Nokia makes the world’s most widely-used handsets — by a wide margin — and they went on the offensive to defend their technology announcing a lawsuit against Apple, Inc. The claim, filed in Delaware district court, alleges 10-counts of patent infringement for technologies used in all iPhones produced since 2007. Nokia’s press release states, “Apple’s iPhone infringes Nokia patents for GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN (WLAN) standards.” No other specifics about the suit have been released. After Apple’s recent earnings blowout announcement we can guarantee you one thing: if these claims have any merit Apple will be settling.

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Stateside ISP Comcast is ready to jump on the 3G/4G wireless data bandwagon — and how. The Comcast site is boasting 4G services for residents of Bellingham, WA, Portland, OR, and Atlanta, GA, — with more to come — and 3G coverage throughout most of the continental US. Comcast doesn’t make note of what cell provider(s) they’ve sold their soul to, but the coverage map is pretty impressive and it’s most likely using Sprint’s network. Combine that with a $69.99 monthly price tag for high speed cable interwebs for your home (15Mbps) plus unlimited 3G/4G cellular data (3 – 6 Mbps) while on the road, and we think Comcast may have something cooking here. How many of you are paying $69+ just for home internet as it is?

Thanks, Don!

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Apparently there isn’t enough to do in Washington these days. 20 House of Representatives lawmakers have pressed the FCC to investigate how and why Google decides to block certain phone numbers with its Google Voice service. After numerous complaints were filed by said Representatives, mostly from rural areas, the FCC has sent a formal inquiry to Google and asked for a response by the 28th of this month. Google insists that it is not a “traditional” phone company and should not be regulated as such. Just one more thing to keep the lawyers at the search giant busy, huh?

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One of our oh-so-trusty ninjas hit us up last night with the above photo. It’s the much-rumored Qualcomm FLO TV personal TV unit. While Qualcomm is mostly known for making processors for mobile devices, it looks like they will be branching outside of their normal work and possibly manufacturing hardware, at least based on what we’ve been hearing about the FLO PTV product. FLO TV is available currently on AT&T and Verizon network handsets (depending on model) and uses a specific frequency separate of cellular signals to broadcast live TV to phones and devices. What the PTV product would do, is work as a standalone device which we’re hearing would also double as a portable media player of some kind. Previous rumors have pegged the device as having a capacitive touch screen, 4GB of built-in storage space and stereo speakers. Those specs fit in line with what we’ve been told. Sorry the picture isn’t a little bigger, but hey, it’s better than some sketches, right?

Some of you might be privy to a little bit of confidential BGR info, but for those of you who are not: I went to Chicago recently. In a car. Besides me harboring a hate for the entire of state of Pennsylvania, (because it’s ridiculously long to drive through) the trip was quite successful. One of the main reasons why I didn’t mind being in a car seven times longer than being in a plane was because I was blessed by two MiFi units; a Verizon Wireless unit and a Sprint unit. Plus, what better way to really test out two mostly identical devices on two completely different networks when you’re covering around 1700 miles round trip. I didn’t do a really vigorous string of tests or anything near our much-loved BGR Carrier Wars series. Instead I used one unit exclusively on the way to Chicago from New York City and the other unit on the way back. Here’s what I found…

The first MiFi I used was the Verizon Wireless unit. We all know how good Verizon’s reputation in the data department is and I had high hopes for this little bad boy. Before we get into how it fared, let’s look at the physical unit itself. It’s definitely smaller than you’d imagine if you have never seen or held one before, and Verizon opted to go with a glossy black top plastic piece with a soft touch rubberized finish on the underside. While this obviously goes well with Verizon’s black, red, and white color scheme, the review unit was scratch city already when I received it. Will this affect the device’s performance? Absolutely not, but I’m not terribly sure high gloss black plastic was the best of ideas as far as exteriors go. On the underside of the Verizon unit is a nice little sticker that will give you the pre-set passcode for the wireless network it transmits.

This is helpful so you can get going immediately when you purchase the unit instead of fumbling for the user manual or frantically calling that bastard salesperson that sold you the device. What’s really fantastic about the MiFi in general is that you get access to a router configuration page just as you would on your Linksys, Belkin, or whatever brand router you use at home or at the office. On that page you can customize just about anything including presents for different network modes (temporary hotspot, secure, open, etc.), port forwarding, MAC filtering, power and standby settings and a bunch more. You’ll see that Verizon and Sprint have different network configuration pages and we’ll go over both of them a little further down.

Here’s Verizon’s wireless configuration page and you’ll notice it looks just like their horribly-designed and crafted VZAccess Manager apps. But, Verizon isn’t about sparkle, they’re about substance and their configuration page (and arguably VZAccess Manager software) is extremely simple and quick to navigate and setup. After renaming the wireless network to something a little more clean (Verizon MiFi — original, I know) and setting a new Wi-Fi passkey, I was ready to go.

