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LAS VEGAS — Another day at CES 2011, another 4G smartphone announcement. HTC debuted three new 4G mobile devices last week: the Thunderbolt, the Inspire and the EVO Shift.

Release date and price points on the Thunderbolt and the Inspire were murky. As in, HTC didn’t have any. But that’s been par for the course on a lot of announced smartphones at CES thus far. As I’ve previously reported, however, we do know the EVO Shift will be dropping on January 9th, the last day of CES. All three phones will be running Android version 2.2 (Froyo).

I got to spend some time playing around with the Thunderbolt at the tradeshow last week. Here are a few first impressions, broken down by category:

Screen

It’s been a big year for big screens at CES, and the Thunderbolt doesn’t stray far from what’s been debuting. At 4.3 inches, it’s a sizable display equal to that of Motorola’s new Droid Bionic, last summer’s EVO 4G, and the Thunderbolt’s sister product that debuted alongside it, the AT&T-carried Inspire. All the advantages of such a large screen come through when using the back facing 8-megapixel camera. It’s got a nice array of filters to tweak your photos, including the “vintage warm” filter (a.k.a. the Instagram effect). And sadly, I didn’t have anyone to video chat with, but it’s nice to know I can with the 1.3-megapixel front facing camera.

The haptic feedback on the Thunderbolt’s capacitive touchscreen is a nice touch, but I had a bit of difficulty with pressure sensitivity when trying to scroll through menu screens. On occasion I’d require a little extra effort to choose a widget. This was not a huge deal, but was still noticeable.

The sausage-fingered shopper need not worry. Where the spaciousness of the screen shines is in typing on the Thunderbolt’s keyboard. It’s easy to compose texts fairly quickly, and I made relatively few errors during test texts.

Browsing and Performance

We’ve been hearing lots about 4G network capability lately, and the Thunderbolt is HTC Verizon-carried contender. From the bit I did, the phone’s browsing speed is indeed ample. A quick Google search for Wired.com brought our site up in about five seconds. Scrolling downward on the page was fairly smooth, with only minimal clipping.

Under the hood, the Thunderbolt runs on a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, with 768MB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. It moved along through the menus speedily, and it pulled up video and pictures without much lag. There’s also a microSD card slot with a 32 GB card included.

Feel

The back of the Thunderbolt has a matte finish to it, somewhat akin to HTC’s unsuccessful Nexus One. With the Thunderbolt’s finish, it doesn’t seem like it would lend itself to slipping from the hand that easily. The little Google-branded kickstand on the back is a nice flourish, especially when you want to watch video on the phone’s large screen. And the metal finish of the kickstand just looks cool.

Overall, I dug the Thunderbolt well enough upon first glance. We’ll have to see how it — and how Verizon’s 4G network — performs upon the phone’s eventual launch.

See Also:

• Htc
• Wired Video: HTC Evo 4G Dissected
• WSJ: Verizon iPhone Debuts Early 2011
• Carriers Bet Big on 4G Phones Despite Network Immaturity
• Verizon CEO: Were Working With Google on a Tablet

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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LAS VEGAS — Samsung climbed aboard the increasingly crowded 4G train with a trio of 4G LTE-enabled devices Thursday afternoon at CES 2011.

Among the devices are a new version of the Galaxy Tab. Along with 4G connectivity capability, the new tablet will have an upgraded 5-megapixel back facing camera, distinguished from the current models 3 megapixels.

Samsung didn’t announce when the tablet would be available. It will be exclusive to Verizons 4G network in the U.S.

In addition to the new tablet, Samsung also unveiled a new, yet-to-be named smartphone, provisionally called the 4G LTE. Its yet another launch of a mobile device with a massive super AMOLED screen — it measures in at 4.3-inches — debuting only days after the company had first announced its 4.5-inch Infuse smartphone.

Under the hood, the 4G LTE has a 1 GHz single-core processor. Just like the Infuse, the 4G LTE has an 8-megapixel back facing camera, with a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera for video chat. Both the 4G LTE and the Infuse will run Froyo. Like the tablet, there arent any pricing or availability details being made public yet.

And to round out the announcement, Samsung also introduced its aptly named 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot for Verizons 4G network. The device will work much like other hotspots do, acting as a wireless access point for up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices at once. Its also backward compatible with Verizons 3G network.

See Also:

• Official: Samsung Galaxy Tab $600 on Verizon
• How 7-Inch Android Tablets Can Succeed
• Verizon Mulling Wired Broadband Pricing Tiers For 4G Wireless

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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LAS VEGAS — After HTC’s EVO Shift debuted at CES this week, I was able to spend a little time playing around with it. From what I’ve seen so far, it’s a solid contender for those who don’t want to carry around an oversized chunk of hardware.

