We’re at T-Mobile’s intimate myTouch event right now (we’re currently snuggling up with all four colors — white, black, red and purple), and here are our first-hand impressions:

• It feels good in the hand. The device is pretty slim, has a slight Android chin at the bottom, and all in all seems to be very solidly-built.
• The screen is beautiful, sharp and bright — but not as good as an AMOLED in our opinion.
• It rocks the myTouch UI that first appeared with the myTouch Slide, though it seems a bit more refined now.
• We’re currently watching Vincent from SlashGear and Sascha from PC Magazine try to establish a video call. It was unsuccessful at first, but it seems like they’re having way too much fun now that it’s working. Never mind, Sascha is yelling at the phone now.
• Watching a demo of the phone streaming video to a TV set was pretty cool. After some quick initial buffering, movies, photos and YouTube played effortlessly on the HDTV.

We’re pretty excited for the launch of the new myTouch. It’s packed with features and it nicely compliments T-Mobile’s stock Android G2 device as a younger-focused counterpart. Hit the jump for our full gallery, ok?

Click on over to our T-Mobile myTouch hands on gallery!

One of our solid Apple sources has just let us know some pretty interesting (and exciting) information surrounding Apple’s upcoming iPhone devices. For starters, we have been told that iPhone model 3,2 — what everyone is assuming to be the Verizon (or at least CDMA-compatible) phone — just hit the “AP” testing stage. This is the very last stage before retail release; final hardware, almost final software. Here is the odd thing, though… the iPhone 3,2 unit, we have been exclusively told, contains a SIM card slot. This is interesting for a multitude of reasons, and presents several different scenarios:

• The iPhone 3,2 could be the mythical CDMA + GSM/HSPA device that would support Verizon, AT&T, and the other current worldwide iPhone 4 carriers frequencies. The mid-cycle refresh would bring an updated antenna design for the current iPhone 4 and bring CDMA-compatibility; essentially, Verizon Wireless subscribers would have the same device as AT&T subscribers.
• The iPhone 3,2 could be a CDMA-capable iPhone that houses a SIM card for global roaming capabilities; though that certainly seems more complicated than just having one single glove that would fit both hands.
• One last possibility that the iPhone model 3,2 would simply be a slightly different design that doesn’t suffer from the same antenna attenuation as the current model; though that would be a little disappointing.

As far as the next generation iPhone 5, our source has also indicated to us that device has hit the “EVT” stage in the development cycle. The “EVT” stage is the engineering verification test phase, before the “DVT” phase.

Well, this one came out of nowhere… T-Mobile has just introduced the new myTouch, and it’s a beauty. Packed with a 1GHz Snapdragon MSM8255 CPU, 5 megapixel camera, 3.8″ display, and front facing camera, the new T-Mobile myTouch compliments the new T-Mobile G2, and pushes the myTouch lineup forward. T-Mobile is making video chat available over 3G networks not just Wi-Fi, which is a great feature, in addition to HSPA+, a pre-installed 8GB microSD card, and Android 2.2. The new myTouch will come in 4 colors, white, black, red, and plum, and it will be “available in time for the holidays.” So, what’s it going to be? G2 or the new myTouch? One more photo after the break followed by the press release!

T-Mobile USA, Inc. will announce a new addition to its exclusive line of Android™-powered T-Mobile® myTouch® smartphones and the continued expansion of its new super-fast HSPA+ mobile broadband network. Built with families in mind, the newest T-Mobile myTouch helps solve the challenges of staying physically and emotionally connected by sharing photos and video with the HD Camcorder, spontaneous face-to-face conversations through Video Chat and ability to reach 4G speeds on T-Mobile’s new network which is now available in more cities across the country. ¹

Unlike other video calling solutions on the market that only work through Wi-Fi, Video Chat on the new myTouch enables customers to connect with loved ones spontaneously from practically anywhere through T-Mobile’s network or Wi-Fi.  With the myTouch’s front facing camera paired with Video Chat, customers can hold video conversations with friends and family who have a new T-Mobile myTouch, other compatible mobile device or capable PC.  Customers can even see who is available to chat through presence information integrated into the myTouch’s address book.

