5/29/2010 12:50:00 PM
kenmouse
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Mobile News
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Motorola Droid
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Motorola Droid 2
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While we've got no way to confirm at the moment, here's some proverbial food for thought. A friendly reader last night published in our comment thread for the two rumored Verizon-bound Motorola devices with the above picture (subtitles added by us), claiming the bottom image is the Droid 2's upgraded QWERTY keyboard. The story goes that his friend had one but no other information is currently available -- the font on the keys is identical, and the mic icon on the bottom left is distinctively Android. If it's legit, we gotta say we're hopeful; the keys look to have a more protruding center à la the CLIQ, which should make typing on the little guy much easier than before. And if it's not the Droid successor, well, it's still something we haven't seen. Could this be the updated QWERTY-fied Android solution we've been waiting for? Time will tell.
5/29/2010 12:47:00 PM
kenmouse
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Apple
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iPhone
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Mobile News
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One of our AT&T ninjas just hit us up with some news that will excite those of you who have a chronic case of the dropsies and own an iPhone. AT&T will be launching a new insurance service starting June 6th, named MobileProtect, designed specifically for the Apple iPhone. The insurance plan, which will be run by Asurion, will carry a price tag of $13.99/month and will be available for purchase through Apple’s App Store. The charges will be billed to the credit card on file with Apple. The deductibles range from $99 for an 8GB 3G to $199 for a 32GB 3GS, which is pretty steep — but not quite as steep as $699 for a new 32 GB 3GS off-contract. You must enroll in the plan within 30-days of upgrading/purchasing a new iPhone. AT&T is launching this service as: “Lack of iPhone insurance is a leading source of iPhone related customer complaints.” What say you? Is this a winner? We think $168/year is a pretty steep price to pay to protect your iPiece. We’ve got an additional image for you after the break.
5/29/2010 12:46:00 PM
kenmouse
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Apple iPad
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JooJoo
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Technology
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Fusion Garage CEO and JooJoo creator Chandra Rathakrishnan has certainly discussed the iPad before in talking up his own tablet, but nothing could have quite prepared us for the bit of bombast he unleashed on the occasion of the iPad's international launch. While he started out with the usual line that the "JooJoo delivers the entire Internet -- including Flash-based websites," he soon took things to a whole new level, saying that "we don't see the need for an app store," because "an app store sells stripped down versions of actual websites" -- stripped down websites like Brushes, KORG iElectribe, and Real Racing HD, we suppose. Believe it or not, however, Rathakrishnan didn't let things sit there, and apparently went on to describe the iPad as just "another storage device with web capabilities." Of course, there's at least a chance Chandra was actually paying the iPad a compliment, since a "storage device with web capabilities" would be a pretty big step up from the JooJoo.
5/29/2010 12:44:00 AM
kenmouse
, Posted in
HTC EVO 4G
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Mobile News
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0 Comments
When you've got the world's most desired** handset, you don't keep people waiting. As such, Sprint is recommending that its "preferred retailers" open extra early on June 4th. That should give you a bit of time to grab the new EVO 4G on the way to the office for some good ol' fashioned bragging rights in the cubicle farm. At least until you remember that one-third of your life is spent working inside of a beige box. Oh and here's a pro tip: according to the official EVO 4G Launch Guide we're staring at, the mobile hotspot functionality that turns your EVO into a WiMax hotspot for up to 8 devices will initially work without paying the $29.99 monthly fee if you're happy with using it on 4G only (no 3G). Sprint expects to correct this sometime in July after which the Sprint Mobile Hotspot add-on will require activation.
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have called it quits.
Microsoft Bing will replace Google in the next version of the iPhone operating system to be released in June, we’ve heard from mulitple sources, including a high level source who claims to have been briefed on the matter. We’re not calling this more than a rumor yet, but one thing is sure – our sources close to Google in particular are speaking freely about this as fact. In January Business Week reported that Microsoft and Apple were in talks over an iPhone search deal, and the deal certainly would be brilliant for Microsoft.
