According to several reports, it seems the highly anticipated Motorola Droid X will only be available in limited quantities during the initial launch period starting July 15. The screen shot above shows the expected inventory for Portland, Oregon, and a Verizon store in Washington, which is 25 and 20, respectively. It is important to note one is a kiosk store and the other is a small Verizon Wireless store, which explains the relatively small amount of Droid X’s available. For the most part, stores will range from 5 devices to 70 in some cases. The screen shot below shows data from Verizon stores in the New York City area. As you can see, it ranges from only 5 phones to 45.
Motorola could be limiting the amount of devices per Verizon store in order to create hype and then replenish stores as needed. According to DroidForums (picture below), it looks like the first week will be limited and then sales should be on a normal basis. However, the Droid X will be unavailable for period in August. Of course, this is simply a rumor and has yet to be confirmed by Motorola or Verizon, but the screen shots are very convincing that most Verizon stores will only have so many Droid X devices. In case you didn’t pre-order with Best Buy, it might not be a bad idea to get to your local Verizon Wireless store early on Thursday morning.
Now that the Samsung Vibrant is confirmed for a July 15 launch, it’s time to get the public excited about the newest Android phone to hit T-Mobile. We already saw the Samsung Captivate promotional video last week, and now we have the Samsung Vibrant video to watch on YouTube. It’s pretty much the same video except for the color scheme, which is magenta in the Samsung Vibrant video and blue in the Samsung Captivate video.
Some of the features mentioned in the video include its Super AMOLED Display, pre-loaded Swype, HD Video Recording, more responsive touch screen, "twice as fast as leading android devices", 3D graphics support, Social Hub, Media Hub, and sleek design. It will be exciting to see which phone sells more on launch day, the Motorola Droid X or the Samsung Vibrant. Each phone features top of the line hardware and specs, but I think it is going to come down to carrier loyalty. Some will only purchase Verizon phones and some will only purchase T-Mobile. Who will you choose?
Late last week Fring brought out an update to it’s iOS app that enabled Skype video calling on the iPhone 4 over WiFi and 3G. The problem is that for most who downloaded the app, Skype was nowhere to be found. It seemed like it might just be a technical problem, and the service would be back up eventually. Now it looks like Skype won’t be working on any Fring app for the foreseeable future, and both companies are fighting over who’s at fault.
Initially, Fring started by saying that Skype has blocked the company from using the service in it’s app. It even went so far as to call Skype “cowards” for not supporting “open mobile communication” in a blog post, and to cross out Skype and put “BANNED” above the logo in the company’s list of supported services. It marks the end of four years of Skype support in Fring.
Skype fired back by saying that it was, in fact, Fring who removed Skype from it’s app. In a blog post, Robert Miller of Skype said that Fring was infringing on Skype’s API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement, and has been doing so for quite some time. Skype had apparently been trying to work out a deal with Fring to work out the issues. Skype also felt that Fring was damaging the Skype brand, especially when it pulled the video calls support for the iPhone 4. The post ends in saying:
In this case, however, there is no truth to Fring's claims that Skype has blocked it. Fring made the decision to remove Skype functionality on its own.
If nothing else, both brands may be damaged in this argument, but Fring comes off just a bit worse. Calling out companies and calling them cowards is fine, but the line “We're sorry for the inconvenience Skype has caused you,” comes off just a bit too mean-spirited, as does the rest of Fring’s blog post. Of course, Skype video calling on mobile devices would be nice for some, but it’d be so much easier if Skype could just make the apps itself.
Ever since the e-book market started heating up, eTextbooks have been a subject of much discussion. Textbook sales make up a considerable portion of the book publishing market, and nobody really enjoys carrying heavy textbooks around with them all day. The Kindle DX was a possible solution to this issue, as is the upcoming Kno tablet, but Barnes & Noble refuses to let others take the market for themselves.
Today Barnes & Nobile announced it’s newest service, NOOKstudy. NOOKstudy is a program for Windows and Mac computers, that brings together eTextbooks, e-books, and class materials into one location. The idea is that students will be able to get all their books, as well as syllabi and class notes all in one spot on their laptops. The textbooks will be in full color, appear on screen just as they would on paper, and allow for note taking and highlighting within the NOOKstudy app. In addition to books, the app will let students integrate web research, with built in Google and Dictionary.com support.
