Archive for October, 2009

Following MLB’s lead of introducing their At Bat application for Android during the World Series, NBA has one upped them by delivering their official application during Opening Week and offering live streaming of every NBA game through NBA League Pass Mobile for Android. We’re not kidding. Live streaming over 3G or Wi-Fi of every single game of the NBA regular season (blackout restrictions apply).

The app will cost $39.99, a significant cost to pay, but well worth it if you’re an avid NBA fan always on the go. It’s a whole season’s worth of games! What’s cool about NBA League Pass Mobile is that some games will still be available to watch after they’ve aired and there’s DVR functionality to rewind that last Lebron James dunk or Kevin Durant swish.

The NBA also introduced NBA Game Time and Game Time Lite. The Lite version is free and comes with Live scores, player stats, standings, and team schedules. The $9.99 Game Time includes streaming game audio of Home and Away radio broadcasts, game alerts, game highlights and video recaps, and everything in Game Time Lite.

Note that NBA Game Time and Game Time Lite are available for the T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G with Android 1.5 or higher. NBA League Pass Mobile is available for the same devices with Android 1.6 or higher. No word on the HTC Hero or any upcoming Android device. There also doesn’t seem to be any discount for NBA League Pass subscribers. [AndroidCentral]

T-Mobile just officially introduced their ‘Project Dark’ rate plans, Even More and Even More Plus. The new rate plans look exactly like what we saw leaked last week and though it falls just a bit short of our sky high expectations, is still a great move by Magenta. On Even More plans, you’ll be able to get unlimited voice, text, and data for $99/month on a 2 year contract. On Even More Plus plans, you’ll get the same unlimited voice, text, and data for $79/month without any contract.

The catch of being on the no-contract Even More Plus plans is that your future phone won’t be subsidized by T-Mobile (which means the G1 will cost you $399.99 on Even More Plus as opposed to $129.99 on Even More). But even if there is a premium attached to no-contract living, the ability to get out anytime seems like a great perk and plus, it looks like you’ll still be able to purchase phones over a period of time with no interest.

The Even More unlimited plan is similar to what Sprint is offering and according to T-Mobile is half the price of comparable AT&T and Verizon plans. The Even More Plus is what excites us, if T-Mobile can have the entire industry headed to no-contract wireless service, we’re in. [AndroidCentral]

Google is looking to get involved with music services and it’s going to use the help of current web services like iLike and LaLa to do so. From what we gathered, Google Audio will allow people to search for artists, songs, etc and it’ll display results in either snippets of the song or full-length versions and point users to where they can easily purchase those songs. And though that’s an amazing and exciting proposition, being able to simply use the power of Google to get easy-access to purchasing songs, it’s not exactly going head to head with the moneymaking heavyweight that is iTunes.

But still, a lot is unknown at this point and certain final UI details and design may change and clearer details may eventually come about. But what is sure is that Google is planning to announce this new service on October 28th so we’ll find out soon. Could Google eventually use their new service to replace the Amazon MP3 Store on Android? [AndroidCentral]

The glove are off. After attacking AT&T, Verizon just released a commercial attacking/mocking the iPhone as an ‘iDon’t’ device that doesn’t have a real keyboard, can’t multitask, can’t take 5-megapixel pictures, can’t take pictures in the dark, can’t customize, can’t run widgets, and can’t interchange batteries. And guess what? Everything that the ‘iDon’t’ can’t do, the Droid does.

No shots of the Droid were actually shown in the commercial but there is no doubt that Verizon is betting big on their first Android device. We’re absolutely certain that interest in the Droid will soon reach a fever pitch and come November, it’s going to be one of the most anticipated devices of the year. Expect more commercials and ads about what the Droid does and what the ‘iDon’t’ cant.

The HTC Tattoo, HTC’s other Android device that runs HTC Sense, is now available across the pond. Vodafone UK customers are now able to purchase this highly customizable, highly affordable Android device and immediately ‘make it their own’. Just visit TattooMyHTC.com, and users can either choose from a slew of design options or even dabble and create their own. Basically, you can Tattoo your Tattoo.

If you want to buy a pre-existing design cover, it’ll run you €11.99 but if you want to harness your own creative nature and completely build your own design from scratch, it’ll be offered for €14.99. Let us know what designs you guys come up with! [AndroidCentral]

T-Mobile US has already begun its rollout of the Android 1.6 ‘Donut’ update to T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G users but what about the rest of the world? It looks like Vodafone UK customers will be able to enjoy their ‘Donut’ on October 19th because according to a Vodafone Forum Moderator, that’s when Vodafone is going to start pushing out the update. Enjoy UK HTC Magic owners!

We still haven’t heard official word from Rogers in Canada, so if any of our neighbors to the north hear anything ‘Donut’ related, be sure to let us know so we can pass it along! Though it’s very convenient to have Android OS updates pushed OTA to our handsets, we’re wondering if a manual option would be more efficient. Instead of relying on carriers to decide when we can update, couldn’t they offer users the option to download the update off their website? [AndroidCentral]

According to ‘LeakDroid’, the Sprint HTC Hero will be available off-contract for $329.99. Considering the price of the HTC Hero with 2-year contract is already $179.99 and the various advantages in not signing a new contract, the $329.99 price seems to be a relative steal. So if you’re lucky enough to be a Sprint subscriber with a great monthly plan, we suggest you strongly consider the off-contract pricing. [AndroidCentral]

Interested in learning the price of the new Android CLIQ? If you were interested, off-contract, you’ll be happy (or sad) to know that it’s $449.99. For that gigantic lump sum, you’ll be able to avoid a 2-year contract and still enjoy MOTOBLUR to its fullest (but you’ll still probably need a data plan).

Luckily, if you don’t qualify for the $199 pricing (which we personally feel is too high), there’ll be a varied pricing structure depending on the status of your T-Mobile contract–so hopefully not too many of us will have to pay the $449 price. [AndroidCentral]