Motorola Zeppelin outed as the XT800 for China Telecom -- US getting it, too?

[Thanks, Vitala]
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Verizon down in Midwest and California, how're things for you?


Alright, let us try out a new term we're testing on you: "Androidsplosion." Does that do anything for you? No? Well, that's pretty much the kind of cluster we're going to be running into with the Android camp come the first half of next year thanks to a rumored bumper crop from HTC, some Sony Ericsson gear, undoubtedly a few lookers out of Moto, and now this gear from Acer. The Liquid's just now starting to make the rounds at retail, but the VP of its Asian handset biz says that it has "five or six" additional models on tap for early 2010 that'll run the gamut from low- to high-end. The third and fourth quarters, it seems, aren't yet firmed up -- so if you thought they were going to turn off the tap after that quick burst, you'd probably be wrong. Sadly, despite the well-stocked roadmap, there aren't any indications that the company is looking to expand outside of its Asian and European roots to include a North American presence -- but it's not any more shunning than we're accustomed to 'round these parts.
The good news is that you don't need to hook up that shady Google character (whoever that is) with your credit card information anymore when you're looking to buy paid Android apps from the Market if you're on T-Mobile -- the bad news, though, is that only 1.6-powered phones are getting the update at this point. Over the course of December, the carrier's going to be pushing a new version of the Android Market on the G1 and myTouch 3G that lets folks charge purchases straight to their phone bills, and -- in line with Google's existing policy -- you'll have a 24-hour trial period before the billing actually goes through. For the time being, CLIQ and Behold II users are being left out in the cold, a sign that carrier billing is joined at the hip with the revamped Market that was pushed out with Donut. That sucks, but we suppose you could look at that one of two ways: either it'll end up getting back-ported to 1.5, or -- more intriguingly -- 1.6 will end up happening sooner or later for those guys.
TechCrunch was certain that rumors of a pending honest-to-goodness Google Phone were the real deal, and now according to the site, Google employees are already tweeting with the devices in hand. If you believe what you see on Twitter, Google drones were given the HTC-designed handsets at an all-hands staff event, and the phone is quite a looker. One tweet reads "ZOMG we had fireworks and we all got the new Google phone. It's beautiful." while another says the phone is "Like an iPhone on beautifying steroids." One other, non-Google user on Twitter who's seen the device says that the device is a bit thinner than the iPhone, has a trackball (a la Hero), and has no physical keyboard... which sounds like the Bravo / Passion we've seen a lot of lately (and we hear is coming to the US soon). Apparently the device is running Android 2.1, is unlocked and AT&T-ready (no word on 3G status, but this could line up with our speculation about this being the carrier's first Android phone), and will be due sometime in January. We're guessing if that last bit is true, it will coincide with a CES announcement, but anything could happen at this point. If the device is out in the wild in such a big way, an end of the year press release wouldn't shock us either; of course, it's entirely possible that this is going to end up becoming the Android Dev Phone 1's true successor or an elaborate prank on Google's part in response to the rumors that have been building steam over the past couple weeks (they're crafty and they have a sense of humor -- it could happen). Anyhow, check out one of the tweet-tears after the break, and stay tuned for more info!Not only that, but TechCrunch has more details on the device, claiming it will be a Google controlled, HTC-built model actually dubbed the "Google Phone," and will feature a "super high resolution OLED display," a Snapdragon CPU, a mic on the back of the phone that helps to eliminate background noise, is "really, really fast," and most importantly, will be sold unlocked. Essentially, TC claims that the phone will function on any GSM network you throw at it -- we assume that means an extremely rare pairing of both T-Mobile and AT&T 3G bands in the radio. Of course right now this is all speculation and hearsay -- until we get some solid facts (and maybe a device or two on camera), don't pull out the credit card just yet.We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.

Reports are flying in -- using WiFi, we suspect -- that AT&T's having a bit of a data and SMS outage in San Francisco. Our own personal experiences confirm the data, although text messages are sending and receiving just fine. According to a tweet found by TechCrunch, customer service is saying it'll take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to fix -- sounds pretty extreme to us, and unfortunately we can't get ahold of anyone to corroborate. Let's put it to you, Bay Area readers, how's that iPhone working for ya?



Correspondences from Team Engadget out into the Twitterverse.


The amount of electronics thrown away rather than recycled in 2007.
The EPA reports that 82% of electronics disposal in 2007 ended up in the garbage (mostly landfills) rather than a recycling center. (source: EPA, July 2008)
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