Mobile Phone News

In the “press releases we missed while going out of our gourds on the show floor at CES” department, Sprint’s Boost Mobile is getting back into CDMA in a big way this month. It wasn’t long ago that Boost swore off its CDMA tendencies as iDEN started to heat up again against all odds — thanks largely to the release of hot (well, hot by iDEN standards, anyway) devices like the Stature — but CDMA makes a lot more sense at this time that the parent company has scooped up Virgin and smartly has no interest in running two separate, unrelated prepaid divisions. Anyhow, the gist of the announcement is that Boost will be reinvesting heavily in its $50 monthly unlimited plan for CDMA devices and has brought on three inaugural handsets to help kick it off: the Mirro and Incognito (Sprint version pictured) from Sanyo alongside the venerable BlackBerry Curve 8330. The Mirro features a slick, mirrored finish (therefore the name, we suspect) along with a 1.3 megapixel cam; it clocks in at $99.99. The Incognito steps up to $149.99 with a hidden set of external controls, a 2 megapixel cam, a full QWERTY keyboard inside — it’s got social network integration, to boot, and users can add 3G data to their plan for another $10 a month. Same goes for the 8330, which retails for $249.99; all three prices seem high until you remember that Boost doesn’t do contracts. All three handsets are available at this time.

Boost gets back into CDMA game in a big way originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As promised, the SCP-2700 has come to Sprint, bringing that famous Sanyo… ah, “sensibility” to the low-cost QWERTY game. Don’t expect EV-DO, but you’ll still make off with AGPS, a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and a dedicated text button (surprisingly important in this market segment) for your hard-earned $29.99 on contract in your choice of Impulsive Pink and Deep Blue.

Upgrading a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard device to 6.5 is like putting a fresh coat of paint on your rusted-out ‘78 Duster, but in the scheme of things, a 6.5 upgrade is still far, far better than a punch in the face. On that note, we’re excited to hear that an official update is in the works for Verizon’s Ozone from HTC, the CDMA remix of the Snap that launched with 6.1 mere months before 6.5 became widely available. Actually, it’s more than “in the works” — it’s available right this very second, just not through any official channels. As usual, it’s xda-developers coming through with a copy of the update, so apply it at your own risk; in reality, 6.5 brings very little to the table for Standard handsets, so you shouldn’t feel too bad if you wuss out and wait for Verizon to give you the blessed version. Just don’t be surprised if you end up waiting half a year for it.

Official WinMo 6.5 upgrade for HTC Ozone leaked originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.