Smartphones

This post was last updated July 24, 2009 at 7:50 a.m. PT.

Oh, snap! Things just got a little more heated between Palm and Apple. On Thursday, Palm released WebOS 1.1 for the Palm Pre, which, among other things, brings back iTunes syncing even with version 8.2.1, which disabled the feature. The news was posted on Palm's blog where it listed the new features and enhancements of the software update and nonchalantly added at the end:

Oh, and one more thing: Palm webOS 1.1 re-enables Palm media sync. That's right--you once again … Read more

On Thursday, T-Mobile announced a retail agreement with RadioShack to offer its phones (including the new MyTouch 3G) and services in 4,000 RadioShack stores nationwide, starting later this summer.

"Through our milestone partnership with RadioShack, T-Mobile's presence in national retail stores expands nearly twofold, giving millions more people the opportunity to readily access our products and take advantage of the tremendous value T-Mobile provides its customers," said Doug Chartier, senior vice president of sales at T-Mobile USA.

Prior to the deal, RadioShack offered only a selection of the carrier's products online. Terms of the agreement … Read more

T-Mobile's making a splash this week with the introduction of the Samsung Gravity 2 and the Samsung Comeback, the latter of which has Nicole impressed. Kent also gets an early look at the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G and, thankfully, it's a huge improvement over the G1. Plus, we debate the appeal of the LG Watch Phone: is it a do or a don't? All this and more on Dialed In Episode 88.

Rumor of the Week LG to bring Chocolate Touch to Verizon? … Read more

Touch screens that track two fingers will soon seem basic. At least if you compare them with the multitouch-sensor ClearPad 3000 Series, recently announced by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Synaptics.

The transparent sensor tracks up to 10 simultaneous finger touches--we assume that should cover most uses--making possible complex multifinger gestures such as closing an application by "crumpling" it with several fingers, or playing polyphonic sounds on a virtual piano keyboard.

Apple made multitouch popular with its iPhone, which debuted about four months after Synaptics introduced its currently shipping two-finger sensor, ClearPad 2000, in August 2006. Though widely speculated that Apple is using Synaptics' technology, that has not been confirmed.

One phone that does use the sensor is the T-mobile G1 by HTC, and manufacturers such as Samsung and LG are also confirmed customers.

The new sensor features an accuracy of plus/minus 1 mm, is 0.3 mm thick, and is available in sizes up to 8 inches diagonally.

That supported screen size, and the speculated relationship between Synaptics and Apple, makes us wonder if this sensor is what Apple's been waiting for to launch its much-rumored tablet. … Read more

A few days ago, the Pew Research Center released a report that Americans are looking online to fight the recession. On Tuesday it added that most of us are doing that via wireless Internet.

The results of the center's Internet & American Life Project survey show that 56 percent of adult Americans have accessed the Internet via wireless means, such as a Wi-Fi laptop, a mobile device, a game console, or an MP3 player. The most popular way people get online wirelessly is with a laptop computer, numbering 39 percent of some 2,200 survey participants.

The report also … Read more

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the Prizefight you've all been waiting for: the Apple iPhone 3GS versus the Palm Pre. These two touch-screen smartphone heavyweights have been duking it out on the streets already--launching within weeks of each other, taking jabs through advertisements, and sparring about fair use. We won't even get into the separate battle between the Apple and Palm fanboys/girls.

However, we decided to bring these two into the ring for a formal fight. Obviously, the iPhone 3GS and Pre are packed to the brim with functionality and it's hard to talk about … Read more

Is today my birthday? No? Because I just got one helluva gift: Public Radio Player 2.0, the latest version of the killer radio-streaming app, which now lets you listen to your favorite shows on-demand.

Missed last week's "This American Life"? No problem. The app has the latest episode. Want to catch up on "Talk of the Nation Science Friday?" You'll find several weeks' worth of back catalog. Same goes for "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me," "Fresh Air," "Marketplace," and countless other radio gems.

Granted, you can … Read more

Right after the new iPhone 3GS launched, I wrote an article about how the impending onslaught of iPhone videos would just lead to more losses for YouTube. Well, the onslaught has begun, and so have the reader e-mails asking me to promote their YouTube videos.

Andres writes:

"Hi, I think that these 2 videos that I recorded with my iPhone are really good and could be used for Apple's iPhone advertising. Please let me know if you like them."

Well, Andres, I kinda do like them. They're a little slow but have a Zen quality to them. But let's put them out to a wider audience and see what a few thousand people think (feel free to comment). And hey, while we're at it, if anybody else wants to submit an iPhone video to me to appear on Crave, you can. But it has to be shot with the iPhone, and it's gotta be good.

Comments?

See Andres' second video, "Filming lizard eating fly with iPhone 3GS" after the jump.… Read more

UC Berkeley researchers announced in April a special lens that turns a normal cell phone camera into a portable microscope powerful enough to offer bright field microscopy. They called it CellScope.

Well, the device just got even more powerful. The group announced Tuesday that the CellScope is now capable of taking color images of malaria parasites and even of tuberculosis bacteria labeled with fluorescent markers.

The version of the Cellscope introduced in April works with handhelds and even Netbooks and can be used for bright field microscopy, which uses simple white light--such as from a bulb or sunlight--to illuminate samples. The new version adds fluorescent microscopy to the repertoire. The device can now take pictures of a target--such as a parasite, bacteria, or cell--tagged with a specific fluorescent wavelength emitted by a special dye.

To achieve this, the researchers used filters to block out background light and convert the light source--a simple LED--into the 460-nanometer wavelength required to excite the green fluorescent dye in the sample. After that they were were able to take fluorescent images of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (which causes TB in humans) with a 3.2-megapixel off-the-shelf phone camera. The images were then automatically analyzed using software to show the total of bacteria in the blood sample.

This new development means the prototype of the CellScope can also be used in field settings for disease screening and diagnoses.… Read more