HTC Arrive review

Though it was teased late last year -- on the same day that HTC announced its very first Windows Phone 7 devices, in fact -- the company's QWERTY-packing 7 Pro has taken its sweet time to make it to American airwaves; in the process, it's gone through a name change and picked up the first big platform update from Microsoft. The phone we now know as the Arrive is finally available from Sprint, becoming the first Windows Phone 7 device available on a CDMA network. These days, it's pretty unusual for an HTC handset -- or a handset on any American carrier, really, regardless of manufacturer -- to take this long to make it to subscribers' hands after announcement, but in this case, Sprint's hands were tied: Microsoft simply didn't support CDMA initially, which explains why both AT&T and T-Mobile have been enjoying a selection of models from Samsung, LG, Dell, and HTC alike while Sprint and Verizon have been patiently twiddling their thumbs. The CDMA dry spell's over, though; the Arrive marks just the first of what should be several Redmond-powered phones over the course of 2011. Is it a fitting first effort? And how does it fare against the GSM models that beat it to market? Read on. %Gallery-120169%

HTC Arrive review

HP rolling out webOS 3.0 beta to Early Access developers today

Interested in developing for HP's upcoming TouchPad? Sure you are -- but to play ball, you're going to need access to webOS version 3.0, which the company has announced will be getting delivered as part of the festivities at its webOS Connect event in London today. Of course, you can't just wander in off the street and get access to it: you'll need to be signed up for the Early Access program, which has been dropping early webOS SDK builds on eager devs for some time. Naturally, we'd prefer a real, actual, physical TouchPad to the mere idea of a TouchPad in emulation coming from the soft glow of our laptop displays... but we'll take what we can get while we wait for the June launch. [Thanks, Michael]

Verizon's Samsung LTE Mobile Hotspot goes on sale: $100 on contract

We'd heard March 31st for this thing, but hey -- are we about to complain when it goes on sale early? That would be a definitive "no," and we're happy to report that Samsung's SCH-LC11 Mobile Hotspot with 1x, EV-DO Rev. A, and LTE compatibility on Verizon's network is now being offered on the carrier's website for $99.99 on contract after a $50 instant discount. That makes it the cheapest way to get five devices attached to some of the fastest wireless broadband around -- sure, you can do it with a Thunderbolt, but it'll run you a little more upfront and you need a voice plan. Who's in? [Thanks, Nick R.]

Nokia continues reinvention, details new fonts and branding

Nokia's current typeface -- Nokia Sans -- feels like one of the great constants in the consumer electronics industry, a design that instantly screams "Nokia" the moment you see it (for better or worse). That kind of strong, tight brand recognition from something as basic and simple as a character on a screen really isn't something that you can buy -- it needs to be built and cultivated over many, many years -- so we're sure that Espoo's decision to chuck it and start fresh wasn't taken lightly. In fact, we're sure it wasn't taken lightly because the company has published an 800-plus word explanation and defense of its decision to kill off Nokia Sans and replace it with Nokia Pure, a font it describes as the embodiment of "beauty in supreme usability." Of course, it's no coincidence that the font change comes just as Nokia's trying to go back to the drawing board, both with its hiring of outsider Stephen Elop and its decision to phase out Symbian and add Windows Phone into the mix; sure enough, the company says that it plans to use Pure on its devices and that "it has been designed specially for mobile and digital environments." What do you think? [Thanks, Esko] %Poll-62187%

Verizon's Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot launches March 31st

Though it won't be the first Verizon LTE device to share its white-hot connection over WiFi (that honor goes to the recently-launched Thunderbolt), Samsung's SCH-LC11 -- announced back at CES -- is shaping up to be the network's first dedicated hotspot to hit retail. We've just been dropped the carrier's internal equipment guide showing a launch date in all channels (stores, telesales, and online) this coming Thursday, March 31st; pricing is an open question, but carriers tend to price these modems pretty aggressively on contract since they know they're going to eat you alive with the data plan for the next two years. Of course, in this case, we're more than willing to get eaten alive if it means we've got a 20Mbps WiFi connection in our pocket at all times. [Thanks, anonymous tipster]

iOS 4.3.1 released, fixes a few bugs

Apple's just dropped iOS 4.3.1 on iTunes users across the land, fixing a handful of issues related to enterprise apps, AV-out, iPod touch graphics problems, and cellular network connections; not the most exciting changelog, but it's better than a slap across the face. As usual, the update is available for pretty much the full suite of iOS products -- iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch alike. Go on, grab it! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

AT&T's HTC Inspire 4G gets FCC permission to enable HSUPA

AT&T's teased that some of its existing models will eventually have HSUPA enabled, which should help mitigate the flack they've been taking over branding a network with glacial uplink speeds "4G." The recently-launched HTC Inspire 4G is among the models with disabled HSUPA out of the box, but the good news is that it shouldn't be disabled for much longer: an FCC Class II Permissive Change -- which gets generated when a device's RF characteristics are modified -- has just hit, clearly stating that "HTC Corporation will enable HSUPA function of this product." There's no time frame for the switch, but at least we know it's going to happen at some point; just try not to turn your Inspire into an FTP server in the meantime, alright?

