It seems that the unlocked iPhone trade in Asia has come back to bite Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) in the, well, bottom line. The two companies have reportedly called off iPhone negotiations that started up just this month. It seems that the issue at hand was the revenue-sharing model that Apple has demanded from all iPhone carriers – but with Apple presumably unable to assure China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) that they will be the exclusive iPhone carrier (what with all those unlocked iPhones floating around), it seems that China Mobile isn’t willing to pay the premium to Apple.
Chinese newspaper Southern Daily is reporting that Apple has moved on to other potential iPhone distributors. Interestingly, China Mobile tells Bloomberg that the negotiations are still in effect and that rumors of failed talks between the two companies are false.
We’ll wait and see what happens in China. Hopefully the Chinese population will be getting their own iPhones by next summer. Of course, they’ll probably have access to cheaper iPhones, seeing as how the price of a US iPhone could easily cost half the average Chinese workers’ monthly salary.
We pretty much knew they were going to do it, but there’s nothing like a an official press release to get our juices flowing. Google (NSDQ: GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt made it official – Google will be bidding on the 700Mhz wireless spectrum come January 24, 2008. And, it looks like Google’s going to be making their bid solo.
“We believe it’s important to put our money where our principles are,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google. “Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today’s wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet.“
We believe it’s important too, Eric. Good luck with the upcoming 700Mhz FCC auction. But, then again, you have more than enough cash reserves and enough credit to steamroll just about anyone that might bid against you.
We’ve seen a good amount of iPhone DIY (Do-It-Yourself) projects out there, but this is one of the slicker DIY tutorials. The resident iPhone fanatics at GearLive have posted a DIY video detailing the iPhone’s battery replacement procedure. You shouldn’t really need to replace your battery, seeing as how your iPhone couldn’t be more than 6 months old. But hey, if you’re going to do it, we’re not going to stop you. Check out the iPhone battery replacement DIY video below – especially prior to any battery-replacement shenanigans you have planned.
Seriously though, make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into before you open up your iPhone (and void-out your iPhone). It would be a shame if you ended up with an iBrick just to squeeze a few more minutes of up-time out of your iPhone.
This is one of those purely speculative type of reports, but for all we know, it could turn out to be true. Following on the recent confirmation from AT&T (NYSE: T) CEO Randall Stephenson that the next-generation iPhone (the iPhone 2.0, if you will) will be sporting a 3G radio and will be available next year. Now, he didn’t mention when in 2008, but other rumorshave indicated that a Q1 2008 launch is in the works.
We’re hearing that the iPhone 2.0 is already expected to miss the rumored March-ish launch window. According to Mehdi Hosseini, an analyst for Friedman Billings Ramsey & Company, the next-gen iPhone was slated for a March or April launch, but will now miss its mark – with the revised launch window predicted to extend into mid-summer of 2008. Hosseini cites information gathered during “recent checks,” and predicts that NAND memory demand will fall in the early part of 2008.
Again, we just want to stress that this is all speculation, and there’s no reason to believe that some “analyst” has information that would indicate that the iPhone 2.0 will be delayed. But, sometimes these things turn out to be true – we’re just hoping this isn’t one of those rumors.
There isn’t much here that we didn’t already know (other than the 3G bit, more on that later), but we thought you HTC Libra (S720) fans out there on Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s network would appreciate an update on the hybrid keypad/keyboard device’s status with Big Red – especially since it was supposed to have launched in August. Verizon’s been brewing their own special version of the HTC Libra for some time now, and we’ve finally got some high-resolution images of the forthcoming Verizon-branded HTC Libra (the CDMA cousin to the HTC Vox S710). The handset will be branded as the UTStarcom (NSDQ: UTSI) XV5800, although we’ve heard that it might also be called the SMT5800.
We’re looking for the Verizon XV5800 to sport a 400Mhz CPU, Windows Mobile 6.0, and something like 162MB of memory in the Verizon-spec HTC Libra – pretty much the same internals as every other HTC Libra that’s been on-market for several months. But, there’s an added bonus! Word on the street has it that the Verizon XV5800 will be sporting a 3G (EVDO Rev. A, for the uninitiated) radio like the HTC S730 that was recently announced.
So, Verizon customers, you’ll have to wait just a bit longer for the HTC Libra to become available. Or, you know, just wait until Verizon opens up their network and then choose whatever handset tickles your fancy. That way you won’t have to wait until the handset is yesterday’s news before you get your hands on one.
Click through for another high-res shot of Verizon XV5800.
What’s this now? We’re usually keen on HTC’s future handset plans, but this one seems to have flown in under our radar and has already been approved by the FCC. The HTC Clio, folks. It’s a GSM/EDGE/HSDPA device with WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and a pair of cameras (a higher pixel-density shooter for the serious stuff and a forward-facing camera for video calling) – but the best part is the US 3G frequency support. You read correctly, the HTC Clio will be surfing the 850Mhz and 1900Mhz HSDPA networks that we have in the States (AT&T (NYSE: T), we’re looking at you).
Is the HTC Clio a US-spec HTC Athena, cleverly renamed like HTC loves to do? Or, is this thing the oft-rumored, but never materialized HTC Omni? We’re not sure, but by the looks of the FCC label, we’re under the impression that the HTC Clio rocks a landscape-oriented QWERTY keyboard. And, seeing as the HTC Clio is made by, well, HTC, we’re going to take a shot in the dark and say that Windows Mobile 6.0 is in the cards – perhaps the refreshed WinMo interface with dynamic high-resolution support.