Unlike its giant predecessor the EVO, the EVO Shift’s capacitive touch screen measures in at 3.6 inches with 480-by-800-pixel resolution. Compare that to the EVO’s 4.3 inch screen size, and the Shift might seem small. But you don’t want to carry a phone that borders on tablet-sized status around in your pants, do you?

I’m personally satisfied with a mid-range screen like that of the EVO Shift, and the image clarity on the menu screens was impressive enough to win over any size queen.

The back facing 5-megapixel camera is straightforward, lit with an LED flash. The photos I took were nothing to write home about, but then again the Shift isn’t packing the 8-megapixel cameras that a number of other recent smartphones have been. And it’s not supposed to, either. A phone like the Shift isn’t aimed at the nerds that need the latest and greatest pocket powerhouse that tops every hardware category across the board.

If you’re used to the keyboard on the Blackberry but want to move to the Android OS (Froyo in particular), the Shift has a slide-out QWERTY to accompany the touch screen. The keys are only slightly raised with flat tops, which might be annoying to those used to boards with a more nub-like keytop. But after a few minutes, texting with the buttons felt intuitive.

Browser speed seemed spotty, though the congested network inside of CES made it difficult to tell just how fast the Shift will perform when it hits Sprint’s 4G network. And that won’t be long from now: The Shift becomes widely available on the last day of CES, January 9th.

All in all, for a lightweight $150 price tag (after mail-in rebate and 2-year contract, mind you), the EVO Shift is a solid contender for its price range.

See Also:

• HTC EVO 4G $200, on Sale June 4
• Evo
• Storage Bug Hits HTC Evo 4G Phone Just Before Launch

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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After all the ruckus at CES 2011 over Motorola’s Honeycomb-dedicated XOOM tablet died down, I got a chance to get my hands on the latest in the company’s Droid series of smartphones, the Bionic.

Like its Droid X predecessor, the Bionic is definitely not small. The 4.3 inch screen is one of the largest on the smartphone market right now, and if you’re wearing tight jeans and hoofing it around the Vegas strip all day like I’ve been doing, a fat-bodied Bionic in your pocket might bring on a bit of chafing.

But the screen’s aesthetic appeal makes up for any inconvenience its size may bring. Shooting pictures with the back facing 8 megapixel camera was made easier with the extra screen surface area for planning and viewing shots.

Whereas Apple’s iPhones are all about the smooth-backed covers, the Bionic goes the way of rubberized grip-style case. The phone’s backside has ample tooth to it, another line of defense against clumsy phone droppers like myself. But the gripping doesn’t make the Bionic feel bulky or weighted down. It’s a nice touch, even if it may add to the aforementioned pocket-chafing.

We weren’t allowed to pop open the hood to see the phone’s 1-GHz dual-core processor insides, but by the looks of flipping through the Android 2.2 menu screens, the Bionic’s guts seemed to be doing their job well. No visible stuttering was to be seen in the few apps I ran, and load time was minimal. It was, however, a brand new phone with its 16 GB of on-board storage still relatively empty. I’d like to see how it runs after an app-hungry tween had their hands on it.

All in all, I dug what I saw of the Bionic. It may be a bit large for my taste, but for the crowd that’s into the big and powerful (and prefers a Motorola handset over that of a Samsung offering) the Bionic is surely worth a second look.

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See Also:

• Video: Hands-On With Motorola’s Droid
• Verizon Denies Tethering, Hot Spot Features to Droid Customers
• Motorola Introduces Droid 2 Phone
• Motorola Upgrades the Droid With Droid X
• The R2-D2 Droid Phone You’re Looking For

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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LAS VEGAS — Sony Ericsson’s new Xperia Arc packs some startling photo and video-taking features into a rather slim and arc-shaped package.

The phone runs the latest version of Android 2.3, Gingerbread, and slides it into a thin body that measures just 8.7mm at its waist. And it is a “waist”: the case has a pronounced concave-curve at the rear which gives it a swooping elegance. Onto the front of this body is grafted a huge 4.2-inch multi-touch screen. It is, with its 1 GHz Qualcomm processor, a competent Android phone.

Then we get to the camera, an 8MP monster with a wide maximum aperture of 2.4, coupled with the Exmor R sensor, a backlit CMOS sensor also seen in Sony’s proper cameras. If the promo videos are anything to go on (and obviously allowing for their inevitable exaggerations) then the camera is impressive, with image processing to take care of noise, tweak colors, enhance contrast and generally fix up cellphone photos into something worth keeping.

