Engadget Mobile Gallery

HTC Hero / Eris mega faceoff on video

by Paul Miller posted Nov 6th 2009 at 5:45PM

Now that we've got the DROID ERIS in the mix, we're up to our ears in HTC Hero-derivative devices. We decided to sit the whole crew (GSM, Sprint and Verizon editions) down for a little modeling session, and we're finding ourselves reticent to pick a favorite. There are really plusses and minuses to each of them, but any way you lean it's a pretty good handset with some perhaps overly bulky software, a wonderful pricepoint (on Verizon, anyway) and probably a limited time in the sun with upcoming Android 2.0 devices, faster processors and wild new screens rolling on in. Check the video out after the break and you can make up your own mind.

Continue reading HTC Hero / Eris mega faceoff on video

BlackBerry Curve 8530 now official on Sprint

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 5th 2009 at 3:03PM

As we revealed this morning, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 -- a CDMA remix of the 8520 now available on T-Mobile -- is coming to Sprint to do battle with its Verizon-branded cousin. Unlike Verizon, which promises a November 20 launch for $99.99 on contract after rebate, Sprint isn't revealing pricing or availability details for the low-end BlackBerry -- but naturally, if they're smart, the answers will be "cheap" and "soon," respectively.

Sprint getting BlackBerry Curve 8530, too

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 5th 2009 at 11:12AM

Great news, Sprint-ites (or whatever it is that you like to be called): the BlackBerry Curve 8530 that was just announced for Verizon today isn't a Big Red exclusive. We just reached out to a Sprint spokesperson for comment on the device's future in yellow clothes, and sure enough, it's coming; we don't know when exactly, but we imagine it'd be in the same time frame as Verizon's, which launches on the 20th of this month. This would become Sprint's first optical trackpad-equipped BlackBerry device -- and with both EV-DO and WiFi on board, it should be a solid option if the price falls in line with the $100 that its rival is charging. More on this shortly, we suspect.

Sprint marketing exec talks Android, WiMAX, WinMo 7, and more

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 6:13AM

Sprint's vice president of consumer marketing David Owens sat down with the community at large last week to answer a few burning questions about Sprint's current and future lineup, and there were a few juicy tidbits, reaffirmations, and rumor confirmations that came out of it worth mentioning:

There will be a WiFi-enabled Tour (the phone we know as the Essex) along with other WiFi BlackBerrys in the future.
Sprint's 2010 HTC lineup is said to be "robust" with a number of additional Android-powered models in the pipe.
WiMAX phones are apparently on track for 2010, which would put them head-to-head with MetroPCS' goal of a Samsung handset for its new LTE network next year.
Windows Mobile 7 phones are "planned for 2010" but the ball is in Microsoft's court to deliver on the software.
He mentions that upgrades to Android 1.6 and 2.0 (presumably for the Hero and Moment, both of which are currently running 1.5) would likely not be over-the-air due to their size -- this sounds bogus considering that T-Mobile has had no problem going from 1.0 all the way up to 1.6 on the G1, but we'll need to see how this shakes out.

So here's what we want based on what we're hearing in the conversation: an HTC-sourced WiMAX Android phone with the Moment's AMOLED display. Doable?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sprint touts Palm Pixi's nonexistent WiFi

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 3rd 2009 at 1:14AM

Sprint has a time-honored tradition of screwing up its ads. Remember the Palm OS-powered (yes, Palm OS, not webOS) Motorola Q2? How about the Pre's mythical tethering capability? Here's a new one to add to the history books: the "WiFi capable" Pixi, yours for just $99.99 after mail-in rebate. Count us in.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sprint lights up WiMAX in NC, Chicago and Dallas, launches subsidized Mini 10

by Darren Murph posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 9:44AM

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Or better yet, when a leaked roadmap doesn't get delayed in the slightest? After months upon months of waiting, broadband-lovin' citizens in the North Carolina Triangle and Triad will be celebrating alongside DFW residents and Chicago natives as Sprint's 4G WiMAX service rolls into town. As of right now (that's today, junior), consumers in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point and Charlotte, NC; Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas and Chicago, Illinois can roll into a Sprint store and snag a U300 3G / 4G WWAN modem on a $69.99 monthly data plan. We're told that San Antonio and Austin will get lit up later this month, while Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii; Salem, Oregon and Seattle, Washington will join the fray before 2010. Oh, and did we mention that Palm's favorite carrier finally snagged itself a WWAN-equipped netbook? 'Cause the Dell Mini 10 is available starting today for $199.99 at select Sprint stores in the metropolitan Baltimore area.

Update: Looks like Sprint changed "Baltimore" to "Bay Area." Odd.

Read - Sprint WiMAX in the Triangle
Read - Sprint WiMAX in the Triad
Read - Sprint WiMAX in Charlotte, NC
Read - Sprint WiMAX in Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
Read - Sprint WiMAX in Chicago, IL
Read - Sprint's first netbook is Dell Mini 10

Sprint launches Samsung Moment, Android empire expands by one

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 5:22AM

And here comes more trouble for your wallet. Mixing up that unholy trifecta of a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, AMOLED screen and Android inside, Samsung's Moment -- in spite of its quirks and niggles -- is likely to lighten the load for quite a few Sprint customers today. Pricing is as expected, with a $279.99 initial outlay that gets reduced to $179.99 after rebates, but you'll also have to agree to a two-year contractual commitment. Unless you're locked in to Sprint for whatever reason, we might advise holding out for a couple of days and seeing if the DROID takes your fancy, but don't take our word for it -- check out what your fellow readers think right here.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Sprint slows (but doesn't stop) subscriber loss in third quarter

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 30th 2009 at 4:10AM

Sprint's sort of the Motorola of the carrier world right now -- a once-great force in the industry that may or may not have recognized its shortcomings too late, and the drama is still unfolding before our very eyes. Its results for the third quarter of the year are a mixed bag, because on the one hand, it's nothing but red ink and fleeing subscribers -- but on the flipside, analysts seem to be pleased that the numbers are better than feared. Some 801,000 postpaid customers sought greener pastures in the quarter -- less brutal than the nearly 1 million lost the quarter prior -- and $478 million went flying out of the coffers; chief executive Dan Hesse says he expects customer retention to be a prettier (albeit still net negative) picture in the fourth quarter, so at least these guys are headed in the right direction and we imagine the Pixi will only help with that overall. The big question remains, though: will they turn it around in time to avoid a takeover?

Samsung Moment review

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 26th 2009 at 5:30PM

In the world of Android, it's not yet clear who's going to come out victorious -- QWERTY sliders or their keyboardless brethren -- but does there really need to be a winner? We say there's room for just about everyone in this open-source party, and Sprint is starting to round out its Android offerings by introducing the keyboard-equipped Samsung Moment to saddle up alongside the HTC Hero that was released a few weeks ago. In the scheme of things, the platform is still extraordinarily young which means that virtually every new handset that's announced brings "firsts" to the table; in the Moment's case, it's both the first Android device with an 800MHz ARM11 core and the first Android QWERTY phone with an AMOLED display (you'd have to go back to another Sammy, the Galaxy, to find the first AMOLED Android phone regardless of input method).

Being able to stuff Android, AMOLED, QWERTY, and 800MHz all into one sentence certainly sounds like a winning combination, but does the Moment deliver? Let's find out.

Gallery: Samsung Moment review

Continue reading Samsung Moment review

HTC Hero having intermittent text messaging problems?

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 26th 2009 at 3:38PM

There's not exactly much in the way of official statements on the matter just yet, but it looks like support forums have been piling up with reports of text messaging problems on the HTC Hero over the past few weeks, and with no signs of a fix in sight. Apparently, the phone can send texts just fine, but runs into a little trouble when it comes to receiving 'em, with most folks reporting only intermittent problems, and at least some not receiving any at all. Interestingly, the problem seems to be occurring in both the US and the UK, so it would seem to be a problem on the phone's end and not the carrier's, and a few people seem to have had some (brief) success after resetting the device. Of course, there are also plenty of folks having no problems at all, but there doesn't seem to be any question that the issue is out there. So, have you been missing some texts on your Hero? Let us know in comments.

