Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Peripherals, Wireless, Storage

Frustrated by somewhat sluggish transfers from your otherwise spectacular Eye-Fi card? Fret not, as the company has just announced a forthcoming update at Photokina that will reportedly enable new and existing Eye-Fi owners to make “the upload of digital photos from camera to computer twice as fast.” Also of note, as of October 5th, users can even add features that aren’t already included on their card and renew annual services by tapping into the updated Eye-Fi Manager Web application. In related news, the outfit will be pushing its wares to Japan and Canada by the year’s end, and in even more related news, Eye-Fi now supports direct photo uploads to Apple’s MobileMe and the AdoramaPix service.

Read - Eye-Fi getting 2x faster
Read - Eye-Fi going international

Permalink&nbsp|&nbspEmail this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

While there was a flurry (actually, a full on snowstorm) of news today about the G1, there’s a few bits of info you might not have heard, largely because no one is reporting them. We had a chance to speak with T-Mobile CTO Cole Brodman after the event today, and he had some illuminating — and frankly refreshing — takes on some of our more pressing questions. When asked about what T-Mobile’s reaction would be to users creating tethering or unlocking apps for the phone, he was surprisingly even-keeled, noting that while the company didn’t encourage the practice, they wouldn’t lock down the OS or update the software to break those applications. Our impression was that as long as their use was relegated to a small percentage of owners, T-Mobile likely wouldn’t take action, though he did voice concerns over tethering apps and their effect on the network, with a clearly guarded eye to letting users have free reign. More interestingly, buyers would be able to have access to a “contract free” G1 (with a price point of $399), and could unlock the device with T-Mobile’s blessing after 90 days. Brodman also said that the company’s policy of unlocking phones for customers in good standing wouldn’t change for this phone.

Continue reading T-Mobile’s CTO on G1 unlocking and tethering — plus a few details you might have missed

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/T_Mobile_G1_first_hands_on_with_Googlephone’; Yep — there it is. We finally, finally got our mitts all over the very first Android device, the T-Mobile G1 — hanging out in the crowd, waiting for the official announce, naturally — and so far we like what we see. The phone is surprisingly thinner than we thought it would be, and it feels pretty solid in your hand (though they’ve opted for an almost all plastic device, no metal here). The keyboard seems usable and reasonably well thought-out, and the slider action is like butter, with a nice little swoop for good effect. But really, the pictures tell the whole story, so check out the gallery below!

Update: We′re adding another gallery as we speak. Here’s some initial observations: the browser is much choppier than the iPhone’s, there seem to be be two separate mail apps, one for Gmail and a separate IMAP app, and there seems to be no multitouch functionality. Check out the gallery below for a lot more views, and we′ll be updating this as necessary!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

Yep — there it is. We finally, finally got our mitts all over the very first Android device, the T-Mobile G1 — hanging out in the crowd, waiting for the official announce, naturally — and so far we like what we see. The phone is surprisingly thinner than we thought it would be, and it feels pretty solid in your hand (though they’ve opted for an almost all plastic device, no metal here). The keyboard seems usable and reasonably well thought-out, and the slider action is like butter, with a nice little swoop for good effect. But really, the pictures tell the whole story, so check out the gallery below! (Once it’s done uploading.)

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

9:49AM ET: We′re here, and we′re waiting out front for the big party to start. Stay tuned for more info as it happens!

Permalink&nbsp|&nbspEmail this | Comments

Original post by Joshua Topolsky

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Official_Amazon_MP3_comes_on_G1_Android_phone’; It’s true, Amazon just announced that its MP3 music store will be pre-loaded as an application on the T-Mobile G1. Users will be able to search, download, buy and play music from Amazon MP3 — that’s a selection of 6 million DRM-free MP3 songs from all four major labels and many independents. The pre-loaded Amazon MP3 application provides G1 owners with a phone-optimised view of the Amazon MP3 store — WiFi is required to search, browse, listen to samples, and buy tracks at a cost of around $0.89 with most albums priced between $5.99 and $9.99. How you like them Apples, Apple.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Cellphones

It’s one thing to appear on a website before being officially outed. It’s another to have a web portal designed specifically for a handset. On the eve of its official debut in the Big Apple, T-Mobile has launched the definitive G1 website, complete with a G1 logo, the time and date of tomorrow’s press event, a few tabs sure to be chock full of juicy details just as soon as said event closes, and most importantly, a pre-order button (of sorts) in order to sign up for what we can only fathom to be a notification of availability. 10:30AM tomorrow morning — we’ll be there, you′ll be there.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones

Just a reminder, we’re going to be at the Android and T-Mobile event tomorrow morning, so be sure and set your alarms. You can (finally) expect the big unveil of the first commercially available Android device (we don’t want to ruin it, but it’s going to be the G1 — or Dream as we used to call it). We wanted to give you another heads up so you’ll know where and when it’s going down. Pertinent info below.

