infolinks

Rumor: Desire HD coming to Verizon as the Incredible HD

Posted by Allinone Labels: Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Rumor: Desire HD coming to Verizon as the Incredible HD
Last month in Europe, HTC unveiled their next generation of Android smartphones which included the Desire Z and the Desire HD. We already knew the Desire Z was coming to the Verizon as the Merge, but new information is suggesting the Desire HD will also come stateside as the Incredible HD. Will Verizon finally get their own EVO-ish device? Read on after the jump for the full rumor, the original source, and one insider’s take on it.

Chrome Extension for Google OS Blog

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Jay Wang developed a Google Chrome extension for this blog. The extension lets you read all the posts, it keeps track of the posts you've read and it notifies you when there's a new post. The search feature lets you find posts from this blog and from Google's official blogs.


Jay Wang's extension is a great combination between Firefox's live bookmarks and Google Reader, so it might eventually be used to subscribe to any site.

What's New in Google Chrome 6?

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Google released the first stable build for Chrome 6. The new version has a simplified user interface: there's a single menu, the "go" button has been removed, the browser no longer shows "http://" in the address bar, the bookmark button has been moved to the right and the toolbar has a new color scheme.
 
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Google Chrome Latest Version

Posted by Allinone Labels:

The nice thing about Google Chrome's auto-update feature is that almost all users are running the latest version of the software. This is really important for web developers, who no longer have to worry that a large number of users haven't upgraded from Chrome 2 or Chrome 3. It's not necessary to test a site in multiple versions of Google Chrome and it's safe to use features added in the latest version of the browser.

Gmail's help center lists the supported browsers and includes the minimum version number required next to each browser, except Google Chrome.


Unfortunately, even if Chrome installs the latest version, you can't use it until you restart the browser. Google started to add a little orange dot next to the wrench icon and show messages like: "Old school's not cool. Google Chrome is woefully out of date because it hasn't crashed or restarted in a while. Restart Chrome to apply update."

Google Instant Shortcuts

Posted by Allinone Labels: Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Google Instant Search, the feature that shows search results as you type, is now publicly available. According to a press site, "Google Instant is starting to roll-out to users on Google domains in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia who use the latest browsers (Chrome versions 5 and later, Firefox version 3 and later, Safari version 5 for Mac and Internet Explorer version 8). Please note, users on domains other than Google.com and Google.ru can only access Google Instant if they are signed in to a Google Account."

If you don't see the new feature, go to Google's homepage, click on "Google.com in English" and log in to a Google account. If you still don't see it, try this URL: http://www.google.com/webhp?sclient=psy.

When you start to type a query, Google moves the search box to the top of the page and shows a list of 4 suggestions, followed by the search results for the first suggestion. That means you can just type "ny" and get the search results for [ny times] almost instantly. Google shows the predicted query in the search box, but the characters automatically added by Google are grayed out.


If you intend to type [ny times crossword], you can press Tab or use the right arrow to add "times" to your query and continue typing "crossword". Use the up/down arrows to pick a different suggestion and you'll notice that the results are displayed without 
 
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Start the clock, Samsung Galaxy S gets Android 2.2 in Europe

Posted by Allinone Labels:


We still have absolutely no idea when U.S. customers with a Galaxy S phone will receive Android 2.2, but Samsung Mobile just issued a press release to let everyone know they are pushing it out across Europe to the international version starting today.
Hopefully the U.S. versions of the Galaxy S (Vibrant, Captivate, Epic 4G, and Fascinate) will see the Android 2.2 update later this year, but you never know when it’s in the hands of the carriers. It took AT&T and T-Mobile months to roll out the GPS fix so don’t get too excited about seeing this new system update yet.
Samsung made a strong effort at their Galaxy S launch party back in June to let everyone know their flagship phone would be receiving Android 2.2 and I thought it was a great opportunity for them to upgrade their reputation, but they have failed to…
 

