g1

When Panasonic, Fujifilm, and Canon announced rugged cameras this year, it was odd that Casio didn't pop one out, too, given its predilection for shock-resistant products. Well, I guess November isn't too late to join the market, as Wednesday the company added the Exilim EX-G1 to its digital camera lineup.

The $299 0.8-inch thick, ultracompact 12-megapixel camera can withstand a 7-foot drop because of a two-layer construction with a stainless steel outer casing, a resin ring protecting the lens, and a polycarbonate cover on the body side near the shutter. The wrist-strap holder is made of die-cast … Read more

With the recent flood of new Google Android phones, some of you may be thinking of making the switch. You're right to consider it, as there are many advantages to the operating system, not the least of which is the growing line of attractive handsets. But for the uninitiated, Android can be a bit of a mess. It's supposed to be a uniform operating system across all devices, but in practice, the user interface on each device varies slightly. It offers third-party applications, e-mail syncing, and a media player; however, the capabilities of those features also will differ by handset. Lastly, while Android promises a high degree of user customization, that may not mean a whole lot to the average person.

Understanding the operating system Fear not, as Android takes only a brief period of acclimation. Even after a few minutes, you'll get the hang of the interface and you'll be able to navigate your way through your phone. Yet, you need to know a few things about Android before making the jump. Below I've told you what to expect, because I'd hate for you to be surprised by what you find. And equally as important, because your Android experience will vary by device, I'll break down the current U.S. handsets and give you the basic scoop of the Android features on each device.… Read more

If you weren't in The 404 live chat room this morning, you missed an insanely '80s dance party! It turned out to be a blast, so we're going to start doing it every Friday. Don't worry if you missed out this time, just be sure to check us out next Friday for more Starship, Outfield, Buggles, etc...

Last week we reported on a story about Pepsi's "Amp Up B4 You Score" iPhone app that offered "helpful" pickup lines targeted at a very specific type of girl. For example, if you choose the "political girl," the app offers several jokes about stimulus plans, global warming, etc...you can use your imagination to figure out the rest. Unfortunately, if you didn't download the app you're out of luck, because Pepsi removed the app from the iPhone store.

All this talk about iPhones brings us to the first big topic of the day: DROID. The TV commercials for the new Verizon phone running the Google Android OS mock the iPhone and its fans, making claims that Android's open architecture and physical keyboard will draw unsatisfied Apple fanboys to its camp, but we're hesitant to jump onboard after the G1 flopped.

If you're currently in the market for a new smartphone but can't decide between an Android phone, the iPhone, a BlackBerry, or Palm Pre, this is the perfect episode for you! For more Droid info, check out this episode of Dialed In, another awesome CNET podcast with Bonnie Cha, Kent German, Nicole Lee, and Jason Howell!

In sadder news, Hulu may finally start charging a fee to view its broadcast content online. After that cryptic extraterrestrial commercial that Hulu aired during the Super Bowl last year, we figured that a monthly fee would eventually come, but the site definitely needs to offer more incentives before we bite the bullet. If we decide to support the paid version, Hulu needs to offer the entire back catalog of every show in HD and improve the movie selection...if not, then users might be tempted to simply visit another not-so-legal site. Get it, Hulu? Now get to work.

Today's Beck's Beer Audio Draft is my (Justin's) choice and Jeff is pretty surprised because the band plays a fully orchestrated, instrumental-only version of popular video game music! The band is Konami Kukeiha Club, and it features the composers who worked on original Konami games like Gradius III and Contra.

In addition to releasing several original soundtracks (i.e. Silent Hill), the group also makes original music, and it's great for anything active: gym workouts, bike rides, long distance runs, anything that requires you to get pumped up! The two tracks of the day are "Beginning" and "Bloody Tears" off the album "Konami Battle the Best."

Have a supreme weekend everyone!

Just a couple of weeks after Google released its Android 1.6 SDK to developers, T-Mobile began its official roll out of Android 1.6 (aka Donut) to T-Mobile G1 and T-Mobile MyTouch 3G owners on Thursday.

The update will be delivered to customers over the coming days, and though it's not considered to be a major upgrade to the operating system, Android 1.6 does bring a number of new features and enhancements and fixes a bug that would reboot the phone after dialing 911.

Highlights of Donut include:

Google released the latest Android software development kit this week so that developers could begin to test their applications for the looming Android 1.6 update. End users can expect to see the update as early as next month, but I went ahead and loaded an early version on my phone to preview the latest changes.

Possibly the most notable update is the new quick search box, which includes a redesigned search framework to make finding things on your phone easier than ever before. Users can search through apps, contacts, browser history, music, the Web, and more. The quick search … Read more

With its new HTC Hero, Sprint is about to join the Google Android community. But how do its new offerings stack up against the handsets and services of T-Mobile? If you're looking to purchase an Android phone, which carrier is better?

Phones Sprint: The HTC Hero will be the first Android phone from Sprint, but rumors suggest that Sprint will also launch a Samsung Android phone later this year. And since Sprint also carries LG phones in its lineup, it could also be a destination for LG's new Android phone.

T-Mobile: Currently, T-Mobile remains the only U.S. … Read more

As the T-Mobile G1 restricts users from storing apps on a memory card, many owners have complained about low memory warnings after they install 40 to 50 apps. And now we're seeing developer complaints about the lack of space for the Android operating system itself.

Android software engineer Jean-Baptiste Queru recently wrote on the Google mailing list, "Where the situation is really tricky is that the system partition on the U.S. G1 was already filled to the brim with cupcake, and we were routinely flirting with build sizes that were a few dozen KB under the limit (… Read more

T-Mobile's second Google Android phone, the MyTouch 3G, lands in stores and online today. The all touch-screen device goes on sale 10 months after the G1 made its debut. We've already had the opportunity to give it a thorough shakedown, and we found a lot to like. The sleeker design, improved features, and user-friendly controls fix many of our complaints with its predecessor. Yes, it lacks a physical keyboard, but we didn't mind. Some complaints remain, of course, but the MyTouch convinces us that Android is ready for prime time.

To celebrate the event, T-Mobile is holding … Read more

We've told you about its cool new packaging, and now we can tell you about the phone itself. It's been a long wait for T-Mobile's second Google Android phone, but the MyTouch 3G has finally arrived. We've given it a shakedown, and we like what we see.

The MyTouch improves on its G1 predecessor in a few ways. It offers a sleeker design, more comfortable controls, and all the benefits of the Android "Cupcake" 1.5 update. And even better, we finally get Microsoft Exchange Server support for e-mail. It's still far from … Read more