Swiftkey Android keyboard goes HD, adds new tongues and improved language prediction
Even the most loyal Android user is bound to kvetch about the stock keyboard at some point or another, and while Swype has definitely grabbed the hearts of a good many Froyo users, Swiftkey remains our third-party keyboard of choice. After escaping beta just a few months ago, TouchType has just outed an 'HD' build that's designed to cope with many of the higher-resolution displays being used on today's gargantuan Android phones. Moreover, we're guessing that this was done to look a bit better on devices like the Galaxy Tab , and there's no denying that the new design elements are a real step forward.
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: deal, design, elements, entry, even-the-most, hearts, languages, makeover, polish, real, source, swiftkey hd, touchtype
LG Optimus 7 first hands-on!
If you've got enough time to breathe, you're not doing it right. Our crazy tour through Windows Phone 7 land is continuing with the LG Optimus 7. We must admit we were very pleasantly surprised by this handset.
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: constituent, construction, doing-it-right, elements, handset, optimus 7, result, windows, windowsphone
Facebook phone rumors resurface, Mark Zuckerberg fails to deny them
Let's try to untangle this Facebook mobile phone mess, shall we? Mark Zuckerberg has recently sat down with Michael Arrington of TechCrunch -- the source of the original rumor -- to try and dispel some of the confusion that has arisen as a result. The first thing the Zuckmeister says is that Facebook isn't looking to build its own OS or hardware and is absolutely opposed to competing with the likes of the iPhone and Android
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: arrington, confusion, elements, facebookphone, from-the-start, Mobile Phone, social integration, social-networking, sources, speculation, techcrunch, zuckmeister
Samsung Craft LTE phone spied enroute to MetroPCS?
These shots actually surfaced a few days ago buried in the depths of HowardForums , but given what we know of Samsung's R900 Craft thus far -- particularly the fact that it'll be a non-smartphone -- we have no reason to doubt that we're looking at a prototype of it here. What makes the Craft most notable is that it's slated to be MetroPCS' first LTE -capable handset (and one of the first LTE handsets anywhere in the world) for its shiny new 4G network, and it looks like we can expect full sliding QWERTY along with the typical TouchWiz UI elements
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone Tags: elements, engadget, handset, metro, qwerty, r900, rumor, samsung, samsung-craft, slider
HTC starts selling phones in China under its own name
It's long been the case that if you wanted a HTC handset over in the world's most populous nation, you'd have had to look for its rebadged variant under the Dopod brand. But, as of today, that is no more. The prolific Taiwanese phone maker has decided that its name is now recognizable and valuable enough in China to be put on its own hardware and is kicking off a campaign with four own-branded phones.
Categories: Android, htc, Mobile Phone Tags: china, elements, engadget, hd2, mildly-tweaked, mix, official, sailing
Exclusive: BlackBerry 9800 for AT&T fully exposed!
We've just been sent a mother lode of shots of RIM's upcoming BlackBerry 9800 -- a phone whose market name is still unknown -- but whether it's called the Bold, the Torch, or something else altogether, we think we're looking at near-final hardware here.
Categories: BlackBerry, Mobile Phone, Other Tags: 9800, black, BlackBerry, elements, in the wild, inthewild, japan, prettiest, slider, torch
Exclusive: Android Froyo to take a serious shot at stemming platform fragmentation
We had a couple people at CTIA last week -- people whose words carry weight -- tell us off the record that the next major version of Android would take big strides toward stopping the ugly trend toward severe fragmentation that has plagued the platform for much of this and last year. You know, the kind of fragmentation that has already left users running not one, not two, not three, but four distinct versions of the little green guy (1.5, 1.6, 2.0, and 2.1) depending on a seemingly arbitrary formula of hardware, carrier, region, software customization, and manufacturers' ability to push updates in a timely fashion. Put simply, Google's been iterating the core far faster than most of its partners have been able to keep up.
Categories: Android, htc, Mobile Phone Tags: conversations, core, ctia, Customization, distinct, elements, exclusive, fashion, froyo, gingerbread, green, market, pace-on-android, platform, time
SK Telecom shoves Android onto a SIM, we check it out
SK Telecom was showing off some interesting ideas about where it'd like to see SIM cards go in the future here at MWC this week, including a couple particularly juicy ones called Android SIM and the SIM Theme Package.
Categories: Android, Mobile Phone Tags: apps, cards, check-it-out, elements, engadget, handsets, shoehorns, sk telecom, sktelecom, storage, take-advantage, telecom, time