Android is great, but the handsets are starting to look more like giant slabs of chocolate than actual phones that can fit in a pocket. The Xperia Arc manages to not only buck this trend, but pack in some serious photography tools to boot.

Xperia Arc press release [Sony Ericsson]

Next Step Xperia arc [Sony Ericsson product blog]

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If you’re tired of speed traps and don’t have the cash to buy a high-end radar detector, Cobra Electronics has a solution that makes use of your smartphone — at a price point that isn’t too hard to swallow.

The iRadar hardware is straightforward. It’s a small, oblong device (above left) weighing less than six ounces, mountable to the windshield interior of your car without being an eyesore. It’s like any other radar detector, but more sleek and without all the annoying LEDs.

But the kicker comes in the smartphone connection. After downloading the free iRadar app from the Apple store, the iRadar hardware connects to your iPhone or iPod Touch via Bluetooth, displaying visual alerts on the phone’s screen — like, say the presence of a red light camera at an intersection, or the nearest po-po sniping at you with his laser gun at a known speed trap.

Although it’s only available for iOS devices now, Cobra will be launching the app for Android smartphone platforms in March.

As the iRadar network expands, users will eventually be able to see potentially risky areas encountered by other iRadar units on the road. That’ll give you some advance warning of a speed trap well before the radar gun actually paints your car. The device also has access to AURA, a continuously updated database of driving threats and hazards used by much of the GPS and navigation industry.

iRadar is priced at $170, and is currently available through select electronics retailers.

See Also:

• Radar Detector
• GPS, Radar Detector United

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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LAS VEGAS LG on Wednesday shared its vision of appliances and smartphones coming together to create the ultimate connected home.

LG in a press conference showed examples of web-connected washing machines, refrigerators, ovens and a robot vacuum substantially improved with Android apps on tablets or smartphones.

“This is the first time the industry has actually had the infrastructure to support the technology for smart appliances,” said Patrick Steinkuhl, head of LG’s home appliances division.

Steinkuhl explained that Wi-Fi connections and apps would enable appliances to be much “smarter” than they are now. On an oven equipped with an Android tablet, you could download a recipe that instructs the oven to automatically change temperatures to provide optimal cooking results for a turkey, for example.

“Imagine an oven that is so smart that on the day of the big game it’s able to send you a text message saying ‘Hey, your roast is about done. Better get to the kitchen,” Steinkuhl said.

Another example he raised was a robot vacuum that could use an Android app to learn the precise dimensions of your home to know exactly which points have and haven’t been cleaned yet.

Apps could also improve energy efficiency in refrigerators, Steinkuhl added.

LG said it plans to sell some of these new appliances this year. The company hasn’t disclosed a price, but I can’t imagine they’ll be cheap, and I also won’t believe they’re capable of doing everything LG claims until I try some of them out myself. I’ll post some hands-on impressions this week after I get a demo on the show floor.

Image courtesy of LG

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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LAS VEGAS — After weeks of leaked promo materials and screen shots, Sprint has introduced the EVO Shift, HTC’s latest carrier-exclusive 4G smartphone.

The phone is scheduled to be widely available to consumers on the last day of CES, January 9th.

As Sprint’s press release states, the EVO Shift follows in the speedy 4G footsteps of its mammoth-sized EVO predecessor, but comes in a smaller, tighter package. Highlights include a 3.6 inch capacitive-touch screen display, a slide out QWERTY keyboard, 5-megapixel back-facing camera, 720p HD camcorder and microSD slot for upgradable storage up to 32GB.The phone can also serve as a mobile hotspot, tethering up to eight wireless devices.

For the crowd that wants more power and more features from their phone, however, the EVO Shift may be lacking. The phone ships with Android 2.2. (Froyo, not the most recent version, Android 2.3, aka Gingerbread). It lacks a front facing camera, which means no video chatting either. The 5-megapixel back facing cameras is downgraded from the EVO’s 8 megapixels. The EVO has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, while the Shift clocks in at 800 Mhz. Those that want larger screens like the former EVO (4.3 inches) may not be satisfied with the EVO Shift’s 3.6 inches.

Comparing the EVO Shift to the older, bigger EVO, the question comes down to this: Are you willing to sacrifice screen size, processor speed and other niceties for a slide out keyboard and easier pocketability?

The EVO Shift retails at $150 after a $100 mail-in rebate (with a two-year service contract).

See Also:

• HTC EVO 4G $200, on Sale June 4
• Storage Bug Hits HTC Evo 4G Phone Just Before Launch
• Wired Video: HTC Evo 4G Dissected

Photo courtesy Sprint

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2011 is shaping up to be a big year for tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show, and TV maker Vizio will be part of the touchscreen scene.

