Smartphones

Now that all the juicy details of Android 2.2 "Froyo" are out, the question for current Android phone owners inevitably turns to "When do I get it?" Well, there is good news for some, bad news for others, and no news for the rest.

Starting with the good, Google announced via its Google I/O Twitter account that Froyo will be served to Nexus One users in the next few weeks. Not terribly surprising that the N1 would be one of the first to get the update considering its direct ties to Google (though that … Read more

Google kept us busy with announcements at its I/O developer conference in San Francisco, like news of a Chrome Web Store, Google TV, a forthcoming update to the Android operating system that includes the first full-fledged Flash Player for a mobile phone, changes to the camera app, and support for tethering and portable hot spots, among a list of other additions.

We happen to have a version of Android 2.2 (albeit a prefinal one) loaded on a Nexus One, and dove inside to survey the new features for ourselves.

The recent wave of Android devices doesn't seem to be slowing down as T-Mobile just announced that its latest Android smartphone, the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide, will hit the streets on June 2 for $179.99 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate.

As we noted when the phone was announced in early May, the MyTouch 3G Slide features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 3.4-inch HVGA capacitive touch screen, a 5-megapixel camera, and the full range of wireless options. The smartphone also has a custom user interface from T-Mobile that aims to make the phone … Read more

Ever since Apple CEO Steve Jobs sparked a firestorm with Adobe over the relevance of Adobe's Flash technology for interactive mobile media, a stepped-up PR campaign looked like Adobe's only ammunition.

On Thursday, Adobe got its first chance to fling back a tangible response with the beta release of its Flash Player for select Android phones.

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta (which is already out in final form for PCs) makes a mobile debut on Android phones running version 2.2 of the Android operating system (code-named "froyo") or higher.

What does Flash on a smartphone get you? The long-awaited chance to play online Flash-based games (hands-on) and stream video directly from the browser. For wannabe-foodies like us, Adobe's player also finally makes it possible to view restaurant menus from sites written for Flash. While nobody likes online ads, the fact that you can soon view them in all their shifting, eye-catching glory is a big tip-off that the desktop and mobile experiences of the Web have just scooted even closer together.

Hands-on We tested out an early version of Flash Player 10.1 beta on an Android phone running a pre-release version of the latest 2.2 OS. These compounded caveats mean that we might just have stumbled upon more bugs than you will. We checked out Flash games, streaming video, news sites, and other favorite Web sites that we know take advantage of Flash, and a few of our favorite Flash sites that haven't been modified for Flash mobile.… Read more

Making good on its word from a couple of days ago, the Android 2.1 update is now available for the HTC Hero.

Aside from getting a taste of Eclair, the update also brings enhancements to the HTC Sense user interface and corporate e-mail as well as a number of bug fixes.

Sprint will not be releasing the update over the air, so you'll have to head over to the carrier's support site for instructions on how to download and install the software. Happy updating!

It's been almost two months since smartphone maker Research In Motion released a beta version of its "official" Twitter client for BlackBerry.

Starting Wednesday night and continuing through Thursday, RIM will prompt existing BlackBerry Twitter users in the U.S., U.K., and Canada to update their apps.

We're happy to see the ability to edit retweets among the new features, as well as the time-saving convenience feature of auto-completing a contact's @username.

Twitter on BlackBerry now also pops up the location of geotagged tweets in the native Blackberry Maps app. Those who can't … Read more

A white plastic "cube"* that is slightly bigger than a thumb tip protrudes from the top of an Android phone. A thin slit runs through it; peek inside and you can make out the interior metal nub capable of reading any credit card that swoops through it.

This is Square, an accessory to the recently released Android version of an iPhone app (hands-on) that's aiming to revolutionize personal mobile payments the way that PayPal first simplified payments online. We demoed the Android version of Square at the Google I/O developer conference on Wednesday in San Francisco. … Read more

If you've gone a little app happy and purchased the wrong one from the App Store, Brian Tong shows you how to get a refund through iTunes.