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Smartphone touch-screen analysis tests finger fidelity

Moto Development Labs devised a simple method of analyzing capacitive touch screens using drawing programs. They put the iPhone, the Nexus One, the Droid, and the Droid Eris through the paces and proved not all touch screens are created equal.

Using only your fingers and a drawing app, Moto shows how you can test out the accuracy of your smartphone's touch screen. The test is simple: draw some slow, steady lines across the screen with your finger. If they're smooth and straight, your touch screen is tracking with relative accuracy. If they're wavy or jagged, your phone … Read more

Samsung's trio of Blu-ray HTIBs get DLNA, Wi-Fi, apps

LAS VEGAS--We liked most of the Blu-ray home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) systems we reviewed in 2009, but the Samsung HT-BD1250 stood as the best, thanks to its excellent sound quality (for an HTIB, at least). Samsung has announced a new line of Blu-ray HTIBs at CES 2010, adding features like DLNA-compatibility, Samsung Apps, and Wi-Fi. Here are the details.

Key features of the Samsung HT-C6500:

5.1 home theater system Built-in Blu-ray player Built-in Wi-Fi 1GB onboard storage Supports Internet@TV/Samsung Apps, which will provide content from Netflix, Pandora, Vudu, Blockbuster, Picasa, and Twitter Automatic speaker calibration No release date or … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1141: Good news for high-tech mouth breathers

A new technology from Zyxio allows you to control your PC by breathing. Obviously this is good for accessibility, but it could also mean good and bad news for gamers. We'll discuss. We also rundown the latest news from CES, including the Intel keynote. And we talk with the winner of the Apps for Innovation contest about his Web site that makes it easy for you to find out what the government is about to do to you and gives you a chance to make a comment.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) … Read more

HTC's Smart isn't so smart

LAS VEGAS--HTC reminded us to expect the unexpected Thursday when it announced a new cell phone, the HTC Smart. Though it looks like your standard HTC smartphone, the handset runs on Qualcomm's BREW platfrom. The result isn't quite a smartphone, but it will use HTC's Sense user interface that's currently found on the company's Windows Mobile and Android devices like the HTC Hero.

Features on the quad-band GSM/EDGE handset include a 300MHz processor, a 2.8 inch touch-screen, 3-megapixel camera with flash, stereo Bluetooth, a 3.5mm headset jack and a microSD card slot. … Read more

HTC HD2 officially coming to T-Mobile

LAS VEGAS--Ever since the HTC HD2 was first introduced at CTIA Fall 2009, the big questions on everyone's mind has been when will it be available in the U.S. and who will the carrier be? Well, we finally got the answer on the eve of CES 2010.

During his keynote address, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that the HTC HD2 will be coming to T-Mobile, but he didn't really provide specific details about availability date or pricing. However, the smartphone is expected to ship some time in the spring and you can sign up for alerts on … Read more

Nexus One is lightning-fast

In the brief run-up to the announcement of its Nexus One phone, Google was doing nothing to quash the hype. Phones given to employees were quickly popping up all over the tech universe with promises of the "best Android phone yet" not far behind. And when the phone was finally unveiled on Tuesday, a Google executive billed it as not only a "superphone" that exemplifies what Google Android can do, but also as "the meeting place of Web and phone."

But as is usually true in the tech world, things aren't always what … Read more

AT&T to launch five Android devices

LAS VEGAS--On Wednesday, AT&T announced its plans to launch five Google Android smartphones from HTC, Motorola, and Dell during the first half of 2010. The news came during the 4th annual AT&T Developer Summit in Las Vegas and is surely good news for AT&T customers who have been waiting for the carrier to add Android devices to its lineup.

One of the five models will be the Dell Mini 3, which launched in China in late November. AT&T said it will also have a Motorola smartphone powered by Motoblur (see Motorola Cliq) … Read more

All hail the unlocked phone

So now we know the full story of the Nexus One. After the newest Google Android device was sighted last month, Google formally released the handset to the world Tuesday morning.

Though the Nexus One's specs are promising--particularly the Snapdragon processor and the enhanced voice control capabilities--it's not necessarily the best Android phone yet. Indeed, the real story of the Nexus One is not its design or features, but how it is being sold.

As my colleague Tom Krazit points out, Google is changing the way cell phones are sold in the United States. Google alone will sell … Read more

Google unveils Nexus One

We knew it was coming, but we had to wait for Google to spill the news before we could talk about it with authority. And the company did so Tuesday morning at a press conference at the Googleplex in Mountain View, Calif.

As expected, the Nexus One is a new Google Android phone that offers an inside designed by Google and an outside designed by HTC. According to Google's Mario Queiroz, the Nexus One is a "superphone" where the Web meets the cell phone. "It's an exemplar of what mobile phones can do with Android," he said. The handset will be available first for GSM carriers like T-Mobile, but a Verizon version will follow.… Read more