Attempting to beat the onslaught of product releases to come this week on the convention floor, Vizio announced the debut of its soVIA Tablet and VIA Phone, both of which will run on the Android OS.

As to whether the devices will run Froyo, Gingerbread, or another version of Android, Vizio isn’t saying. Both devices will, however, be running the VIA Plus skin, a new app platform debuting with the VIA models.

The specs on the VIA Phone sound enticing. The VIA Phone boasts a 1-GHz processor (manufacturer as yet to be named), 4-inch capacitive touch screen and HDMI output with HD video playback. There’s a front-facing camera to make video chats possible, while the 5-megapixel rear camera allows for photos and HD video capture.

As for the VIA Tablet, it’s got most of what the phone has: a 1-GHz processor, an HDMI output and a MicroSD card slot for memory expansion. The capacitive touch screen measures in at 8 inches slightly smaller than that of the 9.7-inch iPad.

But the real competitive advantage may end up in the price points.

There is a huge gap in the market for people who cant afford the iPad or whatever else,Vizio CTO Matthew McRae told Bloomberg. The company hasn’t announced what the VIA Phone or Tablet will cost as of yet, but according to Bloomberg, McRae says that the products will be “very aggressively priced.”

In addition to Vizio, several key manufacturers, including Toshiba, LG and MSI, are expected to unveil tablet devices at this week’s show. Stay tuned on Gadget Lab for live coverage from the CES show floor.

See Also:

• Vizios Wireless TV Connects to the Web Through New Widget Stream
• Vizio Gives Up on Plasma TVs

Photo courtesy Vizio

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Selling 10 million units of any product in its first 6 months of initial release is nothing to scoff at. In the world of smartphones, it’s certainly a number to notice.

That’s why our eyebrows perked up when we read Samsung’s email this morning, announcing that the company’s Android-based Galaxy S model has sold over 10 million units worldwide since its debut in late June.

It’s an admirable number, although not quite in the same league as Apple, which sold 14.1 million iPhone 4 phones during the third quarter of 2010. And it definitely gives RIM reason to worry: RIM sold 12.1 million phones in the third quarter, down 2.8 percent from the previous quarter, according to Comscore data released in November.

The battle for operating system share has been heated between the big three contenders: Apple’s iOS, Android, and RIM’s Blackberry OS. But Android has seen a surge in attention in 2010. Over 40 percent of customers purchasing smartphones over the last 6 months have chosen Android-based phones, according to a recent report released by Nielsen, beating out the percentage of people who chose Apple, which rests at 26.9 percent.

But in the same Nielsen data, Apple shows its slight (if dwindling) edge in the overall number of phones that are out there. Apple’s iOS has an overall market share of 28.6 percent, edging out Android, which rests at 26.1 percent. RIM’s Blackberry OS comes in only slightly behind Android at 25.8 percent.

There’s been a steady upward trajectory of Android-based phone sales over the past two years. Motorola’s Droid sold an estimated 100,000 units over the weekend of its release in late 2009. It took the Droid 74 days to reach the 1 million mark, according to research firm Flurry Analytics.

But it took Samsung a month less to reach the same point with the Galaxy S; the company said it had sold 1 million in the first 45 days since launch.

See Also:

• Samsung Sells Five Million Galaxy S Phones
• Samsung Ships One Million Galaxy S Phones in 45 Days
• Galaxy S

Photo: aaronage/Flickr

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A new Trojan horse aimed at Android devices has recently surfaced in China.

Named “Geinimi,” San Francisco firm Lookout Mobile Security says the Trojan is “the most sophisticated Android malware [the firm has] seen to date.”

“Geinimi is effectively being ‘grafted’ onto repackaged versions of legitimate applications,” most of which have been games, the firm says. The apps are then sold in Chinese third-party Android app markets. Affected apps will request permissions “over and above” those requested by the legitimate version of an app.

“Users should make sure that the program is asking for permissions appropriate to the app,” a spokesperson from Lookout told Wired. “If the program is asking for your IMEI or your location, and it has nothing to do with the app’s function, that’s a big red flag.”

IMEI is short for International Mobile Equipment Identity, the internationally-used, unique identity number used by many phones.

Lookout hasn’t yet established an intent for Geinimi, though the firm claims the Trojan is “the first Android malware in the wild that displays botnet-like capabilities.” The firm claims that it’s “botnet-like” because it hasn’t yet seen the command server communicate back to affected devices, a Lookout spokesperson told Wired.

The firm has evidence that Geinimi is being distributed only through third-party Chinese app markets. Lookout hasn’t seen any Geinimi-compromised apps in the official Google Android marketplace.

