Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones 
In Best Buy’s Buyer’s Guide, which features a variety of cell phones for customers to purchase, the unannounced Samsung Gem has made an unlikely appearance. While the specs of the Gem aren’t too exciting, if the smartphone is priced relatively inexpensively, it could make for a nice, mid-range device. Based on the snippet of information provided with the Samsung Gem image, it looks like the Android smartphone features a 3.2MP camera, Android 2.1, Samsung TouchWiz 3.0, and a virtual QWERTY keyboard with Swype. In addition, it has GPS support, WiFi connectivity, and 16GB onboard memory. For some reason, the product listing fails to mention its screen size, but I’d venture to guess it sports a 3 - 3.5 inch touch screen. I’m sure we’ll see an official product announcement for the Samsung Gem sometime soon, as it is already featured in the September issue of the Buyer’s Guide. Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile  At yesterdays Apple event, CEO Steve Jobs revealed they are seeing 230,000 iOS devices activated per day. Jobs made it clear that these were new activations, not upgrades. Without saying any competitors names directly, he implied Google is off in their count.
“We think some of our friends are counting upgrades in their numbers,” Steve Jobs. “We think we are ahead of everyone.” Is Google padding their numbers of Android activations? Earlier this year, Google announced they were activating 200,000 devices every day. While Job’s number includes iPads and iPod touch devices, it would seem Apple is still in the lead. Google responded to Seth Weintraub, “the Android activation numbers do not include upgrades and are, in fact, only a portion of the Android devices in the market since we only include devices that have Google services.” That begs the question, what phones don’t have Google services? It would seem Android phones in China do not, but some others, such as this Commtiva T1 from Taiwan do not as well. According to winandmac.com, phone manufacturers have to pay for the license for Google services such as Gmail apps. Further, the site suggests users who want to check their Gmail on these devices will have to use gmail.com. We’re left to wonder how many are activated in just the US. Other questions we have include: should all iOS devices be counted, or just iPhones? Will Google count Android-powered tablets and the myriad of other gadgets the OS is being ported to? Read: [Fortune] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle Those who have been using RunKeeper for Android may have noticed the ads that popped up on the app recently. Well, in a little bit of good news, there is now an option to get rid of them. The RunKeeper team have officially announced RunKeeper Pro for Android, which will set you back $9.99. As for features found in RunKeeper Plus, you will notice the lack of ads, but perhaps a little nicer is the addition of audio cues. Furthermore, the RunKeeper team have stated that they “plan is to iterate rapidly with a steady stream of improvements.” Sounds good and that alone is worth the $9.99 purchase price if you ask me. Plus, I have been using RunKeeper for a while now on both the iPhone and an Android phone. In short, it comes with me on every run and every bike ride. Read [RunKeeper Blog] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, VoIP, Mobile The Skype Mobile app for Android has recently been updated. This latest update brings the app up to version 1.5.0.4 and it comes with some good news and some bad news. According to the details given as for what is new, the app now has support for Skype Caller ID and perhaps a little more important is that it will now run with Wi-Fi* turned on. A big step up from previous versions. Of course, a bigger step would have been to allow full calling over Wi-Fi, but at least the app can now launch without having to physically turn Wi-Fi off. That said, the good news comes with some bad news and in this case the Skype Mobile app remains limited in availability to those with Verizon. Yup, Skype Mobile for Android remains a Verizon exclusive. Via [AndroidCentral] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Video, Content, Video Providers As we mentioned yesterday, Amazon was expected to begin offering 99-cent television episode downloads. And it is always nice to see what was once a rumor come true. As of now—Amazon has television content from both Fox and ABC available for download—as in download and keep and be able to watch whenever you want as opposed the the 99-cent rentals that Apple is offering. As for the quality, both SD and HD is available. It seems Amazon may have one-upped Apple on that one. But hey sometimes a 99-cent rental is good enough, after all how often do you need to return to watch a rerun. Of course, I suppose if you are going to spend 99-cents either way you may as own the content. Read [Amazon] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Video There is a wide variety of set-top boxes that are offering competition to the Apple TV, some of which are already available such as the Roku players and some that are still getting ready to come to market such as the Boxee Box. Well, in a little bit of good news, the Boxee team has finally unveiled their pricing—$199. And if you are wondering why they would price themselves at $100 more than the Apple TV—it is because they “think it’s worth it.” Plain and simple, but a slightly better explanation to that statement comes in the form of 1080p support and no keyboards or mice being required for use. From the Boxee Blog; “We all watched the Apple announcement. We walked away feeling strongly confident about the space it left for Boxee to compete. We have a different view of what users want in their living rooms. We are taking different paths to get there. The Boxee Box is going to be $100 more expensive than the Apple TV, but will give you the freedom to watch what you want.”
Read [Boxee Blog] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  A few days ago we reported on a rumor that Rogers would launch the BlackBerry Torch 9800 on September 15, but the rumor turned out to be false. Rogers is reporting today that it will launch the Torch on September 24 available for $199 on a three year contract. No word on how much the phone costs on a two year, one year, or off contract pricing, but your best bet is probably to purchase the Torch with a three year contract. In case you want to learn more about the Torch before purchasing it, a Rogers representative talked with Michael McDowell, Director of Marketing for the BlackBerry, about the cool features in the Torch. The video can be seen below.
Via [Rogers]  Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Online Music/Video  In order to gain further exposure for Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup of phones, the electronics manufacturer has created TV advertisements for all four variants. Since the AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint models have already launched, the only video left to watch is the Samsung Fascinate on Verizon’s TV ad. The video (which can be seen above) doesn’t really outline all the main features of the device. In fact, the video only mentions that the Fascinate features an “exclusive AMOLED screen,” but I think most people already know the specs inherent in the Galaxy S device. The TV ad is basically an action shot meant to show off the Fascinate’s beautiful screen and remind viewers it’s coming soon to Verizon Wireless. Hopefully we will only have to wait another day or two until Verizon finally gets official with the Fascinate. Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile Details for the hopefully soon to be released T-Mobile G2 are beginning to shape up. As of now we have some leaked pricing, which although it seems legitimate has not yet been made official. As of now it looks like the G2 will be $199.99 on-contract and $499.99 off-contract. Again, this has not yet been confirmed by T-Mobile, but that said, it sounds fairly accurate. Furthermore, the G2 will be powered by an 800MHz Scorpion processor and have Android 2.2 Froyo at launch. Read [TmoNews] and [T-Mobile Scoop] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Websites The team over at Twitter have released the latest update for their iOS app, and this has brought the app up to version 3.1—but perhaps a little nicer is the app is now universal which means it supports the iPhone and iPod touch as well as the iPad. Yup, the official Twitter app is now iPad ready. As for neat little features, the iPad Twitter app will allow you to pinch on a tweet which will unfold related information and actions as well as the ability to use a two finger drag on a tweet to reveal others replies. What is Twitter for iPad? And how is it different from our iPhone app? Twitter for iPad brings your Tweets together with web pages, photos, videos and more. Tap on any tweet, and a related content pane will open, displaying any linked content from the tweet, including web pages, profile information, hashtag searches and similar users. Slide panels from side to side and quickly navigate through related content.
Read [Twitter Blog] Download [Twitter for iPad (App Store link)] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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