Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

There are, shall we say, certain “advantages” to driving a race car sponsored by global wireless behemoth Vodafone. Fame, fortune, and a free account (seriously, all the minutes and kilobytes you can eat!) definitely rank high on that list, but it all pales in comparison to this. It seems that Formula 1 wizard Lewis Hamilton has been gifted with a Voda-branded Storm, a great publicity play for the carrier — particularly as he’s sitting in front of a camera describing how “wicked” it is. Clearly, the video is little more than a PR stunt, but the phone genuinely seems to be his, and at least we can get a clear look at how fast, fluid, and pretty the interface appears to be. So, anyone know where he leaves that thing when he’s out racing? Check the full action after the break.

Continue reading Formula 1 superstar finishes first in race to nab BlackBerry Storm

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Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Blackberry_Storm_Runs_iPhone_OS’; We can’t put our finger on it, but there’s something vaguely familiar about this new Storm 9500.

In case you’re reading this after these images get taken down — which they inevitably will be — this was the official marketing material posted tonight by RIM’s Storm launch partner, Vodafone.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Vodafone’s BlackBerry Storm art department all soon to be fired

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/First_hands_on_with_RIM_s_iPhone_killing_BlackBerry_Storm’; RIM’s a little late to the touchscreen party, but comes bearing goodies. The BlackBerry Storm is a beast of a phone in more ways than one. Fronted by a meaty, high-resolution touchscreen with an innovative clicking mechanism, the phone is easily the prettiest by RIM to date. There’s a brushed metal back, a beautiful new OS interface, and enough radios to give your grandkids cancer (EV-DO Rev. A, quad-band GSM, Europe-friendly HSPA, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, though sadly no WiFi). But the real test of a phone is usability, not flash. Check out our impressions after the break.

Continue reading BlackBerry Storm 9500 hands-on

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

A storm’s arrival typically isn’t something to celebrate, but we’re going to make a notable exception here seeing how the BlackBerry Storm is less of a destructive weather pattern and more of an incredibly hot smartphone — arguably RIM’s hottest to date. Fit to its business-savvy roots, the long-rumored handset comes equipped with the most comprehensive global roaming capabilities of virtually any wireless device you’ll find anywhere, featuring EV-DO Rev. A, quadband EDGE, and 2100MHz HSPA for Europe. Beyond that, the Storm becomes RIM’s very first touchscreen phone, mounting a 3.26-inch 480 x 360 glass display on a unique clickable surface so that the entire thing can be pressed downwards — just like a real button — for tactile feedback when making selections. It includes a full HTML finger-navigable browser, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint editing capabilities, Bluetooth 2.0, 1GB of on-board storage with an 8GB microSD card bundled in the box, 3.5mm headphone jack, automatic orientation and ambient lighting sensors, and a 3.2-megapixel autofocus cam with dedicated flash, making it a legitimate jack-of-all-trades that seems likely to be able to handle even the most chaotic personal and professional lives users can throw its way. It’ll allegedly do 15 days of standby or 5.5 hours of talk time on either GSM or CDMA networks. No word on pricing yet — we’re told all will be revealed “in the coming weeks” — but it’ll launch on both Verizon and Vodafone in November.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Vodafone_debuts_BlackBerry_Storm’; We’re still waiting on Verizon to stop teasing us about this thing, but Vodafone (who’s been hinting at the phone since last month) just announced the BlackBerry Storm, RIM’s touchscreen flagship. As if you didn’t know already, Vodafone is confirming a 3.25-inch 480 x 360 touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, automatic orientation flipping, 1GB of built-in storage and a host of multimedia capabilities, including iTunes sync.

[Thanks, Bob]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

In what can only be described as the fastest and most exhilarating one minute, twenty-two seconds of our lives, RIM and Vodafone have thrown together a promotional video for the upcoming Storm that touches on most of the handset’s high points: mobile music, GPS, desktop-grade browsing, streaming video, expandable memory, and — get this — voice and data (”it can do two things at once,” we’re triumphantly told). Now, bear in mind this is a Vodafone video, not Verizon, so that “two things at once” claim probably isn’t going to hold water when you’re hooked up to Big Red’s EV-DO Rev. A — but the remainder of the factoids in the flashy, seizure-inducing commercial should apply. Follow the break for the covertly-shot material, if your sensitive eyes can take the kind of sensory punishment that only this much primary color and enterprise compatibility can deliver.