Immediately 5 bars of glorious mobile Wi-Fi appeared on my MacBook Pro. I entered the passkey and was off and running. After knocking through some work over IM, in the web browser, and in Outlook, I decided I’d start to speed test the Verizon MiFi. The highest speed I saw was around 950kbps and the lowest was around 780kbps (in Rev. A coverage areas). I think I completed one speed test over 1X and that was about 120kbps.

You can see a shot of one speed test I did that yielded 802kbps down and 557kbps up. Not bad at all if you need to have data access while on the move and definitely in line with Verizon’s other data products like USB sticks or ExpressCards.

Both MiFi units support high level security including WPA2-PSK and WEP Wi-Fi networks.

As far as Sprint’s unit goes, the finish is quite different on the top part of the casing. There’s a brushed aluminum texture which is glossed over with a clear coat that really doesn’t show scratches. Major bonus. Besides just looking lighter and being less scratch-prone, the Sprint MiFi externally is basically the same exact hardware as the Verizon device. Sprint doesn’t have a sticker on the underside of the unit with a default passkey for the Wi-Fi network, but since this review unit came with an open Wi-Fi network it wasn’t an issue I had to deal with. Bets are that it would be on the box or in some sort of included paperwork…

After selecting and configuring the Wi-Fi network to my liking (again, Sprint MiFi2200 — totally brilliant, right?) I was a happy camper on I-80 East. For some reason, and this might not actually be the case with every unit, I noticed the range of Wi-Fi signal to be a little worse on the Sprint MiFi than on the Verizon MiFi. I had read about this somewhere and it mentioned that since the Sprint unit was part metal compared to all plastic the Wi-Fi range suffered a bit. That’s obviously not true as the Sprint unit is not any part metal, so I’m not sure what exactly the reason for that was or if maybe the unit I was testing was a little broken in. Just think about how many Wi-Fi clients had been using that MiFi before me. Yikes.

While both units are pretty much identical when you get down to the nitty gritty, Sprint’s MiFi offers the ability to use the built-in GPS. This is really cool if you don’t have a GPS-enabled mobile phone and could possibly be a life-saver in some situations. You have the option of searching directly from the router configuration page using your GPS location, and displaying the coordinates of where you are, among other things. Very nice and very cool. As far as the look and feel of the configuration page goes, Sprint’s was really clean and had a bit more polish, shall we say, over the Verizon page. There was also an option in the power preferences to have the MiFi enter standby mode when plugged into a charger which the Verizon page didn’t have.

Not too surprisingly, speeds were a bit better on Sprint’s unit. We’d say an average of around a 150kbps difference even though there’s about a 300kbps difference from the speed tests we took photos of. The trade off is that Sprint’s coverage was not as good as Verizon’s and many times the Verizon unit would be in a Rev. A coverage area when the Sprint unit would only be chugging on 1X. Battery life was the same on both units at around 4 and a half hours of straight usage which actually ended up lasting throughout maybe half the day when going about the city on and off.

Both MiFi devices can support up to 5 wireless clients each simultaneously which is an incredible feat for a device so small and compact. You can also connect your MiFi via a microUSB cable to your computer and tether it while also charging the unit. The downside here, though, is that once the unit is connected to a computer over USB, routing data over Wi-Fi is not possible. Obviously if the unit is plugged into a microUSB wall charger you’re free to charge and surf without a hitch. Both units got mildly warm with strenuous usage, nothing alarming or even concerning. While I’m not daring enough to keep a MiFi in my pocket, when left in my backpack it turned out to be an awesome traveling companion, gladly picking up the slack from AT&T’s horrendous Chicago coverage.

As you can see from the review, both units are pretty much identical at the end of the day. Little minor exterior differences and even smaller hardware differences (I actually believe they are identical, just Verizon doesn’t enable the GPS function that Sprint does), it’s pretty tough to immediately call one a winner. I wish I could be more clear and really recommend one over the other — Sprint’s was a little bit faster in places, Verizon’s had better coverage and was a tad more reliable — but it’s really personal preference. I’ve been a Bell Atlantic customer and now a Verizon customer for a very long time and like their coverage. After I ship back the Verizon unit, I’ll be purchasing a Verizon MiFi for my personal use, but that’s not to say I wouldn’t be happy with a Sprint one.

Both devices retail for $99 with a 2-year agreement with qualifying monthly data plan.

In an effort to help assist deployed servicemen and women in the United States Military, Google is allowing anyone with a .mil email address to sign up for a Google Voice invite and get pretty much instantaneous access. Google’s reasoning behind this (a pretty good one, though you couldn’t buy PR this good) is that when deployed, it’s incredibly difficult to stay in touch with family and loves ones. Timezone differences, different schedules, and everything else make it hard to communicate and Google’s looking to help change that. Here’s a quote from the Google post:

“For servicemen and women who are constantly on the move, having a single number and an easy way to retrieve messages from loved ones can be invaluable. To help our service members communicate with their loved ones and show our support to those serving our country, Google is launching a new program. Starting today, any active U.S. service member with a .mil email address can sign up for a Google Voice account at www.google.com/militaryinvite and start using the free service within a day.”

