Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Web Apps Over the past few months Evernote as been at work redesigning the interface for all platforms. Today’s update brings a fancy new interface to the web version of Evernote that brings it more in line with the desktop apps. If you’ve used the Mac or Windows Evernote apps you’ll feel right at home with the new web design. The web app is split into three panels, notebooks on the far left, notes in a list in the middle panel, and the individual note you’re reading or writing on the far right. The web version now let’s users interact more with the content, so you can now stack notebooks simply buy dragging and dropping them. There’s also autosave, which is a bit overdue for the web version. Overall the features of the web version are essentially the same as those in the desktop apps. One interesting new feature is that Evernote on the web let’s you share notes with your friends on Facebook. Now you don’t need to know email addresses to share your information, or you can make sure all of your friends see your notes. Eventually you’ll be able to even share your notes via Twitter. Of course you can also still email the content to others, or just send them a link directly to the note or notebook. Evernote will be putting this feature into all the other versions soon, but for now it’s only on the web. Read [Evernote] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones Well, Spring has technically been here for just over a week so AT&T is starting it’s Spring cleaning sale. The sale puts a few smartphones on sale, one great Android phone, a couple of Windows Phone 7 phones and a couple of BlackBerry devices. Arguably the best phone of the pack, the Samsung Captivate has been knocked down to $99.99 for the sale. It’s still the same great Android phone, but now seems a bit last-gen with all these dual-core phones that are popping up. Still, a great buy if you don’t mind having slightly behind (but still great) hardware. For Windows Phone 7 you have the Samsung Focus and LG Quantum both down to $49.99 for the sale. Both are good devices for the platform. They each have the same specs on the inside, with some differences in software and design differences. The Focus is straightforward, a 9.9mm thick slate with no extra frills. The Quantum has a landscape keyboard and DLNA support via the Play To app. Otherwise, both solid choices if you’ve been looking for a cheap WP7 device. Finally there’s BlackBerry. AT&T has the Torch on sale for $49.99, which seems like a great price for the phone. There’s also the BlackBerry Curve on sale for $29.99. That’s perfect for a teenager who wants something like a smartphone but you know the phone will be broken or lost in a matter of weeks or months. Not a bad sale for smartphones, but it comes off a bit as AT&T might be trying to clear out some stock. The Captivate especially screams that. With the decision between a Captivate and the Atrix 4G, the Atrix 4G should win every time. That plus the fact that dual-core Galaxy S IIs are coming soon. Read [AT&T] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Downloads, Web Browsers Just on week after the successful launch of Firefox 4 for desktops, Mozilla has released the final version of Firefox 4 for Android. The browser brings the customizability of the desktop version to mobile and some interesting syncing features. Syncing is potentially the biggest feature of Firefox 4 for Android. The browser will sync your bookmarks, history, passwords and open tabs with the desktop version. If you have a tab open on your PC that you want to view on your phone, just tap a button on the home screen to select the tab. As you’d expect with any Firefox release, Firefox 4 for Android has Personas built in so you can change the theme of the browser to suit your mood. The customization extends to add-ons as well, developers will be able to release add-ons for the mobile browser just like the desktop version. Firefox 4 for Android also includes the “Awesome Bar” from the desktop version so the URL bar is also your search bar, which really is how it should be on every browser. Also of note is the fact that Firefox 4 for Android eschews Flash for HTML5. Like the desktop version, the mobile browser supports HTML5 including location, device orientation, accelerometer, and desktop notifications. Perhaps Flash will be supported via an add-on of some sort, but the browser by default only has HTML5 support. That might make it a good option for regular browsing that doesn’t need Flash, especially if you use Firefox as your main desktop browser. Read [Mozilla] and [Android Market] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers The state of New York will not become a victim of the proposed AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile if Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has anything to say about it. Schneiderman will look over the proposal and pick out anything he determines to be a potential threat to competition among wireless providers in New York. Much like Sprint’s disapproval of the buyout, Schneiderman is concerned with rising prices. He notes that cell phones are a necessity to millions of people. He believes that by combining AT&T and T-Mobile, the low-cost plans offered by T-Mobile could be lost. The result of this will end up costing New York citizens more money for wireless service. Verizon and AT&T will be the two dominant forces in the wireless industry if AT&T’s proposal is approved. This will give the two companies access to almost 80% of wireless customers in the country. As two of the only big competitors in the market, there would be little reason to lower prices. “Affordable wireless service and technology, including smart phones and next generation handheld devices, are the bridge to the digital broadband future,“Schneiderman said in a press release. “We want to ensure all New Yorkers benefit from these important innovations that improve lives.” At the same time, Schneiderman will examine the potential benefits of a merger such as improved wired and wireless connectivity in rural areas. Schneiderman wants the benefits to outweigh the setbacks created by less competition. Via [Office of the New York Attorney General] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile LauncherPro, the launcher replacement app for Android has recently been updated. This newest release brings the version up to 0.8.4 and with that comes some new features for both Plus and Free users. In terms what each group can expect, here is the list of new features for Plus users; - Facebook login (for the Facebook widget) is now handled through the official Facebook app where available. This should help people with low DPI devices who were having throuble logging in before.
