Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones 
170 lucky Verizon customers already received the Motorola Droid X in the mail, yet Verizon didn’t want you to activate it until now. Due to network provisions not being in place, Verizon was warning early Droid X owners to hold off on activation until the launch date of July 15. However, since it was Verizon’s fault the Droid X’s shipped early to begin with, Big Red decided to go ahead and launch all network provisions and allow customers to activate their brand new Droid X. After all, who could wait to use latest Android smartphone when its just sitting around, teasing you to use it. If you are one of the lucky owners, feel free to shout out and let us know how the activation process went and how the Droid X is performing. Via [Droid-Life] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Web, Google There is nothing worse than traveling for a long time and not being able to find a parking spot at your destination. Similarly, if you are in a hurry, it’s nice to know where there is a free parking spot even if it means having to park across the street. Unfortunately, it’s hard to know ahead of time how the parking situation is without having a person there to tell you. However, Google recently released an app in the Android Market called Open Spot which helps you find a parking spot in a .9 mile radius of your current location. No, Google will not be installing cameras at every parking lot to alert users when there is a parking spot available; instead, the app relies on users reporting when parking spots become available. If you open the app and see a red pin, that means a user has pinged the location in the last few seconds. If the pin is orange, the user has pinged the location over 5 minutes ago. If the pin is yellow, the user has pinged the location over 10 minutes ago. After 20 minutes, the pin will disappear no matter what. In addition, Google is employing certain measures to help prevent against griefers who may ping fake parking spots which would definitely be frustrating for all involved. The app will only work if everyone with an Android app actively participates, but the only incentive to do so is something called karma points. Unfortunately, Karma points have no bearing on your account, so hopefully people will help each other out anyway to reduce traffic, pollution, and save time. Read [Google Open Spot] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones 
In case you don’t want to wait until Q3 (at the earliest) to run Android 2.2 on your HTC Desire, you may want to use the latest Android 2.2 Build from udK_dev. It supposedly works very well even with the tricky HTC Sense, however, there are a few little bugs and kinks that need to be worked out. There is a full set of directions and a link to the file that needs to be downloaded over at XDA-Developers’ forum. Apparently the camera can now record in 720p, which is a nice bonus. Be sure to proceed with caution if you choose to port your HTC Desire to Froyo. Read [XDA-Developers] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks According to a recent study conducted by Dr. Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group (no relation to the Nielsen fametrics company), it will take longer to read a book on the Kindle or an iPad when compared to an actual book. Jakob compared the reading times of twenty-four users on the Kindle 2, an iPad using the iBooks application, a PC monitor and regular paper. The study showed that reading on an electronic tablet was 10.7 percent slower than when reading straight from a book. Nevertheless, Nielsen’s test subjects favored reading on tablets over printed material and most everyone didn’t like reading from a computer monitor citing that it reminded them of being at work. Can’t really argue against that one. While reading speeds were faster on the iPad than the Kindle 2, Nielsen stated that the differences were “not statistically significant,” and shouldn’t sway consumers’ purchasing decision. The subjects were told to decide how much they liked the reading experience based on a seven point scale and the iPad, Kindle 2 and book ranked 5.8, 5.7, and 5.6 respectively with PC trailing at 3.6 points. I for one don’t care what the studies say; I’ll always prefer printed material to an electronic screen. Read [msnbc] Full Story » | Written by Tarun Kunwar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation  If you’re looking to maximize your dollars value, check out this deal from US Cellular. The company has added GPS navigation from industry leader TeleNav to their $30 smartphone data plan bundle. Unlike offers from Verizon and AT&T, you’ll not be paying an extra $9.99 per month for the luxury of GPS navigation service.
US Cellular offers the smartphone bundle with free GPS navigation on high end phones like the Android running Samsung Acclaim, HTC Touch, HTC Touch Pro, HTC Touch Pro 2, HTC Snap, BlackBerry® Tour™ 9630, BlackBerry® Pearl Flip™ 8230, BlackBerry® Curve™ 8530 and Samsung i225. Some nice choices from the nations sixth largest carrier. The GPS navigation service is called Your Navigator Deluxe (catchy right?). As with other TeleNav products, users will recieve voice-guided navigation, powerful search, and even speech recognition for searching and addresses. Users simply speak the name or address and Your Navigator Deluxe will begin guiding users to their destination. Company site: [US Cellular] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Web, Online Music/Video, Google  YouTube has accomplished an amazing feat of logic. Since all of their users are investing so much time to drive users to their site, YouTube has decided to invest a little bit in them. YouTube have gathered $5 million in grants to distribute to their top vloggers. Although this is one awesome appreciation gift YouTube views it a bit differently. YouTube’s manager of partner development, George Strompolos, says,“We think this is an important investment to make in the future of our original content partners.” In other words, we want our top content creators to stick with Youtube, so we are giving them a gift.
