Whoever said, “there’s no such thing as bad press,” obviously never worked for a wireless carrier. For the likes of AT&T (NYSE: T), the kind of bad press that Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless has been sending them could end up hurting their bottom line by way of lost customers. That’s hitting where it hurts. In it’s defense, though, AT&T has filed a lawsuit and is starting to hit back with their own Luke Wilson-ified TV commercials. It seems that lawsuit just wasn’t enough to disuade Verizon from running their ad campaign.
The latest of AT&T’s ads shows the usually funny actor taking a more serious tone to “set the record straight.” Verizon has been on a tear about how their rival’s 3G network pales in comparison to its own. AT&T is worried that some Americans might take Verizon’s claims and depictions of AT&T’s 3G coverage maps to mean that their network just doesn’t have widespread coverage. Their answer, apparently, is to show everyone out in TV-land just how extensive AT&T’s wireless network really is.
Take a look for yourself. There’s significantly more coverage area in AT&T’s map than Verizon’s version. By the looks of it, AT&T has some impressive coverage. So, what gives? Turns out, AT&T is showing off their entire 2G/3G network, while Verizon is focusing on the 3G network. That’s not exactly apples-to-oranges. This is getting interesting…
This holiday shopping season is dominated by Android. Smartphones running Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s mobile operating system are flooding the market, and we really couldn’t be happier. The latest Android smartphone to find its way into our eager hands is the Samsung Behold II. Just in time for the holidays, T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) is offering the Samsung Behold II for $229.99 when purchased with new 2-year contract. It’s slightly pricier than the iPhone and the Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid, but with a sleek design and a quirky new 3D Cube UI, you might not mind shelling out the extra bucks for the Behold 2.
Unlike the original Samsung Behold, the Behold II sports Android 1.5 OS. It sports an impressive 5-megapixel camera (with LED-flash), 3G data, WiFi, GPS and microSD card slot. But, the one feature that outshines them all is the Behold 2’s 3.2-inch capacitive AMOLED touchscreen. The display doesn’t need a backlight, so it draws less power than traditional LCD displays, but manages to deliver a brighter, crisper, more color-rich picture.
The camera is a bit laggy, but serves up some impressively crisp and well-balanced pictures. The 3D Cube UI is quirky, to say the least. We’re sure some people will find it useful, but we just don’t see ourselves using it for more than just showing off to our friends. But, with a speedy browser and an incredible OLED display, the Behold II will more than make up for its confusing UI.
Looks like Jimmy Kimmel has been busy pimping out the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid in one of his patented ‘Advertorials’. It’s good for a laugh for sure… check it out below:
‘Search for monkey pictures please’… Brilliant.
For Jimmy Kimmel, Droid DOES pay the bills. And then some.
Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) UK’s X10 launch page has spelled out their launch window in black and white: February is the month to hold out for. The most we got out of the announcement of SE’s impressive Android handset was an expected release in the first half of 2010, so it’s good to have that narrowed down a bit. The X10 promises to be the biggest, baddest Android handset out there – an 8 megapixel camera, 1 Ghz processor, and 4-inch WVGA display put it head and shoulders above the HTC Hero, and will give the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) droid a run for its money. Their custom Timescape user interface is exceptionally slick, all practicality aside. If you’re interested in a prerelease tour, check out this video.
I very rarely use Craigslist. I mean, VERY rarely… But it’s funny, from time to time when searching for new computer stuff, or just some odd, random gizmo that’s hard to find, Craigslist usually comes through for me. That said, have I ever used the site on a mobile device? Forget about it. The mess of links makes navigation and general use of the site a headache. Thankfully it looks like the headaches may be going away for some, as we’re on the cusp of seeing the official Craigslist Mobile app for BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) (NSDQ: RIMM) appear in App World.
From the folks at Movela, the new Craigslist app for the Berry will feature all of the locations and links you’ve come to get comfortable with over the years. It will allow you to search, bookmark and reply to posts… and you will even be able to save searches for later reference.
The developers at Movela have let us know that the app has been delivered to App World, so it’s only a matter of time before approval is given. Craigslist for BlackBerry will be available for $4.99… I’ll be sure to keep an eye open for it when it arrives!
Oh good grief. I can’t tell you how sick to my stomach I got when I first checked out the video. No further description available here, I think the title says it all. Looks like the Motorola Droid survived with only minor injuries.
Anyone else out there find this video as disturbing as I did!?
The Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid isn’t just the first Android phone to run the latest Android 2.0 OS, it’s also the first Android phone to record video in DVD-quality 720×480 resolution. Putting clarity and video-quality arguments aside for a second, the Motorola Droid’s video camera is as high-res as you can expect in a smartphone today. Qik, the real-time video streaming service, has taken notice and will soon be releasing a new beta that will support high-resolution streaming from the Droid’s video camera.
