Smartphones

Hand in hand with the release of Microsoft's Office 2010 productivity suite (for businesses Wednesday and for consumers in June) comes its to-go version, Office Mobile 2010.

If you've already got Office Mobile on your Windows Mobile 6.5 phone, get over to the Marketplace app starting Wednesday and search for "Office Mobile 2010" to download the update for free. Office Mobile 2010 slings new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and SharePoint Workspace your way.

In addition to a new interface design that's more touch-screen-friendly, there are neat new tricks like the ability to … Read more

This post was last updated at 7:01 p.m., PT.

NEW YORK--Sprint CEO Dan Hesse finally revealed the pricing and release date of the much anticipated HTC Evo 4G at a special event here Wednesday. The nation's first 4G smartphone will be available starting June 4 for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The Android device will also be sold through national retailers, including Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Wal-Mart Stores.

Interestingly, the issue of data plans was never mentioned during the presentation and became a source of confusion during the event. … Read more

A few weeks back I reported on an upcoming Motorola phone that was rumored to have 3D capabilities in the display. It was suggested at the time that the flip-over clear screen was possibly tied to a patent filed by Motorola that changed the way in which the touch screen was perceived. Unfortunately, the phone may not be that cool after all.

Details surfaced this week that tell us the top cover provides a capacitive layer for touch whereas the screen itself offers resistive technology. The rationale behind it is simple. When opened, users can write on the screen with … Read more

I'm sure many of you thought this day would never come, but all you HTC Droid Eris owners are finally getting your Android 2.1 update.

Verizon announced via its VZW Support Twitter account that it has begun rolling out the over-the-air update and will continue to do so over the next couple of weeks until it reaches all customers. The update is being released in random batches and you will receive a notification on your phone when it's ready for download.

Once installed, you'll be able to enjoy new features and improvements, such as pinch-to-zoom support … Read more

Any urbanite knows that directions aren't created equally. Pedestrians can usually go wherever their feet can take them, but road traffic has to contend with hated one-way streets. Don't even get us started on cyclists. Luckily for bike riders toting Android phones in their messenger bags, a few days after Google added directions specifically for cyclists, the Maps team rolled biking guidance into the Android app.

Now cyclists who download the updated Google Maps 4.2 application from the Android Market can find optimal routes for their two-wheelers--both in the directions module and as a map layer that … Read more

LG is set to host an event on Tuesday evening in New York to reveal all the details about its first Android device for the U.S. market, the LG Ally. However, the Boy Genius Report got a jump-start when it posted a handful of presentation screen shots this morning, which pretty much gives us everything we need to know about the phone.

Looking through the specs, we find that the Ally has hardware that closely resembles the Motorola Devour. Both handsets are powered by 600MHz processors and have 512MB ROM and 256MB RAM. However, there are some subtle differences … Read more

Following in the footsteps of Nokia and Google, Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it is bringing free, voice-guided navigation to its Windows phones via an update to its Bing application.

Starting today, Windows 6.x phone owners (a list of compatible devices is below) can check for an update on their smartphone or point their mobile browser to m.bing.com to get the new features. Once you've downloaded the new version, simply launch the app and you should see a new Navigate button, which will calculate your route and provide audio prompts (powered by Microsoft's Tellme voice … Read more

What do you get when you take a bunch of mobile browser developers and give them free run of the lab? A preview build of Opera's Mobile 10 browser running on the Nokia N900 and N800/N810 Internet Tablet.

Opera Mobile 10 for Nokia's open-source Maemo platform sprang to life as a hobbyist's thrill in the Opera Labs and is now being released, along with a laundry list of caveats, for intrepid testers. Opera stresses that this is no official Opera build. As such, it hasn't been put through the QA paces, and is one experiment … Read more

New details have emerged concerning a handset we previously reported as being codenamed the Motorola Twist. According to Italian blog HDBlog.it, the phone will end up bearing the name of Motorola Flipout when it arrives in June.

With nothing officially announced from the handset maker, we only have rumors to work off for now. Hardware is said to include a 3.1-megapixel camera, a 2.8-inch touch display, and a QWERTY keyboard that flips out from behind the screen. The processor is listed as 700MHz with memory coming in at 512MB ROM and 256MB RAM. In terms of software, … Read more