Where you’ll need to be:

Live from T-Mobile’s Android event in New York City

Time zones:

04:30AM - Hawaii
07:30AM - Pacific
08:30AM - Mountain
09:30AM - Central
10:30AM - Eastern
03:30PM - London
04:30PM - Paris
06:30PM - Moscow
11:30PM - Tokyo

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones

If you’re feeling those butterflies-in-the-stomach over next Tuesday’s Android and T-Mobile announcement, hold tight. We′re going to be there live, blogging away like you know we do and hopefully handling (or at least seriously photographing) the first official Android phones. We wanted to give you a heads up so you’ll know where to be, so join us at 10:30AM EDT for all the good news!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Why wait for next Tuesday’s grand unveiling? Well, the short answer is that most of us have no other option — but a small handful of exceptionally lucky individuals are getting their Android on just a little early. This particular example of the ˇ (or Dream, Nightmare, Slumber, whatever the hell it’s going to end up being called) allegedly hails from a Google staffer, looking a little less… shall we say, “controversial” than other shots have made it out to be. Yeah, we’re jealous, we admit. Anyone want to give theirs up for a few hours?

[Via Talk Android]

Read | Permalink | Email this&nbsp|&nbspComments

Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

How convenient, T-mobile. That $199, Android-flaunting, 3G HTC G1, to be officially unveiled next week, is supposed to start selling on October 17th, just when the carrier plans to flip the HSDPA switch on eight new markets: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle. T-Mobile plans to follow those up with Birmingham, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Memphis and Tampa by the end of the year, covering about two-thirds of its customers with 3G before 2009 rolls around. It’s been a rough few years for the T-Mobile faithful, but it looks an end is in sight — at least for the urban among us.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Cellphones

With under a week to go before the HTC Dream is officially unveiled in the Big Apple, the Wall Street Journal has given us something juicy to gnaw on for the time being: a price. Unsurprisingly positioned to compete directly with the iPhone 3G, the Android-powered HTC Dream / G1 will go for a cool $199 (with 2-year contract, obviously) when it launches on T-Mobile, though there’s no word yet on what it’ll run sans subsidization. So, how do you like dem Apples?

[Via Fortune]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve already been hearing that the HTC G1 (otherwise known as the Dream) would be landing on T-Mobile in late October, but VentureBeat now claims that it has further pegged the actual release date down to October 17th (it’ll apparently start shipping on the 13th), which would be a tad earlier than most had expected. What’s more, the site is also citing “multiple sources″ claiming that Sprint’s own Android phone will “definitely” be out by 2009, and that it will have “other functionality” than the Dream / G1. Ah, the endless cycle of speculation. Place your bets, folks.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

So it’s really no big secret at this point, but we′ve now received confirmation that T-Mobile will be unveiling its first Android handset — presumably the Dream, G1, or whatever they decide to call it — at a press event in New York City on September 23. The event is a whole shindig, too, kicking off in the morning and featuring “presentations from T-Mobile, Google and other company executives” followed by hands-ons with the real deal. Naturally, we’ll be on hand in full force, so stay tuned!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Cellphones

It looks like Google was doing its best to spread Android fever in London this morning, with it taking advantage of its Developer Day event to show off a working Android phone for the first time in Europe. While Google apparently wasn’t quite ready to take all the wraps off the suspiciously Dream-like handset itself, PC Pro reports that it looked “far more polished” than it did in earlier leaked videos, and that by all accounts it was actually a “finished commercial device.” Google’s Mike Jennings was, on the other hand, more than eager to talk about the OS, and he even dropped a tantalizing “why not?” when asked if Android could be used on devices other than phones. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any video of the event available, but you can check out a few first hand reports by hitting up the links below.

Read - TechRadar, “Google shows off final Android handset″
Read - PC Pro, “Android handset hits London”
Read - PC Pro, “Will Apple or Android get in my pocket?”

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Donald Melanson