Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Netbooks Common now folks, I know you’ve wanted it so badly when we announced that the Creative Ziio Android tablet passed through the FCC. If you’ve been yearning for the time to own this tablet baby, that time is now. Creative has just put out an official product page for the Android-packing Creative Ziio tablet with a link to purchase it of course. Touted by Creative as the next evolution in wireless digital entertainment and mobile computing, the Creative Ziio Android tablet sports an extremely compact, portable and lightweight form factor and design. It offers excellent audio capability using X-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity - allowing you to enjoy high quality wireless audio streaming on compatible Bluetooth headsets or speakers. The same audio quality also applies when using the tablet for games and consuming internet content. Of course, it’s an Android tablet so you’ll also get to enjoy Internet, emails, eBooks and various Android apps with it. The Creative Ziio Android tablet is available in 8GB and 16GB iterations and will set you back for $269.99 and $249.99 respectively. Product [Creative Ziio] Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones  If you live in Canada and happen to own the Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant smartphone, hopefully you didn’t already update it to Android 2.2 because many people are reporting issues with upgrading. In fact, the issues are so prevalent that Samsung has temporarily pulled all future Android 2.2 updates to the Canadian Vibrant until the issue can be further examined. After upgrading to Froyo, many users reported issues of the phone dying and becoming a brick. Naturally, the phone experience should improve with Froyo, not become a brick.
Samsung announced through its Facebook page that it has “temporarily suspended” updates and will hopefully get the fixed update back and running shortly. The full message can be read below: "We are continuing to investigate issues that some users have reported while completing the upgrade to Android 2.2. In the interim, we are taking the extra precaution of temporarily suspending the upgrade as a download from Kies. We apologize for the inconvenience and ask that clients contact 1-800-751-4078 or sh.support@samsung.com if they have any further questions."
Via [MobileSyrup] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Smartphones Verizon Wireless is preparing to push a Droid 2 Global update out to all users hopefully in the coming days. No, it is not the new version of Android, but a software update that should improve the overall user experience of the device. Apparently the above document was compiled on December 7, so it should only be a matter of time before Verizon Wireless makes it official. In any case, the update is expected to bring these improvements: Improvements:
+ Device now prepends 011 to Country Code to send SMS messages.
+ Device no longer indicates "No Service" after powering up.
+ Device no longer resets when changing from Global Mode to GSM/UMTS communication.
+ Device now refreshes the user interface display when switching from GSM/UMTS to Global Mode.
+ Eliminated the blank screen when dialing the call forwarding string *71. Other improvements:
+ Improved audio during voice calls.
+ Reduced user interface lock-ups.
With the new update, your Motorola Droid 2 Global will be operating on version 2.4.330. Via [Droid-Life] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile, Trade Shows, CES Just yesterday Phandroid leaked several pictures of the very thin and bright LG B Android smartphone. Unfortunately, specs, availability, and pricing details were hard to come by, but a piece of the puzzle has been solved as LG tweeted some interesting information by accident. A tweet LG promptly removed stated the LG B smartphone will make an appearance at CES 2011 in early January, therefore it would be reasonable to expect the device to launch shortly afterwards. Unless more details leak between now and CES 2011, be sure to check back when CES 2011 rolls around for announced information and official pictures. Via [Phandroid] Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Apple, Communications, Smartphones, Mobile  For those who are asking what would be the future of the dictionary, the answer is right on the App Store and it goes by the app name - Word Lens. If this is not the coolest app that ever hit the App Store since its inception, it should at least be the coolest iPhone app for 2010. Simply put, Word Lens is an augmented reality app that translates words that your iPhone scan into another language. Right now, the app only has the English to Spanish, Spanish to English language translation pack. But more languages will be supported soon. Aside from the cool augmented reality translation tool, this app also does another cool thing. Two cool things, in fact. First is that you can scan printed words and you can let the app display it in backwards mode. Or you can scan these printed words and let the app delete it as you stare on your iPhone’s screen. Something like a digital wipe out technology. The app is free to download from the App Store. But to use the language pack, you have to purchase it for $4.99. It does not require online connection too. So you can use it anytime, anywhere. Hopefully, more languages will be available soon. If that happens - Word Lens iPhone app is detined for stardom. If you’re still not convinced that this app is cool, you better check out the demo video right after the product link below. Product [iTunes] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Haven’t caught all of the Gadgetell news this week? Here's your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles! - Flipboard iPad news reader adds Google Reader, Flickr and other new features
