Verizon's HTC Incredible May Be Closer Than You Think

Confirmation has set in. A word from sources at Verizon Wireless announced that the highly anticipated HTC Incredible is supposed to begin arriving at Verizon stores in two weeks. This isn't that surprising considering the fact that Verizon recently announced that it was beginning a test deployment of Android 2.1 to the Motorola Droid smartphones. Android 2.1 is the OS that is speculated to power the Incredible.

Android 2.1 has a lot of cool features. It adds pinch-to-zoom in the browser, better voice-to-text support, animated wallpapers and tweaks to Google Maps. The Droid is already operating under the Android 2.0 OS but received a slight bump up to the Android 2.0.1 OS through an over-the-air update. But most people are focused on the HTC Incredible, which may turn out to be the slickest Android handset on the market.

According to most reports on the device, the Incredible will boast a 1GHz Qualcomm QSD 8250 SnapDragon ARM CPU as well as 512MB of DRAM, exactly like the Nexus One. Different from the Nexus One, the Incredible's CPU will be underclocked to 768MHz. Some people may frown on the underclocking but even so it should prove to be more than enough speed to run almost any app as well as providing longer talk time than the Nexus One.

The Incredible comes with an 8-megapixel camera with a noticeably larger lens than that of the Nexus One. The camera does make the Incredible ever so thicker than the Nexus One coming in at 117.5x58.5x11.9mm. Another rumor floating around about the Incredible is the addition of 6GB of flash, a microSD expansion slot and an FM tuber with a standard 1300 mAh battery. What carrying the Incredible could mean for Verizon is that they may hold off on the Nexus One for now. However, Sprint is wasting no time on getting the Nexus One out on the its powerful 3G network.

A lot of people are excited for the HTC Incredible. It looks like major U.S. networks besides AT&T have, for the most part, abandoned the Apple iPhone. Most companies are now hotly pursuing the deployment of new Android handsets. The next iPhone is supposed to come out this summer and could see a substantial challenge from the Nexus One an Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile as well as the HTC Incredible on Verizon.

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Google's New Gesture Search for Android

Google has announced that it has created "Gesture Search," a feature that allows users to search through files on their Android smartphones by tracing a letter such as "A" on the phone's screen. It's supposed to learn from your search history to improve your search quality and is currently available for phones that run Android 2.0 or higher. This is just one of many things Google has done recently to increase its smartphone operating system's viability in the current market. It also comes as companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Apple have been working to create various forms of mobile search for their smartphones.

The features works well with Google's Nexus One, which uses Anroid 2.1. Other phones are supposed to upgrade to 2.1 throughout the rest of the year, including the Motorola Droid. It allows users to search their contacts, applications, bookmarks, songs, and other items.

And if your handwriting isn't too neat, that's okay. If you draw an "A" that looks like an "H," results from both letters will be displayed. If you need to erase something, just swipe your finger horizontally through the query.

You can download the app from Android Market and as for now, it's only available in English. The app joins the recent release of Google Earth for Android 2.1, which allows users to access places on a map via voice-recognition. It also allows users to see satellite and 3D views of almost any place on earth, just like the web version.

Google entered the smartphone market with the release of the Nexus One in early January.

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Google Voice Comes to iPhone

Google has announced that it has revised its Voice software so smartphone users can access it through their web browser, instead of having to download and install it like most other apps. It allows customers to make long-distance calls over the internet (cheaper than they might be able to with their phone) and provides you with an alternate dialing pad, as well as the ability to listen to voicemail from your browser.

Even though iPhone users may be excited, chances are, Apple is not. In July of last year, Google accused Apple of trying to block Google Voice from being distributed through the App Store. Apple said it was not blocking the application, but that AT&T (iPhone's carrier) had a provision in its contract that forced it to reject all internet calling programs that do not originate within the cellular network. However, AT&T denied this. The spat prompted an FCC investigation.

Many think Apple is simply feeling the heat of competition from Google, as the two companies start to overlap markets. In early January, Google began selling its own smartone, the Nexus One.

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Top Smartphones for Small Business

As a business owner, it's important to be connected if you want to be successful. You're not just working 9:00 to 5:00, your job is your life. With this in mind, smartphones are becoming more and more popular for SMB owners and their staff to stay in touch 24 hours a day. But how do you know which one to choose?

Well, Enterprise Mobile Today has figured out their own little formula to narrow down what they consider the "Critics' Choice Top 5 Smartphones." The list is generated by checking out websites with smartphone reviews and seeing which ones receive consistently good reviews and high ratings. According to the article, CNET, Consumer Reports, LAPTOP Magazine, PC Magazine, and PC World's ratings were all used to generate the list.

