Blackberry Torch: Too Little, Too Late

My dad recently received a Blackberry Torch, and I had some time to play with it. Here is my take on the Torch, by RIM. To start, the Torch has a nice design, but can be a pain to open. The keyboard kind of fits in with the bottom bezel of the phone, so it is extremely annoying to push open. Aside from that, the Torch is a fairly sleek looking device. The software on the device feels like a small step up from the usually Blackberry OS, but is definitely not enough to compete with IOS or Android. I just cannot shake the boring, Blackberry-ish feel. It is not customizable to any extent besides the wallpaper (Apple seemed to forget that for the 1st 3 years of the IPhone, though,) and I don't feel as in control of that as Android. Now, from a hardware standpoint, the Torch is not the most impressive, comparing to the usual devices of today. It has a 624 mhz processor, a 5 megapixel camera (very low-res video), and has little power. But the device seemed to be very snappy in transitions, web browsing, and loading content. It actually came pretty close to matching my Droid 1 running froyo, which is pretty impressive. All in all, the Torch is a big step up from RIM's usual choices, but is not enough to wow the market. Be sure to follow me on Twitter, and please bookmark and share!

Samsung Galaxy Tab Coming To....What?

Huh, interesting title, right guys? The news is that the Samsung Galaxy Tab is coming to a 5th carrier, and it is...............US Cellular! I really like the way Samsung is trying to market their products by putting them on virtually every carrier in the US. US Cellular has hosted a number of popular Android devices, such as the Motorola Milestone (Droid is Verizon's thing) and the HTC Desire. Now the regional CDMA carrier will have a trio of high-end Android devices. The probability is that this device (the Galaxy Tab) will be costing between $400 and $600 dollars on contract (based on how long the contract is and for what price.) The specs of the Galaxy Tab include a 7-inch high res display, 1GHZ Samsung Hummingbird processor, PowerSGX 540 GPU, Android 2.2 otherwise known as Froyo (mmmm, yogurt), and other goodies like 2 cameras and more. Thanks for reading my post! Be sure to follow me on Twitter, and please bookmark and share using the oh so awesome buttons down below! The image used in this post is property of Engadget and Samsung.

Why Google Chrome Rocks

Google Chrome rocks. And though, I have tried out many browsers that could beat it, I just keep coming back to it. Lately I have been using Firefox 4 (Beta 6) to see if Mozilla can lure me away from Chrome. It came pretty darn close, Firefox 4 is looking nice, with its shiny buttons, but it couldn't pull me away. Here's why. Chrome is fast. Chrome is really fast. Chrome is lightning fast. Not just fast in web browsing, just quick in everything. Quick to open, snappy animations, virtually no lag in anything (even on my Dell Inspiron.) In Internet Explorer, I can press the new tab button and get a nice nap in before the browser switches to the new tab (even in Internet Explorer 9.) In Firefox 4, I just can't stand the lag when I type. I have typed the full web address in and the browser hasn't responded yet. And Safari, just way too gray for me. Chrome is also simple. Firefox 3.6 (in standard skin) is absolutely hideous (in my opinion.) Chrome gives me a clean, fresh look with a lot of options hidden, so it looks simple. Chrome also is very customizable, in terms of themes. I still love the way Firefox allows you to arrange the buttons near the address bar, but Chrome is good enough for me to get over that. I particularly love the Google Chrome Android theme. Firefox is also very good with its personas, I have to say though. So, what is your favorite browser? Why? Tell me in the comments! Be sure to follow me on Twitter, and be sure to share & bookmark from the buttons down below!

IPhone 4 Issues

The IPhone 4 (IOS 4.1) has a problem. The problem is that people can now hack into the IPhone obtaining full control of the phone just by doing an extremely simple maneuver. The press on the emergency call button, press the pound button 3 times, then immediatlely press home. This gives the user full control of the device, with no restrictions. This video, shown below shows how easy it is to do this. I want to know if you guys think this is more unsafe then the other hacks (mostly android, such as motoblur hacks.) Tell me in the comments! Sorry about the short post. Also, don't forget to follow me on Twitter, and please bookmark and share!

Bug on iOS 4.1 from Salomão Filho on Vimeo.

