A few days ago, a Russian blogger named Eldar Murtazin shed some details on the upcoming Android 3.0 (codenamed Gingerbread). He spoke about the details in his native language (Russian) in his podcast. Someone at UnwiredView was able to translate his information into English and reported the details from the podcast. Apparently, Murtazin happened to know the minimum requirements of Android 3.0, which were top notch specs. They include a 1GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, 3.5 inch screens, and devices with screens bigger than 4 inches will have resolutions of 1280 x 760. Devices with mid-range specs currently running Android 2.1 would have a hard time upgrading to Android 3.0 if these were, indeed, the minimum specifications. In addition, he claimed Android 3.0 would be launched sometime in mid-October with the first handsets running Gingerbread to launch sometime in December.
As of yesterday, Dan Morrill (Android Open Source & Compatibility Tech Lead) posted some interesting thoughts on his Twitter account which effectively claimed Murtazin as nothing to be taken seriously. Here are some tweets from Morrill:
I love it when people just make stuff up and report it as news. http://goo.gl/cwbf
I can make up crap, too. Check it out—NEXT ANDROID PHONE: http://goo.gl/qPfd REVOLUTIONARY 1-BUTTON OPERATION
In summary, please remember that rumors are not official announcements. ;)
At a time when Android news is abuzz with Android 2.2, Motorola Droid X, Samsung Galaxy S, it is easy to believe rumors such as these. Fortunately, a credible source was able to debunk the rumor before it got out of hand. UnwiredView has since updated their post claiming the minimum specs are really just recommended specs.
Frequent fliers probably use services such as Kayak and Bing Travel to find out flight information. Google doesn’t have a very comprehensive database when it comes to flying, but that is definitely going to change in the coming months. On July 1, Google announced the acquisition of ITA Software for $700 million and will soon begin to implement ITA’s vast database when it comes to flight information.
Google’s main objective is to “benefit passengers, airlines and online travel agencies” by aggregating information from ITA and organizing it in a convenient manner so travelers can compare airfares and flight information. Remember, Google will not be directly selling any flight tickets nor adjusting airfare prices, only providing information. This is good news for travelers as they have another method to find the best deal available.
According to “one of [Droid-Life’s] most reliable sources,” Android 2.2 is scheduled to roll out to Motorola Droid devices on July 13. Two days before the big Motorola Droid X launch? I guess Motorola wanted to have a little something for everyone the week the Droid X launches - Android 2.2 for the Droid and the Droid X for eligible Verizon customers. The Android 2.1 roll out occurred on a Tuesday for Droid users so, keeping with tradition, the July 13 timeframe makes sense because it is a Tuesday. In addition, the Motorola Droid is slated to receive the Android 2.2 update sometime in July, so the timing works with previous reports. Also, Google updated the Nexus One with the official Android 2.2 update, so it looks like Android 2.2 is ready to go. Of course, this is still in rumor stage and has yet to be confirmed by Motorola or Verizon. If any more news comes, we will update you here.
FROM APPLETELL - If you have an iPhone 4 raise your hand. Okay, bad idea, I can’t see any of you. If you did, though, congrats. Now I’m positive that most of you want some free apps, so why why don’t we get right to it? MORE »
Apple has finally ended its silence on the iPhone 4 reception issues, and says it is working on an update to iOS4 to fix it. It blames a faulty algorithm, not hardware flaws for the issue, which causes reception to disappear when the phone is held a certain way. Apple also says that part of the problem is likely with AT&T’s poor network-indeed the algorithm causing the issue and the one that will be in the update were both created by AT&T.
Meanwhile, they continue to ignore the outcry about the poor battery life many, particularly iPod Touch owners, have been experiencing since they upgraded. They have firmly ignored both the flood of complaints in their own support forum and as well as complaints sent via their feedback system. Many owners have reported that when they called Apple or visited their local Apple store they were told their batteries needed to be replaced. Wake up Apple! Great battery life before update/extremely bad battery life after is not a battery issue it’s an OS issue!