NOOKstudy will be released in August, just in time for the fall semester. Barnes & Noble claims to have over 1 million eTextbooks and e-books, with textbooks being up to 40% less than the paper versions. The idea looks great, and will likely help students who like the idea of having everything on a computer. The problem lies in the fact that I have met many students who don’t believe in e-books, and many college professors still don’t like having laptops in classes. On top of that, even with over 1 million books, there’s a good chance professors will still manage to find the textbooks (or novels for English courses) that don’t have digital versions making NOOKstudy not as useful for those classes. Or, maybe I’m just bit bitter that this is exactly what I wanted in college, and it’s coming now a few months after I graduated.
Ever since Apple’s historic iPhone 4 launch, the main point of controversy has been its antenna problem, which Apple claims is a calculation and software error. However, after extensive testing, Consumer Reports finds it is not a software issue, but a hardware issue, and calls into question the validity of Apple’s statement on the matter. Essentially Apple said the formula used to display signal strength shows a few more bars than it is supposed to, and when touched in a certain area the signal strength decreases because of poor signal strength by AT&T. Apple goes on to say that nearly every phone will lose signal strength when held in a certain way.
Consumer Reports conducted an interesting experiment in which three iPhone 4’s purchased from different stores were placed in a special chamber that prevents outside radio signals from affecting the phone inside. Also, each tested phone was connected to a base-station emulator which is designed to represent the carrier’s cell tower, thereby providing the phone with sufficient service. Within the chamber, the iPhone 3G S and the Palm Pre (both on AT&T) were tested in a similar fashion and did not display any signal strength loss. Consumer Reports explains a duct tape method to cover the antenna area in order to prevent signal loss, but it is definitely not the most aesthetically pleasing fix. Because of the underlying antenna issue, Consumer Reports refuses to recommend Apple’s latest smartphone, even though it has superb scores in other categories. Perhaps CR sums up the iPhone 4 problem the best:
But Apple needs to come up with a permanent—and free—fix for the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone 4.
CR is widely trusted by many consumers and they are a highly reputable source. It will be interesting to see if Apple responds to CR’s experiment and refusal to recommend the latest iPhone. Feel free to watch the video below which explains the CR experiment.
RIM recently announced a new piece of software for the BlackBerry and it is called BlackBerry Protect. As of now, the app is in beta stage and limited to BlackBerry Beta Zone users who will be receiving special invite codes later this week. It is set to reach open public beta later this year for the general public.
One of the first things the BlackBerry Protect software will do is backup your necessary and important files. For example, you have the ability to backup contacts, tasks, calendar events, memos, bookmarks, and messages and you can choose how often to backup data. It will only update new data after every backup in order to minimize data usage. Now, let’s go through some of the key security features that makes BlackBerry Protect a solid application. In case you misplace your phone, you can choose to play a loud ring for a minute on your phone and even change it from silent to loud volume if you wish to call the phone. I don’t know about you, but I happen to misplace my cell phone all the time and such a feature is really convenient.
In case you actually lost your phone somewhere, not simply misplaced around the house, you can set a password lock feature by going online to BlackBerry Protect web portal. In addition, you can display a lost and found page which features your contact information. In addition, you can take advantage of the BlackBerry’s onboard GPS to view its current location in case the phone is on and functioning. If push comes to shove, there is a Remote Wipe feature which will delete all data on the phone and microSD card. This is where backing up your data often comes in handy, just in case you have to wipe all your memory.
I’m not sure how well the software and online program works together, but just reading about the product makes me believe it could work really well.
Being a college student isn’t easy, and when it comes time to find the best deal on textbooks, it would be nice to save a little on shipping. If you are a student and looking to take advantage of some quick, free shipping, be sure to sign up for Amazon Prime for free! Amazon Prime normally costs $80 for a one year subscription but Amazon is offering this special promotion through Amazon Student and all you have to do is validate your .Edu email address and enter in your major. Here is a quick description of Amazon Prime:
Amazon Prime is a membership program that gives you and your family unlimited fast shipping, such as FREE Two-Day shipping and One-day shipping for $3.99 per item on all eligible purchases for an annual membership fee of $79. Eligible customers can try out a membership by starting a free trial.
No word on how long this promotion will last for, so try to sign up as soon as possible. Don’t try to pull a fast one on Amazon because they have the right to revoke membership to Amazon Prime.
The new BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 6, is going to launch sometime this summer. While we already know some of the main features of the new OS, such as a redesigned WebKit browser, aggregated Social Networking feeds, universal search, and an enhanced media interface; it is still nice to see the features in action through a video. Today, RIM posted another sneak peek video featured the BlackBerry 6 OS on YouTube. Needless to say, many of the new features should appeal to all BlackBerry fanboys. Hopefully we can pinpoint a launch date on the new OS soon and begin to see it on new BlackBerry models (9800, anyone?). Check out the video below:
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Since 4G connectivity is a relatively new concept, it is not yet available in most parts of America. However, with the introduction of the HTC EVO 4G and the soon-to-be-released Epic 4G, Sprint is continuing to roll out 4G technology to additional cities, allowing more customers to take advantage of a faster mobile connection. Today, Sprint announced it finished rolling out its 4G coverage to seven additional cities including Rochester, NY, Syracuse, NY, Merced, California, Visalia, California, Eugene, Oregon, Tri-Cities, Washington and Yakima, Washington. Currently, customers can experience 4G connections in 43 cities across America and Sprint plans to add Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami to the list before the year is over.
