Blogs Brighthand and Engadget have found evidence that the Federal Communications Commission has blessed what could be a version of the Nexus One that runs on AT&T's 3G network. The unknown device supports 3G on WCDMA Bands I, II and V, meaning that it'll work on AT&T's network and most of Europe. The Nexus One could use the additional carrier support. Those who bought the device with T-Mobile service are suffering from spotty 3G service or even prolonged outages and complaints have been overwhelming Google's Nexus One support forum since the phone launched.

Via eWeek Email Read the rest here

Microsoft to announce date for Windows Mobile 7 at MWC 2010

Alongside the launch of Windows Mobile 6.6 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2010, Microsoft is also expected to announce a date for the commercial availability of WM7, according to sources familiar with Microsoft's roadmap.

Based on the roadmap, WM7 will be available to Microsoft's handheld hardware partners in September 2010, allowing them to roll-out WM7-based devices in the fourth quarter 2010 or early first-quarter 2011, the sources indicated.

However, only English and common European languages will be available initially, with the availability of the Asian localizations slated for 2011, said the sources, noting that the late availability of the Asian versions has been interpreted by some market watchers as a delay.

Microsoft has reportedly already selected a number of handset brand vendors, including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Toshiba, HTC (High Tech Computer), Asustek Computer and Acer to co-develop WM7-based products, the sources noted.

WM7 will come with an improved interface to deliver a better browsing and multimedia experience, and support Zune, Xbox Live and Silverlight, the sources revealed.

Recent information leaked from LGE and HTC indicates that the two companies are currently developing WM7-based Apollo and Obsession smartphones, respectively. The companies have declined to confirm the information.

sorce: Digitimes
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20100122PD216.html

Varioptic announced that it has developed a liquid lens with optical image stabilization. The new liquid lens consumes less than 50mW during a shot, and the actuator features both optical stabilization and silent autofocusing. It is small enough to fit into many of today's autofocus camera modules. Varioptic believes the lens will be used in consumer-available mobile phones by early 2011.

varioptic

During today's earnings call, AT&T explained what it is doing to improve its services in the New York City and San Francisco markets. Both metro regions, AT&T admits, are performing under what it calls its performance objective. The island of Manhattan, in particular, is far below AT&T's performance goals. In order to improve performance, AT&T is adding cell sites and deploying ethernet to its cell sites to improve network backhaul capabilities. AT&T claims that the percentage of dropped calls was reduced, and that the "3G Voice Composite Quality Index" rose consistently in both markets during the fourth quarter of 2009. AT&T said it is working "aggressively" on these network improvements and that customers should notice them over the course of the net 90 days.

more at AT&T

Mozilla recently released a fully functional version of its Firefox browser for Nokia's Maemo 5 platform. Firefox has been available to Maemo before in betas, but this is a complete build of the browser. Some of its features include Firefox's Awesome Bar bookmark controller, Weave Sync for syncing your mobile and desktop settings, add-ons for customizing the browser, location-awareness for the most relevant information, and a safe browsing mode to protect user security. Firefox for Maemo supports 30 languages. Users of the N900 will be able to download the software for free from Mozilla.

more at Mozilla

During its recent earnings call, Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha said that the company plans to launch "at least 20 devices, including at least one direct-to-consumer device with Google." Google's direct-to-consumer model is what it is using to sell the HTC Nexus One. Motorola didn't confirm that its device will use the Nexus brand name, but it is a possibility. Jha also said, "We expect to ship between 11 million to 14 million smartphones over the course of the year, with smartphones accounting for over 50% of our total sales this year." All of the smartphones will be running Android, and about half of them will include MOTOBLUR. Motorola expects to sell fewer mid-range and entry-level devices throughout 2010. Jha also indicated that it will be improving MOTOBLUR. He said that Motorola will attempt to address the class of social networking users who need one device for both work and home needs. More security features will be built into MOTOBLUR, and it will also gain more multimedia powers, such as the ability to "share music, photos and other content in an interactive and dynamic way."

Gearlog

During it's recent earnings call, Microsoft CFO Peter Klein said, "On the mobile side, our strategy remains the same. As we've been saying from a product perspective, we're working very hard on the next version of Windows Mobile. As Bill indicated, we'll be talking more about that in Barcelona in a few weeks." Microsoft typically holds a press conference during Mobile World Congress, which takes place in Barcelona in mid-February.

from Microsoft