HTC Confirmed Dual-core EVO 3D GSM Version Coming Soon

HTC’s dual-core processor Android smartphone EVO 3D has been released, not a pyramid in rumor before, but EVO 3D as subsequent product of the first 4G smart mobile EVO 4G version which developed in cooperate with Sprint. This new device still adopted CDMA+WiMAX network support, not supporting GSM and WCDMA temporarily. HTC confirmed that they will launch EVO 3D GSM version recently.

The HTC France Twitter account has confirmed that the device will be launching in Europe at some point, although the date is not confirmed.

EVO 3D equipped with Android 2.3 version of gingerbread system, q HD-resolution 4.3-inch touch screen, built-in 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and two 5 megapixel rear camera for 3D image and video capture.

This version also equipped with dual 1.3MP videocall camera, 4GB RAM, 1GB internal memory, microSD slot . HTC bring this phone 3G/4G mobile hotspot, DLNA, Google Voice, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and other functions, and built-in a full set of Google mobile services.

EVO 3D European version will transfer its network support to GSM+WCDMA, in order to keep with European operators’ network standard. In this case, the phone could be used in most Europe an and Asian’s operators’ networks.

CamerAlert for Android - v1.2.7 Now Available

The latest update to CamerAlert for Android, v1.2.7.441, is now available in the Android Market.

This update adds support for your own custom voice files, a Heads Up Display option which mirrors the display so that you can have it reflected in your windscreen and a redesign of the overspeed warning timings.

There are also a number of bug fixes, performance improvements and changes to make the app easier to use.

We would also be very grateful if you could take the time to post a review of CamerAlert in the Android Market. Since most users base their decisions on reviews we need you to tell everyone what you think of it and spread the word so that we can continue to develop and improve CamerAlert.

Quickoffice Pro HD launches for Android Honeycomb tablets

Quickoffice has launched a version of its mobile office suite that's tailored specifically for Android Honeycomb tablets. Quickoffice Pro HD, as it's being called, was designed from the ground up for tablet use, and as such features a user interface that's meant to take advantage of the extra screen real estate tablets have compared to smartphones.

As expected, Quickoffice Pro HD allows you to create, view and edit Microsoft Office files, including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations. The cloud storage support that's baked into Quickoffice for Android smartphones has also made it into Quickoffice Pro HD, allowing you to remotely access files from your Dropbox, Google Docs, Box.net, Huddle, SugarSync, and MobileMeaccounts. Quickoffice Pro HD also comes with a built-in file manager that lets you easily access files stored on your SD card, as well as an integrated PDF viewer.

Text can be copied and pasted within the same Quickoffice app, or between different apps (from the word processor to the spreadsheet, for example). Most user actions can be undone or redone. You can insert images into documents and presentations, either directly from the camera, or from the Gallery. The app also has text-to-speech support alongside voice input dictation. Files can be shared via email, Bluetooth, SMS, and cloud services, and you can move and resize text boxes, images and shapes.

Specific to the spreadsheet app is support for advanced formulas and charts, the ability to add, delete and rename worksheets, and to apply formulas to multiple cells by tapping and dragging.

Quickoffice Pro HD is available for $14.99 for a limited time, the usual price being $24.99, and it will only work on devices running Android 3.0 Honeycomb. You can get it from the Android Market. 

TAGS: ANDROID, ANDROID HONEYCOMB, ANDROIDHONEYCOMB, APPS, BOX.NET, BUSINESS, DOCUMENTS, DROPBOX, GOOGLE ACCOUNT, GOOGLE DOCS, GOOGLEACCOUNT, GOOGLEDOCS, HUDDLE, MOBILEME, PRESENTATIONS, PRODUCTIVITY, QUICKOFFICE,QUICKOFFICE PRO, QUICKOFFICE PRO HD, QUICKOFFICEPRO, QUICKOFFICEPROHD, SPREADSHEETS, SUGARSYNC, TEXT

Official Formula1 2011 app lands on Android

The much awaited Formula One season was initiated this weekend by the 2011 Formula 1 Qantas AustralianGrand Prix. In an attempt to keep fans updated, Formula 1 has now rolled out the official F1 2011 Timing and Track Positioning app.The latest offering is introduced in collaboration with Vodafone to stream in data about every session of the Grand Prix weekend directly on mobile handsets.
The app empowers users to keep a tab on the progress of every driver right from their position and lap times to the sector times and lap count. It is integrated with new push notification service alerts. So when a Grand Prix session is about to begin the app displays session results, essential news, championship standings and much more. This is an optional feature that allows consumers to stay in touch, even when the app is not open on the phone.
The Formula1.com 2011 app also accommodates several other live timing features such as track status indicator, straight-line speeds and text commentary. This app is enriched with a circuit data screen for offering details about current air and track temperatures, rainfall, air pressure and humidity levels, wind speed as well as direction. Owners can not only receive updates on the current race, but also results for every session of the present season. The novel app also provides the season calendar, timetables for every Grand Prix and the current championship standings.
The Formula1.com 2011 app available to registered Formula1.com users can be downloaded from the App Store and Android Market.