Lookout released an update to its own Android antivirus app, which it says will protect users against Geinimi.

Photo: alachia/Flickr

See Also:

• Android App No Malware, Says Google
• Malware Sneaks Into Android Market
• Trojan Malware Delivered by Sneakernet

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At last, somebody, somewhere will sell a credible alternative to the iPad Touch. Ever since September 2007, Apple has had the phone-less pocket computer market to itself. This is about to change, thanks to Samsung’s Galaxy Player, a non-cell version of its super-successful Galaxy S.

Last year, Samsung got a rather crappier Galaxy-branded media player into European stores, but this on is the real deal. It sports a pair of cameras (3.2MP round back, and a VGA webcam up front), Bluetooth, GPS, a microSD card slot, a 1GHz processor and Android 2.2 Froyo.

The screen is four-inches on the diagonal, bigger than the Touch, but with a lower resolution of 800480 (the Touch boasts a 960-by-640 Retina display). The Player is also thicker than the Touch 9.9mm against 7.2mm but this is likely how Samsung manages to fit in a better camera and a removable battery.

Pricing has yet to be revealed, but we know what sizes the player will come in: 8GB, 16GB and 32GB. More to come from CES, which is less than two weeks away.

Samsung confirms Galaxy Player, will showcase at CES 2011 [Samsung Hub]

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See that wafer of silicon above? That’s the chip that will turn Android phones into video and photo powerhouses, and cameras into mobile studios. The iOne system-on-chip, from Amabarella, is both image processor and Android CPU, and is designed to bring internet connectivity to cameras.

Inside, there is a Dual-core 1-GHz ARM CortexTM A9 CPU for running Android, and any apps that may run on top of it. For video and photography there is another 533-MHz ARM-11 chip which can support 3D graphics, process 5-megapixel images at 30fps, and decode 1080p video. And you also get the full suite of connections any modern cellphone deserves: WiFi (802.11n), GPS, Bluetooth, FM radio and mobile TV.

The specs are certainly impressive, but we’re more excited to see what people will do with it. A kick-ass camera-phone would of course be nice, but what about a proper camera with phone-like functions. You could live-stream video, send photos straight to Flickr and, best of all, if you didn’t like the crappy interface that [insert camera manufacturer here] has saddled you with this week, then you could just download a new one.

Amabarella release iOne image processing chip for hybrid cameras [Press Release]

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A teaser video released by Motorola hints at a new Android Honeycomb tablet, and calls the iPad a “big iPhone.”

The two minute spot, which can be found on Motorola’s YouTube channel, is called Tablet Evolution. Beginning with an Egyptian hieroglyphic tablet from 3,200 BC, (good graphics, but heavy) and running through the Ten Commandments and the Rosetta Stone (multi-lingual support), we get to the iPad and then the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Here the tease begins.

The Tab is described as having “Android OS, but Android OS… for a phone.” Ouch. The next item in the virtual museum hall is a plinth with a cloth-covered something on top. A poorly animated bee flies into the screen and we’re promised something at CES 2011.

A bee? Android, but not for a phone? This can only mean Honeycomb, the forthcoming tablet version of the Android smartphone OS. Add in the demo of Honeycomb running on a Motorola prototype by Googles Android boss Andy Rubin a couple weeks back and it’s pretty certain that this “Tablet Evolution” will be on show at CES in January, although I doubt it will be on sale so soon.

One thing is certain, though. Almost a year after the iPad was launched, the rest of the tablet market is finally heating up.

Tablet Evolution presented by Motorola [YouTube]

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Fast-and-furious media giant Google may be telling manufacturers to pump the brakes on the new Google TV operating system.

Google is telling manufacturers to delay launches of televisions and set-top boxes running Google TV, which would mean such products are unlikely to launch at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show, according toNew York Times. Wired.com’s sources corroborate the report.

“LG is not commenting on Google TV, but LG is launching its own Smart TV platform at CES, and it’s not Google TV,” an LG spokesman told Wired.com. According to the Times, LG was one of the companies working on a Google TV product.

Google TV is a version of the Android smartphone OS modified for televisions. Google envisions that Google TV will create an all-in-one media experience that makes the television capable of delivering web-streamed video content and functionality through third-party apps, in addition to traditional TV programming offered by cable networks and satellite providers.

“Once you have Google television, youre going to be very busy,” said Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, in a Berlin press conference introducing Google TV. “Its going to ruin your evening.”

A delay is unusual coming from Google, whose typical M.O. is to release new products rapidly (sometimes with the “beta” label still prominently displayed) and then iterate them on the fly with software updates. A delay could suggest that the search giant needs more time to rethink the OS, especially afterTV networks prevented their content from being accessed through Google TV apps on theLogitech Revue.

