streak

A wallpaper app that steals your personal info, piracy controls coming to the Android Marketplace, and a look into the world of Android gaming. Plus, Jeff Bakalar shares an awesome tip on creating itineraries for Google Maps Navigation, and Jessica Dolcourt helps us pronounce the death of the Android phone that started it all.

Updated: The wallpaper app discussed in this episode has since been cleared of any wrong-doing by Google itself. More details on that here.

Update: Dell has published (and since removed) a "test page" stating that the Streak will go on sale tomorrow unlocked for $549, or $299 with a two year AT&T contract. We contacted Dell asking or confirmation on these details and were told that the test page in question was not intended to be seen by the pubic and may have contained inaccurate information. Furthermore, there are no plans for the Streak to go on sale or pre-sale today. In other words, we still don't really know how much the Streak will cost, when it will … Read more

The Droid X is rooted, the Nexus One is done, and we dive deep into Android tablets with Senior Editor Donald Bell. We also take a brief look at Agenda Widget and cover a tip on how to retain Bluetooth connectivity while in Airplane mode.

Tablet Watch

Monday, I spent the better part of an afternoon with the Streak, Dell's ambitious foray into the world of Android tablets. It was an illuminating experience, with plenty of takeaways--both good and bad.

With its release in the U.K. over a month ago, chances are, you're already aware of what the Streak has to offer. Apart from its larger dimensions, the Streak's tech specs read like typical high-end smart phone. There's built-in 3G and Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), along with Bluetooth 2.1 support. The 800x480 resolution screen uses capacitive touch technology, supports multi-touch and is helped along by a fast 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. You get microSIM memory expansion (16GB included), and a removable/replaceable battery. There's both a speaker and microphone designed for voice calls, as well as a 5 megapixel camera that includes auto-focus and flash. And if that weren't enough, Dell threw in a VGA resolution front facing camera, enabling video chat and self-portrait antics.

Now take all of those specs, super-size it with a 5-inch screen, and you've got the Dell Streak. It's a giant smart phone and a scrawny tablet all rolled into one. It's awkward, it's fun, it's a freak of nature, it's your new best friend, it's a paradox wrapped in an enigma. In all seriousness, we're still a little conflicted over whether to recommend this superphone/microtablet--partly because of its unique size, but mostly because we haven't been given all the facts.

At the time of this writing there are still a few big unknowns regarding the Streak's U.S. release. Dell was kind enough to provide us with an evaluation unit, but remained tight lipped when it comes to the product's official release date, pricing, or possible partnerships or subsidies from national carriers. The last we heard in June, the Streak was due out near the end of July, priced around $500 when ordered directly from Dell.com--which doesn't strike us as screaming deal. Priced more aggressively using standard carrier contracts and subsidies, the Streak becomes less of a pint-sized stab at the Apple iPad, and more of an evolutionary step in the arena of Android superphones. We expect more news on the Streak's pricing and availability near the end of the week. Until then, let me walk you through the highs and lows of my afternoon with the Streak, and save our formal CNET review for later.

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Streaks Motivational Calendar uses a simple--and surprisingly effective--concept to motivate you to stay productive. The idea is that you choose a thing you want to do more of, such as exercising, for example. Streaks Motivational Calendar lets you set up an exercising calendar on which you can mark off each day that you exercise with a big red X. Once you have a few days marked off, you'll have a streak.

Streaks Motivational Calendar lets you set up multiple calendars so you can track your progress toward various goals. You can name your calendars for any ongoing task, then … Read more

Probably like many people reading this blog post, I experienced firsthand the trouble Apple and AT&T had with the overwhelming number of preorders for the iPhone 4 on Tuesday. I thought I was being smart by deciding to skip the long lines and get the iPhone 4 delivered to my house, but I ended up getting nothing but errors after only the first few steps into the process.

After several attempts, I decided to wait a couple of days before trying again and ended up buying the black 32GB model through Apple on Thursday. Unfortunately, with the enormous … Read more

Editors' note: The following is CNET UK's review of the Dell Streak. Once the product is available in the U.S., we will update our Dell Streak product page with a new review specific to U.S. consumers.

If bigger is better, then the Dell Streak is the greatest smartphone in the world. But size isn't everything, and although the Streak's large screen and powerful Android operating system provide heaps of fun, it needs some more polish before it lives up to our Android tablet fantasies.

Mega phone Is the Streak a phone or a tablet? We … Read more

This year's center-stage rivalry in tablet computers is shaping up as Apple versus Android, according to analysts. Windows, meanwhile, remains hobbled by its PC past.

The rise of the tablet happened almost overnight, after the April release of Apple's iPad, which, as Steve Jobs boasted recently, has been selling at a clip of "one every three seconds." So, the burning question for analysts and consumers alike is, which technology will compete most effectively with that of the iPad, which runs on Apple's iPhone OS?

Answer: Google's Android. Windows may yet power popular tablets, but for now, that seems less certain than Android, analysts say. "Windows is still quite heavy, in terms of its power consumption," Jeff Orr, an analyst at ABI Research, said in reference to its tendency to overtax the minimalist silicon in tablets.

Even Dell, despite having deep roots in Windows, has chosen to come out initially with an Android-based device, the Streak. "Dell is deeply committed to Android," said Ben Bajarin of Creative Strategies. "There will be a lot of experimentation by them, but at this point, they are going full-bore with Android."

A research note this week from analyst Charles King at Pund-IT gushed about the Streak, whose smaller screen size places it somewhere between the larger iPad and a smartphone. The device comes with "3G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth wireless support, integrated GPS, [and a] 5-[megapixel] camera," along with "integrated Google Maps and turn-by-turn navigation, easy integration of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube social-media apps, [and] Android app/market access," he wrote. "This is an impressive package by most measures, but what is most notable is that...the Streak is actually a study in iPad contrasts: a significantly smaller display, integrated camera, immediate support for voice calling and eventually for video chat, easily upgradable memory and accessible battery and, last but not least, support for Adobe Flash." … Read more

Poor Mark Zuckerberg has an almost-literal meltdown on-stage at All Things D and it makes us wonder: is it time for a grownup to take over there? Or just time for Zuck to throw his privacy boss under the bus? Also, HP doesn't want to make smartphones with its new WebOS toy, the Dell Streak continues to baffle, and hey! Globular rovers!

Walt and Kara sweat Zuck at D8 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20006653-56.html http://d8.allthingsd.com/20100602/mark-zuckerberg-session/ http://blogs.forbes.com/velocity/2010/06/02/mark-zuckerberg-great-perspirations/

Ballmer and Ozzie http://d8.allthingsd.com/20100603/steve-ballmer-ray-ozzie-session/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20006637-56.html

HP CEO: “We didn’t buy Palm to be in the smartphone business” http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/02/hp-ceo-we-didnt-buy-palm-to-be-in-the-smartphone-business/

Dell Streak looks like HTC Evo http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20006644-56.html… Read more