Android Developer Challenge 2 winners announced, makes for a convenient shopping list
Dolphin browser for Android adds multitouch support on Droid
Wronged i8910 HD buyer prepares doctoral-quality thesis on issues
Motorola registers 'Backflip' name, could be for the Motus
Nokia's 6700 slide and 7230 make up in price what they lack in excitement
TmoNews seems to have it on good authority that T-Mobile will be rolling out a firmware update over the air to the Motorola CLIQ today -- the device's first since launch -- and we've got good news and bad news. First, the bad: by all accounts, it appears that this'll still be an Android 1.5-based firmware, adding fuel to the fire suggesting that UI skins like BLUR are a huge barrier to keeping devices up to speed with Google's breakneck release pace. The good news, though, is that the update seems to be lined up to fix a plethora of issues involving Bluetooth, touchscreen accuracy (we can attest to this one), connectivity, accelerometer functionality, and -- wait for it -- battery life! Looks like the build number is 1.1.31, so let us know if and when you get hooked up, owners.
We've got an old-fashioned Sony Ericsson-gate developing this winter with some clarification and new information on two of the company's highest-end phones of the season, the Aino and Symbian-powered Satio. First up, as we've updated in our original post, the Aino was never pulled from shelves -- we've been able to confirm this with Sony Ericsson spokespeople directly, which also satisfactorily explains why it was never pulled from the US SonyStyle site. Secondly, good news for Satio owners affected by the phone's issues: there's a new firmware out there for unbranded units, which suggests that units that are already in the field might not need to be recalled despite Sony Ericsson's admission that the power-down problem can't be fixed over the air. For what it's worth, we've been in touch with Carphone Warehouse today and they haven't yet put it back on sale -- so it's hard to say just how closely related the new build is to the most damning problems facing the phone right now. Owners who've upgraded: what have you noticed so far?
White space devices seem likely to play a major part in the FCC's solution to the wireless spectrum crisis. Operating in the buffers between frequencies used by television broadcasts, these devices will be able to exploit TV's airspace without interfering with the incumbent users' traffic. The unlicensed utilization of white spaces has been approved going on for a year now, but really important government stuff has gotten in the way of making that vote a reality. It was only recently that Claudville, Virginia got the very first such network, and initial results show that it hasn't disrupted any of the fine, fine programming percolating the local airwaves. The only issue we see is that your WSD will need to be capable of both identifying its own position by GPS and hooking up to the database to find out what bands it may use, but then it's not like anyone sells smartphones without these capabilities nowadays, is it?
Price fixing is nothing new in the LCD panel business. Hell, collusion is pretty common across the entire consumer electronics industry though it's difficult (and costly) to prove. Now Nokia, the world's largest maker of cellphones, is suing a who's who of Asian LCD manufacturers alleging a ploy to fix prices on handset LCDs. The November 25th filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco division, names Samsung Electronics, LG Display, Sharp, Hitachi, and Chunghwa Picture Tubes as co-conspirators. Nokia, of course, is seeking cash and injunctive relief to remedy damages incurred and has the dubious honor of following another high-profile move launched against Apple just last month. With Nokia's high-margin smartphone sales waning against stiff competition, it's easy to understand why its execs would be miffed if they paid artificially high prices for panels considering the sheer volume of lower-priced handsets Nokia sells at razor thin margins.





"Satisfied" iPhone 3GS owners
Of 200 iPhone 3GS users polled in August, 2009, 99 percent termed themselves "satisfied," with 82 percent saying they were "very satisfied."
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.