Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Cellphones

Still committed to iDEN, eh? After another relatively brutal quarter of lost cash, lost subscribers, and lost opportunities, word on the street is that Sprint might be rethinking its approach to its legacy push-to-talk network — the obsolescence-bound spectrum it acquired via its purchase of Nextel a few years back for the questionable price of $35 billion. Given Sprint’s current financial state, a liquidity crunch means that the carrier is looking to offload any salable piece; Nextel’s not exactly the most attractive piece of that puzzle with a declining subscriber base, limited bandwidth, and a limited range of Moto hardware to back it up, but even at its current estimated value of $5 billion, analysts are suggesting that Sprint could be willing to bite at a deal. NII Holdings, which operates iDEN networks under the Nextel brand in Brazil, Mexico, and a handful of other Latin American countries, is being tossed around as a potential suitor, as are private equity firms looking to make a quick buck. How one goes about making a quick buck on a network as old and quirky as iDEN in the year 2008, though, remains to be seen.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Just as July began, we heard that Sprint would finally begin shipping its Airave signal booster nationwide before the month ended. It cut things close, but we can’t deny that the rumor proved true. Starting right now, Sprint users with horrendous service in their own homes can begrudgingly cough up $99.99 to have the base station sent directly to you. From there, you’ll have to throw down $4.99 per month for extending your coverage but still using your plan minutes, $10 per month if you’re looking to make unlimited calls (through the Airave) with a single Sprint phone or $20 per month for unlimited calling for multiple lines. Critics have already harshed on the $50 increase in price from when it launched in Denver and Indy last year, not to mention the relatively high monthly fees, but we suppose you can take it or leave it depending on how regularly you drop calls from your couch.

[Via PhoneScoop]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Wireless, Networking

So we waffled on whether to go with a sad Moto or happy Moto face, but as we’ve stated in the past, we suppose we’ll keep on keepin’ on with the former until something marvelous happens. Nearly four months to the day after Motorola split in two, along comes word that the separated home and networks division will now be segmented into three distinct units: broadband home solutions, broadband access solutions and cellular networks. According to a statement put out by the firm, the “organizational change will ensure that home and networks mobility remains agile, focused and ideally aligned to realize its growth potential,” which is about as canned a statement as you could ever hope for. We’ve heard that three’s company, but who knows how it’ll play out here.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Details are scarce right now, but you can make of it what you will. Sprint hasn’t been in the best of situations since it acquired Nextel in 2005, and while this move may not be seen by everyone as definitively negative, it certainly is worth noting. The flagging carrier sold off “nearly all” (around 3,300) of its wireless communication towers to TowerCo for some $670 million in cash. According to Sprint Nextel’s Bob Azzi, the move to lease rather than own these network facilities will enable it to “better focus on its core business of providing communications services to consumers, businesses and government customers.” He continued by noting that the transaction “provides Sprint Nextel with additional liquidity [for] greater flexibility in managing the company.” Whatever you say, sir.

[Via InformationWeek]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

There’s just one problem with this, the way we see it: most folks with $3000 earmarked for a gaming laptop probably already own an Xbox 360. Just a thought. Other than that we see little to dislike about this little promotion. Dell is offering up its top-of-the-line XPS M1730 system with an Xbox 360 Elite bundle tossed in for good measure. The bundle includes, a pair of faceplates, two game and of course the Xbox itself, and while it’s not exactly “free” — you’re looking at a couple hundred dollar premium over a similarly specced M1730 — it’s still a savings of over $300, and should be eBayable, if nothing else. Offer expires July 24th.

[Thanks, Cezar]

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

It’s not that Electro Box’s miShake PMP looks especially like anything else we’ve seen, but it sure takes an awful lot of cues from, shall we say, more popular brands. We won’t even bother explaining the miShake name, but what is important to note is the 2.4-inch touchscreen, “explosive external loudspeaker,” 4GB of internal memory, miniSD expansion slot and support for a multitude of audio / video file formats. Oh, and don’t even bother fiddling through that questionable user interface to change tracks — just give it a good jerk (you know, like Sony’s Shake control) to hear the next jam begin abruptly. So much merriment for just £119.95 ($240).

[Via Pocket-lint]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio

Apparently Creative is cooking up more than just the ZEN X-Fi as of late, according to a discovery made by anythingbutipod forum members. The crew stumbled onto the ZEN Krystal, a small MP3 player that features 4GB of storage, a blue OLED display, an FM tuner, and support for MP3 and WMA files. What really makes the device pique our curiosity, however, is the included built-in pedometer, which can track distance and speed à la Nike+, as well as the handful of games that come on-board the little guy. Right now the player is only up on Creative’s Hong Kong site, and we’ve got no word on price or release date.

