The first Verizon LTE Android phone with a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard is nearly here. As expected, Verizon on Tuesday announced that the Motorola Droid 4, the latest in its flagship Droid line, will launch on Friday, Feb. 10.
The Droid 4 features a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and is being called as the "thinnest and most powerful 4G QWERTY smartphone." It will come with Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread), an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 1.3MP front-facing camera, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 4-inch qHD display and a promised upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
It will also, along with the LG Spectrum, be the first of Verizon's LTE devices to support global GSM roaming, by the end of this year at the latest, and perhaps as soon as the first half of 2012.
The design of the Droid 4 is decidedly RAZR-like, with the exception of the screen being 4-inches vs. 4.3-inches, and naturally with the additional slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
Verizon has always tended toward Thursday releases, but some of its releases, of late, have been on Friday, which is a conundrum for those ordering online. The best folks could expect would be a Saturday delivery, which could prove to be an issue for many.
Meanwhile, retail stores will also have the Droid 4 on Feb. 10, but supply is unknown. Folks should make sure the store they visit is an official Verizon store and not a in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.
One of the most applauded features of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) is a much better standard keyboard (although really, many never use the standard keyboard anyway, sticking to Swype or some other alternate). Now, if you want, you can get the new keyboard on your version of Android as well, rather than waiting (perhaps fruitlessly) for a ROM update for your device.
Developer Johntanmi has ported the Ice Cream Sandwich keyboard and placed it in the Android Market (it's the beauty of open source, right?). The keyboard "should" work on most Android phones on Froyo (Android 2.2) or higher, although there have been some bugs reported (fragmentation, anyone?).
The ported keyboard is also not designed for use on tablets.
Still, it's worth a try at the perfect price of free, and is available in the Android Market in a large number of languages. You can find it in English, Dutch, Russian, Portuguese, German, Italian, Hebrew, Spanish, Czech, French, Arabic, Danish, Slovak, Latvian, Bulgarian, Swedish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Georgian and Esperanto (natch).
For $1.99 you can get a version that includes all of the languages above, as well as some extra features, including a user dictionary editor, gestures, themes, and alternative keyboard layouts for Dvorak, AZERTY and QWERTZ in addition to QWERTY.
One of the most applauded features of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) is a much better standard keyboard (although really, many never use the standard keyboard anyway, sticking to Swype or some other alternate). Now, if you want, you can get the new keyboard on your version of Android as well, rather than waiting (perhaps fruitlessly) for a ROM update for your device.
Developer Johntanmi has ported the Ice Cream Sandwich keyboard and placed it in the Android Market (it's the beauty of open source, right?). The keyboard "should" work on most Android phones on Froyo (Android 2.2) or higher, although there have been some bugs reported (fragmentation, anyone?).
The ported keyboard is also not designed for use on tablets.
Still, it's worth a try at the perfect price of free, and is available in the Android Market in a large number of languages. You can find it in English, Dutch, Russian, Portuguese, German, Italian, Hebrew, Spanish, Czech, French, Arabic, Danish, Slovak, Latvian, Bulgarian, Swedish, Finnish, Lithuanian, Georgian and Esperanto (natch).
For $1.99 you can get a version that includes all of the languages above, as well as some extra features, including a user dictionary editor, gestures, themes, and alternative keyboard layouts for Dvorak, AZERTY and QWERTZ in addition to QWERTY.
Trying out Apple's tablet computer yields indifference to the popular device. Among its biggest drawbacks: poor screen resolution, the lack of a keyboard and the company's totalitarian approach to its App Store.
Apple says it sold about 25 million iPads in the first nine months of this year. Above, a shopper tests out the tablet computer at an Apple store in New York. (Emmanuel Dunand, AFP/Getty Images / March 11, 2011)
Amazon.com announced that Black Friday sales of its Kindle family of products showed a 4x increase year over year. Of course, typical for Amazon.com, its press release didn't include any actual numbers, but 4x is 4x.
Sales were fueled not by just the new Kindle Fire, but by lower prices across the product line. In addition to the $199 Kindle Fire Android tablet, Amazon.com also sells a $79 Kindle e-reader, the $99 Kindle Touch, and the $149 Kindle Touch 3G. It also continues to sell the keyboarded versions, the Kindle Keyboard and the Kindle Keyboard 3G.
