Latest Gear Live Videos
Amazon launches Amazon Wireless, selling mobile plans
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Hot Deals, Internet, Wireless / WiFi,
Amazon has launched Amazon Wireless beta, an online storefront where you can purchase voice and data plans from AT&T and Verizon, with T-Mobile and Sprint also coming soon. Normally, we wouldn’t give something like this a second look, but it’s Amazon, and they will be pointing consumers to this wireless portal from within the main Amazon site. The nice thing about Amazon Wireless is that you can compare offerings from the carriers in one easy-to-use spot, rather than visiting 2-4 different sites. Even better, all that mail-in rebate stuff goes out the window if you end up buying your mobile phone and plan on Amazon Wireless - all discounts are instant. Amazon Wireless beta is open now, and currently has over 130 phones up for sale.
Read More 
| Amazon Wireless
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Nokia Denies Android Smartphone Development
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Rumors, Software,
Sorry to all you hopefuls out there, but Nokia won’t be releasing an Android-based smartphone later this year. Where would such a thought come from, you ask? Well, earlier this morning, The Guardian said it would happen, and that a Nokia Android phone would be announced in September. Seemed odd, since Nokia is the full owner of the Symbian OS, but stranger things have happened. However, soon after the article was posted, Nokia show it down anywhere they could, including on Twitter:
“re: Nokia’s rumored Android phone and you can quote me on this: We (Nokia) are NOT making an Android smartphone. Symbian is our platform…”
While we take most denials with a grain of salt, we believe them. At ease, Symbian fanatics.
LG Wants Number 2 Phone Manufacturer Spot, Working On Premium Line
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Design, Handhelds,
LG is taking on Apple’s iPhone with a new designer phone as part of their Black Label series in Q4, probably in time for the holidays. CEO Ahn Seung-kwon told Korea’s Yonhap News Agency that the company wants to be in 2nd place in the market by 2012. He also mentioned that their Prada phone line is so successful they are working on another and that they will have their own “extreme premium brand” like the Nokia Vertu.
Read More | Unwired View
Consumer Reports: iPhone 3GS is Best
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Product Reviews,
Consumer Reports says that Apple’s new iPhone 3GS is still at the top of the smartphone heap in terms of multimedia, browsing, battery life, display, and navigation. The Palm Pre with WebOS, Samung Omnia, and BlackBerry Storm were close behind, however. The Pre scored higher in messaging and multitasking. CR also claims that Verizon seems to be the carrier that most believe to be the best when surveyed, but that’s no big surprise.
Read More | Consumer Reports
Verizon Decides to Offer BlackBerry Tour to Existing Customers
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds,
It looks like Verizon has decided to start offering the BlackBerry Tour to existing customers. Originally, Verizon planned to only offer the Blackberry Tour to new and qualified customers. However, due to all the negative press, it appears that they’ve changed their tune, as their BlackBerry Tour page now states that “existing customers will be able to upgrade or purchase the Blackberry Tour.” They haven’t given any further info on how existing customer upgrades will work, however they say interested customers should come back to the website tomorrow for more information. We are definitely liking the fact that mobile providers seem to finally started to be listening to their customers. As you recall, AT&T changed their iPhone 3GS upgrade policy due to heavy backlash from current iPhone 3G customers who wanted to upgrade immediately.
Read More | Verizon Wireless via BGR
Motorola Karma QA1 Handset
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Internet, Wireless / WiFi,
The Motorola Karma QA1 is for those who can’t get enough socializing. The slider has a full QWERTY keyboard, a 2.5-inch 240x320 display, 3.6Mbps HSDPA, a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0 support, A-GPS and microSD card slot. Access MySpace, Facebook, email, IM and use its voice memo recording to keep track of it all. AT&T is now selling the Karma for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, a $39.99 voice plan and $20.00 messaging or data plan.
Read More | AT&T
A Find My iPhone Success Story
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Internet,
I’m glad I’ve never experienced the displeasure of losing a wallet or mobile device, but I know it’s something that happens all too often. Apple tried to make it a little easier to recover a stolen iPhone, with the MobileMe service Find My iPhone. In a nutshell, Find My iPhone shows you where your iPhone is physically located on a Google Map, and let’s you ping the phone with messages, even if it is in silent mode, in the hopes that someone will see the message and act on it. Of course, sometimes they will ignore it, thinking they’ve just scored themselves a free iPhone. That’s what happened to Kevin, who actually used Find My iPhone to chase down the thief who had his mobile device, in attempts to get it back on his own, without the help of law enforcement. It’s a fun read, because he could have been killed, depending on who the thief was!
Read More | The Intermittent Kevin
iPhone 3GS Compass Interference?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video, Videos, Wireless / WiFi,
Anyone with an iPhone 3GS experiencing compass interference errors? It seems that the issue has only come up for me once or twice, but we are hearing reports from others that the compass interference messages seems to be pretty much all they see when they launch the compass app. What say you?
iPhone 3GS full review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Cameras, Smartphones, Features, Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video, Product Reviews,
Since Apple announced the iPhone 3GS at WWDC 2009, the buzz has been non-stop. There are obviously those Apple fanboys that are hyping this as the Third Coming, as well as those who are a bit more skeptical as to if the speed boost is truly real, and truly worth it. Oh, and of course, the lead-up to the iPhone 3GS launch hasn’t been without controversy, but AT&T stepped up in a big way to make it easier on iPhone 3G owners who want to upgrade without breaking the bank. So the question remains - is it worth it?
iPhone 3GS: The ‘S’ is for ‘Speed’
Okay, so many of us were speculating that this phone would be called the iPhone video. After all, when video came to the iPod, it was called the iPod video, and video would certainly be the big feature if it was included in the third iPhone, right? Wrong. Video takes a back seat to speed when it comes to the iPhone 3GS. I know, that sounds all sorts of silly, but allow me to explain. Apple has been focused on optimizing and refining OS X, as evidenced by what we are seeing with Snow Leopard. Remember, the iPhone is based on OS X at it’s core, and Apple wouldn’t neglect bringing those refinements to their flagship mobile device.
That said, believe the hype. This phone is very noticeably faster than the iPhone and iPhone 3G—even if you have an iPhone 3G that is already running the faster iPhone 3.0 update. You are able to launch and quit the core apps in a snap. Internet speeds are faster. Launching those games that take a while to load is nowhere near as frustrating. And best of all, despite this being a “little thing,” the little nagging stalls and overall lack of responsiveness are just gone.
Click to continue reading iPhone 3GS full review
Video: iPhone 3GS Safari vs. Mac Firefox speed test
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Features, Handhelds, Internet, Portable Audio / Video, Software,
So, if you are wondering just how fast that iPhone 3GS really is, we’ve got something you may want to take a look at. In this video, we compare the speed of the iPhone 3GS at pulling up Gear Live in Mobile Safari, to that of an iMac doing the same in the latest version of Firefox. Forget about comparing iPhone 3GS browser speeds to the older iPhone 3G, this really shows off the power inside of the latest Apple smartphone.
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