Friday, August 20, 2010

Motorola Droid 2 for Verizon First Impressions



I’ve recently been assimilated into the cult of Android. So much so that I’m ditching my iPhone 4 and AT&T in favor of the Droid X, which I have on order from Verizon and due to arrive soon. I chose the Droid X after using it for 2 weeks and then comparing it to the HTC Incredible.

I made my choice before I had any real one on one time with the Motorola Droid 2 though because the large Droid X screen won me over.

Today a Droid 2 loaner device showed up on my doorstep, so I’m anxious to find out if I’ll end up regretting my quick decision to go with the DX.

I’ve only had this phone out of the box for about an hour, so this is just going to be a quick first impressions post. I plan to do an actual review in a few days and we’ll hear Bryan’s thoughts on this device as well.

I currently have a herd of Android phones from Verizon at my house. There’s the Droid X (Left), Droid 2 (Center) and the HTC Incredible (Right). I also have the LG Ally, but it’s not pictured here as it’s not really in the same league as these higher end smartphones.

As you’ll notice, the Droid 2 has about the same footprint and 3.7 inch screen size as the HTC Incredible.

It’s quite a bit chunkier than the DX and Incredible though. Of course, it’s no wonder due to its built in sliding keyboard.

Even though the Droid 2 is thicker than the others, its size still hits a sweet spot in my opinion because it’s not too large and not too small. Like the Incredible, it fits comfortably in your hand and doesn’t look awkward when used as a phone like some people might say of the Droid X. The fact that it also includes a keyboard is a big bonus for some people.

Read More @ the-gadgeteer.com

T-Mobile’s HSPA+ G2 leaks, confirmed as HTC Vision



T-Mobile’s upcoming G2 smartphone has broken cover, with Engadget being sent images of the new HSPA+ handset in the wild. Basically an HTC Vision with an HSPA+ modem, it’s also now clear that the vague outline on T-Mobile’s teaser page hides a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, an optical trackpad and, if the rumors are true, a 3.7-inch WVGA touchscreen and 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

Unfortunately, the one detail we’d really like to know – when exactly T-Mobile will launch the G2 onto the market – is still unknown. Still, it looks like it’s worth waiting for, and the carrier has said more information will be forthcoming in “the coming weeks”.

Via : slashgear.com

BlackBerry HS-700 Bluetooth Headset Takes Voice Commands


RIM has just announced a new product in their accessory line, the HS-700 Bluetooth headset. It’s an innocuous little Bluetooth headset with a nice leather finish, but what makes it special is that you can launch into actions using only your voice. Using voice alone, you can start a call, mute a call, redial, call the last person to call you, swap between calls, or pair to another phone.

Instead of having to press the side of it to answer, you can just say “answer” or “ignore” out loud – it’ll even tell you who’s calling after pairing up with your BlackBerry’s address book and figuring out some text-to-voice translation. For non-BlackBerrys, it’ll still say the phone number of the incoming call.The HS-700 Bluetooth headset even plugs into GPS mapping on your BlackBerry to provide turn-by-turn directions, right in your ear. Volume controls are entirely automated based on ambient noise, which I would be wary about trusting, but will have to try out to know for sure.

If you’re interested, the BlackBerry HS-700 Bluetooth headset is listed in BlackBerry’s online store as Coming Soon for a steep $129.99.

Via : Inside BlackBerry

Vodafone: HTC Desire 2.2 update in final approval stages


Vodafone’s doing a rather good job of keeping its angry Desire users notified of the timescale of the “Froyo” update for its HTC Desire these days, with little comment issued early this morning telling everyone it’ll be out in “days, not weeks”.

The Android 2.2 update for the network’s (very) branded HTC Desire is currently in the final stages of approval, with Google & HTC currently giving it the once over ahead of distribution to you lot. Here’s Vodafone’s message on the matter:

We’re still developing and testing the Android 2.2 update for HTC Desire and working on its approval with Google and HTC. The start of the roll out is days, not weeks, away and as soon as the date is finalised we’ll let you know.

It’s an absolute priority for Vodafone customers to receive this update as soon as possible and that it works as we promised it would do. The testing process has taken a little longer than we initially anticipated, but we’re working hard to make sure it gives customers the best experience.

Days, not weeks. Not weeks implies a singular week, which is seven days. But we’re sure it’ll actually be ready when it’s ready and when everyone rubber stamps it. Might be this afternoon. Might be next Tuesday at 9:45am. WE JUST CAN’T KNOW.

Via : eurodroid.com

Amazon UK Gives HTC Desire HD A Premature Outing


We have been tracking the HTC Desire HD very closely as of late, especially after we received an invite to an HTC launch event on the 15th September that seemed to confirm that the handset would eventually be unveiled on that date.

Still unofficial, the HTC Desire HD has edged closer to being outed before the press event after ElectricPig found that Amazon UK had added a listing for the phone to its website, quoting a price of £415.

The listing of the handset suggests that Amazon UK will offer the smartphone unlocked to its customers, although a release date was not added to the website.

If you try to visit the listing, the page has been quickly removed, proving it was a big error on Amazon’s part.