It's unclear what the breakdown is between the different Kindle models. It's clear that the Fire leads the pack, though. Amazon.com says that, eight weeks after its introduction, the Kindle Fire continues to be the bestselling product across all of Amazon.com.
If there is any question about whether or not the Kindle Fire will be able to dent the iPad 2's market share, it was answered by comments made by Target in Amazon.com's press release. Nik Nayar, vice president merchandising, Target spelled it all out:
"This was a great Black Friday for Target and for Kindle Fire, which was the bestselling tablet in our stores on Black Friday," he said. "We're excited so many guests chose Target as their destination for the new family of Kindle devices and we're sure Kindle Fire will continue to be at the top of wish lists this holiday season."
That's an interesting statement, since Target also sells the iPad 2. The $300 price difference ($199 vs. the lowest-priced iPad 2's $499) is a considerable selling point, despite the minuses of the Kindle Fire (no cameras, less storage, etc., etc.).
Certainly, Amazon.com's ecosystem helps sales of the Kindle Fire. We already know that Amazon.com loses money on the Kindle Fire when just a device sale are taken into account.
But the Fire is meant to goose sales of other products, and not just Android apps or e-books. The fact that Amazon Prime gives owners of Fires ... and even non-owners of Fires access to many Amazon Instant videos for free can only help sales of Amazon.com's cash cow, Amazon Prime, which costs $79 annually.
Amazon.com has promised to make a paid app free every day in the Amazon Appstore, and today's app is Contapps (Pro).
Contapps (Pro) does not exist in the Android Market but there is a free Contacts & Dialer app by the same developer (and with the same "mascot" so its the same app, just a Pro = non-ad-supported, we assume, version). It is normally priced at $1.99 in the Amazon Appstore. As we noted previously, prices sometimes differ between the two stores.
Contapps (Pro) is described as follows:
Give your contacts list a makeover with Contapps (Pro), an advanced contacts and dialer app. With many fabulous features including social integration, multi-touch, and a fresh user interface, the app makes connecting with your friends and other contacts easy and simple.
Got Contacts?
Navigating your contacts is a breeze with Contapps (Pro). Call your friends directly from the Contapps board by pressing their profile picture. Star contacts by pressing the star icon located at the bottom of their profile picture. View contacts at a glance with the home screen widget, and choose to display starred and most contacted contacts, starred only, or most contacted only. Filter by groups or favorites. Sort alphabetically or by how frequently or recently you've contacted someone. You can also search your contacts in three different ways:
Keyboard search (the usual way): Press the Magnifier icon and enter the contact you want to find. T9 search (the fast way): Press the Dialer icon and then enter your contact's name using the letters on the dial pad. You can also search for numbers using this feature. Gesture search (the cool way): After enabling this feature, press the Gesture icon to draw letters on your device's screen to find a contact. Swipe your finger left to erase letters.
Get Social
Contapps offers Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Foursquare integration from within your contacts list. An auto-sync feature will always make sure your contacts are updated with your Facebook friends. Interact with your Twitter friends through their Contapps profile. Access maps and navigation; Google; and aggregated feeds from Facebook, Twitter, and Google talk. Never miss another birthday when you receive birthday reminders from Facebook. Best of all, the Tapp design makes it easy to select which features you want.
Get Contapps (Pro)
With Contapps (Pro), you get integrated SMS support so you can easily send and read SMS messages directly from within a Contapps contacts profile. It also includes maps and navigation in your contacts phonebook. To use this feature, just click on the navigate button and a navigation option will lead you to your contact's address. Contapps (Pro) has an improved interface and new wallpapers. It's faster, better, and even more fun. Other cool features include access to services like Skype and Whatsapp and call confirmation dialog in the call log. Sort your contacts in three ways: A-Z, Frequency, and Recent. Contapps (Pro) allows you to get more from your mobile contacts experience.
