My favorite 5 android smartphones

1. HTC Evo 4g
The 4.3 inch screen with android 2.1 HTC sense and a front facing camera says it all.

2. HTC Droid Incredible
I really like this phone. I love the feel and weight of this phone. It also has android 2.1 with sense. The screen is stunningly clear and bright. It's very snappy and responsive.

3. HTC Nexus One
I love the look of this phone. The brushed metal looks very nice, and I like the trackball. This phone comes with stock android 2.1 but it can be upgraded to android 2.2 which adds a lot. I've heard many people say they have had touchscreen problems with it. That's a big problem and one of the things I love about my iPhone---how responsive and accurate it is.

4. The Droid
There are a lot of phones that are better than this one, but I still really like it. The vast majority of people I've talked to that have the droid say that they don't like the physical keyboard. However, it's one of my most favorite physical keyboards that I've used. I'm used to typing on a screen so I don't mind that the keys touch each other. The droid has android 2.1.

5. The Droid Eris
This phone is pretty old (at least for an android phone) but I love the form factor. It's small and pocketable and the screen is pretty good. This phone also has a trackball which I already said I think is nice to have. Now one of the big drawbacks is it only has android 1.5 on it, but I'm sure that will be updated someday.

So, those are my 5 favorite android phones, NOT my top 5 favorite smartphones.

Lg Ally
I got to play with the Lg Ally at a Verizon store before it was for
sale. I thought the slideout keyboard was very sturdy, but the layout
was a little weird. I'm sure that you would get used to it though. It
has Android 2.1 eclair with Lg's own skin which only added a few
features. I didn't notice any difference from the normal stock
Android. It doesn't add much, just a few widgets and a few other small
things.

Here are a few more of it's specs: 600 Mhz prossesor, 3.2 mp camera
with flash, and a 3.2 inch screen. It also has a 4Gb micro SD card pre-
installed.

When I was playing around with it, it seemed a little bit
sluggish...maybe that was because it had just started up, but after a
couple of minutes it was still pretty slow. Over all, in the five
minutes that I used it, I thought it seemed pretty decent, not as good
as the the Droid Incredible or Droid but it's still pretty good.

Lg Ally

Here are some pictures of the Lg Ally that I took.

The Nook

The Nook

I was in Best Buy this morning and got to use the Barnes and Nobles Nook for 15 minutes. The first thing I noticed was how light it is. It weighs 12.1 ounces which is around half as much as the iPad. Amazon's Kindle weighs only 10.2 ounces. But the Kindle is a little bigger in width and heighth.

It was also very thin and easy to hold. Here are the dimensions. Nook (7.7 x 4.9 x 0.50). Kindle (8 x 5.3 x 0.36). iPad (9.56 x 7.47 x 0.5).

The Nook has two screens. The main screen that you will read from is 6 inches diagonal and the smaller touch screen is 3.5 inches. The touch screen is made for navigation and typing. It seemed pretty responsive. But i thought the user interface was hard to use. The Eink screen the Nook has is easy to read on. The drawback is the size. It feels too small. I like the big screen of the iPad better. Eink is also very limited in its capabilities.

You can play games on it. It uses the touch screen more then the Eink display. I can't really say which I like better between the Nook and the Kindle because I've never used the Kindle. I would pick the iPad everytime, and if I had to pick either the Nook or the kindle I think i would pick the Nook just because of the touch screen and smaller size. Barnes and Nobles has a good comparisen between the Nook and the Kindle. Check it out at this link www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/compare/

Sorry for not posting more often. We are on the road and it's not very
easy to get a blog post written and posted

I bought the 16GB w/ wifi iPad Friday, May 30th and so far I love it.
I've read for about two hours on it and it's been very easy and
enjoyable. My eyes never got tired and I even forgot it's a digital
book. The apps are so much more powerful than their iPhone
counterparts. When I got my iPad it was about 5:30 Friday evening.
It's charge was at 99%. On Sunday afternoon, May 2nd, I still had 5%
battery left. The web browser is stunning. Scrolling and zooming is
extremely fast. So far the lack of multitasking hasn't been a problem
and it will be getting multitasking in the fall. The weight is just
right I think. If it were any lighter it would feel cheap and
breakable. The keyboard is going to take some getting used to. I'm
typing with it right now. It's not hard, and I know I'll get used to
it. I definitely need to get a case for when I'm carrying it around.
As of right now, there is nothing that I don't like. In a couple weeks
I'll put up another post about the iPad.