[Via CrackBerry]

Continue reading BlackBerry Storm shows off in trippy Vodafone promo vid

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Filed under: Laptops, Wireless

Laptops with built-in WWAN modems aren’t anything new, but there’s a hodgepodge of hardware and services available — a situaton the GSM Association is trying to simplify with the new Mobile Broadband standardization initiative. Sure, it’s mostly an excuse to get another sticker on your gear, but companies like Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, Toshiba, Qualcomm and a bunch of carriers are on board to ensure that Mobile Broadband-certified machines will be ready and able to connect in some 91 countries around the world — and what’s more, they’re committed to spending a cool billion dollars in the next year promoting MB as a “compelling alternative” to WiFi and WiMAX. That should be an interesting dilemma for the carriers that also run hotspot networks, but we’ve got a feeling everyone’s happy as long as the sub fees keep rolling in.

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve seen most everything about the BlackBerry Storm that Verizon wanted us to see, but this is the first real (clear) glimpse at what the UI is apt to look, taste and smell like whenever it decides to ship. Of course, we’d still caution you to take all of this with a grain of salt until Vodafone comes clean, but the screen shots captured in the read link do look fairly believable. Can you stand any more teasin’? If so, you know where to head.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Sony Ericsson finally came clean with that September 30 launch date for the XPERIA X1 this morning, and now the carrier situation is starting to resolve itself — as previously hinted, Vodafone will launch the sleek WinMo slider in the UK, and both Voda and O2 will have it in Germany. O2 UK hasn’t confirmed anything yet, and we still haven’t heard from any carriers in the third launch country of Sweden, but we’ll keep you posted over on Engadget Mobile as soon as we hear anything.

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Filed under: Laptops

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Vodafone_to_offer_3G_equipped_Inspiron_Mini_9′;It’s still not quite a standard offering from cellphone carriers, but it looks like the 3G-equipped netbook is fast headed in that direction, with Vodafone now following T-Mobile’s Eee-centric lead by offering a mobile broadband-friendly version of Dell’s brand new Inspiron Mini 9. Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing or country availability just yet (that’s promised in the “coming weeks”), but the 3G-equipped Mini 9 will apparently be available by the end of the month, and the deal is exclusive for Europe, so it looks like any other European carriers interested in hopping on this particular bandwagon will have to make do with one of the other 9,000 netbooks currently on the market.

[Via Xataka]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

So we might not have a physical device here, but these packaging renderings are pretty solid evidence of exactly what BlackBerry fans on Verizon — particularly those jealous of the Bold — can expect in a few weeks’ time. It looks like RIM’s first foray into the scary world of touchscreens will be officially branded the 9530 Storm, will be global (it includes a SIM card, after all), and will feature an 8GB SanDisk microSD card preinstalled. Wondering what happened to the Thunder name? Turns out that’ll apparently be reserved for the version of the phone launching on Rogers up in Canada and on Vodafone across the pond. Those Storm users on the screen there sure look happy, don’t they?

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

The uncertainty of trying to predict exactly when — and where — Sony Ericsson’s beastly X1 would launch has come to be one of the more entertaining dramas in the mobile world this year, but it looks like Vodafone’s ready to shut down the rumor mill. The Windows Mobile superphone has now been slapped with an “expected” launch date in October for Voda’s UK audience, which means we can probably expect it in at least a few other European locales in the same timeframe. Americans (of both the South and North variety), Asians, Africans, Australians, and Antarcticans, though — well, there’s no telling where you guys stand at the moment, so hang tight.