Many theories about the cause of the issue have been floating around but the one that makes the most sense to me is that Apple was so focused on the much demanded multitasking feature that they ramped up work needing to be done by the processor and changed the WiFi to be constantly on and constantly searching for packets so that apps like Skype could function in the background. What they either stupidly didn’t consider, or perhaps didn’t care about, were the millions of second generation Pod Touch owners and iPhone 3G owners whose devices were not given the multitasking functionality (or even the simple ability to have homescreen wallpaper!!) , yet are still stuck with the always on WiFi and demands on the processor. Many workarounds have been suggested but they all involve turning off email, push notifications, or even WiFi itself, which makes many apps useless.
It’s inexcusable that Apple is ignoring this issue. Many seem to think they did this on purpose to force people to upgrade to newer devices. I think it’s more likely that users of their older devices just aren’t important to them. They are focused on those who buy the latest and greatest right away because that’s where the money is. I for one will not be spending another dime with Apple until they do the right thing and address this.
Ever since the Google Nexus One launched, people thought there would always be a possibility that Google will consider and launch a successor in the Google Nexus Two. In an interview with Telegraph, Eric Schmidt debunks the rumor saying the Google Nexus One served its purpose and Google does not feel a reason to launch another similar device. Here is his complete response:
"The idea a year and a half ago was to do the Nexus One to try to move the phone platform hardware business forward. It clearly did. It was so successful, we didn’t have to do a second one. We would view that as positive but people criticised us heavily for that. I called up the board and said: ‘Ok, it worked. Congratulations - we’re stopping’. We like that flexibility, we think that flexibility is characteristic of nimbleness at our scale.”
Whether or not the Google Nexus One moved the whole Android hardware industry forward is a debatable issue. I think phones such as the the HTC EVO 4G, the HTC Droid Incredible, Samsung Galaxy S, and Motorola Droid X would launch regardless of the Nexus One. I personally don’t have a problem with Google not creating a successor, because some other Android manufacturer will create another solid phone. But it would be cool to see Google launch another phone, just for kicks.
Schmidt goes on to add a few jabs at Apple:
“We don’t have a plan to beat Apple, that’s not how we operate,” Schmidt says. “We’re trying to do something different than Apple and the good news is that Apple is making that very easy.” “The difference between the Apple model and the Google model is easy to understand - they’re completely different. The Google model is completely open. You can basically take the software - it’s free - you can modify whatever you want, you can add any kind of app, you can build any kind of business model on top of it and you can add any kind of hardware. The Apple model is the inverse.”
Haven’t caught all of the Gadgetell news this week? Here's your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles!
RIP Droid Incredible, April, 29th - June 28th? “According to Android Guys, the rumor killing off of the Droid Incredible seems to be accurate. Last week, rumors of the Droid Eris and Incredible life-cycle completion circulated but most figured the Incredible still had some legs. According to a “Verizon guy” tipster, the Incredible is at…” MORE »
Rumor: Verizon to launch the iPhone in January ” According to Bloomberg, Verizon will be launching the iPhone in January, as confirmed by “two people familiar with the plans.” However, these two individuals decided to remain anonymous because the information isn’t public. Interestingly enough, spokeswoman for Verizon, Brenda Raney, did not…” MORE »
iPhone launch sales reach a staggering 1.7 million ” The iPhone 4 officially launched on June 24 and by the end of the day on Saturday (June 26), 1.7 million iPhone 4s were already sold. In fact, Steve Jobs says they didn’t even have enough in stock…” MORE »
iPhone 4 takes shots at the HTC EVO 4G [NSFW] ” Yesterday, we showed you a YouTube video by tinywatchproductions about a sales rep trying to convince a person who wants the iPhone 4 to buy the HTC EVO 4G instead. This time, we…” MORE »
eMachines announce the Mini-e ER1402 PC ” After a single horrible experience with this company, I have shunned this eMachines forever. Seeing people with smiles on their faces as they walk out of Best Buy with an eMachines product actually makes me cringe. Seriously. But after feasting…” MORE »
Amazon Kindle for Android app turns the page in Android Market ” The Amazon for Kindle application is coming pre-loaded on the Samsung Galaxy S, but you can grab the application now on other Android devices. The Kindle for Android app is now in the Android Market, providing access to 620,000 e-books. Non-US…” MORE »
Opera has released the latest version of its browser and with it has join forces with anti-virus software maker AVG. Starting with this new version, 10.60, the browser will now have AVG’ real-time Web threat data feed built in, which provides instant updates and greater security. Users who attempt to access a page known to be malicious will get a warning page instead.
