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Google partnering with Sony on a new television service

google-sony-tv

Google is looking to leverage its foothold in the online video realm by partnering with Sony on a new television service to be called Google TV. The new service will be an Android-based solution that will hook into online video repositories like YouTube and Hulu and serve up online content either through a set-top box or directly by embedding the software into your flashy new Sony HDTV. With Android at its core and Chrome as the browser, the service will provide access to online websites such as Twitter and Picasa and will open up a new arena for television-based application development. Google and Sony have also reached out to Logitech who will be developing a line of peripherals to control your new Google TV. Last but not least, a fourth heavy hitter known as Intel may also be joining this venture as the new TV media platform will reportedly run on the Intel Atom chipset. More than just a concept, the set-top box is reportedly at an advanced stage of development and is being tested by Dish Network. With four major players involved with this new Google TV service, should Roku, Boxee, and everyone else be a bit nervous?

Amazon releases “Kindle for Mac”

Kindle For Mac

Today, Amazon announced the release of Kindle for Mac, a service designed to allow Mac users to purchase, as well as access, the content of the Kindle e-book library right from their Mac. Amazon is touting the following features of Kindle for Mac application:

  • Purchase, download, and read hundreds of thousands of books available in the Kindle Store
  • Access their library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers for free
  • Choose from 10 different font sizes and adjust words per line
  • Add and automatically synchronize bookmarks and last page read
  • View notes and highlights marked on Kindle, Kindle DX, and Kindle for iPhone
  • Read books in full color including children’s books, cookbooks, travel books and textbooks

Amazon seems to be feeling the proverbial heat as the release of Apple’s iPad, and accompanying e-book store, looms. As some of you may recall, just days after the announcement of the iPad, Amazon began to renegotiate pricing terms with its content publishers — something they had been unwilling to do for quite awhile. Not exactly earth shattering news, but another toy for Kindle-loving Mac users to play with. Hit the read link for the full press release.

Motorola DROID update delayed?

DROID-OTA-Delay

We have heard from multiple sources that the much-awaited Android 2.1 OS upgrade due to start today, has been delayed. We’re told a last minute bug late last night was found. There is no new ETA. We’ve reached out to Verizon for confirmation.

UPDATE: Changed from a Whisper to a post as we added an image confirming this.

Thanks, ukno!

Google Nexus One for AT&T shipping with bad displays?

Google-Nexus-1

We’ll be brief: we never had any issues with the screens on the first two Nexus One devices we received (T-Mobile). Well, both displays behaved the same way, and any shortcomings weren’t due to a manufacturing or color temperature problem, put it like that. When our AT&T unit showed up, everything was fine. We thought. Though when we started to use the device at night out and about the city, the black levels seemed to be really, really sub-par. It’s like the hue is completely purple/red. We’ve confirmed that this is happening to more than just our device, and we’ve reached out to Google and will update this with their response. Hit the gallery for some more comparison shots!

Note: The photos below were shot with both unit’s brightness levels set to the same positions. The T-Mobile unit is on the left, AT&T on the right.

Click on over to our Google Nexus One Screen Comparison gallery!

Motorola DROID update schedule detailed…

MotorolaDroid

A reliable source has just let us in on how Verizon Wireless will be rolling out the Android 2.1 update to your Motorola DROID, and it looks like quite a few of us will be waiting for quite a while for our update. Our source details the following:

  • At noon EDT on 3/18, 1,000 users will receive notification of the update
  • At 11:59 PM EDT on 3/18, 9,000 more users will receive the update notification
  • After the first 10,000 users receive the update on 3/18, there will be a 24-hour period when no additional upgrades will be delivered
  • On Day 3 (3/20), 200,000 users will receive the update notification at 11:59 PM EDT
  • This schedule will continue each day thereafter until the update has been delivered to all users

And here are a few conditions needed for the update to be applied:

  • An OTA download requires 40% or more power availability
  • If the device is not connected to an external power source or 20% or more power if it is connected to an external source
  • If roaming, the customer will not receive the update

For those who are actually going to wait for the OTA version of 2.1, instead of grabbing it off the net and putting it on your media card, you could be waiting a while. Let the updates begin!

Windows Phone 7 to get copy & paste post-launch

apwindowsphone7

The Windows Phone 7 platform has caused quite a stir this week as the nitty gritty details under the pretty exterior are being exposed for the world to see. One of the details causing the greatest amount of consternation is the reported lack of copy & paste, a feature that was an integral part of Windows Mobile and one that was touted as a benefit Windows Mobile had over the first two generations of the iPhone. According to well-known Windows blogger Long Zheng, copy & paste will be an integral part of  Windows Phone 7 Series, just not at launch. Rather than delay the launch of Microsoft’s latest mobile platform, a decision was apparently made to pull the feature and roll it out soon after launch. The development team has reportedly worked out all the details on “how” Microsoft will implement the copy &  paste feature but they just needed additional time to integrate the mechanism into the the codebase. Windows fans can possibly now stop fretting about copy & paste and turn their attention towards the ensuing difficult buying decision they face — do they jump on board with the first handsets at launch or do they delay gratification until a feature complete OS is out in the wild?

