Disk Inserted

It’s truly remarkable to see almost every trace of a successful, well-established Valley start-up’s work wiped out in the span of 24 hours, but here we are: T-Mobile’s discontinuing the Sidekick line as of tomorrow, July 2, which effectively means that the Sidekick LX 2009 will no longer be available. As a refresher, the latest Sidekick LX was the last product holistically engineered by Danger as it got shoehorned into Microsoft — square peg in a round hole, as it were — before repurposing the team to work on the just-killed Kin line. In a way, it’s a miracle that the LX ever went back on sale following the nightmarish data issues they’d gone through last year, so we suppose it’s a silver lining that they made it this far — but still, it’s sad to see Danger’s years of design effectively vaporized without a trace like this. For what it’s worth, T-Mobile says that it’s working “on the next chapter of [its] storied Sidekick franchise” and to “stay tuned” for a “fresh” experience, but since T-Mobile owns the Sidekick brand (not Danger / Microsoft), we’ve got every reason to believe these new products will be based on Android considering the carrier’s huge investment in its myTouch line. Adios, Sidekick — we’ll do one last screen flip in your honor.

T-Mobile kills off current Sidekicks, Kin says ‘welcome to the club’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yes, yes, we know you’d rather get Eclair or Froyo — but sometimes you’ve got to be happy with what you’ve got, and this is one of those times. As far as we can tell, Samsung hasn’t budged on its commitment to sunset the Behold II’s upgrade path with Donut, but at least 1.6 is finally trickling into the hands of owners this week via a rolling over-the-air update that should wrap up on the 25th. There are a few bug fixes in the mix, too — so unless you’ve got a rooted Behold II running 2.2 already, you probably want in on this action. Or… you know, dump this inadequately-supported piece for something running 2.1 out of the box.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Samsung Behold II finally gets Android 1.6 update originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The nation’s number four carrier is once again pressing ahead with its big HSPA+ expansion, announcing today that speeds of up to 21Mbps (theoretically, of course) will be available in over 25 metropolitan areas covering more than 75 million folks by the end of the month. In conjunction with the expansion, that means that T-Mobile’s webConnect Rocket USB modem will be available in the newly-upgraded markets, which include LA, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Tampa, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and New Orleans, among others. Interestingly, the carrier isn’t shying away at all on its questionably-truthful “4G speeds” talk despite some pooh-poohing from rivals, so we’ll have to see whether the claims hold up once the networks start to build up a little saturation. Follow the break for T-Mobile’s release.

Continue reading T-Mobile expands HSPA+ footprint, now covers over 25 metro areas

T-Mobile expands HSPA+ footprint, now covers over 25 metro areas originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already heard enough talk — both from our own tipsters and other publications — to say with some level of confidence that T-Mobile plans on unleashing the mighty Galaxy S at some point in the next month or two, but is this the smoking gun? There’s now a phone called the SGH-T959 in the FCC’s certification database that features AWS 3G support, and while external photos are rudely left out, the device’s outline clearly mimics that of the generic, unbranded Galaxy S that we’ve been seeing since its unveiling back in March. At any rate, we’ve got this Samsung Android event coming up stateside here in a couple weeks, so we should figure it all out then.

T-Mobile’s Samsung Galaxy S outed by way of FCC? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’d heard a rumor this was coming, and T-Mobile has now made it a reality — the carrier will be offering a one-day-only, every phone is free event on June 19th to celebrate Father’s Day. Yes, that really means every phone T-Mobile offers (including the brand new myTouch 3G Slide and Garminfone) and the only “catch” is that you have to either switch to a family plan or add a new line to an existing plan — and, of course, sign a two-year agreement. The deal is only available in T-Mobile stores, however, and the carrier warns that phones will only be available “while supplies last,” so you’ll likely have to deal with a line if you’re looking to get in on the savings.

