A new quick messaging phone, the Pantech Link II, is now available at AT&T for just $10 after a two-year contract and subsidies. The BREW Mobile 1.0.2-powered handset replaces the original Link but retains the hardware QWERTY keyboard for quick text messaging, e-mails, and IM chats. The handset is 10.7mm thick, including its rubberized back.
AT&T finished the week by rolling out an upgrade to one of its core messaging phones. Pantech's Pursuit II switches to a vertical QWERTY slider design instead of the original's side slider, but its changes revolve mostly around its use of Qualcomm's Brew MP platform. The OS is built for basic feature phones but gives it more smartphone-like apps and a more accurate HTML-capable browser.
Provider AT&T on Tuesday announced it will soon release the HTC Freestyle handset. The quick messaging phone will not have Android onboard, but rather the Brew Mobile Platform from Qualcomm. The phone sports a 3.2-inch display and will be the first non-smartphone to sport the Sense UI.
HTC appears to be readying several new handsets aimed at budget-conscious buyers. Leaked images, posted on Pocketnow, show an Android offering and a similar device that is believed to run BREW. The Android smartphone offers the standard set of soft keys below its small touchscreen, while a directional pad and hardware buttons for phone calls are located near the bottom edge of the facade.
A discovery today suggests Qualcomm has quietly begun hiring for what could be a deeper commitment to a CDMA iPhone. A position for an iPhone Developer Guru would come onboard to "develop the most challenging product of your life." AppleInsider's finding has requirements that center primarily around iOS development, such as Xcode.
Oracle tonight sued Google for allegedly infringing on seven patents as well as copyrights relating to Java. The software pioneer claimed that Google had ignored Sun's patent portfolio since the middle of last decade and had even hired parts of Sun's Java team in the years before Oracle's buyout of Sun last year. The patent fringing was allegedly damaging as Android was competing directly with Java as a phone platform, whether for apps or the OS itself.
HTC is reportedly preparing an updated version of its Smart handset, an unnamed source has told Cellpassion. The revision, expected to be named Smart2, is said to maintain the same overall form, but with the addition of Wi-Fi connectivity and Office applications for creating and editing documents.
Smartphones are upturning the mobile gaming market, comScore found in a study today. The number of players on iPhones and other smartphones has jumped 60 percent in the past year to almost 21.4 million and has cut deeply into the portion of those using regular cellphones. Their numbers dropped a sharp 35 percent over the same period to just 29.5 million.
The GSM Association today unveiled an alliance for a common app store platform meant to challenge Apple. Known as the Wholesale Applications Community, the service will create an open, standard way of developing and selling apps across multiple phone operating systems and networks. The partnership will include phone builders LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, as well as 24 major carriers that include all four major US networks and major internationals like China Mobile, Orange and Telefonica.
HTC is planning on increasing the use of the Android platform on its handsets to more than 50 percent in 2010, replacing Windows Mobile as the dominant OS, Taiwan's DigiTimes reported on Wednesday while referring to claimed industry sources. This is a significant increase from the current split, as HTC now offers about 30 percent of its handsets preloaded with the Google-developed, open source operating system.
Kyocera at CTIA today announced a pair of new CDMA handsets for North America with the G2GO (“Good-to-Go”) M2000 and Laylo M1400. The former is the company's third-generation QWERTY-equipped handset that comes in a horizontally-sliding form factor, while the latter is a more common vertical slider with a regular keypad. The G2GO M2000 is meant for heavy text- and instant-messaging uses and is due to replace the Lingo M1000 handset. The phone has Bluetooth support and a 1.3-megapixel camera and has dedicated keys for zooming into and out of and editing photos. An accelerometer switches the orientation of the 2.4-inch 240x320 display as needed.