Qik’s upcoming beta will make Qik the first video streaming service to support live streaming for the 720×480 resolution. According to MobileCrunch, the new Qik update will bring with it a UI refresh and enhanced “Speed Sharing Ribbon,” Qik’s speed-dial, of sorts.
Droid owners can get in on the Qik beta by shooting an email to droidbeta@qik.com
Here’s a sample Qik video taken with a Droid:
Here’s another Droid video sample, for comparison. Background: I recently forgot my SD card for my HD video camera and had to resort to recording video using the Droid.
Another Twitter client is in the works for webOS, and it looks quite, shall I say, ‘elegant’? The ‘Bad Kitty’ Twitter Client (follow @badkittyapp) from Superinhuman Industries looks to be close to release. Check out the video above for a quick preview. A few words that come to mind after watching the preview again: ’stylish’, ‘different’, and ’simple’. Can’t wait for this one to come out, so I’ll keep an eye open for it.
Note: Love the icon for the app. Bad Kitty indeed.
RIM today announced at their BlackBerry Developers Conference in San Francisco that the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) OS will soon support OpenGL ES for 3D graphics acceleration. The arrival of 3D graphics support should finally bring the BlackBerry platform out of the dark ages, where BrickBreaker and other 2D games reigned supreme. RIM and EA Mobile took to the BBDC keynote stage to show off the still-in-development “Need For Speed: Shift” 3D game, giving the world a glimpse of what’s to come. The game looked impressive, to say the least, so we figured a hands-on video was in order.
We sat down with EA Mobile and gave the game a solid once-over. Before we continue, we should mention again that Need For Speed: Shift is still in early stage development, and what you see below is actually the first ever playable version of the game. As such, there weren’t too many cars to pick from, and the game had only a single playable track. Still, the accelerometer-based controls were easy to use – they were responsive but not twitchy (like a lot of racing games on the iPhone). In-game audio was impressive and really gave the game a more polished feel than the two weeks worth of development time would have suggested.
EA Mobile promises to have Need for Speed: Shift polished off by the time it hits the BlackBerry App World. By that time the game should support more computer rivals (AI enemies), a drift-turn feature to slide around corners and player-points to upgrade your ride. Check out the video below!
We’ve already had a chance to play with the HTC Droid Eris from Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless, but there’s nothing like a retail package unboxing ceremony to really get up close and personal with a new handset. As the “ying” to the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid’s “yang,” the HTC Droid Eris offers Verizon customers a fully capable Android smartphone at half the price of Moto’s headlining Droid, and it deserves some of our undivided attention.
The HTC Droid Eris is a lot like the HTC Hero from Sprint. Just like the Hero, the Droid Eris packs a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, 5-megapixel auto-focusing camera, 3G data, WiFi, GPS and a microSD card slot. It also runs the Sense UI, HTC’s custom Android homescreen skin, which gives the Droid Eris a bunch of extra HTC widgets to play with – and it doesn’t hurt that Sense UI looks way prettier than the vanilla Android homescreen.
Surprisingly, the HTC Droid Eris isn’t much thinner than the Motorola Droid, which sports a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. That’s not to say that the Droid Eris is a brick, it actually sits really comfortably in the hand. Still, the Eris could stand to lose a couple millimeters around its waist.
The Droid Eris’s 5-megapixel camera is faster and less laggy than the Motorola Droid. It also supports touch-focusing, which gives it a another small but significant leg-up on the Droid. The 3.2-inch display is smaller than would be ideal, but it’s plenty big for day-to-day use. Above all, there’s no sliding mechanism on the Droid Eris, so build quality is top-notch – no jiggling or creaking here.
Unfortunately, the Eris runs Android 1.5 OS. The Motorola Droid features Android 2.0 OS, which has the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps Navigation app pre-installed. Android 1.5 isn’t bad, especially with HTC’s Sense UI riding on top, but it’s no Android 2.0.
Anyway, acquaint yourself with the Droid Eris below!
Whoever said, “there’s no such thing as bad press,” obviously never worked for a wireless carrier. For the likes of AT&T (NYSE: T), the kind of bad press that Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless has been sending them could end up hurting their bottom line by way of lost customers. That’s hitting where it hurts. In it’s defense, though, AT&T has filed a lawsuit and is starting to hit back with their own Luke Wilson-ified TV commercials. It seems that lawsuit just wasn’t enough to disuade Verizon from running their ad campaign.
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