Continue reading T-Mobile celebrates Father’s Day with one-day ‘every phone is free’ event

T-Mobile celebrates Father’s Day with one-day ‘every phone is free’ event originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some two years after its release, there are still plenty of people who’ll swear up and down that the E71 is the finest phone Nokia has ever produced — and for good reason. As a platform, S60 was the product of a simpler time when the smartphone market was dominated not by touchscreens, but by numeric keypads, and the E71 was arguably the last of a string of bona fide successes that Nokia enjoyed in the platform’s heyday alongside pioneering handsets like the N82 and N95. Thing is, the E71 was different than those other models in a very important way: it was elegant. Historically, Nokias have typically favored function over form and saved the highest-quality materials for the Vertu line, but the E71 bucked that trend — it was slim, sexy, chock-full of metal, and curved in all the right places. In fact, to this day, it remains one of the best-looking, best-feeling smartphones ever made.

Customers (and reviewers) made their love for the E71 clear, and Nokia sought to recapture the glory with the introduction of the refined, upgraded E72. For Americans, of course, the biggest problem with the E72 was that you couldn’t buy it from a carrier — and unlike the E71, it never got much traction as an unlocked purchase. That’s where the E73 Mode comes into play, a mildly reworked version of the E72 with T-Mobile branding and, of course, support for 3G on T-Mobile’s AWS bands. Put bluntly, though, this is still just a warmed-over E71 — and in 2010, is there a market for that? Let’s have a look.

Continue reading Nokia E73 Mode review

Nokia E73 Mode review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TmoNews has it on good authority that the entire line of myTouch 3G devices — the original, the 3.5mm jack update, and the Slide — will get upgraded with Android 2.2, as evidenced by a fascinating shot of a pamphlet the site has posted. Users of the older devices will also get the same Genius Button functionality that was just rolled out on the Slide, along with the updated Faves app and full Microsoft Exchange support, breathing new life into a phone that first saw life as the Magic well over a year ago. We don’t have a timeframe for the updates other than that they’re “coming soon,” so we’ll keep an eye out.

[Thanks, Oscar]

Android 2.2 coming to the full myTouch 3G range originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As promised, T-Mobile has brought the Garminfone to retail today for $199 after $50 rebate on a new two-year contract, calling into question the viability of selling a nav-centric Android device with an HVGA display, 3 megapixel camera, and no 3.5mm headphone jack for $250 out of pocket in the store. We suppose the awesome car dock will attract some, but the myTouch 3G Slide certainly seems like the better option for less money — maybe this would work at $99 or $149, we suppose. Not that we’re impatient or anything, but where’s our Froyo update, Garmin?

T-Mobile Garminfone now on sale, price still boggles the mind originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s no secret that Samsung wants to spread its high-end Galaxy S far and wide, but the exact details of its US attack have been a mystery thus far. TmoNews is reporting a “trusted source” as saying that the phone is pegged for a launch on T-Mobile on July 21, which matches up with some chatter we’ve been hearing as well. Though T-Mobile’s been supporting Android as aggressively as any carrier in the world, the company lacks a hero device — something akin to the Droid Incredible or EVO 4G — so it would stand to reason that Samsung’s best Android gear to date would be a good fit over there. Nothing wrong with a Super AMOLED display in a sub-10mm shell, now, is there? In the meantime, we’ve been invited to an event on June 29 to see “the next generation in Android smartphones” from Sammy, so we’re hoping for some more details then — and naturally, we’ll be on hand.

Samsung teases next Android announce, Galaxy S bound for T-Mobile next month? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Say what you will about Nokia’s software, there’s no faulting the E70-series of QWERTY candybars, which marry delectable keyboards with thin, classy, and surprisingly rugged design — and of course top it off with an almost-just-too-small screen. The latest of these is the new Nokia E73 Mode for T-Mobile US (that’s right, a Nokia phone on a US carrier!), which will start shipping on June 16th. The S60 handset has a 5 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, WiFi, free turn by turn Ovi Maps, and not much more to speak of to set it apart from its predecessors, which is a good or bad thing depending upon what you want out of a phone. The best news, however, is that it’s retailing for $69.99 on a two year contract. PR is after the break.

Continue reading Nokia E73 Mode brings a familiar form factor to T-Mobile US on the cheap

Nokia E73 Mode brings a familiar form factor to T-Mobile US on the cheap originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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