Android

For now, the dust has settled following Sony's back-to-back announcements, starting with the NGP and now this past weekend's Sony Ericsson Xperia Play unveiling. Regardless of how one might feel about the position Sony is attempting to secure in the portable gaming market, there are more ramifications that may not be present on the surface.

Portable gaming is no longer a two-console market. Five years ago it seemed Nintendo and Sony would battle to the death with the DS and PSP. Now, in a portable gaming market that has expanded to the world of "waiting room" casual games, the iOS and Android platforms have proven themselves worthy of bringing legitimate competition. Categorize these mobile OSes how you will, but they are directly affecting the sales of gaming-focused devices.

In an effort to bring some sort of familiar gaming experience to the core gamers who might be sick of sliding and tapping their way to victory, Sony felt the need to develop the first-ever PlayStation Certified mobile smartphone in the form of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play--a device running Android 2.3. Though it may seem like a trivial detail of just another OS on a mobile device, Sony has chosen Google and Android as an ally in what's becoming a serious portable gaming turf war.… Read more

Preorders of the Motorola Atrix 4G are already in progress, but if you've been waiting to check out the dual-core Android smartphone and its laptop dock in stores, you only have a few more days to wait.

AT&T said today that the Atrix 4G will be on sale in stores on February 22. Meanwhile, preorders will be shipped for delivery on February 21. If you opted for an in-store pickup, you can stop by an AT&T store on February 21 as well.

The price of the handset is $199.99 with a two-year contract. You … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--A host of hot new Android phones from Samsung, LG Electronics, HTC, Sony Ericsson made their debut at Mobile World Congress 2011 here this week, but it was the relatively venerable iPhone 4 from Apple that was named the show's best mobile device.

The iPhone 4 is months old and early on suffered notable reception problems. Its maker didn't even come to the show. But the influence of Apple, reaching all the way from Silicon Valley to this cosmopolitain event, was clear.

The iPhone 4 was lauded by judges for its "great screen, sharp design, fantastic … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Here's another reason besides video chat that you might want a front-facing camera on your next mobile phone: controlling it by waving your arm or moving your hand.

This type of touchless gesture interface is coming to mobile phones from top-tier handset makers this year, promised Ofer Sadka, chief technology officer of a start-up called Extreme Reality based in Herzeliya, Israel, that's commercializing the technology.

In the Texas Instruments booth at the Mobile World Congress show here, he demonstrated two variations of the gesticulation-sensitive interface being used to flip through a photo gallery. One used close-range hand gestures, including rotating a fist to zoom in and out.

The other was from several feet away--it's got an 8-meter range--and used more sweeping arm motions, an experience more akin to Microsoft's Kinect game controller. … Read more

Motorola, attempting to expand its brand among European customers, today announced retail partners that will carry its upcoming Android-based Xoom tablet.

Among those partners in the U.K. are The Carphone Warehouse and its ally Best Buy, along with Dixons Retail, with its Currys and PC World chains. In addition, Deutsche Telekom will carry it in "selected markets," Motorola announced at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona.

The Xoom, with a 10.1-inch display, will mark the debut of the upcoming version 3.0 "Honeycomb" edition of Google's Android operating system, which is tailored … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Though we've seen enough new smartphones from Mobile World Congress to last us a while (or at least until next month's CTIA), we used the last day of the show to check out what ViewSonic and its trio of parrots had to offer.

The company that has brought us so many displays is making a further push into the mobile space after debuting its ViewPad 4 last month at CES. Though the ViewPad 4 blurred the distinction between phone and tablet, the company's new device in Barcelona is firmly in the smartphone camp.

The ViewSonic V350 … Read more

If you've been disgruntled by a dearth of widgets in Google Reader for Android, today's news might pacify you.

Google issued three new features and support for Russian translation today in its Reader app. Two of them are widgets. You can now mark a previous item as read, a feature first found on the mobile-optimized version of Reader online.

As for the widgets, one will display the number of unread items on your home screen and take you there when you select it. The other widget is a larger-size news ticker you can selectively filter. It, too, will … Read more

Despite the Nokia and Microsoft headlines at the start of the show, this year's Mobile World Congress was definitely dominated by Android. Most of the 15 or so smartphones that were announced in Barcelona, Spain, sported either 2.2 Froyo or 2.3 Gingerbread, which is music to our ears. Here's a list of all of the smartphones that were announced at Mobile World Congress 2011.

LG Optimus 3D: Yes, it's 3D on a phone! Though we're not sure if it's for everyone, it's certainly an impressive leap in the mobile space.

Samsung Galaxy S II: Samsung continues its Galaxy S series with the superfast and shiny Samsung Galaxy S II.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Sure we had our misgivings about its Super Bowl ad, but the Xperia Play does look like a decent phone. But will it be the true "PlayStation Phone" that people might be expecting? We'll see.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo: Sony Ericsson released other smartphones too, like the Neo with the 3.7-inch touch screen.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro: This is the Neo with a slide-out keyboard.

ZTE Skate: ZTE releases its first "jumbo phone" with a 4.3-inch display, but it only has an 800MHz processor and a 5-megapixel camera.

ZTE Amigo: ZTE also announced a couple of other Android phones. The Amigo has a slide-out keyboard and a 3.2-megapixel camera.

ZTE Blade: The ZTE Blade does not have a keyboard, but just a 3.5-inch touch screen. It does run Android 2.1, but ZTE promises it is upgradable to 2.2.

Huawei Ideos X3: Huawei gets in on the Android action, too, with the Ideos X3, which promises to run on 2.3 Gingerbread. … Read more

There are two stories that star the Samsung Galaxy Indulge.

In one (the romance-adventure), the intrepid Indulge is MetroPCS' first smartphone foray into 4G territory. What's more, the humble Android 2.2 Froyo handset goes on to become the world's first commercially available LTE smartphone. Cue the crescendo!

In the other (the dystopia,) the Indulge is a good-but-not-great Galaxy S phone that's costly even for a non-contract phone. At least, it isn't sensational when compared to its premium cousins like the Epic 4G.

Our anti-hero's 4G also doesn't appear to be as fast in … Read more