Samsung Galaxy Fit – The new kid on the budget Android smartphone block [Review]

The Samsung Galaxy smartphone range recently got a real shake-up. New models were introduced and prices were rejigged. The Galaxy Fit is one of the new kids on the block. The competition in the Rs 10k to Rs 15k (225$) price bracket is intense. Let’s find out of this one stands up to the rivals.

Look and Feel: Solid plastic!
Straight out of the box, the Fit does look the part, when we talk about classy looking smartphones. The front panel houses the 3.3-inch screen, with the options and return buttons being the touch based type. These are given the glossy black finish, like the area above the display. A strip of chrome runs around the phone, giving it an element of shine. The menu button and the multidirectional keys with it however are hardware buttons. The left panel has the microSD slot and the volume up/down buttons. The microSD card slot on the side panel means that this one is completely hot swappable. The right side panel has the power on/off button, something which is usually found on the top panel. Speaking of which, there is the 3.5mm jack and the micro USB slot there.

What is missing completely is a dedicated camera button. The rear panel has the camera, and the battery cover feels very plasticy. However, it has a nice imprint design on it, making it look chunkier than it actually is.

Features: Almost there
The Fit starts up to 3 home screens, for all your widgets. The strip at the bottom of the screen remains constant across all screens- messages, contacts, phone dialer and menu. This minimalist skin is wrapped around Android 2.2, which comes preinstalled on the phone. No worries about future updates and anything that may go wrong with them. The interface is pretty plain, with a no frills layout. Instead of the traditional scroll up/down app menu in Android phones, this phone has the sideways menu, much like that in the Bada OS in the Samsung Wave-II.

Performance: The perfect Fit!
Powered by the 600MHz processor, the Samsung Galaxy Fit will not win any processor power contests, but definitely does the job in this case. What helps is the minimalist skin (TouchWiz 3.0 UI) which Samsung have wrapped around the Android 2.2 OS, unlike some resource hogging skins some rivals offer. The processor does feel a bit of strain when multiple apps are open, but well within manageable limits.

The 3.3 inch display has a resolution of 240x320 pixels, which is a huge disappointment. The display isn’t very sharp and the colours seem washed out. This is disappointing, because the display is something which is used always when using a phone, unlike the goodies like a camera or Wi-Fi connectivity. The touchscreen response, though, is excellent, which is a huge relief. The touch garners a sure response. This makes typing out SMS and emails a lot of fun. The on screen keypad, both in portrait and landscape modes, are pretty well laid (and spaced) out.

The call quality offered by the Galaxy Fit is very good. The signal reception is quite consistent in Zone1 (full signal strength) and Zone2 (half signal strength), and the call clarity is very good. However, if the signal falls below 50%, the calls tend to drop quite a bit. However, the earpiece and the speaker offer a lot of clarity, which makes conversations easy even if you are in a noisy environment. The handsfree earphones are probably the best we have seen in phones for a long time. Not only are they extremely comfortable, they look like a mid-range Sennheiser earphone! The clarity offered by then is very good, but they lack the bass punch, in case you like listening to that kind of music.

More details on Google's Android mobile payment system

Google is teaming up with MasterCard and Citigroup to allow Android users to make purchases with their smartphones at checkout counters. The venture also involves VeriFone Systems, which makes credit card readers for cash registers, and preliminary discussions have already begun with Wal-Mart. Although Google isn't expected to get a cut of the transaction fees, the planned payment system would allow Google to offer retailers more data about their customers and help them target ads and discount offers to mobile-device users near their stores, according to people familiar with the matter quoted by The Wall Street Journal.

We've known Google has been interested in Near Field Communication (NFC) technology ever since the release of Android 2.3 (codenamed Gingerbread). NFC gives consumers an alternative to cash, debit cards, and credit cards by allowing them to pay for products and services by tapping their mobile device against a register at checkout.