I just got this email!

The iPad you've been waiting for has arrived, and it's ready for you to pick up. When you come in, we'll have Specialists ready to help you set up your iPad so you can start enjoying it right away. We can't wait to see you at the store.

Sincerely, The Apple Retail Store team

I'm going to get it tonight.

Sent from my iPhone

I was in Walmart today and finally got to touch the T-mobile HD2. It
was a non-functional device, but I was able to get a feel for it. The
first thing you think is "Wow, that's a big screen". It has a 4.3 inch
screen and it's just massive. But it's also very thin so it didn't
seem overly bulky. It was quite a bit thinner than the iPhone. I love
the back (which might sound funny) but there's just something about
it. The camera and flash look really great and the all metal back just
gives it a nice look. The only thing that's not great on it is that it
runs windows mobile 6.5 with HTC sense UI. I don't think it looks at
all bad. T-mobile also has the Nexus One and if it wasn't for that the
HD2 would be their best phone.

The iPhone HD/4G/G4

I must say I'm very excited about the next iPhone. It looks like an amazing device. The thing I'm most looking forward to is the front facing camera. If the rumors are true, then the screen will be a whopping 960x640 which is one hundred more pixels each way then any of the new android phones. I love the camera on the iPhone, but it would still be nice to have a higher MP camera with a flash for night photos. Some people are saying that it will have 80 GB of storage. That would be awesome, but I don't think it will have that much. I'm guessing 64 GB.

I would hope it has at least a 1 GHz Apple chip but no one knows for sure. The iPhone that Gizmodo has in its possession was shut down remotely by Apple so they couldn't see which version of the iPhone OS it was running. At first I didn't like the new design, but it's growing on me. So I think it's the big update that many people have been calling for. For pictures and a video, head on over to Gizmodo.

Via Gizmodo

This has nothing to do with tech but it's pretty cool. I'm at an
airport and sitting across from me is the Butler coach. Well I guess
this does have something to do with tech because he does have a
smartphone.

"It's show time!"

I wonder if this is the phone that Mr. Incredible will use? Either way, this is one awesome smartphone. If you're on Verzion and want a powerful Android phone, the HTC Incredible might be a good choice. We are sill waiting for the Nexus One to come to Verizon. It's going to cost $199 on contract and will be in stores on April 29th. Here are some of the specs.

• Android 2.1 with HTC Sense experience
• 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor for maximum responsiveness
• Friend Stream for unified Flickr, Facebook and Twitter updates
• “Leap” view for quick access to all seven home screen panels
• 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash for crisp, detailed images
• Razor-sharp 3.7 inch WVGA (480x800) AMOLED capacitive touch display
• Optical joystick for smooth navigation
• Dedicated, touch-sensitive Home, Menu, Back and Search keys
• Proximity sensor, light sensor and digital compass
• Integrated GPS
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
• 3.5 mm headset jack

iPad hands on

Yesterday, I was at a Best Buy store and had the chance to try out the iPad. I loved it. Many people have said it is too heavy, but I held it for over 20 minutes and my arms never felt tired. The browser was amazing! It was extremely fast. iBook was one feature I was looking forward to playing with. I think reading with it will be easy and fun. Best Buy hadn't put any iPad specific apps on it except for the iWork apps. I thought pages was great; it was on par with any desktop word processor.

I can't comment on the keyboard. I only used it for a couple minutes, but it seemed pretty good, although it would take some getting used to. So all and all, I thought the iPad was awesome. If you are looking for a netbook or if you don't have a laptop, then I think this is a great alternative. But if you have a good laptop and smartphone, it's harder to justify. With multitasking coming in the fall, that will dissipate many of the complaints.

Apple has done it again!!!

Yesterday Apple had the iPhone 4.0 software event. They have added tons of new and great features. The biggest is multitasking. So now you will be able to run Pandora or Slacker in the background. Skype and other voip services will run in the background as well. Apple also added folders which are going to be really nice. Right now your iPhones 11 home screens can hold 180 apps. With folders you will be able to hold 2700 +. So you could put all your free games in one folder and all of your weather apps in another. You will now be able to read iBooks on you iPhone. That will very nice.

Unified mailbox's is another new feature. A few other smaller but nice features are, bluetooth keyboard support, a wallpaper behind your icons, and some other things like that. Oh and the way that it will switch apps when multitasking is really good but its to hard to explain so just go watch the presentation over at Apples website.

It will be coming to the iPhone this summer and the iPad this fall.

iPhone - The Next Level!

Apple just announced that they will have the iPhone 4.0 event on the 8th. I can't wait. What will it be? Multitasking or new UI elements? Who knows. It should be really exciting.

The iPad

The iPad came out Saturday, April 3^rd, and what will the long-term response be? Many people think it's just a big iPod Touch. What's wrong with that? The iPod touch is a great device and Apple has sold tens of millions of them. However, I don't think it's just a big iPod Touch. With a nine-inch screen, its capabilities are much greater. Is the lack of flash that big of a deal? Not to me. You can still play YouTube videos. The only two things I wish it had are 1. multitasking and 2. a camera. I think we will get multitasking for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch by summer, so that argument will not last. I think the camera is a bigger deal. If it had a camera, you would have to be in a reclining position or have it in a dock while using it. So maybe that's why they didn't include one.

One of the key features is iBooks. Why would anyone buy a Kindle? The iPad can do so much more. Wouldn't it be great if all the books you could ever read could fit inbetween one cover? Now I don't want books to disappear, but I do think it would be very nice for traveling. The apps are going to be a huge part of the iPad just like they are on the iPhone and iTouch, and we will see some really amazing apps emerge. It's not going to replace your laptop. But it can do a lot of the stuff that a laptop can do. So, that's what I think, but what do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Click here for Apples iPad guided tours.

Want to be notified when the Evo 4G is available?

Go checkout the Sprint website for info and a notification when the Evo 4G is released.

My 5 Favorite Smartphones

Here's a list of my top 5 favorite smartphones.1. iPhone 3GS
2. Evo 4G
3. Nexus One
4. The Droid
5. Palm pre plus
OK, now for my reasons.

iPhone 3GS: I love the apps. With 170,000 to choose from, you'll never run out of new apps to download. The user interface is so good. My Mom loves her iPhone, and she knows how to do pretty much everything on it. I don't think it matters that the iPhone doesn't have the best specs; it's still very fast. If Android phones could optimize the OS the same way Apple has the iPhone OS, Android would scream on the 1 GHz snapdragon processors.

Evo 4G: what do I need to say? It's a beast. It has the best specs on a mobile phone ever! The front facing camera would be awesome to have. With an 8MP rear-facing camera you can take some really nice pictures, and if you live in a city with fast Sprint 4G, this would be a great choice. Oh, and it has HTC sense UI and Android 2.1.

Nexus One: the first device to offer Android 2.1 and is sold on Google's own website. It has a handy trackball that you can use to navigate the screen which I think would be very useful for clicking tiny links on web pages. This phone also has a 1GHz processor. I love the form factor of this HTC phone. You can only buy it unlocked on Google's website.

The Droid: the best selling Android phone ever and one of the few with a physical qwerty keyboard, although many people do not like the keyboard. With Google's voice navigation, its map's application is a winner. All Android phones with 1.6 firmware and above include voice navigation.

Palm Pre Plus: if you want super multitasking, then this is the phone for you. I really like Webos. I think its qwerty keyboard is too small but that's just me. Palm isn't really doing very well right now, but I still really like Palm devices. I don't love sliders though because of the wiggle in the sliding mechanism.

So those are my top favorite smartphones. I have an iPhone so I hope I didn't sound too biased.
I also like the HD2 but it's not in my top 5. Feel free to tell me what smartphone you use in the comments and why you like it.

The T-mobile HD2 is now available

The HD2 is a Windows Mobile phone built by HTC. It is going to cost $199 on contract.

HTC got itself a nice little online store in the U.S.

The Beast (HTC EVO 4G)

The Sprint HTC EVO 4G the first phone with 4G (the long awaited Supersonic). This is one beast of a phone and I think my cousin is going to buy one.

Underneath the 480 x 800 4.3-inch TFT LCD is a QSD8650 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 1GB of storage and 512MB of RAM. The rest is your standard superphone specs with an affair of 802.11b/g, HDMI out, Sprint’s new Mi-Fi-like hotspot app and an 8GB microSD card along with the goods to run on Sprint’s 4G network. CDMA still handles the voice while a combo of EV-DO and WiMAX handles the data.

The EVO 4G should hit Sprint this summer and here’s hoping it’s priced reasonably well. It also has an 8MP normal camera and an 1.3MP forward facing camera for video chats.

Sprint planning a coast-to-coast 4G expansion

Opera Mini submitted for Apple's approval

SanDisks shows their new 32GB microSDHC memory card

New article Motorola announces the i1 Android smartphone with Push-to-Talk

The Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus coming to AT&T.

AT&T announced today that they will be offering the Palm devices some time in the coming months. If you want proof checkout Palms website

The First Post From CTIA

Everyone is excited about the CTIA event starting tomorrow, because of the new stuff that will hopefully get announced. By the way, we'll be covering the event live, so don't forget to check back with us for the latest info.

The show hasn't officially started yet, but we already see LG's show stoppers giving publicity to some of the manufacturer's upcoming texting phones. What we spotted on LG's Flickr page are images of two unannounced handsets - one for Verizon and one for Sprint. Last week we exclusively showed you the one for Verizon, called the LG Cosmos VN250 - a Rumor-like device sporting both a side-sliding QWERTY and a traditional num pad on the front. Check here for more detailed info about it.

LG Cosmos VN250 Preliminary Specifications

As seen on the images, the Sprint phone is a vertical QWERTY slider, similar in shape to the Samsung Reclaim. No other information is available about it as of now, but we hope all will become clear pretty soon, maybe even tomorrow.

UPDATE: LG has posted some more info, going that the Sprint phone is called the LG Remarq LN240 and similarly to the Reclaim is made of eco-friendly materials.

UPDATE 2: And now Sprint has taken the time to officially introduce the handset, providing more details and specs. The LG Remarq will be available for purchase starting May 9, for free with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate. For those eager to get eco-friendly with the Remarq - you can pre-order it right away. On the specs side of things, the LG Remarq LN240 will pack a 1.3MP camera. Stereo Bluetooth and microSDHC slot. Sprint says that the Remarq is 87% recyclable, it's packaging is fully recyclable and its charger is energy efficient. Also, do not expect to find a manual in the box, as it will be available online.

We'll keep you posted about all the new stuff happening at CTIA WIRELESS 2010. Don't forget that you can also subscribe for live notifications about the latest news.

Via PhoneArena

Today is the start of the big CTIA trade show. I'm going to be posting emails from PhoneArena with news from CTIA. You can subscribe to the email notifications here

Is the Apple vs HTC lawsuit really a big deal?

One of the big stories in the past few weeks has been the Apple versus
HTC lawsuit. Many people have been slamming Apple because of this. I don't see why that is. Apple is just protecting its patents and its rights. If HTC had sued
Apple no one would have said HTC was in the wrong.

I mean big companies are suing each other all the time. Nokia is suing Apple right now. So I don't think it's any big deal. One of the patents Apple is suing HTC for is the 849 patent, entitled "unlocking a device by performing a gestures on a unlock image". Now I think Apple could have left that one out. That is really broad. Almost every phone uses something like that. The Webos devices, the android devices, and some of the Windows mobile devices all use the gesture unlock.

I think all of the user interface ones are little sketchy. But the hardware patents, like power management I think are pretty strong. I read a comment where a man said that he was not going buy the iPad because of Apple suing HTC.

Why would that influence your buy? That’s like Microsoft suing HP over something and you deciding not to buy a windows computer. Worse case scenario Apple wins and HTC might have to pay millions in licensing fees but it's not going to shut them down and if Apple loses nothing will happen. I personally don't think Apple will win. But I'm not going to think any less of Apple because of it.

If anyone has a Palm Pre or a Palm Pixi and would like to write a
paragraph on what they do and don't like about it email me at theteentechblog@gmail.com
Thanks

Why I think the iPhone will not come to Verizon

A while back I was in the electronics department at Walmart, and I told the guy behind the counter that we were going to switch to AT&T for the iPhone. He said "Well, the iPhone is coming to Verizon." I had never heard that so I didn't really believe him. The man said, "It was announced the same day the Palm Pre Plus was." At the time ,the Palm Pre Plus had not yet come out. That made me doubt it even more. Well, I'm still wondering if that guy is right or not. So I'll guess we'll see in June-July. I personally don't think so. I'm going to give a couple reasons why I think we will not be seeing an iPhone on Verizon.
1. The current iPhone is on AT&T which is GSM and Verizon is CDMA. So that means that Apple would have to make four different iPhones, two for AT&T and two for Verizon. GSM uses SIM cards while CDMA does not. GSM and CDMA are totally different technologies.
2. February 27th Apple announced the iPad which will be on AT&T 3G. Why would Apple put the iPad on AT&T if they're planning on bringing the iPhone to Verizon? I mean they had the chance to put the iPad on any carrier they wanted. I think Apple is happy with AT&T.

So those are some of my thoughts on the rumored Verizon iPhone. Let's see what happens.

Sprint said to be unveiling the HTC Supersonic next week at CTIA

The Wall Street Journal says Sprint will let loose the oft-leaked HTC SuperSonic next week at CTIA, and that it will be the carrier's first WiMAX-enabled Android device.

The device is expected to be the centerpiece of a presentation made by Chief Executive Dan Hesse during the CTIA Wireless trade show Tuesday. Sprint and HTC declined to comment.

Via Android Central

Two new Nexus Ones in Two days

The rumors were true, folks. Sprint just announced that it's getting the Google Nexus One, hot on the heels of AT&T and some Canadian carriers getting their own unlocked and unsubsidized version. Pricing and exact date of availability to be determined, though this makes it sound like it's gonna be subsidized.

Full presser after the break. [Sprint]

Nexus One from Google Coming to Sprint; Availability Date Announced SoonNexus One(TM) is planned for the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network with twice the network coverage of AT&T and ten times the network coverage of T-Mobile, both by square miles; Expands Sprint's Android(TM) portfolioOVERLAND PARK, Kan., Mar 17, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Nexus One, the first wireless phone sold through Google(TM)'s web store, is planned for Sprint's 3G Mobile Broadband Network. Sprint (NYSE:S) will announce pricing and an exact availability date soon. Nexus One will benefit from Sprint's 3G network with twice the coverage of AT&T and 10 times the coverage of T-Mobile, both based on square miles.1

Sprint currently has America's largest voice calling area of any carrier reaching more than 307 million people in the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands with a Sprint phone and plan that includes roaming. PC World recently said no one has a more reliable network than Sprint in a 13 city 3G performance test.² Customers can check the quality of network coverage with street level mapping at sprint.com/coverage.

"Nexus One is a powerful device that belongs on a powerful network. This is another step in our continued partnership of innovation with Google," said Fared Adib, Sprint vice president of product development. "Sprint customers already have the option of two amazing Android devices with Samsung Moment(TM) and HTC Hero(TM). It is a natural fit for us to add Nexus One to the list of choices available for Sprint customers who want the best value in wireless with the best in Android."

Google's online consumer channel was created to provide an efficient way to connect online users with selected Android phones. Nexus One will not be available in any Sprint retail channels. It will be available directly from Google at google.com/phone. The online experience of Google's web store is designed with a focus on simplicity allowing consumers to match a phone with the service plan that best meets their needs.

"While a pricing plan has not yet been determined for Nexus One, we are confident that it will be consistent with Sprint's commitment to deliver more value than our competitors and keep pricing simple," Adib said. "Right now, our Sprint Everything Data 450 plan with Any Mobile, Anytime^(SM) gives customers unlimited calling with any mobile phone in America, unlimited text and unlimited Web for just $69.99 per month - the same price AT&T and Verizon charge for just unlimited talk. Our Everything Data plans include unlimited GPS Navigation at no extra charge and annual phone upgrades with Sprint Premier."

Nexus One runs on Android 2.1, a version of the platform's Eclair software, which offers advanced applications and features including:

• Google Maps(TM) Navigation: offering turn-by-turn driving directions with voice output.
• Email: multiple Gmail(TM) accounts; universal inbox and Exchange support.
• Phone book: aggregate contacts from multiple sources, including Facebook^(R).
• Quick Contacts: easily switch between communication and social applications.
• Android Market(TM): access to more than 30,000 applications.

Hardware features of Nexus One include:

• Display: 3.7" AMOLED 480x800 WVGA display
• Thinness: 11.5mm; Weight: 130g
• Processor/Speed: Qualcomm Snapdragon(TM) 3G QSD8250 chipset, delivering speeds up to 1GHz
• Camera: 5 megapixel auto focus with flash and geo tagging
• Onboard memory: 512MB Flash, 512MB RAM
• Expandable memory: 4GB removable SD Card (expandable to 32GB)
• Noise Suppression: Dynamic noise suppression from Audience, Inc.
• Ports: 3.5mm stereo headphone jack with four contacts for inline voice and remote control
• Battery: Removable 1400 mAh
• Personalized laser engraving: Up to 50 characters on the back of the phone
• Trackball: Tri-color notification LED, alerts when new emails, chats, text messages arrive

In addition, Nexus One offers new functionality and software enhancements including:

• Enter text without typing.
• Use a voice-enabled keyboard for all text fields: speak a text message, instant message, tweet, Facebook update, or complete an email.
• Tell your phone what you want it to do.
• Search Google, call contacts, or get driving directions by just speaking into your phone.
• Take personalization to the next level.
• Dynamic, interactive, live wallpapers react to the touch of a finger.
• More widgets and five home screen panels allow for further device customization.
• Capture camera-quality pictures and video with your device.
• 5 megapixel camera includes LED flash, auto focus, zoom, white balance and color effects.
• View pictures and Picasa Web Albums(TM) in the new 3D Gallery.
• Record Hi-Res MPEG4 video, and then upload to YouTube(TM) with one click.
• Read your voicemail messages.
• Get transcribed voicemail with Google Voice(TM) integration, without changing your number.
  

Via Android Central

Now you can't complain that you don't have enough storage

When we last saw the AirStash, it was keeping its mystique about it and refusing to disclose any salient details beyond the fact that it'll function as a wireless SD/SDHC card reader. Today, the fog of war is lifted with the news that the AirStash is now officially on sale for $99.99, and will come with a battery good for five hours of continuous data streaming. Marketed primarily at iPhone OS devices, it creates a wireless network that allows any WiFi and browser-equipped computer to access the storage cards within it. The UI is built around HTML5 and recharging is done via a USB connection, which also turns the AirStash into a simple SDHC card adapter when plugged in. Check out our hands-on with it from CES over here and look for a full review coming up shortly. We do care so very deeply our portable storage.
Via Engadget

iPhone/Android streaming service coming soon

While we all wait patiently for Apple to concoct its own subscription-based, unlimited music streaming service (hello, Lala acquisition!), MOG is jumping on the opportunity right away. Er, almost right away. Down in Austin this week, the company announced that an iPhone and Android app would be out "in early Q2" in order to bring unlimited music streaming to both operating systems for $10 per month. We're told that a catalog of seven million songs will be available, but there's no way to know if 6.99 million are of the "no one cares" variety. At any rate, your monthly fee will also allow unlimited streaming from the desktop, but alas, you'll be left with nothing but hollow memories should you ever stop ponying up. In related news, Rhapsody has announced that offline playback support is coming to the iPhone, with the updated app expected to be passed along for Apple's confirmation "shortly." Granted, the Rhapsody to Go subscription is $5 per month more than MOG's option, but with all this competition popping up, we wouldn't be shocked to see that slide lower in due time.
Via Engadget

Nexus One Now On AT&T

The Google Nexus One is now on AT&T! For $529.00 unlocked. You can go pick yourself up one here.