Smartphones

Sorry Android, she's just not that into you

When it comes to smartphones, men love them some Android; but women, well, they're finding love elsewhere. That's what a new study by AdMob would have you believe, anyway.

For its January Mobile Metrics report (PDF), AdMob conducted an opt-in survey of consumers using iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, and Palm WebOS devices to find out how they interact with applications. In doing so, it also found an interesting gender gap when it comes to the Android platform. As you can see from the chart, the split between men and women isn't great when it comes to the … Read more

HTC Incredible inching toward Verizon

One handset we've yet to really tackle on Android Atlas is the forthcoming HTC Incredible. Designed like the Nexus One, the Incredible boasts a 3.7-inch display, 256MB RAM, an optical trackpad, and Android 2.1 with HTC's Sense UI. The screen is said to be "very vibrant" and may be AMOLED, like the recently announced Desire and Legend.

The Incredible appears headed soon for Verizon. We've already seen it in the carrier's inventory system and handsets rarely appear there unless a release is around the corner. With CTIA coming up next month, perhaps … Read more

Sprint expands 4G markets, teases us with CTIA invite

Last week we told you that Sprint was being cagey about the future of its WiMax devices. The carrier isn't saying when it will offer 4G phones, but we're betting that the summer timeframe isn't so far-fetched.

Indeed, the carrier is doing its best to keep WiMax in the news. On Wednesday, Sprint announced that it would expanded 4G to additional markets in 2010 and it sent us an invitation for a media event featuring CEO Dan Hesse at CTIA next month.

The invitation doesn't say much, but it promises that the event will be all … Read more

Samsung Caliber lands at MetroPCS

Once a purveyor of simple phones for making calls, MetroPCS over the last few years has worked to expand its handset lineup with fancier models like the Samsung Finesse, the Samsung Code, and the Huawei M750. And on Thursday it gave us another such device when it introduced the Samsung Caliber SCH-r860.

Already available with U.S. Cellular, the Caliber is a touch-screen device with Samsung's TouchWiz interface. Features include 3-megapixel camera, a full HTML Web browser, text and multimedia messaging, e-mail and instant messaging, a digital music player, an external memory card slot, Bluetooth, voice commands, and support … Read more

Half of iPhone users buy at least an app a month

Although iPhone and Android users download and spend time using about the same number of applications, iPhone users are more apt to buy one, according to a report released Thursday by AdMob.

Among mobile-device consumers surveyed by AdMob for its "January 2010 Metrics Report," 50 percent of all iPhone users and 35 percent of iPod Touch owners purchase at least one app a month. Those numbers compare with 24 percent of Palm's WebOS owners and 21 percent of Android users who buy at least one app each month. Results did not include Research In Motion's BlackBerry.

iPod Touch owners seem to be the heaviest downloaders in general, grabbing an average of 12 apps per month, versus iPhone and Android users who download 9 apps a month. WebOS users overall download only around 6 apps per month, which may be due in large part to the scarcity of available apps.

Touch owners are also the heaviest users, spending an average of 100 minutes each month using their apps, compared with WebOS users at 87 minutes, Android users at 80 minutes, and iPhone users at 79 minutes.… Read more

The 404 Podcast 526: Where we form a flying V

The 404 is complete once again, forming flying Vs and throwing knuckle pucks that would make Gordon Bombay proud. The first story to mention is the return of The Red Kid (not that one, Jeff), but this time to Twitter! It's about time, Conan, but you know you're a little late to the Twitter game when you get beaten by His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself. It's good to have Conan back, and he might even be coming to a city near you!

The former king of late night recently finalized plans to perform a live show in select cities that will employ ex-"Tonight Show" employees and bring back classic characters from the talk show. It's good to have you back, Mr. O'Brien--we knew you couldn't stay away for too long!

Next, Jeff tells us a truly terrifying story about things that go bump in the night....keep your mind out of the gutter while you listen, but it's about his fiancee's troubled-sleep woes. The scary part is she's not the only one in the studio with serious slumbering issues! Wrap yourself in a Snuggie, climb into a Tauntaun, and prepare yourself for a collection of night terror stories that will have you reaching for the phone, and who you gonna call? THE SLEEP DOCTOR MICHAEL BREUS! Look for another appearance from The Sultan of Sleep on a future episode of The 404, 'cause this is getting out of hand.

If you're just tuning in, we should warn you that the next story should not be heard during a meal or while in a state of anger, because you might do something crazy like send your nemesis a pile of poop. Poopsenders.com lets you send your friend/enemy/frenemy a steaming pile of cow, elephant, or gorilla dung, and you can even choose the amount! Can you hear the excitement in my written voice right now? With an ace of spades prank like this up our sleeves, we dare BOL to call us out again! Just kidding guys...;)

EPISODE 526 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Dialed In 116: MWC 2010 postmortem (podcast)

Our little Dialed In family is back together once again. After enduring some technical difficulties and travel nightmares, Kent and I are back from Barcelona, Spain, to join Nicole in the studio where we reflect on all the news from Mobile World Congress 2010. If there's one takeaway from the show, it's that software will play a primary role in this year's smartphones, while hardware will take a backseat. In other news, AT&T is finally getting its first Android phone and Sprint's WiMax devices are coming--but not as early as some say. All this … Read more

Get $100 from Bing when you buy from Wirefly

Do you need a new phone? How about a 3G-powered Netbook? This might be the perfect time to buy. Wirefly.com has hooked up with Bing Cashback to offer a $100 rebate on all phones, Netbooks, and even aircards.

A few examples of how that would translate to real-world savings:

Make $50 from buying a Motorola Droid. Current and new Verizon customers can get this popular model for $49.99 with a two-year service plan. The $100 Bing bonus means you actually pocket 50 bucks on the deal. Make $100 on an AT&T phone. Wirefly stocks a couple … Read more

Google Earth arrives for Android

Back in January when the Nexus One was unveiled, we got our first glimpse at Google Earth for Android. When the Nexus One officially shipped, I was surprised to learn that the application wasn't loaded on the phone. In fact, there wasn't even a mention of it after the unveiling. I assumed it would arrive at some point on either Android 1.6 or later.

Now it's more than a month later and Google finally snuck Google Earth into the Android Marketplace yesterday.

On paper, the Google Earth app sounds fantastic. Not only does it feature the … Read more