Googled declined to comment on rumors and speculation regarding Google TV delays, but a Google spokeswoman said the company was happy with its current progress in the TV space.

“We are very happy with the launch of Google TV with our initial partners Sony, Logitech and Intel,” the spokeswoman said. “Our long-term goal is to collaborate with a broad community of consumer electronics manufacturers to help drive the next generation, TV-watching experience, and we look forward to working with other partners to bring more devices to market in the coming years.

Some extra time could allow Google to work with third-party software developers on making apps for the Google TV to offer additional functionality and more content, said Ross Rubin, lead consumer electronics analyst at NPD Group.

“Right now [without TV network support], Google TV is basically a web browser on a TV,” said Rubin, explaining that third-party apps could differentiate Google TV from competing internet TV products.

Waiting a few extra months could also allow manufacturers to decrease pricing of Google TV products to make them more competitive. The Google TV-powered Logitech Revue, which launched October, cost $300 hefty compared to the $100 Roku and Apple TV set-top boxes.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Google’s new Nexus S smartphone went on sale Thursday at Best Buy stores for 200 bucks with a two-year contract, a move that comes at poor timing, says an analyst.

That’s because by this time of year, the holiday season, retailers and competing manufacturers have already slashed prices for relatively new Android smartphones to between $0 and $50. (The HTC Droid Incredible, for example, is free with a two-year plan at Best Buy.)

These holiday discounts will make the $200, T-Mobile-compatible Nexus S seem like an unattractive option for the average consumer, explained Tero Kuttinen, a telecom analyst at MKM Partners.

“I don’t know what Google is doing here,” he said. “They do software so well. I don’t understand why they do this hardware strategy in such a half-assed way.”

Google’s hardware strategy with its previous Nexus One smartphone was unsuccessful. The search giant failed to get major carriers such as AT&T and Verizon to subsidize the phone; only T-Mobile played ball. So the only way non-T-Mobile-subscribers could get the phone was by throwing down $500 for an unlocked version of the device.

Surprise, surprise: The only people willing to spend that much on Google’s Nexus One were nerds like us, and the phone didn’t sell well. Duly, the Nexus One was discontinued. (Wired.com’s Ryan Singel recently told a thorough version of that story.)

The Nexus S seems to have the same story. It’s currently available at Best Buy for $530 unlocked, and for $200 with a T-Mobile plan.

The fact it’s launching in December makes the Nexus S smartphone launch even worse, Kuittinen said, because more powerful Android smartphones will be announced at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show, meaning the Nexus S will quickly be superseded. On top of that, there have been multiple rumors that a Verizon iPhone will be announced January.

“When we get to January, there will be multicore phones and the iPhone on Verizon,” Kuittinen said. “That’s the real competition here, not the phones you see right now. For those reasons,the Nexus S doesn’t really offer any sizzle.”

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Google dominates this week’s Gadget Lab podcast with a new computer operating system, a smartphone, an Android upgrade and big sales number for the Android-powered Galaxy Tab.

The search giant on Tuesday shared details on Chrome OS, its browser-based OS that runs web apps. Gadget Lab just got its hands on a test unit of the Cr-48, a pilot notebook running Chrome OS, and we’ll post impressions soon.

Monday launched the Nexus S smartphone, made in collaboration with Samsung. It’s basically the sequel to the failed Nexus One. It comes with a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, a 1-GHz Hummingbird processor, 16 GB of storage and a battery rated for 6.7 hours of talk time.

Alongside introducing the Nexus S, Google announced its latest upgrade for the Android OS codenamed “Gingerbread.” It’s an incremental upgrade that improves copy-and-paste and cleans up the UI, among other changes we summarized in an earlier post.

In more Android-related news, Samsung recently reported it sold 1 million Galaxy Tab tablets. That’s quite impressive, and it shows that Google and other manufacturers aren’t too far behind Apple in the new tablet market after all.

We wrap up the show with a quick look at the Boxee, a $200 set-top box that plays web-streamed video. Dylan wasn’t a fan of it.

Like the show? You can also get theGadget Lab video podcast on iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out theGadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video oraudio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast No. 96

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Google’s Android boss Andy Rubin showed of a prototype Motorola tablet running the forthcoming tablet-friendly version of the Android OS, version 3.0 Honeycomb at the All Things Digital “D: Dive Into Mobile” event.

