android

Acer S100, Samsung T939 clear FCC

The highlight at the Federal Communications Commission is the Google Android-powered Acer S100 that appears to be destined for AT&T. Because the FCC has to certify every phone sold in the United States, not to mention test its SAR rating, the agency's online database offers a lot of sneak peeks to those who dig. And to save you the trouble, Crave has combed through the database for you. Here are a selection of filings from the past week on new and upcoming cell phones. Click through to read the full report.

Acer S100 Kyocera S2300 LG LN240 … Read more

Sprint HTC Hero, Samsung Moment to get Android 2.0 in 2010

While Verizon customers have been feeling the Android love lately with updates for both the Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris, Sprint users have been left to wonder when they might see an update for their Android devices. Well, we sort of have an answer now.

The carrier announced via Twitter on Friday that it will offer an Android 2.0 update for both the HTC Hero and the Samsung Moment, which is great news. Unfortunately, the update won't come till the first half of 2010 (no specific date was given), but hopefully it'll be on the earlier … Read more

T-Mobile adds second Android app purchase option

As promised, T-Mobile last night began rolling out a new billing option for Google Android users.

Customers of the nation's largest Android carrier now have an option to charge Android Market purchases directly to their monthly bills and bypass their credit cards and Google Checkout accounts. T-Mobile is the first carrier to offer a billing alternative, though Sprint has also committed to making a similar move.

As the update is considered "invisible," T-Mobile customers will not receive any notifications of a pending software update. Rather, you can access the new billing option by logging into the Android … Read more

Android's unintentional beneficiary: Funambol

Google Android adoption--both that which is publicly announced and that which is still under wraps--is amazing. Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently declared that Android adoption is set to "explode." This is good news for Google, of course, as well as the wireless carriers and handset manufacturers that support Android.

It's also extremely good news for Funambol, the open-source mobile cloud sync company.

Even as the mobile telcos seek winning alternatives to the controlling grasp of Apple, that same industry is simultaneously enthusiastic and leery about Google: enthusiastic about the operating system, but leery about tying all of … Read more

You got a Motorola Droid. Now what?

We don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that the Motorola Droid was the hottest Android phone to be released in 2009. Of course, the Verizon Wireless ads attacking AT&T and the Apple iPhone did a lot to bring attention to the smartphone, but it wasn't all hype. The smartphone delivered with excellent performance, an attention-grabbing 3.7-inch WVGA touch screen, and the benefits of Android 2.0, including Google Maps Navigation.

With the combination of clever marketing and just being a solid device all around, the Droid has quickly become one … Read more

Verizon pushes out update for Droid Eris

Verizon announced on Thursday that it has begun pushing out a software update to HTC Droid Eris users.

Like the upgrade for the Motorola Droid, the over-the-air update (specifically, ROM version 1.16.605.1/Radio version 2.32.40.11.09) will be delivered to small group of customers first and then slowly rolled out to everyone within a week. Users will receive a notification on their smartphone alerting them when the update is ready for download.

Highlights of the update include:

While on a call and the device is in screensaver mode, pressing the End key now takes … Read more

Dialed In 107: Nokia slows down

It's been a slow week but we still have quite a bit of cell phone news for you. We hear that Nokia will be slowing down smartphone production, that Android updates are imminent, and that the FCC is asking Verizon some tough questions about ETF. We also chat about our latest reviews and answer your questions.

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News Nokia to reduce smartphone offering by half in 2010 HTC Droid Eris to get Android update in 2010 Android 2.0.1 for Droid users FCC questions Verizon over ETF hike … Read more

Leaked lineup tips HTCs Android hand for 2010

Thanks to the popular XDA Forums, we now have a pretty good idea of what HTC is planning for new Google Android handsets in 2010. Among them are new designs that differ from the company's standard touch-screen candy bar models that we've seen this year.

The images scanned from a brochure indicate that the Taiwanese manufacturer is grouping its handsets into targeted demographic categories. While the Legend appears to be a descendant of the Hero and Droid Eris, the Salsa brings a BlackBerry feel to Android with its four-row portrait QWERTY design. Both phones fall into HTC's … Read more

Yelp finds you food on Android

Frequent Yelp users will be pleased to see a Yelp for Android app take its place in the Android Market on Monday. Be forewarned, however, that the app contains the minimum services from Yelp.com in this iteration.

There's the usual search for restaurants and businesses nearby, which Yelp sniffs out using GPS or cell tower triangulation. Results records include ratings, reviews, and photos you can view from the phone. You can click or press a button to call the business. There's another button to map the location to a movable Google map, and this version thankfully includes … Read more