Tech enthusiast in Silicon Valley enjoying the possibilities of ubiquitous connectivity, information sharing, and collaboration enabled by mobile broadband. You can contact Chuong on Twitter @chuongvision or with the same ID on Skype.
Huwei’s MediaPad 7-inch tablet, which is available with mobile 4G HSPA+ broadband service in the U.S. as the T-Mobile Springboard by Huawei, may be getting its own Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich official port soon. The tablet was released with a well-built unibody aluminum construction, Android 3.2 Honeycomb, and a high resolution 7-inch 1280 X [...]
A user-created hack called the HTC Super Tool allows HTC phone and tablet users to root and unlock their HTC-made Android handsets easily. The tool works on a variety of HTC devices currently. Though HTC had announced earlier this year that it would be opening up its devices to official unlocking following controversy about locked [...]
A new leak for what appears to be the singular hardware button on the front side of Apple’s iOS-powered iPad 3 tablet suggests that the third incarnation of the slate will retain a button design, rather than go without any buttons as was previously suggested by some speculations with an iPhone 5 model before the [...]
JXD is hoping to differentiate its 7-inch S7100 Android tablet running on Google’s Froyo build by adding hardware gaming controls for those who like to play games on a mobile tablet. Adding gaming controls would help gamers have easier control of their games and allow for finer manipulations; casual gamers will also have access to [...]
Despite recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board to ban hands-free gadget usage in automobiles in the U.S., the Department of Transportation says that it will continue to allow for hands-free use. In the most recent years, a number of states have shifted policy that bans phones from being used for calls or texting unless [...]
At the T-Mobile USA press event unveiling the U.S. arrival of the Windows Phone-powered Lumia 710 on the carrier’s network, Nokia was showing off a 3-inch device sans any buttons. The device is described as a ‘pocket tablet’ that lacks any wireless mobile broadband connectivity, meaning that it will either connect to the Internet via [...]
Android-maker Sony Ericsson has filed for the XPERIA Ion trademark for what is speculated to be a variant of the company’s codenamed Nozomi smartphone, which boasts high-end specs. The LT28at model is believed to be a variant of the rumored Nozomi phone with a 4.55-inch display with a 1280 X 720-pixel 720p HD resolution screen. The [...]
Nokia may be experimenting with new color variations for the recently released Nokia Lumia 800, the first Windows Phone fruition as a product of a joint partnership with Microsoft, for early 2012. The company had unveiled the Lumia 800 at Nokia World with black, cyan, and magenta as color options, but more bright and vivid [...]
In addition to landing on Sony Ericsson’s line of XPERIA smartphones, Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich platform will also be hitting Sony’s tablet. The Japanese consumer electronics giant had recently introduced two tablet models, the Sony Tablet P and the Sony Tablet S, and Ice Cream Sandwich is expected on both models according to [...]
While Android Honeycomb barely just recently made it to the smaller 7-inch screen form factor thanks to the release of Android 3.2, developers are hard at work on pushing the boundaries of what constitutes a tablet. The latest hack comes by way of Chris Wade, a developer who is successful in porting Google’s tablet OS [...]
The dual-core Motorola Droid Bionic, one of the most full-featured 4G LTE smartphones on Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network, will be selling for $99 with a two-year service agreement at Costco. The price includes a free accessories package thrown in, which includes a desktop dock, car dock, and extra charger. Costco’s selling price is $100 [...]
In addition to the rumored Galaxy Note II, Samsung seems to be at the top of the rumor mill this Christmas with a Galaxy S III and a Galaxy S 3D model in development, with the former seeing a potential announcement in the February time frame at the international Mobile World Congress trade show. The [...]
The Samsung Galaxy Note took on a unique hybrid form factor. As a device with a 1280 X 800 high resolution 5.3-inch screen, the Note could either be used as a large smartphone or a small-sized portable tablet. In the few months that the Note has been on the market, it looks like Samsung may [...]
MVNO mobile service provider Republic Wireless, which launched with a strings-attached fair use unlimited offering for $20 per month, entered a lot of heat when customers and press found out that its definition of unlimited voice and data meant unlimited over WiFi. The company has heard user complaints and has changed its policies in a gesture [...]