- Updated the Twitter API backend to fix some issues that some people were having with status updates.
- New Gmail widget! (Side note: Oh boy, this widget has been giving me lots of trouble to code. Since there's no officially supported Gmail API in Android, there's pretty much no documentation whatsoever on it). You can choose the source Gmail account, so you if you have multiple Gmail accounts, you can have a widget for each one of them. My intention was to have the widget simply open conversations in the official Gmail app when you click on them, but unfortunately 3rd party apps are not allowed to open that part of the Gmail app directly, so I had to create my own internal viewer to view them. It's not as full-featured as the official app but it should be enough for most users. Replying to emails is handled by the official Gmail app (we can launch that part of it from 3rd party apps).
And for the LauncherPro Free users; - Gingerbread fixes and improvements. The 3D app drawer has been fixed to work properly on Gingerbread. Other tweaks should provide much improved graphics performance (smoothness) on Gingerbread as well.
- New homescreen transition effects: "Flip" and "Rotate 2″. The old "Flip" effect is now named "Flip 2″. If anybody can come up with better names for these transitions, I'm open to suggestions
Lastly, for those wanting to check out the Plus version who have remained on the free version because they did not like the PayPal upgrade method—rest assured because LauncherPro Plus “will soon be available to buy through the Android Market.” And my 2 cents for those who have never used LauncherPro, I run it (LauncherPro Plus) on an older Droid Eris as a replacement to HTC Sense and have to say the performance and features that it offers are great. Via [Twitter @fedecarnales] and [LauncherPro] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, Lifestyle, Reviews, Features, Originals - What: MyAssist live, personal assistance services.
- Why: Because just about everyone could use a little help from time to time.
- Where: On the phone, by email or using the iOS, Android or BlackBerry app.
- Buy: $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year
- Bottom line: read on to find out more in this respect
What: Just to begin with, MyAssist is a personal assistance service and comes with a tagline of “simply making life easier for you and your business.” But perhaps a little more important than a tagline, MyAssist offers personal assistance at a fair price with 24/7/365 availability. Well, truth be told I would describe that price as more than fair, but more on that later in the post. Why: The why here comes with a brief thanks which goes out to Xavier Lanier, who is the publisher of Notebooks.com and GottaBeMobile.com because without his positive reviews—I may not have ever found, or realized that I could benefit from the service. Moving on though, I do not claim to be all that important of a person, nor would I say that I am overly busy. What I would say is that I value my time and that is where the benefit of MyAssist comes into play for me. Just as a background, I work entirely as a freelancer and because of that I am always putting a value on my time. In other words, even if I only use MyAssist one time per month for a task or research that would take me 30 minutes—I am still coming out ahead of the game. As for what MyAssist can do—lots. Or so I am learning. I have been a customer for about a month now and so far I have had them perform a few tasks for me. One was as simple as finding something that my daughter needed for school and another was finding a location and booking a massage for my wife. And as you can see, these are both relatively simple tasks, but what you cannot see is that they each took a few phone calls and that means time. For example, the task for my daughter required some work to find the items (locally and in stock) and the task for my wife required them to find a location (at a price and date/time that meet my request) and arrange an appointment time. If I were to be doing those, that would have easily taken 30 to 60 minutes of my time—time that I could otherwise be working and earning money or time that I could be spending with my wife and daughters. I have also used them to help find a local family doctor that took our insurance. Granted, the final decision came down to me in this request, however they provided me a list of several doctors that took my insurance, were within a few miles from my home and most important—were currently accepting new patients. Where: The where could be described as everywhere as MyAssist can be used in a variety of methods. They have the standard by phone and by email. Plus, they also have an app available for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry. Basically, if you need assistance it is simple enough to request. Me personally, I tend to send my requests using the iPhone app. Buy: I mentioned earlier in the post that I thought the price as more than fair. And for me that more than fair comes at $9.99 per month (with the first month free) or $99.99 per year. Personally I signed up for the monthly plan, but am already realizing that was a mistake and that I should have signed up for a year right from the beginning. Bottom line: If you value your time and want to free up some time that you would normally have to set aside for tasks then MyAssist may be worth checking out. So far my experience has been wonderful, though learning. For example, the more specific you are the better results you will get. Of course, it all comes down to the reps on the other end and so far they have been friendly, knowledgable and always in communication. Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile It seems that it should go without saying that most who follow tech blogs have seen the issues with Windows Phone 7 updates. Needless to say, it seems the update process has not gone as planned and while the end users are likely frustrated—it seems Microsoft is also rather frustrated and that has brought forth and apology from Joe Belfiore; “Many of you are making critical comments here which are certainly fair. First, I was wrong when I said "most people have received the February update." There are many of you who have yet to receive it, and I don't blame you for speaking up and pointing out my mistake. Second, I referred to our updates as "complete" because I was thinking of the internal process where we pass completed software to another group who delivers them – but of course no update is complete until you all have it. Plus, at the time I did the interview we had started the NoDo ("march update") delivery process and I knew "it was going well" from our perspective: people were officially getting it, the success rate of its deployment on real-world phones was looking good, and we were happy that the process had STARTED well. Still—these are NOT the same as all of you getting it and I'm sorry that I came across as insensitive to that fact.”
