Crave

Data performance chart during Superbowl Sunday

(Credit: Root Wireless)

Root Wireless, a company that offers a performance-mapping service of cell phone carriers, took the opportunity to test the wireless data performance of all four nationwide carriers at Sun Life Stadium during the Sunday's big game. The results, according to Root Wireless, seem to show that T-Mobile came out on top, while Verizon came out at the bottom of the pack.

T-Mobile saw the fewest connection failures (3 percent), while Sprint came in close behind (9 percent). Both carriers had data speeds on par with their everyday service levels--T-Mobile's was 237Kbps down/126Kbps up, while Sprint's was 231Kbps down/68Kbps up.

AT&T had the highest rate of data connection failures (16 percent), but it also provided the fastest download speeds (348Kbps down/68Kbps up), so it maintains the third-place ranking. In fact, according to Root Wireless, this is quite the improvement over AT&T's performance during CES. However, Verizon didn't do well on both counts. According to the report, Verizon had 11 percent of connection attempts fail and the slowest data speeds of all (97Kbps down/58Kbps up). It's so bad that Root Wireless reports that it has never seen Verizon score so poorly in its tests.

These performance results are even more interesting after all four nationwide carriers have promised to boost their networks during the game.

The test was done via a proprietary Root Wireless application that ran continuously on four different phones from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. on February 7 in Sun Life Stadium in Miami.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Just last week, the Motorola Droid got partial multitouch support with Google Maps 3.4, but that was little consolation for Droid customers who still had to look on in jealously as Nexus One owners got to enjoy multitouch in the browser and photo gallery as well as Google Goggles support. Well, retract your claws Droid owners because it now looks you're getting the whole shebang too.

On Monday, Motorola announced on its Facebook page that the Android 2.1 update will start to roll out this week. According to Engadget Mobile, the update won't bring live wallpaper or the grid app icon, but the Droid will get the new weather and news widget featured on the Nexus One.

Also of interest is the mention of upcoming announcements for Moto's other Android devices. The company's full Facebook post reads, "Hi all--we know you are frustrated with the lack of details regarding Android software upgrades and we sincerely apologize for not being able to share info sooner. We're happy to relay the 2.1 upgrade to DROID will start to roll out this week, and we will have more information to share on other device upgrades later this week as well. Thanks for your patience and continued support."

Perhaps Motorola Cliq owners will finally see the Android 2.0 update that Moto CEO Sanjay Jha mentioned at CES 2010. The fragmentation of the Android platform among various devices has been a sticking point with many, and it seems Moto feels the frustration too, so kudos to it for getting the info out there.

Time to check in on the pageviews report here at CNET to see which product reviews are getting the most traffic. We figure a high number of people looking at a review means it must be pretty popular. So this Top 5 counts down the most popular products based on how many people read our reviews. And all you read about these days is phones, at least in large numbers.

Of course, there is still a lame prize, so watch the video, then come back here and post your answer in the forums. We'll pick a winner from the first 10 people to answer the trivia question correctly.

Last week's answer: HP 9830

ZTE F350

(Credit: Bluetooth SIG)

We haven't heard of ZTE devices in a while, so it's interesting that the Bluetooth Special Interest Group has recently approved a never-seen-before ZTE F350 for its device database. It clearly has the Verizon branding and logo on it, so we know where this one is going. However, we don't really know a lot about it--there's little indication if it's a slider or a flip phone or if it has a QWERTY keyboard or a regular keypad.

We do know some of its features--voice command, Bluetooth, 1xRTT, and a camera--but that's about it. It seems like it'll be out soon, so we'll definitely keep our eyes open for this.

(Via Engadget Mobile)

(Credit: Gizmodo)

Google already runs a successful online translator, Google Translate, but they've got far-loftier ideas than simply converting the written word. They want to translate languages spoken over the phone, according to their head of translation services.

Speaking to The Times, Franz Och, Google's head of translation services, said:

"We think speech-to-speech translation should be possible and work reasonably well in a few years' time.

Clearly, for it to work smoothly, you need a combination of high-accuracy machine translation and high-accuracy voice recognition, and that's what we're working on.

If you look at the progress in machine translation and corresponding advances in voice recognition, there has been huge progress recently."

