The Buzz on new Cell Phones

Starting today, Verizon Wireless is rolling out the webOS 1.4.1.1 update to Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus owners. The update is a mere 11 mb in size and contains minor bug fixes including one that addresses that annoying “sticky key” problem in which a single key press produces double letters. Pinch to zoom is also expanded into Docs and PDF, WiFi to CDMA hand-off is more consistent, and battery life while using Bluetooth has also been improved. The update is available over the air and should arrive to Pre Plus and Pixi Plus handset within the next 48 hours. Hit the jump for the full changelog.

webOS 1.4.1.1 for the Verizon Wireless Pre Plus and Pixi Plus includes:

• Easier to use Bluetooth.
  • Improved battery life when turning off Bluetooth without unpairing a device.
• Displayed time feature is more accurate.
  • Automatic updates for Daylight Saving Time.
• Easier connection management.
  • More consistent EV-DO connections when switching from Wi-Fi to CDMA.
• Better Touchstone™ charger integration.
  • The screen will now turn off and display the lock icon and time after the Pixi Plus is docked with the Touchstone charger.
• Newly taken photos and videos do not overwrite existing ones.
  • Improved picture display when cropping a picture for a contact.
• Improvements:
  • Pinch to zoom now works in more applications.
  • The onscreen volume slider now appears correctly.
  • The forward gesture now works in the browser.
  • The back gesture now returns to the file list screen in certain applications.
  • The shutter sound is more responsive when taking a picture.
  • A single press of the power button now reliably wakes  up the display.
  • The LCD reset issue has been resolved.

All credits and information was found on boygeniusreport.com

Samsung this week announced the launch of the Samsung Exec on U.S. Cellular. The Samsung Exec is nearly identical to the Samsung Code, available on Metro PCS, but it does offer some worthwhile upgrades. For one thing, the Exec runs Windows Mobile 6.5, an update from WinMo 6.1 on the Samsung Code. The Exec also has a bit more internal memory and longer projected battery life than the Code. The Samsung Exec is available now for $170 with a contract agreement, and U.S. Cellular is also offering a $70 mail-in rebate.

All credits and information was found on phonescoop.com

Today Boost Mobile announced the Sanyo Juno, a feature phone that will retail for $99.99 with Boost Mobile’s $50 monthly unlimited plan.

The Juno sports a QWERTY keyboard for quick text messaging, as well as a 2.2 inch display, a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, speakerphone, and support for IMAP/POP3 and popular mobile email accounts. The Juno also comes with aGPS support for taking advantage of an optional visual turn-by-turn direction service.

The Juno is available now in both pink and deep blue.

All credits and information was found on mobileburn.com

Hello from sunny Orlando…the land of Mickey Mouse, Sea World, and retirees from around the United States. RIM is promising an exciting event over the next three days, so stay tuned. We’ll be reporting on all the event highlights, as they happen, throughout the week.

All credits and information was found on boygeniusreport.com

At first glance, the Samsung Sunburst for AT&T looks like a compelling feature phone: it’s small, pocketable, and has a chic, youthful look to it. While I appreciated the phone’s industrial design and good call quality, its quirky touchscreen keyboard, and mediocre multimedia performance left me feeling a bit sour. Best for kids and teens, the Sunburst shouldn’t be picked up by anyone that wants to surf the web or use their phone for serious texting.

Physical Aspects

The 109.9mm x 53.8mm x 12.9mm (4.33in x 2.08in x .51in) Samsung Sunburst is sleek in shape and it feels like a pebble in the hand. The device is black with chrome colored accents running down both sides that taper at the bottom of the phone. I thought the overall design was attractive, and felt that it had a bit of a feminine flare to it. The device has a 3-inch 400 x 240

resistive touchscreen^(INFO) display that takes up the majority of the front face of the phone. I found that the screen was very colorful and also easy to read under direct sunlight.

The Sunburst weighs 87.5g (3.1oz) and felt light in my hand. There are three buttons below the screen, send, end, and a return button. There’s a proprietary charging port on the right side of the device that doubles as a headphone jack, but headphones aren’t included. These days I prefer to see a micro-USB charging port since that’s the best supported standard. The camera quick-launch button is conveniently placed below the charging port, and it was easy to press while holding the phone in landscape mode. The volume toggle keys are on the right edge of the phone, and were in easy reach of my thumb during phone calls. A microSD card slot is placed below it, and thankfully not hidden behind the battery, as is too often the case with feature phones. I was a bit shocked that there wasn’t an indicator light for new messages or missed phone calls. It may seem trivial, but notifications from a blinking LED light or other visible indication are a valued luxury.