The list is at follows:

1. Apple iPhone 3GS

Carrier: AT&T

Why it's good for business: it's fast, powerful, has a large selection of apps, and works well as a computer.

2. Motorola Droid

Carrier: Verizon Wireless

Why it's good for business: it has a large, high-quality display, free GPS navigation, it's fast and has a long battery life.

3. Research in Motion Blackberry Bold 9700

Carrier: T-Mobile and AT&T

Why it's good for business: it's slimmer and more attractive than other Blackberry models, and has a great display, keyboard, and optical trackpad.

4. Google Nexus One

Carrier: T-Mobile

Why it's good for business: it's fast, sleek and slim, has lots of extra features, and enhanced voice capabilities.

5. Motorola CLIQ

Carrier: T-Mobile

Why it's good for business: its design and construction are high-quality, as well as excellent call quality, speakerphone, a great keyboard, cloud-based PIM data backup, and syncs with Microsoft Exchange.

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Nexus One Gets Multitouch Hack

When the Nexus One first came out, Google called it their "super-phone" and for the most part it was a very good device. But it was missing one thing that completely shocked most people, multitouch. Being the flagship phone, you would expect it to be decked out with every conceivable thing you could think of and yet, no multitouch.

Google, along with it's partners, have been bouncing back and forth with the idea of multitouch and there is definitely logic behind which of their devices receives multitouch and in which markets. But to not give it to the Nexus One seemed a little absurd to most people.

When asked about seeing multitouch in a future Nexus One update, Android chief Andy Rubin simply said, "we'll consider it." That's it, just a consideration? Well for many people out there the words "we'll consider it" just aren't good enough and instead of walking around and complaining about it some people have taken matters into their own hands.

Senior member Cyanogen over at XDA has successfully hacked the Nexus One browser and added multitouch to its functionality. So now everybody can have multitouch on their Nexus One just like we had hoped for! Reports from users who have already attempted the hack have stated that the browser "is working pretty well and is not too laggy". This is making some headlines across the net and people seem to be excited to get their hands on the guide. One thing people should know though is that by attempting the hack, you will lose all of your settings and bookmarks which seems like a small price to pay for getting multitouch on your Nexus One. Check out XDA for Cyanogen's detailed guide on the hack.

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First Look at the Google Phone

Well it seems Google isn't going to be satisfied until it has something in every aspect of your life. Its most recent attempt to slowly take you over comes in the form of the Google Phone, otherwise known as the Nexus One. Information on the Nexus One is scarce and scattered already but we do have a few details on it as of now.

The Google phone will have an updated OS which features some new 3D elements added to the application tray. In addition to that there are also a ton of new homescreens. However, with the lock screen/mute seems to be exactly the same as that on the Android 2.0.1. A new grid icon has been added to the bottom of the screen. The grid icon, when pressed, pops up a webOS card-style preview of every single homescreen which brings up some very interesting possibilities.

The Google Phone has been confirmed as the Nexus One on the system info page and there even seems to be a new software update for the device. The Nexus One is running on T-Mobile, that much is clear. It will also use WiFi so there are some more answers to the slew of questions about this device. The Nexus One is loaded, to nobody's great surprise, with Google Navigation as well as the totally new Google Goggles.

The Nexus One was spotted trying to sneak through the FCC earlier today under the name "NEXUSONE" and model number PB99100 built by HTC. Thanks to this little bit of filing, we have some more details on the device. Thanks to the filing we can confirm that the Nexus One will have microSD expansion, 802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. But that isn't even the best part. Looking at the radios the Nexus One will have quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE with UMTS/HSUPA. A little too technical for you? This just means that the Nexus One is a 3G device capable of not only 2Mbps up but also 7.2Mbps down.

Looking deeper at some more FCC posts about the Nexus One, we can see that from the bands listed (I, IV and VIII) that the Nexus One is definitely a T-Mobile device in the US with applicability on some European networks. AT&T looks more doubtful with each report especially considering the test lab incorrectly listed 815-880MHz frequencies as part of band VIII. According to the FCC reports, WCDMA Band IV was the only one tested in the Part 22H/24E/27 Report. This makes it possible that the device is going to be HSPA 900/1700/2100 plus quadband EDGE.

This new Nexus One could very well disrupt the niche we have created for devices like this if released under certain circumstances. If it is released unlocked like its rumored to be at a reasonable price as it is hoped and with the jaw dropping user experience as it was tweeted then it may very well do just that. Look for more on the Google Phone, or Nexus One, as it arrives.

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