In This Issue... - Android 2.2 usage climbs to 33.4% with Android 2.1 in the lead with 40.4%
- Skype for Windows integrated with Facebook, where's the love for Mac?
- Nokia C5 launched, affordable touchscreen phone for the budget conscious
- It will soon cost you $3.50 to pay your Verizon bill online using a debit or credit card
- Gadgetell hands on: AT&T Navigator for iPhone
- Falling Droid pricing! Droid 2, Droid Incredible- now free, Droid X now $99
- T-Mobile to begin throttling data speeds for those who go over 5GB as of October 16th
- Netgear Roku XD officially unveiled, will come sporting an $89.99 price tag
- Free calls: 3.65 billion minutes last year - and it's not Skype. Meet Nimbuzz
- Verizon finds the Kindle app, will soon be pre-loaded on the Droid 2, Droid X & Samsung Fascinate
- HTC 7 Surround Windows Phone 7 smartphone gets listed with Best Buy, priced off-contract at $549.99
- Rhapsody arrives for the BlackBerry, still in beta, but with a 14 day free trial
- Opera Mobile for Android expected to arrive "within a month"
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Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Google As an Android geek it is always fun to see the changes in usage, which thankfully are provided every so often by Google. And this latest report is showing that we may be putting in more effort than needed complaining about older versions. After all Android 1.6 usage is down to 16.4 percent and the usage of Android 1.5 is down in the single digits, currently at 9.7 percent. On the flip side, we have Android 2.1 and Android 2.2 sitting at 40.4 percent and 33.4 percent respectively. Just for the record, this latest data is reflecting the usage period which ended on October 1st. While we continue to see the usage of older versions dwindling down, it should be interesting to see what happens (and how quickly things change) once Android 3.0 comes available. Read [Android Developers] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, VoIP, Mobile, Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Web Apps Skype has just updated its Windows app to include some new features that we Mac users might be envious of, that is if we Skype at all. Basically, the new Skype for Windows integrates some the usual Facebook stuff that we normally use, specifically - Facebook News Feed and Phonebook. What this means for all of you Skype for Windows users is it will now be easier to stay connected with your Skype contacts and communities you care about. With the integrated Facebook features, you can now see your Facebook News Feed inside Skype, post status updates that syncs with your Skype mood, comment and like friends’ statuses and wall posts, call and send SMS to your Facebook friends, and make free Skype-to-Skype calls. In addition to the Facebook integration, the new Skype for Windows is also bringing in some new interface enhancements. And a new feature, video calling was also rolled out in beta. You’ll get a free trial of this new feature when you download the update. Sounds good? Actually it is. I just wonder why there’s no love for Mac users who have waited long enough for Skype for Mac to be updated. Also, whether this feature will be carried to Skype for iPhone and other mobile platforms including for Windows Phone 7 smartphones. Ready to make your Skype experience a bit more social? You can download the updated Skype for Windows here. Read [Skype Blog]  Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Mobile We really have to commend Nokia for coming out with inexpensive phones with features that you won’t expect to get from devices of such worth. Take the case of the new Nokia C5-03, an affordable touchscreen phone which Nokia just launched. Actually, the Nokia C5 looks beautiful and I would pick it up anytime it’s available if only I’m not a huge iPhone fan. Anyway, if you’re looking for an affordable touchscreen phone which looks pretty good on the outside, the Nokia C5-03 would seem to be a good choice. Yes, it’s beautiful, but does it have the power to deliver the goods? Let’s see - a 3.2-inch touch display, Wi-Fi, a compass and assisted GPS, 5MP camera with 4x digital zoom, customizable homescreen, 40MB of user memory, support for microSD card up to 16GB, and Symbian^1 otherwise known as S60 5th edition touch-edition. Well, yeah - those are decent features enough. Wait, there are still some more. The Nokia C5 also lets you set-up your webmail account easily as well as option for Mail for Exchange. Or you can do this via the quick setup wizard for Ovi Mail. Speaking of Ovi, the phone also lets you access Ovi Music and Ovi Store. If you’re a Nokia fans, you’d know what you can get from those two Nokia online services. So, how much does it cost? - Around $240. If you’re keen on getting the Nokia C5-03, you have to wait until the end of this month. If you’re still undecided, check out the video below to help you make a good decision. Read [Nokia Conversations]  Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile Verizon has announced that they are going to begin charging customers a $3.50 fee if they opt to pay their bill online using a debit or credit card. That said, there is a way to avoid the fee—enter your bank account information. The payments can then either be made using the Auto Pay setup or as one-time payments. You can read the message that I was greeted with below. Important: In approximately 30-60 days, payments made using a credit/debit/ATM card will be processed by a vendor. The vendor will assess a convenience fee of $3.50 for each payment made. To avoid incurring a fee, we encourage you to enroll in Auto Pay or make your one-time payments on Verizon.com using a bank account.
