Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile  When the Palm Pre 2 launched earlier this year, O2 UK refused to carry the phone. Now it looks like the UK carrier won’t be showing any love to WebOS this summer either. At least not when it comes to the WebOS phones that have been announced.
Yesterday O2 UK responded to a customer who was having troubles with his original Pre, and was curious about the Pre 3 coming to the carrier. The response he got was “unfortunately we did not stock the Pre 2 and will not be stocking the Pre 3 either.” That was simple, the Pre 3 won’t be coming to O2 UK customers. Today, however, O2 is saying that while the Pre 3 won’t be coming to the carrier, other WebOS phones might. In a number of tweets responding to customers repeated “We offer a range of the best smartphones & although we're not selling Pre 3, we like webOS & are watching what HP do next!” Sounds like the carrier could be waiting for the rumored slate-style WebOS device with no physical keyboard. Or it could be that O2 doesn’t want to risk losing users over WebOS. Read [WebOS Roundup] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellphones, Cellular Providers, Mobile  A new and unannounced HTC smartphone has apparently reached the FCC table and was given the approval. As of right now, the smartphone goes by the name HTC Doubleshot. Although the FCC filings didn’t really specify the said name, it does however bears the model number HTC PG58100. And if you search for the said model number, you’ll get some information pertaining to it as the HTC Doubleshot. So, as we wait for HTC to say something about this smartphone, the FCC documents also revealed that it will be released by T-Mobile US since it has indication of the AWS (1700 MHz) support. Another site said that the HTC Doubleshot is actually the HTC Sensation 4G. But then, this is still unofficial information. In the meantime, since it already got the FCC approval, expect HTC to make an announcement about this new smartphone pretty soon. Hopefully, we’ll get more official information about this new smartphone as well, not just the rumored specs such as Android 2.3, full Qwerty keyboard, and the usual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo. Plus probably a camera with 6MP. via [Unwired View] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Smartphones, Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Google  If you take a quick stroll over to Google Maps in the Android Market, you’ll see that the application has been updated to version 5.4.0. This update doesn’t add anything massive to the already robust catalog of features Google Maps offers, but it does further capitalize on phone and web synchronization.
The update will take the searches you perform in the Google Maps application and share them with your Google web history on a computer. This is useful for when you want to remember a location you searched for on the go without having to whip out the phone again. You may have to enable this feature online before you can see that history. Clicking on the link will give you the same Google Maps information that you received on the phone. Another new feature is the ability to assist in the Google Navigation feature. If you discover that a location is not where Navigation said it would be, you can report that with a “destination not here” option. Finally, the new update presents each map search with more business details. Download [Google Maps] Read [Droid-Life] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Email / IM, Web, Web Apps, Google  How many email contacts can one actually has? I mean can you actually fill up your 10,000 contacts limit on Gmail? Apparently, the people at Google think so, as they just bumped up the limit to no 25,000. Interestingly, according to Google this feature was pushed due to requests of Gmail users who have exceeded their 10,000 contacts limit. Really? My Gmail contact could barely reach 200 and then some users have actually exceeded the 10,000 limit. Anyway, if you’re one of those who requested for this feature, you’re wish has been granted. You can now have up to 25,000 contacts on your Gmail account. The same also goes true if you are using Gmail via Google Apps. In addition, Google has also increased the file size of individual contact from the 32KB limit to 128KB. This goes for users who like to have more information and notes on individual contact entries in their Gmail account.
via [Gmail Blog] Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers Usually when we hear a carrier planning to change its current plans, good news doesn’t follow. Today is an exception. T-Mobile is going to alter its $50 and $70 prepaid monthly plans for talk, text and web access on May 22. Customers associated with these plans are getting a bit of an upgrade and the prices will remain the same. The current $70 prepaid monthly plan includes unlimited talk, text and 2GB of data. On May 22, the 2GB data cap will be upgraded to unlimited web access. Once again, the monthly bill will remain $70. The $50 monthly plan is for unlimited talk, text and 100MB of data. On May 22, the first 100MB will be at 4G speeds and any data speeds after that will be throttled. Naturally, you have to have a 4G device in order to get 4G speeds. Via [T-Mobile] Via [T-Mobile] Read [Tmo News] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Web, Google Google is rolling out yet another service that is accompanied by a nicely put together video. The new service is called Google Business Photos and it’s now taking applications. Google Business Photos is meant to give businesses a greater presence online by giving potential customers a sneak peak into what the interior of a business looks like. Businesses can place photos on a website at any time, but Google Business Photos operates more like an indoor version of Google Street View. Google will send photographers it hires to interested businesses to take panoramic photographs. The pictures will be located on the Place Page of the business. Business owners can also upload their own photos by signing in to Google Places. Photographers are currently visiting businesses in the U.S. Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. U.S. locations include St. Petersburg, San Antonio, Phoenix, Orange County and Bay Area, CA. Currently, Google is focusing on taking pictures of restaurants, hotels and non-chain retail establishments. Here’s that neat Google Business Photos video I mentioned earlier.  Site [Google Business Photos] Read [VentureBeat] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Smartphones  There are a couple more Xperia mini smartphones that Sony Ericsson revealed today. The Xperia mini and Xperia mini pro will be available around the world in the third quarter (perhaps August) of this year. Pricing has not yet been announced.