And for those still waiting; “We know the table would benefit greatly from more detail, and we are hoping to add more to it by working with the Operators who own the "testing" phase to get more clarity. If your phone is shown in "scheduling", it'll be worth checking the table next week.”
Lastly, for those wondering about the “table” listed in that last statement, you can find the links for the US and International tablets in this previous Gadgetell post. Via [Channel9] and [All Things D] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile HTC, well HTC France has tweeted the good news—the HTC EVO 3D is coming to France. The message was simple and to the point reading as follows; Un #HTC Evo 3D pour la France ça vous dit ? Nous oui ! Et même qu’il garde le même nom ;) Date de dispo non confirmée.
Which for those not speaking French, that (thanks to Google Translate) translates to; “A # HTC for France Evo 3D anyone? Yes we are! And it even keeps the same name) available date unconfirmed.”
And that is not only good news for those in France looking for a larger displayed Android smartphone, but also interesting in general because the handset is going to retain the EVO branding. That said, the specs for the EVO 3D include a 4.3 inch display, dual-core 1.2GHz processor, Android 2.3 Gingerbread and the ability to record HD video at 1080p and 3D video at 720p. Via [Twitter @HTC_Fr] and [Coolsmartphone] and [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Online Music/Video  Word on the interwebs is that Slacker is finally going to launch their on-demand service next month. And while I would like to see that happen—I will believe it when it happens. This mythical on-demand music service was first confirmed way back in October of last year and then the news went quiet. Well quiet until January when CES happened and it was tipped to be coming “very very soon.” Oh, and that on-demand music service, that was also set to arrive with an iPad app, but wait, its now March and we still have not seen the iPad app or any further news of that either. Bottom line here, IntoMobile is reporting that the Slacker on-demand music service will arrive in the middle of April. We here at Gadgetell are hopeful, but will file this under the category of—we will believe it when it happens. Yup, we love Slacker, but their promises and announcements leave something to be desired. That said, the on-demand service is expected to be priced at $9.99 per month and will be released in addition to the Slacker Radio Plus and Free accounts. Via [IntoMobile] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware, Laptops Lenovo has just put up for sale its new 14-inch ThinkPad Edge E420s as it prepares another one, the ThinkPad Edge E220s up for sale by April 8. We’ll have more of the ThinkPad Edge when it’s already available for purchase. But in the meantime let’s see what the new Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420s has to offer and whether it deserves our hard-earned bucks. The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420s boasts of a 14-inch Infinity Glass Display which according to Lenovo features and edge-to-edge glass alongside a fingerprint reader and a new matte black lid. It is loaded with a 2.1GHz Core i3-2310M processor, a HD webcam, 4GB of RAM and 250GB of HDD. The laptop’s has a 48.8Wh battery pack and screen resolution of 1366x768. If you want to bump up this laptop’s specs a bit, you can opt to get an i5-2310M CPU instead which shall give you a 2.3GHz default clock speed. This machine goes up for $699 from the Lenovo Online Shop. If you order now, expect it to arrive on your doorsteps within 8 days. Product [Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420s] Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Video, Video Providers, Web Netflix is offering a new option for Canadian users that in a perfect world it wouldn’t have to give to anyone. That is the option to cap the amount of data Netflix uses by limiting the quality of the streams. Netflix is offering the options to Canadians because of the bandwidth caps imposed on Internet users in the country. To help Netflix has offered three different tiers of video quality: Good, Better and Best, At the lowest, “Good” level you get video streams at 625 kbps and 64 kbps for audio. If you stream 30 hours of content a month that adds up to 9Gb used per month (0.3GB per hour). At “Better you get 1300 kbps for video and192 kbps for audio, which adds to 20GB for 30 hours (0.7GB per hour). “Best” gives you the highest streams Netflix has available which maxes out at 4800 kbps for video and 384 kbps for audio. If all your content is of the highest quality you’l use 67GB for 30 hours. The number can fluctuate, but needless to say you’ll be using a lot of data. Netflix has started users at “Good,” and they have to bring the quality up if they’re willing to sacrifice their bandwidth to watch movies and TV. It would be nice to say that Netflix hopefully won’t have to bring this to the US, but that seems unlikely. Let’s hope Netflix gives these options to U-verese subscribers when their bandwidth caps start up. With any luck these bandwidth management options won’t be needed for too long. Read [Netflix