Oh, and HTC’s requested that the FCC keep external photos locked-down for the time being – which makes a strong case for the HTC Clio being the HTC Omni.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this QWERTY keyboard-packing, US 3G-surfing bad-boy, so keep checking back. We’d like to see the HTC Clio launch before Christmas, but we already sent Santa our list, so we might just have to wait until next year.
Well, it’s about time. We’ve been stuck with our 320 x 240 WinMo resolutions for so long that it’s almost surprising that Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has added higher-resolution widescreen support. We say almost because the bumped-up resolution support is pretty much the most logical and simplest feature update that Microsoft could have included in the new Windows Mobile 6.0 interface – so the update took us by surprise, but Windows Mobile 6.0 is overdue for this kind of update. Regardless, dynamic (resolution changes between landscape and portrait views) resolution outputs are going to support a host of display formats – from tiny displays with 240 x 240 resolutions to huge widescreens with DVD-like resolutions of 480 x 800.
Accelerometers will be used to detect portrait or landscape orientation changes, prompting automatic resolution changes (dynamic) to match the screen’s orientation (much like the iPhone). And this is just about the simplest update that’s due for the new WinMo6 – we can’t wait to see what the rest of the updated Windows Mobile 6.0 will look like!
Well folks, UIQ Fast Track is over. Before coming to the event, I thought I’ll be bored as hell, listening exclusively to the developers. I was so wrong. Yeah, I have spoke with many developers from companies around the world, but it was surprisingly nice experience — this is NOT to say that I have anything against developers, I was just concerned they would be to techy for me. They are quite opinionated and just like me (and I guess many of you folks) are eagerly watching the industry and are trying to get their share of the action on all possible platforms.
As most struggling corporations tend to do when times get tough, keep getting tougher, and are forecasted to get even worse, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) has sent their Chief Executive Officer (CEO) out the door with a golden parachute. Ed Zander has been at the helm of Motorola’s wayward ship for almost four years now, and has endured financial slumps and attacks on his throne from the likes of rebel investor Carl Icahn. And, it seems that Carl Icahn will be getting what he wants – Zander has announced that he will be stepping down on “My date, my doing, my time-frame.”
Come January 1, 2008, Greg Brown, the 47 year old Chief Operating Officer (COO) will take the reigns as the head of Motorola. Brown joined the company in 2003, and promises to leverage the company’s Q3 2007 profits (the first profitable quarter this year) to help keep the struggling giant, Motorola, in the green. Zander will stay on as a strategic advisor to the CEO as a non-officer employee until January 5, 2009.
But, as Motorola’s shares saw a 1% boost, some analysts speculate that this changing of the guard could be a sign of bleaker times. Citigroup analyst, Jim Suva, told clients that Zander’s resignation could signal “yet another disappointment for the handset segment and more meaningful changes that have to occur … we believe Motorola’s handset division is still struggling.”
Motorola seems to always be talking about bringing the “next best thing” to market, but we’ve been left waiting and waiting for Moto to effectively execute their plan. Brown’s leadership could indicate a renewed energy for Motorola, and we hope the company will refocus their efforts and bring some snazzy, new handsets to market – ELBA anyone? Kudos, Greg Brown, you’ve got a tough road ahead of you, and just know we’re rooting for you.
We thought it a little odd that an “exploding” cellphone battery could inflict the kind of physical damage that killed that South Korean quarry worker, who we only know as Seo (his last name). Broken ribs and spine aren’t the type of injuries we’d expect from a faulty mobile phone’s battery. And, with this breaking news, LG has been vindicated (and their assertion of the impossibility of an exploding mobile phone battery has been corroborated). It seems that Seo was not killed by his LG mobile phone’s battery, but rather by his co-worker’s drilling machine. The co-worker, identified only by his surname, Kwon, confessed today that he backed the drilling rig into Seo. He admitted to having fabricated the “exploding cellphone.” Kwon told Min Kang-gi, a detective in Chungju, that he used the cellphone battery as a diversion to throw off investigators.
Interestingly, the co-worker claims to have not set fire to, or melted, the LG mobile phone in Seo’s shirt pocket. We presume the damage to the mobile phone was caused by the accident.
LG has released a statement, saying that “LG rigorously tests all the products not only for functionality and design, but safety as well.”
So, for all of you out there with an LG mobile phone in your pocket or purse, there’s no need to worry that your LG phone will end up killing you – just keep an eye out for co-workers with industrial machines.
It seems that the unlocked iPhone trade in Asia has come back to bite Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) in the, well, bottom line. The two companies have reportedly called off iPhone negotiations that started up just this month. It seems that the issue at hand was the revenue-sharing model that Apple has demanded from all iPhone carriers – but with Apple presumably unable to assure China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) that they will be the exclusive iPhone carrier (what with all those unlocked iPhones floating around), it seems that China Mobile isn’t willing to pay the premium to Apple.
We 
This is one of those purely speculative type of reports, but for all we know, it could turn out to be true. Following on the 
What’s this now? We’re usually keen on HTC’s future handset plans, but this one seems to have flown in under our radar and has already been approved by the FCC. The HTC Clio, folks. It’s a GSM/EDGE/HSDPA device with WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and a pair of cameras (a higher pixel-density shooter for the serious stuff and a forward-facing camera for video calling) – but the best part is the US 3G frequency support. You read correctly, the HTC Clio will be surfing the 850Mhz and 1900Mhz HSDPA networks that we have in the States (AT&T (
As most 
We thought it a little odd that an “exploding” cellphone battery could inflict the kind of physical damage that 