Via : thenextweb.com

HTC Desire available in India, Froyo not yet included


Not long after introducing the Wildfire in India, HTC has now also released there the Desire, which is the company’s flagship Android smartphone (but you already knew that, right?).

Unlike in China, where the Desire comes with Android 2.2 Froyo, the Indian Desire is launched with Android 2.1 on-board. An update to Froyo shouldn’t be too far away though.

The HTC Desire costs 28,900 INR in India (free of contract, of course). That’s about $621 – almost double the price of the Wildfire, but relatively on par with the prices of other high-end Android handsets available in India, like the Motorola Milestone XT720 or the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

The Desire is offered in India via Tata DoCoMo – buyers will get 500MB of free data for the first six months.

Via : unwiredview.com

HTC Desire HD launch confirmed?


HTC Desire HD is in news for quite some time, and now the doubts on the HTC HD are slowly clearing up! HTC Desire HD has been listed on one of the Europe’s well known mobile seller’s site mobiles.co.uk. This means HTC Desire HD is not so long away from the official announcement. HTC, the Taiwan based smartphone company is doing pretty good business all over the world. HTC smartphones, especially the Android based smartphones have gained great popularity in recent times.

Mobiles.co.uk listing has confirmed the launch of HTC Desire HD. But the HTC Desire HD features and specs are still unknown officially. The speculated features of HTC Desire HD are promising, and here is a look at the expected features of HTC Desire HD.

Via : znews24.com

Nokia to buy mobile analytics firm


Nokia announced Friday that it will acquire Motally, a small, privately held mobile analytics firm in San Francisco.

Staffed by a team of only eight people, Motally offers mobile app developers a service for tracking the usage of their software. The goal is to help developers enhance and optimize their apps by understanding how people use them.

Looking to support developers selling apps through Nokia's Ovi Store, Motally's service will be adapted to work with Symbian, MeeGo, Qt, and Java, said Nokia. But support will continue for Motally's current customers.

"The acquisition underpins Nokia's drive to deliver in-application and mobile web browsing analytics to Ovi's growing, global eco-system of developers and publishers, enabling partners to better connect with their customers and optimize and monetize their offering," Marco Argenti, Vice President of Media for Nokia, said in a statement.

No financial details were disclosed. The deal is expected to complete during the third quarter of 2010 following the usual closing conditions.

Though still the global leader in the mobile phone market, Nokia has been shedding market share to rivals such as Apple, Samsung, and Research In Motion. With earnings dropping and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo reportedly on his way out, the company recently embarked on yet another reorganization in an attempt to simplify its product lines. As part of the reorg, the new Mobile Solutions division will focus on high-end smartphones that run under Symbian and MeeGo, while the Mobile Phones unit will concentrate on more affordable devices.

Via : news.cnet.com

HP confirms webOS tablet hitting in early 2011


Despite all the hubbub about CEO Mark Hurd, Hewlett-Packard posted great earnings for its quarter and the company confirmed that it will soon have multiple tablets to compete with the Apple iPad.

The company said the Apple iPad may have hurt the sales of some of its laptops but it said a Windows tablet will be coming soon, maybe even as soon as the next few weeks. This device will likely be based on Windows 7 and should target the enterprise market with corporate-friendly features like video conferencing and integration with back-end business databases.

What really gets me excited is that HP also confirmed it will bring out a webOS tablet in early 2011 and this will be a mass-market device. HP spent $1.2 billion to acquire Palm earlier this year and it plans to “double down” on the webOS platform by putting it in a variety of devices like smartphones, tablets and even printers.

I’m a fan of webOS because I think it’s an elegant and beautiful smartphone OS – in fact, it’s probably the best 1.0 version I’ve ever seen. The Palm hardware didn’t do it justice and I think the “cards” user interface metaphor would work extremely well on a big tablet.

Let’s hope the HP webOS tablet has at least a 1 GHz processor, WiFi, GPS, multiple cameras and a few USB ports. I could see 3G being useful but I think tablets will mainly use WiFi connections.

An HP webOS tablet couldn’t come soon enough, as the Apple iPad is gaining some serious momentum – it has sold more than three million units in a few months. We may even see a revamped Apple iPad in time for the holidays.

It’s not just Apple HP has to worry about, as we’re about to see a slew of tablets from companies like Samsung, Research In Motion, Asus, Toshiba and others. We’ve put together a list of the five most-anticipated tablets and you should check it out.

Via : intomobile.com

HP webOS Tablet To Arrive In Early 2011


webOS fans out there should be quite happy to hear that HP's Personal Systems Group VP Todd Bradley has stated in a conference call discussing the company's latest financial results that the webOS powered tablet will be arriving in early 2011. Aside from that, the enterprise-oriented Windows 7 tablet will also be arriving in the near future, though an exact date wasn't mentioned. With Apple's iPad enjoying plenty of success in the market, it'll be interesting to see how much of a dent a webOS-powered tablet by HP will be able to put into the iPad's sales, and we're definitely looking forward to a webOS tablet.

Via : ubergizmo.com

 
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