While in landscape orientation, the on-screen virtual keypad takes on the standard QWERTY form and the keys felt adequately spaced, though oftentimes unresponsive with the first touch (the response was drastically improved when using a small object to type, rather than the flat pad of a fingertip). In portrait mode the keyboard morphs into a standard alphanumeric phone keypad with a T9 option. I wasn’t able to type as quickly in this mode and found myself gravitating to the landscape QWERTY most of the time.

All credits and information was found on mobileburn.com

Google has announced Google Maps 4.1 for Windows Mobile and Symbian smartphones, which now includes search by voice functionality. The feature, already available on Android and BlackBerry smartphones, lets you speak your search by pressing your phone’s call button. Search by voice supports multiple English accents and Mandarin Chinese. Install it by visiting m.google.com/maps in your phone’s web browser.

All credits and information was found on mobileburn.com

It’s still a bit buggy, but this guy’s iPhone is running Android. More than that, actually. His phone now gives the choice to load either the iPhone OS or the Android OS.

Currently the hack only works on the original iPhone and it’s not flawless, but there’s hope that it’ll be perfected and implemented on iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS devices in the future.

Watch The Video

All credits and information was found on gizmodo.com

You’d think iPads might be banned by schools because they distract students, but George Washington University and Princeton University have both put the kibosh on them because their Wi-Fi networks are way overloaded since the launch.

Bandwidth overload is a problem we’ve all encountered, but you’ve got to really feel sorry for those students trying to access internet—for proper school reasons—from their laptops, but are booted off because all their peers have now got ‘Pads.

Princeton University has blocked around 20 per cent of iPads from being able to access the network, and George Washington doesn’t support any Apple products, apparently. Cornell University’s information-technology director Steve Schuster said they had similar problems when the iPhone launched, but is “working to ensure the iPad does not have devastating consequences to our network.”

This comes after an entire country banned the iPad: Israel has found that the iPad’s Wi-Fi broadcasting works at higher levels than is normally accepted in Israel.All credits and information was found on gizmodo.com

Earlier this month, an unknown manufacturer had the dubious distinction of making our KIRF list, for building what appeared to be a Nexus One running iPhone OS. Mr. Blurrycam couldn’t tell for sure… but today the KIRFtastic handset has been unveiled in all its infringing glory. Dubbed the “TEG W3000,” the device is billed as a quad-band GSM worldphone with an accelerometer, WiFi and Bluetooth, front and back-facing 2 megapixel cameras, FM and analog TV tuners and Java support. While the iPhoney OS doesn’t seem to have a App Store hackjob, the phone certainly has apps; in an interface pic, we spotted eBuddy, Facebook and Skype alongside Maps and the Opera web browser. Hands-down the most exciting ripoff in recent memory. Now cautiously whistle a happy tune, and move along.

All credits and information was found on engadget.com

Finally, it’s official: the much-awaited HTC Droid Incredible will be hitting Verizon Wireless on April 29th for $199 with two year agreement, as had been previously reported. With mind-numbing specs like a 1GHz processor, Android 2.1, an 8 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, HTC’s Sense UI and a lot more, we have a feeling this is going to run pretty darn well on Verizon’s network. Full press release after the jump!

IT’S A DROID, IT’S INCREDIBLE, IT’S ON THE NATION’S LARGEST AND MOST RELIABLE 3G NETWORK

DROID Incredible™ by HTC Combines Power of Android™, Usability of HTC Sense™, Exclusively from Verizon Wireless

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and NEW YORK – Verizon Wireless today announced DROID Incredible by HTC, the newest Android device on the nation’s most reliable wireless 3G network, will be available beginning April 29.

Featuring a “topographic” design that demonstrates the powerful engineering just beneath the surface, DROID Incredible by HTC is designed with craftsmanship and precision while making it easier than ever to stay connected.

DROID Incredible by HTC features the newest version of the HTC Sense experience, a seven-panel home screen with a wide selection of interactive widgets so the most important content is immediately available at a touch.  Customers will enjoy seamless integration with Exchange ActiveSync^®, quick and easy access to Flickr for sharing and viewing pictures, video, and Android Market™ with more than 30,000 Google applications.  DROID Incredible by HTC is the first Verizon Wireless phone that takes advantage of Qualcomm’s 1GHz superfast Snapdragon processor, and it’s the first available phone from Verizon Wireless to include an          8 megapixel camera.

Shortly after the phone becomes available, customers will be able to enjoy two of the latest exclusive apps from Verizon Wireless – NFL Mobile and Skype mobile™.

Additional Key features:

• 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 (480×800) 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

Price and availability:

• DROID Incredible will be available for pre-order online at verizonwireless beginning on April 19 and it will be in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores on April 29.  Pricing will be $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.  Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.
• DROID Incredible customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk and an Email and Web for Smartphone plan.  Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access.  Email and Web for Smartphone plans start at $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.
• For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to verizonwireless.

All credits and information was found on boygeniusreport.com