Android

Dialed In 171: AT&T did it for America

Casio goes Commando, the Nexus S heads for Sprint, the Droid Incredible 2 shows up, and our jaws drop at AT&T's audacious FCC filing.

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News HTC Droid Incredible 2 to launch Thursday Sprint announces Nexus S 4G for May 8 Casio G'zOne Commando heads to Verizon Gingerbread to arrive soon for G2x Where is your Gingerbread update? Digging through AT&T's FCC filing Confirmed: Google Voice for Sprint live for some Recipe for a successful Android phone

Reviews … Read more

Web speed tests: Tablet tournament!

Yes, I'm a huge Mortal Kombat fan. This should be evident to anyone after watching the video above. However, I can't take credit for the whole tournament idea. That was the brainchild of my producer, Jamie Yee (she's actually a hidden Easter egg in the video, if you watch closely). Jamie's a huge sports nut (or at least, an San Francisco Giants nut) and apparently thinks only in terms of brackets and tournaments.

Anyway, last week was a fairly busy week for the CNET tablet reviews team. Donald Bell and I received three new tablets in the span of only a few days.

With all that glamorous reviewing we were doing, I didn't really have the bandwidth to conduct any official speed tests, until now.

As I alluded to before, we split the tests into two rounds. The first round, featuring the Acer Iconia Tab A500, T-Mobile G-Slate, and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, would determine which tablet would take on the Xoom and iPad 2 in the final round.

So yeah, it's a two-round tournament. We thought about extending it, but decided that doing so would involve too much repetition in the video.

Check out the results below (or above if you prefer your results in talkies form).… Read more

LG grows with the Optimus Big

Once again Asia one-ups the rest of the world's mobile industry, this time with the LG Optimus Big. The Optimus Big sports a whopping 4.3-inch display, making it the largest LG phone to date.

Its other specs are also quite impressive. It runs on a 1GHz dual-core processor (no word on if it's a Tegra 2) and is equipped with a 5-megapixel rear camera, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi, 16GB of internal memory, and an HDMI port. The display has the same technology we saw on the Optimus Black--the Nova display has apparently 700 nits of brightness, … Read more

The 404 808: Where we now have your credit card number (podcast)

Today we're joined by Robin Yang, a gamer that made her first CNET appearance on PreGame last year and will soon move to Seattle to work for PopCap Games, the creator of online casual games like Plants vs. Zombies, Bewjeweled, and Peggle. But before she heads out west, she's guest hosting today's show about the PlayStation hack fallout, a man arrested for singing Kung Fu fighting, the next "Terminator" film, and a Google survey about smartphones in the bathroom.

The 404 Digest for Episode 808

In the world of online gaming, the man without a credit card is king. Man arrested for singing "Kung Fu Fighting." Terminator is back, Justin Lin to direct. Google says 39% of smartphone owners use them in the bathroom. Follow Robin Yang on Twitter and Friendfeed.

Episode 808

Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Collaborate on the go with Google Docs for Android

Google Docs for Android dropped today, which means frequent collaborators can rejoice.

The app appears to be complete with all of our favorite core Google Docs features: creating, editing, uploading, and sharing documents. In addition, it comes stocked with an optional home screen widget for a one-touch way to create new documents, access starred documents, or take and upload photos.

One really exciting feature is the app's ability to connect with your device's camera, and use optical character recognition (OCR) to turn photos with text into editable Google documents.

Google claims the technology will get better at recognizing unformatted text (and hopefully handwriting?) over time, so this could potentially be a prelude to a whole new form of collaboration. We'll wait and see.

Google Docs for Android is currently available for phones running Android 2.1+. Stay tuned for a more in-depth hands-on look.… Read more

Casio G'zOne Commando heads to Verizon

Casio has typically made rugged feature phones for Verizon Wireless (the G'zOne Brigade, the G'zOne Ravine, etc.), so it was a welcome surprise to see the company finally branch out to Android smartphones with the Casio G'zOne Commando.

Like its brethren, the Commando is designed to withstand a variety of environmental hazards with its tough and durable construction that should protect it against immersion, rain, shock, dust, vibration, humidity, and more. It even comes with the G'zGear software that includes outdoor-friendly tools like a compass, a walking counter, a tidal graph, a thermometer, and a tool for tracking the phases of the moon.

More than that, it ships with Android 2.2 and boasts robust security features to support corporate e-mail. Other features include Wi-Fi, a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, an LED light, stereo Bluetooth, GPS, and the ability to act as a mobile hot spot with up to five devices. If you want 4G/LTE, however, keep looking, as the Commando has 3G/EV-DO instead. The interface also features XT9 and T9 trace input for typing and a menu that snaps out for frequently used apps.

The Casio G'zOne Commando will be available starting April 28 for $199.99 with a new two-year agreement.… Read more

The 404 807: Where we don't want your Wii (podcast)

It's not uncommon for the average dweller to have thousands of dollars worth of technology in his or her home, so we spend the first part of today's episode talking about what you can do to ensure the safety of your gaming consoles, HDTVs, computers, and other gear. On a related note, there's a lot of video game news to get to, including the indefinite closure of Sony's PlayStation Network, the new Mortal Kombat, and speculation about the next Nintendo Wii.

The 404 Digest for Episode 807

Burglars leave a home empty... except for the Nintendo Wii. Take extra steps like this to protect your iMac. The Sony PlayStation network shuts down indefinitely; Anonymous claims innocence. PlayStation 3: it only does offline. Mortal Kombat is dying for a reboot. This is why the print industry is losing to online publications. Support the work of unofficial 404 graphic designer Blake Stevenson of Jetpacks and Rollerskates.

Episode 807 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Nielsen: Desire for iPhone slips as Android gains

Last year, the iPhone was easily the most desired smartphone on the market. But during the first quarter of 2011, that wasn't necessarily the case, a new study from Nielsen has found.

According to the research firm, 31 percent of U.S. mobile consumers plan on buying an Android-based smartphone in the next year. Nielsen found that 30 percent of respondents plan to get their hands on an iPhone in the next 12 months. RIM's BlackBerry smartphones and Windows Phone 7-based devices were desired by 11 percent and 6 percent of the respondents, respectively. Surprisingly, 20 percent of … Read more

Sprint announces Nexus S 4G for May 8

Sprint today announced that the Samsung Nexus S will arrive May 8 with a $199 price tag. The handset, officially known as the Nexus S 4G, features everything we've seen on the T-Mobile-supported device, including the stock Android interface.

Features include Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 1GHz processor, a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, a 5-megapixel camera, 16GB internal memory, a front-facing VGA camera, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth, GPS, and support for NFC. The Nexus S 4G is the fourth 4G Android smartphone from Sprint, following the Evo 4G, Epic 4G, and most recently, the Evo Shift 4G. … Read more