Otherwise, the message I received from Verizon was stating this would begin in 30-60 days, however the Consumerist has mentioned that it would begin as of October 16th. Kind of a bummer for me considering I most often pay my Verizon bill with my PayPal debit card. That card is just like cash, but at the same time very unlike a regular bank account in that you do not have a routing and account number like that of a traditional bank account. So much for using Bank Of America as little as possible. Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation 
The latest update to this handy GPS software, 1.7i, adds new features that have completely changed how I use this navigation software. From speech recognition (on-phone this time) to better graphics to lane assist, TeleNav (the folks behind the software) have outdone themselves. The iPhone app is much handier and safer to use. Upon launching the app, longtime users will know something has changed thanks to new artwork. This app is so much more polished than the version I started with back in Windows Mobile 6. 3D animation is much improved and actually rivals some games I’ve played. It’s that impressive. My favorite feature by a long shot is the speech recognition. Earlier versions of the software required you to either key in your search criteria (contact name, business, street address, type of business…) or you could make an outbound phone call into TeleNav’s computer which would convert your voice to text and send it to your unit. Not the slickest set up. But now, on the very first screen, simply click the microphone and speak your directions - it’s that easy. In the past week I’ve been using the software it’s been pretty accurate (far more accurate than say Apple’s voice commands). TeleNav says the reason for this accuracy is “our speech platform is built on top of Nuance speech recognition technology. We use that as our base and then we apply our own internal technology to deliver the direct speech recognition in the AT&T Navigator iPhone application we develop.” Lane assist is also new to this update. Small arrows appear at the bottom of the screen and highlight which lane might be the best choice. As I navigated the tiny streets to off-airport parking in Newark, New Jersey, I found this feature very handy. Here in the Northeast, a little bit of local knowledge of what lanes turn can give you a huge time boost as you fly by others without it. TeleNav supplies you that local knowledge to make your trip faster and more enjoyable as you laugh at the folks stuck in traffic. Traffic cam alerts, mulit-tasking and background battery saver improvements round out the update feature list. My favorite navigation app just got a lot better. Company site: [TeleNav] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile 
Launched back on August 12th, the Droid 2 is now selling a tad off its $199 retail price: free at letstalk.com and just 1 cent at Amazon.com. Many believe the price decline is due to an inbound Global version of the Droid 2 that will allow calls to be made while overseas. If you rarely leave the US shores or have no desire to pay heavy international fees on your phone, the Droid 2 is worth checking out at this price. More falling Droid pricing… Over at the Verizon site, the Droid 2 is listed at just $199 (the original Droid is listed at just $99). Looking back at the letstalk site, you’ll find the Droid X for just $99 (Verizon still lists this phone for $199). The Droid Incredible is listed as free as well on the letstalk.com site. That pretty significant savings. Several of the phones show shipping no sooner than 10/17, so take that into consideration when shopping. Are we seeing a pre-holiday push for business? Or is Verizon clearing room for what they’ll wow us with for Black Friday? Making room for the Droid Pro? Letstalk store: [letstalk.com] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile It seems that T-Mobile is all set to begin throttling data for users that go over the 5GB monthly limit. The news is coming by way of an official statement from T-Mobile and reads as follows; "Data Speed Reduction Threshold Beginning on October 16, T-Mobile will begin to reduce data speeds when a customer reaches 5GB of usage in a billing cycle, in accordance with T-Mobile terms and conditions. This change should only affect extreme data users (less than 1 percent) and is being made to ensure that all subscribers receive the best Web performance available by limiting the number of extreme data users on our network.
The majority of T-Mobile customers should not be affected by this change. The new 5 GB threshold limit, which is equivalent to approximately 125,000 yahoo.com page visits, is enough bandwidth to satisfy most customers' Web and data needs.
If a customer happens to reach the 5GB limit, they will receive a free text message informing them their data speed will be reduced. Customers will continue to have Web browsing capabilities but at slower speeds, which will be determined by their device type. Once their new billing cycle begins, data speeds will no longer be restricted.
Customers can track their data usage through My T-Mobile, MyAccount, or the SIVR."
With that, I suppose that if you are in the 1% that will be affected this may be bad news. But look on the flip side, they could be cutting you off or charging you overages. Via [the unlockr] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Video, HDTV, Video Providers 
The Netgear branded Roku set-top box was first spotted back in early-September by way of an FCC listing. And coming as a little bit of an update—Netgear has offered up the official announcement. The player will be the Netgear Roku XD and it is expected to begin showing up in retail outlets shortly. That said, we are thinking this is a better deal for Roku and Netgear as opposed to the end user. And we only say that because the Netgear branded model is listed with an $89.99 MSRP, which for those keeping track is $10 more than the regular Roku XD. Read [Netgear] Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, VoIP, Mobile  In the past year, Nimbuzz, a universal communications platform (think Skype but for more devices), has past 3.65 billion mobile minutes used and seen 150 million downloads. Compatible with Symbian, iOS, Windows Mobile, Android, BlackBerry, J2ME, as well as Windows and Mac desktop computers, Nimbuzz offers both free calls as well as Nimbuzz Out calls at aggressive pricing. Chatting, texting and voice calls are currently supported between users.
