No Verizon iPhone?

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Despite very reliable information earlier this regarding the iPhone 4 going to Verizon, it appears talks between Apple and Verizon have stalled due to the prominence of Verizon's Android line. According to the report, Verizon has been very reluctant to come to a final agreement, as Apple wants to have the iPhone as the phone with all the focus on it for the carrier. The stronger the Android platform performs, the less likely Verizon is going to want to sacrifice it to obtain the iPhone.

It appears that both sides are unwilling to give in, so we may not be seeing an iPhone quite yet. If talks fail with Verizon, look for T-Mobile or Sprint to begin talks with Apple. With the Verizon iPhone almost certain earlier this week, it is disappointing that they have not yet resolved their dispute.

Keep a look out for new stories on the iPhone, I will be keeping very close tabs on this one, as it would be really big news if we get an iPhone on a new carrier.

HTC Announces New HTC Sense, Phones, etc.

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Today, HTC unveiled 2 new devices as well as announced a new version of HTC Sense. Sense has been the most popular skin for the Android operating system, so this comes as big news that HTC chose to change their interface a bit.

The new and improved Sense, says HTC, has some major improvements.

• Boot time has been improved, down to just 10 seconds.
• The mapping app has new caching functionality, reducing rendering time.
• The map now orients itself to the direction you are going with the aid of a digital compass.
• The incoming call screen now slides up from the screen's bottom instead of using the entire screen.
• DLNA support is built-in.
• Sense is now less about presenting data to you and more about allowing you to control and interact with your data.

HTC also announced the coming launch of HTCSense.com. Here is their announcement below:

With the new HTCSense.com service, people can simply manage their mobile phone experience from their HTC phone or personal computer. For example, people can easily locate a missing phone by triggering the handset to ring loudly, even if it is set to silent, or to flag its location on a map. If the phone's been lost or stolen, users can remotely lock the phone, forward calls and texts to another phone, send a message to the phone to arrange its return or even remotely wipe all personal data from it. HTCSense.com makes it easy to setup a new HTC phone or access archived mobile content such as contacts, text messages and call history from a PC browser. People can also customize their phones with exclusive HTC content like wallpapers, HTC scenes, sounds or plug-ins

It is not quite clear when HTCSense.com will launch, but it will be welcomed when it is ready.

HTC is also planning to launch 2 devices: the HTC Desire Z and the HTC Desire HD. 

The HTC Desire Z is essentially an a generic T-Mobile G2. It has all the same specs, from the 5 megapixel camera and 720p video recording to the 800MHz Qualcomm processor. It even features the same hinge style that the G2 has. 

The HTC Desire HD on the other hand is a more powerful phone. It will feature a 4.3 inch screen, 8 megapixel camera, 720p video recording, and a 1Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (the same processor used in the HTC Evo 4G). The Desire HD promises to be a powerful and very competitive phone.

Availability of these two phones is less clear however with the announcement stating, "the Desire HD and Desire Z will be broadly available in European and Asian markets from October 2010" with the Desire Z coming to North America later this year. 

Does that mean the Desire HD is not coming to North America? Only time will tell.

HTC has been very busy and this group of announcements has something for almost everybody to get excited about.

Samsung Galaxy Tab to Come to 3 of 4 Major Carriers

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The Samsung Galaxy Tab, the tablet based on Samsung's Galaxy S smartphones and the first real competitor for the iPad, is now just a few weeks away and is expected to be released on 3 of the 4 major U.S. carriers. Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon have all reportedly reached deals with Samsung to carry the device, leaving T-Mobile the odd one out.

Samsung is expected to unveil the tablet in the U.S. September 16th in New York City.

The Galaxy Tab is expected to a smaller device than the iPad at 7 inches (the iPad is 9.7 inches), but functionality wise it will be a more capable device. The Galaxy Tab will have run Froyo 2.2, have both front and rear cameras, as well as have the ability to function as a phone. An additional feature the iPad is missing that the Galaxy Tab has is full Adobe Flash support (although with Apple's loosening of App Store restrictions, this could change).

Altogether, the Galaxy Tab is a worthy competitor for the iPad. The question remains is will the average user prefer the larger screen and for user friendly OS of the Apple iPad, or will users prefer the flexibility of Android and the ability to video conference and make phone calls.

T-Mobile Announces the G2

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Quite a bit of news involving T-Mobile today. T-Mobile this morning announced the G2, made by HTC. The G2 is the successor to the first Android phone, the G1. The G2 will come running the Froyo 2.2 version of Android, and will be the first phone to be specifically designed for T-Mobiles HSPA+ network. T-Mobile calls their HSPA+ network a 4G network, despite being based on the 3G network technology.

T-Mobile's HSPA+ network will support speeds up to 21 Mbit/sec and is not available everywhere, although is currently available in 55 cities, which is a similar number to Sprint's WiMax network.

Back to the phone, the G2 will possess a 3.7 inch touch screen and have a full QWERTY keyboard. It was also have an 800MHz processor (below today's standard 1GHz processors, but still very capable), with the objective to obtain better battery life than many of today's power hungry phones.

Other features include a 5 megapixel camera with support for 720p video recording, 7 home screens, 4GB internal memory and an 8GB microSD card.

T-Mobile took a different approach to their first 4G phone than Sprint did, with a phone that does not have the large display or the power hungry speedy processor, but it did bring another great phone, one that maybe more suitable for messaging users and those with a need for long battery life.

T-Mobile has stated the G2 will be available for pre-order sometime in late September.

T-Mobile to Get iPhone 3GS?

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According to a recent tweet by Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson, T-Mobile is slated to get the iPhone 3GS this year. The tweet follows:

A T-Mobile manager casually mentioned to me that they're going to get the iPhone 3GS (but not 4, oddly) later this year. Common knowledge?

It may not be common knowledge, but the rumor that the iPhone would come to T-Mobile has floated around, as it would be easier to shift the iPhone to another GSM carrier as opposed to a CDMA one (such as Verizon, in which a rumor suggest the iPhone will come to them Q1 2011).


However, there are a few things that make this piece suspicious, despite coming from a usually reliable source.
-Why just the 3GS, and not the iPhone 4?
-Why was the information just tweeted, and not written up in a formal article by Wired?
-Why not ask your own coworkers if its common knowledge?

While the speculation of the iPhone coming to T-Mobile has been floating around lately, it has always been the rumors that the iPhone was coming to Verizon that has been the strongest. Is this just another rumor? Or is it possible that we could finally be seeing the iPhone coming to more carriers as soon as this year? Only time will tell.