Blog] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware, Laptops Acer has announced that its dual screen Iconia 6120 Touchbook is now available for pre-order in the U.S. and Canada. Boasting a dual 14-inch Gorilla Glass widescreen LED backlit LCDs, the Acer Iconia 6120 Touchbook features Intel Core i5 processor, Windows 7 Home Premium, integrated HD graphics, 4GB of RAM, USB 3.0, 640GB HDD, a 1.3MP camera, WiFi 802.11, and HDMI output to take care of your HD video playback on a larger screen. The Acer Iconia 6120 tablet is also pre-loaded with various Iconia touch-based apps which Acer named as AppCards. These apps fires up with a tap of a finger and include TouchBrowser, MyJournal, Social Jogger, Scrapbook, TouchPhoto, TouchMusic and TouchVideo. Alright, enough of these details and lets go to the most important information - price. The Acer Iconia 6120 TouchBook will set you back for $1,199.99 and will be available by April. Via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Mobile, Gadgets / Other Want to get multiple devices on Verizon’s LTE network without buying a Thunderbolt? Well, Samsung’s LTE Mobile Hotspot is here a few days early to help with that. The Samsung SCH-LC11 Mobile Hotspot was rumored to be launched on March 31, but is already on Verizon’s website. It will support not only LTE, but EVDO Rev. 1, and 1x as well. With it you can connect up to five devices to any of Verizon’s networks over WiFi. The device will run you $99.99 on a two year contract, after the $50 mail-in rebate. For data plans you can choose from 5GB a month for $50 or 10Gb a month for $80. Keep in mind you’ll be paying those costs each month for the next two years, so be sure to choose wisely. If you’re constantly on the road in LTE-covered areas, it’d probably be a wise investment. Otherwise, getting an LTE phone with mobile hotspot might be more cost-effective over time (assuming you’re using a smartphone in both plans). Read [Verizon] via [Engadget] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Communications, Smartphones, Web Amazon just beat Apple and Google at their own game with the launch of Cloud Player and Cloud Drive. Amazon is letting customers upload music to their Cloud Drive and play it back by using Cloud Player on the web or with an Android app. Amazon’s service works like this: every Amazon customer is given the use of Cloud Drive with 5 GB of free data. Whenever you buy an MP3 or album from Amazon you are given the option to save it either to your computer or Cloud Drive. When you save it to the Cloud Drive you can play the song or album on any browser using Cloud Player or on an Android device using the Cloud Drive app. If you buy an MP3 album any time this year you are given an upgrade to 20 GB of Cloud Drive storage. That storage can also be used to store music not from Amazon MP3, just upload it to you Cloud Drive and it’ll show up in Cloud Player. Cloud Drive can also store any other files, just like Dropbox but without the sharing. The best part about all of this? Unless you choose to upgrade to a larger Cloud Drive the service is free. The upgrades are paid once a year, so it’s not even a monthly fee. Amazon just solved the biggest problem with music on Android, syncing. Now there is no need for syncing. If your’e like me and like to buy music over user subscription services lik Rdio or Pandora, this is fantastic news. Even if you don’t need music on your Android device, it’s great for those who use secondary computers like a MacBook Air or Cr-48, no more worries about music taking up storage, or not having access to storage for your music. Now if only Amazon would create an iOS app for Cloud Player. Read [Amazon] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks Getting hard numbers on eReader sales can be tough, nobody wants to give hard numbers on how many they sold. We still don’t have any exact numbers, but Digitimes is giving an estimate as to how many Nook Colors Barnes & Noble has been able to ship. According to Digitimes, which talked to parts suppliers for the Nook Color, Barnes & Noble has shipped about 3 million units of the eReader. That number would give the Nook Color over 50 percent of the iPad-competitor market, which says a lot about the competition and the iPad itself. Of course, shipment estimates don’t mean nearly as much as units sold. Barnes & Noble doesn’t seem to have the $250 tablet on back-order, so it should be safe to say that the number sold is a bit less than 3 million. Barnes & Noble has said that the Nook Color was it’s best selling product of the 2010 holiday season, and that’s probably the best we’ll get out of the company for now. With the upcoming update that brings apps and Flash we could see more sales of the device. It’s stil the best inexpensive iPad-competitor out there, and that update will only make it stronger. Read [Digitimes] via [VentureBeat] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Apple, Communications, Accessories, Mobile  Vogel’s announced a product today that can be seen as creative or just plain silly. The RingO universal tablet mounting system will be available internationally (aka the US) in late April. When it is released, prices will range from $69.99 for the Starter Pack to $99.99 for the Car Pack.
