Filed under: Handsets, Others, Windows Mobile, GSM

The saga of the Meizu M8 is one of the more amusing dramas in the phone biz these days, owing partly to the endless delays and tweaks, allowed — but owing much more to the truly masterful ripping of the iPhone’s industrial design. Unfortunately, there’s been very little actual bite to follow up the bark coming out of the Meizu camp, and it looks like we might get a real taste of this thing for the first time as soon as next month. A post on Meizu’s website, seemingly from none other than CEO J. Wong himself, claims that a first cut of the M8 will arrive next month — along with plenty more photos and details — but it’ll be a somewhat neutered rendition that features just 128MB of RAM and zero flash. October will bring the real deal, a 256MB baddie that rocks 8GB of storage for 2180 yuan, which works out to about $320. Meanwhile, pictures have surfaced of the latest prototype floating around Meizu’s labs, looking both as slick and as litigation-prone as ever. Bring these stateside, Mr. Wong, and we’ll be the very first to sign up — just don’t be surprised if Apple is right behind us.

[Via Electronista]

- August for 128MB model, October for 256MB / 8GB?
- Prototype M8 in the wild

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve been waiting for this day ever since Opera first announced its Opera Mobile 9.5 web browser back in February. Today, it’s out for a beta 1 launch. In other words, it’ll be buggy but likely far more useful than the browser already installed on your touchscreen-based (PocketPC) WinMo professional phone. The initial release includes support for double-tap zoom, landscape flip, off-line page save, tab-like browsing, auto-URL complete, and a Google-search bar to name just a few of the 9.5 features. More functionality will be added later including Google Gears and support for Flash video on WinMo and Symbian devices. CNET already has the hands-on video review up for your pickings. Superior yet, download and install for yourself and tell us what you think in the comments below.

Update: PhoneArena has chimed-in with a video hands-on of its own. Check it after the break.

— Opera Mobile 9.5 beta 1
— CNET first look

Continue reading Opera Mobile 9.5 beta released into the wilds

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Culture, Telstra, Misc

Don’t act like you didn’t know that Pope Benedict XVI was down with modern technology. As part of World Youth Day, the man himself will begin sending out texts of encouragement to pilgrims who have signed up through Telstra to receive them. A total of four gigantic “prayer walls” have been erected at the Sydney Opera House, the Domain, Darling Harbour and Randwick Racecourse in Australia, where folks will actually be able to send their own messages for all to presumably see. The first message sent out? “Young friend, God and his people anticipate much from u because u have within you the Fathers supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus - BXVI.” Hllujh, amn brtha.

[Thanks, zedster]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Others, GSM

Not that we’d view the actual Touch Diamond as IF or anything, but the Diamond J6 is more along the lines of I3. In all seriousness, this thing isn’t too far from being spot-on identical (maybe it’s an HTC thing?), with a 2.8-inch display, built-in camera, multimedia player, Bluetooth and a microSD card slot. And for $160, we’re nearly inclined to fall in love here… almost.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed under: Software, Apple, OS X

We can’t say this is a surprise… but it is sweet to see. The iPhone Dev Team has added a video to their blog showing off the latest version of their upcoming PwnageTool 2.0, along with a video of what they claim is the “world’s first” jailbroken iPhone 3G. Check the video after the break, and hit the read link to see how their progress is coming on the new case-cracker.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Dev Team shows off video of ‘world’s first’ jailbroken iPhone 3G

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed under: Handsets, Others, GSM

Pretty ironic that a phone uppity enough to be coined the “GlamPhone” has to suffer the indignity of a few unflattering shots lying on a laboratory table somewhere, isn’t it? Alas, another version of Alcatel’s ELLE-branded line of fashion handsets did what it had to do to earn the FCC’s undying love, though there’s really not much to speak about here: dedicated music controls, stereo Bluetooth, and a meager cam round out the feature set, along with enough GSM 850 / 1900 to get by in these parts. Oh, and there’s USB mass storage mode, too — a must for any product with the word “glam” in it.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Handsets, Peripherals

See what it’s come to Bluetooth SIG? Headset-to-cellphone pairing is so utterly baffling to average consumers that they are now handing over a Hamilton at Best Purchases in California (in support of the new hands-free calling law) just to avoid the procedure. Eight years after the launch of the world’s first Bluetooth headset from Ericsson, this is where we’re at. Still, at $10, consider it a bargain — that’s half of what Best Purchase will charge you for the already free-to-download (and free to ship on CD) Ubuntu OS.

[Thanks, Tarek]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Handsets, Features, ATT, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, Apple

It’s hard to think of any other device that’s enjoyed the level of exposure and hype that Apple found in the launch of the first iPhone. Who could forget it? Everyone got to be a gadget nerd for a day; even those totally disinterested in technology seemed to come down with iPhone fever. But the original device was still far from perfect: its limited abilities (especially in the 3G department), high price of entry, and the small number of countries in which it was available kept many potential buyers sidelined. Until now — or so Apple hopes.

The wireless industry is a notoriously tough nut to crack, and it’s become pretty clear that the first iPhone wasn’t about total domination so much as priming the market and making a good first impression with some very dissatisfied cellphone users. With the iPhone 3G, though, Apple’s playing for keeps. Not only is this iPhone’s Exchange enterprise support aiming straight for the heart of the business market, but the long-awaited 3rd celebration application support and App Store means it’s no longer just a device, but a viable computing platform. And its 3G network compatibility finally makes the iPhone welcome the world over, especially after Cupertino decided to ditch its non-traditional carrier partnerships in favor of dropping the handset price dramatically. $200? We’re still a tiny stunned.

So now that Apple finally stands poised for an all out war on cellphone-makers everywhere, will the iPhone 3G stand up to the competition — and higher expectations than ever? Head on over to Engadget for our full review.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed under: Peripherals, Verizon Wireless

While we can’t imagine there are lots of bottles of champagne being broken over it, Verizon’s much touted open network initiative finally has its first device: a modem that helps monitor the contents of big storage tanks. It is part of SupplyNet Communication’s Prophet line of devices, and makes use of Verizon’s network and SupplyNet’s own TankLink service to send out an important text message before the tank runs dry. Not exactly the most exciting device to be sure but, as MocoNews points out, it is just the type of thing that Verizon had in mind with the initiative, which it hopes will help bring in revenue from all sorts of unexpected sources.

[Via MocoNews]

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed under: Handsets, Vertu, GSM, EDGE, UMTS

Even very recently, Vertu’s had no problem milking its older models endlessly with ultra-limited-run special editions — a shame, really, taking into account that they’ve had the 3G-capable Ascent Ti in the stable since last year. If you’re going to spend thousands (sometimes, tens or hundreds of thousands) of dollars on a ridiculously over-the-top handset, it may as well at least ride the UMTS wave, yeah? Finally, the wealthy have an opportunity to have their cake and eat it too thanks to the Nokia division’s new Checked and Knurled versions of the Ascent Ti, which as you might guess, are checked and knurled, respectively. It might be more than a gimmick, too, since they’re probably easier to keep a grip on than the standard model — so whip out those checkbooks, clumsy rich people.

[Via Crave]

Popularity: 2% [?]