Video: Samsung Omnia Lite (Unlocked GSM) - Hands-On

Noah gets some time with the junior member of Samsung's new Omnia Trio: Omnia Lite.

My nitty gritty Hero post

While I'm definitely not tired of HTC's Hero, I needed to write about a couple of other things real quick before coming back at you with the full specs and PR photos. We can speculate on the carrier and talk about Sense later. This post is about the hardware. Folks looking for this probably want to get straight to the menu, so let's do it; straight dope, no filler. Well, no more verbiage, anyway. Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528...

How will the US Hero differ from others?

An official press release, seen here, states that "The HTC Hero will be available to people across Europe in July and in Asia later in the summer. A distinct North American version will be available later in 2009." So what will be so different about the American version of the phone?About six minutes into my first video from a sit-down with HTC's CIO, Horace Luke, he mentions that the company is working on hashing out the Teflon coating...

Video: Samsung Omnia 2 i8000 (Unlocked GSM) Hands-On

Will it come to Verizon eventually? That'd be cool - Samsung Omnia 2, unlocked version, hands-on with Noah from PhoneDog dot com

iPhone App: Fotochat blows (really)

Seriously, I thought someone was pulling my leg when I saw this. The most featured new function on the recently released Fotochat iPhone app is something called, “Blow your Love.” Yikes. Okay, well that got my attention. Here’s the scoop: Turns out the app plugs into the Fotochat dating community, allowing users to blow into the microphone end of their iPhones to find nearby Fotochatters — based on age, city and profile — who also just blew into...

BlackBerry Tour News: Verizon reverses course; Sprint restrictions

The BlackBerry Tour news continues today, with an interesting reversal of policy on Verizon's part.  Those frustrated by Big Red's decision to allow pre-ordering for new customers only can rest easy (and turn on their computers), as the company officially reversed the policy and is allowing existing subscribers to take advantage of the pre-ordering goodness.  Pricing is set at $199.99 after mail-in rebate, and can be ordered beginning...

Hero FCC docs hint at AT&T

Speculation regarding which carrier will launch Hero in the US led most of us to the Sprint conclusion. But as Engadget Mobile reports, FCC filings indicate the device utilizes the 1900 and 850MHz bands. These are the frequencies required for an AT&T data plan. I'm reluctant to say this, but we're probably all thinking it anyway: is Android ready to challenge the iPhone directly? Looking at the devices currently known to run on Google's OS,...

Zer01 Mobile officially launches...sort of

It's one thing to inform the public that you've launched your product, but it's another thing when that product actually becomes available to the masses.  Zer01 Mobile, the startup that rocked CTIA 2009 earlier this year, officially "launched" yesterday.  For $79.99, one can get unlimited nationwide calling via VoIP, unlimited messaging, unlimited data, and international calling to 40 countries for an extra $10.  Add on the...

Video: Samsung Jet (Unlocked GSM) Unboxing

Samsung says their Jet in smarter than your smartphone. Is it? Dunno, but Noah thought it looked pretty cool.

Video: Samsung Jack (AT&T) - Unboxing

Blackjack beget Blackjack II beget ... JACK! Samsung and AT&T's new Windows Mobile smartphone out of the box with Noah from PhoneDog dot com.

Video: HulloMail brings voice-email to Android for free

Launching in the US on the Fourth of July, HulloMail will initially be available to Android users only. iPhone, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile device support will follow. HulloMail converts your voice mails to an MP3 and sends it as an attachment to your email account, making it compatible with IMAP and keeping you synched up. You won't need to change your number like Google Voice users, and if GV feels like overkill to you, HulloMail might be...

T-Mobile's promotional summer plan returns

Maybe I'm the only one (oh wait, no, Congress thinks the same as well), but monthly cell phone bills are still entirely too high, even in 2009.  Thanks to owning a BlackBerry (and the giant "data plan required" caveat that comes with it) I regularly pay upwards of $120 per month.  Bitter?  Me?  Nah.Well, maybe I am a bit bitter, particularly when I look at T-Mobile's summer promotional plan, returning yet again this...

Bill Nye explains iPhone 3G S’s fingerprint-proof screen

Gizmodo got an exclusive with Bill Nye the Science Guy, and I’m totally jealous. The celebrity science nerd penned a “Giz Explains” column about the science of "oleophobia" and how it relates to the new iPhone’s screen. “The new 3GS iPhone has a coating that helps you leave no, well hardly any, prints–-fingerprints. The glass screen is coated with a polymer, a plastic that human skin oil doesn't adhere to very well. People in the chemical...

BlackBerry Tour Roundup: New launch dates and pre-ordering woes

With July 12th around the corner, news about the BlackBerry Tour 9630 continues to circulate, and we're here to provide you with the most up-to-date information as it comes in.  On today's news radar, Sprint announces a July 12th offering of the Tour, and Verizon Wireless decides to offer pre-ordering to new customers only.  Fair?  Cruel?  You decide!Smashing the original July 20th rumor, Sprint, in a message on Twitter,...

