TechMunch: May 2010

HTC Evo 4G coming to Sprint, new plans detailed

5.15.2010 6:19 PM By christyxcore

HTC is releasing a new phone on CDMA carrier Sprint next month. This phone is the HTC Evo 4G and it seems to have some of the most advanced specs on the market today.

The specs of the HTC Evo 4G include:

Snapdragon processor
4.3” 800x480 resolution screen
8MP camera
Android 2.1 OS
WiMAX data connection

This device will be hitting Sprint stores and online from Sprint’s website on June 4, with preorders being taken right now. The current pricing for the device will be $299.99 with a new 2-year contract, with a $100 rebate to be deducted from this price. The price without a contract is unknown at the moment, but it will undoubtedly be much more than the contract price (as all unsubsidized phones are).

The price for the plan that the phone requires will be set at $69.99 plus $10 for what they call a “premium data” plan, which would make the total be at least $80 before taxes and other carrier fees. This ~$80 plan would include unlimited texts, 450 minutes, as well as unlimited mobile-to-mobile. Additionally, an optional $30 monthly fee can turn the phone into a mobile Wifi hotspot for up to 8 people/devices at a time.

Hands-on video with the HTC Evo 4G from Techcrunch below.

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Apple is now Nintendo's biggest threat

5.07.2010 10:15 PM By christyxcore , In App Store , Apple , Nintendo

Nintendo, the company behind the ever popular DS handheld system and the casual gaming console, the Wii, has taken a hit in profits lately and it's not because of the usual suspects. No, it's not Sony or Microsoft - it's Apple.

The company has seen profits drop from $3.03 billion to $2.48 billion as of late. While Sony and its PlayStation 3 system was responsible for the previous drops, this time around it's Apple with the iPod Touch/iPhone, and the more recent iPad.

Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, informed his employees to treat Apple as the company's most significant threat from now on. This is due to Apple's easy methods for customers to purchase digital game downloads from the iTunes App Store.

The digital downloads are much easier for customers to check stuff out and buy it immediately, versus the old way of going to a physical store and buying a cartridge/card/disc. Even if it's not that, the DSi will require a Wi-Fi signal to get digital downloads versus the iPhone or iPad 3G, where just a cell signal can get downloadable content.

Nintendo will need to change delivery methods to have a fighting chance against the App Store.

While some hardcore gamers don't see casual gaming on the iDevices or even the Wii sometimes as 'real gaming', it's hard to deny that casual gaming attracts a much bigger audience. Apple has just made a huge impact on how it all reaches the mainstream.

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Jon Stewart criticizes Apple, Steve Jobs, and AT&T all on The Daily Show

5.01.2010 2:08 PM By christyxcore , In Apple , Jon Stewart , Steve Jobs , The Daily Show

It’s been over a week now since the whole iPhone 4 prototype debacle, and proabably most, if not all, people know about it since it was even covered in the mainstream media news outlets. The story has become so mainstream that even Jon Stewart criticized Apple and Steve Jobs on The Daily Show earlier in the week, and also took some jabs at AT&T’s notoriously poor cell service.

“Apple – you guys were the rebels, man, the underdogs. People believed in you. But now, are you becoming the man? Remember back in 1984, you had those awesome ads about overthrowing Big Brother? Look in the mirror, man! …It wasn’t supposed to be this way – Microsoft was supposed to be the evil one! But you guys are busting down doors in Palo Alto while Commandant Gates is ridding the world of mosquitoes! What the [redacted] is going on?!

…I know that it is slightly agitating that a blog dedicated to technology published all that stuff about your new phone. And you didn’t order the police to bust down the doors, right? I’d be pissed too, but you didn’t have to go all Minority Report on his ass! I mean, if you wanna break down someone’s door, why don’t you start with AT&T, for God sakes? They make your amazing phone unusable as a phone! I mean, seriously! How do you drop four calls in a one-mile stretch of the West Side Highway! There’re no buildings around! What, does the open space confuse AT&T’s signal?!