Wednesday, April 27, 2011

MobileCrunch

MobileCrunch

Link to MobileCrunch

“Slow Photography” Is Like Hipstamatic In Real Life

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 04:14 PM PDT

Having a camera on your phone is certainly convenient, but the use thereof always seems somewhat “light,” you know? The little fake shutter noise and slightly washed-out colors seem to make any occasion trivial. What we need is something that makes taking a picture with your phone a drawn-out, dignified process.

Oh, there is such a thing? Tell me more.

Read the rest…

Casio’s New G’zOne Commando Handset Comes To Verizon

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 01:39 PM PDT


While the name “G’zOne Commando” is totally ridiculous, the phone actually looks pretty solid. And by solid, I mean solid. The Commando is ruggedized and can be submersed in water, exposed to extreme temperatures, and survive the other vicissitudes our phones are often subjected to, by accident or design. It runs Android 2.2 with a custom skin from Casio, and has the usual Verizon stuff on it as well.

The screen is 3.6″ and 800×480, which should make it quite sharp, and it’s got 512MB of RAM but an unspecified processor. At 5.1×2.6×0.6″, it’s a bit large, likely due to its unusual shape and rugged shell. It has as big pair of speakers on the front, since apparently people want big speakers on their phone. The few times I use the speakerphone, I always wish my phone was better in that respect, but that’s maybe twice a month.

It also uses XT9 instead of Swype, and has a “snap out menu” that actually looks pretty cool, though I can imagine it not running well (like other custom graphics and transitions) when the phone is bogged down:

And lastly there are a number of adventure-oriented apps like compass, pedometer, tide tables, that sort of thing. Nice of them to include, though I get the feeling they (like the Verizon stuff) will be unremovable.

The Commando will be available on Verizon for $200 with a new contract starting on April 28. More info here (Flash warning).

PSA: Hacked Your iPhone To Tether For Free? AT&T’s Going To Charge You Automatically

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 12:31 PM PDT

Sorry, Jailbreakers; looks like the free ride might be over.

A few weeks back, a good number of folks who had been using a not-quite-official method of tethering their AT&T iPhones received a friendly little alert:

AT&T Free Msg: Did you know tethering your Smartphone to a computer requires a tethering plan?

In other words: they know what you’re up to, Buster Brown, and they’d rather you stopped. Now, AT&T is following up with a second, not-so-subtle message: knock it off, or you’re gonna feel it on your bill.

The text:

AT&T Free Msg: We've noticed you're continuing to enjoy the tethering feature with your smartphone service. Remember, you need a tethering plan ($45/mo, incl. 4GB) to use this feature, so we're planning to update your line with the required plan soon. Visit att.com/dataplans or call 888-860-6789.

We sent a note over to AT&T, and they confirmed the message as legit. If they detect you’re hackin’ up a piping hot bowl of tether soup, they’ll send you a note or two in hopes that you’ll either end your tethering adventures or plunk down the cash for the tethering plan. Continue to tether without coughin’ up, and they’ll add the $45 plan to your monthly bill automatically. Prediction: AT&T’s going to have to deal with a lot of pissed off parents over this one.

We asked how they were determining who was tethering through unofficial means (I figured it might just be folks with curiously high data usage), but their answer doesn’t really dive into the methodology: “The network is able to determine if a smartphone customer is using the device as a broadband connection for other devices.”

The most unfortunate bit: as far as I can tell, even folks on the grandfathered unlimited data plan — the one you have to give up if you want in on the legit tethering solution — are getting these messages.


Steve Jobs In Carbonite Is The Best iPhone Decal I’ve Seen Yet

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 12:26 PM PDT

While the Polaroid skin is pretty cool and, practically speaking, a case is a better option for several reasons, this Steve Jobs frozen in carbonite iPhone decal from S6 is probably the nerdiest/coolest phone decoration in the galaxy right now.

You can also get it as a print or shirt, in case you’re too cool, or not cool enough, to have an iPhone.

[via Uncrate]

Verizon Goes Ahead And Confirms It: DROID Incredible 2 Coming April 28th for $200

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 11:31 AM PDT

Verizon was the only carrier that sold the original Droid Incredible. HTC announced a follow-up handset called the Incredible S.

Yeah, that’s pretty much all it took for everyone to figure out that Verizon would be picking up the Incredible S sooner or later.

Sure enough, VZW has just dropped a big ol’ bag of official on the Incredible S, though it’ll be dubbed the “Incredible 2″ from here on out. So, when’s it coming? Surprisingly soon. Just two days from now, in fact: April 28th, for $200 on a 2-year contract.. Take a peek behind the jump for an overview of the specs.

Droid Incredible 2 Specs:

  • 4 inch WVGA Super LCD
  • 8 megapixel rear camera with dual flash
  • 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera
  • 1 Ghz CPU
  • Bluetooth 2.1
  • 768 MB Ram
  • 1.1 GB of internal storage (with microSD support for additional storage)

Alas, this handset has a glaring Achilles’: no LTE/4G support. With Verizon expanding their LTE/4G network at a breakneck pace and LTE handsets already on the shelves, are you really looking to lock into a non-LTE handset for 2 years?

Unknown GSM HP/Palm Phone Passes Through The FCC Featuring webOS 2.3, Inductive Charging (Palm Pre 3?)

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 07:59 AM PDT


The Palm Pre 3 might have just passed through the FCC. The document package in question is mostly locked under a confidentiality agreement so there’s no way to be certain. However, while there are no pics or user manual, there is a wireless test report that lists some specs and names the software version as “WebOS 2.3.” The wireless chipset specs in the FCC docs match up nicely with the specs found on the Palm Pre 3 product page. There’s even a brief mention of an inductive charger in the FCC docs, which lends to the thought that this is the Palm Pre 3.

HP previously stated that the Palm Pre 3 would drop sometime in the summer. That’s about the right timeline for the device to just now be passing through the FCC’s testing facilities. Chances are the device, whether it’s the Palm Pre 3 or not, will launch prior to the confidentiality agreement’s 180 day limit.

Your White iPhones Are Now Available – In Belgium

Posted: 26 Apr 2011 07:42 AM PDT

It appears – appears, mind you – that the white iPhone is alive and well and now living in Belgium. A website called Webstore.be apparently got a shipment of the phones in early and is now flogging them online for folks in the Benelux region.

Obviously these could be fake as frites without mayonaise, but let’s, for just a moment, bask in the glorious possibility of existence.

Product Page via eng


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