Friday, June 3, 2011

MobileCrunch

MobileCrunch

Link to MobileCrunch

The iOS App Store Goes Down

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 12:20 PM PDT

Having trouble pulling down the latest build of Angry Birds: Whatever Holiday Or Movie Is Currently Relevant edition? Don’t sweat it — you’re not alone.

The iOS App Store is having some trouble this morning, it seems. While product pages and searches all seem to be doing well enough, any attempts to actually download or install anything are being met with the oh-so-helpful error up above. Given how crucial the App Store is for iOS and all of the indie developers out there that count on it as their sole source of income, Apple will almost certainly have things back up and running quick. That is, unless they’re too distracted with the the return of PSN.

Update: Looks like it’s slowly lurching back to life. We got a few apps to install, then the errors started sprouting up again. It may be a few minutes (hours?) before all of the servers come back online, but things seem to be on the up and up.

Update #2: Seems to be completely back up now!

T-Mobile myTouch Slide 4G Gets Caught On Blurrycam

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 11:35 AM PDT

Gather ’round, friends, as a glimpse of a once mythical beast is unveiled to the world. Nay, not Bigfoot — something smaller, and with more buttons. Oh, and this one plays friendly with T-Mobile’s kinda-sorta-4G HSPA+ network! Can Bigfoot do that? No. He can’t. Because Bigfoot isn’t real.

Tucked within that splash of blue jeans and blur you see up top is none other than the T-Mobile myTouch Slide 4G — which, as far T-Mobile is concerned, doesn’t exist yet.

While the pair of shots obtained by BGR leave a good bit to the imagination, the tipster came armed with a few details to help flesh out your mental imagery:

  • The device is said to be “much faster than the myTouch 4G”
  • The myTouch Slide 4G packs an 8 megapixel camera on the back, as opposed to the 5 megapixel camera found on its predecessor, the Slide 3G.
  • Will ship with Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread), running the latest version of HTC Sense
  • The display is neither 3D nor particularly stunning, with the tipster saying it’s “nothing to write home about”
  • Should ship sometime before mid-July

So far, so… eh. It’s certainly not too shabby — but it’s nothin’ special, either. Between the G2 and the Sidekick 4G, T-Mobile sort of already has the whole sliding-keyboard thing on lock; does the myTouch 4G have anything up its sleeve to make itself stand out?

Huawei Planning Android Smartphone Launch Later This Year

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 10:22 AM PDT

The rumor mill's churning away today, spreading word of a possible "high-end" Android smartphone from Chinese manufacturer Huawei. According to V3, Huawei's smartphone (which, sadly, hasn’t been caught on camera just yet) will run Android 2.3 with a "custom 3D interface" on top. V3 also claims that the smartphone will look a bit like the HTC Desire S with a 3.7-inch touchscreen.

Whispers around the rumor mill pin this one’s internal name as the “Huawei Vision” — but, as always, that’s totally subject to change before launch. According to V3, we should see the device in the second half of the year.

[via EuroDroid]

Sprint: HTC EVO 4G To Get Android 2.3 Gingerbread On June 6th

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 10:11 AM PDT

You know, it’s been a big ol’ week for Gingerbread updates. The Verizon Droid Pro got the update treatment on Tuesday, with the Droid X hopping on the Gingerbread train just one day later. That latter update didn’t exactly go off without a hitch… but the updates must go on.

Next up in line for a taste of Gingerbread: the HTC EVO 4G. Sprint confirmed this morning that EVOs will start receiving updates automatically over-the-air on June 6th. Can’t wait that long? Beginning June 3rd, users will be able to manually initiate the update process by tapping their way to Settings >> System Updates >> HTC Software Updates.


Apple Wants To Be It’s Own Carrier; MVNO Patent Application Extended

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 10:00 AM PDT

One of the greatest struggles I've had to face with my iPhone is the fact that I have two different companies to deal with. When I have a hardware issue, I'm Apple Store-bound. If I have a service issue, I'm headed to the nearest AT&T location. But wouldn't it be nice if Apple just had its own network? It would be really nice, and it just may happen, according to a recent patent application extension filed by Apple.

The patent application, which was originally filed in 2006 and just extended recently, describes plans to set up Apple as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), but with a little tweak. Normally MVNOs lease wholesale mobile network capacity from just one carrier, such as Sprint or Verizon. Apple, on the other hand, has plans to make contracts and relationships with all the carriers, with its own Home Location Register (a database that stores the SIM card details of every network's customers.

From there, carriers will be able to place bids for leasing their services out to Apple, which will then pass those offers along to iPhone customers. A hypothetical example would be that Verizon has just enhanced its network in your area, with a fair amount of spare capacity. Meanwhile, Sprint's network is completely overloaded in your area. Well, idle capacity only costs Verizon money, so with Apple as a multi-carrier-supported MVNO, Verizon can offer Apple a discounted rate on that idle capacity and iPhone users in the area then have the option to use Verizon's rather vacant network instead of sticking with Sprint's overloaded one. Calls and data will be cheaper, and Verizon still gets to make some money off of its previously unused capacity. Basically, it's a win-win for everyone but Sprint.

So just imagine if that little scenario was going down worldwide, instead of just in your neighborhood. iPhone owners would basically get the best service at the lowest rates anywhere they go, which sounds pretty freaking sweet. At least for us. The big four carriers are sure to hate it, of course, because they were given a monopoly rights over radio spectrum and have since used market inefficiencies to their advantage. Until some regulatory changes take place, those carriers are bound to stand in the way of Apple's MVNO dream.

[via Unwired View]

I Spy With My Little Eye: HDMI On The Xperia Play?

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 07:45 AM PDT

A mystery has surfaced with regards to the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play smartphone, in that one black-sheep unit apparently has support for HDMI out. Since its release, gamers have grumbled over the fact that the handheld multi-purpose gaming device can't play games over HDMI, in cases when the Play's rather small screen just won't cut it.

Many had hoped that Sony Ericsson would release an adapter converting micro-USB to HDMI somewhere along the line, but that has yet to make an appearance. In the above photo, the cord connected to the HD TV hooks straight into the left side of the smartphone. On current retail handsets, the aforementioned HDMI port is simply non-existent.

It's totally possible that this could be a developer unit with extra ports, but Engadget claims to have sifted through a good chunk of developer whitepapers this morning and came up with no answers. If dreams come true, this is a revised version of the hardware that we'll see sometime in the future.

[via SE Xperia]

Caution: Android 2.3 Gingerbread OTA Update Bricks Some Droid X

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 06:47 AM PDT

We're seeing a number of comments on MobileCrunch, as well as other forums such as DroidForums, Yahoo Answers, and Android Central Forums, notifying us that the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OTA update has bricked some of the Motorola Droid X smartphones for which it was destined.

The affected Droid X owners say that after updating, the phone goes to a black screen, and won't reboot unless the battery is reset. Even then, most people still end up with a bricked phone. On the other hand, some users had a perfectly breezy OTA update and are enjoying the power of Android 2.3 Gingerbread as I write. Use caution.


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)