Smartphones

For weeks, we've seen signs of the imminent release of the HTC Incredible on Verizon and on Wednesday, we pretty much got all but an official confirmation.

For a brief moment, Verizon published a teaser site for the Incredible, officially dubbed the Droid Incredible, and learned that the availability date would be April 29. It appears the page is now requiring a username and password, but not before we and other tech blogs, including Engadget Mobile and Phone Scoop, grabbed a screenshot of it.

Pricing details and specs were not revealed at this time, though you can tell from … Read more

Google is continuing the slow and steady march of improvements to its Android-, iPhone-, and now iPad-optimized site. On Tuesday, the company pushed out a handful of small changes to the way Gmail.com handles new messages.

The height of the address field now expands to accommodate the full list of added contacts, so you can view your recipient spread in a glance. Tap a contact name, and Gmail also gives you an escape hatch, a quick button for removing a a recipient you've suddenly thought better of including. Tapping the backspace also achieves the same end.

When Opera Software announced late Monday that its Opera Mini browser would hit the iPhone App Store, we guessed it wouldn't be long before we saw other browser-makers follow suit by producing similar efforts that get around Apple's restrictions facing iPhone browsers that compete with the native Safari.

Looks like our guess was correct. On Tuesday, Skyfire, another mobile browser maker, blogged a post congratulating Opera for its success and stating Skyfire's intention to speed up its own development for "iDevices" like the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

Of course, as a competitor, it is … Read more

Excuse me for being a little anxious, but I can't wait for the HTC Evo 4G to go on sale. I got to handle Sprint's first WiMax cell phone at CTIA last month and liked what I saw immediately. Sure, you can argue that its hardware isn't so different from the HTC HD2, but that doesn't take away from the Evo 4G's stunning display, sleek design, and high-end features. And more than just being Sprint's first 4G phone, it's also the first 4G phone from any big U.S carrier.

So yes, I'm excited, but I also believe in having realistic expectations. Though the Evo 4G stands to be a very good phone, I'll be disappointed if I assume that it will be the greatest phone ever. I also know that a lot can happen between the time a phone is announced and when it's introduced, which is why I offer Sprint some advice. I know, "Sprint, don't screw it up," (my last tip), isn't very helpful, so I'll be more specific this time.

… Read more

It was clear from the start of Monday's press conference that Microsoft is after a certain user group with its new Kin phones. The event was held in a nightclub; the introductory video featured young hipsters waxing about the joys of Facebook; and the food spread featured hamburger sliders and French fries served in paper cones. And once we learned about the new handsets, the Kin One and the Kin Two, I began to feel rather out of place.

Whether you call them "lifecasters," the "upload generation," or people who just can't shut up, … Read more

As we mentioned last weekend, the T-Mobile MyTouch Slide appears to be on the fast-track for a mid-May release. A handful of leaked photos have appeared recently online, indicating production-ready phones are being used and tested.

The latest batch of pictures coming out of TmoNews shows a handset running Android 2.1 with the Espresso build of the HTC Sense user interface. This would be T-Mobile's first Android handset with 2.1 at launch.

While it may not be on the same level of sexiness as other HTC offerings like the Legend and Desire, the MyTouch Slide should have … Read more

Messaging and social networking are the focus of Nokia's latest smartphones, and the company's hoping the affordable price tag attached to them will draw in the masses. Ranging from $120 to $300 unlocked, the Nokia C3, C6, and E5 are certainly some of the cheaper devices we've seen from the company, and they don't skimp too much on the features. Let's get acquainted with each model, shall we?

Nokia C3: The C3 represents a couple of firsts for Nokia's Series 40 devices. It's the first to feature a full QWERTY keyboard, and it'… Read more

Fewer than three weeks ago, we wondered aloud if Opera Software's bid to get its Opera Mini Web browser into Apple's iPhone App Store was pure folly, or if it was a gamble that Opera could actually win. Late Monday, Opera (and Apple) proved doubters and naysayers--like me--wrong when Apple approved Opera Mini for iPhone.

Apple's acceptance of a Web browser app may not seem like a big to-do, until one looks at Apple's notoriously stringent interpretation of the rules it created to keep competing software off the iPhone. Mobile Web browsers that compete with the … Read more

On Monday, Microsoft finally took the wraps off of Project Pink and revealed two new phones targeted toward the younger generation of social butterflies.

The Kin One and the Kin Two will be available from Verizon Wireless starting next month, and, as CNET Reporter Ina Fried states, the phones are for men and women anywhere between the ages of 15 and 30 who want to broadcast their every thought, sight, and sound and want to know what their friends are up to as well. As a result, a lot of the phones' functions are built around the social-networking experience.

We got some hands-on time with both the Kin One and the Kin Two, and we're still trying to pinpoint our exact feelings on it. Overall, we think the premise is good but there are also some head-scratching omissions and the pricing of the devices and services plans will be key. We'll have to wait a bit longer to hear those details, but in the meantime, here are some of our initial thoughts on the hardware and the user interface.… Read more