iPhone 3G coming to Best Buy next month

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Apple, Cell Phones, Corporate News, Handhelds

If lining up at the Apple Store or AT&T Store isn’t your thing, and you are still in need of an iPhone 3G, you may be interested to know that, beginning next month, you can instead join the crowd outside of your local Best Buy in the morning. Well, if yours is one of the 18 Best Buy Mobile locations in the US.

It appears that on September 7th, all the word that Best Buy went into coaxing AT&T and Apple into allowing them to be the exclusive third-party distributor of the iPhone 3G will have paid off. Don’t expect any price breaks (or increases), as they will be selling the phone for the same $199 and $299 (if you qualify) price point that you will find in the first-party stores.

Hopefully this is a sign that there will be more to go around?

Read More | Yahoo! News

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Obama campaign using SMS to announce VP running mate

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Cell Phones

Whether you like him or you don’t, you have got to hand it to Barack Obama and the things his campaign is doing to reach potential voters and get them engaged. Case in point, his using SMS as a marketing tool. You see, Obama is set to announce his running mate between now and the Democratic Convention. That’s a given. However, instead of just leaving it at that, he is inviting his supporters (or, really, anyone) to sign up so that they can get an email and/or SMS the moment that the announcement is made. From the site:

Barack is about to choose a running mate, and he wants you to know first. You have helped build this movement from the bottom up, and Barack wants you to be part of this important moment.

Sign up today and we’ll send you an email announcing Barack’s running mate.

You can also text VP to 62262 to receive a text message on your mobile phone.

How’s that for using today’s technology to reach out? Meanwhile, McCain is still trying to grasp just what the Internet is.

Read More | Obama VP SMS Sign up

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Steve Jobs to WSJ: App Store rakes in $30 million in first month

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Apple, Cell Phones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Software

Well, if you were curious just how successful the App Store has been since its launch, Steve Jobs spilled the beans in an interview published in the Wall Street Journal this morning. First and foremost, the most amazing part is that sales in the App Store hit about $30 million. Now, if you think about that figure and realize that Apple only keeps 30% of it (well, 30% of sales of apps that aren’t their own), that is $9 million for Apple, and $21 million for developers.

Of course, a large percentage of apps downloaded are free. You just know those have to be popular, right? Well, we didn’t get an official breakdown of free app downloads versus paid, but Jobs did say that there have been over 60 million downloads from the App Store. That’s an average of 2 million downloads per day, every day. If you had any doubt that the App Store would be a hit, well, there’s your proof.

Click to continue reading Steve Jobs to WSJ: App Store rakes in $30 million in first month

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T-Mobile 3G launches in Las Vegas

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories:

If you are a T-Mobile customer and happen to live in Vegas, you will be happy to know that T-Mo’s 3G network just launched in your region. So, if your phone is capable is hitting up 3G speeds, get ready for a nice, enhanced speed boost. For all the rest of you on T-Mobile, we know it sucks that only NYC and Vegas get 3G, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel, as the company expects to drop 3G on another 20 markets before the end of the year, along with a few new phones to take advantage of it all.

Click to continue reading T-Mobile 3G launches in Las Vegas

Read More | Phonescoop

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HP iPaq 914 Business Messenger review

Posted by Sparky
Categories: Cell Phones, Features, Handhelds, Microsoft, Product Reviews, Wireless / WiFi

While at the Connecting Your World event in Berlin Germany, HP we were able to get our hands on one of the new HP iPaq 914 Business Messenger Windows Mobile 6.1 QWERTY phones. We’ve already created a full iPaq 914 unboxing gallery for you to enjoy, but we also wanted to be sure to hit you with a full review of the phone. After a day or so of use, it’s easy to be impressed with this business-centric communications device.

As a phone with iPaq 914 performs admirably, offering great voice quality, and the well implemented Windows Mobile 6 dialer interface. Having quad-band GSM support means the iPaq 914 works virtually anywhere in the globe making it ideal for globe trotters and others needing to keep in touch while on the go.

Featuring HSDPA, EDGE, UMTS, WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, the iPaq 914 is well equipped for all sorts of wireless communications. The HSDPA chipset is quick and responsive and loads data quickly.

Click through Gear Live’s full review of the HP iPaq 914.