Woh there George Jetson… Did you take your flying car to a remote studio on Mars to record this interview? WiTricity Corp. CEO Eric Giler sat down with the BBC for a (very) quick chat about the future of power. His vision of the future is pretty intense — where you park your electric car above a mat in your garage that powers it up while you go inside and munch on some Soylent Green wafers. We need immediate gratification however, so we’re much more interested in his cell phone charging solution for the time being. Within 12-18 months, Giler suggests that consumers will be able to purchase an accessory that will enable wireless handset charging. We’re talking truly wireless, contact-less charging here; none of this Wildcharge/Touchstone nonsense. Unfortunately, Giler danced around the all-important ‘cost to the consumer’ issue a bit, but he did seem to imply that it would be a while before WiTricity technology is affordable. Early adopters who are willing to pay a premium however, could be able to open those wallets nice and wide for some WiTricity sexiness before 2010 is through. Hit the jump for the BBC’s interview.

Thanks, Will!

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Nokia and Intel announced a collaborative effort today that will empower the next generation of mobile devices — according to Nokia and Intel at least. Each company will brings its respective expertise to the table in an effort to develop devices that will combine Intel’s low-power mobile chipset architecture with Nokia’s wireless broadband connectivity technologies. The collaboration will focus on and accelerate development in several open source mobile Linux software projects, including Moblin and Maemo. Everything else aside, we were looking for a bit more substance from this release beyond typical vague PR speak but alas… Nokia and Intel have worked together for quite some time. They’re going to continue to work together. That is all.

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Canada-based Nortel, once North America’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, filed for bankruptcy in January 2009 after a turnaround effort failed. As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, Nortel will sell its LTE and CDMA assets to Nokia Siemens for a cool $650 million. The acquisition will improve Nokia Siemen’s position in both North America and the growing LTE business. The acquisition is subject to approval from both the US bankruptcy court and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice but it’s expected to close in Q3 2009.

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While light mobile broadband users are busy eying Virgin Mobile’s new prepaid offering, those of you who travel constantly might be interested in Verizon Wireless’ latest USB stick. Dubbed the USB1000, Big Red’s new mobile broadband dongle packs all the connectivity you can handle — CDMA/EV-DO Rev. A, GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band HSPA are all accounted for. As for pricing, the stick itself will run $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. Global data plans on the other hand, are a bit less attractive: $129.99 per month for 100MB of data and $219.99 per month for 200MB. Both plans will run you $0.005 per KB over the allotment and they include 5GB of data in the US and Canada ($0.05 per MB overage). You can also opt for the standard 5GB/$60 plan and pay $0.002 per KB in Canada, $0.005 per KB in Mexico, and $0.02 per KB for international roaming in over 175 other countries. If you’re a true international man of mystery, you should be able to warrant the expense of VZW’s global plans. Occasional travelers on the other hand, might be wise to examine other options. The USB1000 will be available online starting tomorrow.

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Now that CTIA 2009 has come and gone we wanted to take a step back and reflect on what was most definitely a show unlike any CTIA in recent years. It was great to hit the floor and catch up with a bunch of companies to talk tech of course, but anyone in attendance will tell you the show was slow. Very slow. Painfully slow. Hell, even Billy Crystal didn’t bother to show up. An interesting though unofficial note: The vendor count was up this year — significantly — or so we were told. Attendance was way down however, as was the amount of newsworthy announcements from the big boys. Blame it on the economy if it helps, but the number of new (and potentially significant) handset announcements from big manufacturers at the show can be counted on one hand. With three fingers.

Luckily there’s already a light at the end of the tunnel as this Summer we’ll definitely see things pick up. Palm will finally let people touch the Pre — and maybe even buy it. The BlackBerry 9630 will be out and we’ll be hitting you with info about the next up and coming handsets from RIM. HTC will have released the Touch Pro2 and the Touch Diamond2. Apple will be dropping a new iPhone or two… Things will be exciting again and hopefully enough momentum will be generated to help the industry as a whole begin to rebound. In the meantime, like the guy in front of us at Al Gore’s keynote, we’ll all be doing our best not to fall asleep.

Global Warming? Please. Dude invented the Internet. And, since we’re here, we thought it might be fun to give you guys an up-to-the-minute run down of what’s happening on stage. Hit the jump for the liveblog!

9:20AM: We’re currently sitting, and waiting.

9:23AM: They are definitely taping something… there’s a huge video camera up front and it’s pointed right. at. us.

9:28AM: Swear — the dude sitting right in front of us is using a Palm Pre and has BGR loaded up on it.

9:32AM: Steve Largent, the President of the CTIA is on stage now talking about the vitality of the industry, and, surprise surprise, the enviroment.

