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08JulDogfight! iPhone 4 vs Droid Incredible. Part 1 of 2: Design, Bugs, Displays, Call Quality and more!
Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile
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08Jul
Have you heard of Fring? If not, it's basically a video chat app that supports iOS, Android, Symbian, and Windows Mobile. With video chat being all the rage these days after Steve Jobs talked up Face Time at WWDC, you might want to know that Fring has many of the same capabilities and more. Today, Fring announced a new version of the app for iOS, for use on iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS. The new Fring offers two-way video calling from your iPhone to Android, Symbian, and other Fring-enabled phones. Additionally, while Face Time only offers calling over Wi-Fi, Fring can be used over Wi-Fi and 3G as well. Here are some other new features that come with iOS 4:
- Multitasking so you can be always on and available with fring running in the background and alerting you to new video calls, voice calls or chat without proactively opening fring (just like on all other supported phones).
- New Social Stream: A chronological stream of all tweets, facebook updates, chats and calls, all in one place! Easy cross-community communication and simple sorting capabilities.
- A Smarter address book: simply manages your buddy list, merges contacts and more
Here's a brief example of a Fring employee with an iPhone 4 calling a Fring employee with an EVO 4G. The quality isn't exactly stellar and you can't hear the lady on the other side all that well, but that may be partially to blame on how loud the guy taking the video was. See for yourself!
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Via Fring
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08Jul
The latest statistics on the state of the mobile industry have just been released by comScore, and their information shows that Android is steadily gaining steam in the U.S. The study, completed by comScore, is based on a three-month period ending in May. It examined the distribution of mobile platforms in the U.S., the top device manufacturers in the U.S., and just how mobile phone owners are using their handsets. As for platforms, Research In Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, are holding strong at the number one spot with 41.7 percent of the market, down a litte less than half a percent from February. Next up is Apple, with 24.4 percent, a one percent drop from February, followed by Microsoft, with a 13.2 percent share. In fifth place is Google at 13 percent marketshare. Interestingly, Android was the only mobile platform to experience growth in the three-month period, gaining four percent on all of the other platforms. Bringing up the rear is Palm's webOS, with 4.8 percent of the market.
It's definitely interesting to see that Android is the only mobile platform that grew during the research period. The research just goes to show that Android, while still fairly young compared to most mobile OSes, is quickly gaining ground on its competitors. Most of the drops that occurred can be explained by the lack of new hardware (Apple and Palm) or software (Microsoft). Since the release of the iPhone 4 and its huge sales numbers from launch weekend, as well as the launch of the upcoming Motorola DROID X, I'd like to see how the platform breakdown will look in a few weeks.
Via Phone Arena, comScore
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Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile
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08Jul
Regardless of how you feel about the iPhone, 1.7 million estimated sales on day one is an impressive figure. And it's taking its toll on the number of available units in the wild. There's no doubt about it - between Apple, AT&T, and Best Buy, finding a spare device in the wild has been a bit of a challenge. Hot on the heels of Apple's challenges with keeping the device in stock (and some users reporting that they're still waiting for their online orders), have you received your iPhone 4 yet? Hit the comments with your stories!
{Widget type="poll" id="3446642" name=""Have you gotten your iPhone yet?"}
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Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile
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08Jul
Despite all the "issues" with the iPhone 4, we still knew it was one of the hottest devices on the market right now. But you know Apple, being "one of" the hottest devices just wasn't good enough, so this iPhone 4 decided to go and get SO hot that it actually burst into flames and burned its owner. Is that hot enough for you?! The picture you see above should be some pretty convincing evidence. According to a BGR tipster, the phone lit up (and I'm not talking signal here) after being connected to the owner's computer via the USB cable that came with it. As you can see it got hot enough to leave a solid mark on the surrounding aluminum and completely melt the cable that was connected to it. The report also says that this was clearly a defective USB port, and not some Joe Shmoe trying to get a new iPhone. Pretty crazy, no? I've heard of spontaneous combustion, but this takes the cake.
Via BGR
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08Jul
Remember when Nexus Ones started receiving the newest version of Android 2.2, build number FRF91, last week? Google has gone ahead and updated the Android 2.2 SDK with the newest build as well. With the SDK including the final version of Froyo, everyone can make sure their respective Android projects are up to date, like hackers, developers, and everyone else with an interest in the inner workings of the little green robot.
Now that the final build Android 2.2 is finally finalized, hopefully we'll begin hearing some official news on the next version of Android, aka Gingerbread. Considering all of the rumors we've heard about Gingerbread have said that it won't see a release until late this year, I suppose we'll have to make due with the dessert that we've got now. Has anyone found any neat Froyo ROMs, hacks, or anything else?
Via Android CentralBecome a PhoneDog Fan on Facebook and don't forget to "Spin to Win!" today Know something we don't? E-mail us or post it in our forums
Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile
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08Jul
The Imagine Cup, by Microsoft, is (in their own words) "the world’s premier student technology competition...Overall, the idea is to show how technology can help solve the world’s toughest problems. And the solution? Well, that’s entirely up to you—and your imagination." This year's finals were held in Warsaw, Poland, and while the winners are rewarded with cash prizes, this year all 400 finalists were given the gift of a Windows Phone 7 prototype. The phone is said to be the same Samsung prototype that was seen at MIX back in March, and more recently demoed by Engadget in late June. There's no telling at what stage in development these prototypes are currently at, but hey, these kids are developers, so I'm sure they'll have their fun.
