In their latest tests across 13 cities, PCWorld has found that, AT&T’s download speeds were 67 percent faster on average than those of the other three largest U.S. wireless providers–Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

As per the test results, AT&T has significantly improved in all areas as compared to the tests that were conducted last spring. 

AT&T’s average download speed increased to 1410 kbps as compared to 818 kbps previously. In terms of network’s reliability PCWorld testers obtained a usable broadband connection with AT&T, 94 percent of their attempts. This number was only 68 percent last time around. For more info visit PCWORLD

Motorola and Verizon Wireless have announced their new Android OS based smartphone called the Motorola Devour. This is the 2nd Android based phone from Motorola following the very popular Motorola Droid. The Motorola Devour to be available in March, will be the first Verizon Wireless phone to feature MOTOBLUR which is Motorola’s unique Android-powered content delivery service created to make wireless phones more personal and customizable. Like the Motorola Droid, which debuted to much fanfare in November, the Devour has a touch screen that slides away to reveal a keyboard.

Devour’s unique feature is the MOTOBLUR which is the first solution to sync contacts from work and personal e-mail services, including Gmail™, with posts, messages, photos and more from popular sites such as Facebook®, MySpace and Twitter. With MOTOBLUR, content is automatically delivered to the home screen and fed into easy-to-manage streams.

Service plans:

To get the most from Motorola DEVOUR, customers will need to subscribe to a Nationwide Talk or Nationwide Talk & Text plan and a Data Package for smartphones. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access, and Nationwide Talk & Text plans begin at $59.99 monthly access. A Data Package for smartphones is $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.

Technical Specifications

PHYSICAL

• DISPLAY TYPE: 65k TFT
• COLORS: Silver with black accents
• MATERIALS AND FINISH: Extruded aluminum design
• WEIGHT: 5.89 oz.; 180 grams
• SIZE (H X W X D): 61.0 x 115.5 x 15.4 mm
• DISPLAY SIZE: 3.1-in.; HVGA (320 x 480 pixels)
• ANTENNA TYPE: Internal
• FORM FACTOR: Slider Side slider
• MEMORY: 8 GB microSD pre-installed
• ACCELEROMETER: Yes
• NETWORKS: CDMA 800/1900 EVDO rev A
• REMOVABLE MEMORY: supports up to 32 GB microSD

CAMERA

• MEGAPIXELS: 3 MP
• DIGITAL ZOOM: Continuous
• FOCUS: Fixed
• IMAGE EDITING TOOLS: Cropping, rotating, Geo Tagging

INTERFACE

• NAVIGATION TOOL: Touch sensitive navigation pad
• OPERATING SYSTEM: Android™ 1.6
• QWERTY KEYBOARD
• TOUCH SCREEN
• VOICE COMMANDS

MOTOBLUR

• CALLER ID: On main display, Picture ID, Ringer ID, social network status
• PHONEBOOK: Synchs personal and work contacts, and connected social networks via MOTOBLUR
• PHOTO SHARING: MySpace, Photobucket, Picasa™, Facebook™
• CUSTOMIZABLE HOME SCREEN: MOTOBLUR’s Happenings, Status and Messaging widgets deliver status posts and more. Customizable RSS news widgets keep you up to date.
• MESSAGING: Facebook™, MySpace and Twitter Direct Messaging

PERSONALIZATION

• RINGTONES: Preloaded and downloadable
• WALLPAPERS:Preloaded and downloadable

MUSIC & VIDEO

• MUSIC PLAYER: Native music player
• VIDEO CAPABLE
• VIDEO CAPTURE
• PLAYABLE FORMATS: AAC, AMR, H.263, H.264, MP3, MPEG-4, WAV, WMA, WMV, MIDI, AAC+
• STREAMING MEDIA: Video
• VIDEO CAPTURE RATE: 23 fps

POWER

• up to 389 min. continuous usage time
• BATTERY TYPE: 1400 mAh Li Ion
• STANDBY TIME: up to 443 hrs.

MESSAGING

• TEXT MESSAGING (SMS): Yes
• EMAIL: Corporate (Exchange), Gmail™, IMAP, POP3, Attachment and browser document viewer (Microsoft Office® and pdf), HTML email composer
• MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING (MMS)
• INSTANT MESSAGING (IM): AOL Instant Messenger®, Windows® Messenger and Yahoo!® Messenger, Google Talk™
• VOICE MAIL: Standard Voice Mail, Visual Voice Mail

CONNECTIVITY

• WEB BROWSER: Android HTML Webkit with Adobe Flash Lite®
• BLUETOOTH® TECHNOLOGY: Stereo Bluetooth® technology, Class 2 + EDR (supports profiles A2DP, HSP, HFP)
• WIFI: 802.11 b,g
• DATA TRANSMISSION RATE: USB 2.0 High speed
• DATA ACCESS: Yes
• CONNECTOR TYPE: Micro USB
• DLNA (DIGITAL LIVING NETWORK ALLIANCE): Share content wirelessly with other DLNA equipped devices
• GPS AND LOCATION SERVICES: AGPS
• HEADSET JACK: 3.5 mm
• MOBILE PHONE TOOLS
• MOTOROLA MEDIA LINK