The project is still in its early stages, but it will one day allow owners of Citigroup-issued debit and MasterCard credit cards to pay for purchases by launching a mobile-payment application on their phone. Users could also manage credit card accounts and track spending through said app. Google, for its part, would be able to send targeted ads or discount offers to these users. If the program is deemed a success, it would likely expand to other card issuers and networks.

The program would also offer retailers access to data about customers so they would be able to market future offers to their devices. This would, of course, raise privacy concerns since Google would have data as to whether ads targeted at certain groups of people led directly to in-store sales and would be able to gain insight into consumer-spending behavior.

A rumor from earlier this month suggested that Google is planning to start testing an NFC system next quarter. The search giant is not the only company working on mobile payment methods, but given Android's growing dominance, Mountain View has an opportunity to set the bar high.

Java Creator Joins Google; Will Android Benefit?

James Gosling, the man who created the programming language,Java, has just joined Google.

The hire was quite the win for Google, which is currently embroiled in alawsuit with Java’s owner, Oracle, over some uses of Java in the Android stack.

Gosling said in a blog post on the move, “I don’t know what I’ll be working on. I expect it’ll be a bit of everything, seasoned with a large dose of grumpy curmudgeon.” Call us psychic, but we’re willing to bet Gosling will be working on the Android platform.

Gosling developed Java while he was an employee at Sun Microsystems. The project began in 1991, and the language was released in 1995.

But when Sun was acquired by Oracle in a deal that closed in January 2010, Gosling left the company a few months later. At the time, he said, “Just about anything I could say [about Oracle] that would be accurate and honest would do more harm than good.” He’s since been notably cynical about Oracle’s treatment of the Java language and community, even going so far as to call Oracle CEO Larry Ellison “Larry, Prince of Darkness.”

Gosling said he had turned down several “excellent” opportunities prior to signing with Google. He wrote that the new job, whatever it may entail from day to day, “looks like interesting fun with huge leverage.”

Amazon Cloud Player puts your music on the Web

The so-called celestial jukebox that digital-music dreamers talked about in the 1990s looks a little closer. Early Tuesday morning, Amazon launched a Web-based music service that lets you listen to your songs from Internet-connected computers and Android smartphones.

Amazon's Android program playing a song stored in its Cloud Player service. (Rob Pegoraro)

Called Cloud Player, it lets Amazon’s “Cloud Drive” servers take the place of a computer’s hard drive or a phone’s flash storage--provided either device has a sufficiently fast connection to the Internet and a user whose Amazon account includes a valid U.S. billing address.

The Seattle retailer provides 5 gigabytes of storage for free; buying an MP3 album from its store upgrades that quota to 20 GB. You can sync new Amazon purchases to your Cloud Drive automatically.

But you can also upload other songs from a Mac or Windows computer using Amazon’s MP3 Uploader. Contrary to what that name suggests, it will also upload AAC files bought from iTunes, provided they’re not older purchases locked with the “digital-rights-management” system Apple retired in April of 2009.

You can then listen to your purchases through a Web browser or on an Android phone running the latest version of Amazon’s MP3 program. A help page on its site suggests that Cloud Player support may be added later to its BlackBerry and Palm webOS apps.

No such option is in store for the iPhone or iPad. Amazon hasn’t even shipped its MP3 store app for Apple’s mobile devices, where it would compete with the iTunes Store and, presumably, be vetoed by Apple.

Based on a quick test Tuesday morning, the whole setup appears stupidly easy. The MP3 Uploader could be a quicker install (the fact that it requires an installation on a Mac at all, by virtue of running on a separate layer of Adobe’s AIR software, earns it a demerit), but it quickly piped a playlist of 22 songs up to my Cloud Drive.

Logging into my Amazon account--whether through the Safari or Firefox browsers or a copy of Amazon’s Android app--then revealed those songs, complete with the correct album art. Amazon says it plays back Web-hosted tracks at their original quality; aside from an occasional blip in playback, that sounds about right. Pausing, resuming playback and skipping to the next song all happened almost as fast as if these MP3s and AACs had been parked on each computer I tested.

In making cloud-based access to your music this simple, Amazon owes a debt to serial music entrepeneuer Michael Robertson. A decade ago, his My.MP3.com let users play back songs they already owned over the Web, before major record labels successfully sued to have it shut down.

At the same time, Amazon has also made Apple look foolish and Google appear slow. Apple bought a popular cloud service, Lala, in late 2009but then shut it down months later; it has yet to introduce any sort of replacement to it. Google, meanwhile, demonstrated its own cloud music offering last May and is apparently still working on it.

Have you tried out Amazon’s Cloud Player? If so, post your own review in the comments.