The tablet runs on an NVIDIA dual-core 3D processor (unspecified by Rubin) and looks to be around seven-inches in size, or maybe a little bigger. Rubin starts off showing a new super-fast vector-based version of Google Maps which not only allows a quick two-finger swipe to enter a 3D building-view, but also loads way faster thanks to those vectors. Currently, Google Maps uses image tiles, which is why you do so much waiting on a slow connection. Vectors are way smaller in file-size and are infinitely zoomable, staying crisp all the way.

Google has warned tablet-makers off the current version of Android because it’s not designed for their larger screens, leading to tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which comes on like a giant cellphone. Android 3.0 Honeycomb will be the first tablet-ready Android OS, and it sounds like Google is taking the same approach as Apple, making “universal” apps that run on both phone sand tablets.

These apps will pack two different views. On a phone, you’ll see one screen at a time, much like you do now. On a tablet, these views will be shown together. From the video, it looks like the tablet view will be somewhere between the iPad’s one-screen view and a desktop like approach, with several windows (from the same app) on-screen together. The actual layout will be up to the app’s designer.

This looks like it will be Google’s reference design. Rubin says that his team partners with a hardware maker and a chip maker to build the reference device, whether it’s a Nexus phone or a tablet. He gave away no details about availability, but when pushed by D’s Kara Swisher on the subject of price, told her that the tablet in his hand had cost around $10,000. Snap!

Googles Andy Rubin Shows Off Prototype Motorola Tablet [All Things D]

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Oh, the shame! Here’s a picture that handily illustrates the biggest problem Android faces: fragmentation. Not only are the phone makers modding the interfaces willy-nilly, and carriers adding in unremovable crapware, but even the hardware buttons can’t seem to stay in the same order. Here’s a photo-illustration by Flickr user Andrew Wood showing the embarrassment of variations:

(Eagle-eyed readers will note that the Droid 2 image is wrong, and should actually match the Droid Pro, not the original Droid).

Even Google can’t seem to make up its mind. You’d think that the canonical Google designs would show some consistency, but as you can see, the Nexuses 1 and S swap around the home and search buttons.

Now, you might point out that most people don’t care. Most people are used to big changes from handset to handset, and most people don’t even know that they have an Android phone they just have a Droid phone or a Galaxy phone. And you’d be right: people are used to putting up with a lot of crap when it comes to cellphones. What this really tells us is that the designers don’t care, and that Android is thought of by the phone-makers as little more than a free way to make their hardware boxes actually do something. It may be a great OS, but that doesn’t mean the phone makers don’t hate you.

I’ll leave you with this fantastic comment from Geoff Douglas, on the Flickr page for this photograph: “Mobile phones should frustrate people. They always have. Google are ensuring this fine tradition remains alive and well.”

Android Button Comparison [Flickr via ]

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Google on Monday announced its new Nexus S phone, which runs an upgraded version of the Android operating system dubbed Gingerbread.

Gingerbread (Android 2.3) mostly adds refinements to older features, such as faster text input and an improved copy-and-paste tool. However, there are also some brand-new additions to the OS, such as internet telephony and near-field communications.

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new in the OS, courtesy of Google’s Android developer center.

Near-field communications

The OS ships with an NFC-reader application, which can read NFC tags. (For a full explainer on NFC, read Wired’s 2004 article.) This addition has bigger long-term implications: If a bunch of smartphones ship with NFC chips, then merchants could potentially use Gingerbread-powered devices to read their chips as a substitute for the credit card. So the idea is you’d be able to pay for everything with your phone.

Support for front-facing camera

The built-in camera app will now support a front-facing camera, if the Android device has one. (That’s cool, but Google probably should’ve added this before HTC shipped the Evo 4G smartphone with a front-facing camera.)

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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By Ryan Paul

Google has revealed Android 2.3, codenamed Gingerbread, a new version of its popular mobile platform. It introduces a handful of modest user interface enhancementssuch as a more refined touchscreen keyboardand brings some noteworthy performance improvements that are largely intended to boost Android gaming.

Alongside the release of Android 2.3, Google has also announced plans to launch the Nexus S, a new smartphone that was developed in collaboration with Samsung. Much like Google’s Nexus One, the new phone in the Nexus series will be available unlocked with a pure Google experience. The unlocked version will be sold at Best Buy for $529 without subsidy, and T-Mobile will be selling it on contract for $199.

The aptly named Nexus S looks like the love child of the Nexus One and the Samsung Galaxy S. The touchscreen-only device has a four-inch curved “contour” Super AMOLED display, 1Ghz Hummingbird processor, 1GB of internal storage, and a 1500 mAH battery rated for 6.7 hours of talk time. The handset showcases some of the new hardware features of Android 2.3, such as support for near-field communication (NFC), which can be used for close-range contactless data exchange.