Samsung Vibrant passes FCC again with AT&T 3G bands: a pre-acquisition tester? (updated)

This is out of left field, but bear with us -- it all makes sense, in a creepy, business-y sort of way. First, the facts: a Samsung SGH-T959P just got FCC approval with 3G support on the 850 and 1900MHz bands (it might also support 2100MHz, but we can't tell from the documents we've skimmed in the filing -- and since it's not a US band, the FCC doesn't really care anyway). T-Mobile's original Samsung Vibrant was the SGH-T959, and the Galaxy S 4G was the SGH-T959V -- so you can imagine that this is another device in the same vein. Samsung SGH product codes that start with "T" and end with "9" are T-Mobile devices... but if this is for T-Mobile, where's the AWS 3G support? So here's our wild theory: T-Mobile and AT&T may have fast-tracked a T-Mobile-branded device -- in this case, an offshoot of the Galaxy S 4G -- with HSPA+ for AT&T's bands. AT&T has mentioned this week that one of the first fruits of its planned acquisition of T-Mobile USA will be a roaming agreement that allows T-Mobile customers to use AT&T's network, and naturally, that would require devices that support AT&T's spectrum; interestingly, this roaming agreement is going into effect whether the acquisition completes or not, so these guys have to deal with it. We'd doubt that either of these carriers would be keen on releasing yet another variant of the original Galaxy S as we move toward mid-2011 here, but it's entirely possible that T-Mobile and AT&T employees could be getting these to test the network integration over the course of the year. Crazy, yes... but just crazy enough to be plausible. Update: Here's another thought. This could be an HSPA+ device (a la Galaxy S 4G) for a Canadian network, since several of those guys have also deployed Samsung devices that start with "T" and end with "9" -- the model number exclusivity to T-Mobile is strictly within American borders. We'll find out soon enough!

The Engadget Mobile Podcast, live from CTIA at 2:45 ET!

3D HTCs, dual-core LGs, 8.9-inch Samsungs, and a sun-soaking display: needless to say, it's been a fun CTIA Wireless as usual, and that's not even including all the AT&T / T-Mobile madness from last weekend! We're curled up beside the fire (you know, because there are fireplaces strewn about the CTIA show floor) with a microphone to bring you the week in mobile news... live from sunny Orlando, Florida. Join us!

AT&T planning access to Amazon Appstore, sideloading still an open question

Angry Birds developer Rovio announced on its Facebook account a few hours ago that "AT&T is also working on enabling purchases from the Amazon Appstore soon," which would mark a pretty big move on AT&T's part since they've been firm in their resolve to keep apps from outside the Android Market ecosystem off their branded Android devices -- a frustrating (and arguably illogical) stance, to say the least. Well, first the good news -- AT&T has confirmed to us that they are, in fact, setting up access to Amazon's store: "We're working to give our Android customers access to third party application stores. This requires updates to our systems and finalizing arrangements with Amazon. We will share more info with our customers in the near future." The bad news is that AT&T's having any discussions with Amazon about this at all, which would seem to indicate that they're planning on making an exception to their Android Market policy for the Amazon Appstore rather than simply enabling sideloading on devices altogether and calling it a day. We suppose this could involve a round of firmware updates that drops the Appstore in ROM, but that seems like an awful lot of work considering how much red tape is involved in pushing even a single update for one handset on a major carrier. More on this as we get it; hopefully, AT&T subscribers will have their Angry Birds Rio fix soon enough. [Thanks, Thomas]

Wysips wants to turn your phone's display into a solar cell (hands-on with video)

We chatted with a fascinating French startup by the name of Wysips here at CTIA today that's showing off transparent photovoltaic film -- in other words, it generates power from light... and you can see right through it. It's the only such film in the world, apparently -- and though you can probably imagine a host of possible applications for something like that, turning the entire surface of a touchscreen smartphone into a self-sufficient, solar-powered beast is clearly high on the list. Read all about it after the break! %Gallery-119600%