According to AVG’s press release, the feature uses multiple techniques to protect users. It uses exploit signatures to detect sites serving drive-by downloads, the AVG Online Shield and contextual analysis to detect social engineering scam-driven viruses, and reputation lists for safeguarding against malicious domains and URLs.
The new update also promises better performance and speed and enhanced HTML5 support. It’s available for download now at Opera.com.
First things first, today we have my long-overdue review of the Sony Triqii headphones, which are a part of the Sony PiiQ line. In addition to the Triqii, the PiiQ lineup includes four other models; the Exhale (earbuds) for $14.99, the Qlasp (clip-on) for $24.99, the Giiq for $49.99 and the Marqii for $99.99. The headphones I am reviewing were sent to me by Sony (full-disclosure), but normally sell for $29.99. Plus as an added bonus, Sony is also providing a second pair for giveaway. The pair up for giveaway are the Exhale model, however the details for the giveaway will come after my review. So read on…
The specs
Weight of 3.35 ounces
Impedance : 24 ohms at 1 kHz
Sensitivity : 102dB/mW
Power Handling Capacity : 1000mW
Driver Unit : 30 mm (CCAW Voice Coil), dome type
Frequency Response : 14 - 22,000 Hz
Ear Cups : Open-Air, Dynamic
My thoughts
I use headphones on a regular basis, but at the same time I refuse to pay top dollar for any of them. Mainly because I either lose or break them, but also because I am cheap in that respect. Given that, $30 is just about the perfect price point for me. In that you tend to get decent products that will last, but generally nothing that feels super-high-end. Well, the Triqii headphones may have changed my mind on that last statement.
The headphones as a whole are solid and durable feeling. I had no real worries about putting them in a bag and being on the go. The headphones themselves have a nice rubber coating and the cables are just as sturdy feeling. The cable itself is flat, which kind of looks neat, but its also a good length (3.9 feet). The plug is gold-plated and L-shaped, which seems to make me feel a little better about durability.
As far as comfort and sound. Positive on both aspects. The headphones served me well—even for extended wear lasting 5-6 hours at a stretch. Of course that comfort comes into play by the adjustable slider that makes the headband smaller or larger and the soft earpads.
The only issue is the lack of adjustments in the earpieces themselves, like I said, they do adjust over the head, but in a style of headphones like this I prefer to have the earpieces rotate a little as well. Still, certainly not a deal breaker.
Moving on to the sound. But first, my listening habits—mostly streaming radio (Slacker) and music downloaded from iTunes and Amazon MP3 as well as podcasts. In terms of use, that was with smartphones including the Droid Eris and Palm Pre Plus as well as an iPod touch and iPad.
Overall the sound was very nice, and honestly much better than expected with a $30 set of headphones. Of course, that good sound from the headphones was able to be distinguished in part by the poor audio quality on some of my sources. I am referring to some podcasts, the better quality sound with the Triqii headphones resulted in much more hiss on certain shows that I listen to. Also worth noting is that the headphones were decent with a variety of music from rock to pop to hip-hop and rap.
The bottom line
The headphones are solid and I really like them. In summary, the only real issue that I had during my testing came from the constant teasing of my family (wife and two daughters) who all thought it was super funny that I was walking around the house wearing pink headphones. And sorry, no pictures. That aside though, I would not hesitate to recommend these.
The giveaway
Short and sweet. The contest is open as of this posting and will run through Monday July 5, 2010 at 5PM EST. In order to enter you have to do one thing—send an email to robert (at) gadgetell (dot) com with the subject line of Sony Exhale Giveaway. After the contest ends I will pick one person at random and Sony will be shipping the headphones direct. Which means, yes, you will be getting a brand new set.
