Smartphones

On Tuesday night, T-Mobile revealed the identity of its newest Google Android device and it's not exactly the device we were expecting to see.

Instead of the rumored T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide, the carrier introduced the Garminfone, a rebranded version of the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone A50, which was first announced at Mobile World Congress 2010. At that time, Garmin said it did not know whether the GPS-enabled smartphone would make it to North America, but T-Mobile will, in fact, be the first to launch the device worldwide when it comes out later this spring.

With Garmin behind the wheel, obviously … Read more

Earlier this year, at  CES and the Detroit auto show, Ford gave us demonstrations of Sync's new mobile app capability. Taking it to production stage, Ford announced that this new Sync feature, called AppLink, will make its debut in the all-new Ford Fiesta, entering showrooms this summer.

Initially, AppLink will work with Pandora, Stitcher, and OpenBeak on BlackBerry and Android smartphones. Pandora offers customizable Internet radio stations; Stitcher compiles and plays podcasts and other Internet audio; and OpenBeak is a twitter app. AppLink lets you control these apps using the car's radio controls.

During our demonstrations of … Read more

With roughly a month to go before its expected launch, the myTouch 3G Slide rumors and leaks have kicked into high gear.

A fresh batch of details found its way online over the weekend thanks to a source at Android and Me. Apparently T-Mobile and HTC recently gave out several hundred of these handsets to T-Mobile employees for testing and feedback. This source was among one of those lucky folks and was only too happy to provide details about the phone.

As it sounds, the myTouch 3G Slide should bridge the gap between older handsets like the G1 and myTouch 3G … Read more

If a pair of recently leaked photos are correct, Sprint's HTC Hero may only be a few short weeks away from getting the Android 2.1 update. The images show screens from an internal Sprint system that indicate that "the much-anticipated Android 2.1 software is coming in early May."

Indeed, it's been a long wait for many Hero users. We can trace the start of the rumors as far back as December when Sprint said they'd have an upgrade in the first half 2010.

Sprint remained largely mum on the rumors until earlier this … Read more

It's funny. I was just IMing with my dear colleague Jasmine France this morning about how companies come up with product names (spurred on by the Droid Incredible announcement) when I stumbled upon this Engadget Mobile article.

HTC is turning to its fans for help with picking out a name for a new device the company is cooking up in the lab and posted a poll on its Facebook page. Unfortunately, there are no details about the new phone, but you can choose from one of possible names: Jovi, Zeal, Wildfire, or Festi. We're not particular fans of … Read more

Motorola has shed some much-needed light on the timing for Android 2.1 updates to its product line. The Droid recently got its 2.1 update, but T-Mobile's Cliq has picked up only a minor maintenance release in recent weeks. As such, owners of MotoBlur-equipped devices are wondering when they'll get their turn. The simple answer is they will--at some point.

Looking through the chart, I find it interesting that AT&T's Moto Backflip isn't slated for 2.1 until the third quarter of this year, yet T-Mobile's Cliq XT, which was released a … Read more

If you're itching for Sony Ericsson's Satio phone, you now can purchase it unlocked from SonyStyle.com.

Sure, it will cost you a hefty $649, but you'll get a pretty device that's packed with features. Inside you'll find a 12.1-megapixel camera, a music player, e-mail and messaging, stereo Bluetooth, PC syncing, USB mass storage, a personal organizer, assisted GPS, Wi-Fi, an FM radio, YouTube and Facebook applications, handwriting recognition, a microSD card slot, and a Symbian operating system. The quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phone also supports 3G networks (UMTS/HSDPA 850/… Read more

Three days after its late Monday launch, Opera Software spread the news that its server-assisted Opera Mini browser for the iPhone capped over a million downloads the first day of widespread availability, which was Tuesday.

That's 1,023,380 downloads to be exact, according to Apple's end-of-day download count. Good enough for us; cue Dr. Evil.

Opera went on in a press release to boast that Opera Mini 5 for iPhone currently sits pretty as the top iPhone app in 22 Apple stores as of 8 a.m. CET, including the U.S., Japan, Spain, Indonesia, and Germany.… Read more

After an early slip up, HTC and Verizon Wireless officially introduced HTC's latest Android smartphone on Thursday, the Droid Incredible.

The Droid Incredible will hit stores on April 29 for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. It runs Android 2.1 and the latest version of HTC Sense. The latter includes such features as a new Leap screen where you can view thumbnail versions of all seven home screens for easy switching, a FriendStream widget, and group contacts. All should run smoothly given the smartphone's 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

As far as … Read more