9:35AM: He’s showing off a video about the wireless industries efforts to help the enviroment. Nokia, Motorola, LG are all featured and it’s showing off LG’s solar power effort.

9:36AM: Manufacturers are embracing renewable energy to power cell sites

9:37AM: The single greatest contribution from wireless companies is efficiency. Is it time to leave yet?

9:38AM: Showing off wireless parking sensors installed in downtown San Francisco. People can go online to find parking space, etc.

9:39AM: Video is over. Golf clap ensue.

9:39AM: CTIA Prez is back on stage. “Device recycling programs are emerging and succeeding.”

9:40AM: “More efficient batteries and chargers are under development.” He’s introducing Al Gore now, really feeding his ego. Yeah dude, we know he was VP of the USA, ok? We know he won a Nobel Peace Prize.

9:41AM: Here comes Al! And, we wouldn’t expect anything less — a huge standing ovation.

9:43AM: “Wireless is one of the great success stories in the United States.”

9:44AM: He’s telling a story about how after he left office, he was driving home with his wife one day, and there was no motorcade. He was “so happy.”  Went to a cheap restaurant and people whispered, “Wow, he’s come down a long way.” Mmm. Maybe the next story will actually be good…

9:48AM: “The number of people using wireless devices has skyrocketed.” But “we’re still in the early days of the wireless revolution.”

9:49AM: When he and Bill took office, there were only like 50 websites. Really? Damn…

9:50AM: Oooh, he’s talking about Apple now. Commenters ATTACK!

9:51AM: Overall impact of the wireless industry on a global economy is great. The industry is stll growing despite the global downdraft. P.S. The dude next to us smells like ass.

9:52AM: Now he’s going into talking about printing books, journals, newspapers, etc. It created an information environment. Much like the internet did, eh Al?

9:53AM: It made information a source of power, began revolution that lead to modern democracy.

9:55AM: Instead of blindly following leaders, people became informed and could make up their own decisions.

9:57AM: The Marconi company was displaying its new tech off in Manhattan when the Titanic hit and they found out right away because of their use of wireless radios. David Sarnoff was the gentleman who received the radio that received the Titanic transmissions.

10:00AM: When picture was added to wireless transmissions, sound TV was created and it “made people lazy.”

10:02AM: Years later, and TV is now the dominant medium. It changed politricks. Campaigns pay for TV spots more than anything else and Al thinks it’s a bad thing. Now… the internet!

10:03AM: He’s repeating how there were roughly 50 sites online when he took office, and then, all of a sudden, it blew up. It revolutioned the communications enviroment. Al was moved and proud when Obama came into office. He was, first, proud of the country as a whole, and second, proud of how Obama did it — using the internet to raise money, spread the word, etc.

10:05AM: The United States has the “most competative wireless industry in the world.”

10:06AM: Continued invesments in our wireless industry here because there is no upper limit to the ways it can be utilized. We can keep getting more and more out of the spectrum with increased creativity and innovation.

10:08AM: Information is the dominant strategic resource in the 21st century economy.

10:09AM: A guy in front of us is literally falling asleep. Literally. Like, head bobbing back before he catches hiself.

10:10AM: “We have tremendous challenges. There’s a climate crisis and an economic crisis.” And, to the dude next to us, don’t answer your PHONE while you’re sitting here.

10:11AM: Al is now talking about our reliance on foreign oil and how oil and coal prices are linked. When their prices rise, it shocks the economy and our interest in renewable energy goes up. But, that’s changing now he said. People are realizing the importance of shedding our reliance on foreign oil.

10:13AM: There’s a common thread in all the current crisis. Economy, security, enviroment. We need to change. No more carbon fuels (uh, give up your Gulfstream, Al, and you can preach that, brotha man). Need fuels that “are free forever.” Wind, sun, etc. And if dude next to us elbows us one more TIME he is getting shanked.

10:17AM: He’s talking about the fact that companies need to stop focusing on the short termas we shift to long term focus.

10:19AM: Back to climate change… 70 million tons of pollution goes into the atmosphere each day. 3,000 of the best scientists in the world believe that global warming is real and it’s a “massive problem.”

10:20AM: Ice is melting and the problem is already affecting regions all over the globe. The North Polar ice cap is melting. Been there for three million years and over 40% of it has melted in the last few decades. (Well, you know what they say… If you want a beach front house, but three rows back and wait ten years…) - BG.

10:22AM: Yeah, this relates to wireless industries…

10:23AM: Storms around the world are getting more and more severe. We need to act to solve this crisis. (Just elbowed the guy sitting next to us. He made a loud “ugh” sound.

10:25AM: Now he’s talking about health care and making an analogy that the environment is broken in a similar way.

10:27AM: The government needs to stimulate the economy by facilitating the creation of infrastructure and it needs to be green infrastructure.

10:30AM: FML.