Designed specifically to deliver 4G speeds on T-Mobile’s rapidly expanding HSPA+ network, the new myTouch will offer customers blazing fast access to websites, applications, videos, downloads and more.  T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network is the most pervasive mobile broadband network in the country offering 4G speeds in more than 65 major metropolitan areas.

With its latest expansion, T-Mobile’s HSPA+ footprint now includes Biloxi, and Gulfport, Miss.; Denver, Colo.; Huntsville, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Omaha, Neb.; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Sacramento, Calif. and West Palm Beach, Fla. T-Mobile expects to reach 100 major metropolitan areas and 200 million people in 2010.

Families also can share moments in high definition with the myTouch’s high-quality HD Camcorder with Screen Share, which allows customers to share or broadcast HD video and pictures they’ve captured. With a few touches of the screen, customers can share their photo album, videos and movies wirelessly with a compatible HDTV or other DLNA device. The new phone also includes three exclusive myTouch features: Genius Button™, powered by Dragon Dictation from Nuance, which lets customers call, text, e-mail or access the internet with a simple voice command; Faves Gallery™ which offers shortcuts to one’s most-contacted family and friends; and myModes which creates customized home screens for work and home.

Designed by HTC exclusively for T-Mobile, the new myTouch features a brilliant 3.8-inch WVGA touch-screen display with virtual keyboard and Swype® for easy text input. The thin and sleek device also comes with a blazing fast second-generation Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 1GHz MSM8255 processor optimized for speed and graphic performance, a 5-megapixel camera, a pre-installed 8GB microSD memory card, and an integrated media player that brings together favorite music, video and internet radio under one set of controls.

Powered by Android 2.2, the myTouch offers a rich mobile Web experience and access to over 80,000 applications on Android Market™ from games to location-based social networks to on-the-go shopping and more. The new device also features pre-loaded HD games, including Rock Band, Asphalt 5 and Monopoly.

The new T-Mobile myTouch is expected to be available in time for the holidays, exclusively from

T-Mobile USA in four colors —white, black, plum or red. Customers can visit http://mytouch.t-mobile.com for more information.

T-Mobile will now offer 4G speeds on the new myTouch and the T-Mobile G2™ as well as the webConnect Rocket™ 2.0 and Rocket laptop sticks. In addition, customers located in new HSPA+ locations can benefit from faster speeds on their existing 3G smartphones – including popular devices such as the myTouch 3G Slide and Samsung Vibrant™.²

T-Mobile just hooked us up with a brand new T-Mobile G2, and we of course wanted to share some first impressions and photos with you. When you pick up the phone for the first time, it feels a bit heavy, but it’s a quality feeling of heavy and not something that you’re really going to care much about. The screen looks great, and being a Super LCD, it’s a little better than a normal LCD and a little worse in some ways than a Super AMOLED display. At 3.7″ we feel it’s the perfect size for maximum usability. Let’s flip to the keyboard… interesting. The hinge mechanism is pretty cool, basically it just springs into action and reveals a pretty spacious QWERTY keyboard. It’s clicky enough, and reminds us a little of the Touch Pro2, for better or worse. The device runs a 800MHz Snapdragon CPU, and while the clock speed is slower than the 1GHz and soon-to-launch 1.2GHz chips powering Android handsets, T-Mobile tells us that the chip is the first off of the new Snapdragon chip line up and it should be able to go head to head with the higher clocked devices. From our limited time using the device, we’d agree but we will follow up on that in our expansive review. For now, hit the gallery for all the sexy photos, and make sure you drop whatever questions you may have in the comments so we can try and answer them in our review!

Click on over to our T-Mobile G2 hands on gallery!

Just a quick note, T-Mobile has released a short press announcement to let you know that their HSPA+ network (for which there are not HSPA+ phones… yet) has just been expanded to nine additional cities. If you live in Boston, MA; Erie, PA; Fresno, CA; Palm Springs, CA; San Diego, CA; Miami, FL; Richmond, VA; Spokane, WA; or Topeka, KS you are now covered by the HSPA+ goodness. Here is the official announcement:

Today, T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced the continued expansion of its super-fast mobile broadband network to 100 million Americans in more than 55 major metropolitan areas.