To close out the year, Sprint is offering customers in good standing the opportunity to nab an early upgrade to a good smartphone–with Apple’s iPhone included in the mix for selection–for a discounted subsidized price if they agree to sign on for another two-year service agreement. The ‘Upgrade Glee’ promotion is an unadvertised promotion that [...]
Confirming our earlier San Francisco, California speed tests for Verizon’s launched 4G LTE network against AT&T’s un-announced soft-launched LTE network in the city’s downtown shopping center, it appears that AT&T’s LTE speeds are edging out Verizon’s speeds. The result, even in its early stages, is quite impressive as we–and perhaps the rest of the geek [...]
NPD research data shows that smartphone cameras now account for over a quarter of all videos and photos captured. 27 percent of all photos taken are now done with a smartphone, which is up ten percent from a year ago. In parallel with the rise in smartphones used in photography, the digital point and shoot [...]
In a consolation prize for AT&T, which was forced to withdraw its bid from acquiring rival T-Mobile USA after opposition from consumer groups, rivals, and the government, the carrier was granted FCC approval for acquiring the 700 MHz spectrum owned by Qualcomm that was used for the now defunct FloTV service. As part of its [...]
In Samsung’s and Apple’s on-going patent design lawsuit, Samsung may have seemingly scored a victory against Apple’s iPad with its slightly re-designed Galaxy Tab 10.1N, which was created for the German market after Apple had won an early victory against the original Galaxy Tab 10.1. On the 10.1N model, Samsung made some slight modifications to [...]
While content is still sparse and limited for the BlackBerry Playbook, running on the BlackBerry Tablet OS, users of the tablet will now be happy to know that they too can join iOS and Android in partaking in the game of Angry Birds. The tablet edition of Angry Birds is now available in BlackBerry App [...]
The Motorola Droid 4, an Android handset with a QWERTY slide-out keyboard and 4G LTE support on Verizon’s network, was speculated to arrive today, December 22. Given that there hasn’t been any word of a release from Verizon nor Motorola, we can assume that the handset won’t be coming today. Additionally, it appears that Verizon [...]
In what is reported as a tip to Nokia-centric blog My Nokia Blog, Nokia has an expansive product launch schedule for 2012 spanning both smartphones and tablets. The company had recently unveiled two debut Windows Phone smartphones at the Nokia World convention in October, and is presumably hard at work to introduce other devices in [...]
Nokia U.S. head Chris Weber recently talked about some of the company’s plans and strategies for the U.S. market following the joint announcement of the Lumia 710 Windows Phone for T-Mobile USA’s network. According to Weber, the Lumia 710 is just the beginning and we can expect more from Nokia and the company’s Windows Phone [...]
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which approves all things Bluetooth, had just released a Bluetooth End Product List depicting the Sony ERicsson LTE28at, which comes with support for AT&T’s HSPA+ and LTE network, meaning that it would support AT&T’s 4G network in the U.S. While Bluetooth SIG certification doesn’t necessarily mean that the phone [...]
In the month of November, there were more 7-inch LCD panels being manufactured than 9.7-inch panels, which are used on the iPad and iPad 2 tablets from Apple. In the past, late Apple CEO Steve Jobs had dismissed the 7-inch tablet market, stating that it did not offer users a good experience due to the [...]
At the Consumer Electronics Show slated for January 2012, OnStar is geared up to introduce a system that will bring video chat and streaming content to select vehicles in the General Motors fleet thanks to mobile broadband service from Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network. The new system will find home in the Chevy Volt. It’s [...]
Toy-maker Hasbro is initiating a lawsuit against electronics-maker Asus for the Transformer and Transformer Prime trademarks. The former is alleging that the latter’s use of the marks for its Tegra 3-powered Android tablet may cause confusion with its toys and film franchise. In a lawsuit filed late last week, Hasbro says that the Transformer Prime [...]
Sprint is beginning to roll out its Android Honeycomb update for the carrier’s debut tablet, the HTC Flyer, which is the first tablet that Sprint had supported on its Network with embedded 3G CDMA and 4G WiMax radios. The 7-inch tablet is a variant of the HTC Flyer and comes with an active digitizer for [...]
