Archive for August, 2010

T-Mobile seems to be growing everyday! Now the carrier is serving more that 100 million people on the HSPA+ 3G network.  Some cities that have access to HSPA+3G network is Boston, Erie, Fresno, Palm Springs, San Diego, Miami, Richmond, Spokane, and Topeka.  This has come to a surprise to many especially since T-Mobile didn’t even a 3G network until a few years ago. Now the  network is offering some of the fastest speeds to a large amount of people. T-Mobile can actually be proud because they’re offering more 4G speeds to people than any other mobile carrier in the United states.

If you have 4G coverage it really does matter what kind of device you’re sporting with it.  Now with the T-Mobile G2 which is planning to debut soon this network would go along with it perfectly.  Other phones that t-mobile offers will also give you the full experience especially those Android smartphones.

For those of you Sprint users that have been anticipating the Samsung Epic 4G this is going to be exactly what you want to hear. Sprint has finally decided to release the phone sometime this week! The phone will be priced at $249.99 with a $100 mail-in rebate and a 2 year contract. The carrier is also offering the Epic 4G Online at this moment. If you prefer picking up you’re Samsung device personally you’ll can do that Today! Yes today! Make sure you do it as soon as you can, since many are probably going to take advantage of the new item in stock.

Sprint is also welcoming the EVO 4G back after the phone has gone out of stock for quite some time. The EVO 4G has kept its pricing of $199.99 with a $100.00 mail-in rebate and a two-year contract agreement. Now if you expect to wait a little bit to get the EVO 4G you might want to second think that decision, especially since the the android handset is expected to be limited.

Verizon has recently released an Android 2.2 update for the Droid Incredible. The first group of Incredible owners were able to receive this update over-the-air while the rest got the update a few days later. The Basking Ridge telecom announced the update through their twitter account and said that the new software has a faster Web browser, with better camera performance and the the speed of the system even faster. The update is not only for the operating system on the Incredible but can also add some new device features. The feature getting the most attention is Adobe’s Flash 10.1 media player; which can record 720 videos and the ability to turn the device into a mobile hot spot. Users can now also rotate the screen by tilting the phone around, and the applications you download can be saved on a microSD card.

For all the U.S. cellular clients out there looking for a great android powered phone this is the article for you. The Samsung Galaxy S is expected to be released for U.S. cellular in October. AT&T and T-Mobile already have their Galaxy S variants out , sprint will be receiving one in the following week. Now U.S. cellular its your turn to receive the goodies. It is unknown if the carrier will receive a special edition of the the Galaxy S line up in October, I guess that part we’ll just have to wait and see. After checking out some press releases it is thought that the company will most likely just receive the “Galaxy S” with no variant.

With the recent news on the Android phones U.S. cellular has decided it will be launching it seems like they’re stepping up their game. My best guess is that they’re hoping one day to have their name among the big guys in Cell phone carriers. Although the release date for the phones are a little unclear its great to hear that U.S. cellular is adding into the Android world.

Just a few days ago we saw as Sony Ericsson XPERIA X8 passed right through the FCC (federal communications commission) but we were left with the doubt of when the phone would be released in the U.S. and how much it would cost here. We later learned that the phone will be coming to the United states soon and will be costing less than $300. Sadly no release date has been set, all we know is that the phone is planning to be sold unlocked. Sources have said that after handling the phone they realized that the device and UI seemed responsive but that the small screen made users very awkward with the virtual keyboard, this isn’t surprising especially since the screen is only 3 inches. For being less than $300 and being unlocked its actually not a bad deal especially since phones now require a 2 year activation plan and yet the phone is still expensive. I’m excited to see this phone in the U.S soon.

Verizon officially has announced that its releasing the anticipated 10.1 version of Flash for the popular Motorola DROID handset. This is probably going to come as a great surprise for most DROID owners, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, where have you been? The update is said to provide users with access to millions of sites that contain rich content like animations, casual games, videos, apps, and audio.

The update should automatically begin to roll out to all Droid handsets but there are options if you’re just so impatient that you can’t wait until you have it. If thats the case then there are possibilities of downloading it manually but you do run a risk. Here a key note, remember that the update only enables flash but does not contain flash. Once you receive the update you must manually download flash from the android market. The update is currently only available for users with DROID that have Froyo (android 2.2.)

Many Google Android owners have found that their phone has been infected with a “Trojan” virus; which may steal money through text messages. This increases concerns that researchers have about the security of smart phones. Russia-based Kaspersky Lab, an anti virus software company, said the malicious code, which poses as a harmless media player application, has been infecting Android devices and sending text messages to premium-rate numbers.

“We consistently advise users to only install apps they trust,” said Jay Nancarrow, a Google spokesman. “In particular, users should exercise caution when installing applications outside of Android Market.” Many anti virus software companies have been trying to strengthen their mobile arsenal against the threats.

HTC EVO and Incredible are already some amazing phones, but what can make it better? Google is releasing Android updates to the two HTC and Motorola phones that will add extra features such as hot spot functionality and Flash support. It was released that the smart phones will get the new software Android 2.2 in the next couple of days.

With these updates, user will have faster application performance, a quicker Web Browser, and support for Adobe’s Flash version 10.1. “Android 2.2 is a minor platform release including user features, developer features, API changes and bug fixes,” Google said in a statement. The Mountain View company, that first announced the release of Android 2.2 back in May, said that users of the Android phones will automatically be asked if they would like to upgrade their software.

Do you think your passwords and account information is safe on your phone? Security researchers said that they have found a way to steal passwords from an Android phone, using simple photography and lighting techniques making it know the risk of touch screen phones. “Touch screens are touched, so oily residues, or smudges, remain on the screen as a side effect,” according to the team of scientists at the University of Pennsylvania. These smudges reveal passwords in a form of “information leakage.”

Google’s Android system uses a nine-point security grid, which the owner of the phone can swipe a password without having to lift a finger; but leaving an oily smudge that can easily be traced. A simple setup involving a camera, lighting, and photo-editing software allowed researchers to guess the pass code correctly 68% of the time. “We believe smudge attacks based on reflective properties of oily residues are but one possible attack vector on touch screens,” the report added. “In future work, we intend to investigate other devices that may be susceptible, and varied smudge attack styles, such as heat trails caused by the heat transfer of a finger touching a screen.”

This obvious flaw is the latest sign for a need in heightened security on Android touch screen phones. Scientist have said that the fingerprints and smudges are difficult to remove; even if you try to wipe it away.

Android is taking the cell phone world by storm and has outpaced the iPhone as the most used smar tphone operating system in the United States according to two separate market share reports released this week. Currently Google’s Android has 33% of the market, BlackBerry has 28%, Apple’s iPhone 22%, and Android has 27 % or the market. Have in mind that these statistics are based on consumer smart phone purchases.

Even though both reports; made by NPD and Nielson, studied recent purchases, NPD focused mainly on the second quarter of this year; while Nielson’s study covered purchases in the last six months. What both reports do have in  common; Android’s mobile operating system is dominating the iPhone among consumers. “For the second consecutive quarter, Android handsets have shown strong but slowing sell-through market share gains among U.S. consumers,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD.

To recapture lost market share, RIM is also launching its much anticipated Torch handset, featuring a revamped BlackBerry operating system. However, the BlackBerry Torch’s comparatively smaller screen may be a negative compared with its bigger and similarly priced rivals Droid Incredible and Evo 4G, according to NPD.