” Not resting on their laurels after their app was named App of the Year by Apple, the good folks responsible for the cool iPad news reader app - Flipboard has just issued an update to their app. The updated Flipboard…” MORE » - Android 2.2 coming to Nook Color in January [Update]
” Shortly after the launch of the Nook Color, the tablet was hacked to be able to run any Android apps, not just the apps Barnes & Noble had preloaded onto the device. It seemed to be worthwhile hack to get a…” MORE » - Website lets you track all Cr-48 shipments to your town
” Early last week Google announced it’s Pilot Program for those who want to try out the prototype Chrome notebook, the Cr-48. Late last week, with no real warning, Cr-48s started appearing on doorsteps, leaving some happy, and others wondering if…” MORE » - And the highest grossing app is: MLB.com At Bat 2010
” Forget Angry Birds, forget those $999 bar exam apps; the winner of this years highest grossing app has been awarded to MLB.com’s At Bat 2010. The app brings live video of every major league game plus extra features. The app earned the top rank across the all…” MORE » - Google adds personalized recognition to Voice Search Android app
” It looks like Google is on the roll today. Aside from making Google Voice app available for iPad and iPod Touch, Google has also introduced a new feature to its Voice Search app for Android devices running 2.2. This…” MORE » - MetroPCS offers up the Huawei Ascend Android phone
” Just in time for the holidays, MetroPCS has started offering the Huawei Ascend smartphone. If you’re a MetroPCS customer or you’re eyeing to get a new smartphone under MetroPCS contract, the Huawei Ascend is a good entry-level phone that should get…” MORE » - Google Voice app available for iPad and iPod Touch now
” Google Voice for iPhone was a much awaited app and so many rejoiced when it became available from the App Store a few weeks ago. But realizing the iPhone is not the only device that this app…” MORE » - HTC EVO Shift 4G image and release date leaked
” One of the hotter Android phones to be rumored as of late is the HTC EVO Shift 4G. AS the name implies, the EVO Shift 4G bears strong similarity to the popular HTC EVO 4G, but with a shift…” MORE » - Leaked images: Motorola 10-inch Android tablet with Verizon branding
” It looks like specs and images of that 10 inch Motorola tablet have been leaked. Granted, the images are slightly blurry, but that is not to say they are…” MORE » - “Now you want tablets?” Microsoft to show iPad challenger at CES?
” Microsoft has been trying to get tablets right since showing off this one at CES way back in 2000. Word is circulating this morning that, according to the…” MORE »
Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers, Features, Originals, Columns, Who's On Crack 
What's the most common phrase heard around the Gadgetell newsroom? Is it "I love Apple?", "that's cool!" or "sweet!"? Answer: none of them, it's "they are on crack." This week we take a look back at Holiday gifts marketers tried to convince us we need. As stress heats up for holiday sales, more and more folks turn to something else to keep the fires burning. Is it crack? Let’s find out: We love you R2, just not like that
Dell pushes Window Phone
Google announces App race
Waiting for an Android phone? 
R2 has a rough go on Verizon “The R2-D2 Droid 2 originally launched as a limited edition handset and was expected to sell out quickly, however it looks like that never happened. And so much so, the R2-D2 Droid 2 not only remains available months later, but Verizon has also cut the price,” - says Robert Nelson. Was this hard to see coming? While there’s a Star Wars super fan hiding inside many of us, showing that on the outside moves into the brash category. The R2-D2 edition Droid phone is a bit fashion forward, perhaps too much for all but those wishing to retain a bit of decency. We all don’t live in our Mom’s basement, Verizon. It’s all a bit much, isn’t it? Quantity on hand seems to indicate your product team is surrounded by the white stuff. And I don’t mean snow or Oreo filling. 
The fall of Windows Phones? Dell has pushed back the delivery of Windows Phone to…well…I stopped caring. Late and underwhelming seems to be the response to Windows Mobile, er Windows Phone 7 devices. And buggy. Our Shawn Ingram says, “after a problematic, limited launch the Dell Venue Pro is just running into more problems. The first devices, available only through Microsoft stores, seemed to have some issues with WiFi, and were generally hard to find. Now, just when the Venue Pro was set for it's full launch, the smartphone has been delayed a few weeks.” While surely far too early to declare these phones DOA, they seem to fail to deliver a “wow” experience. Will we see a revival after the new year? Word is an update is coming, but with the expected announcement of a Verizon iPhone, will any other news get noticed? 
Google says “on your mark, get set, go!” In reducing the app refund time from 24 hours to just 15 minutes, Google has created an underground App race as users race the clock in beating games in the alloted time. Our Robert Nelson explains, “the time has been shortened considerably, from 24 hours down to 15 minutes. In other words, this seems more to be a case of you still being able to get a refund if you truly make an accidental purchase or something crashes at launch. Otherwise, the whole buy and try for a day game is gone.” We expect David Pogue to release his latest book, “Beating RoboDefense in 14:59 for Dummies”. Area hospitals are reporting an uptick in treating people for dry eyes as blinking reduces gamers ability to beat games quickly. Think of the children! This holiday season, parents across the nation may download games and allow kids to play them for just 14 minutes. Welcome to short attention span theater. 
