Dan Mead, Lowell McAdam ‘s successor at the helm of Verizon Wireless, has told the Wall Street Journal that we’ll “see more coming from Apple on LTE . They understand the value proposition of LTE and I feel very confident that they are going to be a part of it.” No further details were forthcoming from the chief exec, such as timing and the particular shape of Apple’s participation in Verizon’s LTE plans, but at least we now have an indication that Cupertino is actively working toward 4G connectivity. Mead’s comments came as part of an interview discussing the iPhone 4′s launch on his network, which has already seen the device bust through Verizon’s opening sales record . Notably, at the actual launch of that phone, Tim Cook said an LTE version of the iPhone would have required too many compromises, so we suspect those compromises are exactly what Apple’s working on right now. Verizon CEO claims Apple LTE products are coming, doesn’t specify when originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …LetsTalk goes out in a blaze of glory, sells Atrix 4G and Laptop Dock bundle for $250 as AT&T partnership ends
February 25, 2011 No Comment
We can totally picture how this went down: AT&T appears to have made it not worth LetsTalk’s time (or Wirefly’s time ) to sell its phones anymore, which means they’re parting ways staring next month. LetsTalk — wishing to end its AT&T relationship in the most spectacular fashion imaginable — has elected to sell the Motorola Atrix 4G / Laptop Dock bundle for $250 on contract after rebates, essentially half of what you’ll pay through AT&T directly (LetsTalk runs Walmart’s wireless store portal, which we’ve linked). The fire sale might not fix some of the dock’s flaws … but it certainly makes them a little less painful. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] LetsTalk goes out in a blaze of glory, sells Atrix 4G and Laptop Dock bundle for $250 as AT&T partnership ends originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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To Xoom or not to Xoom, that is the question — and Xoom Corporation says Motorola needs to ditch the name of its new Honeycomb-laden slate . That’s right, Xoom has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit asking for monetary damages, a temporary restraining order, and / or a preliminary injunction to spoil Moto’s release party for its new tablet. In case you’re curious, Xoom (the company) does seem to predate the slate by a good bit: it’s been operating its online payments business under that name and has owned the www.xoom.com domain since 2003. Xoom got a registered service mark for its money transfer and e-payment services in 2004. But what about that Xoom trademark Motorola filed last year for mobile computers and related accessories? Traditionally, courts give priority to the first user to register a mark, so Xoom Corp. certainly has a case here, but we’re not so sure they’ll be able to prove that consumers are likely to be confused. To find out, the court will look at multiple factors to determine the likelihood of confusion: the strength of Xoom’s mark, the similarities between the two marks, the proximity of Xoom’s services and software to Moto’s tablet in the consumer marketplace, evidence of actual customer confusion, and the similarity of the marketing channels used by Moto and Xoom. Honestly, we can’t see Moto marketing the Xoom tablet to anyone looking for online payment services (aside from the occasional Android Market purchase) so Xoom Corp. has a tough road to hoe, but stranger things have happened — we’ll see how it goes. Motorola dragged into court for Xoom trademark infringement originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Windows Phone 7 coming to Verizon in March, starting with HTC 7 Trophy?
February 25, 2011 No Comment
With Sprint starting up its Windows Phone 7 adventure on March 20th with the HTC Arrive , Verizon is now said to be matching its CDMA competitor with its own offering, the HTC 7 Trophy . We already knew this particular handset would be coming to this particular network in ” early 2011 ,” but now WinRumors has narrowed that down to a launch at some point in late March. Verizon’s announcement is expected as early as February 28th, this coming Monday, and we’re hearing the NoDo update — the one with copy and paste — should be preloaded on the device from the start. Should this solid-sounding rumor bear out as foretold, Microsoft should finally be on all US carriers by the start of April. [Thanks, Mike] Windows Phone 7 coming to Verizon in March, starting with HTC 7 Trophy? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Engadget reader meetup tonight in San Francisco at 6:30PM PST! Win a limited edition gold Xoom!
