android

After a handful of missteps and false starts, another over-the-air update for the Motorola Cliq has started rolling out. It's not the Android 2.1 update that many are hoping for, but it is a minor maintenance release with generally undetectable changes.

Designed to improve features like battery life, widget response, GPS, Bluetooth, and touch-screen sensitivity, version 1.4.8 should hit all Cliq handsets this weekend. You should also see fewer "force close" error messages and you'll get support for a couple of new elements, notably .WMA and WAV audio files and Microsoft Office 2007 … Read more

An internal e-mail sent around to Verizon employees made its way online earlier today and brought plenty of excitement with it.

Without giving away anything specific, the e-mail promises that new devices are launching soon. As plainly shown in the teaser image, the codename for this project is "6," leading many to speculate that six devices will be announced in the coming days.The two most obvious smartphones that come to mind are the Nexus One and the HTC Incredible.

The Nexus One has been listed with a spring 2010 release ever since the Android superphone was announced in early January. … Read more

Google's Android operating system may be a victim of its own success.

More than 6 million handsets shipped in 2009 using Google's Android software. And the forecast in 2010 is that this figure will triple with shipments possibly topping out at 20 million this year. But a new study from IMS Research indicates that the rapid pace of Android's growth could cause more fragmentation, which could ultimately harm Android's potential as a leading smartphone operating system.

The problem is that in going from the 1.5 version of the software to 2.1, Google has released four different versions of the software, … Read more

Both Microsoft and Apple have events coming up in the next week. Apple will have its iPhone OS 4 announcement on Thursday and Microsoft will reveal why "it's time to share" next Monday. Plus we dish about new Android phones (the HTC Incredible anyone?), cheaper Palms, what we think about cell phone radiation, and more.

Rumors of the week Sprint and Samsung prepping Moment 2 already? Rash of leaks point to imminent HTC Incredible release

News Android 2.1 officially rolling out to Droid owners … Read more

After taking the CTIA's Best in Show award at the association's trade show last month (CNET picked our own winners from the event), the five month-old Samsung Moment is getting a brief moment in the spotlight. Though Android 2.1, which is due any day, could be what finally turns this good phone into a great one, it may matter little if the follow-up device is actually on its way.

On Tuesday, a blog by the name of WeRAndroid became the first to post a picture of the alleged Moment 2, aka the Samsung SPH-M910. Though it closely … Read more

CNET's resident cell phone expert Bonnie Cha is back from CTIA 2010, and we're all anxious to hear about the new smartphones coming out this year. But the main dish is Sprint's new HTC Evo 4G, the first handheld to use Sprint's WiMax network that promises faster speeds than traditional Wi-Fi (when it's finally deployed).

Before we get too deep, Bonnie tells us what we should know about Sprint's 4G network, the difference between WiMax and LTE, and what we can expect in terms of speed from the Evo. Bonnie's description of her firsthand experience with the phone at CTIA gets us even more excited about its upcoming release.

The phone features a 4.3-inch multitouch display, the new 1GHz Snapdragon processor (dual-core processors in phones coming soon?), forward- and rear-facing cameras, a built-in HDMI port for streaming high-def video, and the ultimate kicker: a KICKSTAND! This is not a drill; the HTC Evo actually does have a little foot on the back that stands the phone at an angle for hands-free Sprint TV viewing.

We're also spinning our wheels about what this Thursday's Apple announcement will have in store for the iPhone. Fresh off the recent release of the iPad, we're crossing our fingers that Apple's new iPhone OS 4.0 finally lets you multitask. Rest assured that Wilson and the rest of the CNET TV crew will be working around the clock to keep you up-to-date as we find out more.

Finally, don't forget that The Audiophillie Music Awards for Excellence in Recorded Sound, hosted by our own Steve Guttenberg, is still in full effect! It's not too late to record a band (could be your own!) for a chance to win a set of either Monster Turbine Pro Gold ($299) or Pro Copper ($399) headphones.

Lo-fi submissions are welcome, but to enter this contest you need to download, print, and complete the contest entry form (PDF). We already have a few submissions and the deadline is April 12, so record quickly and good luck!

Verizon's next Android handset, the HTC Incredible, is becoming the carrier's worst-kept secret. Over the last few days a succession of leaks and hints have hit the gadget rumor mill, again leading us to believe that an announcement could be just days away.

Last Wednesday, a screenshot of Verizon's internal system on AndroidForums listed more than 150,000 HTC INC ADR6300 handsets as "on order." According to the image, the phones are in a Verizon Wireless warehouse, prepped for retail.

Two days later, the Incredible popped up in the carrier's Cellebrite system, which Verizon … Read more

Smartphones continue to take over the U.S. mobile phone market, and Google's Android software has the most momentum in that category at the moment.

Data released by ComScore Monday shows that Android-based phones are still a fraction--9 percent--of the U.S. smartphone market, but posted the fastest growth of any smartphone platform over the last three months. Google and its partners gained 5.2 percentage points of market share from November 2009 to February 2010, presumably on the back of the successful Motorola Droid launch.

However, that's only good enough for fourth place in the U.S. … Read more

I'd normally be on the fence about the utility of an Android-based television set like the Scandinavia (above), but if it's made by a company called People of Lava it has to be pretty awesome, right? Or at least ridiculous?

Fortunately, Scandinavia looks like a little bit of both. The Swedish company's first Android 1.5-run effort will be a 42-inch, full-HD backlit LED set that'll go into beta testing this summer and go on sale in September, followed by 47-inch and 55-inch sets soon after.

It'll ship with apps like Facebook, YouTube, Google Maps, … Read more