Section: Communications, Smartphones It was just a few weeks ago that HP announced the arrival of WebOS 2.0. Since then the new OS has been on exactly one device, the Pre 2. There hasn’t been much talk about WebOS 2.0 on other devices. Now we know that the update will be coming to all recent Palm devices soon. At the WebOS Developer Days, Palm’s Developer Advocate Josh Marinacci said that “all” Palm devices would be getting WebOS 2.0 “in the coming months.” So that means anyone with a Palm Pre, Pixi or the Plus versions of either phone. The time frame isn’t exactly specific, but it’s at least better than nothing. Hopefully Palm learned from Android that these updates need to come relatively quickly before developers and users start complaining about fragmentation. Strangely, while there are devices shipping with WebOS 2.0, and the updated OS is coming to other devices soon, the SDK is still in beta under NDA. It should be available to the public by the time the OTA comes around, which seems weird. Then again, Apple puts iOS updates updates in beta before release, but all you need to do is pay the fee to get access, rather than apply for the Early Access Program like HP requires. Read [PreCentral] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks With each successive Kindle Amazon has increased it’s hold on the eBook market. There have always been a few missing features, however. With the holidays approaching quickly, Amazon has seen fit to add one of those missing features. Starting today Amazon customers will be able to gift eBooks to other users. It seems like a small features, but it’s one that has been missing until now. previously you had to give the other person an Amazon gift card and tell them to spend it on the eBook f your choice. All you need is the recipient’s email address to gift the eBook. Along with the eBook, you can send a 300 character message in the email that tells your loved one they received the book. As with iTunes gifting, the user gets the email right away, so you’ll have to plan accordingly. If your friend doesn’t like the eBook your bought them, they can exchange it for and Amazon gift card, so they can buy another eBook, or anything else from Amazon.com. Read [Amazon] via [CNBC] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones Every year it seems the Holiday deals start a little bit earlier. Traditionally, things kick off on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), but now retailers can’t wait to start offering deals and increase sales. For example, Amazon Wireless has a deal running through this weekend in which the HTC Droid Incredible, Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2, and the Motorola Droid Pro are all available for a penny and the $35 activation fee is even waived. Amazon has a habit of putting hot new smartphones on sale for a penny, but it’s nice to see pretty much the best smartphones (one notable exception is the Samsung Fascinate) available on Verizon all available for a penny. Anyone looking to pick up a quality Droid device should definitely consider this deal. Check it out [Amazon Wireless] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones The Motorola DROID PRO was officially available for purchase starting yesterday through Verizon Wireless for $179 on a two year contract. Naturally, third party retailers usually undercut the carrier’s pricing as Best Buy is offering the sleek Android smartphone for $99 on contract. Through Best Buy, you are getting the same phone for $70 cheaper and you do not have to worry about mail-in-rebates. Of course, you could shop with Wirefly and only spend $49 on the DROID PRO, while the only drawback to shopping online for the phone is that you won’t be able to test it out for yourself before spending the cash and inking a new contract. Via [Droid-Life] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Audio, Car Audio, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Transportation 
According to a new report from J.D. Powers, owners of vehicles with factory-installed navigation devices are using portable navigation devices (PND) and smartphones as their primary navigation choice. The study by J.D. Powers set out to rank customer satisfaction of these units and found a large number of owners opting to use something else to get the job done. The Clarion system supplied in Ford Fusions ranked #1 in customer satisfaction. Ease of use, lower costs and more up-to-date mapping were reasons factory installed options are failing owners. For some, navigating on factory units is cumbersome and a completely different experience than perhaps the PND they’ve become used to. Lower costs for alternative navigation is also a factor J.D. Powers pointed to. “Portable navigation devices and smartphone navigation both offer a less expensive and more convenient alternative to a factory-installed navigation system,” said Mike Marshall, director of automotive emerging technologies at J.D. Power and Associates. “As these options become more prevalent, it’s important that suppliers take into account some of the features that make these systems preferable—such as ease of use and less expensive and more frequent updates for maps and points of interest—and incorporate them into factory-installed navigation systems to better satisfy customer needs. In addition to addressing these key issues, prices of factory-installed navigation systems need to stay competitive with these other navigation devices growing in popularity.” Indeed, even free services, such as the experience found in some Android devices, are very simple and feature simple voice input to get destination information. Smartphone GPS navigation has come a long way and continues to get easier to use with each iteration. Read: [Virtual Press Office] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Web, Websites  People on the street are always stopping us to ask, “where are people in Argentina surfing to on the net?” Well today, I can provide an honest answer: Microsoft, Google and Facebook. comScore has released their State of the Internet Argentina report that puts the three popular US sites at the top of their destination list.
