happens when you take a couple of talented dudes, a bunch of projectors, and a handful of phones spray-painted white to act as a canvas?

This video.

Sure, it’s an advert — but it’s a pretty dang cool one. Seriously: a cameo from a Zach Morris phone and some insane 3D Snake effects flying out of an oldschool Nokia? I don’t even know what Vodafone’s selling here, and I still want to throw my money at them.

(Random tangent: It’d be cool to see this video as shot by a fixed camera, as opposed to a handheld. I kept expecting the Cloverfield monster to jump out and eat the dude filming it.)

U.S. Senate To Hold Hearing On AT&T’s Acquisition of T-Mobile

Posted: 08 Apr 2011 10:44 AM PDT

AT&T has a bit of a mountain to climb before their acquisition of T-Mobile can go through. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse doesn’t want it to happen. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is dubious of the deal. Even an FCC Commissioner has issues with the whole thing.

AT&T is still pretty confident that they’ll have no trouble pushin’ the deal through — but the real battle begins May 11th. According to Bloomberg, that’s when they’ll face their first (presumably of many) challenges: a hearing with the Senates Judiciary antitrust committee.

Time to get your bets in, folks: will the deal go through? What will AT&T have to give up to get those oh-so-important stamps of approval?

TerreStar’s Genus Satellite Phone Goes On Sale To The (Rich) General Public

Posted: 08 Apr 2011 09:37 AM PDT

Do you find yourself stranded on deserted islands or in post-apocalyptic situations often? Are you a secret spy (don’t answer that)? Don’t mind using a 2 year old operating system that was already antiquated by the time it launched? Have $900 sitting around to throw at a phone? Non-existent-friend, do I have a deal for you!

As part of AmazonWireless’ beta program, TerreStar has decided to offer the Genus satellite phone — a handset usually only available to government agencies and super big corporations — to the general public. The catch(es): it’s running Windows Mobile 6.5, the specs are pretty weak by today’s standards, and it’s $900 friggin’ dollars. Oh, and satellite calls cost something like 65 cents per minute.

RACE YOU GUYS TO THE LINE!

BlackBerry Torch 2 Gets A Pre-Announcement Hands-On, As Well

Posted: 08 Apr 2011 09:05 AM PDT

Line’em up, and shoot’em down. Following up on his hands-ons with the full touchscreen BlackBerry Monaco, and the half touchscreen half keyboard BlackBerry Bold Touch, Boy Genius is back with yet another installment of “bursting RIM’s bubble”. This time, it’s the BlackBerry Torch 2.

The rundown:

According to BG, the Torch 2 “is really what the original Torch should have been”, touching on the fact that the original Torch was grossly underpowered.
The unit’s outward appearance is more or less identical.
Known specs: 1.2 Ghz CPU, 640×480 display, BB OS 6.1
Should be announced alongside the Monaco/Bold Touch at BlackBerry World, with a launch date on AT&T somewhere around july

Check out the full hands-on gallery over here.

Verizon Wireless To Stop Offering One-Year Contracts On April 17th

Posted: 08 Apr 2011 08:24 AM PDT

Don’t mind making a commitment, but don’t want to commit to two whole years with the same carrier? Verizon’s gonna have one less option for you, soon.

Come April 17th, the ol’ VeeZeeDub will be nixing the one-year contract option. Their comment:

“Keep in mind, a majority of our customers select a two-year contract when buying our devices, so we are responding to what our customers want. They still have options available, such as two-year contracts, month-to-month and prepaid plans.”

Maybe the majority of customers select two-year contracts because it’s pretty much never mentioned that one-year is an option?

[Via Phonescoop]