It's not really clear as to whether Google wants to translate a phone conversation, or conversation around you (for example, ordering food in a Japanese restaurant). If it's the former, I'm unsure as to whether I'd actually use the software, although booking hotels in other countries might be one example.

But then, when everything's done online these days--and effective online translation services like Google Translate and Babel Fish exist--Google might find that by the time they launch translation software on a phone (presumably Android), it's too late and everyone can speak English by then anyway. I hope that's not the case, though.

See also: At a loss for words? Google offers search by sight

This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Google released an over-the-air update for the Nexus One on Tuesday that brought, among other things, multitouch and Google Maps 3.4 to the smartphone. This is great news for Nexus One owners, but what about the rest of the Android family?

Well, here's some partial good news for Motorola Droid customers. Google Maps 3.4 is now available for download through the Android Market, which brings star syncing, personalized page suggestions based on personal history, night mode, and yes, the use of pinch-to-zoom.

For now, it seems the multitouch capabilities are limited to just Google Maps, but hey, it's a step in the right direction, right?

(Source: Engadget Mobile)

The surface of our Google Nexus one is smooth and unblemished, and the cracks are only visible under the surface of the glass.

(Credit: Crave UK)

They say never to leave a candle or a baby unattended. In our case, that's just extended to one of our favorite smartphones.

We left our Google Nexus One charging on a desk during lunch Friday. When we returned, the screen was rife with hairline cracks and a horrible purple bruise had spread across the gorgeous AMOLED touch screen.

There was no evidence that the phone had been moved, and the screen doesn't have any scratches or marks on the surface. The thin cracks all appear to be under the glass -- as if the phone had been bent, but not broken.

Read more of "Nexus One cracked screen: How did our Google phone break?" at Crave UK.

I'm no expert when it comes to any phone except the iPhone (and even then I'm more of an "expert"), but I know that Android-powered models have earned a lot of praise.

For example, CNET gave the Motorola Cliq a four-star review and called it "proof that Android handsets are evolving and getting better all the time."

That phone was $199 when it debuted just a few months ago, but right now you can get the Motorola Cliq (Titanium) for just $9.99 shipped (with a 2-year T-Mobile contract). A $35 activation fee also applies.

That's a pretty major savings, so this is something to think about if you're eyeballing a new phone and/or carrier. (Alas, existing T-Mobile customers will have to pony up $149.99. Ouch.)

The Cliq runs Android OS 1.5, but here's good news: According to gadget site Electronista, Motorola will offer an upgrade to Android 2.0.

Like I said, I'm no Android-phone expert, but to me this looks like a mighty solid deal on one of the better "iPhone killers" to date. Let me know if you agree.

Bonus deal: Sorry for the late post today (I'm actually out of the office for once), so here's something extra. GameStop has pre-owned copies of Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360) for $27.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon codes CAG16 and SAVER. This game was $60 just two months ago.

A More Perfect Union

(Credit: Schneids/The 404)

If you've ever petitioned Facebook to add a "Dislike" button to the site, you might get a kick out of a new antisocial networking site that lets your friends anonymously rag on you from the privacy of their homes. Failin.gs is currently in beta, but soon you'll be able to hit your friends up for anonymous comments about your mundane status updates. No, it doesn't integrate with Facebook itself (thankfully), but hopefully it'll force you to think twice about telling everyone what you had for dinner last night.

After 30 years of the same boring design, Heinz finally wised up and redesigned its ketchup packets. Fans of fast food will be treated to a new packet that opens up on BOTH ends: the top features the same tear-off perforation, but the new bottom opens to reveal a section for dunking your fries, which happens to be one of the most popular applications for the condiment! Check out this video on CBSNews.com for more details and look for the new packets coming to fast food joints near you!

Doppelganger week!

(Credit: The 404 )

Last week's viral "Post your doppelganger to Facebook" meme might violate Facebook's terms of service, but we're featuring our own celebrity photos on today's episode anyway...with a twist. Check out our cartoon doppelgangers above and let us know what you think: does Wilson really look like the Asian kid from "Up?" Does Jeff turn into a green-faced ogre at night? And should I seriously consider growing a goatee? Sound off by leaving us a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET or send an e-mail to the404(at)cnet{dot}com.

Have a great weekend, everyone!