Facebook looks to be a hit, jumping 54% since last year in visits from friend-seeking Argentinians. Microsoft sites and Google sites also showed modest gains while overall traffic only climbed 9%. For this report, traffic from internet cafes and mobile phones were excluded. “The online channel in Argentina has experienced expansive growth in the past year with more people accessing the Internet and engaging with online content,” said Sebastian Yoffe, comScore country manager for Argentina and Uruguay. “As one of the largest Internet markets in Latin America, Argentina represents an attractive environment for local and global brands to engage consumers that are turning to the Internet with increasing regularity.” Read: [comScore] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile 
Meet Cox Wireless, an expansion of their broadband offerings. The company believes customers are underserved by the big wireless carriers and live in fear of surprise bills. Cox Wireless is being rolled out to Orange County, CA; Hampton Roads, Va.; and Omaha, Neb. One of the most innovative concepts of Cox’s “Unbelievably Fair” wireless plans is MoneyBack Minutes. This program rewards customers who do not consume all their wireless minutes with money. Customers can be rewarded up to $20 per month for unused minutes. Money back is an industry first for unused minutes, according to Cox. To remove the “surprise bill” sting, Cox will text users when they approach their plans limits. One other benefit is for home broadband bundled customers who get to pick a free premium channel, just for being bundle customers. Cox is offering a slew of Android phones, from the Motorola Milestone to HTC Hero and Desire, to the LG Axis. Not a bad stable of smartphones. Feature phones are also offered. “Wireless consumers have long been underserved on customer service,” said Gary McCollum, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Cox Virginia. “With our customer-centric approach, we’re delivering much more than excellent network coverage and call quality. We went a step further by introducing new services and features to the Cox bundle that were built on fairness. Plus, with a robust portfolio of devices, a nationwide 3G network and award-winning customer service customers have come to expect from us, Cox delivers on the most important attributes of wireless service.” This looks to be the delayed launch we told you about in January. Company site: [Cox Wireless] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile Another day another set of Black Friday deals, except this one, which is coming from US Cellular will begin on Monday and run all week. And for those without a calendar handy, that is from November 22nd through November 29th. According to the details in the press release, the savings will include the LG Apex and Samsung Acclaim for free (after an $80 mail-in-rebate) as well as the Samsung Mesmerize for $99.99 (after an $80 mail-in-rebate) and the HTC Desire for $49.99 (after an $80 mail-in-rebate). Granted, these are all after rebates which means you still have to pay up front, but in the same respect, a Samsung Mesmerize for $99.99 is a pretty sweet deal. Read [PR Newswire] Via [AndroidGuys] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, VoIP, Web, Google A few weeks back we mentioned that a Google Voice app was coming to webOS, and well, the good news is that it has arrived. The app is called Voogle and is currently available in the App Catalog with a $1.99 price tag. “Voogle is a Google Voice client for webOS. With Voogle, you can read and listen to your voice messages, listen to recorded calls, make calls from your Google Voice number and text from within the app.”
The Voogle app features goodies including access to your Inbox, Starred, Voicemail, Texts, Recorded, Placed, Received, Missed, All and Unread folders and has an interface that is described as being “very similar to webOS’ default interface.” All said and done, the app seems to be rather nice, though I will admit some future updates and new features will be very welcomed. That said, it is still very nice to have a Google Voice app available for webOS again. Download [Palm] Via [webOSroundup] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks, Miscellaneous  Many have drooled over the nice looks of the DODOcase for the iPad, and now you can do the same with the DODOcase for the Kindle. The latest offering from DODOcase is available for the third generation Kindle and comes sporting a $49.95 or $54.95 price tag. These cases are all hand made and are said to be pretty sweet looking. They are made from black faux leather and “constructed using traditional bookbinding techniques.” In other words, these are made by hand and not mass produced. That means two things, first they should be well made and second is that you need to be prepared to wait a few weeks should you order, because they are made by hand after all. According to the DODOcase website, it takes 2-3 weeks to get your order. And back to the price, the $49.95 price tag includes the red lining. The other colors are priced at $54.95 and include green, sky blue, dark blue, pink and charcoal. Just like that you can make your ebook look that much more like a regular book. Read [DODOcase] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Apple, Computers, Mobile Computers Those who may have been hoping to secure an Apple iPad for a nice discount may want to give their local TJ Maxx outlet store a call before heading out shopping. It seems that at least some of the TJ Maxx locations are selling the iPad, more specifically the 16GB iPad with Wi-Fi for $399. Which for those keeping track—that is a $100 savings. Not bad, especially considering we usually do not see such deep discounts on Apple products. That said, here is the warning. According to the reports some of the TJ Maxx locations have this available and some do not. Furthermore, some that do seem to be holding the stock back for Black Friday. Bottom line, give them a call before you rush out the door. Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Wireless, Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation  ALK Technologies have offered an update for the CoPilot Live HD North America app on the iPad. This latest update brings the app up to version 8.2.0.371 and arrives as a free update for those who had previously made the purchase. Otherwise, the app is $29.99 (and speaking from experience, this is well worth the money.) I will say it is a big download though, so be prepared to take up some serious space on your iPad—1.33GB. Of course, that large size is due to the map data being pre-loaded (which helps when you are in areas of spotty coverage). And speaking of the map data, that is one of the items that were updated in this latest update.
“A complete map update featuring the latest Q3 2010 North America map data. Adds thousands of new miles of roads in the U.S. and Canada and hundreds of map improvements submitted by customers.”
In addition to the new maps, those who make the download can now also get a 30 day free trial of ActiveTraffic, which is an “enhanced Live Traffic service that uses real-time traffic conditions to intelligently avoid traffic congestion and provide the fastest route to your destination.” And lastly, there is now also a way to submit map update requests from within the CoPilot Live app. All said and done, a nice update. Download [CoPilot Live HD North America (App Store link)] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers It looks like that press release from last week was indeed accurate—the Archos 70 and Archos 101 Internet Tablets are now showing as available on the Archos website. The Archos 70 is priced at $274.99 and the Archos 101 is priced at $299.99. Both tablets are the 8GB models. With that, and coming from how we have seen the Archos 32 and 43 come available and then quickly disappear—if you want either the 70 or 101 you may want to act sooner rather than later. In addition, it looks like the Archos 32 has made a return and is showing with a $149.99 price tag. Anyone interested can hit the links below to visit the Archos Store website. Product [Archos 70] and [Archos 101] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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