HTC Gratia heading to Europe in November

Posted by Allinone Labels:


Early next month, Europe will have another Android 2.2 handset to choose from. HTC has just announced that the HTC Aria will be heading to European shores as the HTC Gratia. The HTC Gratia will be a great new device for anyone looking to jump onto the Android boat but who wants to stay away from those expensive rate plans. The 600 MHz processor, 3.2 inch display, and 5 MP camera (with no flash) will certainly not be turning any heads, but it’s certainly a step up over the HTC Wildfire or any of Motorola’s new phones running outdated versions of Android.
Pricing for the HTC Gratia will be determined by local carriers when it show up in stores across Europe next month. We know that most of you will pass on the HTC Gratia, but it might be a great Christmas present for your grandparents or little sister.
 

Print Selection in Google Chrome

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Printing is one of Google Chrome's weakest points. Google's browser still doesn't offer print preview and, until recently, you couldn't print selected text. In Google Chrome 6 for Windows, you can select some text and some images from a web page, click on "Print" in the unified menu and choose the "selection" option.

If you frequently print pages in Google Chrome, you can add a print button and install iReader, an extension based on Readability that removes clutter from web pages, makes pages easier to read and adds the option to hide images.

In other Chrome-related news, Chrome 7 beta will be released next Monday and print preview has been pushed back to the next release (Chrome 8). "Because the M7 feature freeze was on Aug 30, moving this to M8. Each cycle is six weeks."

Google Updates Gmail's Android App

Posted by Allinone Labels:

More and more Android apps developed by Google are available in the Android Market. Until recently, applications like Voice Search or Gmail couldn't be installed from the Android Market. They were usually included in the firmware by phone manufacturers as part of a deal with Google.

The latest Google application added to the Android Market is Gmail. There aren't many changes: message headers are displayed at the top of the window even when you scroll down, you can click on "show quoted text" to see the text that prompted a reply and the built-in "important" label has been added to the interface.



Behind the Scenes of Gmail's Priority Inbox

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Ario Jafarzadeh, Experience Designer on the Gmail team, gave a great talk about Priority Inbox at the Google Zürich headquarters. "Priority Inbox, to me, typifies what I hope will be a much larger trend in online consumption... one that gives users more control over what can grab their attention vs the pure chronology based world that has dominated the web for so long," says Ario.

Priority Inbox started as a "20 percent project" at Google Zürich, back in 2008. It's been initially called Magic Inbox, a name that was referenced in Gmail's source code last year. Google wanted to hide the complexity of the feature by using a simple interface that can be customized to suit your needs. The "+"/"-" buttons that let you change the importance of a message were inspired by the street signs from Zürich.
 
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HTC Desire Z set to launch on Bell in early November

Posted by Allinone Labels:


Here in the U.S we’ve been enjoying the T-Mobile G2 for nearly a month, but it looks like our friends up in Canada may soon be getting a G2 of their own.  OK, it’s not really the G2, but leaked documents show that Bell will be launching the HTC Desire Z (think of it as the G2’s cousin loaded up with HTC Sense) on November 3rd. Just like its U.S. cousin, the Desire Z will also be supporting HSPA+ support which should make it the fastest smartphone on Bell’s 3G network.
The HTC Desire Z will be the first phone in North America to sport the new HTC Sense 2.0 which integrates into the HTCsense.com site. Users will be able to visit the site to remotely monitor, wipe, and customize their phones. The new HTC Sense 2.0 also includes a variety of skins to give your handset a more unique…
 


The Youtube application has received both an update and a new method of delivery today, with Google launching their redesigned application onto the Android market. This move is not entirely unexpected, as Google has recently brought other core applications such as Gmail and Google search to the Android market, which allows users to customize their Android experience by deciding which applications they do/don’t want on their phone.
With this version update, the Youtube application brings pretty significant changes in both user interface and functionality. Upon launch, users are provided a personalized video feed based on their preferences as well as general popular videos. The new UI makes the application simpler to use, and adds easy access to take a video using Camcorder as well as video search on the main screen.
One of the bigger feature additions is the ability to view videos in portrait mode, allowing you to simultaneously…
 