Via Engadget, artificialignorance
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08Jul
The Samsung Gravity T enters T-Mobile's lineup as a nice mid-range option for someone that needs a device for calling and text messaging. Like most of the featurephones in the carrier's lineup, the Gravity T ships in the typical T-Mobile box with the phone, battery, and home charger. The Gravity T is 4.29 inches long by 2.23 inches wide by 0.59 inch thick, and weighs 4.23 ounces, making it perfect for the pocket or briefcase. The device is very sturdy given the price point - the hinge opens and closes with a strong "click" each time I access the keyboard, and it feels sturdy in the hand.
On the topic of the keyboard, the Gravity T offers a nice QWERTY with a dedicated row for the space bar and commonly used symbols. The keys are tactile and large enough to type with ease, and I was pounding out messages within a few minutes of picking the device up. The only irritation I encountered was the placement of the "back" key - it's situated where you would expect the "L" to be, so I found myself unintentionally misspelling words that had an "l" in them.
The volume rocker on the left side of the device, and the microUSB charging port, camera, and lock buttons on the right. The camera and speakerphone are on the back, and the microSD card slot can be found under the battery door. The Gravity T offers a 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen, and like any other resistive touchscreen, the experience seems to be rather frustrating. Perhaps I'm used to capacitive displays, but I found that touching the screen wouldn't register in some instances, and in other cases, it seemed to be a bit laggy. It's just inconsistent, and I find it irritating with extended use.
I've been testing the Gravity T in the Charlotte area, and overall voice quality has been very good. In all of my test calls, participants told me that they could hear me well, and I had no challenges understanding them. I took the device to a T-Mobile trouble spot yesterday, and while the call was a bit choppy, I was able to complete a call without dropping it. The speaker is loud and clear, and worked well in a busy coffee shop. I was able to connect my Plantronics Bluetooth headset, and callers reported good sound quality.
I'm still testing official battery life numbers, but in my limited time with it, I've been impressed. I've put it through its paces yesterday and today, and has been on par with other featurephones thus far. The device was fully charged yesterday morning, and as of this afternoon (about a day and a half of use), I've only lost one battery bar. The Samsung Gravity T offers 3G connectivity, so browsing the internet was snappy. The CNN mobile homepage loaded in about 11 seconds, and PhoneDog.com loaded in 32 seconds.
The featurephone/smartphone divide continues to evaporate as smartphones drop in cost and carriers bundle data services into their respective price plans. The Samsung Gravity T is a decent mid-range device for the person that calls and messages on an occasional basis, but at $150 out the door (before a $75 mail-in rebate), I would be looking at T-Mobile's smartphone options. If you're set on a featurephone, the device is worth considering, but be sure to check out the (resistive) screen prior to purchasing. Full review to come soon!Become a PhoneDog Fan on Facebook and don't forget to "Spin to Win!" today Know something we don't? E-mail us or post it in our forums
Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile
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08Jul
If you're looking forward to the Windows Phone 7 Platform launch this holiday season (or slightly earlier, say September/November maybe?), and wondering what's in store for you in terms of hardware, the good news is two-fold. First, we know that Microsoft has put strict requirements in place to foster uniformity among its devices, and to assure that all WP7 phones are of the highest quality. The other thing we know, thanks to a UAProf (user agent profile, look it up on Wikipedia) is that HTC plans on bringing at least two WP7 phones to the table. The HTC Mozart and HTC Mondrian will likely have similar specs, including a 480x800 display, candy bar form factor (think most keyboard-less HTC devices), Bluetooth, and more. We're still in the early stages of the game when it comes to Windows Phone 7 with at least two months to go before we see the first launch (potentially) of a WP7 phone. It is good, however, to see more evidence that HTC, a king among manufacturers these days, is planning to "bring it" to WP7. Any WinMo folks planning on making the change to WP7?
Via BGR
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08Jul
Many people consider the state of gaming on Android to be somewhat lacking, especially compared to that of the iPhone. That's all about to change, though, as the mobile gaming ecosystem OpenFeint has committed to bringing its community and developers to the Android OS. Already available on the iPhone, OpenFeint and its 9,200 game developers are planning to bring an Android SDK along with mobile payment options and a game discovery store. The OpenFeint community will launch on Android later this summer.
This is huge news for Android, as the selection of games, or lack thereof, is one of the last things that the platform is missing to truly compete in the mainstream. Not only will more gaming drive more users to the Android platform, it also means there will be a dramatic uptick in the number of apps available in the Market. Android has steadily been catching up to iOS in the number of apps available to users, but the OpenFeint community will surely help make the two platforms closer than ever.
Via AndroidGuysBecome a PhoneDog Fan on Facebook and don't forget to "Spin to Win!" today Know something we don't? E-mail us or post it in our forums
Tags: blog, cell phone news, discussion, mobile
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