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We've mentioned home signal extenders such as Verizon's Network Extender and Sprint's Airave and now it appears AT&T is joining the femtocell bandwagon with their 3G MicroCell. While pricing and availability aren't indicated on AT&T's site, we do know that it will cover up to 5,000 square feet, allow up to four simultaneous, secure voice or data connections, and will require a broadband connection to operate. It is also only compatible with 3G phones. This may end up being an advantage because similar cells offered by Sprint are limited to 2G coverage.

Another feature, according to the AT&T site is "Unlimited nationwide calling: With the 3G MicroCell, you have the option of unlimited minutes in the home or on any 3G MicroCell* with a 3G MicroCell service plan." We don't know if this is an additional cost feature or if the MicroCell will require a monthly fee to use period. Sprint charges for the Airave device ($99.99) and also charges a $4.99 monthly fee. Verizon eliminated the monthly fee but their Network Extender is a more costly device ($250).  It will be interesting to see what the final pricing details for AT&T turns out to be.

[Read: Engadget.com]

Everyone is raving about the sales the iPhone is making and it deserves its props, but its still not putting up Windows Mobile numbers. In fact, during the third quarter of 08 apple only shipped about 4.4 mill iPhones while Windwos Mobile put out a healthy 5 mil.  Now, part of the the drop in the iPhone sales is that they may have finally reached all the markets they hadn't yet with the iPhone 3G, so they may be coming close to some kind of geographic saturation. 

More info on the Windows Mobile 6.5 'leaks,' Mobile World Congress Expectations, Treo Pro on Sprint, and other assorted Windows Mobile shenanigans.  Listen in!

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Various leaks of Windows Mobile 6.5 seem to be popping up everywhere. Now it's appeared on the funny looking Compulab Exeda, the crazy little guy that runs Windows Mobile and Android. OK, the phone's not really a looker. But it's the interface we're after here. What we're seeing is a different take on that honeycomb interface, so we're pretty much expecting some variation of that when the real thing's released.

It's possible that this is still an alpha build of the OS, but we're still expecting an official announcement about 6.5 (and all those cloud services) soon at Mobile World Congress. Will the syncing be seamless like Microsoft says? Or will we have just another skinned Windows Mobile phone in our pockets? Let us know what you think in the comments

Via Engadget

Update: MobilityToday got their hands on the above sheet to confirm our earlier post.

So after Sprint's trigger-happy posting of the Treo Pro, we received word from Sprint on the snafu:

"Sprint inadvertently posted information on Sprint.com regarding an upcoming product, Palm Treo Pro, this morning. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Sprint looks forward to welcoming this exciting, new device into our portfolio as soon as it has been approved through our customary testing process. We will share details on the correct availability date as soon as the standard testing of both the device and its interaction with our network has concluded. Thank you for your interest in Sprint products."

And now we're hearing that the release date has been pushed back to Feburary 15th.  This makes sense if they still need to finish testing and make possible changes to the radio/ROM.  It also coincides with the rumored Palm Pre release date, which we now think may be a confusion with the Pro ;-)

We suppose your orders will continue to be on "backorder" till this is resolved.  We'll keep you posted if we hear anything different.

We can also now confirm memory: 128mb RAM/512mb ROM; but out of that only 42mb RAM and 360mb ROM is available for use.  This puts the Treo Pro's RAM pretty low in comparison to other WM devices, including the Pro's GSM cousin who has 70mb RAM available.

Thanks dannzeman, entropism & Codyppc!

We've been expecting a femtocell from Verizon, and now it's available and it's called the "Network Extender."

While the principle is the same as Sprint's AIRAVE — the router-looking piece of hardware uses your broadband Internet connection to spit out a short-range cell signal — the pricing is different. Instead of paying, say, $100 for the hardware, then a monthly fee for the service, Verizon's Network Extender costs $250 up front, with no monthly fees.

We're all for paying more up front to forgo the monthly shakedown. You'll save money in the long run. But we keep coming back to the same ol' argument when it comes to femtocells. If you're already paying for service on a company's network — and Verizon arguably still has the best — why would you want to pay more for a signal that you're supposed to have in the first place?

So, any of you Verizon chaps going to shell out for this?

Verizon Network Extender [via BGR]

Well, that didn't take too long...

Just days after the succesful port of a very early release of WM6.5 on various GSM devices, Conflipper over at ppcgeeks has released a kitchen that opens the door for a ton of  CDMA devices (Touch, Diamond, Touch Pro, Mogul).

Now, be warned: this is pre-release, early build stuff for WM6.5, meaning a lot of "things" are broke--so your help is needed. 

Also, we should be on the lookout for a newer WM6.5 build around January 26th...so sit tight.

Having said that, here's what to expect...

Read on for the nitty-gritty details!

I've gotta admit I've never really understood (though I'm sure I'll be corrected in the comments) just why a touchscreen has to be manually aligned after a hard-reset. For as high-tech as our phones are, its accuracy relies on my steady hand? That's no good. I certainly don't have a surgeon's touch, thanks to all the caffeine, nicotine and a few other -ines that got me through law school late nights blogging.

But, like with so many things in life, the folks at XDA Developers have us covered with AutoAlign Screen, which conveniently enough, will automatically align your screen. As XDA member azharsunny puts it, you'll save time, precisely calibrate your screen, and keep you from digging out that stylus. 

The cab files currently are for the HTC Touch HD & Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, HTC Touch Pro and HTC Touch Diamond only.

Edit: Looks like some people are having problems with the app. Be sure to back up your phone before first (which you should have done anyway). Consider yourselves warned.

Via pocketnow

We caught word just a few days ago about a HTC Diamond ROM update for Sprint and worldwide, but now it look like the Touch Pro is getting ready for one too.

Evidently, Alexandr Skaryd from XDA had a conversation with HTC Europe about the GPS lag problem.  The crux of the convo is below:

Dear Mr. Skaryd I just wanted to get back to you in order to see if you have gotten the GPS working better. I would also like to inform you that there will be a ROM upgrade available in the near future (1.19). Please feel free to get back to us at any time if you have any further questions or queries. Kind Regards Dave Montanya HTC Europe

The bigger news is that HTC appears to be aware of this GPS lag and one can hope that this upcoming ROM addresses this problem.

In case you don't feel like waiting though, head over to M're undefined , who has a very detailed post explaining a "hack" you can do to improve your GPS.  Not suprisingly, it partially involves turning off aGPS, amongst other things.  Check it out, it seems to be working for folks.

[ ppcgeeks & pocketnow]

We've been hearing rumblings that AT&T has restructured data plans and believe we have finally deciphered things where it's understandable. If you are currently using a MediaNet plan, they are being discontinued and replaced with an Unlimited Data/Messaging Plan that will run $30 a month. Instead of having a variety of MediaNet flavors to choose from (Basic, the Works, MediaNet 200, MediaNet 1MB), you have one data package. The common line of thinking is that this move was done to compete with Verizon's data plans. It appears that there are some additional incentives for customers on AT&T's Family Plan as well.

There is one word of caution, these plans are intended for use with non-PDA phones (Motorola Razor, Samsung A737, etc.) that have internet and messaging capabilities. For Windows Mobile devices, AT&T requires their PDA Data plan which, coincidentally, also runs $30 a month. We bet that some of you may be paying more than $30 for the AT&T PDA plan (heck, some of us are!). In other words, it might be worth a call (and some savings) to AT&T and see if you are on the current $30 PDA Data plan and if you're not -- get on it.

[Read: Engadget Mobile]