Skip to Content

Go back to school with your Mac, iPhone and TUAW
AOL Tech

More Treo Pro details emerge


The dam has been breached, and now there seems to be no stopping the internet at large as every little nook and cranny of the Treo Pro is exposed and explored. TreoCentral member scottymomo has fleshed out a few more details on the device, and dug up that Comm Manager shot up above. Details include:
  • HTC task manager.
  • Comm Manager's Airplane Mode and other assorted easily switched options.
  • MicroSD (up to 32GB supported) isn't under the battery, but you do have to take off the battery cover to access.
  • 1500mh battery.
  • Other stuff.
It's all very exciting, we assure you, but you can explore the shots for yourself if you're really feeling hard up for Treo Pro infos. Oh, while we're thinking about it: sexiest Treo yet, or disastrous usage of phone face real estate? Both?

[Via Palm Infocenter]

Palm's Treo 850 is really the Treo Pro?


Would you look at this. A very official looking page -- at a Palm.com domain, no less -- has unveiled the previously rumored Treo 850 as the Treo Pro. We're still digging the new look, though the keyboard does look suspiciously small in these shots. At a cursory glance we've got WiFi, a camera and a 3.5mm stereo jack. A couple more pics after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

PSP phone mod is really exactly what we were waiting for


Call it off Sony, no need to throw any precious man hours into making your perennially #2 handheld into some sort of amazing featurephone hybrid, some hacker has already done it for you. Through the amazing wonders of modern thinphone technology, soldering irons and probably a bit of glue, some hacker has managed the slap a Haier touchscreen phone onto the back of his PSP -- killing the UMD drive in the process, but we'd say it was well worth it.

Sony Ericsson launches Zeemote's JS1 Controller bundle for the W760


Tilt controls might be getting all the fanfare, what with the iPhone and Sony Ericsson's own W760 featuring tilt gaming, but the analog stick still reigns supreme when it comes to getting some actual fragging done. We spotted Zeemote's promising JS1 mobile joystick back at MWC this year, featuring four trigger buttons and an analog nub, but the little Bluetooth controller is finally getting a release. In fact, Sony Ericsson is giving this thing away in the Netherlands, with the purchase of a W760. Sadly, folks who already own a W760, don't live in the Netherlands, or just want a stand-alone JS1 for throwing at people or wedging in small crevices are still out of luck -- still no word on price or release of the thing outside this deal.

iPhone Dev Team unleashes Pwnage Tool 2.0


Sort of. Pwnage Tool 2.0 can't handle 3G iPhone SIM unlocks just yet, though jailbreaking should work just fine, and we're also faced with the teensy little problem of the Dev Team's server being totally destroyed by downloads already -- mirror please? -- but the friendly little jailbreak app has finally been unleashed upon the earth. We'd never suggest trying out software like this right out of the gate, but, um, let us know how it goes, yeah?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: We're seeing mixed results so far in the comments, but no bricked phones to speak of. Always a good thing. Oh, and plenty of mirrors to be found in the comments, thanks guys!

Update 2: Looks like 2.0.1 is already out with a few fixes!

AT&T's free iPhone WiFi is (update: was) live at last

Despite AT&T's best attempts at completely failing its free WiFi promises eternally, iPhone owners can finally fire up Mobile Safari in their local Starbucks, or, um, that one other place we heard about with AT&T WiFi, and get browsing. Of course, that's not to say the service won't crash horribly in the next 10 minutes, but at least AT&T stuck by its word, and can now move on to more pressing issues.

Update: Yeah, turns out this isn't true, and AT&T has pulled the page. Free WiFi? That's just silly.

iPhone 3G at one million sold and counting, App Store hits 10 million downloads


You hear of this new iPhone 3G thing? Doing pretty well, or so we hear. Apple says they sold one million of 'em this weekend worldwide, compared to the 74 days it took them to hit one million with the last generation. So far the little bugger has invaded 21 countries, with France next on its hit list on July 17. Oh, and that App Store isn't doing too bad for itself either, with 10 million downloads so far to iPhone 3Gs, updated iPhones and iPod touches. No breakdown yet on paid apps versus free apps, but Jared is free, and that's all that matters. However, the saddest fact in all of this is that bunches of suckers enthusiastic fans are queued up at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store this morning in New York (pictured), showing either a level of devotion to this little plastic bauble, or of complete disregard for their jobs, which is altogether frightening.

[Thanks, Laura]

Read - One million iPhone 3Gs sold
Read - 10 million App Store downloads

China's iPhone 3G gets an unboxing


On top of a piano, no less. China might be a bit late to the party by now, but they've sure got class. Taiwan retailer ePrice has unboxed a Chinese UI version of the iPhone for your viewing pleasure, and they even did a bit of Chinese handwriting recognition just for kicks. There's video as well (we embedded one after the break), so you really can't go wrong with this one, we promise.

Rogers caves on iPhone 3G plans, offers up 6GB for $30 a month


Those kind, gentle Canadians have been oh-so-politely demanding a few heads on sticks ever since Rogers' super-spendy iPhone 3G price plans were announced. Well, apparently their cries have been heard, and now Rogers is launching a promotional offer along with the iPhone of 6GB of data for $30 a month -- not quite unlimited data, but close enough -- which can be added on top of any regular voice plan. The promo will be available for iPhone buyers who activate with a three year contract before August 31. Also, perhaps in a bid to dispel some nasty rumors about a major iPhone shortage, Rogers will be hosting 8AM launch day events at six Rogers Plus stores in major Canadian cities, complete with a free breakfast. Mmm, breakfast.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Nokia E66 mini-review


Hate to break it to you, but there's little more to tell about the E66 that we didn't already cover with the E71. It's basically the exact same hardware and screen in a portrait, sliding form factor, which loses the QWERTY for a numeric keypad. That said, we wanted to go over the specific quality of those differences, and touch on a few things we missed with the E71 review. Oh, and in case you missed our video hands-on with both devices, you can find it right here.