Palm Pixi on sale November 15 exclusively at Sprint for $100 on contract

by Darren Murph posted Oct 26th 2009 at 10:27AM

Just as we'd heard earlier this morning, today's the day that Palm and Sprint come clean with their undercover plans for the former's second-ever webOS device. The Pixi, which we toyed with back on our first Engadget Show, is slated to hit Sprint stores, Best Buy, RadioShack and select Walmart locations on November 15th for $99.99, but that's after a $50 instant rebate and a $100 mail-in rebate that you'll be waiting ages for. Nothing here is all that surprising -- after all, we knew it'd be on shelves before the holiday season -- but the $100 price point is downright depressing. The Palm Pre can be had right now for just $150 (also on contract), and beyond that, both webOS devices are being offered on the exact same network. Throw this thing on Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile, and you've got a whole new wave of Palm customers; as it stands, who's really buying this with the Pre just $50 away?

Novatel MiFi 2200 gets new firmware, now stays on even when you don't need it

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 26th 2009 at 9:05AM

MiFi gets new firmware, now stays on even when you don't need it

If you're using one of the various MiFi incarnations, you may have been slightly annoyed at the thing shutting itself down after a few minutes of inactivity. It's a lovely feature to save juice when running disconnected -- a little less desirable when running on AC. There's a new firmware in town and it does away with such bad behavior whilst also adding better compatibility with the Nintendo DS and BlackBerry Curve. It's not an automatic update, though, so you'll need to dig through some menus to make the magic happen, but we're sure you can figure it out. (If you get stuck, the read link has pictures.)

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

Palm Pixi price and Sprint launch date coming later today

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 26th 2009 at 6:44AM

And here we go: at 9AM CT, or 10AM in New York City where the real Americans live, Sprint will be making public its plans for the Palm Pixi. You know, Palm's 2nd smartphone to run its lauded WebOS platform. The announcement should bring pricing and availability so check back then ya hear. If you're lucky, we even might get some Verizon news too.

[Thanks, Jocelyn]

Clearwire and Sprint slinging WiMAX to NC, HI and TX in November / December

by Darren Murph posted Oct 23rd 2009 at 4:27PM

We knew Clearwire would be snaking its 4G services to select markets in North Carolina, Hawaii and Texas before the year's end, but it's always reassuring to hear a corporation come right out and affirm that those leaked dates are still solid. What's interesting about the latest announcement is that both Clearwire and Sprint will be offering 4G in these same cities under their own brands, even though the signals and towers used will be the same. Starting next month, WiMAX will officially land in Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina (Charlotte is already lit up, despite these companies' claims) and Austin; Dallas/Fort Worth; San Antonio, Texas. In December, the companies will get things fired up in Honolulu and Maui, two areas where we're certain techs from Sprint / Clearwire are more than eager to go "test things out." So, now that this has all panned out, how's about another leak sheet for 2010 rollouts?

Samsung Moment unboxed!

by Paul Miller posted Oct 21st 2009 at 10:35AM

It's here, folks. We'll naturally have more impressions in the near future, but for now feast your eyes on the Samsung Moment and one of the least eventful unboxings of all time -- Sprint sure isn't packaging this like a premium handset, but at $179 we suppose it isn't really pricing it like one either. The hardware itself might tell a different story, with a solid, hefty feel to it and great screen. So far our editors are divided on the keyboard, with Chris not being sure it meets up to the CLIQ's standards, while this writer feels it's far superior -- not tiresome to press, but super clicky and very touch type-able. While we sort out this astonishing bit of interoffice drama, check out the unboxing shots in the gallery below. The phone goes on sale November 1st.