10:31AM: Wireless is going to be one of the tools to help us get out of the climate crisis we’re in but businesses need to take the lead. “I like what I’ve seen so far here at the show.”

10:32AM: The wireless industry is right at the hub of making change. New breakthroughs come when people realize they’re part of something greater than profits and leaders make their first shifts because they want to be part of something larger than themselves. Future generations will either look around at devastation and wonder why we did nothing or they will see a world in renewal and ask how we found the courage to solve a crisis that many figured couldn’t be solved.

10:34AM: He’s making a paralell with the moon landing. The young generation in this country want to be apart of the solution to the climate crisis.

10:38AM: Al Gore ends it with this African proverb… “if you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. We need to go far… Quickly.” And, it’s over!

It is officially official,  Skype will be launching an iPhone version of its popular VoIP software on Tuesday and a BlackBerry version in May. Skype for the iPhone will be the standard run of the mill Skype application with an interface consistent with the iPhone’s slick UI. As with the desktop version, Skype to Skype calls will be free, while Skype to traditional numbers will incur a nominal fee. The VoIP service will require access to a Wi-Fi network and will not run over a cellular connection. Additionally, the iPhone version of Skype will also support chatting and, thankfully, this feature will be available via a cellular connection. There’s also several unique features including the ability to use the camera hardware to capture a photo or to pull in a picture from your photo album for use within the Skype application. Incoming conference calls can be accepted but the ability to initiate an outgoing conference call is not yet available. Not surprisingly, video calling will also not be available in these upcoming mobile versions but is reportedly being considered for future releases for the iPhone and other handsets. Best news of all, the Skype app for the iPhone will be available from the App store for free. Sorry BlackBerry users, but no additional information on the BlackBerry version yet. With a launch slated for May, you all may have to wait until WES rolls around. Hit the jump for a few more screen grabs.

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In a move to counteract its steadily declining subscriber base and sinking financial situation, Sprint is seemingly looking to open up its network to more non-traditional mobile devices. Sprint is already host to the Amazon Kindle Whispernet service, which provides wireless delivery of eBooks to the popular eReader and serves to distinguish the Kindle from its competition. The carrier also has an agreement with Ford that will outfit select 2009 truck models with cellular data connectivity. In an attempt to expand beyond the Whispernet and Ford offerings, Sprint is reportedly in talks with companies like Garmin, Eastman Kodak and SanDisk about adding EV-DO and presumably WiMax capability to what are traditionally non-wireless devices. If consumers are not interested in Sprint’s network, it only makes sense that Sprint would try to woo consumer electronics powerhouses into using its wireless network. How many people would jump all over a point and shoot camera or an HD pocket camcorder like the Zi6 that could wirelessly upload photos or videos instantaneously? In this age of instant communication and voyeurism, we would guess a lot! In any event, we like this play by Sprint a lot — big commercial contracts mean big revenue that won’t be jumping ship in droves every time an admin fee changes and the ETF is waived…

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Alltel has reportedly launched a new $40 wireless broadband add-on option, a $20 drop from the regular $60 per month price tag. Customers must subscribe to a Smart Choice voice plan to be eligible for this $40 wireless broadband add-on, but it’s still not too shabby for a truly unlimited (read: no usage cap) EV-DO mobile broadband connection. Sorry Alltel-Verizon Wireless customers as this feature is reportedly available for divested customers only. Doh!

[Via HoFo]

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It seems like everybody and their brother’s pet goldfish is jumping on the application store bandwagon these days. Google/Android, RIM, Microsoft, Samsung, Nokia and even Cydia have all announced online application stores for various mobile platforms. Acer may now be added to this ever-growing list as the company is reportedly considering adding an application store to its upcoming Windows Mobile handsets. Whether this comes to fruition remains to be seen as Acer is only at the “discussion” stage, trying to determine whether such an effort will be a viable asset to its phones. Regardless of Acer’s decision, Apple’s success with the App Store has propelled the on-device application marketplace light years forward and we can certainly count on more such announcements from a variety of sources in the near future.

[Via WMPoweruser]

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Somewhere over the rainbow in a land far away, wireless phones will actually be wireless. We’re not just talking about cellular voice and data here of course, we’re talking about handsets that can communicate, move data, sync and be charged all without the need for a single external wired connection. We still have a ways to go before technologies such as inductive charging and higher-speed data transfer standards are a commonplace, but Samsung has just announced a major step towards that reality with the advent of Wireless USB. By way of new System-on-a-Chip (SoC) technology, Samsung claims W-USB will allow portable devices such as mobile handsets and digital cameras to connect wirelessly using an interface that is nearly identical to a wired USB connection. Dr. Yiwan Wong, vice president, System LSI Division at Samsung is heading up the group responsible for the breakthrough and had this to say:

Connected consumer electronic products are the next step in enabling anytime, anywhere access to information and services. One of the keys to wireless connectivity is W-USB technology. While W-USB technology is just beginning to ramp up, its application will soon increase with the consumer electronic and mobile phone markets’ demand for wireless connectivity technology and UWB’s fast download speeds.

