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Nov

Republic Wireless Launches Its First Phone And The $19/Month Wireless "Hybrid Calling" Plan - Here's Everything You Need To Know

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in LG, News, Optimus One, Republic Wireless

Seemingly out of nowhere, a new wireless brand Republic Wireless, a division of Bandwidth.com, announced earlier this month that it would revolutionize and shake up the mobile industry by introducing a Hybrid Calling plan that costs only $19 a month. This plan has indeed gone live today over at RepublicWireless.com, together with the first and only mobile device the company is offering (for now) - the LG Optimus.

The low-cost offering is made possible thanks to heavy reliance on Wi-Fi data - Republic Wireless devices are designed to prioritize Wi-Fi networks, and certain measures have been put in place to make sure you don't hog an unfair share of the mobile network (powered by Sprint).

Oct

How Bad Is Sprint's 3G Network Post-iPhone Launch? 45 Pages Of Complaints Bad

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Sprint

If there's one thing the iPhone 4S seems to be screwing up after its very successful debut, it would seem to be Sprint's 3G. Since the launch of Apple's newest iThing, Sprint 3G speeds have absolutely tanked for users in many areas. How widespread is the problem? Well, this 45-page (and growing) thread with nearly 700 replies over on the Sprint Community forums would seem to indicate the answer is "very."

The problem has affected everyone - as shown by lackluster results from some of our own Sprint devices of late while on 3G.

Samsung Epic 4G:

DL: 370kbps

UL: 306kbps

Ping: 165ms

Motorola Photon 4G:

DL: 214kbps

UL: 542kbps

Ping: 963ms

iPhone 4S users are reporting speeds even lower than these, sometimes much lower (like 50kbps).

Oct

Adobe Releases Flash Player 11 And Adobe AIR 3, Leaves Out Hardware-Acceleration On Android

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Applications, News

As promised late last month, Adobe has released updated versions of their Flash Player and AIR products to the Android Market. In our earlier article we outlined some of the new features that the updates would bring including, Stage 3D, an architecture that enables hardware-accelerated rendering at 1000x the speed of Flash Player 10, theatre-quality HD video, native 64-bit optimizations, and HD video conferencing. Unfortunately, the latest blog post from Adobe indicates that 2D and 3D graphics rendering through Stage 3D will only be available on Windows, Mac OS X and connected TVs. Apparently, a "production release" of Flash Player 11 with support for Stage 3D will be available for Android, Apple iOS and BlackBerry in an "upcoming release".

Sep

Sprint Will Launch Its Own 4G LTE Network, Set To Debut In Early 2012

Posted by Liam Spradlin in News, Sprint

Since Sprint's agreement with LTE wholesaler LightSquared was signed in July, there have been rumblings about just when the carrier would launch an LTE network of its own. CNET reported Tuesday that the time is nearly at hand - Sprint is poised to launch their LTE network beginning in "early 2012."

According to CNET, Sprint hopes to launch this service by the beginning of Q2 2012, and the costs associated with the rollout have already been accounted for, meaning no additional capital investment will be necessary.

Sprint's move to LTE is likely due to the fact that Wimax's initial edge over the competition is quickly fading, thanks in large part to the presence of Verizon Wireless' faster LTE network which has enjoyed a much wider deployment.

Sep

[Update: It's Getting Closer] Google Wallet May Be Launching In Time For NFC World Congress On September 19th (Yes, Tomorrow)

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Rumors

Update: It still hasn't been officially announced yet, but the word on the street is that some businesses (such as Peets Coffee & Tea shop in San Francisco) are already displaying the Google Wallet logo near the register. We're definitely getting really close now. [via Phandroid]

For those awaiting the launch of Google Wallet (specifically those with the Sprint Nexus S 4G and a Citibank MasterCard), we've got some good news.

TechCrunch reported today on a document allegedly circulating among Google Wallet partners, indicating that tomorrow, September 19th is the launch date for Google's wallet-consolidating service, which will allow customers to pay at PayPass terminals everywhere with a simple tap of their Android phone.