Twitter Apps For Android: Which is the Best?

I have an odd dilemma. I cannot stop changing which Twitter app I use for Android. I have gone from the stock Twitter for Android to Tweetdeck beta to Seesmic to Touiteur to Twidroyd to Twicca and back to Twidroyd again. I have abandoned some of them for stupid reasons, and I have abandoned them for good ones. I want YOU to tell me in the comments which Twitter app is the best and why. I really want to see some comments for this post! Currently I am using Twidroyd because of the huge amount of features that it includes, and themes too. If that wasn't available I would use Seesmic, but on my Droid which isn't the fastest phone in the market all the profile icons don't render fast enough, so the scrolling is REALLY choppy. Next is Twicca, which I felt was a little too clean in some ways, wasting a bit of features. The Touiteur which charges money just for URL shortening, and then Tweetdeck and the stock Twitter app, which Tweetdeck felt a little cluttered when I added my google buzz account, especially in the "Me" page. And then there is plain old Twitter for Android, which I just don't like at all. Tell me what your favorite app is in the comments! Follow me on Twitter, and don't forget to bookmark and share!

Android Gingerbread Official

It is official: Android 3.0 or "gingerbread" is going to be released by Google sometime soon. So, how to we know this? Google has put up their Gingerbread man right next to the froyo statue put up when 2.2 was going to be released. One thing that we do not know yet though: is gingerbread going to be 3.0, or is it going to be Android 2.3? Some recent rumors suggest that gingerbread is going to be Android 2.3, not 3.0. If this is true, there is probably going to be more minor adjustments than the ones speculated, like all the applications having fancy transitions like the ones currently in the 2.1+ gallery app. All we know now is that gingerbread is going to be released soon (presumably next week) and we just have to wait and see what it is going to provide for us. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter! Please share, bookmark, and save!

Apple Event Unveils New Products

Yesterday Apple unveiled their new line of products for their desktop operating system the Macintosh. These new products included a brand new version of Apple ILife, new Macbook Airs, and their new generation of their OS, called Lion. To start, Apple has given us a refresh of their software suite named ILife. The refresh includes new things in IPhoto, IMovie, and GarageBand. Nothing said about new IWeb or IDVD. To start, IPhoto includes a small bundle of new features, such as full screen, beautifully made cards, better sharing capabilities, and more. This really isn't a big change but provides us with a little more options to make the software more convenient and easy to use. For IMovie, Apple now adds very simple and easy to used audio editing, which only needs a click and a drag to be able to operate it. Next, they added an option for making beautiful and professional-looking movie trailers for a home movie. Too bad I have a Windows 7 computer, Windows Live movie maker really doesn't cut it (or come even remotely close to cutting it.) Last, Apple has now updated their GarageBand application which really helps musicians of every level. For those starting out, GarageBand offers lessons on playing basic chords and learning how to play. For those trying to form a band, advanced (but as simple as can be) editing by GarageBand that allows bands that were out of tune to sync up with the main musician of the band (or the one that is playing on-tune, at least,) and offers options to spread out and make notes longer for quick edits to make your band sound good as can be. Now onto the new OS, Lion. To be honest, it was nothing amazing, and it definitely was not as exciting as it could have been. It now offers an app store for people who want to buy things such as IWork without going to the store. Also, it offers something that will be replacing expose called the mission control (I think.) Other than that, very minor changes were made. And at last, to the new Macbooks. The new Macbook Air is now available in two sizes (11.6 inch-13.3 inch) and offers updated graphics chips. The 11.6 inch to me kind of is like a notebook (that costs 1,000 dollars) but runs faster and just a little nicer. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter, and please share. See you tomorrow!