Synapse-Phones offers fully rooted, customizable Android phones

Posted by Allinone Labels:


There’s certainly no shortage of great Android phones out there, but at times it feels like you must make a compromise when you walk in to your local carrier looking for a phone that truly suits your needs and wants.  But that may soon be a dilemma of the past with the introduction of the new Synapse-Phone.
The Synapse-Phone is planning on delivering a fully rooted Android handsets right out of the box.  If that wasn’t enough, each phone can be tailored to the exact user’s needs. Some of the customization options for the handset include: mobile network support, Bluetooth version, Wi-Fi, megapixel count, flash type, front facing camera, digital television tuner, internal working memory, capacitive or physical buttons, battery size, and handset color.
Pricing for the Synapse One will range from €299 ($417) for the base configuration to €584 ($815) for a fully loaded device.  Synapse-Phones is currently taking…
 

T-Mobile’s Motorola Defy launching November 3rd

Posted by Allinone Labels:


T-Mobile has finally announced the launch date and price for the Motorola Defy. The Android 2.1 handset is scheduled to go on sale on November 3rd for only $99.99 with a new two year contract. The Defy is certainly not the fastest handset in T-Mobile’s lineup, but with an 800 MHz OMAP 3610 processor, 3.7 inch display, 1540 mAh battery, 1.25GB onboard memory, and 5MP camera with LED it’s certainly no slouch.
The Motorola Defy will feature the new MotoBLUR 1.5 running on Android 2.1. When the handset was initially unveiled, Motorola mentioned that an Android 2.2 upgrade is being considered, but they were unwilling to make any commitments
While the specs may be mildly impressive, the main selling feature of the Motorola Defy is its ability to resist impact, dust, water, and scratches. Those who work at more physically intensive jobs or find themselves in the great outdoors a lot more than…
 

Google Suggest Filtering

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Google Suggest was supposed to help users type a query by providing useful suggestions. Unfortunately, some of the suggestions are offensive and Google had to filter the searches related to pornography, violence, and hate speech.

Google's over-protective algorithms now filter all the suggestions that include "is evil", "I hate", "[ethnic group] are" (for example, "chinese are"). Google Suggest also filters "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the name of a popular Nirvana song.


Google Docs Adds a Revision History Sidebar

Posted by Allinone Labels:

When Google released the new version of Google Docs, one of the missing features was comparing revisions. The latest update to Google Docs brings this feature back, but only for consecutive revisions.

Google Docs adds a sidebar that lists the most recent revisions and lets you preview them. "Click on a time stamp in the right column to see what changes were made at a given time or use the arrow keys to quickly scan through many revisions. Changes are color-coded based on each collaborator, making it easy to tell what has been added or deleted," explains Google.

Google groups the changes from a short period of time into a single revision, but you can click on "Show more detailed revisions" to see all the changes.
 
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SCVNGR gets a facelift, new features in 3.5 release

Posted by Allinone Labels:


SCVNGR has announced a massive update to their Android application, including a UI-facelift as well as several new features. For those of you not familiar with SCVNGR, SCVNGR is a check-in-based game that challenges users to go places and complete mini-challenges to earn points. In the past few months, SCVNGR has partnered with retailers such as Journey’s, AT&T, and Gamestop to bring real-life rewards to users who rack up a certain number of points at their locations.
In the 3.5 version release, SCVNGR has conducted a massive UI-overhaul, completely reworking the main dashboard and sub-menus, as well as their activity stream to make things much easier on the eyes and easier to use. Additional features of the release include the following:
 

Google Tests Search Preview

Posted by Allinone Labels:


Google experiments with a new feature that previews search results when you mouse over them. Benjamin Rubin, who sent the screenshots, has more information about this feature:

"Starting this morning, I started to get a highlighted-box mouse-over effect along with that magnifying glass icon on most of my search result entries. Clicking on it toggles a preview image with some text highlighted as well. The image preview differs slightly depending on where the aforementioned text appears on the page."