February 25, 2011 No Comment
That’s right human beings — it’s happening again! The Engadget crew is getting together their best party outfits and shipping out west for another installment of our fabulous reader meetups. Our last event in NYC drew loads of people and was an all around blast, and the San Francisco installment is sure to be just as explosive (or maybe more? c’mon… show us what you’ve got). This time around we’re partnering with Sprint , as well as Sony PlayStation , Motorola , HP , Roku , Samsung , VUDU , RIM , Sling , Sonos , HTC , Corning , Sphero , OnLive , Plantronics , Snapstick, and more to bring you a night of gadget geeking , delicious foodstuffs , and some awesome music (provided by none other than our podcast producer, Trent Wolbe). Also, a whole mess of the Engadget editors will be on hand to entertain and inform, so if you have any pressing questions — jot them down! And did we mention there will be tons of serious giveaways for people in attendance ? Because there will be. You seriously don’t want to sleep on this. For instance, one lucky attendee to the event will walk away with a super limited edition gold Xoom (being gifted to this year’s Oscar nominees). Check out an image and info after the break! The all ages shindig will take place tonight, February 25 at City View at The Metreon , which is located conveniently in downtown SF. If you’re a nerd in the city, you most likely already know what we’re talking about. The doors will open at 6:30PM , and capacity is limited to 1200 people — so if you want to get inside, get there early! Continue reading Engadget reader meetup tonight in San Francisco at 6:30PM PST! Win a limited edition gold Xoom! Engadget reader meetup tonight in San Francisco at 6:30PM PST! Win a limited edition gold Xoom! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Don’t go jumping off the Android sailboat just yet, these are very early numbers, but the Samsung Galaxy S II has been priced by a couple of UK retailers and the category they’ve placed it in is the distinctly high end. Expansys is listing
Continue reading …Square Connect SQ Blaster and SQ Remote review: Home automation, unified
February 25, 2011 No Comment
Having already taken our first feverish steps down the path of an automated home , we figured it was time to try and integrate the home entertainment system with the household lighting. Our goal coming into this review was to sit down on the sofa and hit a single button on an old, unused iPhone 3G to automatically dim the lights, fire up the 5.1 sound, flip on the media streamer, and ignite the projector. To accomplish this seemingly monumental task we installed a WiFi-enabled SQ Blaster in the TV cabinet, a puck-shaped IR blaster from Square Connect that communicates with MiOS home control gateways like Mi Casa Verde’s Vera . So, did we succeed? Did we achieve the ultimate in home-owner nerdvana? You’d better believe it. Read on to find out how. Continue reading Square Connect SQ Blaster and SQ Remote review: Home automation, unified Square Connect SQ Blaster and SQ Remote review: Home automation, unified originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The results are in, and well over 100,000 of you voted in the 2010 Engadget Awards . The Readers’ Choice picks were just the tip of the iceberg, friends, That’s right, the editors of Engadget have opinions, too, and here they are. Join us after the break for the year that was 2010 in gadgets. Continue reading The winners of the 2010 Engadget Awards — Editors’ Choice The winners of the 2010 Engadget Awards — Editors’ Choice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …World’s first robot marathon gets off to a slow start, will likely stay that way
February 25, 2011 No Comment
It might take them a good 92 hours longer than the fastest human runners, but a group of five pint-sized humanoids have officially embarked on the world’s first full-length robot marathon. The Robo Mara Full, put on by Japanese robotics company Vstone , kicked off today in Osaka, Japan, and will see the mechanized competitors through a 42 kilometer (26 mile) race, estimated to last at least four days. During the marathon, entrants will circle a 100-meter indoor track a total of 422 times with little help from their human coaches — contact is only permitted during battery and servo replacement. Vstone’s Robovie-PC led the pack at the outset, but with three days left to go, it’s still any robot’s game. You can check out a live feed of all the, uh, slow and furious action at the coverage link below, and get a full overview of the race, complete with embarrassing translation, by following the source link. World’s first robot marathon gets off to a slow start, will likely stay that way originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If you’ve been paying attention to the state of search as of late, you’ll know that Google’s between a proverbial rock and hard place right now. Some individuals and companies claim Mountain View’s beloved search engine is losing to the spammers, squatters, scrapers and content farms by failing to weed them from the system — though you can now do that on your own — while others say it’s squashing the little guy by unfairly downranking competitors in search results. We’re not sure if either is truly the case, the company’s made a mildly controversial move this week: it’s tweaked the search algorithms to “reduce rankings for low-quality sites,” and “provide better rankings for high-quality” ones. As ever, Mountain View’s not talking about what that change mathematically entails, though it says about 11.8 percent of queries will be affected as a result. In short: some will be happy, some sad, some angry, and many won’t notice at all. Google makes rich richer, poor poorer in search results originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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