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Google’s Android OS to appear in more than just cell phone handsets?

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Android appears set to start appearing in more than just cell phones. A few reports point the way. Although Google appears mum, one touchscreen manufacturer, Touch Revolution, says they’re working on Android-based devices for quite a few companies. Another company, MIPS Technologies, reported this week that they’ve ported the open-source Android to their architecture, which is used on their home devices.

What types of devices? Well, the sky’s the limit really. Think landline handsets, kitchen Net-appliances, DVRs, even photo frames. It’s possible some of these devices may start appearing this year.

10 Touchscreen Smartphones compared

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PC World has a nice rundown of 10 touchscreen smartphones including some upcoming models. The phones run the gamut from the iPhone to the Samsung Omnia II and all the major US carriers.

Apart from its Windows Mobile OS, the Samsung Omnia II really has a nice set of specs. Now if only it ran Android… Hey Google and/or hackers, can you get on that? Meantime, Verizon users can get their hands on an Omnia now for $99 with a 2-yr plan.

If only we here in the US weren’t so caught up in cut-throat competition, then perhaps GSM might be a standard and phones wouldn’t be locked into specific carriers. Then you could get the phone you really wanted and use it on whatever network you had. If only…

New iPhone 3G S model and OS update announced. Rolls out middle of Jun 09

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Also announced at Apple’s WWDC was the latest update to the iPhone OS to 3.0 which will come out in less than 10 days on Jun 17. Oh, but that’s not as big as the new iPhone 3G S model being released 2 days later.

The iPhone 3G S 16GB will be $199 and the 32GB will be $299, while existing 8GBers will sell for $99. New in the 3G S is a digital compass, video recording, voice control and a better camera.

Engadget has some (painfully) detailed coverage of today’s keynote with screenshots, or you can see the whole presentation on Apple’s site.

Palm Pre rolling out June 6

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It turns out the rumors were pretty true, and the Palm Pre will be available Jun 6! It will only be $200 on Sprint. Of course, you’ll have to sign up for a 2-year contract, but that’s not surprising.

Here were some of our thoughts on the Palm Pre when it was announced at CES.

Although most folks seeing the Pre at CES were pretty impressed, a user on the EverythingPre forums wasn’t quite as complimentary. Of course, we’ll get a better idea once thousands of people get their hands on this phone.

Rumor: Best Buy trial of Palm Pre Jun 7

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Just a rumor, but it’s possible that in a month, you may see a limited # of Palm Pre units at Best Buys across the country. And they really mean limited – only 4500 units. Quite possible that some locations may only have 1 unit. That doesn’t seem to make sense to me at all, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.

The other part of the rumor is pricing: New customers with a 2-year contract, $199.99. Existing customer upgrades, $299.99. Outright, $999.99. Here’s hoping my Sprint phone upgrade credit of $150 still applies!

via BGR.

Microsoft, Verizon to collaborate on an iPhone competitor

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Oh Microsoft, for all of your improvements and even advancements over the years, you still manage to make me laugh and scratch my head in amazement. If you really wanted to compete with the iPhone, why didn’t you start a long time, oh say when you first knew they were coming out with the device?

You have a strange habit of coming late to the game and being annoyed that your competing product doesn’t vault immediately to the #1 position.  Your touchscreen ‘MSPhone’ could potentially outsell the iPhone (especially if Apple sticks to just AT&T for a cellular network), but it’s not about to happen any time soon. Good luck – we’ll be watching what happens.

Palringo Mobile Messaging Service

Gizmo of the Day, Networking & Internet, Phones / By /

parlingoPalringo is the ‘ultimate Instant Messaging client for mobile phones and computers’. Imagine an IM service that’s a mixture of all other IMs out there, with a touch of GPS, Facebook and audio added; that’s Palringo. What makes it successful is that it’s essentially lots of very basic services bundled together to make a very useful application.

Available for pretty much any phone under 2 years old (and on any Windows or Mac computers if you so wish), the application allows you to hold multiple conversations with people on the most popular IM services out there, included MSN, Yahoo, AIM, Talk, Jabber and many more. Palringo also allows for multimedia messaging such as being able to send voice messages to other users and, of course, the standard sending of photos and videos. People can be grouped and then one message sent out simultaneously to all of them – perfect for a party announcement!

The best parts? It’s free and available worldwide – all that’s needed is a data package and away you go.

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