FROM APPLETELL - With these steps, you can quickly and easily create custom ringtones for your iPhone, and you’ll only need the help of a couple free third-party Mac programs to make it work. MORE »
Google News, Google’s aggregation of all of the top news stories of the day, has had an update pushed live in the past day. The most notable features include keyboard shortcuts, a little redesigning, and more interestingly, personalization.
Watch the video for more information:
Of course the most important of the updates is the new custom environment that you can create based on your interests. Today, with the new Digg rolling out, Twitter, and other real time sources, most people can personalize their news stream, so this update was inevitable.
What’s the most common phrase heard around the Gadgetell newsroom? Is it “I love Apple?”, “that’s cool!” or “sweet!” ? Answer: none of them, it’s “they are on crack”. This week we see more than the usual share of illegal narcotics being passed around. Let’s pick up the trail.
Verizon iPhone will never die
Rough week for the Danger team
How to be cool for, like, 3 days
Palm, er HP, no lines over here!
Big Red iPhone
Our Natesh Sood reports, “Bloomberg's report about Verizon launching the iPhone in January gave the optimistic crowd something to believe in and the pessimistic crowd newfound skepticism. The report may not exactly pan out in terms of timing, but Jim Dalrymple of, LoopInSight, believes there is some credibility to Bloomberg's assertion as Apple has already created a CDMA version of the iPhone. As soon as Apple can strike a deal with Big Red they can start mass producing the already manufactured CDMA iPhone.”
So Apple’s went ahead and build the Verizon iPhone and is demanding a staggering price? Fine, that makes sense. But what doesn’t make sense is a 3.5 year deal that AT&T would have signed for exclusivity. Who signs something for 3.5 years?
With mobile contracts in the US at the typical 2 year mark, wouldn’t the exclusivity target 4.1 years? The added .1 year would aim to get everyone locked into another 2 years on the carrier - get your loyals to re-up by any means necessary. The giant might even look to let anyone re-up for another 2 years, even if they had not finished paying back the subsidy that got them the first phone.
It would be like if AT&T let everyone with an iPhone upgrade early, with no fees to a new model. Like that is ever going to happen. Um, wait a tick. My contract wasn’t up until next March yet, here sits a subsidized iPhone 4. This is going to look so obvious in about 5 months.
Danger team gets double whammied
Danger, the folks behind the Sidekick who were then consumed by Microsoft and sent to work on the KIN phones, suffered few blows this week. First, news came of ” the meager sales of the Kin in America speak for themselves and justify killing the Kin before it launches in Europe.” The KIN is FIN.
Then came this, “to put it bluntly, the SideKick LX and SideKick 2008 could not compete as well in a mobile world dominated by smartphones backed with actual OS's. As of tomorrow, July 2, T-Mobile will be ending all sales of the two SideKick models including sales from retail stores, online, and telesales.”
From your old product is dead, to not only is your new product dead too, but we are canning your division and putting you in with the chumps trying to make hay out of Windows Mobile. Good luck with that. Seriously, the law should evaluate your life circumstances before sending you away on drug charges. If I were on the Danger team and saw my old baby put to pasture, then the new baby abandoned in the mall and then told it’s time to go live with crazy Uncle Herman - crack becomes something, perhaps the only thing, I’d get up for in the morning.
Our Aaron Thacker summarized the flaws: “the keyboard is plasticy, the in-hand feel is awkward, the side-function buttons are inconveniently placed, the OS feels underdeveloped and the web browser was ported from 1994.” To be fair, he goes on to say battery life was good and the prices were not horrible for the hardware. But this isn’t about being fair - Verizon certainly wasn’t in refusing to give ground for a medium level data plan to make the phone realistic in price given the target market.
Gamertell how to: be cool for maybe 3 days
Fast fashion is a good way to describe the tech world. What is hip and cool today will be tomorrow’s laughing stock. Gamertell’s Toni Schwartz gives us some good fodder this week with a post on an eBay listing. “In honor of the upcoming film Tron Legacy, Parker Brothers Choppers (not to be confused with the board game and toy manufacturers) are building five custom "light cycles" with the exact specs of the ones that will be featured in the movie…They will also come with a matching helmet (for cosmetic purposes only, as they're not designed to protect your head). As mentioned, these will be working bikes, as in you'd be able to actually ride them on the street. Each bike will even have individual VINs. Buyers can decide to equip their bike with either a gas or electric motor.