After Mingdao starred in a lead role on Anhui TV’s [Happy & Love Forever/ Xing Fu Yi Ding Qiang], the mainland China television network earned its highest ratings ever. This confirmed Mingdao’s #1 drama brother status in mainland China. At the moment, his earnings are $750,000 NTD per episode.
Who says an alcohol-monitoring bracelet can’t be chic? Certainly not Lindsay Lohan, who took fashion matters into her own hands after being ordered to wear the unsightly ankle device following a failed court appearance last week. Lindsay, who’s been spotted sporting a new blonde do along with her SCRAM-bracelet, appealed to Chanel via her Twitter last night, begging for a timely solution to the fashion faux-pas, tweeting: “can CHANEL please help me out by getting me some stickers to put on my scram bracelet so that i can at least wear a chic dress?! maybe!? x”. While the last time that Lindsay voluntarily wore another SCRAM bracelet, she flaunted it while wearing teeny bikinis, she seems to be going for a modest approach these days in uncharacteristic wide-leg jeans. Will Karl Lagerfeld come to Lindsay’s rescue so she can wear minis again? Only time will tell. 
Safari on the iPhone is by no means a bad mobile browser — in fact, it’s arguably the best one out there. Just because people have something good doesn’t mean they don’t want to peek at what else is out there, though. Even if someone’s dating the finest supermodel in all the lands, they’ll still sneak casual glances at other potential mates. Its just human nature. People like having options.
The iPad is set to surpass Apple Mac computer shipments by September, while production levels for the yet-to-be-released iPhone 4G will hit 12 million by that time, according to an analyst. 
When Mariah Carey pulled out of Tyler Perry's latest film, it only increased speculation that the pop diva is pregnant. But her husband, America's Got Talent host Nick Cannon, dropped by E! studios Thursday night to clear the air. 
It was with delight that I read these words on Thursday: "The proposed IndexedDB standard, which provides a local database store for Web applications, will be supported by Firefox 4." 
Richie Ren and girlfriend Tina have two children and they're always asked about marriage. Richie accepted an interview lately in Taiwan and said his daughter is 5-years-old, why people are still asking this question? Anyways they already have children, let him walk in his pace and talk about it after a while.
Both 'American Idol' finalists inked deals for major-label debuts on Thursday.
A topless picture of Paramore's Hayley Williams randomly surfaced on the singer's Twitter page Thursday.
Nokia and Opera Software have taken sides in the Adobe-Apple battle over Flash multimedia support: They are in the Flash camp.
The idea of putting iPhone apps on the Apple TV has been something some of us have been thinking about since at least 2008, when the original App Store launched. When rumors were swirling about Google TV, it became an even better idea as the living room was likely to be a new battleground for Apple/Google. And with the unveiling of Google TV last week, it became clear that this would be a next major fight — provided Apple started taking it seriously. Soon, they will be, if Engadget’s sources are correct.
Analyst predictions – like any other – should generally be taken with a pinch of salt (the Steve Ballmer at WWDC 2010 speculation is good evidence of quite how much sodium is necessary), but it seems someone at Gartner has been seriously mistaken in their counting. They’re quoted as claiming under 100,000 Nokia N900 units were sold in its first five months on the market; however, a source we spoke to at Nokia today told us that in fact the Finnish company sold “well in excess of 100,000″ N900 handsets in the first five weeks.
Crystal Bowersox betrayed zero disappointment with the outcome of American Idol‘s ninth season while churning through the post-finale press machine backstage at the Nokia Theater last night. While the time the runner-up had to talk was all too brief, the 24-year-old Ohio mama happily discussed her feelings about Lee DeWyze’s win, the prospect of singing original songs on the show, and what it was like performing with Alanis Morissette and Joe Cocker on the massive Nokia stage.
Gary Coleman desperately needs your "thoughts and prayers."
Mozilla is working to incorporate Google's newly released VP8 video technology as part of the specification for Web video.
It’s Friday, May 28th, and that means it’s international iPad day. Queues were already forming outside Apple stores yesterday, while preorder customers started to receive their online orders a day early (or, alternatively, make thousands of complaints to couriers).
...not unless it's the end of the World that is...
Los Angeles-based entertainment attorney Ned Sherman today announced that he is representing artist Jay Park with respect to his global entertainment career.