Verizon’s 4G LTE network is awesome when it works, yielding fast uploads and even faster download speeds. However, since the network launched, there have been periods of small intermittent outages at night and a few instances of longer outages that last for hours. Whatever the cause(s) of these outages, Verizon Wireless has in the past [...]
Despite various reports of LightSquared’s proposed 4G LTE network interfering with GPS reception, the network is demanding that the FCC approve its rights to use the spectrum that it owns. LightSquared further asserts that since GPS devices use unlicensed spectrum, GPS-makers deserve no protection from the FCC. Following a delayed launch of its network due [...]
Though Netflix is officially available on Samsung’s recently released Galaxy Nexus with a 720p HD Super AMOLED display, the official app doesn’t stream content in native 720p HD resolution. Thankfully, for pixel-discerning users, developers over at XDA-Developers have been able to port the Netflix HD streaming app to the device, though early work in porting [...]
Android adoption continues to grow and Android head Andy Rubin provided a status update that Google is now activating 700,000 new Android devices on a daily basis. That’s a lot of little green robots invading our pockets, desks, and lives. Rubin says that this number accounts only for Android devices with built-in cellular and mobile [...]
Nuance, which powers Apple’s voice personal assistant feature known as Siri on the iPhone 4S, has announced that it is acquiring rival Vlingo to help it bring its natural user interface powered by voice to the market. Vlingo offers a competitive voice app and competing product to Siri on competing phones right now, including BlackBerry [...]
There have been reports by users in communications with Sprint customer service, retail stores, and online chat that the carrier is willing and capable of activating a Verizon Galaxy Nexus on its own 3G Now Network. As Sprint and Verizon both operate the same 2G and 3G airwaves on the same spectrum, the move wouldn’t [...]
The latest leaks suggest that Amazon and a Microsoft-Nokia partnership may both be looking to acquire Canadian smartphone Research in Motion. After slumping stock prices and declining market share for the company’s BlackBerry smartphone and PlayBook tablet, Research in Motion is struggling to stay competitive in the market with touch competition from Apple’s iOS platform, [...]
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Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE Review: A Worthy Successor to the Original (Video)
When Sprint had debuted the original WiMax-capable HTC EVO 4G nearly two years ago, it was an instant hit on the Now network. Not only was the HTC EVO 4G the first 4G smartphone in the world taking advantage of Sprint’s then speedy WiMax network, but it brought some new features and pizzazz to the [...]
Last year Toshiba waded into the Android tablet market with the Thrive, a 10.1-inch slate that served as the company’s response to what they deemed missing in the then current crop. Thus, it had several full-size ports, a rugged-ish exterior, and a thick chassis to accommodate both. Though a decent tablet, the Thrive didn’t generate [...]
Samsung Shows That It Is a Software Company
As exciting as it has been to talk, postulate, and speculate about the Galaxy S III’s hardware and specs before the third-generation Galaxy flagship smartphone was announced on May 3rd in London, once the device was announced one thing became apparent: Samsung is now a software company. That doesn’t mean that Samsung is shying away [...]
Autumn Dynasty Review: A Great RTS for the iPad
With its large touchscreen, the iPad seems like the perfect platform for Real Time Strategy games, and Autumn Dynasty proves it, mostly. Autumn Dynasty is an RTS iPad game with art that looks like tradition Chinese painting. The story involves quelling a rebellion while solving a mystery of shady noblemen. The story though, just serves [...]
Griffin GuitarConnect Pro Review: Record Your Jams with Ease
The Griffin GuitarConnect Pro interfaces with your Guitar and your iPad or iPhone so you can record your music easily using apps like Apple’s GarageBand. My son Daniel, who’s learning to play guitar, helped me test it out and he loved it. When he gets as good as Jimi Hendrix, I’m sure he’ll steal my [...]
Google Search App iPhone and iPad Update Looks Beautiful (Video)
Google just delivered a beautiful update to the company’s Google Search app for the iPhone and iPad The Google Search app for iPhone and iPad replaced Safari as my browser of choice, earning a spot in the iPhone and iPad dock. It’s faster and offers a beautiful new full screen image search which looks awesome on the [...]
