Android

Report: Nook Color approaching 3 million in sales

For competitive reasons, Barnes & Noble and Amazon never report exactly how many e-readers they've sold. But word out of Taiwan's Digitimes, which is well known for its iPhone rumors, is that the bookseller has "taken delivery of close to 3 million Nook Color e-book readers from its production partner," according to a source from the Nook Color supply chain.

The article claims that the attractively priced Nook Color--and its "clearly differentiated display size" from the iPad--has captured more than 50 percent of the "iPad-like market" in North America. We assume that means 50 percent of the non-Apple tablet market.

Additionally, the article cites sources saying sales of the Nook Color topped 1 million during the 2010 holiday season and have been running in the 600,000-700,000 unit range in subsequent months.… Read more

The 404 786: Where we would really appreciate the tour (podcast)

The 404 Digest for Episode 786

Jeff spent all weekend making socially awkward penguin memes. A picture tour of the CNET office. Everything you need to know about Firefox 4. Setting the record straight costs celebrities $1,000 a year. European Union proposes legislation for "right to be forgotten." New app shields you from annoying celebrity news.

Morgan Freeman gaming box art from Eddy and Jason. The Oatmeal comic submissions by Justin, Attariq, and Cameron (pictured).

Episode 786 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

HSN 'previewing' Nook Color's app store and Flash capabilities

As promised, the Home Shopping Network has begun previewing some of the new features that are part of an upcoming "mid-April" update to the Nook Color that we reported on a few days ago. Barnes & Noble has confirmed in a press release that the update would include the new app store but HSN is the one talking up the Nook Color's upcoming ability to watch Flash videos.

My first look at the Kyocera Echo

ORLANDO, Fla.--In addition to delivering lots of new phones, trade shows like CTIA 2011 offer an opportunity to see any recent models that haven't yet to passed through your hands. This year, CTIA was my first chance to handle the Kyocera Echo, the dual-screen Android handset for Sprint. I wasn't able to join Bonnie Cha for last month's launch event in New York City--check out Bonnie's original take on the device--so I had breakfast with Kyocera's PR team to see the smartphone up close.

After Sprint's bizarre unveiling event--was a performance by Blaine … Read more

CTIA 2011 wrap-up: Android dominates again

After a hectic fall CTIA show, CES, and Mobile World Congress, we assumed that the spring CTIA show would be a quieter affair. It might have been, too, were it not for AT&T's bombshell, dropped two days before the show kicked off.

News of the proposed merger was followed on Monday by Google joining forces with Sprint to bring Google Voice to nearly every Sprint phone. The announcement went hand in hand with Sprint's news that it's adding an Android 2.3 Gingerbread-run 4G-capable Nexus S to its lineup.

Speaking of Sprint, the carrier unveiled two spinoffs of its Android-powered Evo brand, made by HTC. There was the HTC Evo 3D--which offers a lensless 3D experience for photos, videos, and games--and the HTC Evo View tablet, a rebranded, 4G-ready version of the HTC Flyer we saw at Mobile World Congress.

HTC wasn't the only manufacturer to trot out a 3D phone. LG struck back with its LG Thrill for AT&T, the U.S. version of the LG Optimus 3D first glimpsed in Barcelona, Spain, last month. Like its competitor the Evo 3D, the Thrill features two 5-megapixel cameras on the back for shooting 3D video and stills. LG also had the T-Mobile G2X, our pick for top phone, and yet another rebrand of a dual-core Android phone, the LG Optimus 2X, first revealed at CES. To round off its Optimus theme, Cricket announced the LG Optimus C, the latest in the inexpensive, entry-level Android Optimus line.… Read more

AT&T to enable HSUPA on Atrix 4G, Inspire 4G in April

CNET has confirmed with AT&T that it will enable the HSUPA radios on the Motorola Atrix 4G and HTC Inspire 4G via a software update in April.

HSUPA, which stands for High-Speed Uplink Packet Access, is the protocol that enables faster upload speeds (up to 5.76Mbps) on your mobile phone. However, it recently came to light that the technology was disabled on the Atrix 4G and Inspire 4G, crippling the smartphones with slow-as-molasses upload speeds.

The fact that these radios were not turned on was not disclosed to customers who bought the Atrix and Inspire, prompting calls … Read more

The 404 785: Where it's our so-called MemeMolly (podcast)

The 404 Digest for Episode 785

Our guest today is MemeMolly, who gives us an update on the latest memes, Internet culture, and why nobody can stand the word "viral." Add Molly on Twitter and follow her Tumblr.

Top Dog: one is tough, the other is a dog. Where are they now, featuring Star Wars Kid and Numa Numa Guy? Is Cathymay15 a troll, a genius, or another victim of online bullying? EU proposes right to be forgotten online.… Read more

CNET's Best of CTIA 2011

ORLANDO, Fla.--If you asked us a week ago whether CTIA 2011 would be hectic, we would have said "probably not." But then last Sunday, two days before the show began, the news of a certain merger broke and we knew the week would be a wild ride. Indeed, CTIA delivered a fresh crop of phones and tablets, and like CES and Mobile World Congress, Android loomed large. So, as the bright Florida sun sets for the last time on CTIA, CNET takes stock to pick our favorite products form the show.

Best phone: LG G2X Despite the … Read more

RIM's PlayBook will run Android apps

So the rumors were true: Research In Motion announced today it will allow Android apps on its yet-to-be-released tablet, the PlayBook.

The forthcoming tablet will have "app players" that will run BlackBerry apps created in Java, and apps created for Android 2.3.

Having the option of downloading Android apps on BlackBerry App World "will provide our users with an even greater choice of apps and will also showcase the versatility of the platform," Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO of RIM, said in a statement.

For developers working on apps, RIM says a "high degree of API compatibility" makes it easy to port BlackBerry Java and Android apps to the BlackBerry Tablet OS that will run on the PlayBook.

Word began to spread that RIM was thinking of allowing Android apps on its tablet starting in January. Many dismissed it because RIM had spent a lot of money to buy QNX, which makes the software on which the BlackBerry Tablet OS is built, and because it had done so much work with its own BlackBerry developer community.

RIM announced a 32 percent increase in quarterly earnings today, but warned of weakness in the coming quarter. … Read more

Blu: A new Android maker on the horizon

ORLANDO, Fla.--Just when you thought you knew every cell phone maker there was to know, we stumbled across a relatively new entrant that seems to have materialized quite literally out of the blue.

Blu is a Miami-based spin-off of CT-Miami, which distributes phones in Latin America. This was the company's first technology conference, a spokesperson told CNET, and it was certainly our first time seeing the company's many wares.

First, a little background. Blu was born in 2009 with the goal of creating fun (read: colorful), interesting feature phones and Android devices for the Latin American market, … Read more