Hopefully Sprint can keep up with demand for the HTC EVO 4G in order to provide more 4G capable devices in areas that feature 4G. As Robert Nelson mentions, the black HTC EVO 4G is sold out at Best Buy and direct with Sprint. With the Epic 4G just around the corner, Sprint customers will have two options in terms of smartphones that can operate on a 4G network.
Back on June 23, when Verizon announced the Motorola Droid X, Google announced some important information as well. If you recall, Eric Schmidt said Google activates 160,000 Android smartphones daily and the Android Market now touts over 65,000 apps. By extrapolating data, AndroLib has good reason to believe the Android Market will reach the coveted 100,000 mark before the end of July. Already in July, there are 9241 new apps on the Market and it is only July 12. If we double that number and add some, we are in the 18,000-19,000 range for July. Currently the Android Market stands somewhere around the 90,000 as of the end of June and 18,000 new apps in July would be enough to push it over the mark.
It is no surprise as Android smartphones becomes increasingly popular, more and more people are beginning to develop apps for the open operating system. It’s impossible to completely root out all the unnecessary and junk apps, but for every good app on the Apple App Store, there is an equally good app on the Android Market. With Google announcing its new App Inventor software, any amateur can take a crack at creating an Android app, a move by Google which is sure to add many more apps to the Market. We will have to wait until the end of July to see if AndroLib’s official prediction pans out.
Those geniuses at Intel Labs are at it again. When they aren’t making cars that drive for you, or accelerating the world of computer processing, they are making TV remotes that can identify individual people. The concept behind the idea is simple, learn people and their specific movements. By using an accelerometer to take readings every 100 nanoseconds, the remote will be able to map a user’s motions and learn the little twitches and idiosyncrasies unique to every person. This will be particularly helpful for parents who don’t want their children to watch certain programs. That is, until the children learn that if they take a short trip to the tv, they can change the channel to whatever they want.
Just a few days ago, HTC announced it had no intentions of joining the tablet market with an Android device. Today, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, announced at the Worldwide Partner Conference Microsoft’s plans to launch several slates running Windows 7 “over the course of the next several months.” Among the list of vendors, Microsoft included Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony. These manufacturers and Microsoft plan on creating slates with keyboards, digital ink support, dockable, and touch only. One notable company Microsoft failed to mention is HP, however, Ballmer did mention HP on a following slide with other vendors that did not receive a verbal mention. With the acquisition of Palm, HP is planning on launching webOS tablets which would compete with Microsoft’s Windows 7 powered slates.
Interestingly enough, Ballmer never did mention the iPad explicitly, the biggest competition in the slate/tablet market today. However, he did say he wants all Windows 7 slates to appeal to the IT business user as well as the user who would simply use the slate for recreation and home purposes. Expect many slates in different form factors and different pricing before the year is out. It looks like the slate market is about to get hot as Microsoft prepares to dive headfirst into an already bustling market.
App development is tough work. It can be alluring, but for most of us who don’t know how to code and get lost when trying to learn it, it’s an almost impossible task. Sometimes you just want to take a shot at creating your own app just to say you did it. Or maybe there’s an app you might want that you just can’t seem to find, or maybe it just doesn’t exist. Google’s new initiative might help solve some of these issues.
Today Google unveiled it’s new App Inventor service. App Inventor is an easy way to create simple apps for Android phones. The best part is that users don’t need to know anything about coding to make the apps works. In order to create apps, you just use the web app and drag-and-drop elements onto the screen. Those elements can then be associated with actions. The elements placed in the web app are instantly shown on your Android phone that has to be plugged in while working. The actions associated with the elements fit together like puzzle pieces, making it relatively simple to make them do anything that’s available to you.
App Inventor likely won’t bring about a lot of great apps, and it’s not even clear if users can put the apps into the Market (though it is probable they won’t be able to). What it is useful for is getting more people interested into app development, and letting users create exactly what they want for their phones. Creating a great app will likely still take a lot of time, just like a WYSIWYG web designer still has to put a lot of work into a great website. Even if App Inventor doesn’t turn to be all that popular, it’s another point Google has against Apple in the fight to be more open.