And right about now is when you wished you had started your own web show. Read [The LA Times] Full Story » | Written by Hunter Clarke for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Software / Applications This has really come as a surprise to me. But on the same note, I don’t think most users know the difference between 64 and 32-bit operating systems. Recent figures published by Microsoft show that forty-six percent of all Windows 7 installations are running the 64-bit operating system (as compared to Vista which only saw an eleven percent overall usage).
A 64-bit OS basically allows your machine to harness more physical memory in addition to easier access to more system resources. Keep in mind that if you’re running a 64-bit OS with 12GB of RAM, your computer won’t see drastic differences from one that is on a 32-bit system with 4GB of memory. Think of it this way: there is a 2 GB memory cap-off for any 32-bit application that you are running. Your machine will only allocate up to 2 GB of memory to any one application. 64-bit however does not have a cap-off that we will need to be worried about for the next few years. Bottom line: 64-bit operating systems are future proof. Those of you running the 64-bit version of Windows 7, give yourself a nice pat on the back. Tell us about your rig in the comments section; we’d love to hear what kind of hardware you’re running with. Via [ArsTechnica] Full Story » | Written by Tarun Kunwar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones Just yesterday morning, we reported T-Mobile changed the release date of the highly anticipated Samsung Vibrant from July 21 to July 15. At the time, this was simply a rumor backed only by unknown sources and pretty convincing photographic evidence. However, I like to wait until official confirmation by the carrier before I mark my calendar with different dates. Just a short while ago today, T-Mobile confirmed the change in release date by responding to a tweet saying it will be available on July 15. After the rumor was announced yesterday, AT&T and Samsung confirmed the Samsung Captivate would launch July 18 for $199, which made it either the first or second Galaxy S smartphone to launch in the States depending on what T-Mobile decides to do. The T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant and the AT&T Samsung Captivate are similar phones, so it really comes down to carrier preference. However, it will be interesting to see the consumer reaction between those who buy the Motorola Droid X and those who buy the Samsung Vibrant on T-Mobile. Lastly, the confirmed release date change brings up the question about Radio Shack’s pre-order promotion. By pre-ordering with Radio Shack, you will receive a $50 gift card to Radio Shack and you won’t have to worry about the MIR. However, Radio Shack says it will continue taking pre-orders until July 18, but this was before T-Mobile changed the release date. Does this mean all the pre-orders placed prior to July 15 will be filled by July 15? I’m sure we will hear word from Radio Shack on this matter in due time. It goes without saying that July 15 will be an interesting and exciting day even if you detest Android. Read [T-Mobile’s Twitter Account] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Computers, Mobile Computers Since HTC has already made its niche in the smartphone market by combining Android with excellent hardware, the next logical progression is the tablet market. For HTC fans, it looks like your favorite company does not plan on creating any Android oriented tablet device in the immediate future. Eric Lin, the company’s global PR, says without a compelling feature and that one awesome hook, their Android tablet would get lost in a sea of other mediocre Android tablets. Here are his exact words on the matter: “We are always looking at it, but, right now, the whole idea is that in order to be successful with a tablet, you need to have something compelling. And not just a compelling form factor.”
“You need to find that compelling use, that compelling story, that one compelling feature. And we are not going to do anything until we have found that.”
“You've seen how, at Computex, there were 80 different Android tablets”, he continued. “So if we just release an Android tablet, then we're one of 81… Whereas, if we have a compelling feature, a really compelling use, anything like that, then it'll help us to stand out. It's going to take a lot of work searching for that”.
Lin makes a lot of sense, and it’s nice to see HTC not creating a tablet just so they can say “oh, we have an Android tablet available, too.” Instead, they are actually looking to create a standout tablet that appeals to many people. HTC has always been known as a company driven by quality and it’s reassuring to see HTC regard the tablet market with the same mentality. Via [Pocket-Lint] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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