The SoC itself is comprised of a built-in ARM core, a UWB physical layer, a memory controller and a memory component. It operates in the 3.1~10.6 GHz-band range and as far as numbers go, we’re looking at speeds of 480 Mbps. Real world tests have shown actual transfer speeds of 120 Mbps which is hardly a rate to be scoffed at and security hounds will be happy to know Samsung employs 128 bit AES encryption to thwart prowlers. Long story short, W-USB can’t happen soon enough.

[Via DailyTech]

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Just in time for the expected Kindle 2 announcement, Google is apparently trying to steal some of the pre-announcement hype by launching its own mobile book reading service. Previously available on for desktop computers, Google Book Search is now available via a new mobile web site, providing on-the-go access to nearly 1.5 million public domain books. Point your mobile browser to books.google.com/m where you can peruse its book list via category, find the poplar titles in the “Featured Books” list or search by author, title or subject. The web site is optimized for Android and the iPhone and they are currently the only supported mobile platforms with no indication as to whether or not mobile Book Search will be expanded to support Windows Mobile, S60, Palm or Blackberry. Most Google products end up being extended to those platforms so we assume that same principle will apply here but for the time being, G1 and iPhone owners can flaunt their ability to read the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for free while riding the morning subway to work.

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Fan of Google Maps? Use it a lot on your cell phones? Maybe you use Loopt to stay in touch with friends and family and check out what they’re up to and where they are? Well, starting today, Google’s new Latitude feature looks to steal their lunch. Google not only lets you see yourself on the map, but your friends as well (assuming they accept your invitation and opt-in to sharing their location with you). Google Maps for mobile with Latitude is available now for Android (it’s in the current RC33 update that’s being rolled out), Blackberry, Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile. The Apple iPhone version will be available soon as part of the Google Mobile App. And, if you don’t have a smartphone (uh, why are you even visiting this site?), you can even add the Google Latitude Gadget to your iGoogle homepage. If you use Google Gears or Google Chrome, the location of your desktop or laptop can be tracked, too. Pretty awesome stuff. Just don’t go askin’ any BGR writers to share their location, we’re pretty private people, you know.

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“The administration believes that the (airwaves) should be auctioned without price or product mandate. The history of FCC spectrum auctions has shown that the potential for problems increases in instances where licensing is overly prescriptive or designed around unproven business models.”

The FCC is reportedly reviewing the letter and has publicly stated that, though it does agree that “market forces should drive competition”, it also believes “providing free basic broadband to consumers is a good thing.” Perhaps the White House is considering how well the free market system is working in every other industry these days when making this assessment…

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According to Dick Lynch, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Verizon Communications, Verizon Wireless is pushing up the timetable for its LTE rollout, aiming now for a late Q4 2009 deployment. Considering that Lynch said, “We expect that LTE will actually be in service somewhere here in the U.S. probably this time next year,” we can ascertain the initial deployment will be limited in scope and that the date is not set in stone. Nonetheless, such an aggressive timetable suggests that Verizon is trying to get a jump on their US competition and is keeping up with the likes of Japan’s NTT DoCoMo who recently announced that it expects to have LTE commercially available in 2010. Lynch also revealed that femtocell technology will be an important part of LTE deployment. Femtocells will be available for subscribers and will be used to increase the signal strength and range indoors. The LTE femtocells may also include integrated WiFi so non-cellular, WiFi-enabled devices can connect to the LTE network as well. With all this talk of LTE, femtocells, and a target launch of 2009, are you getting excited yet for this new 4G technology? We sure are.

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With “4G” on the horizon (some are reluctant or plain refusing to call WiMax 4G) and the Sprint and Clearwire merger finished, the latter has decided to change its name. Instead of using the “Xohm” name Sprint had for its WiMax services, Clearwire has decided to just call itself “Clear”. We figure that after closing a $14.5 billion merger with Sprint, and receiving a generous $3.2 billion from major investors and tech companies, they clearly wanted a change (bad pun, we know). Now we’ll know the future WiMax company by its short, sweet, and crystal clear name. For the first twenty days, Clear, formerly Clearwire, will be trading with the CLWRD symbol before going back to CLWR. The future is looking pretty bright for Clear after being given the go-ahead by the FCC and the all-clear by its shareholders and investors. Have we driven the new company’s name into your head enough yet?

[Thanks Roger A!]

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As the holidays continue to creep closer, time is running out as far as rounding up gifts for friends and family is concerned. Every year you tell yourself that you’re going to take care of things with plenty of time to spare next time around, but for some reason things never go as planned and frantic last-minute shopping is inevitable. There are plenty of tech-related gift guides to be found around the interwebz but here at BGR, we’re going to do our best to pepper in a handful of solid recommendations over the coming weeks and as time permits we’ll even throw in a hands on review here and there.

