Mobile Phone News

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Windows Mobile

HTC is keeping the S740 under wraps at IFA, but the crafty folks at newmobile managed to score some time with the new QWERTY slider, and it looks pretty decent. Thinner than the Touch Pro, the keyboard is basically the same, with the same sort of stealth-look backplate as the Diamond. No motion sensor, so the display only rotates when the slide is open, but that’s really all we know — the unit wasn’t running a production-ready version of Windows Mobile, so impressions are a little up in the air. Hit the read link for more shots.

[Via Coolsmartphone]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

With the dull roar of frenzied anticipation (okay, that might be over the top, but you know what we mean) surrounding the launch of the Touch Diamond in all its variants around the globe, why would HTC take a step back in time to get one of its older models approved in a new flavor? Don’t get us wrong — for its day, the Touch Cruise was one of the hottest Windows Mobile devices going — but the Touch Diamond has seriously muted an overwhelming majority of the WinMo kit out there, including much of HTC’s older lineup. Put head to head, the VGA display and TouchFLO 3D alone are enough to make sure the newer handset spanks the Polaris, but for whatever reason, Mr. Chou and his gang saw fit to repurpose it with HSDPA 850 / 1900 and send it through an FCC lab. We’re not sure whether this will end up on a carrier anywhere, but with the front-facing cam, we’d probably rule out AT&T off the bat.

Update: Touche, there’s a Touch Cruise already in circulation with 850 / 1900 3G — but the question remains, why was this just approved? Thanks, everybody!

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Software, UMTS, Apple

Turns out there may have been some legitimacy to those nagging feelings that something just wasn’t Truly right about iPhone firmware 2.0.2 — a build many initially hoped would be the holy grail to cure the iPhone 3G’s reception woes. in this place’s where it gets a little weird, though: a “source close to AT&T,” so RoughlyDrafted claims, says that 2.0 and 2.0.1 are actually the culprits responsible for holding back 2.0.2 from greatness, not lousiness in 2.0.2 itself. The story goes that the older versions have faulty power control software in their radios, forcing base stations to connect to phones at higher powers than they’d normally have to, which in turn leads to base stations running plumb out of power — and once that happens, you get dropped calls, bad reception, and lousy Dat. rates, among other UMTS ails. Following that logic, the network should improve on its own over time as more and more owners update to 2.0.2, which explains AT&T’s uncharacteristic text message to owners urging them to take the plunge. This all sounds plausible, we guess, but if 2.0 and 2.0.1 were really screwing with base stations that badly, wouldn’t owners of other 3G phones be affected equally?

[Via mocoNews]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments