We're all for upping our cell service in-home, so a few cheers to Samsung for upgrading its Ubicell personal CDMA base station to 3G. Joining the femtocell party in 2010, all we know beyond its primary directive is built-in GPS for more accurate E911 calls. Mum's the word on price, carriers, or any more definitive launch date. The last Ubicell (pictured) was launched with Verizon, so nah, we wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this one here followed in its ancestor's footsteps.

Verizon certainly seems to be getting under AT&T's skin with its ads focused on comparing 3G coverage -- not only is Ma Bell suing over 'em, it's now issuing PR to clarify what it sees as the inaccuracies of the entire campaign. If you'll recall, AT&T thinks Verizon's 1:1 comparison of 3G coverage maps makes it looks like AT&T doesn't have any coverage at all across most of the country -- which means that our nation's largest wireless carrier is now in the sad position of pimping its gigantic EDGE network in response. Let's all gloss over the absolutely huge difference in 3G versus EDGE together, shall we?

With both 3G and EDGE coverage, customers can access the Internet, send e-mail, surf the Web, stream music, download videos, send photos, text, talk and more. The only difference – with some data applications, 3G is faster than EDGE.

Right, right -- the only difference. That must be why Apple named it the iPhone EDGE Slightly Faster.

Now, AT&T has a valid point when it says that its 3G map covers 75 percent of the nation's population, and that Verizon's conflation of total 3G coverage with actual network quality is slightly misleading. But you know what? We watch our iPhones drop from 3G to EDGE and even to GPRS all day long in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, and that has nothing to do with the damn map, and everything to do with AT&T's actual network quality. Let's put it this way: Verizon's ad campaign would be totally ineffective if it didn't ring so true, and the best way for AT&T to counter these ads is to build a rock-solid network, not filing lawsuits and issuing press releases bragging about freaking EDGE. We all clear on this? Good.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon has brought about a new wave of possibilities for smartphones, but evidently those chips are just too exclusive to slip into so-called "mainstream smartphones." In order to remedy such a tragedy, the outfit has today introduced the MSM7x30 family of solutions, which uses an 800 MHz to 1GHz custom superscalar CPU based on the ARM v7 instruction set. The chips support 720p video encoding / decoding at 30fps, integrated 2D and 3D graphics (with support for OpenGL ES 2.0 and OpenVG 1.1), 5.1-channel surround sound, a 12 megapixel camera sensor and built-in GPS. In related news, the outfit also announced that it is sampling the industry's first chipsets for dual-carrier HSPA+ and multi-mode 3G / LTE, which ought to make those champing at the bit for a speedier WWAN highway exceedingly giddy. Hit the links below for all the technobabble.

Read - MSM7x30 solutions
Read - Dual-carrier HSPA+ and Multi-Mode 3G/LTE chipsets

Samsung and Qualcomm have wrapped up a cross-licensing deal with ten figures of US currency in it, which will permit the Korean giant to continue producing 3G- and 4G-enabled wireless devices for the next 15 years. In exchange, Samsung is letting Qualcomm make use of its own 57 patents on mobile technology and splashing out a further $1.3 billion as a down payment. Further royalty payments are involved, but not detailed, but just as a reference point, that's more than the new Dallas Cowboys stadium and its ultra-huge scoreboard cost to build. The move is a renewal of the two companies' current arrangement and Samsung has boldly claimed the terms of the new contract are more favorable to it, but we get the feeling the champagne will be flowing in San Diego this week.

[Via MobileTechWorld]

AT&T might be suing Verizon for misrepresenting its network in ads, but that doesn't seem to have dissuaded Big Red from using that same map image in this new spot, which casts the iPhone away to the Island of Misfit Toys. Hard to argue with the premise, but here's the real question: why not just sack up use a real iPhone, instead of this KIRF piece? Check the ad after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Having already witnessed the case and UI of Dell's incoming Android invader, we can now pretty much complete the picture with the latest info from the FCC. Reassuringly, WiFi and 3G -- the two big modifications from the China-bound Mini 3i -- both make it onto US soil, leaving us with only the timeless questions of when and how much. The Chinese version of the phone runs a 360 x 640 resolution on a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen, which makes for a nice base to get all that wireless communication (Bluetooth included) flowing. We can expect the Mini 3iX to find its way onto AT&T's awesome networks some time in 2010, joining a growing army of Android devices vying for your cash, love and understanding.

[Via Unwired View]

Nearly six months after large-scale trials kicked off, China Unicom -- the only carrier among China's nationals to be deploying HSPA -- has broken the magical million-subscriber mark that have made the leap to its "Wo" 3G network. If you're wondering whether the recent launch of the iPhone on Wo has contributed to that count, the answer is a definitive "no" -- amazingly, a mere 5,000 units have apparently been sold so far, likely due to the phone's prohibitive cost and the availability of unlocked devices and interesting alternatives. Be that as it may, the carrier seems convinced that the iPhone will contribute to Unicom's bottom line in the fourth quarter, countered by continued marketing and build-out costs for Wo. Networks aren't cheap -- particularly when you're dealing with a country the size (and population density) of China.

The first Android device from Sony Ericsson may have undergone an upgrade in the naming department, jumping from X3 all the way to XPERIA X10 (probably to avoid confusion with Nokia's X3 handset), but what lies under the hood is reassuringly in line with what we've been hearing. That is to say, a 1GHz Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm, wide 4-inch capacitive touch display, 8.1 megapixel camera with LED flash, and a thoroughly tricked out Android skin named Rachael. Sony Ericsson stressed to us the symbiotic importance of both the new flagship device and "open OS" UI -- they see the X10 as the patriarch of a whole new family of handsets, which we can expect to see in the first half of 2010, all sporting the beauty of Rachael and perhaps helping to bridge the gap between featurephones and, well, more advanced featurephones. So don't be shy, come along to Engadget Classic to see our full and uncensored first impressions of both, along with hands-on video and pictures.

You know what's ridiculous? Modern smartphones without WiFi (why hello there, Pixi and Tour). Looks like Dell's getting the message with the supposed Brazil-bound Mini 3iX, which as far as we can tell is the Mini 3i as it should've been -- same specs, plus WiFi and 3G connectivity. The OPhone-esque user interface also seems to have gone through some changes, at least cosmetically, and Cellular Cafe has the vivid imagery -- so might this be the little guy rumored to be coming to AT&T, or will we get the 2G variant instead? How about we just skip this one altogether and get the Streak?

One-half of the worst-kept secret in all of Canada over much of the last year -- the HSPA networks being prepped by Bell and Telus -- is finally launching in just two short days' time. Bell has announced that its shiny new 21Mbps airwaves will be available to the public at large starting November 4, along with a host of devices ready to take full advantage of it; perhaps most impressive, though, is that they'll be covering fully 93 percent of the country's population out of the gate, which should make the new network a viable option immediately for would-be switchers. Your move, Rogers.

[Thanks, Shawny]

Well, hello there! Those Dell MID rumors we've been hearing have finally received vindication in the form of a nice, picture-heavy leak courtesy of some industrious folks in Vietnam. What we know as of now is that there's an 800 x 480 capacitive touchscreen display (with multitouch zooming), WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G WWAN connectivity, all riding atop an Android 2.0 (aka, Donut Eclair) install. A dual-LED flash 5 megapixel camera adorns the back, and there's a 1,300mAh battery to power all that goodness. See pics below and a video awaits after the break, where an old friend of ours plays with the jumbo smartphone.

[Via SlashGear; Thanks, Nicky N.]

You know the deal by now: we grab a slab of fresh new hardware, fiddle, play, and tinker with it until exhaustion or boredom is reached, then wax poetic about the whole experience, with a side serving of pictures and videos thrown in. Today's candidate for a grilling is LG's BL40, which is now available in Europe. You'll be familiar with it already from our hands-on look last month, but do join us past the break where we explore what's under the glossy hood in more detail, and give you a definitive answer on just how useful that elongated screen really is.

Well now this is a pleasingly rapid transition from announcement to review samples to market availability. Motorola's Android-loving CLIQ (already on sale under the moniker DEXT in the UK), its QWERTY keyboard and all the apps you could desire are now ready to be had, should you already have an account with T-Mobile, the device's exclusive US carrier. It was expected that only pre-orders would be taken today, but it appears for all the world that T-Mobile is ready to start shipping the CLIQ to its loyal customers ahead of the November 2nd full release date. Prices start from the previously reported $199.99 on a two-year agreement -- a move that will give you plenty of time to wonder if you shouldn't have waited for more details about the Droid mashup from Verizon, Motorola, and Google.

Motorola may be pinning its comeback hopes on the CLIQ here in America, but it obviously has some rather large plans for the world's largest carrier, too. An admittedly perplexing report has surfaced purporting that the creator of the iconic i776, er, RAZR, is fixing to distribute not one, not two, but eight OPhones to China Mobile next year. For those unaware, OPhone is an Android-based OS tailor made to operate on the aforesaid carrier and cater to its customers, and to date, quite a few other manufacturers have jumped on board over there. Sadly, no actual details about the eight Moto handsets were given, so it looks like it's just you, a cup of joe and your hyperactive imagination for the time being.