Can we expect an Android/Tegra team up?

If you're not familiar with Nvidia's Tegra chip, now would be a good time to tuck that name away somewhere in your memory banks. As Noah showed us at the Nvision 2008 show, Tegra brings Hi-Def video and resource hungry UIs to the end user with plenty of power to spare, thanks to the unit's low power consumption. If the buzz is to be believed, Tegra represents a new generation of mobile devices that challenge perceived performance of current...

DIY: Make your own cheap iPhone tripod mount

Man, I love DIY stuff. This one’s no exception. Given the fact that new 3G S owners have proven — in large numbers — to be vid-crazy, the following YouTube clip will be really handy for someone out there who’s trying to figure out how to mount their iPhones for shake-proof captures. Obviously, this isn’t intended to be a permanent case for the device (how would you stick this in your pocket??). But as a camera accessory, as opposed to a phone...

BlackBerry Bold arrives in South Korea

It's safe to say that its been a while since the launch of the phone, but the BlackBerry Bold has finally landed on the shores of South Korea.  Thanks to a modification of a former law that gave local manufacturers Samsung, LG, and Pantech a significant edge, the device will begin shipping in a localized form soon.  Though the market is currently dominated with all kinds of devices and the extent to which a BlackBerry will penetrate...

Geektech: how to run Android apps under Ubuntu

So you want to see what the Android fuss is about but don't want to ditch your contract or can't afford a new phone? Well you can try out an Android emulator on your Ubuntu computer, and it's really not too difficult. Marius Nestor has put together a super-easy tutorial for setting up an Android virtual device. It's basically a list if copy/paste commands, though you'll need to change your username and the directory if you prefer a simpler name...

New Palm Pre sales figure: 300,000 sold this month

Talk about your comeback stories. Rocky’s got nothing on Palm. According to Edward Snyder, an analyst at Equity Research, Palm has sold 300,000 units of the Pre in June. This is based on numbers checked against manufacturing and retail channels for the device. PreCentral adds that the analyst reported May sales figures topping 70,000. That would be a total of 370,000 devices in two months. The previously struggling Palm shipped 351,000 phones in...

Would you suffer through ads for cheaper plan fees?

Some mobile users in Germany will be able to opt-in to targeted ads in exchange for discounts off their cell phone plans. Alcatel-Lucent is providing German carrier E-Plus with equipment that puts ads on mobile devices based on demographics. Users who agree to receive 10-25 ads per week receive extra minutes or free text allotments on their cell plans. Customers have to enroll, and participants voluntarily fill out a checklist of activities or...

Video: HTC Dash 3G (T-Mobile) - Unboxing

The wait between Dash and Dash 3G was long. But it may have been worth it if you use T-Mobile and like Windows Mobile. Check it out, Dash 3G unboxed.

iPhone 3GS: Apple's crazy resale value astonishes me

I bought an Apple iPhone 3GS on launch day because Apple PR told me they could get me a review loaner, but it might take awhile.  No good - you gotta cover the hot phones as soon as possible in the crazy tech blog world, right?  I happened to be near both an AT&T and an Apple store the morning 3GS went on sale, so I walked to AT&T, saw no line outside, and decided to just go in and buy one.  I spent $299 for the 32GB...

FCC passes BlackBerry 8520

Not a fan of BlackBerry’s classic trackball? Relief is coming. As rumored, the BlackBerry 8520 — the newest edition Curve — is indeed heading our way. It has just cleared the FCC, putting the handset one step closer to being the first BB in the States with an optical trackpad. By all accounts, it looks like it's heading to Tmo, but if you'rehoping for a 3G handset from the brand, you’ll still have to wait itout for the BlackBerry Driftwood...

HTC Touch Cruise in-depth review - HTC Touch Cruise

Overview What’s good: small and very pocketable, cool form factor, Footprints, 3.2 MP cam with geo-tagging, D-pad doubles as scroll wheel, TouchFLO, A-GPS, Wi-Fi, bluetooth, 3G.What's bad: Windows Mobile experience. TouchFLO helps a lot in this regard, but the same flaws still sit under the surface. Introduction The Touch Cruise 2009 is a reworking of the 2008 version. When it comes to making calls, managing photos, and sending texts, the...

Sprint to get Motorola i465 Clutch

Check out the geometrically angled keys, balanced by the curved lines, and the muted black/gray/brick color scheme. It’s all so… meh. This thunderously mundane handset, known as the i465 Clutch, debuted to yawns last month on Boost Mobile, a Sprint-owned carrier. (Okay, maybe “yawns” is a strong word. After all, the messaging phone is Boost’s first QWERTY device, so someone somewhere was probably glad to see this.) Now for some reason, the...