Looks like Rogers are starting to pay more attention on Android phones versus Windows Mobile. They have just released the new Samsung Galaxy Spica Android device. The device has a 3.2” AMOLED touchscreen and super slim 13mm design. It comes with 2GB of expandable memory, a 3.2MP camera and a powerful 800 Mhz processor so you can run multiple apps at once. It will be launching with OS 1.5 but will be upgradeable to 2.1 later on. The device goes on sale today and can be purchased for $79.99 with select 3 year voice+data plans.Get em while they’re hot!
Tether has reached its one year birthday and they are going all out! Tether is a program for Mac and PC that allows users to tether their BlackBerry or Android (currently in beta) phones to their computer. Tether has reached 110,000 BlackBerry smartphones which is huge! The company has made some huge accomplishments in the smartphone world and we are really excited for them.
Now the the part you are all waiting for… the giveaway. Tether has given us 25 copies to giveaway to our readers! They are also giving away SIX smartphone devices including three BlackBerry devices and three Android devices here. So how do you get a license? Just leave a comment with:
Name
Email (will not be shared)
A quick comment why you want a Tether license!
We will choose 25 readers and notify you by email! It is as easy as that.
Today AT&T announced the availability of its first Android phone, the MOTOROLA BACKFLIP. You may remember our hands-on with the BACKFLIP back at CES. This phone runs MOTOBLUR which is powered by Android. MOTOBLUR syncs yours contacts with your social networks and delivers the content right to the homepage. The phone will be available on March 7 at AT&T stores and online for $99.99 after mail-in rebate with a two-year contract.
Today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, HTC introduced three new phones. The HTC Desire runs Android and has the newly updated HTC Sense experience. With a 3.7 inch AMOLED display, the Desire is great for looking at pictures and video, browsing the web, or doing social media. The Desire has a one gigahertz Snapdragon processor and is Adobe Flash 10.1 ready.
The HTC Legend also runs Android with the updated HTC Sense. The Legend is made of aluminum to provide a good looking phone. Instead of the trackball, like on the HTC Hero, the Legend has a optical joystick. This one has a 3.2 inch AMOLED display.
The Legend will be available in Europe through Vodafone an in the direct channel beginning in April. It will also hit other parts of the world in early Q2. The Desire will be available to customers in Europe and Asia in early Q2.
Today Verizon Wireless announced the availability of the Motorola DEVOUR smartphone on its network. Available in March, the Motorola DEVOUR will be the first phone to run MOTOBLUR on the Verizon Network. MOTOBLUR, powered by Android, syncs yours contacts with your social networks and delivers the content right to the homepage. The DEVOUR has a 3.1″ capacitive touch screen that slides up to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. For media, the phone comes with a pre-installed 8 GB microSD card and has A2DP bluetooth. Customers who want to get the Motorola DEVOUR will be required to get a dataplan which runs $29.99 a month.
Firefox, one of the Internet’s best web browsers, is now working on a project for the Android platform and it will probably be known as Fennec as well. Fennec, which means little fox, is currently still in the alpha stage for the Windows Mobile Phone platform and has been like that for almost close to a year. Just a little ove 7 months ago we heard that the Mozilla company was working on a browser fr the Android platform and now that product is coming to reality. There are reports on the German Mozilla community website that they are preparing the first Beta (Fennec) for Android to be out in February. To make things even more interesting, the Google Labs site listed a Labs Night meeting for yesterday where Jay Sullivan (Mozilla VP of Mobile) would discuss their mobile strategy and demo the FireFox for Android beta. It will be interesting to see what Mozilla can do for the Android platform because their stock browser is getting a tad bit better at rendering full websites and quicker loading times on each software update. Now we can’t forget about the downloadable Dolphin browser, which implements multi-touch in the browser, something that the stock Android browser doesn’t have.
UPDATE: It appears that February was a bit “optimistic” and Firefox for Android is more likely several months away although progress is being made quickly. To follow progress of the project visit this link.
Good news for those looking to replace the stock Android browser on your device. The first beta version of Firefox for Android (Fennec) will be released in February 2010. Currently, Firefox is among the most popular PC browsers, and my personal favorite. We have seen Fennec operating on the Nokia N900, but now with Firefox for Android the company’s plans go even further.
Optimization is Google’s (NSDQ: GOOG) game and yesterday they proved it once again. Yesterday they’ve updated both mobile versions of Google with location based data. If you haven’t noticed, now at the bottom of the webpage there is an indicator showing where your location is. That’s useful in many ways. What if you wanted to search for a mall, bar, movie theater but don’t know the exact location where you’re at. Google’s new indicator uses the GPS location from where you are standing (or sitting) and locates the nearest facilities you are looking for. It beats actually going into Google Maps or using another application like Telenav. Great thinking Google, I’m sure someone would have thought of that sooner or later…
Motorola announced its new phone the Motorola BACKFLIP at CES. The BACKFLIP features MOTOBLUR which allows its users to sync all of their social media, contacts, messages and more, directly to the home screen. The BACKFLIP is unique because it has a reverse flip design that no other phone has. We got to play around with the phone and decided to post up a hands-on gallery!
Back in March we reviewed a fantastic product called TetherBerry. The company announced today that it would be rebranding itself as “Tether”, changing its name from TetherBerry. This change will allow the company to begin developing the program for other smartphones, starting with Android. The company has opened up beta testing for the Android client.
Along with the rebranding, Tether has also incorporated some new features into the client. Users can now tether via bluetooth, instead of having to plug in every time. The client has become even easier to use making tethering as simple as plugging your phone in and clicking a button. The app is also now available in BlackBerry AppWorld, making it even easier for BlackBerry users to download the application.
Tether is offering a 7-day free trial for people who are unsure if they want to purchase. The company is also offering 50% off of the product until January 10th!
The Google Nexus One phone is no secret to bloggers. Unlike Apple, Google did not seem to be very strict with its employees leaking information and pictures of the phone. However, today Google made the phone official with a press conference at its headquarters in California. The Nexus One will be running Android 2.1 as its operating system meaning it will have the latest version of Android. The phone is manufactured by HTC, however it is going to be sold through Google. The Nexus One has a 5 megapixel camera, a trackball, and a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen. The phone has GPS, Wi-Fi, a compass, and accelerometer.
The phone is available to customers today for $549 unlocked to T-Mobile’s bands (meaning no AT&T 3G). It is also available on T-Mobile with a two-year contract for $179. Google didn’t forget about the Verizon customers though, the Nexus ONe will be available on Verizon this Spring. It will also be available on Vodaphone in the future.
