US Cellular Samsung Mesmerize Android 2.2 Froyo update now available
Amazingly enough, some Android smartphones have still not been updated to Android 2.2 Froyo, an OS version that was introduced last May. Yes, almost one full year has passed, and some manufacturers and carriers are still working on getting those Froyo updates out, even if in the meantime a new version of Android has been [...]
HTC HD7 will become available from Telstra in Australia on March 29
The HTC HD7 is, at the moment, the Windows Phone 7 device that has the biggest screen of them all at 4.3 inches. And, just as HTC announced it would back when it first introduced it to the world last October, this smartphone will become available on Telstra in Australia shortly. Furthermore, Telstra will get [...]
Sony Ericsson will spend £4 million for promoting its new Xperia Android phones in the UK
Expected to be available in the UK starting April 1, Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play, Xperia Arc, and Xperia Neo will benefit from a huge marketing campaign According to Marketing Magazine, Sony Ericsson is ready to spend £4 million (about $6.47 million) to support the launch of its three new Android handsets. A big chunk of [...]
Sprint gets rid of mail-in rebates starting on March 27 for an unspecified period of time
One of the things that’s oh-so-common in the US mobile market, and is almost unheard of elsewhere, is the mail-in rebate. This is a genius (from the seller’s perspective) trick that allows the carriers to post smaller prices for devices when advertising than those you’ll actually have to pay in-store, while hoping you’ll forget to [...]
ZTE Style S and a 10-inch LTE Honeycomb tablet headed to the US in the second half of the year
Back in February at Mobile World Congress, ZTE showed the first signs that it is willing to push more products to Western markets, when it unveiled a couple of smartphones, among which the high-end Skate stood out. This was a 4.3-incher running Android, and having an (arguably mid-tier by now) 800 MHz processor. In the [...]
BlackBerry PlayBook battery life: is it 8 hours, or 10 hours?
Already available for pre-order at Best Buy, the BlackBerry PlayBook should be released on April 19 in the US. Until then, and before considering buying RIM’s first tablet, you may want to know about its battery life. RIM didn’t officially mention the battery life, but Staples did. According to the retailer (which also takes pre-orders [...]
Kyocera Releases Developer Kit for Echo’s Dual-Touchscreen Tablet
In my earlier post about the dual-touchscreen nature of the Kyocera Echo, I mentioned that the opportunity was strong for developers interested in taking advantage of both screens. I think it could be very innovative to see what developers can come up with, and see how it can benefit our lives. Fortunately, yesterday Kyocera formally [...]
AT&T Acknowledges Amazon Appstore Obstacle, Working on Clearing it
Are you an Android user on AT&T’s network? Have you been upset or at least a little perturbed that you haven’t been able to download Angry Birds Rio onto your phone because it’s technically third-party software that cannot be downloaded or installed on your phone? We had a hunch that AT&T would begin looking into [...]
Sprint Discusses Concerns with AT&T’s Acquisition of T-Mobile, Plans to Fight It
The elephant in the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida has been the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. CTIA has been all abuzz this week with talk about whether or not the deal will go through, what could happen, and how long it would take. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has been more than forthcoming [...]
Opera Announces and Shows Off New Browsers at CTIA 2011 (Video)
Insanely popular web browser Opera came into CTIA 2011 with arms swinging, ready to throw punches at the competition with its latest updates to both its Opera and Opera Mini browsers, which are available for almost every featurephone and smartphone platform sold today (the new versions are not yet available on iOS). An Opera rep [...]
Checking Out the HTC Merge, Hands-on at CTIA 2011
We just heard yesterday that Alltel is beginning pre-orders for the HTC Merge starting on March 28, and Verizon is twiddling its thumbs trying to decide if it wants to launch it or not. But either way, this horizontal QWERTY slider has been talked about for months and months. Finally I got the opportunity to [...]
Samsung Nexus S 4G for Sprint, up Close and Personal at CTIA 2011
I can remember when the Nexus One first came out to happy T-Mobile customers nationwide and afterward Google and Sprint announced intentions to start offering it as a CDMA option as well. The project got scrapped after a couple months. The Nexus S, the original phone’s followup, has had much more success in actually getting [...]
Sprint’s Kyocera Echo Hands-on at CTIA 2011
There are a lot of phones being shown off here at CTIA 2011, but there is only one that actually uses more than one touchscreen: the Kyocera Echo, available on Sprint’s network starting April 17 for $199.99 after contract and rebates. The two touchscreen concept has been around for a long time, but nobody has [...]
Aircell Android handset announced as “the world’s first airborne smartphone”
Aircell – the only company in the US authorized by the FCC and FAA to use frequencies in the 800 MHz band for inflight communications – has announced its first smartphone. Called Aircell Smartphone, the device is based on an unspecified version of Android – another proof that Google’s OS is conquering everything. The new [...]
Cellular South gets Motorola Xoom too, Wi-Fi-only but bundled with MiFi and cheap monthly data
Cellular South has announced earlier today that it too will be selling the Motorola Xoom, the first tablet to run Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The carrier has a preview page up, however it’s still unclear when exactly the Xoom will be available to buy from Cellular South. Other details are known, though. The Xoom will come [...]
New LG T315i touchscreen phone brings Wi-Fi on the cheap
LG has launched another affordable touchscreen featurephone: the LG T315i / T315. The handset looks like a mix between the LG T310 and LG T320. It doesn’t have 3G connectivity, but it features Wi-Fi, so users will have access to speedy internet whenever a hotspot is available Measuring 103 x 57 x 11.9 mm, the [...]
Some Verizon customers can get the HTC Thunderbolt for only $150 (or so it seems)
Available from Verizon since last week, the HTC Thunderbolt is one of the carrier’s most expensive smartphones, being sold for $249.99 on contract. However, some customers seem to be able to get the Thunderbolt for only $149.99, if the email seen below is legit. According to Droid-life, this email is being sent to select Verizon [...]
Canada: BlackBerry Curve 3G now available at Koodo Mobile
After having made its way to Bell, Virgin Mobile, Mobilicity, and Rogers, the BlackBerry Curve 3G is now available on yet another Canadian carrier. Koodo Mobile has started selling the Curve 3G today. The Curve 3G can be yours for $300. If you choose to use Koodo’s Tab system, you’ll only have to part with [...]
Jabra Announces New FREEWAY Speakerphone at CTIA 2011
I currently use a Jabra Cruiser as the bluetooth speakerphone in my car because it includes an FM transmitter so I can talk on the phone and listen to music in my car directly through my car stereo. However, the speakerphone itself is pretty quiet so I have no choice but to use it for [...]
AT&T HD7S Shows its Face at CTIA 2011
Unlike a couple other devices we saw last night from AT&T that weren’t actually the official AT&T versions, we got a chance to play with the HTC HD7S Windows Phone 7 device that really was AT&T-branded. It’s pretty much what you would expect: an HD7 WP7 phone with a few tweaks geared toward AT&T, and [...]