Both phones will come equipped with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and a 1Gz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Each phone will also shoot video in 720p HD and possess the Reality Display with Sony’s mobile Bravia Engine. The Xperia mini and mini pro also have a 3-inch touchscreen that is resistant to scratches. Sony Ericsson says that 16 separate applications can fit on the home screen at the same time. One of the features each phone will have is called Facebook inside Xperia. This feature allows Facebook to integrate within the music player, picture gallery, calender and phonebook. Facebook inside Xperia will be available on other Xperia phones this year. The Xperia mini pro will have a slide-out keyboard, but the Xperia mini will only have a multi-touch display. Read [Engadget] Also Read [SlashGear] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Computers, Mobile Computers, Software / Applications, Moblog At the keynote of BlackBerry World RIM announced that it would be bringing a native email client to the BlackBerry PlayBook this summer. Unfortunately the announcement at the keynote didn’t show too much. If you’re desperate to see more about the BlackBerry PlayBook native email client, RIM has a video for you to watch. The video will show you just how the client works, and it even shows a bit of calendar and contacts. The apps themselves don’t seem to exciting, but then again, how do you make an exciting email app? It certainly seems like they apps will do what they’re supposed to, complete with awkward thumb typing in landscape mode. The only estimate for these apps right now summer, but for PlayBook users let’s hope it’s scheduled for early summer.  Read [CrackBerry] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Audio, Portable Audio  The Sony Walkman has returned for yet another outing. The Walkman Music Clip NWZ-B160 was revealed today as the next line of portable and wearable Walkman MP3 players from Sony. The new B160 MP3 players come in a variety of colors such as red, pink, blue, black, and green. It won’t replace that iPod Touch you have, but it is an alternative for someone who just wants to listen to music from a simple device. A price hasn’t been announced, but we can expect to see the new Walkman Music Clips in stores in June 2011.
Because of its small size, the Walkman Music Clip is basically a USB drive that can play music. We don’t know how much space the Music Clip can hold at this time. Sony says that the Music Clip has a battery life of about 18 hours. However, charging the MP3 player for just three minutes will give it enough juice to soldier on for 90 minutes. Songs can be transferred to the device using Windows Media Player 11 or 12. Sony is also hyping up the integrated bass boost button. Bass boost is certainly nothing new, but the fact that it’s included in a MP3 player that is just 0.06 pounds is something worth noting. It also comes with a quick search feature called Zappin. Zappin lets you listen to a snippet of each song before getting to one you want to listen to completely. Read [The Walkman Blog] Also Read [Tech Radar] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Apple, Computers, Software / Applications During it’s quarterly earnings call News Corp dropped some numbers regarding The Daily. The numbers don’t look too good at first with the tablet newspaper losing a total of $10 million after 800,000 downloads of the app. Most of the money lost to The Daily comes from starting up the magazine. News Corp invested a lot of money to create the app, not to mention the fact that it takes $500,000 each week to operate. News Corp actually intends the cost of The Daily to be $30 million by the end of the company’s fiscal 2011 which ends in June. Pair that with the fact that the app just recently required a subscription and the loss is no real surprise. With 800,000 downloads of The Daily it’s not clear just how many paying subscribers the magazine has at this point. It probably isn’t as many as News Corp was hoping for, but there’s still time for that. As News Corp President Chase Carey told analysts “It's a work-in-progress, we're proving the technology, refining the content - the tablet market is still in its infancy." Sounds like News Corp has high hopes for this model eventually. I’m just not sure if The Daily is the right way to get news on the tablet. I think I’d much rather pay a subscription to have everything put into a special Flipboard layout. Read [Paid Content] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers  Coming out of BlackBerry World, RIM has offered up a nice 3 minute and 39 second video for those wondering how Android apps are going to run on the PlayBook. The video, aptly titled, “BlackBerry PlayBook Android App Player Demo” offers a nice explanation about how they will work, but perhaps most important for the end users—the apps are going to run and look just like a regular native application. They have even covered the issue with the fact that you are missing the standard array of Android buttons which will be taken care of with gestures on the PlayBook. Of course, while end users will be able to download and run Android apps just like native apps, it appears as if the developers will need to repackage them for the PlayBook first. Via [YouTube] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Smartphones, Mobile, Gaming, Mobile, Portable The news many have been waiting for has arrived, those sporting an Android device will soon be able to waste time in another manner play another super popular game. The folks over at Pop Cap Games have officially announced that Plants vs. Zombies will arrive sometime within the next two months. Ah, many requests for PvZ Android—it will be releasing soon folks! In the first half of 2011—that’s within the next 2 months :)