INTERNET AND GAMES

• WEB ACCESS: Android Market

CALLING

• SPEAKERPHONE
• NOISE REDUCTION: Dual microphone noise cancellation
• PHONE BOOK: MOTOBLUR syncs personal and work contacts, and connected social networks

CARRIER FEATURES AND SERVICES

• VERIZON WIRELESS: V CAST Music with Rhapsody®, Visual Voice Mail, V CAST Video, VZ Navigator

GOOGLE MOBILE SERVICES

• ANDROID MARKET™
• GMAIL™
• GOOGLE MAPS™
• GOOGLE TALK™
• GOOGLE™ SEARCH BY VOICE
• YOUTUBE™

The rumored Google Phone is finally here with leaked pictures making headlines all over the Gadget world. The Google Phone (NexusOne) is believed to be a HTC phone running on what else Google Android OS. It is rumored to be a unlocked GSM phone without being locked in to any carrier and is expected to be available sometime in January.

As for the hardware the Google Phone looks thinner than the iPhone, has no keyboard, and two mics. The mic on the back of the phone helps eliminate background noise, and it also has a “weirdly” large camera for a phone. The phone will run on a Snapdragon chip, will have a super high-resolution OLED touch screen. An advanced voice-to-text feature is supposed to let you dictate emails and notes by speaking directly into the phone.

Check out some more pictures…

    [Images source: BGR and engadget]

A new version of the Google Mobile App for the iPhone has been updated and more importantly approved by Apple for the AppStore. In this new version Google has modified the design such that moew results are shown at once. And also when you click the search results link the web page will open within the application unlike the older version where the web page was launched on safari.

Google has also improved the voice based serach by providing a feature where you can choose or set your spoken language or accent via the Voice Search settings. New language support has been added for Mandarin and Japanese.

If you don’t have Google Mobile App yet, download it from the App Store or read more about it.

yfrog makers of video and image sharing site for Twitter have released 2 new apps: yfrog for Blackberry and yfrog for Android. With these apps you will able to easily share photos and videos on Twitter directly from your Android or BlackBerry phone and the best thing about these apps is that they are available for free.

yfrog App for Android Features

• Tweet images and video to twitter
• View tweets
• View followers and people you’re following
• View messages and mentions
• Search Twitter
• Queue multiple uploads
• Included GPS location with upload
• Unlimited uploads
• Videos up to 15 minutes
• High quality video encoding

Installation:

• Navigate your Android phone to
  http://toolbar.imageshack.us/android
• Follow the on screen instructions

Yfrog App for Blackberry (OS 4.2 and Up) Features

• Tweet images and video to twitter
• View tweets
• Search Yfrog
• View followers and people you’re following
• View messages and mentions

Download and Install:

Download directly to Blackberry

• Navigate your Blackberry device to
  http://toolbar.imageshack.us/blackberry
• Follow the on screen instructions

Download via PC or Mac

• Pick the correct OS below. See this chart if you are not sure
• Download for Blackberry OS 4.2 or OS 4.7
• Extract the file contents
• Open the Blackberry Desktop Manager. The Download Manager can be found here
• Open the Application Menu
• Click the add(+) button
• Locate the YFrog.alx file previously extracted

Samsung Omnia II is a Windows Mobile 6.5 OS based smartphone that features a widescreen AMOLED touch screen at 3.7 inches, delivering brilliance in clarity and color. It also features a 5 megapixel camera, 8GB of internal memory expandable via microSD plus standard features like Wi-Fi 3G on EV-DO network, stereo Bluetooth, access to social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

The distinctive characteristic of the Omnia II is Samsung TouchWiz user interface. Revamped and now with more features, TouchWiz 2.0 makes it easier for users to access their apps and multitask. This smartphone uses touch interfaces for the majority of interactions and it comes with an on-screen Virtual QWERTY Keyboard for messaging.

One unique feature in Omnia 2 is the use of Swype technology for the virtual keyboard, which enables users to type using continual motions instead of tapping each individual letter. Instead of pecking at individual keys, Swype lets spell out a word by dragging your finger on the keyboard from letter to letter. Swype’s algorithm then does its best to figure out what word you’re trying to input; it also automatically enters a space after you complete a word

