• android,  google,  sprint

    HTC EVO 4G Arrives on Sprint June 4th

    May 13, 2010 /

    Get ready Sprint fans! The HTC EVO 4G hits store shelves on June 4th!

    Sprint issued a press release earlier today to announce the release date of their new 4G Google Android handset.

    If you were creating your dream wireless device what would it look like? Two cameras and video chat so you can say goodnight to your children when you are away on a business trip? Simultaneous voice and data, so you can call in your take-out order while you look at their menu on the Internet? The ability to plug your phone into your HDTV, so you can let your children finish the movie they started watching in the car’s backseat when you get home? And a huge screen for watching the videos you download in seconds – not minutes – with the fastest wireless data speeds available in America today? Stop daydreaming and get ready for Sprint to make your dreams come true on June 4 when the highly anticipated HTC EVO 4G debuts.

    “HTC EVO 4G is a fantastic 3G device, but when you use it in our growing 4G coverage area, it becomes a multimedia powerhouse,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO. “The EVO 4G experience is much like going from TV to HDTV. But EVO has more than just an impressive list of features – it is also fun to use with remarkable gaming, video and web-browsing capabilities.”

    Amazing Features, Beautiful Design

    HTC EVO 4G features the latest version of the increasingly popular Android platform, Android 2.1, offering more than 35,000 apps, as well as a mind-blowing list of features, including:

    • Simultaneous voice and data capability in 4G and Wi-Fi coverage areas, enabling Web surfing and more while the conversation continues.
    • Offering a new way to search with pictures instead of words, Google Goggles(TM) works with everything from books, DVDs and barcodes to landmarks, logos, artwork and wine labels.
    • Superfast 1GHz Qualcomm(R) Snapdragon(TM) processor, ensuring a smooth and quick movement within phone menus.
    • Two cameras – an 8.0 megapixel auto-focus camera with HD-capable video camcorder and a forward-facing 1.3 megapixel camera.
    • Built-in mobile hotspot functionality allowing up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices to share the 3G or 4G experience on the go with a laptop, camera, music player, game unit, video player, or any other Wi-Fi enabled device.
    • Integrated HD video capture with the ability to capture and share live video via the Qik Web site, Facebook, YouTube or Twitter(TM).
    • Ability to easily watch video with the device on an HDTV via an HDMI cable (sold separately).
    • Custom Web browser optimized for the 4.3 inch display and Sprint 4G speeds to deliver a full, no-compromise Internet experience.
    • A handy kickstand built into the back, making it easy to watch videos on-the-go.
    • Adobe Flash technology ensures that rich Internet content, such as embedded video and animation, are displayed the way they are meant to be seen.
    • Pinch-to-zoom and automatic text reflowing provide easy Web page views.

    HTC EVO 4G boasts the newest version of the highly acclaimed HTC Sense user experience. With HTC Sense, HTC EVO 4G users can use Friend Stream to aggregate multiple social communication channels, including Facebook and Twitter into one organized flow of updates; a “Leap” thumbnail view to easily switch between home screen “panels;” the ability to download new, interactive widgets; and a “polite” ringer, which quiets the ringing phone once lifted up.

    HTC EVO 4G Pricing and Availability

    HTC EVO 4G will be available in all Sprint retail channels, including Sprint.com and national retail partners, RadioShack, Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Sprint will price the award-winning device at $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate (taxes excluded) with a new line activation or eligible upgrade. Pre-registration is available now at www.sprint.com/evo.

    In order to provide the best experience, HTC EVO 4G will use Sprint’s industry-leading Everything Data or Business Advantage Messaging and Data plans that include unlimited Web, texting and calling on the Sprint Network to every mobile in America with Any Mobile, Anytime. Everything Data plans start at $69.99 per month. A $10 per month Premium Data add-on will apply allowing customers to take advantage of a richer data experience than ever before.

    Additionally, an optional pricing add-on will turn HTC EVO 4G into a mobile hotspot connecting up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as laptops, gaming devices and digital cameras, simultaneously at 4G speeds where available and at 3G speeds anywhere on the Sprint 3G network for just $29.99 per month – half the monthly cost of the current Mobile Broadband plan (pricing excludes surcharges and taxes).

