Tech Peek Base

Since it’ll be eons until we enjoy the kind of 4G coverage that we’ve grown used to on 2G (and to a lesser extent, 3G), manufacturers and carriers are hard at work making sure that we’ve got a reliable way to interoperate for the foreseeable future — TeliaSonera, for instance, wants to swap out its customers’ modems for LTE / HSPA dual-mode versions once they’re available next year. To that end, Ericsson and ST-Ericsson are trumpeting that they’ve become the first to establish “LTE and HSPA mobility” in accordance with 3GPP’s Release 8 specification, which dictates this sort of stuff in a way everyone can agree on (that’s a good thing). Verizon’s naturally more interested in the CDMA handoffs that have already gone down, but for AT&T and most of the rest of the world, this is exciting news indeed.

Even though Motorola’s only officially announced a small handful of devices that run Android so far, this much is clear — the company was dead serious about going all-in on the platform because we’re seeing new leaked hardware practically every time we look. This time around, it’s a clearer view of the Zeppelin, which turns out to be coming to market on China Telecom as the XT800. It looks like it could be a sharp-looking handset, borrowing design elements of the Instinct HD and featuring both GSM and CDMA radios for compliance with Telecom’s up-and-coming 3G network. What makes this juicier, though, is the fact that QQ.com alternately identifies the Zeppelin as the Titanium, a device we’d just seen in the FCC with EV-DO Rev. A last week. That leads us to believe we could see this bad boy on Sprint or Verizon in the near future — and with an HDMI output in this thing, 2010 is shaping up to be a great year for high-end Android gear.

[Thanks, Vitala]

For all of you waiting for mobile data networks to catch up to broadband speeds on cable and DSL, the first 4G/LTE network has arrived . . . in Sweden. TeliaSonera launched the first two cities of its 4G network, which promises wireless download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (yeah, right) using equipment from Ericsson and Huawei.

So if you live in Oslo or Stockholm, you get to try it out. Everyone else is out of luck. TeliaSonera says it will roll out the 4G service to 25 cities in Sweden and Norway in 2010. But you know how these things go. The full rollout may take longer because they are still trying to follow the instructions on how to put it together. They are pretty sure they are missing some bolts. (We’ve all been there).

Hey, we’ve been getting a ton of reports that Verizon’s network has been down for several hours in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and California, possibly as a side effect of merging in the Alltell network. We’re hearing a six-hour ETA on things being restored, but we’re wondering if anyone else is being affected — hit us up in comments!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

If you were looking for just one more reason to ditch Sprint then this could be it. A CDMA-flavored Palm Pixi just cleared the FCC — yes, another one — and we can say with confidence it’s not coming to Sprint this time around. Better yet, Palm’s model P121EWW matches up with that P121 code we saw leaked a while back for Big Red (Sprint’s model is P120EWW), and this sucker got tested for 802.11b/g WiFi. Looks like that Sprint ad touting the Pixi’s non-existent WiFi was more than just wishful thinking. With webOS-powered Palm gear already confirmed on Verizon for “early next year,” are you really going to make the jump to a WiFi-less Pixi on Sprint knowing what’s on the way? And more importantly, can we expect another terrifying series of ads targeting Sprint this time instead of AT&T?

In a report that is sure to bring cheer to legions of Verizon Droid owners, Strand Consult is saying that all of us who have purchased iPhones are delusional liars.

CNET’s Chris Matyszczyk reported in his Technically Incorrect column that the Danish marketing consultants posted an article titled “How will psychologists describe the iPhone syndrome in the future?” Among other things, the article describes the similarity between iPhone users defending their (according to Strand) deficient smartphones and the psychological condition known as the Stockholm Syndrome. The latter has been used to describe how hostages often begin believing and defending their captors. Unswitchable Microsoft fans have also been accused of Stockholm Syndrome.

INTERNET

You are on the internet, seeking entertainment. There is a grue here. Josh Topolsky, Paul Miller, and Nilay Patel are discussing the week in technology news, including the new Dell Vostro V13, the Barnes and Noble Nook, the CrunchPad / Joojoo, and the myth of the Apple Tablet.

In the wake of Verizon’s Droid Eris update announcement, Sprint couldn’t very well rest on its laurels and let the world go by while its Android babies grow stale on version 1.5, could it? Indeed, the company has announced today (via Twitter, of all things) that it’ll be bringing Android 2.0 to the table for its HTC Hero and Samsung Moment in the first half of 2010. Naturally, we wish they could tighten that up to the first quarter (or heck, this month, for that matter), but as far as we can tell, HTC isn’t yet done prepping Sense for 2.0 so they’re probably in a holding pattern there. As for the Moment, it’s running stock 1.5 — and we’d certainly expect it to run stock 2.0, too — so we’re not sure what the holdup is on Sammy’s end, but you can bet we’re looking forward to seeing the Google juice running in full AMOLED technicolor.

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iTunes Music Store: [iPhone / iPod Apps] Asian Painting for iPhone / iPod touch downloads for free

Motorola’s European version of the Droid — the Milestone — is on the verge of release in the UK, so it’s not surprising to see ads starting to pop up. This is the first we’ve seen, and we’ll say that the approach is… interesting. In contrast to the over the top, explosive (literally — did you see that banana?!) Verizon Droid ads, the Milestone ad is all about information, delivered in a soothing, sophisticated tone. “Intelligence and versatility converge” here, and we have to say we much prefer this approach over the it’s a “frickin’ robot” one taken by Verizon. Decide for yourself — the video is after the break.

Continue reading Motorola Milestone’s ad campaign less likely to leave you in a bloody heap than Droid’s