[Via anythingbutipod]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Believe it or not, JATY is far from being the first gadget maker to think of stuffing a breathalyzer into something completely unrelated (like a wristwatch), but this do-it-all navigator really has included everything save for the kitchen sink (and an N64 emulator, but you get the point). Specs wise, you’re looking at a 7-inch touchscreen, 533MHz CPU, WinCE 5.0, 64MB of NAND Flash / SDRAM, an SD expansion slot, built-in GPS / T-DMB receivers, USB connectivity, integrated speakers and support for MP3, WMV, OGG, AC3, MPEG1/2/4, DivX, XviD, AVI and JPG formats (just to name a few). Chances are you’ll never see this on US soil, so you’re looking at a flight to Seoul in addition to ₩296,000 ($294) in order to procure one.

[Via Tech Digest]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

It’s one thing to say “available now.” It’s another thing to give consumers a “Buy Now” button. For those of you anxious to plunk down a few bills and some spare change to bring home one of Creative’s new WiFi-equipped ZEN X-Fi units, today’s your lucky day. The 16GB edition is shipping now from Amazon for $199.99, while the 32GB sibling demands $279.99. Order away… or not, totally up to you.

[Thanks, Mickey J.]

Read - 16GB ZEN X-Fi
Read - 32GB ZEN X-Fi

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Some serious time has passed since Ainol rolled out its abominable V1000, and while we reckon the V2000 was lost somewhere in the mix, the V3000 is pretty enough to note — if but for a moment. Details are pretty slim on this one, but we are told that the widescreen unit packs an expansive 4.3-inch LTPS display with an 800 x 480 native resolution. Seriously though, you aren’t about to fly to China to claim one of these as your own, so just be satisfied with seeing Spidey behind all sorts of weirdly applied reflections.

[Via MP4Nation]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Quite a bit went down before Creative decided to really fess up about its ZEN X-Fi (at least in the US), but if you’ve managed to resist the urge to believe this thing was real, here’s the documentation you’ve been yearning for. The ZEN X-Fi (8GB; $149.99) and ZEN X-Fi with Wireless (16GB; $199.99 / 32GB; $299.99) are both being made official today, and while the latter is available now from an array of reputable e-tailers, the WiFi-less iteration won’t hit stores until “later this month.” You can also expect a ZEN X-Fi docking speaker station to emerge sometime this summer for $49.99. For those curious to see how this critter looks in the flesh (not to mention how it performs), head on down to the links below — oh, and there’s a video of the bugger waiting after the jump.

[Via PMP Today]

Read - Creative ZEN X-Fi press release
Read - Creative ZEN X-Fi review / in the wild

Continue reading Creative gets really official with ZEN X-Fi as it appears in the wild

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Hey you — you looking for a quarter of the iPod touch experience for a little less than a quarter of the price? Yeah? Well, how does dropping $73 on the depressingly derivative Teclast M26 grab you? Seriously, this thing looked like it had a glimmer of potential when it was first announced, so it’s kind of sad to see it getting priced like the throwaway crap it turned out to be — we should definitely know better by now.

[Via PMP Today]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Creative’s got a good thing going with the multifaceted Zen X-Fi — at least on paper — and we’re quite thrilled to see it already hitting the websites of US e-tailers. Announced earlier this week in Singapore, the well-equipped PMP should be available soon (no specific ship date is mentioned) in 8GB ($149.99), 16GB ($199.99) and 32GB ($279.99) models. Interestingly, the 8GB iteration doesn’t seem to include built-in WiFi based on the cryptic header over at Buy.com, but we suspect we’ll have to wait things out a bit longer before jumping to too many conclusions.

[Thanks, Dr. Slo]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Finally we can toss out that old, boring Gemei X760 we’ve been fooling around with, and step up to some legitimate action. That’s right, the X760+ is on the scene, and that + isn’t just for show. The new iteration of the Chinese-made PMP / game playing device boasts 4GB of onboard storage, a 3-inch, WQVGA screen, a 400MHz CPU, FM tuner, and a TV output. The handheld is capable of playing MP3, WMA, APE, RM, MPEG, FLV, AVI, and VOB files (amongst others), but the main selling point here seems to be its built-in ability to emulate the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, as well as play “3D games.” The price? 599 yuan (or about $87). Availability? Call an importer.

[Thanks, Raz]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

These days, the cool kids are looking to do more than just play back the freshest jams on their portable media player. We’re talking video, PVR, WiFi, the works. Have a listen at Marco’s question, and if you think you could do one better, send in your inquiry to ask at engadget dawt com:

“I’m looking for a new PMP, but I want a unit that can do it all. A large screen, big hard drive, support for lots of codecs, PVR functionality, TV output, etc. I’d also like Bluetooth and / or WiFi if possible. I don’t mind units that are somewhat bulky, but I want one with a great user interface and decent battery life. Any help here?”

Yeah, he totally just called the Archos / Cowon fanboys from the woodwork, but seriously, what would you recommend to this fellow? Is your current PMP a dream come true? Would you advise against getting whatever you’ve got? Spill your soul in comments below.

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Original post by Darren Murph