Web OS 2.0 Announced, Good Not Great

Palm announced their second iteration of their cell phone OS, known as WebOS 2.0, today. This new OS comes with the announcement of their new smartphone, known as the Palm Pre 2. The Palm Pre 2 has a 1GHZ processor, 5 Megapixel camera, and comes out of the box with WebOS 2.0. New features of the OS are better multitasking (if it could get any better) because of the fact that the OS groups apps into a genre for easy finding and a larger app catalog that includes apps like Angry Birds, Asphalt 5, Pandora, NYTimes, Facebook, and many more apps. Because of the Pre 2's 1GHZ processor, WebOS will just fly on this device. In my opinion, this OS is the most beautiful and elegant of any mobile OS (including IOS) and everything just works. The software seems to be smooth, and there are little stalls and crashing as you might find on Android. The form factor of the Pre 2 is the same, but a little sleeker and higher end-feeling. Disappointingly though, the screen is still a measly 3.1 inches. I wish they could bump it up to 3.5 extremely badly, the screen feels very cramped. In the end Palm showed that they can still be up to par with the smartphone market, but didn't set any new industry standards. Don't forget to save, bookmark, and share this article, and remember to follow me on Twitter: http://goo.gl/dOLX

Droid 2 Global Ads On Verizon's Support Line

Yes, that title is real. Without even announcing the device, Verizon's support 800 phone number is running audio ads teasing the Droid 2 Global, previously thought to be the Droid Pro (not anymore.) The only thing that it really  teases is the support for 221 countries. Yes, 221. What seems weird about that? Oh the fact that there are only 195 countries on this planet. Maybe Verizon is adding support for that planet that is believed to support life. Tell me what you guys think about the Droid 2 Global down below! Also, since there are now so many Droids out now, I want you to comment and tell me which Droid eye is the best, coolest, or whatever. For you people that don't know, you have to click on the title of the article to be able to access the comment box. Don't forget to share, bookmark, and save. Follow Me on Twitter Too: http://goo.gl/VYNJ. The image used in this article is by Droid-Life, and all credit goes to the site.

Apple App Store: 300,000!

Apple's ITunes app store has now passed the 300,000 app mark, MobileBurn says. Apple's data shows that over sometime in the last 24 hours, the 300,000 app was submitted. The Android market now has over 110,000  apps in the Android market, but this compares nothing to Apple's store. And to boot, the apps in the Android market are much lower quality than its competitor. Hmm, 1 million apps coming soon? Maybe within 2 years. Tell me in the comments when you think Apple's app store will hit 1 Million apps. Don't forget to save, bookmark, and share! See you guys tomorrow! Don't forget to follow me on Twitter too!

Powermats!

It is official (kind of) the IPhone 4 and the Evo 4G are going to get the goodness graced on them knows as powermats! For some reason I keep spelling it wrong (powermate.) Now you won't have to use a connector, this is the future! We shouldn't need cables! No need for that annoying microUSB port for the Evo, and the oh-my-god-why-can't-you-trash-this-idea-already 30 pin connector for the IPhone. Engadget has gotten the image from their moles (apparently they have moles now) to sneak a picture of their boxes. Now that is proof right there. Thank the lord this came for Evo owners, that phone has the most terrible battery life ever in a phone and will always have the worst (unless they purposely try to make one with worse battery life.) In other news today, the Android 2.2 update for the Samsung Galaxy S I9000 (North America brethren coming soon) is coming out in stages, wondering about the Quadrant scores, certainly can't be as much as that lag fix hack we've seen.

Read More!

The Coolest IPad Stand Ever!

Engadget gets their hands on one of the more interesting IPad stands that they have seen, the SMK-Link PadDock 10. This turns your IPad into a tiny 10 inch IMac with a touchscreen, for the low-low (sarcasm) price of $99. And get this, the stand even has speakers! Check out this link for Engadget's full review. this thing rotates a full 360 degrees, and includes a USB port for putting the charger in. IPad owners, definitely check this stand out, It is the best one I have seen. The stand actually looks like an IMac shell without the IPad in it. a pretty cool toy to have, and it looks like the perfect height to put on something like a counter to play with. Engadget though said that the thing wobbled a bit when touching, which will scare me away in a heartbeat. Can't you imagine this thing sitting on your desk where your laptop used to be? It looks like a great way to watch videos and acts as a little ITunes hub. In IPad news, the IPad will officially be coming to Verizon, sort of. You just buy an IPad from the Verizon store and pay for one of those Mifi cards that they have. But they are charging a ridiculous amount of money, $20 for 1 GB! Don't forget to share, bookmark, and save!

