dial

This week, Bonnie, Nicole, and I team up to consider burning questions. Is AT&T fit to govern another company's resources, will RIM's three biggest BlackBerry World announcements pass muster, and is the cell phone holster revolution about to begin? All that and more on this week's Dialed In.

Editor's note: Due to some technical issues, the first minute of the podcast is missing, but there's plenty to discuss, so jump right in.

News

A significant update to the Opera browser's Speed Dial feature launched today in Opera 11.50 alpha (download), along with Opera Next, which includes a mechanism that makes it easier for Opera fans to automatically download under-construction builds of the browser. Opera Next will install separately and alongside the "stable" release of Opera, sporting a silver Opera logo much like Google Chrome Canary is visually distinct from the other versions of Chrome with its all-yellow icon.

The new version of Speed Dial introduces support for Speed Dial-specific extensions. Originally developed by Opera, and now in use in … Read more

While it's got Sync, tabs on top, and a menu button, Firefox still lacks one feature that all the other major browsers have in one form or another: the "speed dial." Originally from Opera, the feature is the visual implementation of your most recently or most frequently visited Web sites on the new tab page. Firefox add-ons have stepped up to fill the dial void, but implementation in each is uneven.

Speed Dial 0.9.5.8 (download) is the most robust of the four add-ons we're looking at today. It's highly customizable, offering the … Read more

Casio goes Commando, the Nexus S heads for Sprint, the Droid Incredible 2 shows up, and our jaws drop at AT&T's audacious FCC filing.

News HTC Droid Incredible 2 to launch Thursday Sprint announces Nexus S 4G for May 8 Casio G'zOne Commando heads to Verizon Gingerbread to arrive soon for G2x Where is your Gingerbread update? Digging through AT&T's FCC filing Confirmed: Google Voice for Sprint live for some Recipe for a successful Android phone

Reviews … Read more

The BlackBerry PlayBook finally arrives at CNET for review and Dialed In picks it apart to see what makes it tick. Sure, we're grumpy about a few things (like AT&T fudging on the BlackBerry Bridge app), but we did like the new tablet's browser. We also go 3D with the LG Slate, Nicole talks of her love for the LG G2x, and Sprint's CEO introduces a new eco-friendly phone while also complaining about AT&T. Bonnie was off on assignment so we didn't spend our usual 20 minutes piping her in from New … Read more

Wouldn't you know it, when our two high-tech methods for patching Bonnie in from New York failed, she had to turn to an old-fashioned desk phone to co-host Dialed In. Way to show your team spirit, Bonnie. Meanwhile, Kent breaks down the unusual, dual-screened Kyocera Echo, Bonnie lauds the HTC Sensation, Nicole picks apart RIM's chances for survival, and we all chime in to help two chat room regulars find the perfect phone across state and country lines.

News HTC Sensation 4G to heat up T-Mobile's summer; hands-on impressions … Read more

The latest stable version of Opera 11 debuts today with a faster Turbo, an expanded Speed Dial, and some plug-in tweaks. Opera 11.10 for Windows (download), Mac (download), and Linux (download), also makes a handful of other changes to the browser, notably adding in more HTML5 support, mail client improvements, an updated rendering engine, and better battery management on laptops.

The changes to Opera Turbo and Speed Dial are the most apparent changes in Opera 11.10. The Norwegian company says that Turbo is four times faster than before, and Opera spokesman Thomas Ford said that those speed improvements … Read more

Rumors of a dual-core HTC Sensation surface, plus we get a hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Prevail, take a look at the Samsung Gem, and more. Oh, and our namesake won a race! A horse race, that is.

News New BlackBerry Touch (Monaco/Monza) photos leaked On Call: No more Mr. Nice Android? Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Prevail for Boost Mobile Unconfirmed report says HTC will unveil dual-core Sensation next week Sprint MiFi 3G/4G hot spot selling for $79.99 HTC Evo View 4G an Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet? … Read more

We're all back from Orlando, Fla., and CTIA 2011, and we're joined in studio by our wonderful colleague at CNET News Maggie Reardon and our new technical producer Stephen Beacham. We have a lot to talk about in this week's podcast, including a little story about AT&T buying T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. You know, nothing major. Plus, we recap the highlights from CTIA and discuss our controversial Best of CTIA picks. So grab a seat, cell phone fans, and settle in for an action-packed episode of Dialed In.