“Unlike Skype, Nimbuzz is the only open universal communications platform on the market today,” said Evert Jaap Lugt, CEO, Nimbuzz. “With 30 million registered users across all major mobile operating systems, our success can be attributed to the fact that Nimbuzz is not solely a chat platform or a VoIP service, but a complete communications service that includes free talk and messaging. We benefit from massive word of mouth with 98% of our users recommend the application to friends, who don’t have to own a smartphone to use our product.”
The cross-over into non-smartphones is something Skype is looking to compete with. Verizon has announced it will be bringing Skype to non-smartphone handsets this year. Nimbuzz has benefited by getting their first. Nimbuzz boasts access in 220 countries, 70,000 downloads per day and support for Skype(R), Facebook(R), Windows Live Messenger (MSN(R)), GoogleTalk(TM), Twitter, Yahoo!(R), AIM(R), MySpace, ICQ(R), GaduGadu, Hyves, and many more. Company site: [Nimbuzz] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile, Gadgets / Other, ebooks Coming in a bit of news that almost makes it seem like Verizon has just recently discovered that their is a Kindle app for Android they have announced that it will soon come pre-loaded on select Android smartphones. At present, they have announced that the Kindle app will appear on the Motorola Droid 2 and Droid X as well as the Samsung Fascinate. And in the future it will also come on other, yet to be named Verizon branded devices. That said, you could always visit the Android Market and download the app for yourself. Hey, I like the Kindle app and am glad to have it on my phone, but at the same time, I would prefer Verizon to leave my phone alone and let me install the apps I choose. Keep reading to check out the full press release… Read [Verizon Wireless] Verizon Wireless Brings Kindle Experience To Android Smartphones And Other Devices Kindle for Android Comes Ready to Go on DROID™ 2 by Motorola, DROID X by Motorola and the Samsung Fascinate™ BASKING RIDGE, NJ and SEATTLE, WA — Verizon Wireless and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that the Kindle reading experience is now easily found on many Android devices running on the nation's most reliable wireless network and will be available on more devices in the future. Kindle for Android lets customers discover and read more than 700,000 books in the Kindle Store and is easy to find on the application screen of the new Samsung Fascinate™ – which boasts a brilliant 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen display – as well as on DROID™ 2 by Motorola and DROID X by Motorola. Kindle for Android allows customers to browse, download and start reading their favorite books directly from their Android phone. Features of the Kindle app include: * Buy Once, Read Everywhere – Amazon's Whispersync technology syncs your bookmark across devices, so you can pick up where you left off.
* With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books purchased from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online, where they can be re-downloaded at any time.
* The largest selection of books people want to read. The U.S. Kindle Store now has more than 700,000 books, including New Releases and 107 of 111 New York Times Bestsellers. Over 575,000 of these books are $9.99 or less, including 80 New York Times Bestsellers. "We're very excited to bring Kindle for Android directly to Verizon Wireless customers," said Jennifer Byrne, executive director, business development and partnerships for Verizon Wireless. "Our smartphones come with great screens that make buying and reading books simple and easy, and Amazon's commitment to reading and offering a seamless customer experience is directly in line with what our customers want." "Customers are already telling us they love Kindle for Android, and we think they are going to be excited to get their Verizon Wireless phones and other devices preloaded with the Kindle app," said Dave Limp, vice president, Kindle. "We are thrilled to be working with such an innovative company as Verizon Wireless and are excited to have Kindle for Android on these three phones and on other devices down the road." Customers can also find the app by searching for "Kindle" in Android Market™. For more information about the free Kindle app, go to www.amazon.com/kindleapps. For more information about Verizon Wireless, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.
Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Online Music/Video It looks like those sporting a BlackBerry will now be able to start using Rhapsody. The service seems to have been around for a little while, though it was in a closed beta form. The good news now, the beta has become public, which means any BlackBerry user can sign up and begin listening. Te sign up process is simple, just hit the read link below from your BlackBerry and follow the prompts. Once signed up you will get a free 14 day trial, and then after it will set you back $9.99 for a Rhapsody Premier membership which gives you unlimited streaming of their more than 10 million tracks. Read [Rhapsody Labs] Via [CrackBerry] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Web Browsers 
It looks like Android users will soon have another option in terms of choosing a web browser. According to details posted on the Opera website, Opera Mobile should be available in the Android Market “within a month.” And keep in mind, this is Opera Mobile, not the Opera Mini that we currently have available. As to what this means in terms of features, the Opera website lists Opera Mobile for Android as offering two important items—pinch to zoom and hardware acceleration. What is Hardware Acceleration?
Hardware Acceleration allows Opera Mobile to run at lightning speed. Navigating a page will be faster than ever, and the improvements to the UI will be momentous. All this is made possible by taking full advantage of the power available on your phone. Hardware Acceleration allows us to do amazing things like full pinch to zoom for all sites. It also allows us to have a more fluid interaction with the phone, improving your browser experience! What is Pinch to Zoom?
The current versions of Opera Mobile and Opera Mini have two levels of zoom. One for the full page width and one for zooming in to read the text. With Pinch to Zoom you will be able to choose your own level of zoom just like in Opera Desktop. Text will now be rendered at a per character level and zooming in will be a fluid zoom from page-width down to the text you want to focus on.
Read [Opera] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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