Cricket ties up with LightSquared for LTE roaming agreement

Throwing a little caution to the wind over brewing GPS interference concerns, Cricket -- the CDMA budget carrier that specializes in contract-free plans -- has hooked up with LightSquared to deliver additional LTE service through a roaming agreement that'll supplement its own rollout "over the next few years. " All told, the moves should bring it up to technological speed with archrival MetroPCS, which deployed LTE last year (beating Verizon to market, actually) and currently has a pair of Samsung-sourced handsets on the market to take advantage of it. For LightSquared's part, this is exactly the type of deal they've been looking to ink: the company has expressed no interest in lighting up a retail-facing carrier of its own, instead offering wholesale LTE deals to other carriers -- like, say, Cricket -- who don't necessarily have the spectrum, the time, or the budget to roll out 4G in earnest. Follow the break for LightSquared's press release. [Thanks, Mark]

Cricket teases CDMA-only Samsung Indulge, Huawei Ascend 2 at CTIA (hands-on)

Regional carrier Cricket surprised at CTIA today by showing off a couple new units that aren't out yet -- but they're in the pipeline for the second quarter, which the company points out is coming "very soon." First up is the Huawei Ascend 2, which -- you guessed it -- would be the follow-on to the original Ascend that the company launched last year. The display's still HVGA; WVGA obviously would've been nice, but Cricket is promising to launch it at the same sub-$150 price point as the first model and it's got a 5 megapixel camera around back (up from 3.2 before). Next up, the Indulge is pretty much the same midrange QWERTY Android slider that already launched on MetroPCS, albeit with one big difference: this one has no LTE compatibility (Cricket has no live LTE network, after all). As with the Ascend 2, we would've preferred a WVGA display -- this one's just HVGA -- and the four physical buttons up front seem a bit out of style, but Cricket's still in a position where any new Android hardware is a very good thing. Look for it to launch for under $350 -- off contract, of course. %Gallery-119546%

Samsung Indulge and Huawei Ascend 2 for Cricket hands-on

HTC HD7S hands-on

HTC's HD7 was certainly one of the most handsome devices to be launched back at Windows Phone 7's retail introduction late last year -- and really, when you take the HD2's heritage as your starting point, it's hard to go wrong. Of course, in the last year and a half, mobile display technology has advanced by leaps and bounds -- and the original HD7 was using nothing more than a standard, old-school TFT LCD with less-than-perfect contrast and viewing angle specs. Well, that's where the HD7S comes into play: the "S" in the name presumably stands for Super LCD, the newer type of display that HTC's been using on recent 4.3-inch models like the Thunderbolt. It's quite pretty, but otherwise, it's the same HD7 as usual -- and really, considering how nice this hardware is, that's just alright by us. The phone also comes with the so-called "NoDo" update of Windows Phone 7 preinstalled, a fact we were able to verify with a quick look of the version number being reported in system settings. Check it out in the gallery! %Gallery-119530%

HTC EVO 3D first hands-on! (video)

We've just put our paws on the EVO 3D for the first time, and what struck us immediately is that it's not as beefy, bulky, or overwhelming as the 4.3-inch display or specs might have you believe -- if you're familiar with the EVO 4G, you'll feel right at home here (and you might even be pleasantly surprised). The screen's stereoscopic 3D effect is about as good as what we've seen on the Optimus 3D in the past -- very good head-on with decreasing effectiveness as you move your head to the side. The 2D / 3D switch along the side is for the camera, not the display; it seems that all management of the screen's capabilities is managed in software alone. Check out the shots in the gallery below; now if you'll excuse us, we're going to go play with this monster some more! %Gallery-119512%

HTC EVO 3D vs. EVO 4G... fight!

HTC EVO 3D vs. EVO 4G... fight!

Naturally, one of the first things you need to do when you get your hands on an EVO 3D, of course, is pit it in brutal battle with its progenitor, the original EVO 4G -- a phone that was introduced at this exact same event a year ago. As we'd mentioned in our hands-on, we immediately noticed that the EVO 3D didn't feel particularly heavy or bulky in the hand; in fact, we would've guessed that it was a bit lighter than the 4G. Well, turns out they're almost exactly the same weight -- holding the two one right after the other, we couldn't detect a difference. As for dimensions, the 4G is actually wider -- the 3D's quite a bit more manageable when you're holding it, especially if you don't have giant paws -- and they're right around the same thickness. Pretty amazing that HTC was able to pack this much additional heat into a phone one year after the first model without adding any bulk, isn't it? Science! %Gallery-119521%

HTC EVO 3D first hands-on!