Funny, I bet this company has trouble selling 5 of these. Trust me, trying to pick up babes in a modified El Camino/landspeeder replica isn’t as solid an idea as it first appeared. And wearing a matching helmet that actually does less than a helmet is just uncool. The time these bikes go from cool to lame will be clocked with a second hand.
How many times would buyers have to explain this: “No, it’s a light cycle. No it’s from Tron. The movie. It’s a movie about the future. From the original with Jeff Bridges. Fine, forget it, yes it’s from Star Wars.”
Palm, er HP swings the doors wide open
There’s a nightclub near my brothers apartment I walk by ever month or so. First, there was a red carpet, velour ropes outside the door, and a team of bouncers. Then there were just one bouncer with a list. Then there was just a sign that read, “Come on in!”
That’s kind of what’s going on over at Palm, er HPs developer program. Our Robert Nelson explains, “as of late, Palm has been doing some interesting things with pricing on the apps and the costs that developers are charged to submit apps for entry into the App Catalog. But just in case you missed some of that, Palm is offering all apps at 50% off until July 23rd and they have also stopped charging (and refunded to those who paid) the $50 app submission fee. Well, now it looks like they are permanently waiving the $99 developer fee.”
It’s a sad sign for sure. Nobody drops fees when things are going well. And there’s a funny thing that happens when the doors are kicked open: the light of day creeps in over the thumpin house music exposing the “hot girl” you were dancing with may or may not have an Adams Apple.
Nelson tries to keep a positive attitude about the whole thing, “the good news here is that they are not planning to charge it in the future. And just like that, webOS app developers can now sign up and also submit apps for entry into the App Catalog for free. Maybe this will help attract some to the platform.”
Sounds like Nelson doesn’t care that his dance partner may have an Adams Apple to me. Always looking on the bright side, he’s probably thinking, “well, maybe sHe can make a good breakfast?” And that’s cool.
And now flash forward till today and we get to see some video of that desktop app in action. In the end, the software does/did what you would expect in that it would allow you to send and receive calls. Aside from that it did not look all that great, but then again its a Google app. Plus, it was an internal build so we can likely chalk it up to that.
In the end, I still would like to see this come available. But then again I have long since replaced my regular phone number with my Google Voice number so I have become dependent and want more. And with that, we can only hope that Google has a change of heart and releases this for the public. Either way though, its always nice to get a look at something that you would not normally see otherwise.
Remember the two videos we showed you? The one about how the HTC EVO 4G was better than the iPhone 4 and the other about how the iPhone 4 is better than the HTC EVO 4G? Well apparently, someone big at Best Buy saw the video and realized the creator, Brian Maupin, is a Best Buy Mobile employee. Even though Maupin had been working in the Mobile department for the past three and half years, they asked him to resign and then suspended him indefinitely after he refused to resign.
The 25 year old Maupin created the two videos just for fun and no where did he mention Best Buy. He says the reason Best Buy is trying to fire him is:
"They felt it disparaged a brand they carried (iPhone/Apple) as well as the store itself and were fearful of stockholders & customers being turned off to Best Buy Mobile."
In Maupin’s defense, he also created a video that bashed the HTC EVO 4G and promoted the iPhone 4, so Best Buy’s logic seems flawed to me. As of now he is suspended indefinitely as Best Buy reviews the situation with HR which will almost definitely result in his termination. He reportedly gave this statement to Best Buy in his defense, after refusing to take down the videos because he felt they did not implicate Best Buy nor tarnish their reputation.
"I issued a statement to them explaining that the video was intended to be comedic and hence, not taken seriously by them or all these stockholders & customers they are worried about [being] turned off to buying from them due to the video,"
I think TechCrunch put it best, the only connection between the videos and Best Buy is due to the fact that Best Buy is trying to fire the poor guy. Hopefully things work out for Maupin because his videos are funny and completely harmless.