Sep

[Update: Now Available] Gorgeous White EVO 3D Launching September 9th Exclusively At RadioShack

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in EVO 3D (Shooter), HTC, News

Update: If you've been holding your breath waiting for this beauty, you can breathe a sigh of relief, as it's now available at RadioShack. Woot.

Could the EVO 3D on Sprint get even better? Well, sure - it could use a bit of Ice Cream Sandwich, but we'll remain realistic for the time being and take RadioShack's exclusive white version instead. The new sleeker, more gorgeous than ever EVO 3D variant will be coming September 9th, as outed by a screenshot posted by RadioShack's own Twitter account. Lookin' good, isn't it?

Source: Radioshack via @Radioshack

Sep

The Droid Bionic Page Goes Live On VZW.com - Available For $299.99 With A Two-Year Contract, $589.99 Without

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Bionic, Motorola, News

For those who have been patiently waiting, the Bionic is finally upon us - VerizonWireless.com just launched the Droid Bionic page where the device can be purchased for $299.99 on a new two-year contract with free overnight shipping or $589.99 outright.

For those who may have forgotten, here are some of the specs the Droid Bionic boasts:

1GHz Dual-core processor
4.3" qHD display
Verizon 4G LTE
HDMI/Mirror mode
Remote Access
LTE hotspot capability
1080p video capture

The page also features a cool 2-minute video showcasing Bionic's features and accessories, so head over to VZW.com to check it out, and then decide for yourself if Verizon's most powerful phone to date is going to find a new home in your pocket.

Aug

Eric Schmidt: Google TV Launching In Europe 'Early Next Year'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Google TV, News

Last Updated: September 1st, 2012

Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt delivered the MacTaggart keynote lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival last Friday - the first time a non-TV exec has been invited to do so. In his address, Schmidt indicated the UK as being "among the top priorities" in Google TV's European launch next year.

Google TV experienced a rough beginning, facing suspicion - and blocking - from some of the top broadcasting networks in the US. The platform initially faced criticism because some broadcasters felt that Google was "stealing their advertising revenues without contributing to the cost of making programs," Reuters reports.

Schmidt looked to dispel suspicions in his address, pointing out that Google seeks to "support the content industry by providing an open platform for the next generation of television to evolve, the same way Android is an open platform for the next generation of mobile."

There is no word yet on who will manufacture Google TV boxes for the European market, but Reuters speculates that Google's recent purchase of Motorola may or may not point to a future interest in manufacturing the boxes.

Aug

Music Lovers Rejoice - Sony Ericsson Unveils "Live With Walkman" Android Smartphone

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Live w/ Walkman (Coconut), News, Sony Ericsson

Last Updated: December 30th, 2011

The "Walkman" brand name, originally created by Sony over 30 years ago, lives on in Sony Ericsson's newest Android device, the "Live with Walkman". This diminutive smartphone, announced in a press release earlier today, will be a music playing device first and foremost with a dedicated music discovery button and "deep Facebook integration," which means it will most likely carry something similar to (or exactly like) Sony's "Facebook inside Xperia" interface.

The device will run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and will have the following mediocre specifications:

3.2-inch capacitive touch-screen display (480 x 320 pixels)
1Ghz processor
5MP rear camera with 8x digital zoom, auto focus, and LED flash
Front facing VGA camera
720p video recording
320MB internal storage (Editor's Note: Yes, we think this is as absurd as you do.

Aug

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 3G Available For Pre-Order On Amazon UK For £605.34, Launches On August 12th

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Galaxy Tab 8.9, News

Unveiled at CTIA earlier this year, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 was slated for a “summer” launch in the US. However, if the Amazon UK pre-order page is the real deal it looks like our English cousins will be the first to get their hands on this device when it launches on August 12th in the UK (the original “in stock date” was reported as August 11th by Engadget, however this appears to have changed).

The 3G-enabled device can be pre-ordered for £605.34 and according to the Amazon page it will be available in “pure white”. There does not appear to be any indication of how much memory this particular version will have, however the rather exorbitant price suggests that this is likely to be the 32GB version (priced at $569 in the US).