Virgin Mobile to buy Helio for $39 million in equity


It's official, MVNO lone survivor Virgin Mobile is picking up the struggling Helio from SK Telecom and Earthlink for a cool $39 million in Virgin Mobile USA stock. They expect the deal to close in Q3 2008, pending regulatory approval. The acquisition comes as no surprise, but it's still sad to see the one true innovator in a mostly doomed MVNO space fall to that pesky little "completely failing to make money" thing. The good news is that it while the Helio brand will be phased out, Virgin Mobile isn't just in this for the 170,000-ish subscribers it'll be picking up. They plan to leverage Helio's technology and content offerings, not to mention the willingness of its customers to pay a few extra bucks for the perks, to build the Virgin Mobile brand into new spaces -- spaces which hopefully prove profitable and Ocean 2-ey.

Sony Ericsson working on a PSP phone, minus the Ericsson?


Look, we've heard our fair share of PSP phone rumors, and there's really no reason to trust this one any further than your average baseless musings, but if Marketing Week's "sources in Japan and Korea" can be trusted, Sony's PSP phone could be hitting shelves as soon as Christmas 2009. What does seem clear to these shady sources is that Sony won't be forking over the PlayStation branding to its Sony Ericsson partnership, and instead will build its PSP phone all by its lonesome. Other "details" from "analysts" are slightly less legit-sounding, with some stating it would be "relatively easy" to work phone features into the PSP since it already includes WiFi. Um, ok. Still, reasonable or not, this is clearly a rumor that will never die -- until Sony builds the dang thing, in which case we can start talking up a sequel.

[Thanks, Alex]

LG Dare hands-on


We spent some touching (get it?) minutes with the new LG Dare that's hitting Verizon Wireless today, and while we didn't come away from the experience a changed human being, we've gotta congratulate LG and Verizon for the obvious effort they've put into this unit. Particularly with the hardware the phone seems determined to differentiate itself from its iPhone competition, with helpful tactile feedback while typing, (almost helpful) handwriting recognition, video recording (in slow-mo, if you'd like) and even editing, and the beefed-up photo taking capabilities that a 3.2 megapixel sensor and built-in flash provide. The basics aren't too bad either, with a sturdy and bright screen, peppy EV-DO Rev A., expandable memory and a flush 3.5mm headphone jack.

Sony Ericsson's C905, Z780 and X1 hands-on


We got our grubby mitts all over the latest and greatest from Sony Ericsson, including that new C905 8 megapixel monstrosity, and, of course, the Xperia X1. The C905 is certainly no slouch in the camera department, with that for-serious Xenon flash and dedicated camera keys, but you'll pay for it in thickness -- the C905 is a good deal thicker than its Walkman counterparts, though that does leave room for a nicely formed slide-out keypad. The C905 is capable of geotagging pictures, but can't upload on the fly to photo services just yet like Nokia's new phones, though such capability is in the works. While the C905 seems finely honed for a specific purpose, the Z780 flip phone seems much more plain jane in comparison, with a rather large size despite its "slim proportions" and a lack of detailing in styling to make it really pop. But, of course, who needs all that featurephone nonsense when you've got the X1 staring 'em all down? We got to twiddle around with an out-of-battery Xperia for a minute, and it's certainly one of the thickest and heaviest phones headed for the market in the near future -- though the upside of that is some glorious build quality, an immense WVGA screen and an expansive, highly touchable keyboard. SE certainly does seem to have something for everybody, but with Moto apparently working on an 8 megapixel camera of its own, and touchscreen rivals to the X1 hogging all the spotlight, SE's isn't looking at an easy road to bumping back that profitability. Oh, and in case you were interested, the gallery below also includes the W760 sporting a black finish, a pink-ish red-ish W580 and the wonderfully tiny W350i.

Verizon's LG Dare touchscreen contender available tomorrow for $200


Verizon Wireless isn't kidding around with this new Dare phone from LG: it'll hit Verizon's online shop tomorrow (the 26th) for $200 with a $50 rebate, and then land in retail on July 3rd. We've had little time to get accustomed to its touchscreen mug, unlike Sprint's long run-up to the Instinct, but Verizon and LG have certainly done their homework. There's a whole lot to chew on here, so we're going to drop it on you bullet point style:

Hardware:
  • Dimensions: 103.9 x 55.6 x 13.8 mm (that's 0.54-inches thick for us yanks)
  • 3-inch, 240 x 400 touchscreen LCD with "Vibe-Touch" tactile feedback
  • Rev A EV-DO
  • 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus and exposure control
  • 120 fps slow-motion movie record mode
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • microSD up to 8GB
  • Proximity sensor for switching off the LCD when against your face
  • Light sensor to adjust LCD brightness automatically
  • Accelerometer
  • 3D graphics acceleration, supports app transitions and rotations

Software:
  • "Full HTML" browser (barely) with page overview and zoom functions
  • V Cast store and VZ Navigator
  • Cover Flow-alike music app
  • 51 possible apps, 11 app "drag & drop" shortcut menu
  • Shortcuts draggable to home screen
  • Graphical favorites menu, drag icons to pertinent task like message, call or edit
  • Contact list includes search ribbon and filtering
  • Text input via QWERTY, predictive keypad or handwriting recognition
  • Drawing pad includes colors, pen widths, eraser for scribbling and picture "editing"
  • Background music listening
  • Video editing, picture editing, panoramic stitching

Phew, these guys really packed it in. Stand by for our hands-on impressions.




AOL News

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: