While WFAN does stream via iTunes and their own Website, listening to my laptop in the car or in bed isn't so practical.  So it was a ncie surprise to see the FAN listed on the new AOL Radio for iPhone/iPod Touch app.  I hooked the iPhone into my car stereo for the drive down to Silicon Valley today and caught up on the latest NYC sports news - for nostaligia's sake as much as anything else, I'll admit.  The app worked well via EDGE and 3G, only dropping the stream twice during the 20-30 minutes I listened -- and dropping out in more or less the same place each time (once on the way down South and the other coming back home).  I'm guessing the peformance will be even better via WiFi at home.

If you've got an iPhone or Touch, check out the free AOL Radio app -- and also check out Pandora, which is a pretty interesting "Roll your own radio station" service.  You can also access them both from your computer's Web browser.

Thank you for all your help!!!!!!!!

A. Nothing's been confirmed by T-Mobile, but it seems *very* likely that the new SK will be out this summer, and most likely in late July - I keep hearing the 27th.  It sounds like the new SK will have features and specs very similar to the LX, and a body/design somewhat similar to the Sidekick iD, with replaceable plastic bumpers and such.  Looks like a somewhat redesigned/updated user interface could be in the works, too.  This is all based on rumor & things I've heard and read, and none of this is confirmed - just to be clear.

The Tony Hawk SK is actually out now, though.  It's an LX with a limited edition housing/external design - the difference between the Tony Hawk and LX will be in the physical/external casing, and not the specs or features.

Hope that helps, and thanks for watching the videos.

The gallery at myZumobi shows a whole bunch of tiles spanning categories from News and Entertainment to Games & Humor and Kids, and now they've got a Wizard to let you create your own tiles based on RSS feeds.  It looks kind of cool - I'll have to dust off a BlackBerry and get in depth with this when I've got some free time (ha ha ... free time).  BlackBerryCool has an in-depth review of the service (with video walkthrough) in the meantime, and if you've used Zumobi yourself drop a comment and let us all know if it's worth it.  The service is free but your time isn't, right?

Learn more over at http://www.zumobi.com/.  And get Zumobi for your WinMo or BlackBerry device via this wap link: http://get.zumobi.com.

I ran a few speed tests on both phones using the free tools at dslrpeports.com/mspeed.  The tests took place in Oakland, CA on a weekday afternoon; the Instinct showed EV-DO connectivity and the iPhone had its 3G on.  The winner? Instinct blew iPhone 3G out of the water.  First I ran the 400k download test and Instinct was the clear-cut winner, if not quite in a landslide.  Then I ran the 1Mb test twice: Instinct was more than twice as fast as iPhone both times around in terms of both kbits/second and total download time.  It wasn't even close.

The next two tests ran without a hitch, and iPhone was the clear winner.  I loaded up the ESPN home page and also an interior page (a blog article) and while Instinct seemed to grab the early lead in terms of downloading data, iPhone actually rendered the page faster and finished well ahead of Instinct on both pages.  Same with the PhoneDog.com home page: iPhone by a wide margin. 

Well, first off your mileage will vary depending on the network coverage and conditions during your test.  Location (geographic and indoor vs outdoor, etc), time of day, and other factors can definitely impact network performance.  That being said, the results weren't particularly suprising to me.  AT&T gets a lot of flack for their network performance while Sprint is generally considered to have an excellent network - particularly when it comes to moving data over EV-DO Rev. A, which Instinct supports.  On the other hand, iPhone has one of the best mobile Web browsers on the market, and Apple build iPhone using one of the most powerful processors you'll find in any mobile device.  As such, it's not suprising that iPhone 3G's Safari Web browser renders complex pages faster (and more accurately) than Instinct.

Things will hopefully get better for both camps.  Sprint is working on a firmware update for Instinct and also trying to drum up developer support for more Instinct apps.  I know Sprint and Samsung put lots of work into Instinct's HTML Web browser, but I'd love to see an Opera alternative all the same.  Meantime iPhone 3G owners can hope that AT&T's simply feeling the strain of those one million new iPhones (or whatever the real number is) hopping on the network in the past six days.  Some network tuning and reinforcement will hopefully boost 3G data speeds in the weeks to come.

How does it feel to win Gina...?

"How cool is this!  I needed a new phone; my daughter always takes over mine!  This one I'm hiding, lol...Phonedog ROCKS!!! Thanks"

Register to win the next phone giveaway here...

What's Not Good: "Full HTML" Web browser is mildly disappointing; Touchscreen can take a bit of getting used to; No VCAST TV support

Bottom Line: Dare is the best multimedia phone Verizon currently offers and the best cameraphone they've ever offered.  It may well be the best cameraphone available from any US carrier right now, as well.  Though the touchscreen is smaller than those of its competitors (iPhone, Instinct, and Vu come to mind), it's bright, clear, and relatively responsive.  If you don't need QWERTY or VCAST TV, Dare is the best feature phone on VZW, and arguably the best media-rich handset currently available on a US carrier.

Specs:
Make/Model: LG Dare
Network: CDMA 850 / 1900
Data: 1x EV-DO Rev. A (3G)
Carrier: Verizon Wireless
Size: 104 x 56 x 13 mm
Weight: 107 g
Form Factor: Candybar with Full Touchscreen
Display: 3.0" Color LCD, 240 x 400 resolution, 262,000 Colors
Memory:  200MB Internal Memory, microSD card slot
Notable Features: Full touchscreen; Virtual QWERTY/T9 and handwriting recognition; 3.2MP camera with flash; VGA video capture with slo-mo up to 120 fps; HTML Web browser; VCAST Video and Music Support; Rhapsody streaming music support; GPS with VZ Navigator software

But we knew that.  What we didn't know is that when Omnia hits Italian shelves next week, Media World will be offering quite a deal to early adopters:  Buy an Omnia, get an Xbox 360 free.  Yup.  According to GSM World, the electronics retailer is taking preorders now, and if you sign up for an Omnia you get an Xbox.  Not bad, huh?  It's kind of like the opposite of, "Stand in line for 6 hours and get to pay full price for an iPhone."

Samsung's i900 Omnia carries a retail price of 499 Euro (appx $793 USD) for the 8GB version, though it should sell for considerably less on contract thanks to subsidies.  Once the phone is available we'll do our darndest to get an unlocked version to try out here in the States - it looks that promising.

•  "We said this before, but this really is the screen to beat. It might be a little too "contrasty" at times, if you know what we mean, but overall, it steals the show. It is the most vibrant, color-rich, sharp screen we've ever seen on a mobile device."
• "One major problem with the screen, though? It, like the chrome border around the device, is made of cheap plastic and scratches incredibly easily."
• "Think of the 9000's keyboard as a cross between the 8800 and the Pearl. The keys are pretty large in size, a little squishy, but still firm ... The send, BlackBerry, back, and end keys are abnormally large, though. It's not bad. It's just awkward for some reason. They all work fine, but we can't figure why RIM decided to make them so big."
• "Every BlackBerry users' dream lies in the Bold. 3G data, GPS, and Wi-Fi make this a hit. Unless you're really trying not to be found, there's a good chance the Bold is going to help you stay connected no matter where you are. A-GPS in the Bold works wonderfully, always getting a fast and accurate lock on location whenever requested."
• "We said this from the start... the 4.6 OS is 99% the same as your current BlackBerry. Assuming you're not using an 8700 or something like that. Little things have been tweaked to make using the device a little easier and quicker, but for the most part, you're basically looking at a skin on the top level."
• "It is 100% faster than any other BlackBerry. We just can't understand why this thing isn't really optimized like it should be. Ah! Because the OS is from 1999. That's it."
• "The earlier versions had a browser nowhere near what we've been using, and we have to say... it's pretty darn good! It's no iPhone, but it definitely does the job."

Would you say the dare is better than the iphone and the voyager?

Thanks for your time, your reviews are awesome!

Thanks for the email and the kind words - glad you like the reviews.

Beyond that, I think Dare is a great phone, and I personally own and use an iPhone so obviously I like it, too.  Dare has a great camera and is nice and compact, while iPhone has the best screen and Web browser available on any phone out there.  Voyager is a bit bigger and thicker but has a ton of features and a real QWERTY board that's easier to type on than the other two. 

I hope that helps some - they're all great devices and it's honestly a matter of personal preference.  There are rumors about a Voyager "refresh" within the next several months - not sure if this would mean a software update or some changes to the actual hardware, but keep an eye out for it!

Beyond that, Apple says that ten million applications were downloaded from the new App Store between last Friday and Sunday.  The App Store lets iPhone and iPod Touch users extend their devices' functionality by downloading free and paid software spanning categories from games to social networking to communications.  While the idea of user-installable software is nothing new to smartphone owners, Apple's App Store brings 3rd party programs to iPhone owners to the first time -- excepting the "Jailbreaking" community, which has been developing and running 3rd party iPhone/iPod Touch apps for almost a year now. 

We'll have one in the offices shortly - want to see a video?  Let me know ... Meantime if you've already got the 800w, post a comment and tell us how it is.  Or head on over to Sprint's Web site to learn more.

A. Stereo Bluetooth means that the phone can send stereo audio to a headset in addition to mono (regular) audio.  Non-stereo Bluetooth just sends one channel, so you can talk and listen to a caller's voice using a Bluetooth earpiece that only fits into one of your ears.  Stereo Bluetooth sends both left and right channels so you can listen to stereo music using Bluetooth headphones that fit over both of your ears.  You can also use Stereo Bluetooth headsets for talking and listening during calls, as well.  Not all Bluetooth phones support Stereo bluetooth - some (like iPhone) are mono only.

Bluetooth can also be used to move files from your phone to another device.  You can use Bluetooth to send photos, address book cards, and other data between phones or between a phone and a computer.  Whether or not a phone supports Stereo Bluetooth doesn't affect its other Bluetooth capabilities - there are different "profiles" for these different features.

KTLA of Los Angeles sent a perhaps now jobless guy named Eric Spillman out to the Apple Store in Burbank to report on iPhone Mania.  What they wound up with was a priceless YouTube clip (which I found on erockapple.com) of Spillman being put in his place by a guy waiting in line who wasn't willing to be made the fool on live TV.

So how is iPhone 3G?  Uh ... it's good.  Seriously, it's quite nice.  The black glossy plastic back panel looks and feels good, though I wonder how quickly it'll scratch up, and the flush mounted headphone jack is a long overdue improvement from the recessed version on the original.  Apple no longer includes a dock in the packaging, but the new USB AC charger is much smaller than the first-gen version, which should make travellers happy.

Purchasing/downloading and installing an iPhone app is the same easy process as buying music or movies from the iTunes store, and people are already familiar with it.  But now instead of being able to hear the new Fleet Foxes album they can extend the functionality of their phone into true mobile computer land.  It's nothing new, but it's looks all shiny and new thanks to Apple's second-to-none knowledge of manipulating consumer's mindset.

That said, I'm psyched to delve in and see what this baby can do.  Much, much more to come, so stay tuned.

Alright, I'm off.  I'll grab some water and sunscreen and something to mobile blog with.  Wish me luck ...