Being the sole US carrier of the iPhone, AT&T has little reason to put it’s full support behind Android like Verizon and the others. That much is obvious from the small selection of relatively weak Android phones offered from the carrier. Not only are the phones’ specs weak, but AT&T disables users from installing third-party apps (those not in the Android Market) onto their phones. Now it looks users of the newest AT&T Android phone, the Aria will be able to.
While most Android users rarely if ever have to connect their phones to their computers for much beyond rooting or media transfer, the Aria will require it for third-party apps. The method comes in the form of HTC Sync, a desktop application for Windows. The app comes with a function that allows apps to be installed straight to the phone simply by dragging and dropping the APK file. It may not be as elegant as simply checking a box and downloading the APK onto the phone to install, but it’s better than nothing.
HTC Sync also allows users to sync music, photos, contacts, bookmarks, calendars and documents, but there are a plethora of apps that can do that easily. The big news is that Aria users can finally get Swype, or any other apps they might want on their phone that aren’t in the Market.
There is a bit of good news for Jolicloud users—the 1.0 rollout is set to begin as of this week! As for what you will find new in Jolicloud 1.0;
A Simpler, Customizable Launcher Entirely Built in HTML5
An Exhaustive App Center
A Social Stream
A Universal File System
Experience the Anywhere OS
And while those are the general descriptions, if we break those down a bit further we actually have some nice features. Take for example the last, if you run multiple computers with Jolicloud you will always be in sync between computers. This one will also make moving to a new computer as simple as installing Jolicloud on the new machine and re-syncing your old information back down.
In terms of the launcher, its HTML5 and comes with a bunch of apps (such as Gmail, Firefox and Twitter) pre-installed. Plus, additional apps are just a few clicks away, of which there are more than 700 available including Google Reader, Facebook and Evernote.
Bottom line, if you are using a netbook you should check out Jolicloud. And for those who have been using it, and will be looking for the upgrade to 1.0. According to the Jolicloud Blog posting;
We will progressively roll out Jolicloud 1.0 to all users starting next week, but we'll give priority to our founding members who have been here since the first Alpha release. You'll be notified in your Update page when you have been selected to upgrade. Just follow the instructions and restart - making sure that you are connected to the Internet to activate your new Jolicloud.
For many of us, having two displays for a computer would be great, but can sometimes seem a bit superfluous. Sometimes all you need it just an extra small screen to hold a few things, like a Twitter client or IM, or Photoshop palettes. Sure, you could use an iPad, but there’s also those USB monitors from Mimo. Previously, however, the Mimo displays have been relatively small.
Mimo has announced it’s newest monitor, the iMo Monster Touch. The new display is aptly named, as it is about the size of a netbook display. It measures 10-inches and has a resolution of 1024x600. As the name also implies, the monitor is a touchscreen, and comes complete with a stylus. It has a stand to use it as a standard secondary monitor, or the stand can be folded in and the screen held as a tablet. The best part is, as with all other Mimo displays, the iMo Monster Touch is powered through a lone USB 2.0 connection, though it does come with an AC adapter presumably for computers with lower-than-standard USB power connections.
With a price of $260, the iMo Monster Touch looks to be a great deal. It would certainly make it easier to work while using a Twitter app like Tweetdeck or Seesmic, or watching a video. It’s fully compatible with both Windows and Macs, which is another good step, making it easy to move it between computers.
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As previously announced, the white HTC EVO 4G is officially available for purchase. Which is good news considering the EVO 4G (in black) is still listed as out-of-stock both with Best Buy and direct with Sprint. That said, the price of the white version remains the same—$199.99 on a two year agreement with Sprint. Oh and, according to the Best Buy listing—it appears as if this one is available in-store only.
Late last week Fring brought out an update to it’s iOS app that enabled Skype video calling on the iPhone 4 over WiFi and 3G. The problem is that for most who downloaded the app, Skype was nowhere to be found. It seemed like it might just be a technical problem, and the service would be back up eventually. Now it looks like Skype won’t be working on any Fring app for the foreseeable future, and both companies are fighting over who’s at fault.
Those geniuses at Intel Labs are at it again. When they aren’t making cars that drive for you, or accelerating the world of computer processing, they are making TV remotes that can identify individual people. The concept behind the idea is simple, learn people and their specific movements. By using an accelerometer to take readings every 100 nanoseconds, the remote will be able to map a user’s motions and learn the little twitches and idiosyncrasies unique to every person. This will be particularly helpful for parents who don’t want their children to watch certain programs. That is, until the children learn that if they take a short trip to the tv, they can change the channel to whatever they want.
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