RingO supports tablets such as the iPad, iPad 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. There currently isn’t any support for the Motorola Xoom, but Vogle’s will announce more mounting solutions for other tablets eventually. The idea behind the RingO is simple. Should you want to watch something on your tablet, but don’t have the means to hold it, RingO is used to mount the tablet to the wall. The RingO cover snaps onto the back of the tablet. The RingO cover also has a circular impression on its back that different mounts can fit into. One mount puts the tablet on the wall, another mount connects to a car seat and the flexible mount can position the tablet at different angles. So how does your tablet actually stick on the wall? Well you can either screw the mount into a surface, or buy the adhesive mount. The wall mount allows for 360 degrees of movement, though it wouldn’t be unusual if you feel uneasy about your iPad’s safety in this predicament. I can see the practical use for the car mount. In the event that the tablet does fall, it’s not likely to break in the car. Also, it can provide great backseat entertainment for the kiddos. Site [Tablet on the Wall] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks, Web, Websites  A few hours ago the New York Times put up it’s paywall so it can finally start charging for it’s content on the web. There are subscriptions available that give you unlimited access to the website, from your smartphone, and from tablets. If you already subscribe to the Times on the Kindle you don’t have to worry about getting another subscription to read the website.
Amazon has announced that Kindle subscribers will be able to access NYTimes.com for free like any other subscriber. There is no date for when that will happen, though. Subscribers will get an email “in the coming weeks” with the details, so until then it seems they’re out of luck. At least they still get full access to the Kindle version of the Times. When those subscribers do get full acces to the website it will be the same as if they paid to get the iPad app version of the paper. It’s not clear if they will get the same access to the Chrome Web app that iPad users get, though. The only unfortunate aspect is that the Kindle subscription only works on Kindle devices, and not in the Kindle apps. The next big question is whether or not Nook subscribers or subscribers to the Times on any other eReader will get the same access. Read [BusinessWire] via [TechCrunch] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers No other company stands more firmly against AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA than Sprint. If the FCC approves the bid, Sprint will become the smallest nationwide cellular provider in the country behind AT&T and Verizon. AT&T could grow to be almost three times the size of Sprint as far as revenue is concerned. In a statement today, Sprint says the approval of the acquisition would create a duopoly of the wireless industry in America. One of Sprint’s biggest concerns is over competition. A combined AT&T and T-Mobile would create a David and Goliath situation for Sprint. It would be almost impossible for Sprint to match AT&T’s reach and customer base. AT&T could also gain an enormous amount of control over pricing in the cellular phone market. The less companies there are competing for customers, the more large companies can charge for services. They can do this because customers don’t have the luxury of shopping around. Even if those customers do find an alternative, it most likely won’t offer the same breadth of features the big companies have. Vonya McCann, the senior vice president of government affairs for Sprint said the following about the acquisition. This transaction will harm consumers and harm competition at a time when this country can least afford it. As the first national carrier to roll out 4G services and handsets and the carrier that brought simple unlimited pricing to the marketplace, Sprint stands ready to compete in a truly dynamic marketplace. So on behalf of our customers, our industry and our country, Sprint will fight this attempt by AT&T to undo the progress of the past 25 years and create a new Ma Bell duopoly.
The best case scenario for Sprint (besides a flat-out denial from the FCC) would be for AT&T to divest some percentage of T-Mobile USA. Sprint could purchase those divestments and give itself more of a fighting chance. Via [Sprint] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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