Sales of the original Nexus One fell far below Google’s expectations, leading the company to characterize the device as a failure and withdraw it from the general consumer market. Although it never achieved mainstream popularity, it attracted a loyal following among third-party developers and Android enthusiasts who valued its relative openness compared to other Android-powered handsets.

As a Nexus One owner myself, I think there is a very clear need for Google to continue offering its own handset that isn’t encumbered by carrier lockdown, crapware, and tacky user interface customizations. The latest addition to the Nexus line handily fulfills that need.

Android 2.3 features

Google has polished the Android user interface and developed a new visual theme with a simpler palette. The keys on the onscreen keyboard have been spaced out a bit in order to enable faster typing and better accuracy. Taking advantage of multitouch input, Google has made it possible to use the shift or number toggle keys as modifiers that can be pressed concurrently with other keys. The platform has gained native support for draggable text selection, similar to the implementations we have seen on certain Motorola and Samsung Android devices.

Google has finally conceded the need for manually quitting applications. In Android 2.3, the application manager tool has a “Running” tab that lets the user terminate individual applications and see how much system resources each running program is consuming. This feature will be conveniently accessible from a menu item on the home screen, largely obviating the need for users to install third-party task management tools.

Other significant new features include SIP support (which allows users to make voice calls to SIP addresses over WiFi), better support for devices with multiple cameras, support for more media formats (including WebM), and a built-in download manager. There are also a lot of improvements on the performance front. A new concurrent garbage collector in Android’s Dalvik virtual machine will be less invasive and help avoid stuttering, accelerated event handling will make input processing more responsive, and updated graphics drivers will improve 3D performance.

The new version of the Android SDK brings a lot of improvements for game developers. Google has exposed more sensors and input controls to native code, allowing games to receive and process input events more efficiently. Google has also introduced much-needed native audio APIs and has added support for managing the application lifecycle from native code. For games that run closer to the bare metal, all of these new native APIs are a major win. We will be looking more closely at these APIs in a follow-up article.

Although it’s an incremental upgrade rather than a full overhaul, the changes in Android 2.3 are compelling and bring some much-needed polish to the platform. For additional details, you can refer to Google’s official announcement.

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Apple banned an iPhone magazine app because it contained content related to using Android phones, according to the app’s creator.

Apple refused to approve the magazine Android Magasinet, a publication about Google’s Android OS, according to Brian Dixen, managing editor of Danish magazine publisher Mediaprovider.

Dixen said when he asked why, an Apple executive replied, “You know… your magazine… it’s just about Android…. we can’t have that in our App Store.”

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

File this under “trivial” for now, because it’s questionable why an iPhone owner would want to read an Android magazine in the first place. However, Dixen said he’s concerned about the implications that this incident poses about editorial independence in the App Store. I’d agree the implications are more concerning than the end result: As I’ve argued before, the issue of Apple’s editorial control is poised to grow as the iPad matures into a major publishing platform.

From Fortune

Photo: laihiu/Flickr

Brian is a Wired.com technology reporter focusing on Apple and Microsoft. He’s also writing a book about the always-connected mobile future called Always On (publishing April 2011 by Da Capo).
Follow @bxchen and @gadgetlab on Twitter.

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Acer, Europe’s favorite budget computer maker, has jumped into the tablet game. Introduced yesterday, and available in April, the 7 and 10-inch tablets will both run the Android OS, and both have the slim body and foolishly long widescreen display we have come to expect since the Galaxy Tab arrived.

The ten-incher has a capacitive multi-touch 1080p screen, Wi-Fi and 3G, HDMI-out, a 5MP rear-facing camera plus a front-facing webcam. This all runs on a dual-core 1GHz processor, and is tucked inside a thin, 13.3mm shell (just over a half-inch). There’s also a gyroscope for gaming.

The 7-inch tablet has a 1280×800 screen but is otherwise the same.

Acer hasn’t said which version of Android the tablets will use, but the assumption is that it will be the made-for-cellphones v2.2 Froyo rather than a purpose-designed tablet Android OS. The most important factor in this race is price, and while nothing is yet confirmed, Acer’s senior vice president Jim Wong said that the tablets will be between $300 and $700. That’s a big “between”: $300 spells success, $700 disaster.

It’s funny that the brand-new tablet market has already turned into a commodity race to the bottom. It’s netbooks 2.0, only with Android instead of Windows XP, and with touch-screens instead of keyboards. If we have learned anything from the iPad it’s that the operating system is the most important part, something that seems to have slipped by Acer and Samsung. When the proper, vertical hardware/software devices from HP (WebOS) and RIM (PlayBook) show up, then the tablet market will heat up.

Live and interact in total mobility [Acer Press Release]

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