Earlier in the week, we mentioned that the Droid X user manual had leaked online and was available for download. Well, it seems that at least a few of those “60 plus pages of dribble” really contain dribble. And as pointed out by the Phandroid blog, the tips and tricks page is kind of stating the obvious. The first ‘tip’ under the general section lists;
“If aren’t able to see the screen while wearing sunglasses, take them off. Screen brightness changes as your phone senses the current lighting conditions.”
Really, thanks Motorola. It reminds me of that bad joke of someone telling their doctor that their (enter random body part here) hurts when the do (enter random activity here). And he replies with not to do that. Nonetheless, its still good for a laugh.
One HTC Droid Incredible owner happened to receive an interesting update on his phone that enabled 3G Mobile Hotspot and an ability to record in 720p. It also happened to add the typical Droid bootup scene with the red eye, but I think that is less important compared to the 3G Mobile Hotspot app and the ability to record in HD. Hung Truong thought he was receiving an early upgrade to Android 2.2, but found out he was still running Android 2.1 after the update.
He took a few pictures of his phone which confirms the addition of a 3G Mobile Hotspot app and the ability to record in 720p. He even took a video of his phone booting up which does a good job of showing the red eye animation characteristic of Droid. Everything looks pretty legitamate, and all we need now is an official confirmation by HTC or Verizon that the Droid Incredible is, indeed, receiving an update which adds these functionalities. I’m sure this was not an isolated incident and there potentially could be more users who have received this update. Stay tuned for any additional news as it breaks.
FROM GAMERTELL - Mafia Wars is sending you to South Africa to fix the Global Cup, the world’s biggest sporting event in no way affiliated with that other cup… MORE »
Those looking to grab the recently announced Samsung Vibrant with T-Mobile may want to consider placing an order with Radio Shack. Keep in mind, the phone is not yet available for actual purchase, that will happen on July 21st, but the Vibrant is available for pre-order (with Radio Shack). That said, if you place the order between now and July 18th you will get a $50 Radio Shack Gift Card in addition to your phone. Plus, you will only be paying $199.99 for the phone, in other words, Radio Shack does not have any mail-in-rebates to deal with. No mail-in-rebate and a $50 gift card, sounds like a winner.
It looks like the official Android 2.2 OTA update that was rolled out to AT&T and T-Mobile Nexus Ones was not the last Android 2.2 update. Apparently Google has rolled out another update, albeit minor, in the form of Build FRF91. According to several reports, it seems to simply be a security update and nothing ground-breaking. I’m sure all users will receive the OTA update soon enough, but the file has been located on Google servers in case you want to manually download and install it yourself.
Bloomberg’s report about Verizon launching the iPhone in January gave the optimistic crowd something to believe in and the pessimistic crowd newfound skepticism. The report may not exactly pan out in terms of timing, but Jim Dalrymple of, LoopInSight, believes there is some credibility to Bloomberg’s assertion as Apple has already created a CDMA version of the iPhone. As soon as Apple can strike a deal with Big Red they can start mass producing the already manufactured CDMA iPhone.
This is important because it means the hardware is already in place. Dalrymple puts it well:
Apple already has a Verizon compatible iPhone. It's not that they have to rush around Apple HQ and start building the thing for a January launch with Verizon — it's already there and being perfected all the time.
All that is preventing Verizon from launching the iPhone is a simple agreement between the two giant companies. Dalrymple believes Verizon and Apple have not agreed to anything yet, but are still in tense negotiations and leaking information to Bloomberg might have been a negotiating tactic.
It will be interesting to see what new information and rumors about Verizon launching the iPhone come out in the upcoming weeks and months.
Apple has finally ended its silence on the iPhone 4 reception issues, and says it is working on an update to iOS4 to fix it. It blames a faulty algorithm, not hardware flaws for the issue, which causes reception to disappear when the phone is held a certain way. Apple also says that part of the problem is likely with AT&T’s poor network-indeed the algorithm causing the issue and the one that will be in the update were both created by AT&T.
Opera has released the latest version of its browser and with it has join forces with anti-virus software maker AVG. Starting with this new version, 10.60, the browser will now have AVG’ real-time Web threat data feed built in, which provides instant updates and greater security. Users who attempt to access a page known to be malicious will get a warning page instead. 
It looks like the official 
No comments:
Post a Comment