Android 2.1 update for the Motorola Cliq now available

Posted by Allinone Labels:


Android 2.1 for the Motorola Cliq has arrived! Just one day after Motorola posted that they were looking for Android 2.1 testers, they have decided to make the Eclair update to everyone. The new build number for the Motorola Cliq is Blur_Version.2.1.5.MB200.T-Mobile.en.US and will require users to have at least 100 MB of free space available on their memory card. Motorola will be permanently reducing your internal memory since the update requires a bit more room than the original Android 1.5 build did.
Motorola has put up five pages of detailed instructions on how to prepare, download, and install the latest Android update to the Cliq. So what are you waiting for? Once your Cliq is up and running on Android 2.1, be sure to let us know how the update process went and which Android 2.1 feature you like the most.

Acer Liquid Metal hits the FCC with AT&T 3G support

Posted by Allinone Labels:


Anyone remember the aluminum clad Acer Liquid Metal that surfaced last month? It turns out that the Android 2.2 handset has made an appearance over on the FCC website with support for AT&T’s 3G bands.  We’re pretty sure that very few of you have ever owned an Acer phone in the past, but with Android 2.2, a second generation 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 Snapdragon process, 3.6-inch display (800 x 480), and the usual GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi b/g/n connections, we can guarantee that the Acer Liquid Metal will be running with the big boys.

Google's John Lennon Doodle

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Google's doodle that celebrates the 70th anniversary of John Lennon's birthday doesn't seem special until you click on it.


Google embeds a short animated video for John Lennon's "Imagine". After using bigger doodles, image animations, particle simulations and JavaScript games, it's time for video 
 
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Samsung Galaxy Tab arrives on Sprint November 14th for $399

Posted by Allinone Labels:


Sprint just spilled the beans about their Galaxy Tab launch, which is now available for pre-order on sprint.com/tab. Their first 7-inch Android tablet will debut on November 14th for the price of $399.99 with a two-year contract or eligible upgrade.
Customers will have two options for data plans. Power users can get 5 GB of data for $59.99 per month and the budget-minded can get a 2 GB plan for $29.99 per month. Both plans also include unlimited messaging. If customers want to use their Tab as a WiFi hotspot (for up to five devices), Sprint will charge an additional $29.99 per month.
Based on the current pricing the total cost of ownership for Sprint’s Tab will be $1119.75 (2GB), $1839.75 (5GB), or $2559.51 (5GB + hotspot) plus taxes and fees.
Data is data, so I’m a little disappointed Sprint is charging an additional $30 for the option to tether.


If you are looking to pick up the BlackBerry-inspired Droid Pro on Verizon, circle November 11th on your calendar and expect to fork over at least $300, according to a leak from our friends at Droid Life. This high-end Android phone is one of the first to be specifically targeted at the business crowd, so it makes sense that Verizon is pricing this as one of their most expensive smartphones.
Motorola Co-CEO Sanjay Jha thinks it will be a hit with the business crowd and says that 34% of BlackBerry users are ready to switch to Android. We recently go some hands-on time with the device at CTIA earlier this month and I was really impressed with the overall build quality, but the style just isn’t for me.
If you were waiting on Verizon to ship the Droid Pro, does the high price change your mind about…

Google Chrome 7, Ready for the Web Store

Posted by Allinone Labels:

If you read the blog post from Google Chrome Releases, you might say there's no significant new feature in Google Chrome 7 Beta. It's the first major version after Chrome's team changed the release cycle to 6 weeks, so the engineers couldn't add too many new features. "A lot of the work that's being done in 7.0 is largely not user facing and in some cases is a legitimate work in progress," admits a Google Chrome developer.

So what's new in Google Chrome 7?