T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network – which offers theoretical peak throughput speeds of 21Mbps – is now available in Boston, Mass.; Erie, Penn.; Fresno, Palm Springs and San Diego, Calif.; Miami, Fla.; Richmond, Va.; Spokane, Wash.; and Topeka, Kan.

“Our new network offers today’s available 4G speeds to more people than any other wireless network in the country and we’re not done yet.  We are now on pace to more than double our HSPA+ footprint – reaching more than 200 million people by this year – with plans to offer 42Mbps theoretical speeds in 2011,” said Neville Ray, chief network officer for T-Mobile USA.

For more information, please visit http://t-mobile-coverage.t-mobile.com/coverage.

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Today, T-Mobile launched a teaser site for the mysterious G2; the company’s first HSAP+ enabled Android phone. As the site states:

The T-Mobile G2 will deliver tight integration with Google services and break new ground as the first smartphone designed to run at 4G speeds on our new HSPA+ network. In the coming weeks, we’ll share more details about the G2 and offer exclusive first access to current T-Mobile customers.

As always, you can visit the teaser site to donate your name and email address in exchange for information on the new hotness. For now, all we know is: the device is called the G2, most likely manufactured by HTC, will run Android, and will have a T-Mobile compliant HSPA+ radio. Who’s excited?

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Yesterday, we reported on the T-Mobile information page for a mystery HSPA+ device and subsequently on a theory that this device was the HTC Vision/Blaze. Now, to further cloud the rumor waters, Android Central has received an image that their tipster claims is the HTC myTouch 3G HD, and the T-Mobile mystery device. AC’s tipster described the device as a myTouch 3G Slide minus the slide-out QWERTY keyboard and with an HSPA+ capable radio. What do you think? Would any of you T-Mo customers sign up for an HSAP+, all-touch myTouch?

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T-Mobile launched a teaser web page for a mystery HSPA+ handset yesterday, but conveniently failed to remove some clues that point to the identity of the handset. A quick scan of the source code for the webpage reveals references to the Vanguard, an alternative name for the G1 Blaze which is also known as the HTC Vision. The Vanguard/G1 Blaze/Vision is rumored to have a 3.7 inch display, 1GHz processor, HSPA+, side-sliding QWERTY keyboard, optical trackpad, and Android 2.1 or later. With up to a theoretical 21Mbps, does anyone find the HSPA+ G1 Blaze more compelling than the WiMAX-enabled Epic 4G?

[Via TmoNews]Read

T-Mobile has launched a teaser page for their first, unnamed HSPA+ phone. The page will kindly let you volunteer your first name, last name, and email address in exchange for more information about this mystery device when it becomes available. The site reads: “Later this year, the first HSPA+ smartphone from T-Mobile will shape the next generation. Yours.” T-Mobile is telling you that the choice is clear, and it’s the choice of a new generation… no, wait… that was Pepsi. Anyway… hit the read link if you’re interested in signing up.

[Via TmoNews]

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We’ve had our hands on the AT&T Captivate for the last several weeks, so we thought it was just about time for a proper review. AT&T’s version of the Galaxy S has a vibrant (pun intended) 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 1 GHz Hummingbird processor, 7.2 Mbps capable HSPA radio, 5 megapixel camera with 720p video recording, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and much more. The device is running Android 2.1 with some serious UI customizations from Samsung. What’s the verdict? Hit the jump to find out!

Size/Form

Describing the size of a phone is always a difficult task as it is largely subjective. In our DROID X review we described Verizon’s latest Android flagship device as “not too big,” and here we can say that the Captivate’s dimensions (4.18” x 2.5” x 0.39”) and weight (4.5 ounces) are — for us — just right. The phone feels extremely thin in your hand and it feels feather light for a phone its size. It easily fits into jean pockets, has smooth but not rounded edges, and really is quite handsome.