    For more details about the Sprint HTC EVO 4G, visit the Sprint website. The full version of today’s press release can be found on the Sprint Newsroom website. Sprint has also made the EVO 4G spec sheet available.

    Read More
  • android,  chrome os,  google,  verizon

    Verizon and Google Working on a Tablet

    May 11, 2010 /

    Barron’s Tech Trader Daily is reporting that Verizon Wireless and Google are collaborating on a new tablet-based computer.

    “Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam told the Wall Street Journal that the company is working with Google on a tablet computer.

    “We’re looking at all the things Google has in its archives that we could put on a tablet to make it a great experience,” he said.”

    You can read the full article, with links, on the Tech Trader Daily blog.

    [Via Barron’s Tech Trader Daily…]

    Read More
  • android,  eris,  google,  verizon

    HTC Droid Eris Android 2.1 Begins Rolling Out Today

    May 11, 2010 /

    According to AndroidCentral.com, Verizon Wireless customers who have an HTC Droid Eris are starting to get their Android 2.1 mojo on.

    “Today was supposed to be the day of the magic for you Droid Eris owners, and it appears Verizon has kept its word, and the rollout has started. This update is scheduled over the course of two weeks, so keep checking your device for updates, and hit up the forums to see who’s got it, and what’s in the update”

    Details about what is included in the 2.1 Android update for the Eris can be found on the Verizon Wireless website.

    [Via AndroidCentral.com…]

    Read More
  • android,  apple,  google,  ipad,  mac os x,  macbook pro,  mobileme,  rumors

    Rumor: Apple To Give Mobile Me Subscriptions Away

    May 11, 2010 /

    File this under “Crazy Ass Rumor of the Week”, but if Electronista.com and MacDailyNews.com are right, Apple might be feeling some pressure from Google’s free cloud services.

    “A tentative new rumor asserts that Apple may turn MobileMe into a free service. The plan would drop the $99 annual fee and let anyone with an iPad, iPod, iPhone or Mac get the online sync service for free.”

    “Free MobileMe access would likely be a shot across the bow of Google, for whom online sync has been an inherent feature in most of its software. Android users can sync accounts and contacts for free through Google’s existing services. Apple handheld owners can already sync Google features to some extent but don’t have the live updating of more unless they use Exchange or MobileMe.”

    Personally, the only reason why I don’t have a MobileMe.com account is that I really don’t feel like paying Apple another $69-99 a year for an email account – all be it a really handy email account. If the service was made available to me for free since I own two iPods, an iPad, a MacBook, and my recently purchased 17-inch MacBook Pro, hell ya, I’d jump on MobileMe in a second. Google who?

    Until we get some more details, however, I’m going to stick with my Google Gmail and Calendar accounts.

    [Via Electronista.com…]

    Read More
  • android,  droid,  google,  sprint

    Sprint to Google: We’ll Pass On the Nexus One

    May 11, 2010 /

    The Sprint, the Now Network, told us that they, like Verizon Wireless, won’t be carrying the Nexus One smartphone either. Take that Google!

    BoyGeniusReport.com reported late yesterday afternoon that “Sprint’s PR people have let it be known that the Google Nexus One will never have a home with the Now Network. Singling out the lack of need for the handset in their portfolio thanks to the bigger, better, faster and stronger HTC EVO 4G[…]”

    [Via BGR.com…]

    Read More
  • foleo,  hp,  rumors,  tablet,  web os,  windows

    Rumor: HP webOS Tablet Later This Year

    May 11, 2010 /

    Over the last week reports have been popping up around the web that HP could have a webOS tablet ready to go sometime in the back half of 2010.

    Reported by webOSRoundup.com, HP could be ready to bring out a tablet computer running webOS as early as Q3, 2010 or as late as the 2010 holiday shopping season. Adding fuel to this rumor is another rumor that HP has killed a project to release a tablet computer later this year running Microsoft’s Windows 7.

    My personal opinion is that a commercial release of an HP tablet running webOS before November is an incredibly aggressive timeline. Even if HP’s hardware is ready to go, there is still the issue of actually acquiring Palm and the license(s) for webOS. Then there is the time required to recode the webOS Linux kernel to run on the new tablet, beta testing, manufacturing, software imaging, shipping, etc. Needless to say, there is a lot of work to be done. If HP wants it done, they can pull it off, but at what cost? The last thing that HP would want is to race to market with a new webOS tablet and to have it be a train wreck. That already happened with Palm’s Foleo. I would much rather see a product that can deliver on the promise of the Foleo that is done well and not rushed out against some imaginary schedule.