Via [Twitter @popcap_games] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 FROM GAMERTELL - Free COmic Book Day 2011 will include comics featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, Green Lantern, Mickey Mouse, Spider-man, Darkwing Duck, Inspector Gadget, Smurfs, Captain America, Thor, sharks, robots and probably a few aliens…
MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Mobile, Computers, Mobile Computers We are still waiting for the official word when it comes to when the BlackBerry PlayBook is going to be released with Sprint, however despite that—it looks like the launch is going to be pushed back a bit. And for those wondering, the latest rumored release date was May 8th. That said, according to a recently leaked Sprint Dealer News page, the BlackBerry tablet “has been delayed for all Dealers.” Of course, its hard to really say delay here because we never truly knew the launch date in the first place. Then again, we also do not know the length of this delay, so maybe the PlayBook will arrive on the 8th after all. Bottom line, we are still waiting on a firm release date, but it looks like Sprint is not quite ready to release the tablet just yet. Via [Brief Mobile] and [BGR] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones  Rumor has it HTC is holding focus groups with women in their 20s and 30s to test a concept for a new female oriented phone. According to This Is My Next, the phone, which is codenamed Bliss, will debut this year on Verizon.
The design of the phone is said to have a rubberized back with a greenish color to produce a “calming effect.” The wallpaper is also believed to encourage a similar mood. It doesn’t have a keyboard and retains the curved look that most HTC phones tend to have. The Bliss will run on Android, though it is unknown which version the phone will ship with. Among the rumored preloaded software are shopping applications and applications that help keep track of calorie intake. The aspect of this phone that I find most intriguing is an accessory called the “charm indicator.” It’s apparently meant to attach to to the phone. The charm indicator illuminates when the phone gets message or misses a call. It doesn’t communicate with the phone wirelessly, as it has to be physically connected to work. Take this rumor with a few grains of salt. Honestly, besides the charm indicator, there’s nothing about this phone’s design that drastically separates it from other HTC phones. I also can’t get over the fact that it has no keyboard. In my experience, women like phones with keyboards. Via [This Is My Next] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones  Sprint started the day by pulling back the curtain on a couple new Android smartphones. These two new phones were manufactured by Motorola and are meant to be used in the business sector. The Motorola Titanium does not have a release date yet, but the Motorola XPRT will be released on June 5 for $129.99 on contract.
These smartphones aren’t has featured packed as the ones that are targeted towards regular consumers. The XPRT’s four-row QWERTY keyboard is good for constant emailing and messaging much like a BlackBerry phone. It’s also capable of international roaming in over 200 countries. Display-wise, the XPRT only has a 3.1 HVGA touchscreen. Most consumer smartphones these days wouldn’t be caught with a screen that small. It’s also powered by Android 2.2 with MOTOBLUR and a 1Ghz processor. It can also be used as 3G mobile hotspot for up to five separate devices. It comes with a 2GB microSD card and can support a 32GB card. Next up is the Motorola Titanium. The Motorola Titanium is more rugged than the XPRT. Sprint says it’s “military-grade tough” and is resistant to dust, solar radiation, high temperatures, low temperatures, low pressure and shock. It also utilizes Nextel Direct Connect which enables the classic push-to-talk feature. This phone is powered by Android 2.1 with a 3.1-inch touchscreen. MOTOBLUR is not featured on this phone. Via [Sprint] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Communications, Smartphones  Today Microsoft confirmed that while all Windows phones are created equal, some are more privileged than others. You see, Windows phones are like a noble family. Those who stay within the boundaries of the family are entitled to benefits. Should a phone stray from the herd, those benefits are forfeited. Some Windows Phone 7 owners are learning that harsh lesson right now.