The form of the Captivate is slightly different from other Galaxy S models being released in the States. We’ve heard a lot of you in the comments describe it as “less iPhone 3GS-ish” and we would say that is fairly accurate. The phone has a less rounded body and ditches the large home button that is on the European model of the Galaxy S. While the phone’s front and sides are constructed from plastic the back battery door — complete with carbon fiber print — is made of metal. We usually are a little sheepish on phones with plastic bodies, but the construction of the Captivate feels really solid. All the buttons are tight and don’t wiggle or yaw, and the lines on the phone are extremely tight and well-placed. The two things that we would say are out of the ordinary, or unique to the phone’s form, are the micro-USB port (which has a sliding plastic cover to protect it) and the way you access the battery (that is by pulling down on the bottom rear plate of the phones frame). Neither of these two things are a negatives (we actually kind of like the sliding USB cover) but they are features that make you say: “hmm, that’s different.”

Screen

Let’s just get this out of the way. The screen is by far the phones best feature. The Captivates 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display is bright, like really bright. Colors explode off the screen, watching movies is a treat, and the extra screen real estate makes browsing the web really enjoyable. The resolution is 480 x 800 and displays 16 million colors, for those of you wondering. The touch sensitivity on the device is very good, although we did have lag issues with certain keyboard layouts (that we’ll cover later in the review). Samsung’s Super AMOLED display and the iPhone 4’s Retina display could battle to the death for the top smartphone screen crown… and we wouldn’t care who won. Both screens are simply amazing.

Camera

One of the big gripes about the Captivate’s camera (aside from the fact that there isn’t one on the front of the device) is that it lacks a flash of any kind. And that won’t be an issue for most. We’re not sure what Samsung did with the software in this thing but whatever it is: Bra. Vo. The 5 megapixel auto-focus camera takes really sharp images indoors and out, and holds its own in moderate light settings. The camera includes a 4x digital zoom feature and has several modes to shoot in: Single, Beauty, Smile Shot, Continuous, Panorama, Vintage, Add me, Action shot, and Cartoon. The camera also has geotagging (not on by default), anti-shake (not on by default), and a plethora of other options and settings ready to be tweaked. We enjoyed using the camera, and unless you often take pictures in dark settings that require a flash, we think you’re going to enjoy it as well.

Outdoors - Sunlight - Close Range - Default Camera Settings

Indoors - Moderate/Low Light - Close Range - Default Camera Settings

Video Camera

The video camera, much like the still camera, works really well. You’re not going to be disappointed. The video camera defaults to shooting in 720 x 480, but we know you… you’re going to crank that baby up to 1280 x 720 for some 720p recording fun. Video playback is smooth, with no lags or jagged frames, and the camcorder seems to autofocus very effectively. The audio quality during video recording is also surprisingly good. Not quite as good as the DROID X, with its three microphones, but better than the iPhone 4. Audio is crisp, maybe a little high on the treble, but clear and totally acceptable for a smartphone video camera. The camcorder also shows you a live on-screen counter of just how large your video is getting (which we find very useful), and has a setting labeled ”fit to MMS” you can turn on before recording.

Phone

The phone is pretty standard, no real frills or thrills here. We wish there was some sort of visual voicemail system built into the device, but if you have Google Voice (if not we recommend signing up) that can easily be taken care of (thanks Android!). The speakerphone is loud and the sound is very accurate (this goes for media playback as well).  Sound from the earpiece is not quite as clear as that emanating from the DROID X or iPhone 4, but it isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. Not much else to elaborate on here, moving along…

Email

Email is obviously something that we rely on heavily, and unfortunately our Exchange email experience wasn’t all that great on the Captivate. You can view, read, and compose email just fine (although Samsung’s UI customizations make the compose screen feel crowded) but you can’t file messages into folders. You can view standard Exchange folders such as Drafts, Trash, and Sent, but you are unable to view folders you’ve created. This is something we rely heavily on. Also, email on the Captivate seems to come in 2-3 minutes slower when it is on Wi-Fi. We had an iPhone 4 and the Captivate setup to check the same Exchange and Gmail account with push enabled. If Wi-Fi was on, the Captivate would have a 30 second to two minute delay as opposed to the iPhone 4. Turn Wi-Fi off and the problem goes away. Not deal breaking, just something we noticed and thought we would pass along. The Gmail application that is bundled with most Android phones is present on this handset, runs as expected, and works as advertised.

