Smartphones

Brian Tong shows you how to make your iPhone's e-mail signature say something cooler than the "Sent from my iPhone" message that's on there now.

Google wasn't the first mobile platform provider to introduce an online app catalog, but its Android Market Web store is the first to offer seamless over-the-air installation.

Using the online Android Market is fairly straightforward. Apart from some initial hiccups everyone encountered when the Web store first launched, it takes just a few mouse clicks to wirelessly download both paid and free apps without craning over your smartphone screen or straining your peepers.

However, those early frustrations are telling. Scrambling to test the online Market just after it launched, I had no problems selecting apps to download, but several … Read more

Almost all American homes now own at least one tech gadget, according to a new study released yesterday by Pew Internet.

In its "Generations and their gadgets" report, Pew revealed that 85 percent have their own mobile phones, while 90 percent live in a household with at least one working cell phone.

Pew based its findings on a survey of 3,001 Americans ages 18 and older that was conducted between August 9 and September 13.

Though mobile phones were by far the most popular gadgets, computers were also near the top of the list, with desktops owned by 59 percent and laptops by 52 percent of those polled. Drilling down, desktops are still more common than laptops among virtually all age groups expect the younger crowd. Among adults 18 to 34, 70 percent own a laptop compared with 57 percent who have a desktop.… Read more

Motorola Cliq XT owners got the bad news today that their smartphones will be left to limp off into the sunset with Android 1.5 Cupcake.

According to the Motorola Support Forums, Moto recently scrapped the Android 2.1 Eclair plans after it determined that the Cliq XT would not deliver an "optimal customer experience."

Forums manager "Moto Matt" delivered the news in a post today, while acknowledging that the news will likely frustrate a number of users who anxiously awaited the update. "Our product team members worked for months to attempt to create a … Read more

Rumors of a dual-core Android smartphone from HTC began swirling today, thanks to information obtained by the blog AndroidAndMe.

According to multiple sources, HTC should debut its first 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon handset in May. The handset, which carries the code-name Pyramid, is said to feature a 4.3-inch qHD display and support for HSPA+ connectivity. TmoNews has confirmed on its end that T-Mobile is expecting to offer the phone in the same time frame.

Although the rest of the specs remain in the dark, AndroidAndMe speculates as to what the dual-core processor could provide in terms of support. Look … Read more

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year! According to the lunisolar calendar, this year's animal zodiac celebrates the rabbit, the fourth animal in the 12-year cycle. Jeff can't get enough talk about Chinese cultural traditions, although this day of celebration is a little bittersweet for me thanks to a present I received today from Amazon.com.

Rabbit Mothers aside, Verizon subscribers and AT&T haters are celebrating today for the release of the Verizon iPhone. Early reviews are already in, and it turns out the Verizon iPhone is indeed...a phone; which is more than we can say for the AT&T version.

CNET's cell phone expert Kent German already ran anecdotal testing to compare the data and call quality of the Verizon handset, and Big Red's version definitely has the advantage in almost all of the trouble-prone test sites in San Francisco. Keep in mind that this may change depending on your location, but if you were waiting to see if Verizon would deliver on its promise for better service, it did.

Like a good Apple fanboy, Wilson already has a digital copy of News Corp.'s experiment iPad-only newspaper, The Daily. He played around with it for a little while before the show, and even though he refuses to say anything bad about it on the recorded segment, I'll throw him under the bus to tell you that he wasn't entirely happy about the loading speed of the category carousel on the front page. We're also wary of a daily newspaper that updates itself at noon every day...is this today's news tomorrow?

We can't say anything too incendiary about The Daily since we live in fear of Peter Ha, a friend of the show who's also the tech editor for the good afternoon paper. He's booked to guest host tomorrow's episode of The 404, so we'll wait to grill him on it then.

Google also gave its Android Marketplace a makeover yesterday, and although it's been criticized in the past for being too difficult to install and pay for apps, the company hopes to change that with a new interface that allows users to access the store with their Google IDs. You can search for apps on desktops or laptop computers, and the apps will automatically download and install on your Android phone.

The new Android Market will also allow in-app purchasing, so you can add levels to games and other enhancements to existing apps over Twitter to all your friends. Check it out at http://market.android.com.

Mubakalar finally approves of a few voice mails that we listen to after the break, so keep them coming! The phone number to call is 1-866-404-CNET.

Finally, if you're looking to back up your data so this doesn't happen to you, consider today's Deal of the Day, brought to you by Kodak.

It's the Western Digital 1TB Portable USB Hard Drive for $99.95 from B&H Photo and Video. The drive is portable, easy to use with any USB 2.0 port, and is made from recycled materials to decrease your digital footprint on the environment. Enjoy!

Not to be outdone by Verizon iPhone, AT&T unveiled some juicy details about the Motorola Atrix 4G today.

The dual-core Android 2.2 smartphone will be available for preorder starting February 13 for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and an expected ship date of March 6 or earlier.

In addition, for those wanting the Motorola Laptop Dock, AT&T will offer a bundled package (phone and dock) for $499.99 with a two-year contract and Data Pro data plan and tethering add-on and after a $100 mail-in rebate. If you choose to buy the dock … Read more

Editor's note: The "A few notes about the tests" section was added to make the testing methodology clearer.

Soon the iPhone 4 will be available to everyone who patiently waited (years, for some) for Apple to offer it through a service provider with a better service history.

Over the next few days, there will be many questions concerning which is the better iPhone 4, and so begins our attempt to answer that question.

We've not yet had time to run any battery tests, but rest assured, those are coming. Also, though I'm personally not a … Read more

Hello, Verizon iPhone 4. You've been a long time in the works--several years, in fact--but now we know that you officially exist. We're glad to meet you at last, and we're glad that U.S. wireless customers now have a choice in carriers.

We know that many of you are also eager to welcome Apple's newest family member. And we know that you have a lot of questions about what the Verizon iPhone is and how well it performs. Hopefully, CNET can answer your queries in the following coverage.

CNET's Verizon iPhone 4 review In … Read more