"Cool new apps - Contapps spruces up your contacts." - PC Magazine
"Contapps offers a contacts app that's more visual, with gesture-based search, social integration, search and mapping." - GigaOM
Please note: Contapps uses the android.permission.READ_LOGS permission to enable users to report issues to the developer with log files attached. This ensures that issues can be addressed as quickly as possible.
Contapps (Pro) has a 4.3-star rating in the Android Market, and a 4.0-star rating in the Amazon Appstore.
We believe Contapps (Pro) would be even more highly rated in the Amazon Appstore, if it were not for the normal permissions paranoia that seems much more ... well ... paranoid in the Amazon Appstore than in the Android Market.
In fact, one commenter even went off about it, saying "I am so sick of the morons that complain about permissions. I can't believe you idiots don't understand how this works. If an app wants access to your vibration feature that meana you can use the app to put your phone on vibrate. If a game wants access to calling that means it can pause the game to allow for a phone call to come in. most of the permissions these apps require are for your benefit."
Those who are considering "buying" a Free Amazon Appstore app might want to consider what it means to developers.
Amazon.com opened up the Appstore despite a lawsuit by Apple, which has previously trademarked the term "App Store." Microsoft has filed an appeal against that trademark, saying the term is too generic. Amazon.com has responded to the lawsuit in the same manner.
Aside from the hardware upgrades, one of the key advantages that the iPhone 4S has over the iPhone 4 is Siri support. Jailbreakers, however, may be able to get around that problem.
Siri is Apple's new voice recognition technology, and its been made exclusive to the iPhone 4S.
Working with 9to5Mac, developer Steven Troughton-Smith has been able to port Siri from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 4. It's still in early development stages, however, and still has plenty of missing functionality.
One big issue is that Apple's servers are not authenticating commands from iPhone 4s. With many disappointed in the "relatively" minor upgrade from the iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S, Siri is a big differentiator for the Cupertino-based company.
With the port in its current form, Siri on the iPhone 4 can recognize spoken commands in both the standard Siri mode and keyboard Dictation mode. It will also respond vocally to a user.
An early video demo showed performance to be an issue, with the theory being that a special GPU driver for the iPhone 4 was needed. However, a later video (embedded below) showed much smoother performance, so Troughton-Smith apparently got past that issue.
Based on the port, and the fact that it's still in early stages, assuming the issue with Apple's servers can be overcome, for jailbreakers, at least, this could be a major coup in terms of iPhone 4 ownership.
Jailbreaking has always allowed those willing to take the step access to apps that Apple would ordinarily block.
In 2010, the U.S. Copyright Office and the Library of Congress issued an exemption for jailbreaking from the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), deeming it legal. Apple, however, continues to emphasize that jailbreaking will void your warranty.
Why would Apple not put Siri on the iPhone 4 if the hardware could support it? It's pretty obvious. The company needed a reason to "encourage" users to upgrade from the iPhone 4 to the 4S. While the A5 processor and upgraded camera are nice, Siri is the true differentiator.
After all, Apple is a corporation, and the bottom line is the main thing, right?
Amazon.com has promised to make a paid app free every day in the Amazon Appstore, and today's app is Thumb Keyboard.
Thumb Keyboard is priced at $2.53 in the Android Market, and is normally priced at $2.46 in the Amazon Appstore. As we noted previously, prices sometimes differ between the two stores.
Thumb Keyboard is described as follows:
Thumb Keyboard introduces a revolutionary and innovative split layout keyboard for tablets and phones that makes thumb-typing easier and more comfortable. It also acts as a standard keyboard with numerous customizable features.
Rule of Thumbs
Thumb Keyboard offers a welcome solution to the uncomfortable stretching and juggling that often accompany thumb typing. This app has a keyboard layout to fit your needs, whether you're typing on your phone or tablet.
Choose from seven different keyboard layouts with special accommodations for comfortable thumb-typing. Several layouts are designed specifically for Android phones, each ergonomically designed for fast and comfortable input. Innovative split layouts feature wider keys, better layout for thumb-typing in portrait mode, and increased accessibility to keys when typing in landscape mode. Split layouts for tablets and large-screen devices feature increased accessibility to keys for thumb-typing on 5-inch, 7.1-inch, 8.9-inch, and 10.1-inch tablets.
