Smartphones

Besides a slew of new LG phones, the biggest news out of the Federal Communications this week is the approval of the Palm Pixi. In light of its November 15 release date, the Pixi's appearance here is not surprising. We also spied the Google Android-equipped LG GW620.

Because the FCC has to certify every phone sold in the United States, not to mention test its SAR rating, the agency's online database offers a lot of sneak peeks to those who dig. And to save you the trouble, Crave has combed through the database for you. Here are a … Read more

iPhones may be all the rage in tech-crazy Silicon Valley, but if a new political app is any indication, RIM's BlackBerry is at the heart of government.

This time the RIM love comes not from President Obama, who made headlines for trying to hold onto his BlackBerry after being sworn into office, but from across the aisle.

From the office of Republican Whip Eric Cantor comes WhipCast for BlackBerry, a free GOP-focused aggregator for text, pictures, and videos from the House floor. WhipCast monitors such activities as discussions, polling information, and floor schedule updates (which you can also follow on Twitter). … Read more

Earlier this week, I bashed Google's visual voice mail service for its inability to transcribe my voice messages into understandable English. (OK, most of the article really focuses on a new flexibility in Google Voice, which I do like.) To be fair, poor transcription isn't all Google's fault. They're offering a free service based on a computer-aided technology that improves each year. The real problem is that machine transcription just isn't good enough.

Up until yesterday, I hadn't received more than a handful of visual voice mail message translations imbued with any meaning in … Read more

On Thursday, Sprint hosted an online chat with its customers and its vice president of consumer marketing, David Owens, who revealed some of the carrier's plans for upcoming smartphones.

During the hour-long session, Owens answered questions on a variety of topics, ranging from service plans to community to, of course, future products. Regarding the latter, Owens said there will be a "robust" lineup of BlackBerry and HTC devices in 2010 and reiterated that a Wi-Fi-enabled BlackBerry Tour, as well as other such-equipped BlackBerrys, are coming.

The HTC smartphones will run on the Google Android platform, though Owens … Read more

While we're sure there are more accessories to come, two add-ons that will be readily available when the Motorola Droid launches on November 6 are the Multimedia Station and Phone Holder for Droid. Verizon announced their official pricing on Thursday with each device costing $29.99.

The multimedia dock turns the Droid into a hub where you can easily access your music, photos, and videos and use it as a bedside alarm clock and weather station. It also serves as a charger.

Meanwhile, when the smartphone is placed in the Phone Holder, it will automatically bring up a navigation … Read more

On Wednesday, Verizon Wireless officially announced that its first Google Android device, the Motorola Droid, would hit streets on November 6 with a price tag of $199.99. Of course, to get that price, you need to sign up for a two-year contract and deal with a $100 mail-in rebate; however Best Buy Mobile is making things just a bit easier for customers.

According to the consumer electronics retailer on Thursday, it is now taking preorders for the Droid and will not require a mail-in rebate. An instant rebate will be applied at the point of purchase, so you'll … Read more

Editors' note: That's it for our live review! Over the next few days we will continue to test the Droid, including the GPS and battery life, and add in final results. For now, here is our full review of the Motorola Droid for Verizon Wireless.

Hooray! We finally have the Motorola Droid in our hands. Though it's much too early to offer a full critique, we can report that Verizon's first Google Android device is a looker. The display is gorgeous, Android 2.0 looks spiffy, and the handset appears to be lightning fast. Though we'll refrain from using the dreaded "iPhone killer" expression, comparisons between the two devices are obvious, particularly in light of Verizon's snarky ad campaign.

We're starting now and will continue posting our analysis this afternoon until we have a full rated review. So join Kent German and Bonnie Cha as we dive into the Droid.

12:30 p.m., PT Design At first glance you might not think that the Motorola Droid's design amounts to much. Its build isn't unique and the sharp angles result in a somewhat boxy look. But this is a smartphone that holds a lot of surprises, the biggest being the positively gorgeous WVGA display. At 3.7 inches it surpasses even the iPhone and is firmly in the bounds of what we consider to be an acceptable size for a touch-screen display. Color support is generous (16 million hues) and the resolutions (440x854 pixels) is some of the richest we've seen. We aren't kidding when we say that this display is bright and brilliant with vibrant colors and sharp graphics. It also lends itself well to the welcome Android 2.0 interface updates (more on that later).

Of course, with a large display the Droid is rather big (4.56 inches by 2.36 inches by 0.54 inch), but that's a small price to pay for the top-notch display. You'll notice that the Droid is a heavy (5.96 ounces) compared with other smartphones, but the trim design keeps it portable. We also welcome the solid feel in the hand, even if the slider mechanism is a little quirky. The actual sliding motion is quite stiff, but the front face doesn't really lock into place on either end. Indeed, we noticed that even a gentle nudge can start to close the Droid. No, it's not a big deal, but it's something to consider.

