Archive for the ‘News’ Category

CNET looks inside the new Google Phone

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

The Google phone will use what is probably the fastest smartphone chip on the planet and become the first non-Windows smartphone to tap into this kind of processing power.

The Google phone's Snapdragon processor is one of the fastest smartphone chips.

Conspicious among the Google phone’s leaked specifications is the Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm. Snapdragon is the first gigahertz-class ARM-based processor to be used in smartphones. (In current implementations, Snapdragon runs at 1GHz.)

And the Google phone–aka, Nexus One–will have some interesting company, though both of the rival phones that use the chip are in the Windows Mobile camp: the Toshiba TG01 and HTC HD2.

Interestingly, all of these phones have, relatively speaking, large screens: more than four inches in diagonal size. The Google phone will also add high-resolution (based on an OLED touchscreen) to that.

What’s the big picture on all of this? Smartphones are getting larger and more like small tablets (or “media pads”–which is really a more apt description) and their functionality is becoming more akin to personal computers. So, faster processors are necessary (let’s not forget Nvidia’s Tegra chip or Texas Instrument’s OMAP processor) to handle the increasing hardware and software workloads.

Sort of sounds like the old PC mantra. Bigger, better, faster. Bigger storage/memory capacities, better (increasingly sophisticated) operating systems, and faster processors. Which is why Intel is sprinting as fast it can to get its “x86″ PC architecture into smartphones. But this market is going to be a hard one to crack for Intel, no matter how much it wows device makers with its technology and marketing clout.

Look no further than Microsoft for proof. Despite its size and status, it is currently losing the smartphone (Windows Mobile) mindshare (and market share) battle to the Apple iPhone. And prospects won’t improve with the emergence of devices–such as the Motorola Droid and Google Phone–based on Google’s Android operating system, not to mention other popular platforms such as the BlackBerry.

The bottom line is that silicon competition will be varied and vigorous in the smartphone market–unlike the PC space. Which makes the unveiling of every new major smartphone all the more interesting.

[Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10415466-92.html}

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Google phone creates new industry model

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

The Washington Post reports:

With Google’s disclosure over the weekend that it would launch its own cellphone, the online giant is staking claim to a piece of the fast-growing mobile marketplace and making a direct challenge to Apple’s swift rise in the sector.

Google said in a corporate blog on Saturday that it has developed a phone based on its Android mobile operating system and distributed it to employees to try out. Soon after, pictures of the phone surfaced on the Twitter feeds of employees and outside bloggers with details that the device would be launched next month and sold directly to consumers. The new phone would be capable of operating on any network, according to a source close to the company who was not authorized to comment publicly.

Google’s approach would run counter to the current practices of handset makers and carriers that partner up in exclusive deals to market and sell phones, and provide mobile service. AT&T, for instance, has been the sole provider of service for Apple’s iPhone since the device was launched in 2007. Sprint tied up with Palm for its Pre smart phone earlier this year, and Verizon exclusively runs several versions of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry.

In iPhone’s case, the exclusivity agreement goes far beyond the choice of service provider. Apple tightly controls the applications that are available for the phone through its iTunes store, and its decision to block a voice application from Google sparked an inquiry by the Federal Communications Commission.

For the rest of the article visit:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121403454.html

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Google Says Employees Are Testing Android Phone Internally

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

Bloomberg reports:

Google Inc., seeking to push further into the market for mobile phones and advertising, said employees are testing a device that uses its Android operating system.

The phone is based on hardware manufactured by a partner and it will allow the company to experiment with new features, Google said yesterday in a blog post. Employees worldwide are testing the device, the company said.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google will sell the device directly to consumers next year.

Google, owner of the most-popular Internet search engine, is expanding its products for mobile phones as demand increases for devices that can surf the Web, take pictures and play music. Google’s Android software was first offered on phones last year, and Verizon Wireless released a device called Droid in November that uses the program.

Offering its own device would put Google into direct competition with Apple Inc., maker of the iPhone, and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry. It would also create new rivalries with manufacturers such as Motorola Inc., which already make Android devices.

Google said its employees are “dogfooding” its new device, a term that refers to companies using their own products, or “eating your own dog food.”

Google and T-Mobile USA Inc. introduced the first Android phone in September 2008, a bid to lure consumers away from the iPhone and BlackBerry. The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said the new phone will be called Nexus One and is being made by HTC Corp.

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Official Google Phone Coming in Next Year!

Saturday, December 12th, 2009


Leaked image from TheUnlockr.com
TechCrunch reports that Google has begun testing a new Android device with their employees. The new device is said not to be just another Android-based phone, but the official Google Phone that has been rumored for some time. From TechCrunch:

Google is building their own branded phone that they’ll sell directly and through retailers. They were long planning to have the phone be available by the holidays, but it has now slipped to early 2010. The phone will be produced by a major phone manufacturer but will only have Google branding (Microsoft did the same thing with their first Zunes, which were built by Toshiba).

There won’t be any negotiation or compromise over the phone’s design of features – Google is dictating every last piece of it. No splintering of the Android OS that makes some applications unusable. Like the iPhone for Apple, this phone will be Google’s pure vision of what a phone should be.

This new phone is said to be a no-compromises version of an Android phone and has been reported to include these details/features:

- Sold as an unlocked GSM phone, so in the U.S. T-Mobile and possibly AT&T
- Android 2.1
- Uses Snapdragon chip and is “really, really fast”
- High resolution OLED screen
- Thinner than iPhone
- Two mics, one on the back to reduce background noise
- “Weirdly” large camera
- Touchscreen keyboard
- Voice to text for dictation

The Google Phone is said to be due for release in January 2010. The Snapdragon chip appears to be based on the same generation of ARM processor as the iPhone 3GS, though could be running at a higher clock speed. Apple, of course, is rumored to be working on their next generation iPhone, though it is not expected for release until mid-year.

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Free mobile phone service with Google Phone?

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Images of the new Google phone surfaced this week after months of rumors. It appears the phone is manufactured under the Google brand, will use an even newer version of Android than that of the Droid−the only Android phone running 2.0, and most important, may use VoiP service, which uses a wireless connection to the Internet for calls rather than a cellular network. This could mean lower cell phone bills, and for some, no bill at all.

VoiP or Voice Over Internet Protocol service, uses an Internet connection to transmit voice signals the same way emails and text messages are transmitted, and is far cheaper than using a cell phone network. With pressure from budget-conscious consumers, VoiP services like Skype are becoming more attractive, offering free domestic calls, no minutes to count, no roaming, and international calls at a fraction of the cost of cell phone rates, but even Skype has not been convenient enough for consumers to abandon their familiar phone service providers.

By Leslie Meredith, TopTenREVIEWS

Read the Full Article: http://www.livescience.com/technology/091202-google-phone-free-service-voip.html

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Motorola Droid User’s Guide Released

Thursday, October 29th, 2009


Now is your chance to get the FULL details of the upcoming Motorola Droid phone for Verizon. The official Droid User Guide has been released, and yup we GOT IT available for download here!

Click the link to download: http://www.droidforums.net/guides/mo…roid-guide.pdf

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