Sprint Touch Pro2 to get Windows Mobile 6.5 update tomorrow

sprint-touch-pro2-update

HTC Touch Pro2 users on Sprint should stock up on party hats and streamers as the Now Network is gearing up for a Friday release of the long overdue software update to Windows Mobile 6.5. To be available through both the Sprint and HTC websites, the update will finally bring Sprint’s Touch Pro2 up to snuff with that of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon handsets, the last of which received its update back in January. Thanks, Sprint. For a moment there we thought you forgot all about this.

HTC responds to Apple’s lawsuit

htc-logoHTC just hit us up with an official response to Apple’s patent lawsuit filed against them. In short, HTC is sticking up for themselves, naming the innovations they’ve been to market with, and listing some of the industry-wide recognition they’ve received. Look, we’re not arguing for either side, like whether Apple is wrong for filing suit for whatever reason, or whether HTC actually did violate some of Apple’s patents, but this press release is more of a slight-of-hand movement than an actual response. Though they do say pretty clearly that they will defend themselves. What do you think? It’s after the break…

Sprint to announce and possibly launch the HTC Supersonic next week?

HTC-Supersonic-Sprint-WiMAX-Android

After rumors about the HTC Supersonic have been swirling around the Internet for a few months, it is now time for the Wall Street Journal to chime in and contribute to the hype surrounding Sprint’s first WiMAX handset. According to people “familiar with the matter,” Sprint is expected to announce the HTC Supersonic next week during a presentation by Dan Hesse at CTIA. The timing for such an announcement fits in nicely with Clearwire’s promised 1H 2010 delivery date for the first WiMAX smartphone and we certainly have seen enough spy shots and hands-on videos to whet our appetite for this Android-powered 4G smartphone.

Motorola CLIQ XT now available from T-Mobile for $129.99

tmo-moto-cliq-xt

So much for yesterday’s pricing revelation as today T-Mobile released the Motorola CLIQ XT with a price tag that is $30 higher than expected. Available on Even More plans for $129.99 and Even More Plus for $329.99, the CLIQ XT is still attractively priced considering some the rather positive early reviews it received. Of course, there are naturally going to be some stragglers who hold out on the CLIQ XT until Motorola delivers the Android 2.1 update it promised for all MOTOBLUR handsets back in January (the CLIQ XT ships with Android 1.5), but that can’t be too far away now… Or can it?

HTC Nexus One to hit the Now Network (Sprint)

Nexus One Sprint

Yesterday AT&T, today Sprint, tomorrow the world? In a press release this afternoon Sprint announced the pending release of the HTC Nexus One:

Nexus One, the first wireless phone sold through Google’s web store, is planned for Sprint’s 3G Mobile Broadband Network. Sprint will announce pricing and an exact availability date soon.

As with all the carriers, the Nexus One will be sold exclusively through the google.com/phone web store when it becomes available. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear any rumblings on the exact release date. Another Nexus One release coming unannounced and out of left field. Wow.

Motorola DROID 2.1 update said to start rolling out Thursday

droid-21-update-leak

Well that was fast. Soon after we posted the official Android 2.1 change log for the DROID did the folks over at Android Central get their hands on an internal Verizon memo that mentions update ESE53 will be “rolled out in stages via OTA starting 3/18 at 12PM EST” (obviously someone at Verizon didn’t get the EDT vs EST memo).  The update will supposedly be sent out in groups of 250,000 meaning the vast majority of DROID users will have to sit tight until they’re randomly selected, but we have to imagine the lucky few will be eternally grateful for being selected first, if only because it gives them something to do other than focus on their raging St. Patrick’s Day hangover.

UPDATE: Verizon hit us up to confirm that the Android 2.1 OS update will roll out to a “select small group” of users Thursday and expand to everyone soon enough.

AT&T to carry the Nokia Internet Stick CS-12?

nokia-cs-12-internet-stick-fcc

We haven’t heard anything about this from our connects at either AT&T or Nokia, but a filing made available two days ago by the FCC has us believing that AT&T might be planning on offering up the Internet Stick CS-12. Featuring all of the appropriate GSM and WCDMA bands needed to function on AT&T, the CS-12 is capable of supporting downlink speeds of up to 14.4Mbps and uplink speeds of 5.56Mbps. Of course, AT&T’s network is in no way capable of getting anywhere near those speeds — with most markets still stick in a hellish 3.6Mbps nightmare — as the slow rollout of 7.2Mbps continues. Perhaps this new stick has something to do with Ralph de la Vega’s recent talk of  ”certain locations” getting access to a 21Mbps HSPA+ network on the way to LTE.