HTC Droid Incredible Review
05/6 2010 Posted in Android, HTC Incredible, Verizon | 5 comments
When the Motorola Droid launched in November 2009, the elite smartphone void had been filled for many of Verizon’s customers. However for some, the Droid’s form factor combined with its lack of a next-gen processor (Arm Cortex A8 550mhz) and limited RAM (256 MB) left them wanting more. In January Google released their newest ‘Google Phone’ the Nexus One, which on paper featured everything the Droid lacked; sleeker all-touch based design, 512 MB of RAM, and the latest build of Android, version 2.1. The only problem was the Nexus One was only available to T-Mobile customers, but Google insisted a CDMA version of the device would be coming to Big Red. As months passed, the Nexus One never landed on Verizon, and Motorola’s Droid remained the only top-shelf Android choice for customers. Well finally, after months of frustration Verizon customers finally have the hot, spec-heavy smartphone they’ve been waiting for, HTC’s Droid Incredible. Read on to find out if the Incredible lives up to the hype, and will keep Verizon’s smartphone audience satisfied (at least for the next couple months, lol). READ MORE
Motorola Devour Review
03/12 2010 Posted in Reviews, Verizon | 1 comment
When the Motorola Droid made its debut back in November, rumors and pictures of a little brother device that would follow in the Droid’s footsteps accompanied it. As time went on we learned the Motorola Devour would be the device, and now 5 months after the launch of the original Droid, the Devour has hit shelves. Read on to see how Verizon’s newest smartphone entry stacks up to the competition. READ MORE
Motorola Devour unboxing, early impressions
02/24 2010 Posted in Android, Cell Phones, Unboxing | 5 comments
I just got my hands on Verizon’s Motorola Devour today, and this is a quick video of me removing it from the packaging and powering it up. I haven’t had a lot of time with the phone, but I did get a chance to setup my default accounts, install a couple of apps, fire up the browser, and snap a couple of low-light pics (posted below) since the wifey and I went out for drinks this evening. Impressions and pictures are available after the jump.
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Palm Pixi Plus Review
02/22 2010 Posted in Cell Phones, Reviews | 2 comments
Over the past 4 months Verizon has made more additions to their smartphone line-up than any of the big 4 cell phone providers. Their most recent addition arrived in a pair of devices from Palm; the Pre Plus and the Pixi Plus. Both devices were previously released on Sprint’s network, but now they’ve come to Verizon with a couple of notable improvements over their Sprint counterparts. Read on to find out how the Palm Pixi Plus has been altered, and how it rates compared to Verizon’s other stand out devices. READ MORE
Palm Pre Plus Review
02/15 2010 Posted in Reviews, WebOS | 5 comments
Over the past 4 months Verizon has made more additions to their smartphone line-up than any of the big 4 cell phone providers. Their most recent addition arrived in a pair of devices from Palm; the Pre Plus and the Pixi Plus. Both devices were previously released on Sprint’s network, but now they’ve come to Verizon with a couple of notable improvements over their Sprint counterparts. Read on to find out how the Palm Pre Plus has been altered, and how it rates compared to Verizon’s other stand out devices. READ MORE
HTC Tilt 2 Review
02/13 2010 Posted in Cell Phones, Reviews | 0 comments
AT&T’s HTC Tilt 2 is the 3rd and most likely, the final Windows Mobile 6.5 device I’ll review. With Windows 7 around the corner, the Tilt 2 was a good phone to round out the trio, as it features a full QWERTY keyboard, which is something neither of the other two (Omnia II, Imagio) devices possess. During my time with the Tilt 2 there were some features that really impressed and others that left me irritated. Read on to find out how the Tilt 2 graded out in the end. READ MORE
Palm Pre Plus & Pixi Plus Hands-On
02/9 2010 Posted in Cell Phones, Hands-On | 0 comments
First let me say that I’ve loved my time with both of these phones. The Pre Plus is a lot of smartphone in a small package, and the Pixi Plus gives all of Verizon’s entry to mid-level smartphones a run for their money. Since both phones run on Palm’s Web OS, the experience is very similar whether you’re using the Pre or the Pixi. Both devices feature accurate, although small, capacitive touchscreens, with the Pixi’s measuring in at 2.6″ as opposed to 3.1″ on the Pre. Both phones also feature full QWERTY keyboards, although I prefer typing on the Pixi due to its more pronounced, raised buttons. Typing on the Pre isn’t all bad by any means, but the keys just lack the clickiness and feel of the Pixi. READ MORE
HTC Imagio Review
02/8 2010 Posted in Cell Phones, Reviews | 1 comment
After reviewing the Samsung Omnia II, I was skeptical about reviewing another Windows Mobile 6.5 device, but after my time with the HTC Imagio I can say that if done right, WinMo doesn’t have to be a painful, stylus filled experience. Matter of fact, thanks to HTC’s TouchFLO 3D interface and one of the most responsive resistive touch screens I’ve had the pleasure of using, the Imagio proved to be one of the better Verizon smartphones I’ve had the opportunity to use. Read on to find out what makes the Imagio stand out. READ MORE
Blackberry Bold 9650 now available on Verizon
The Blackberry Bold 9650 is now available on Verizon Wireless. The 9650 is essentially the BB Tour 9630 with beefed up specs, and Wi-Fi capability. The 9650 features Blackberry 5.0 OS, 512 MB RAM/ROM (up from 256 on the Tour), 3.2 megapixel camera, quad band CDMA/GSM capabilities, and more. For Verizon Blackberry users anxious to upgrade from their old device the 9650 arrives just in time, but for those anxiously anticipating Blackberry’s new OS, version 6, you’ll have to remain patient. Verizon has been on a good run lately, so hopefully it won’t be much longer until a Blackberry 6 device hits the network.