Apple's Back To Mac Event Oct. 20

Apple has announced their event dubbed "back to Mac" which will be showing on October 20. The Image (From TechCrunch, we got no invite, hehe) shows an Apple logo cut out of metal and slightly turned to reveal, oh what is this, a LION? This might mean that Apple will be releasing a new iteration of their Mac OS, presumably 10.7. This new OS will hopefully offer a hugely revamped interface.The last OS revamp wasn't as big, just faster and much more lightweight. I am not sure what this event will bring to Mac users, but it really has me excited (even though I have a Dell). Give yourself a stare at this image to the left of this text, and tell me what you think is going to happen in the comments! Hey who knows, this could be Mac OS 11! Sorry about the short post today guys, I'm not too much into Macs. Don't forget to save, share, and bookmark! Oh, and wait, thank you for the large amount of followers this week!

Windows Phone 7 is Here

Microsoft has finally unveiled its new look at a mobile OS, Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone 7 is really, in short, the opposite of the IPhone with and IPhone feel. Now your thinking that doesn't make sense, but in a way it does. Windows Phone 7 consists of a menu of tiles that consist of things like phone, messaging, social networking, Xbox, and other stuff, but the actual feel of the OS is similar to IOS. the OS is very smooth in transitions and kinetic (flick) scrolling. Things like jumping into apps, going back to the homescreen, and scrolling down a menu are about as smooth, if not smoother and more elegant than IOS, and make Android look like puke. All of the unveiled Windows Phones (10) are built on 1GHZ processors (Qualcomm) and they have a bevy of differences between them. Some have keyboards, some don't, some screens are bigger, some are smaller. The things that Microsoft missed in Windows Phone 7 is no more copy and paste for this year, not much landscape support (sorry qwerty sliders), and a lack of multitasking. All in all, Microsoft has satisfied the need for a good smartphone, and a good carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint.) they are going in the right direction with smartphones. Below is Phonedog's review of an HTC Windows Phone 7 device.

Have You Ever Seen This?

If you have ever gone into a Verizon store, Best Buy, or any electronic retailer, I bet you have seen this. A lot of times the demo products (phones, IPads) are hacked in these stores. Why is this? I don't know. One time I went into a Verizon store to look at one of the new phones that was released, and one of the Droids in the store was rooted and had a custom ROM installed on it. Another time, when I was in Best Buy, I was playing with an IPad, looking at the apps that were pre installed, and Cydia was on the last page. I understand this, just as you use the jailbreakme.com website (I recently used that to jailbreak my 2G IPod Touch) that couldn't get any easier or faster to do, but a rooted Droid with a custom ROM? Don't you need a computer to do that? Well sure, there is easy root (recently pulled from the market, I don't know why) but I thought you needed a credit card to pay for it and a computer to transfer the custom ROM. Tell me if you have ever seen a hacked device on display in the comments, I really want to hear your experiences! Don't forget to save, bookmark, and share!

Firefox For Android Review

Mozilla  has released a beta version of Firefox for mobile (previously called Fennec, don't know why they dropped the name, and it is out for Android and the Nokia N900. I have the review here.

Speed: 8/10 I haven't tested this on many websites (explanation soon) but the ones that I did test rendered at a quick speed. There is no bar in Firefox, just a rotating circle (like IE.)
Responsiveness: 1/10 Firefox for Android isn't any more responsive than the alpha release of Fennec. There is a considerable amount of lag, and it causes my Droid to crash, freeze, and reboot. Mozilla needs to jump on this if they want to be one of the best mobile browsers. It literally crashed 99% of the time that I used it.
Look and Feel: 7/10 This browser is one of the better looking browsers for Android that I have seen, and certainly better looking than the stock one.
All in all, Mozilla needs to work on the responsiveness of this app. I can't stress this enough. Also, it is a whopping 44MB, and as far as I know, has no option for app to SD. Firefox Mobile is not the best browser for Android, and it has the potential to be the best.