Microsoft’s latest update for Windows Phone 7 (build 7392) will not work on phones that were previously updated to build 7390 using unofficial methods. In order to get the latest update, all previous updates had to be done through official channels. There is an official image that the phone must have in order to update properly. The impatience of some has cost them dearly. Worse still, there currently isn’t a way to revert phones that forced updates back to their original form. “Due to scheduling of engineering resources, we did not anticipate having to undue the changes made to phones by these unsupported methods. While we are not ruling out having a fix in the future, for now there is no fix,” wrote Brandon Watson on the Windows Phone developer blog. Watson explained that some people ended up forcing incomplete updates to their phones. Therefore, their phone has merely been changed and not necessarily updated. What you can try to do is return your phone from the place you purchased it and attempt to return it to the manufacturer. Mobile carriers can’t revert the phone back to an official state. Tough break. Via [Windows Phone Developer Blog] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Apple, Communications, Email / IM, Mobile Since the first iPhone iOS updates would come from iTunes. Four years later and it’s still the same, while Android and even WebOS users get their updates over the air. According a new rumor, Apple could be joining their ranks with OTA updates coming with iOS 5. According to 9to5Mac Apple has been talking to Verizon about possibly having OTA updates for iOS. The talks have allegedly been happening since early this year, but wouldn’t happen until iOS 5 and/or iPhone 5. There’s no mention of talk with AT&T, though it’s hard to believe they wouldn’t be happening. Or, it could just be a perk for some customers and not others, like tethering was when it was first announced. Of course OTA updates would pose a few issues if the updates were the same as the current ones. Currently Apple requires iOS users to download the full version of IOS which is about 600MB. That wouldn’t work over cell networks. So, it would make sense to have 5.X updates come out as smaller patches to be delivered over the air. 9to5Mac believes that Apple would provide some sort of backup in case the OTA updates don’t go as planned. Perhaps that could be a feature in the fabled iCloud service. OTA updates would certainly be a nice addition to iOS for a variety of reasons. It would allow users who aren’t always near their computer to update their phones as soon as the updates are available. It would also make the iPad even more of a post-PC device, where you’d only need to connect it to a PC once to activate. That’s certainly a nice dream for some, let’s see how it works out. Read [9to5Mac]
Image [This Is My Next] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Communications, Cellular Providers, Smartphones, Mobile We may have seen Verizon delay the launch of the Droid Charge after the recent 4G LTE network outage, however it appears as if Samsung does not want us to forget about the handset. It seems that Samsung took to Twitter last evening and began to tease about the launch of the Android superphone. Curious to know when the Droid Charge by Samsung is officially launching? Follow us now! @SamsungMobileUS#DroidCharge
Of course, while they may have reminded us that the handset is coming, they have not offered any real clue as to when. Who knows, maybe it will be officially released today. And for those who may have forgotten, the Droid Charge will feature 4G LTE support, Android 2.2 and Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface along with a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 1GHz processor, 8 megapixel rear facing camera, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and an on-contract price of $299.99. Via [Twitter @SamsungMobileUS] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Gaming, Web After the PSN/Qriosity hacks, the US House of Representatives asked Sony to answer a few questions. The company wouldn’t send someone in person, but today it did release a letter from Chairman Kazuo Hirai regarding the situation. The letter explained a few things we knew already, and details a file planted in the system. According to the letter Sony found a planted file in the servers that were attacked. The file was called “Anonymous” and said “We are Legion.” AnonOps has previously denied the attacks on Sony’s PSN. Of course, anyone can easily put that file in there, but it does give some support to the belief that someone in Anonymous was behind the hacks. The letter sent to Congress also details some timing of the attack. It seems that Sony and the forensics team it had working on the attacks found out that personal data was taken on April 25. The announcement came a day later, on April 26. Sony still holds by the fact that credit card numbers weren’t compromised. The company says it hasn’t seen any reports from credit card companies that there have been fraudulent charges on cards as a direct result of the hackings. Sony continues to reiterate the measures it’s taking to prevent future attacks, and claims that countries and companies need to join together to prevent something like this happening again. Perhaps others will listen, for consumers let’s hope they do. Read [PlayStation Blog] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 Section: Business News, Gadgets / Other, ebooks Are you having fun with your new and improved Nook Color? If you have yet to get one, you may want to hold off for a little longer just in case. In a Barnes & Noble filing dated May 4, 2011, the company announced its plans to reveal the details of a brand new e-reader. And that’s pretty much it. The e-reader isn’t mentioned by name, nor do we have any kind of device specifications. Given the success of the Nook Color, we would expect B&N to capitalize on that success. The Nook Color has been dubbed the reader’s tablet. It occupies a space that fits somewhere between a full blown tablet and a regular e-reader. It was also just updated to Android 2.2 which gave it access to Flash content and more applications. The Nook Color also has an application store called Nook Apps that B&N should capitalize on. B&N has set up the store to only house applications that are optimized for the Nook Color. That way, apps will run fluidly. Perhaps the Nook Color will get a price drop once the new e-reader is announced. We’ll have to wait a few weeks to find out. Via [Barnes & Noble] Full Story » | Written by Jeremy Hill for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
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