[Via CoolSmartPhone]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Though we can’t definitively say this will end up being the priciest iPhone 3G this side of eBay, there’s a good chance it will be. Word has it that Vodafone will be offering up Apple’s latest 8GB handset for a mind-boggling Rs 31,000 ($712), or Rs 36,100 ($830) for the 16 gigger. Why so serious high? Because neither Vodafone nor Airtel will subsidize the phone, and to add insult to injury, there’s not even a 3G highway up and running in India. Grey market operators to capitalize in T-minus 3, 2, 1…

[Via Cellpassion]

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Filed under: Cellphones

With just seven hours to go out here in New Zealand before the first worldwide iPhone 3G launch (yeah, we flew all the way out for it), the line at the Auckland Vodafone store is growing steadily but surely. Everyone’s in high spirits, despite the fact that it’s winter here in the southern hemisphere, and they can’t as easily get away with that whole hippie line-sitter thing like in New York. We’ll check back in soon as we get our international iPhone 3G launch lineblog started.

#1
Name: Jonny Gladwell, 22 (pictured above, right)
Current phone: Sony Ericsson K800i on Voda
Waiting for: more than 48 hours now
Buying: black 8GB
Motivation: to be the first, duh! His girlfriend is just in it to keep him company, she’s not actually getting one herself. Jonny tells us he’s not going to eBay the world’s first iPhone 3G, though. Whatever, dude!

Continue reading Meet the world’s first first ten iPhone 3G owners

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Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Meet_the_world_s_first_first_ten_iPhone_3G_owners’; With just seven hours to go out here in New Zealand before the first worldwide iPhone 3G launch (yeah, we flew all the way out for it), the line at the Auckland Vodafone store is growing steadily but surely. Everyone’s in high spirits, despite the fact that it’s winter here in the southern hemisphere, and they can’t as easily get away with that whole hippie line-sitter thing like in New York. We’ll check back in soon as we get our international iPhone 3G launch lineblog started.

#1
Name: Jonny Gladwell, 22 (pictured above, right)
Current phone: Sony Ericsson K800i on Voda
Waiting for: more than 48 hours now
Buying: black 8GB
Motivation: to be the first, duh! His girlfriend is just in it to keep him company, she’s not actually getting one herself. Jonny tells us he’s not going to eBay the world’s first iPhone 3G, though. Whatever, dude!

Continue reading Meet the world’s first ten iPhone 3G owners

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Portable Audio, Portable Video

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_Jonny_World_s_First_iPhone_3G_Customer_in_waiting’; See that guy? That’s Jonny Gladwell from Auckland New Zealand. He’s special no matter how you define the word. He’s camped outside of Vodafone NZ right now which puts him on a path to be the world’s first iPhone 3G owner. Of course, there’s still time for other Kiwi’s to get in line at the Wellington and Christchurch shops which will open simultaneously. A red hot trinity of buffoonery to be sure.

[image credit and thanks to Darryl Carey]

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Portable Audio, Portable Video

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_Jonny_World_s_First_iPhone_3G_Customer_in_waiting’; See that guy? That’s Jonny Gladwell from Auckland New Zealand. He’s special no matter how you define the word. He’s camped outside of Vodafone NZ right now which puts him on a path to be the world’s first iPhone 3G owner. Of course, there’s still time for other Kiwi’s to get in line at the Wellington and Christchurch shops which will open simultaneously. A red hot trinity of buffoonery to be sure.

[image credit and thanks to Darryl Carey]

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Vodafone just went public with the information you already knew, New Zealand will see the world’s first iPhone launch at 00:01 local time on the 11th. That’s almost a full day before any New York, propaganda farmer gets his. In the UK, O2 is now taking pre-orders (one per customer) on a first come, first serve basis. Better yet, your new slab of 3G will be delivered to your home on the 11th of July by courier where you can activate it from the digital comforts of iTunes. So civilized.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read — O2 UK
Read — Vodafone NZ

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Filed under: Cellphones

Consider yourself an Apple fanatic? Gotta have the latest and greatest the moment it’s available? Ok… prove it. We have it from a trusted source that the world’s first iPhone 3G will be on sale at 00:01, Friday July 11th, in New Zealand — that’s still Thursday, July 10th at 5:01 in the AM in Cupertino or 13:01 hours in London. At that precise minute, Vodafone NZ will swing open the doors of its Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch shops to your overeager HSDPA jones. So, now that you know the next move is all yours.

Read — 00:01 NZ time calculated globally

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