To kick things off, we wanted to cover an essential piece of gear that is often overlooked come holiday-time: Printers. As digital as we are these days, the printer is still a key component to any computer setup. Even where home offices are concerned, many people use a free printer that accompanied some computer purchase several years back and for some that might be fine. As often as many people use their printers however, most don’t realize that a good quality printer can make a massive difference and these days it doesn’t even have to cost you an arm and a leg. The best options are definitely printers that offer a combination of versatility, print quality and all-in-one functionality, and your buddies at BGR have a gem picked out for you.

Epson announced the Artisan 700 and 800 all-in-one six-color inkjet printers back in August and this really is an impressive duo. We opted for the 700 for three main reasons: The 700 is 30% cheaper (although Epson is now offering a $50 instant rebate on the 800 model), a bit more compact and we pretty much don’t know anyone who still uses a fax machine. There are a few additional benefits to the 800 model beyond fax capabilities however – specifically automatic document feed (ADF) capability, twice the maximum hardware scan resolution (2400 dpi vs. 4800 dpi) and the ability to print personalized coloring book pages – so upgrading to the 800 is a must if those features appeal to you. The 800 is especially important if you make a lot of copies as manually inserting pages one at a time can get tiresome pretty quickly. Beyond the aforementioned functionality however, the 700 and 800 models are identical in terms of performance.

From design and form to function and print quality, we really haven’t come across a competitive offering in the same price range that can touch the Artisan 700. Pictures print quickly and Epson’s Ultra Hi-Definition ink literally pops off of photo paper. The quality of photo prints during our tests left precious little to be desired and really does leave similarly-priced printers we’ve tried in the dust. Printing speed when it comes to photos is beyond adequate, though it might not be the absolute fastest printer around. 4″ x 6″ photos took between 15 and 20 seconds to print during our tests and Epson’s specs state that simpler photos may print as quickly as 10 seconds. When it comes to printing documents on standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper, forget it. The Artisan 700 is blazing fast and while we didn’t time it in this respect, we don’t doubt Epson’s claim of 38 pages per minute at all.

In terms of hardware, the Artisan 700 is a beauty. It’s fantastically compact for a printer of its capability and sleek enough to compliment just about any high-end set up. In other words, you’ll be happy to set it up right on your desk as opposed to stuffing it away in a corner. The control panel has an adjustable locking tilt feature which is awesome when the printer is on a low surface and you’re standing in front of it. The 2.5″ LCD display makes menu and option visibility clear as day and it’s just big enough to display photo previews quite nicely. We also absolutely love the dual paper tray that allows standard printer paper to sit pretty while 4″ x 6″ photo paper, 5″ x 7″ photo paper or post cards can be loaded in the secondary tray above it. There is even a third tray for dedicated media that lets you load a CD or DVD and print directly on the label. Very cool.

As far as added functionality goes, we weren’t disappointed at all in this area either. The on-board card reader is a must-have on any printer, but the Artisan line also has some great integrated touch-up and basic photo editing capabilities as well. While we wouldn’t dream of relying on it for major jobs of course, it’s awesome for whipping a memory card out of a camera and making some fast and simple tweaks or crops prior to printing. The 2400 dpi scanner handled everything we threw at it from documents to photos new and old. The scanner mechanism is amazingly quiet and while the print quality isn’t quite as good as printing from a digital file of course, it’s still very impressive and loses very little when compared to the original photo. WiFi is rock solid and we’ve yet to have a single issue with connectivity loss as we’ve experienced with other wireless printers.

There are of course a few negatives but the only big one worth mentioning doesn’t even have to do with the physical printer itself – the software installation during the setup process. We installed the software that came with the printer on our MacBook and haven’t yet had a chance to try it on a PC, but the installation was way more painful than it had to be. As with all similar products, the Artisan printer CD comes with tons of things that you just don’t need if all you want to do is set up the printer and print. Some installers allow the user to select which components to install at the beginning of the installation process but no such luck here. It took us about 30 minutes to fight through the installation process and there weren’t even options to cancel out of some of the add-on installations. This definitely isn’t the biggest deal in the world and of course it’s a one-time thing, but it also impacts the user’s initial impression of the printer and it should be easy to remedy.

Beyond that, there were only a few other minor annoyances such as a relatively flimsy extending paper catcher that could definitely break if you’re clumsy, adjustable paper tray guides that could be much easier to move quickly and accurately, and internals that can get a bit loud at times while the unit is printing. It also would have been nice if the printer shipped with true Bluetooth capability as opposed to requiring an additional accessory. The available Bluetooth dongle is only $40 from Epson but we don’t see any reason why it couldn’t have been built with an internal Bluetooth radio.