[Source: Verizon Wireless]
Verizon makes the LG Fathom official
Today Big Red officially continued their smartphone onslaught by announcing the WinMo powered LG Fathom. The Fathom will rock a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, 3.2″ capacitive touchscreen, slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, WiFi (b/g/n) and more. The timing seems a little bit odd, especially considering that Windows Phone 7 is only a few months away, but since this phone does have the new Windows pre-requisite 3 face buttons, I suppose the Fathom could be eligible for Windows 7 upgrade down the road, we’ll have to wait and see. So, if you’re a Windows junkie in need of a new phone and don’t want to wait, the Fathom might suit your needs. The Fathom will be available to business channels beginning May 27th, and will be available to the general public on June 3rd. The Fathom will go for $149.99 after rebate/online discount on a 2-year contract/extension. Hit the jump to view the rest of the specs.
[Source: Verizon Wireless]
New Blackberry 9800 slider pics leak
Over the weekend some new pics of the Blackberry Bold 9800 surfaced. The photos give you a peek at the phone’s virtual keyboard, and another screenshot shows off their new webkit browser. I’ll admit when the 9800 first surfaced I wasn’t too crazy about the phone’s design, but the phone is starting to grow on me. I’m curious to see how Blackberry’s first non-”Sure Press” touchscreen performs, and I really want to see if Blackberry OS 6 lives up to the hype. The Bold 9800 should land on AT&T sometime in June/July. Hit the jump to view the rest of the photos.
Google TV officially announced
Google TV has been a rumor for a while now, but it’s finally become a reality and with companies like Sony on board, it won’t be long until people can actually use it. Google TV will allow users with specific tv’s or additional hardware to use Google search functionality to find specific television programming, YouTube videos, or content from other websites. Once you’ve located what you’re looking for, you can save results to your home screen as bookmarks. The search functionality alone is hot, but what’s really sick is Google TV will provide your tv with a full web browser, so you’ll be able to surf the internet and hit your favorite websites right from your couch. I’m sure there will be a way to integrate your Android smartphone into the mix as well, so the possibilities will be endless.
[Source: Google]
Twitter for Blackberry gets an update
Twitter for Blackberry is still in the beta phase, but the development team has been hard at work to crank out improvements. The newest update addresses some of the most common complaints and suggestions. If you haven’t give Twitter for BB a try you can download it at blackberry.com/twitter.
Updates include:
- Quote tweets (ability to edit ReTweets)
- Auto complete for @ usernames
- Additional photo viewing support
- View Geotagged Tweets
- Personal Info Guard
- Hotkeys for navigation
- Go to users
[Source: Crackberry.com]
Samsung Galaxy S gets touched
Noah from PhoneDog.com was on location at Google’s I/O conference and had a chance to go hands-on with Samsung’s newest Android beast the Galaxy S. In the video you can overhear that this is a pre-production device, but the phone looks pretty good, especially the hardware. I like the phone’s thin build, and I really dig the 4″ display. Also, you have to love the 720p video capture, which is something that more and more of the upper-end smartphones will need to include. On the software side, the UI doesn’t look as sexy as Sense, and I’m not really feeling the re-skinned icons, but that’s all cosmetic. The Galaxy S will be coming to AT&T, but there is still no firm release date.
[Source: YouTube]
Amazon’s Kindle app is coming to Android
Amazon has decided to extend the reach of their Kindle app by bringing it to Android. The popular e-book application is already available to iPhone and Blackberry users, and now Android fans will have the ability to purchase and read over 500,000 e-books right from their smartphone. Most of the newer Android smartphones (Droid Incredible, Google Nexus One, HTC MyTouch, Motorola CLIQ, Motorola Droid) are mentioned as being compatible, but if you own an older device you’ll have to wait till launch to see if your phone made the cut. The app will be available in the Android market, and you can sign-up to be notified about the app’s availability at Amazon.com
Kindle App features:
- Get the best reading experience available on your Android phone. No Kindle required
- Access your Kindle books even if you don’t have your Kindle with you
- Automatically synchronizes your last page read and annotations between devices with Whispersync
- Adjust the text size, add bookmarks, and view the annotations you created on your Kindle, computer, or other Kindle-compatible device
- Read in portrait or landscape mode
- Tap on either side of the screen or flick to turn pages
[Source: Amazon]
Adobe Flash looking smooth on the Nexus One
I know this is a few days old, but I never got around to posting it. In the video Ryan Stewart showcases how full Flash content will look and function on Android devices, and it looks pretty slick. Android 2.2 will be the first version to include full Flash support, so hopefully the manufacturers will get the update rolled out quickly once Froyo is made available.
[Source: YouTube]