    [Via webOSRoundup.com…]

    Read More
  • android,  droid,  eris,  google,  verizon

    Rumor: HTC Droid Eris 2.1 Update Coming “Soon”

    May 11, 2010 /

    Depending on which rumor you have read, the Google Android 2.1 update for the HTC Droid Eris could be coming to Verizon Wireless customers as early as tomorrow, May 11, or as late as the end of the month. Regardless, if a report back in February from Android And Me is true, all of today’s Google Android smartphones will be getting the Android 2.1 treatment.

    I’ll give you our option: Bring on the yummy Android 2.1 goodness!

    Regardless of when the update finally becomes available, we can read about the details of the HTC Droid Eris upgrade on the Verizon website.

    Read More
  • blackberry,  droid,  motorola,  rim

    Wow! I Like the Storm2 On-Screen Keyboard!

    May 6, 2010 /

    I never thought I would say this, but I really like the BlackBerry Storm2’s on screen keyboard. I reviewed the Storm2 back in December, and I had this to say about the on-screen keyboard:

    “After using the Storm 2’s Qwerty keyboards, I can say that I prefer the landscape keyboard the most. It offers the largest key cap clickable area of all the keyboards and the clickable screen did a good job tricking me into thinking that I was pressing a key on a physical keyboard. That isn’t to say that I didn’t make any typing mistakes, but I think that the Storm 2 offers the best on screen keyboard of all the smartphones I’ve tested so far. My one basic gripe about the landscape Qwerty keyboard is that when it is displayed, it takes up a significant portion of the screen; which can severely limit the space on the screen to see what you are doing.”

    Now that I have to live with the Storm2, I’m glad that to see that my views haven’t really changed much about the keyboard and that I still find the Qwerty landscape keyboard the most useful of all of the virtual keyboards I’ve tried to date. I’ve also been working with the Motorola Droid lately. You can get used to the Droid’s flat keyboard (as compared with a raised keyboard on the BlackBerry Tour/Bold or the Palm Pre); however, I have discovered that I can type faster on the Storm2 because the on-screen key caps are larger than the physical key caps on the Droid.

    The punch line here is that I still stand by my years long assertion that buying a smartphone is a very personal choice. you can read reviews and get recommendations from people, but at the end of the day, I still think the best thing you can do if you are in the market for a smartphone is to go to a local retail store and play with the selections and try it out for yourself.

    Read More
  • apple,  blackberry,  ipad,  iphone,  macbook pro,  palm,  pre,  rim,  sprint,  verizon

    Admitting I Have a Problem

    May 6, 2010 /

    Another long work day has come to an end and I’m “degearing” for the night. Just a few minutes ago, I realized why my blog has the word “Fanatics” in it.

    Right now, on my person, I’m carrying my Sprint Palm Pre, a 2G Apple iPhone, a 5th gen iPod, my iPad, and my new company issued Verizon BlackBerry Storm2 9550. Oh, and let’s not forget the 17-inch MacBook Pro that I needed at work today.

    So, I have to ask myself, why the hell and I carrying all this gear anyway? “They” say that admitting you have a problem is the first step. I’ll have to pencil that into my calendar at some point?

    I’ll have to take a break from all of this technology by drinking this can of Diet Coke.

    Read More
  • android,  blackberry,  blackberry os,  google,  rim,  treo,  verizon

    Returning to BlackBerry Nation

    May 4, 2010 /

    Today I was issued a company phone. I had the choice of selecting either a Motorola Droid or a BlackBerry Storm2. I chose the Storm2.

    I had the chance to work with both phones late last year as I worked with a team of people to select the phone, or in this case, the phones, that would replace our aging fleet of Treo 755p smartphones for mobile email and calendaring access. At the end of the day, our team decided to support both BlackBerry OS and Google Android because we use Notify Technology’s NotifyLink middleware server. NotifyLink is a robust platform that quickly allows small and mid-size businesses to connect just about any current smartphone with just about any standards based email and calendaring platform.

    You can read my BlackBerry Storm2 and Motorola Droid reviews here on Smartphone Fanatics.
    Read More