All things considered, the Epson Artisan 700 is definitely the best and most versatile printer we’ve found in the $200 range and even beyond. At $200 with free shipping, this puppy is almost a steal – and now it’s available from some online retailers such as Best Buy and Amazon for as little as $150. For home offices, family use and even as a solid all-in-one printer for some small businesses, the story ends here. Whether you’re shopping for yourself or for a friend or family member this holiday season, definitely check out the Artisan duo. As an aside, Epson is currently running a holiday promotion that will offer a new 24-hour deal on each day leading up to Christmas.

Click on over to our Epson Artisan 700 gallery!

Artisan 700 product page
Artisan 800 product page

A report in the Dallas Morning news suggests that Blockbuster may be planning to develop a mobile video service. The new streaming media service would be built upon Microsoft’s Live Mesh software platform that allows users to share and synchronize data between multiple devices via an Internet connection. Live Mesh-based services, like Calendar sharing, are already available on Windows PCs with expansion to Mac and Windows Mobile devices expected in the near future. The Blockbuster plan is quite a lofty one and Keith Morrow, Blockbuster’s chief information officer, had this to say about their proposed new service,

“Eventually, we’ll give customers instant access to any movie on any device with an Internet connection and a screen.” “More immediately, we could use this technology to reach into airports. Travelers could quickly download movies from Blockbuster kiosks to their portable media players.”

Morrow also describes a scenario where a user can watch a movie on a mobile phone, pause the media stream, and return to the movie from a home PC picking up right where they left off.  Sounds great, doesn’t it? Blockbuster is reportedly the first big company to develop such a service using the Live Mesh platform so this is uncharted territory. No word on when this service will launch but we are hoping it is sooner rather than later.

[via GottaBeMobile]

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Home automation used to be something you only saw in futuristic movies, but it seems like the idea of controlling everything in your home via mobile phone or computer is becoming more and more common. Nokia is taking existing systems and solutions a step further by hitting every spot in the home, from security systems and lighting to home entertainment and sprinkler systems. One of the big functions the Finns are highlighting is the ability to control and monitor energy usage in the home, which will undoubtedly put a big smile on Greenpeace faces and other environmentally conscious people. Being able to track energy usage will allow users to control and lower consumption where they can. And while other companies are allowing home control through phones, Nokia is sure to step the game up by allowing third-party companies to join right in.

Nokia has mentioned several possibilities with the new Home Control Center. Imagine you’re just getting out of the shower and your in-laws are at the door. When they ring the doorbell, you will receive a notification on your phone along with a photo from a camera set up from the door and you can let them right in with your phone – or maybe just keep the door locked and hope they’ll go away. The Home Control Center will focus on security, efficiency, and premium home automation. When will this be available? Well, it’s no surprise that it will be hitting Europe first in late 2009, and possibly the States shortly thereafter if it proves to be a success. Just imagine – instead of coming up with an elaborate scheme to thwart burglars à la Home Alone, you can do it all on the comfort of your cell phone.

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Fujitsu’s U2010, the ultra-portable convertible tablet PC, can now add integrated 3.5G to its long list of features – having just made its debut by way of Fujitsu Singapore, Fujitsu Hong Kong and Fujitsu Philippines. According to the specs, the integrated 3.5G will support tri-band UMTS (HSDPA): 850, 1900, and 2100 MHz and Quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz. The UMPC itself boasts the following specs:

• Intel Centrino Atom processor Z530 (1.6GHz, 512 L2 Cache, 533Mhz)
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium or  Windows Vista® Business
• 5.6-inch SuperFine WXGA TFT10, 1280 x 800 pixels, Passive Touch Panel
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500
• 1GB DDR2 533MHz
• 60GB HDD/ 64GB SSD
• Bluetooth    v2.1 + EDR
• Atheros XSPAN 802.11n 3 with dual antenna
• 1.3 Mega Pixel camera
• 2-cell Li-Ion 2900mAh battery (Up to 3.5hrs on SSD)
• Approx 171mm (W) x 135mm (D) x 26.5 – 33.0mm (H)

No pricing or release dates for this Asian Pacific model but a similarly equipped US version, the U820, is expected in Q1 2009. Sweet!

[Via Pocketables]

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AOL introduced on Thursday a new sync application, AOL Sync, that will sync your AOL address book and calendar with Outlook and mobile phones. AOL has partnered with Funambol to deliver this bidirectional, over-the-air sync client. Funambol, for those who don’t know, is a popular open source synchronization solution that uses SyncML to push PIM data to mobile devices and desktop applications. Basically, it’s the poor man’s Exchange / BES. The AOL sync client supports Outlook, Outlook Express and both Windows Mobile phones and BlackBerry handsets. You will need to install the sync client on your phone or desktop, configure it to sync with the AOL servers and voila, automatic OTA bidirectional syncing. Though it is not listed as being a supported device, there is a Funambol sync client for the iPhone and for Thunderbird / Sunbird (experimental) as well. If you can get the AOL settings, it may be worth a try to see if those other platforms work, too.  If you are an AOL user, give it a try and let us know if the new client lives up to AOL’s claims.

[Via Cnet]

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