Gadget Watch: Google's Nexus Spreads

LR Mobile News Analysis Dan Jones, Mobile Editor 3/17/2010

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) grabs the gadget gold in this week's roundup, as the search giant has unveiled AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) 3G and CDMA updates for its first own-brand smartphone.

The search giant has updated the frequencies that its High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) (Taiwan: 2498)-built phone will run on, so that a new, different version will now work on the AT&T network. It is being sold for $529 unlocked.

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), meanwhile, plans to launch a CDMA version of the phone soon. It will be sold with a two-year contract. A spokesperson for the vendor tells Light Reading Mobile that there's no detail on how much the phone and plan will cost yet.

This means that Verizon Wireless is the only major carrier that isn't supporting the Nexus yet. Rumor has it that a Verizon version could be unveiled at the CTIA show next week.

The other major buzz gadget, the Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad, is getting a look-over at the South by Southwest (SXSW) show, where some appear to be hailing it as the savior of the glossy magazine industry. The Huffington Post declared one of the iPad demos there a multimedia feat. So, good news for the glossies, bad news for cologne makers, maybe.

There's a bit of a security scare going on in the Android community. Panda Security says it has found malware on two HTC Magic phones from Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD), and people want to know how it got there. Keep 'em peeled out there...

Talking of HTC, T-Mobile US Inc. will soon have one of the stars of the Mobile World Congress device parade on its network: the HD2 Windows phone. The big-screened beauty will set you back $199.99 with a two-year contract.

Need more before the CTIA flood begins? Click on:

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile

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