Gadgets Base

Pandigital has joined the touchscreen frenzy with its PanTouch digital photo frame lineup. Touting a smudge free touchscreen display, PanTouch has a special frame matting that will resist fingerprints in the viewable area and also allow for easy control and quick access to its operations. The new frames are available with a 7-inch, 8-inch or 10.4-inch display and feature Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for transferring photos from the digital frame to a PC.

The 7-inch and 8-inch models both have 15:9 widescreen ratio with a resolution of 428 x 234, 128MB of internal memory, 6-in-1 memory card reader, a standard USB port and a mini USB port. Plus, it doesn’t just display digital photos but it can play digital music and videos as well. The 10.4-inch on the other hand would likely appeal to the more serious photo enthusiasts as it offers a nicer 1024 x 768 resolution and 512MB of internal memory.

The PanTouch lineup is set for release in May and are expected to retail for $119 for the 7-inch, $169 for the 8-inch and $249 for the 10.4-inch model.

Via [Wired Blog]

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After it was released to the the US mobile market courtesy of Verizon Wireless, the blackberry Curve 8330 is coming to its second home—Sprint. The Curve will retail for $179, which of course comes after some rebates and along with a two-year agreement. The newly added Curve will retain the features that we have come to love it for which include a full QWERTY keyboard, 2.0-megapixel camera with video recording, Bluetooth, microSD/SDHC card slot, voice activated dialing, as well as web browsing and email support. Sprint subscribers will also be able to take advantage of the Sprint specific services such as the Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV and Sprint Navigation.

Read [Sprint]

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I am doing a bit of head scratching this morning.  CTIA has come and gone, as has CeBit and 3G.  In this post, I’ll go over the 3 phones that are hot on the tail of the iPhone.  But can any of them compare?

First, I think it is essential to boil down the obvious: the iPhone hype is about 3 things.
1. OS.  Fun.  Simple.  Easy.  We like pushing things around with our fingers.
2. Internet.  We do so much online, it is natural to do that everywhere.  The big screen is a huge plus.
3. Sexy.  What makes sexy?  Not sure but Apple has it right now.

Knowing I am but a tech blogger and thus an idiot, let’s see how the phone makers have assessed the competition and how they plan to beat it.

Sony Xperia. Our Editor and all-round good guy, Robert Nelson had this to quip,

Sony Ericsson has launched the XPERIA brand with the XPERIA X1 handset. The X1 has an impressive set of features. Just to start it’s running Windows Mobile 6 with a full slide-out arc-sliding QWERTY keyboard with 4-way key and optical joystick. The X1 along with the XPERIA lineup will be focusing on the growing need for mobile web communication and multimedia entertainment. The X1 features has a metal-finish body with a 3-inch wide VGA 800 x 480 touchscreen display, GPS, Wi-Fi, A2DP Bluetooth, a 3.2-megapixel camera with a microSD card slot for additional storage.

Samsung has been somewhat slow to get something to the US market.  Perhaps the Instinct will be the new standard bearer for Samsung.  Our David Gonzales has this report:

As you can see, the Samsung Instinct has a large, touch-sensitive display and it runs on a custom UI made by Samsung from the ground up taking data convergence into focus. It will also offer local haptic feedback, built-in GPS and Sprint TV. This is Samsung’s first direct strike at Apple’s iphone, as well as against a lot of other touchscreen-based devices that have been popping up lately. I’m sure Samsung hopes that the Instinct won’t stink but will it have what it takes to be a real iPhone killer when it’s finally released? We will see.

LG Vu
We’ve seen the Prada phone for over a year now and still nothing especially impressive on the US mainland from LG.  Can the Vu be it?  Our Robert Nelson has this to spec out for us:

The official specs for the LG Vu are in and it seems the recent speculation about two versions was correct. The Vu will be available as the CU920 with TV support and the CU915 without TV support. Both models will, of course, feature the large 3-inch WQVGA 262K color touchscreen.

