2.2

Comfort Software's Free Stopwatch is, as its name suggests, a freeware stopwatch program that tracks time in hours, minutes, and seconds in increments of 0.01 second, or two decimal places. It can also keep track of laps, making it suitable for sporting events and similar competitions. With simple operation and precision timekeeping, it's useful in many other applications, too, such as the laboratory, workshop, and kitchen.

Free Stopwatch's rectangular interface can be easily resized and dragged around to suit just about any desktop. It displays the total time count in clear block numerals up to 24 … Read more

Owners of Samsung's Galaxy S smartphone and the 7-inch Galaxy Tab tablet will finally receive an upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread starting very soon.

Samsung announced today that the Gingerbread upgrade would also extend to its Galaxy Ace, Gio, Fit, and mini phones.

The company will kick off with an upgrade to the Galaxy S in the U.K. and Nordic countries starting as soon as the middle of this month. The upgrade would then travel through the rest of the world, reaching other European countries, North America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and then other regions.… Read more

ViewSonic is set to unveil the industry's first 7-inch Android Honeycomb tablet at month's end, according to sources cited by tech site Pocket-Lint.

The ViewPad 7x will debut on May 31 at the Computex computer show in Taipei, Taiwan, Pocket-Lint reported, and will be a follow-up rather than a replacement to ViewSonic's existing ViewPad 7 tablet, which runs Android 2.2, aka Froyo. Following its late May unveiling, the device should reach consumers in June.

Details are scarce, but according to Pocket-Lint, the ViewPad 7x will sport an Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor, cameras in front and back, and support for the high-speed HSPA+ networks offered by AT&T and T-Mobile. The tablet would also include both HDMI and DLNA ports to pipe content through a TV or media center device.… Read more

The Samsung Replenish may have the designation of being Sprint's first Android-powered eco-phone, but even if it managed to cinch closed a hole in the ozone layer, we still wouldn't recommend it if it didn't stand up to its rivals.Recommend it we do, especially to budget-conscious consumers who are looking for a capable but low-frills smartphone. At only $50, it sports Android 2.2 Froyo, a QWERTY keyboard, and an above-average 2-megapixel camera. On top of that, it has a roomy 32GB external memory and mobile hot-spot support (an additional $30 per month.)

Pros aside, the … Read more

Software that synchronizes the contents of two or more folders is a great idea that usually comes up short somewhere, such as an inability to access a network or enter passwords or one-way synching that tracks updates in one folder but not the other. Allway Sync (64-bit) is a free tool that analyzes the contents of two folders simultaneously and updates both based on the latest content in either. But instead of simply copying the latest content based on time signatures, Allway Sync's bidirectional algorithm analyzes the content for actual changes, so even if system clocks are out of … Read more

A month ago we reported that Barnes & Noble was set to roll out a major software update for the Nook Color in April. This morning, Barnes & Noble finally flipped the switch on that update, which is a customized version of Android OS 2.2 (Froyo) and most notably adds a free built-in e-mail client, Flash support for Web browsing, and an app store with a selection of more than 125 free and paid apps.

Those who've already "rooted" the $250 Nook Color with custom firmware that's been circulating on the Web for months will … Read more

We hear a lot of about companies who track our Internet use and gather data about us as consumers, but who exactly are these companies, and what are they doing with this information? Ghostery (Chrome) can tell you exactly that. This Chrome extension will let you know who's monitoring your activity on every Web site you visit. It's a little creepy, but it's also a good thing to be aware of.

Like most Chrome extensions, Ghostery installs easily. We liked the fact that the extension immediately took us through a brief setup wizard, which allowed us to … Read more

Does it have Samsung's signature high-polish glossy body? Of course! But the Samsung Gem, an Android 2.2 Froyo smartphone for U.S. Cellular, also has some style all its own. With its swooping lines and repeated pentagonal, superhero-esque accent, it doesn't look like just any other Android phone.

We're pleased that Samsung left its custom TouchWiz interface off this model, giving us the default (some would call it "pure") Android experience.

The specs are typical for a … Read more

Verizon Wireless has rolled out a beefy update for owners of Samsung's Galaxy Tab.

Now being launched as a mandatory system update dubbed EC02, the 35MB package offers a variety of fixes and enhancements for the Tab.

Verizon and Samsung are promising better speed and performance for the built-in browser and less drain on the battery when searching for Wi-Fi hot spots. The e-mail and message apps have been enhanced as well. Tab users can now access hyperlinks within e-mail messages, manage and download attached Word 2000 and 2003 documents, and open video attachments 5MB in size. Adobe Flash … Read more