Software Customizations

This is where our personal style preferences and subjectivity really start to creep into the review. We don’t really care for Samsung’s TouchWiz 3.0 customizations featured on the Galaxy S series… we prefer stock (or at least more stock) Android. The home screen is great; seven customizable screens, widgets, pretty standard. But there is this four icon dock at the bottom that you can’t customize Apparently you can change them. It has Phone, Email, Browser, and Applications or Home (depending on where you are in the OS) located in it by default. The Captivate has three software keyboards to choose from: a Samsung keyboard, the stock Android keyboard, and the SWYPE keyboard. The Samsung keyboard (which is on by default) does not offer any kind of spelling correction — which we feel is a must have feature on a soft keyboard — and also doesn’t have a button to invoke Google’s awesome voice-to-text system. The SWYPE keyboard is standard, and the stock Android offering is the one we’ve been using.

We’ve been able to get the Captivate to lag and /or hang when using voice-to-text or trying to navigate around the device very quickly. We’re fairly sure this isn’t an Android or hardware issue, but rather an issue with the UI that Samsung has running on top of Android. It isn’t reproducible 100% of the time, but it happened frequently enough that we wanted to mention it. Plus, it is pretty frustrating to see a brand new phone do this. Software hindering great hardware.

One thing we were really excited to see on the DROID X was a passcode timer. The timer allows you to sleep your phone and not require a passphrase, or pass-pattern, for a set amount of time. This feature is not present on the Captivate and is missed. By default, the screen dims after 30 seconds and if you have this feature enabled you are required to put your pass-pattern in every time (there is no option to use an alpha-numeric passcode).

One of Samsung’s customizations that we did like was in the contacts application. If you swipe to the right on a contact (think iOS deleting gesture) your Captivate will call that contact, swipe to the left and you text message that contact. It is a pretty clever use of the swipe motion and makes dialing/texting from your contacts list infinitely easier.

Like most Android phones distributed by carriers, the Captivate comes with software that you aren’t going to want. For example: AT&T Navigator is on there, and can be utilitzed for $9.99/month… even though Google Navigation is free, better, and… um, free! Again, this isn’t a problem specific to the Captivate, but since AT&T FamilyMap, AT&T Hot Spots, AT&T Maps, AT&T Music, AT&T Navigator, and AT&T Radio take up the first 6 out of 7 spots on your first page of apps, the issue gets exacerbated. You can’t put the applications into folders but you can re-order them (or switch to an alphabetized list view) so that helps a little.

Official Specs and Pricing

The official spec sheet for the Samsung Captivate looks like this:

• 4.18” x 2.5” x 0.39”
• 4.5 ounces
• 4 inche WVGA 480 x 800 pixels Super AMOLED, displaying 16 million colors
• Talk time 5 hours 50 minutes, standby 300 hours
• 7.2 Mbps UTMS/HSPA cellular radio (850/900/1900/21000 MHz)
• 5.0 megapixel autofocus camera with 4x digital zoom
• 720p video recording (MPEG4, ACC, ACC+, H.263, H.264)
• 16 GB ROM
• 512 MB RAM
• micro-SD card expandable up to 32 GB
• Bluetooth 3.0
• Wi-Fi (b/g/n)
• A-GPS
• Android 2.1
• 1500 mAh removable battery

Conclusion

The device’s heavily customized UI really does tax the phones list of impressive resources at times. And for this reason alone we are not overly impressed with the Captivate. This phone could be a case study of how marginal software can taint the experience of an amazing piece of hardware (we’re talking about TouchWiz 3.0, not Android).

This is Samsung’s first serious play at a high-end, top-of-the-line Android smartphone, and it is a great start. In our opinion the Samsung Captivate would make a great smartphone for those who are new to the world of Android or those who aren’t Android purists. In other words, for most it will do…

Let’s face it, these days buying a smartphone is about compromise. You are going to have to prioritize your lists of smartphone wants against your lists of smartphone needs and render a decision. If an amazing screen, solid camera/camcorder, and the Android operating system are the top three items on your checklist, consider this phone a winner. If, like us, you are looking for a little more refinement from your smartphone, you might want to hold off until this bad boy is updated to Android 2.2 (or gets rooted) and re-evaluate.