These layouts offer predefined combinations. You can also choose your own layout combination for portrait or landscape view.
Features: Thumbs Up
Thumb Keyboard offers a whole heap of customizable features. Select your theme, background, keyboard height and width, secondary symbols, key size, font size, and keypress sound. You can also minimize or hide the keyboard; hide the right shift key; mark the two key blocks on the split keyboards with different colors; and access QWERTY, QWERTZ, and AZERTY keyboard.
Other features include auto-correction, voice input (Android 2.2+, English only supported), a user dictionary, separate number keys and cursor keys in most layouts, fast switching between layouts, adjustable height (with separate adjustment of bottom bar), and easy popup keyboards (for additional characters, numbers, and smileys). Thumb Keyboard supports text prediction for numerous languages including English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Dutch.
Multilingual Typing is a Breeze
Thumb Keyboard supports a wide range of languages including English, Russian, German, modern Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Finnish. The app automatically selects the keyboard corresponding to your system default language. If you have selected more than one language within the Thumb Keyboard settings, you can easily switch to the secondary keyboards at any time by sliding your finger across the spacebar.
Button Up, Down, all Around
You can also create your own custom buttons. When pressed, these buttons perform numerous small commands or can even be used to store commonly used words or phrases. To create buttons, simply tap the icon and type any word or phrase into the text field. It could be as simple as "lol" or as lengthy as "I'm on my way but caught in traffic." There is also a dedicated row of buttons that can be similarly programmed. Typing on your phone or tablet doesn't have to be a war when you have the Thumb Keyboard app.
Thumb Keyboard is compatible with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and Android 3.0 (Honeycomb). Viewsonic G Tablet users must follow a special installation procedure for third-party keyboards.
Thumb Keyboard has a 4.6-star rating in the Android Market, and a 4.5-star rating in the Amazon Appstore.
To honest, our on-screen keyboard of choice, Swype (and any Swype-like alternatives) is rather cumbersome on a 10-inch tablet screen. Thumb Keyboard seems like an excellent way to bring improve text input entry on Android devices. You can watch a video demo below.
Those who are considering "buying" a Free Amazon Appstore app might want to consider what it means to developers.
Amazon.com opened up the Appstore despite a lawsuit by Apple, which has previously trademarked the term "App Store." Microsoft has filed an appeal against that trademark, saying the term is too generic. Amazon.com has responded to the lawsuit in the same manner.
If you can exercise while playing video games, such as with the Nintendo Wii, why can't you exercise while text messaging? After all, nowadays, it seems that text messaging is the only exercise teens and young adults get anyway.
That's the idea behind Textercise, an exercise program that combines text messaging with aerobics. The program has a Facebook page, but we can't seem to find an official page for it.
According to the Facebook page, Textercise was created by by Donny D-FINE and J-DIMPS. Donny D-FINE was also being the Jersey Shore workout and the Facebook Workout.
Personally, we don't know you can effectively text while doing aerobics, but certainly would think it would be almost impossible without a real keyboard.
Still, who knows? Maybe with Swype?
Textercise was featured on Fox News on Friday. You can watch a couple of videos below.
HP's Pre3 is now being sold in Europe. There's no statement from HP on U.S. sales yet, however, just that information on sales in America will be coming soon.
HP's online Palm Eurostore shows the Pre3 priced at £299.00 ($496). The Pre3 has a 1.4GHz Qualcomm CPU (single-core only) with 8GB of storage. It shows as in-stock, shipping within 1-2 business days.
These are for unlocked Pre3's, by the way.
Other sellers listing the Pre3 are Box.co.uk (£349.98 or $580), and Clove.co.uk, which has the device for sale at £360.00 incl. VAT (or $597).
HP's issued a statement on the rollout, but it's pretty vague in terms of a U.S. carrier rollout. It says, "HP is excited to begin its regional rollout of Pre3, the only phone today that offers users a slide-out keyboard coupled with a large touchscreen and the fastest speed (1.4GHz processor – the fastest on the market). We expect to share additional information for U.S. customers soon."
That's not much comfort to those who are webOS fans, and there are some, although certainly not as many as Android or iOS. It's still unclear which U.S. carriers will carry the device, as well.
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