Other features that are shared between both models is 3G support, a 2-megapixel camera and HTML web browser. The Vu has just 120MB of internal memory, but also has a microSD slot with support for up to 4GB of additional storage. The Vu measures in at 4.25 x 2.16 x 0.51-inches and weighs just 3.16-ounces. The included 1000mAh battery is stated to give up to 3-hours of talk time.

What amazes me a bit is the folks that got hands on with any of these units describe them as “wonky” “not ready” and “beta”.  Can anyone imagine Apple showing their phone in a less than pristine manner?  Maybe I am missing something, but putting the phone out there in a less than controlled manner just to get an impression seems risky.

So, let’s look at my criteria.  Up first OS:
Xperia:Windows 6.1.  ZZZ.  At least they had the sense to jazz it up a bit.  Perhaps they have found a way, like HTC to put a well thought out UI on the beast.
Instinct: I’ve seen this somewhere before…a copy of the iPhone OS.  It looks fast and the GPS is hot.  Customizable and 3 buttons to play with.  Interesting for sure.
Vu: Voyager OS.  Looks a bit cumbersome and I’ve not been super impressed with the Voyager.

Up next Internet:
Xperia: The new Internet Explorer is supposed to be much better, allowing iPhone-like panning and zooming at will.  Perhaps this will help the dinosaur.
Instinct: The web looks crowded in the hands on I’ve seen.  Perhaps you can customize these buttons that line both sides of the screen off.
Vu: :looks crowded again, two rows of buttons at the bottom.  The zoom function looks awkward at best.

And finally sex appeal:
Xperia: the slide out keypad will be the shiznit for some.
Instinct: good looking, still not iconic though
Vu: I am on the fence.  It really doesn’t look sexy to me, but I am not a Verizon man.

So, any of these want to make you stand outside in a line this summer to buy?  Let us know in the comments.

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A few images have recently turned up, courtesy of the se-nse blog showing off what they are claiming to be the highly anticipated Sony Ericsson P5, which is also know as Paris. The images are said to be screenshots taken from the official press video, but we will have to “wait two weeks” to get a glimpse of the video in action.

The P5, Paris will be running UIQ 3.3 and feature a full keyboard that will slide-out below the display. Other features include a large touchscreen display, 3G support, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth, USB and built-in GPS. The handset also has two cameras; a 5-megapixel camera on the back with a second front camera for video calling. Other items worth mentioning is the P5 will come with Opera Mobile 9.5, Google Maps and possibly WayFinder 7.0 pre-installed.

The phone, although hard to see in the pictures is said to be about 16-18mm thick and “is quite wide” which should be good news in relation to the usability of the slide-out keyboard. The P5 is expected to be announced before the end of May, but no mention of when it will actually be available for purchase or just how much it will retail for. Keep reading for one more pic…

Via [se-nse] Via [se-nse]

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Verizon Wireless has started redesigning its retail stores located in around 280 locations US-wide. Verizon has refurbished the old look of the its stores with bright colors and engaging layout. The redesign was implemented to provide their customers with a new and worthwhile experience while getting their fix of the latest Verizon gizmos.

“With these stores, Verizon Wireless takes the next step in wireless retailing. We are committed to providing customers with a unique and engaging shopping environment as well as easy access to support services,” said Jack Plating, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Verizon Wireless.

The new Verizon stores will have features that include; a demo zone for exploring, experimenting and learning about Verizon’s new products, samples of working handsets, PC cards and other devices, a greeter and bill payment kiosks as well as customer service and technical support departments. However, all of these features will not be carried out in every store due to limitations with space.

So, don’t be surprised with the new look of your favorite Verizon stores the next time you visit them. If you don’t see any difference, you may have to wait for a little while as Verizon has only finished redesigning around 100 Verizon stores. The remaining 180 stores will follow soon. Unfortunately, there’s no Microsoft Surface in the Verizon retail locations, for that you still have to visit an AT&T store.