1:15 p.m. The capacitive display's touch interface is quick and responsive and we love the added multitouch capability that lets you zoom in on Web pages with a double tap. As with previous Android phones, there's vibrating feedback only for certain functions (like a "long press"), though you can turn off the haptic feedback completely. When we selected items and scrolled through long lists, there was no lag time in performing the command (more on that later as well). You also can customize the display's brightness, backlighting time, and animations. The accelerometer will adjust the display's orientation as you rotate the Droid in your hands, but you can turn this feature off.

Outside of the upgrades from Android 2.0 and the Droid-specific tweaks, the basic interface will be familiar to Android users. You only get three home screens--we prefer the five we got on the Motorola Cliq--but you can customize each pane with widgets. And, of course, the central pane has the Google search bar. The main menu is accessible via the pull tab at the bottom of the display. The menu's design is mostly unchanged. You can move icons around and add shortcuts and folders. The Droid does not offer the MotoBlur interface, but there is a new integrated Facebook widget for viewing status updates and posting your own. We'll describe that in more detail in the Features section.

Below the Droid's display are four touch controls: Back, Home, Search, and Menu. They perform the same functions as on other Android phones, with the search and menu keys being the most useful. The former activates Google search with just one press, and the latter opens relevant menu commands for various handset modes and features. Though the touch controls are responsive, they're not very big. And at the end of the day, we'd prefer actual physical buttons. We know this all comes down to a personal preference, but that is ours.… Read more

Updated 10/28/09 at 11 a.m. PT with a tip about checking voice mail from your cell phone.

On Tuesday, Google took another step toward bringing Google Voice to the masses, fulfilling the wishes of those who are curious enough to try Google's brand of visual voice mail, but either too jealous of their mobile number to give it up for a Google Voice number, or too weary to go through the hassle of training family and friends on a new number.

Google now lets you access some key features in the Google Voice service using the number you've always had, and no longer forces you to sign up for a new Google Voice phone number. How? Google Voice can now take advantage of what's called conditional call forwarding. I tried out the new feature today with success, and have some tips to share.

With Google Voice in charge of your missed calls, callers are directed to your Google Voice in-box instead of to the voice mail box that your carrier operates. There, friends can leave a message after hearing the greeting you recorded online. You, for your part, can listen to messages online or from your phone, in any order you'd like.

As promised, setup was easy for this existing Google Voice user. In the Settings menu, under the Phone tab, click "Activate Google voice mail for this phone" next to any phone that you've associated with your account. Then, select your carrier (U.S.-only for now) and dial the string of numbers and symbols you see into your phone. Then dial the number. This sets up call forwarding. While many high-end feature phones and smartphones do have separate menu settings for call forwarding, Google's method of entering the forwarding code is faster and removes the guesswork.

New users have slightly more setup involved. You'll first choose if you want to use your own number or sign up for a new Google Voice account. Then you'll need to enter your Google Account credentials or register an account before setting up your phone.

Using the conditional forwarding service is brainless; whomever calls you hears your Google Voice recording, which you can set up online. You may want to tinker in the settings to forward calls straight to voice mail, or else you could annoy callers with a full ring-through to your mobile voice mail and another ring through to the recorded number. However, leave the setting in its default mode and friends may be able to track you down on other numbers associated with your Google Voice number, if you use Google's number and not your own mobile number.

To send a call straight to voice mail, go to the Phone tab in the Settings menu of your online Google Voice account. Click Edit, then click to see advanced settings. At the bottom is a call-forwarding option that you can switch to send straight to your recording.

If you use the call forwarding option from your cell phone, checking voice mail isn't entirely straightforward. If you're forwarding to a Google Voice number, you'll need to dial your new phone number from your handset in order to get to your in-box options. This is because Google now presides over your messages, not your carrier. Google provides a separate access number for those using their own mobile numbers to access Google's visual voice mail, which you'll get when you sign up for an account.… Read more

We're learning a lot about Verizon's Motorola Droid (with more to come soon), but what do we know about the Droid Eris?

Also called the HTC Desire, the Eris (and the Moto Droid) will be a part of a series of Google Android devices for Verizon Wireless. According to Gdgt, preliminary specs include a 5-megapixel camera, a microSD card slot, EV-DO, a 3.2-inch display, and (thanks to the Boy Genius Report) a 528MHz processor. Official photos are nonexistent at this point, but the Eris should have a HTC Hero-like a trackball for navigation.

Verizon hasn't announced … Read more