Droid Pro Announced, Not What we Expected

This sure isn't what we expected. Motorola has announced the Droid Pro, a portrait QWERTY Android phone with a 3.1 inch screen, 1GHZ OMAP processor, 5MP camera with 480p video, 512MB of RAM, 2GB of ROM, (are you sure, engadget?) and a portrait style QWERTY keyboard. This device sure doesn't satisfy my hunger for a good phone, as this is pretty much a market-standard device for these days. Motorola did say that they still were planning on releasing that dual core phone that will blow everything else away, but we'll just have to sit tight and wait. The Droid pro seems to be like a powerful Blackberry running Android (I mean that Moto Ninja blur stuff) and is made for the business man, as it offers a lot of features such as encrypted data. Gizmodo says this phone  "It's a like a Motorola Droid, but with a BlackBerry keyboard bolted on the bottom, or a Torch that is permanently stuck open." The Droid Pro will certainly satisfy consumers that will be looking to switch over from a Blackberry, but doesn't set the new standard really, for anything. Hopefully that Motorola Phone running on a NVIDA graphics chip actually comes to be. Don't forget to save, bookmark and share!

Facebook or Twitter?

Okay, to start off, I want there to be a lot of comments on this blog post. I would like to know if you guys like Facebook or Twitter? Personally, I prefer Twitter because of its simple idea of just posting things. Just little things, just 140 characters. I also prefer Twitter for one big reason: 3rd Party apps. Personally, I use Tweetdeck for posting to my Twitter, and also I use it to post to Google Buzz (my favorite social network, to bad it isn't really popular.) I also am in the process of making a Facebook (maybe today) and I see why people find it better than other social networks. See Twitter is better for simple things like saying what's on your mind or a new post or something you find interesting. Facebook is more about connecting with others, and getting to see things like cousins from another state. Which do you think is better, and I'm going to ask you why. I'm including the underdog, Buzz in this. Facebook, Twitter or Buzz? Which is your favorite and why? Don't forget to save, bookmark and share!

Google TV Site Looks Pretty Cool!

Google has recently (as far as I know) launched a site for their take on tv, appropriately named Google TV. the site is pretty polished looking, and has a row of buttons that reveal features on the bottom of the webpage. Tour Below! Don't forget to save, bookmark and share!

T-Mobile Announces New MyTouch, Roaring with Speed

T-Mobile has announced its new MyTouch, and it is a new flagship smartphone for the carrier. The phone is launching as the second phone with HSPA+, and has other specs that include a 1GHZ second generation Snapdragon processor, a 5MP Main camera that shoots 720p (no frame rate known yet), a front facing camera and Android 2.2. It seems as if 2.2 is the new 2.1, every phone (except the Dell Aero) seems to be launching with Froyo. The new MyTouch has me very excited as it has the second-gen Snapdragon. The new version seems to be screaming fast, scoring 1500's in Quadrant's benchmark, and that is only the 800 MHZ version. Imagine the 1 GHZ, it will probably score around a 2000 in the test. No RAM amount was said, though I think it will be around 768MB, because of the fact that the Desire HD, with similar specs, has 768MB. I wonder how the new generation of Droids will stack up to this phone, especially with the Droid Pro rumored to have a 1.3 GHZ processor, presumably an Texas Instruments OMAP. A very good selling point of the MyTouch is that it has a front facing camera. I am not sure if this is a new version of Qik, or if it is the phone's own facetime-like software, because it seems to have that kind of feel, with the flip-camera button in the bottom right and a little movable square of the person on the top left. Don't forget to bookmark, share, and save! Also, a shout-out to my friend Jake who just launched his new blog, Apple Inc. News!   

G2 Has Problems!

the T-Mobile G2 has reportedly had problems just after the release, which include the screen hinge being loose when held upside down and loss of storage. Engadget reports the phone hinging halfway when the screen (only the top part) is held. Nothing really can be done about this flaw. Also, people have reported only getting 2GB of on-board storage as opposed to the promised 4GB. This will certainly hinder a phone that seems to be one of the best in the market today. In other news, the HTC Merge is benchmarked by Android Central, showing some scores similar to the G2. It actually seems to be the Verizon version of the G2, with the same 800MHZ processor, similar screen size, and quadrant scores. Again, this is a typical HTC phone, with pretty bad 3D benchmarks. If graphics is what you want, go get a Galaxy S series phone! Don't forget to save, bookmark, and share!