Via [IntoMobile]

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Aircell just got two big thumbs up from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in regards to their in-flight Wi-Fi service. They just received an ATG (air-to-ground) and a PMA (parts manufacture approval) from the government agency which will allow the company to expand their in-flight broadband offerings to all of American Airlines’ and Virgin America’s 767-200 fleet. The rollout is set to occur by the end of the year and will initially be offered for flights between LA, San Francisco, New York and Miami, and then expanding to Seattle, San Diego and Washington D.C. The service will be provided by Gogo Inflight Internet. Will this be a curse or blessing to the road-warrior types that use their time on a plane to be disconnected from the world? Or will it annoy everyone with people watching the evolution of dance video over and over again in mid flight? Only time will tell.

Read [MobileTechNews]

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Mozilla has released what will be the final beta version of Firefox 3, which comes in the form of Firefox 3 Beta 5. While normally we would not get this excited over such a small jump, because going from beta 4 to beta 5 should not result in excitement. According to the release notes there has been over 750 changes since beta 4 became available, most of which comes not as new features but bug fixes, which should make any current Firefox 3 user consider moving up. That is especially true for any OS X users because that pesky jfif issue with copying images from the web has been fixed. Oh, and we cannot forget, there is a new initial launch splash screen to marvel at.

A release candidate (RC1) is expected to as early as next Tuesday and Firefox 3 is still on schedule for a June final release. Also don’t forget that even though Firefox 3 seems stable, it still is beta, so you can be pretty certain that you may have some issues, thankfully ours came only in the form of extensions and themes.

Download [Mozilla] Via [Macworld]

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Posted Apr 3rd 2008 11:07PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: cellphonesScreen grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.

Poor Matt, this guy has it so hard. If he isn’t having relational trouble with Julie Taylor, he’s disappointing his dad, his coach (Julie’s dad, conveniently enough), his team, or the entire town of Dillon, Texas. Last thing the guy needs is an iphone telling him he’s wrong, so we’re going to pin this Friday Night Lights upside-down incident on Zach Gilford, the man behind the cute-shy quarterback legend that is Matt Saracen. You disappoint us, Zach.

[Thanks, EJ]

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 8:02PM by Nilay Patel
Filed under: Misc. gadgetsThe tough times just don’t seem to end at Motorola — the company announced today that it’s laying off another 2,600 workers, for a total of 10,000 positions eliminated since the start of 2007. That’s on top of the various high-level executive departures that have been taken place lately, not to mention the company’s plan to split off its mobile phone business, which will undoubtedly lead to more cuts down the line. The goal is to reduce costs by some $500M by the end of the year, and some of the jobs being lost come as Moto closes a factory in Singapore and a WiMAX development lab in Florida. There’s no word on when the cuts are going to come, but here’s hoping all these aggressive steps lead to a little vacation for Sad Moto here.

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 6:30PM by Chris Ziegler
Filed under: cellphones, WirelessThe FCC has just lifted its gag order on the gory details of the 700MHz Auction 73, and AT&T wasted absolutely no time setting up a press conference to discuss how it was planning to utilize its win in the so-called B Block. Bottom line: AT&T’s moving to LTE for its 4G infrastructure — no surprise there, since it’s the natural evolution for GSM carriers — and the purchase is designed to support that build-out. As they’ve said before, they’re tooting their horn over the fact that the B Block action combined with the Aloha spectrum purchase gives the carrier 100 percent coverage in the 700MHz arena in the top 200 US markets, while also noting that the frequency range is stellar at breaking through walls for hot in-building coverage.

As for Verizon’s C Block win — the block touted for its open access clause — AT&T’s convinced that the B Block made more sense for the very reason that it lacked those regulatory restrictions. The lack of FCC oversight is cause for some concern, yes, but AT&T continues to stress that it was “open” long before the whole C Block hullaballoo came along by virtue of the fact that any GSM device with the right bands can hop on its network.

In terms of timing, the company’s not really in any hurry; it wants to continue to milk HSPA for everything it’s worth, promising a 7.2Mbps downlink rollout through 2009, and realistically, we’ll be well into the next decade before we see wide-scale use of 700MHz LTE around these parts. A little scary for the impatient among us, we’ve gotta say.