Android phone pricing reduction guide Fancy an Android phone? Sure, but you are a geek, which means you’ve got a problem (well, let’s be honest, you’ve got a few problems). Let’s start with an easy one: which phone? As a geek, you’re comparing specs. OS version, processor, commitment to updates, UI skins, form factor all come into play. But as a geek, you’re also underpaid. So you don’t want to overpay for a phone. That’s were trouble rolls in. Android phones seem to roll into free-land at a faster and faster pace. Announced at full $199 price then dropped to free on wirefly.com or letstalk.com by weeks end. OK, maybe not that quick, but it can sure seem like it. So you wait until the hottest Android phone drops to cheapville. Only then there is talk of a new OS on the horizon and the manufacturer you’ve picked is mum on updating to the new OS version. Only now, they’ve got a new slew of devices launching with the new X.X release. So now you are thinking about buying it at full price. But you know a reduction is just a few weeks away. Nuts. Round and round you go before you buy what you know in your heart is an already obsoleted kit. Short story: you can’t win. Happy Holidays! Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile  Amazing. That’s pretty much the easiest way to describe what Quest Visual has accomplished with their new iOS app Word Lens. The video below shows off just how cool and effortless translating text in augmented reality - that’s right - the text is replaced in near real time.
The app is currently free but Spanish to English or English to Spanish translation is $4.99 each. The app works great on fonts it can recognize, not so well on fonts it doesn’t. Hand written messages are out but this app could be hugely helpful for driving in foreign land (“what the heck does Ausgang mean?”); eating out can become a whole new experience as you can actually read the French menu. Though, scanning with your iPhone isn’t going to help exterminate that “geek” part of your persona… Check it out: [Quest Visual] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Websites  The title really says it all in this case, Yahoo! has confirmed that they will be shutting down the social bookmarking site del.icio.us. Sad but true, of course, I guess your level of sadness will depend on whether you actually used the service. Me personally, I did, and currently had 1970 bookmarks that I saved and in many cases shared with others. Of course, in the end I rarely if ever used the site to look back and it was pretty much a ‘read later” and/or ‘share links with friends’ type of service for me. With that, if you are a del.icio.us user and feel like it is important to get your bookmarks out, just head on over to the Export/Download Your Delicious Bookmarks page and have at it. Otherwise, it looks like it may be time to find a replacement service and for me and my usage with del.icio.us I am thinking Instapaper. Granted, it is not exactly the same, but it should fit with how I was using it. Plus, they have a decent mobile app, including one for the iPad. Via [TechCrunch] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers, Software / Applications, Wireless  Dropbox has announced their latest update, and this one brings the version number up to a nice milestone—1.0. And perhaps more important than that is the new features and improvements that have come along. To begin with, Dropbox version 1.0 is described as having “huge performance enhancements.” That said, according to Dropbox, what makes that so is;
“We completely re-architected the client-side sync engine to optimize the response time, scale, and resource consumption. Keeping track of millions of files can require lots of memory if not done properly. This version reduces memory usage by up to 50%. It's speedier and more efficient when handling big changes to your Dropbox while ensuring that smaller changes remain quick.”
Otherwise, there were improvements to the overall user experience such as better organization in the menus and on the Mac side the app was completely rewritten using Cocoa so now the app “looks and feels much more native on the Mac.” In addition you will also find selective sync and extended attribute sync which are described as follows; Selective Sync – If you have a netbook or a computer with a tiny hard drive, syncing your entire Dropbox isn't always a great idea. You also might not want certain files on your home computer to pop up on your work computer. Selective Sync solves these problems! You now can choose which folders get downloaded to which computers. This saves you time so you don't have to sync stuff you don't need. Extended Attribute Sync – Syncing resource forks have historically been a pain for Mac users. In case you don't know, resource forks are a secret area of a file that certain applications (like Quicken, Quark, and OmniGraffle) use to store important data. Most sync programs today completely ignore these forks, which results in a corrupted file on the other end. But worry not! Resource forks and other extended attributes now work great with Dropbox. Hooray!
Those using Dropbox can grab version 1.0 by heading to www.dropbox.com/install. Read [Dropbox Blog] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile While Dell seems to be struggling a bit on getting these original Venue Pro smartphones out into the hands of the customers that ordered them—we have word of another version, one that supports the AT&T bands. Of course, by AT&T bands we are talking about 3G and we are really only getting excited because we are here in the US. In reality, the same support could apply for those in Canada as well, including Rogers, Bell and/or Telus. That said, just because this has been spotted in an FCC filing does not mean we are going to see it actually come available. Still, we can hope. Read [FCC] Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 FROM GAMERTELL - Toys R Us is holding a sale December 17-18, 2010 with a few assorted deals. iPod nanos come with $15 gift cards, a 3 month Xbox Live Gold membership is $19.99, there’s a custom DS bundle and a few other games, accessories and electronics are discounted.
MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Amazon has rolled out the latest update in terms of their Kindle for Android app, which brings the version up to 2.0. Changes that you can expect to find include; - Buy and read over 100 Kindle newspapers and magazines
- Integrated store experience
- Share reading progress via social networks
- Zoom on images and graphics
- Turn pages using volume keys (enable in Kindle settings)
- Chapter title now shows in reader status bar
- Enabled “Move to SD Card”
- Bug fixes
With that, you can grab the latest update from the Android Market or by scanning the QR Code below… More Recent Articles | 
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