Click to continue reading HP iPaq 914 Business Messenger review

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HP iPaq 914 unboxing gallery

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Cell Phones, Features, Handhelds, Microsoft

We are in the middle of reviewing the HP iPaq 914 Business Messenger Windows Mobile smartphone, but as always, we had to be sure to hit you with a full unboxing experience first. If this product is new to you, the 914 is loaded with all sorts of connectivity features, as it supports tri-band HSDPA, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, and integrated GPS. It also features a nice, full QWERTY keyboard, along with a scrolling click wheel.

Anyhoo, we’ve got a slew of images for you to drool over while we finish up the review. Check them out in our HP iPaq 914 unboxing gallery.

Read More | HP iPaq 914 unboxing gallery

Gallery: HP iPaq 914 unboxing gallery

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How to tether your iPhone 3G to your laptop

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Apple, Broadband, Cell Phones, Internet, Mods / Hacks, PC / Laptop, Software, Wireless / WiFi

With the launch of iPhone 3G, many have been waiting and hoping for a method that would allow tethering of the iPhone to a mobile computer like, say, a MacBook. Well, lucky for your mobile warriors, that time has finally come - it’s just takes a bit of work to get it functioning. Do remember, though, that AT&T isn’t offering any sort of tethering plan with the iPhone, so if you get caught, you may be forced to pay a bunch of money out of pocket. Or your service could be shut off. Still, if that isn’t something that matters to you, then click on through for the instructions, provided by my pal Nate True. He took a bunch of different pieces of software and solutions, and mixed them together into a powerful concoction that allows you to use your iPhone 3G as a modem by way of 3Proxy, Terminal, and WiFi. Now all we need are batteries for the iPhone 3G that don’t die in a matter of seconds.

Read More | Cre.ations.net

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Bleeding Edge TV 279: The Wait for iPhone 3G

Posted by Nate True
Categories: Full Episodes, Apple, Cell Phones, Handhelds, Peripherals, Portable Audio / Video, Videocasts, Videos

Stream this video to your iPhone

We were quite nearly first in line at the Alderwood Mall Apple Store in Lynnwood, WA for the launch of iPhone 3G.  Sure the purchasing experience was a fiasco, but overall the night was great fun.  We had an exclusive Tap Tap Revenge tournament, along with a giveaway of the excellent Monster LRG iPhone cases, and even an impromptu listening demo of the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, which we recently unboxed.

We must admit, towards the end we were kind of jaded over the whole thing, since between everyone in our group we had a 15 iPhone mixture of original iPhones and iPhone 3G units, all of which didn’t work due to the activation issues - but to be fair, the employees at the Alderwood Mall Apple Store location were all top-notch. Check out the full adventure in the video.

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Poll: How did your iPhone 3G launch day purchase go?

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Apple, Cell Phones, Features, Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video

We already told you about our crazy iPhone 3G launch day purchase fiasco, but now we wanna hear from you guys. Was what we experienced accurate? Did you just end up flying through purchase and activation, with no problems at all? Or was your experience more like ours, where things seemed to go wrong at every turn? Let us know!

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MyGlobalTalk $50,000 Gear Live Beta Giveaway (Take Two)

Posted by Andru Edwards
Categories: Announcements, Cell Phones, Hot Deals, Software

Yesterday, we put up 1,000 invites to the MyGlobalTalk Gear Live Windows Mobile beta test. The $50,000 in credits went almost instantly, so we talked the company into giving us 1,000 more. We got a bunch of emails from you guys complaining that you weren’t able to get in, so no more whining, and just click over and grab an invite already, okay? In case you are new and aren’t sure what this is all about, here you go:

If you are into chatting on your cell phone, beta testing different services, and getting free stuff, then you are going to like this one. MyGlobalTalk has just given us $50,000 worth of calling services on their new VoIP application for Windows Mobile phones to give away to Gear Live readers. We are giving that away to 1,000 readers, in $50 increments. That’s good for over 2,000 minutes of international talk time. There are just three prerequisites:

• You have a Windows Mobile smartphone/Pocket PC.
• Your Windows Mobile Operating System is 5.0 or 6.0. For Windows Mobile 5.0 click here to download the .NET Compact Framework update.
• Give MyGlobalTalk your honest feedback on the application. They know it’s not perfect yet but with your help, they can improve.

Now just head over to the MyGlobalTalk Gear Live signup page, download the app, and you are up and running. Once you get logged in, you will find $50 waiting for you in your account. Not too shabby, right? The best thing about the service is that you don’t need to be within range of a WiFi signal or hotspot to use it.

Read More | MyGlobalTalk Gear Live beta

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