Today, T-Mobile announced that they’re not slowing down on their continued expansion of HSPA+ roll outs. The Magenta carrier is on track and aims to cover over 185 million people by the end of the year in more than 100 metropolitan markets. If you’re living in an HSPA+ coverage area, you’ll be pleased to know that 16 T-Mobile 3G devices can now take advantage of the increased speeds. Looking for some hardware news? The webConnect Rocket USB stick will get a broader roll out in the form of the Rocket 2.0 with swivel form factor which we nailed last week. And finally, the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook will start to become available in retail stores which you can pair with that shiny new Rocket 2.0, also just like we called. Full list of latest HSPA+ lit up cities after the break!

• Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Waco, TX
• Baltimore, MD
• Baton Rouge and Lafayette, LA
• Birmingham, AL
• Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton OH
• Ft. Lauderdale and Jacksonville, FL
• Greenville, SC
• Honolulu, HI
• Indianapolis, IN
• Kansas City, MO
• Milwaukee, WI
• Minneapolis, MN
• Portland, OR
• St. Louis, MO
• Wichita, KS
• Expanded coverage in additional cities in previously announced metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C.

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We just received a heads up that T-Mobile will be rolling out some HSPA+ insanity speeds to the following markets on July 21st:

• Austin, TX
• Baltimore, MD
• Birmingham, AL
• Cincinnati, OH
• Cleveland, OH
• Columbus, OH
• El Paso, TX
• Ft. Worth, TX
• Hawaii, HI
• Indianapolis, IN
• Jacksonville, FL
• Kansas City, MO
• Louisville, TN
• Milwaukee, WI
• Minneapolis, MN
• Portland, OR
• San Antonio, TX
• Washington, D.C.
• Wichita, KS

Additionally, T-Mobile will be launching the new webConnect Rocket 2.0 USB data stick on July 21st with an “enhanced design” that swivels, you know, so you don’t accidentally snap the thing when it’s plugged in. Lastly, we’ve been told T-Mobile will start offering a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook in select HSPA+ markets. However, it seems as if there isn’t 3G connectivity built-in, and you’ll need to use the webConnect Rocket to get your mobile data fix. Give me a moment to process that. Sorry, my head just exploded.

Nine days before release, the Super AMOLED packing Samsung Captivate — from AT&T — has been given its very own hype video. The 2:21 short emphasizes the gorgeous display that accompanies all Galaxy S devices, as well as the speed and versatility of the device. The Captivate will be available for purchase from Ma’ Bell on July 18th for $199 on-contract. If you’re interested hit the jump — we’ve got the video queued up for you.

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TmoNews has gotten their hands on an image of the Android-powered Motorola Charm which, by all accounts, appears due to land on T-Mobile in the very near future. The Charm is a chubby, full-QWERTY candybar phone that is reported to have a Backflip-like trackpad on its posterior and 3-inch touchscreen. The phone has all the trappings of an entry-level Android device…but let’s hope that it comes out of the box with Android 2.1 and not 2.0 or *shudder* 1.6. Any Magenta fans out there looking for an entry level Android phone in the candybar form-factor?Read

Rumors are starting to fly around the the interwebs about the alleged throttling of upload speeds by everyones favorite wireless carrier AT&T (note: sarcasm). Users are reporting — on Apple’s discussion boards amongst other places — upload speeds topping out at around 100 Kbps in areas that consistently had much higher upload speds. If you’re wondering if your upload speeds are what they should be, go ahead and grab Speedtest.net (available for Android, Apple, BlackBerry, Palm) and let us know what your clocking in at. Currently, I’m seeing 1.8 Mbps down and 1.2 Mbps up in Boston, MA, however…BG is seeing around 300 Kbps down and around 50 Kbps up in New York, NY (ew). How about you?

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