1. Web apps are enabled by default, just in time for the Chrome Web Store launch.

2. Web apps are synchronized, like regular extensions and themes.

3. A slightly updated new tab page, with support for web apps.


Google Goggles for iPhone

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Google Mobile App for iPhone started to become a bloated app, just like Google Toolbar. Instead of developing new applications, Google adds extra features to the Google Mobile App.

The latest new feature added to the application is Google Goggles, a visual search tool that helps you identify objects in a picture. "Computer vision is a hard problem and Google Goggles is still a Labs product. It works well for things such as landmarks, logos and the covers of books, DVDs and games. However, it doesn't yet work for some things you might want to try like animals, plants or food," explains Google.

Google Goggles is available in the Google Mobile App if you use an iPhone 3GS running iOS 4 or an iPhone 4. Goggles is also a standalone Android application.



Google Latitude's Desktop Site

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Until recently, the only way to use Google Latitude on your computer was to add an iGoogle gadget. Now you can just go to www.google.com/latitude and see your Latitude friends on a map, add friends, view your Latitude history and change the settings for other applications that use your location.


Google News Tests Twitter Sidebar

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Google News experiments with a new feature that shows Twitter messages from your friends.

"Friends is an experimental section in the side column that helps you find news articles that your friends are sharing on Twitter. In the open text box, enter your Twitter username and click "Save." Google News will refresh, and you will see a list of updates containing news articles shared by the people you follow. Please note that Friends only shows you articles that can be found in Google News. If someone you follow has shared an article or a link that cannot be found in Google News, then you will not see that update in the Friends section."

Instant Search, an Optional Feature in Google Chrome

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Last month, I mentioned that Google Chrome tested a feature that automatically loads web pages when you type in the address bar. Since then, the feature has been added to Chrome Labs in the Dev Channel and has already graduated from Chrome Labs.

A recent Chromium build added instant search to the Options dialog, but the feature is disabled by default. Here's the official description:

"Instant lets you view web pages and search results faster than ever. With Instant enabled, most web pages begin loading as soon as you type a URL in the Omnibox, before you hit Enter. In addition, if supported by your default search engine, search results appear instanly as you type queries in the Omnibox, and in-line predictions help guide your search. Becasuse new search results are requested each time you press a key, anything you type into the Omnibox may be logged as a search query by your default search engine."

Rumor: Samsung will have a Google-experience phone this year

Posted by Allinone Labels:


Before we jump into today’s juicy rumor, I felt I owed my loyal readers a little explanation about where I get my info and how I choose to share it. In the past I have done a poor job with separating the actual rumors from my commentary and I realize this has caused some confusion and led some to believe I just make a lot of stuff up.
For starters, if it wasn’t already obvious – I am not a trained journalist so I don’t follow their rules. Some companies may refer to me as a journalist or member of the press, but I’m really just a blogger who has been covering the mobile space since the introduction of the first Android phone.
I’m a pretty modest guy, but this past year I have traveled the world and been fortunate enough to make lots of new friends including people at…
 

Google TV hits a snag, television networks block online content

Posted by Allinone Labels:


Anyone thinking about picking up the Logitech Revue or any of SONY’s Google TV products may want to hold off for a bit. The whole point of Google TV is to watch what you want when you want. But all that is a bit pointless when television networks block their streaming online content.
ABC, NBC, and CBS have already put measures in place to block any and all Google TV products from accessing their online libraries of shows. Currently, Fox is the only major broadcast channel that is still available, but there’s no guarantee as to how long that will last.
Reuters is reporting that Google is in negotiations with the three broadcast companies that have blocked access to Google TV. The hope is that an agreement is reached so that content from their websites can be optimized for Google TV just as sites like TBS, TNT, HBO, and CNN have.
How successful will…
 

Another Motorola insider confirms Tegra 2 Android phone for AT&T

Posted by Allinone Labels:


Outside of this site not many have been following Motorola’s next flagship superphone, but a report from BGR confirms pretty much everything we have detailed so far. One of their sources from inside Motorola has told them a device codenamed Olympus will feature a 4″ display with a step up in resolution (tip: it’s actually 4.1″ but who’s counting), it will be powered by NVIDIA (dual-core 1 GHz Tegra 2), and debut on AT&T in Q1 2011.
This Olympus MB860 phone is the device we lovingly nicknamed Terminator and it will be coming to multiple carriers, including AT&T (1st), Verizon (2nd), and possibly more (Sprint + T-Mobile).
We have yet to receive any pictures of the device, but several tipsters have said it looks like a smaller version of the Droid X with the addition of a front-facing camera (see fake blurrycam pic above)….

Google's Spam Report Extension

Posted by Allinone Labels:

If you want to improve Google's results and report spammy web pages, there's a Chrome extension for you. Google Webspam Report adds a link next to each Google search result and automatically fills the spam report form with information like the URL of the page and your query.


You can also use the button from Chrome's toolbar to report pages. The most interesting feature is the integration with Chrome's browsing history that lets you select recently visited pages and recent Google searches.


Dell to release Android version of the WP7 Venue Pro

Posted by Allinone Labels: ,


A report from PCWorld states that Dell’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 device headed for T-Mobile will also be getting the Android treatment soon. The Dell Venue Pro offers a sliding design with full portrait QWERTY keyboard and features a 1 GHz Snapdragon (second-generation), 4.1 WVGA AMOLED capacitive display, 5 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus, and a 1 GB ROM with 512 MB RAM.
The design of the Venue Pro looks a lot like the leaked Dell handsets we saw before summer. Most of those phones were rumored for AT&T, but we can see with the Venue Pro that Dell is working with other carriers.
For an idea of what to expect, check out this quick hands-on video from our friend David of Phonedog or read the first impressions from Joanna of Engadget.

Hands-on the Motorola Droid Pro coming soon to Verizon for $299

Posted by Allinone Labels:

If you are looking to pick up the BlackBerry-inspired Droid Pro on Verizon, circle November 11th on your calendar and expect to fork over at least $300, according to a leak from our friends at Droid Life. This high-end Android phone is one of the first to be specifically targeted at the business crowd, so it makes sense that Verizon is pricing this as one of their most expensive smartphones.
Motorola Co-CEO Sanjay Jha thinks it will be a hit with the business crowd and says that 34% of BlackBerry users are ready to switch to Android. We recently go some hands-on time with the device at CTIA earlier this month and I was really impressed with the overall build quality, but the style just isn’t for me.
If you were waiting on Verizon to ship the Droid Pro, does the high price change your mind about…

A New Interface for Google Local Search

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Google Maps was the only specialized search engine from Google's sidebar that didn't have a consistent interface for search results. When you clicked on "Maps" in the sidebar, you were sent to Google Maps, a service that has a completely different interface.

Google experiments with adding a "Places" option to the menu. The main difference is that local search results are displayed inside the regular Google search interface and users no longer have to visit Google Maps

Google Traffic Stats

Posted by Allinone Labels:

Arbor Networks Security Blog has an interesting post about Google's Internet traffic:

Google now represents an average 6.4% of all Internet traffic around the world. This number grows even larger (to as much as 8-12%) if I include estimates of traffic offloaded by the increasingly common Google Global Cache (GGC) deployments and error in our data due to the extremely high degree of Google edge peering with consumer networks. (...) A quick analysis of the data also shows Google now has direct peering (i.e. not transit) with more than 70% of all providers around the world (an increase of 5-10% from last year).

Arbor Networks uses data from more than 110 ISPs distributed across 17 countries. In 2007, Google only represented about 1% of all Internet traffic, but YouTube's growth managed to dramatically increase the percentage. Today, people are watching 2 billion videos a day, 20 times more videos than 4 years ago. According to Craig Labovitz, the overall Internet traffic grows about 45% each year.


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