Samsung Omnia II Gallery

Samsung Omnia II Features

• 3.7" WVGA Display with AMOLED Technology
• Virtual QWERTY Keyboard
• Widget Tool Bar with One–Touch Access to Facebook®, MySpace and YouTube™
• Online Widgets
• Up to 16GB microSD™ Optional Removable Memory
• Bluetooth profiles (V 2.0+EDR): Headset, Hands–free, Stereo, Serial Port, Dial–up Networking, Object Push for vCard and vCalendar, File Transfer, Basic Printing, Basic Imaging, Phonebook Access and Human Interface device.
• 5.0 Megapixel Digital Camera/Camcorder with Flash, digital zoom, and video recording capabilities
• Brightness Adjustment
• Self Timer: Off, 2, 5 or 10 Seconds
• Color Effects: None, Black and White, Antique, Sepia, Negative, Green, Watercolor
• Shooting Mode: Single, Continuous, Smile, Mosaic, Panorama, Action
• Resolution Adjustment: 2560×1920, 2048×1536, 1600×1200, 640×480
• Digital Zoom
• Shutter Sound Selection
• Video Editor
• Embedded Ringtones, Vibrating Alerts and Silent
• Visual Voice Mail capable
• Voicemail
• Opera™ Mobile Browser 9.5
• HTML Web Browser
• Bing Search
• Text, Picture and Video Messaging with Threaded Messaging Feature
• Swype and xt9 Predictive Texting
• Mobile Email and Mobile IM capable
• Windows Mobile Device Center and ActiveSync
• Windows Mobile® 6.5 Professional
• Microsoft® Office Word Mobile, Excel®, Mobile, PowerPoint® Mobile, and MSOneNote Mobile; Adobe® Reader® LE PDF Viewer
• View, Edit, Create Word and Excel files; View only PowerPoint and PDF files; View, Extract, Create ZIP files
• Personal Organizer: Calendar with Scheduler
• Tools: Alarm Clock, World Clock, Calculator, Memo, Tasks, Unit Converter
• Smart Reader: BizCard, Document, Translation and Image
• FM Radio
• Phonebook capacity dependent on available memory
• Speed Dialing
• Voice Dialing
• Voice Command capable
• Speakerphone
• RSS Reader
• Podcast
• Digital Frame
• Wi–Fi capable (802.11 b/g)
• Media Player
• Mobile Broadband Connect capable
• TTY capable
• GPS/E911
• Assisted GPS and Standalone GPS
• 3.5mm Headset Jack
• Airplane Mode
• Hearing Aid Compatibility = M4

Samsung Omnia II Technical Specifications

Network

• HSDPA 7.2 Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps
• EDGE/GPRS 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz
• UMTS 900 / 1900 / 2100MHz

Display

• 65K WVGA AMOLED Display (3.7”, 480 x 800)
• Advanced R-type Touch Screen

OS

• Windows Mobile professional OS 6.5

Camera

• 5 Megapixel CMOS / Auto-Focus / Dual Power LED
• Face Detection / Smile Shot
• Mobile Blogging / Geo Tagging / Photo Editor

Audio

• Audio Format Support (MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA)
• WMDRM, OMA DRM 2.1 / Find Music (Music Recognition)
• Bluetooth® Stereo Headset (A2DP)
• FM Radio with RDS / 3.5 earjack

Video

• Video Format Support (DivX, XviD, H.263, H.264, WMV9, MPEG4)
• Video Recording & Playing (30fps@ D1(720×480))
• Video Editing (Trim video, Audio dubbing, Live dubbing, Add subtitle)

Value Added

• A-GPS with Navigation (3D Map) / LBS

Features

• TouchWiz 2.0 UI with Mobile Widget / 3D Media Gate
• Multi-task manager / 3D Interactive Games

Connectivity

• Bluetooth® v 2.0 / USB 2.0 / Wi-Fi

Memory

• Internal Memory : 2GB/8GB/16GB
• External Memory : microSDHC™ (up to 32GB)

Size

• 118 x 60 x 11.9 mm

Battery

• Talk time : Up to 10 hours (3G)
• Standby time : Up to 430 hours (3G)

After Samsung announced its new Samsung Omnia II touch screen smartphone back in July, Verizon has now begun selling it just in time for the Christmas holiday season. Samsung Omnia II is the 2nd Windows Mobile 6.5 OS device for Verizon after the HTC Imagio. The Omnia II features a large 3.7-inch AMOLED display with WVGA resolution, TouchWiz 2.0 UI and 3D effects.

It also features a 5 megapixel camera, 8GB of internal memory expandable via microSD plus standard features like Wi-Fi 3G on Verizon’s EV-DO network, stereo Bluetooth, access to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Verizon will also be loading the device with its proprietary apps for mobile music, video, navigation, ringtones, and other services.

Verizon is offering the Samsung Omnia II for a $200 price tag after rebates and a new two-year contract.

Dolphin Browser has been updated to support multi-touch for the Motorola Droid. Previous versions of the web browser supported only the HTC Hero and customized Cyanogen Android firmware. Along with enhancing your web browsing experience with multi-touch, Dolphin Browser also has some very good features for Social networking and others.

Dolphin Browser features:

Share Instantly with Social networks

Easily share what you find on the web with your friends. Post web pages and status updates to Twitter and Facebook with a single click!

Connect to people with your interests

Comment on web pages that you visit, and find out who else is visiting the page at the same time.

Follow the trends of the Internet

Easily access a daily updated list of the most popular pages on the web. Stay up to date with the world and discover what others are enjoying.

Enjoy Pages from your Friends

Discover what your friends are viewing online, and discover their interests.

RSS detection and subscription

Dolphin checks every page you visit for RSS feeds, alerting you when one is found, and allowing you to instantly subscribe to it through Google Reader.

Sync with Google bookmark

Sync your local bookmarks with your Google Account. Access your favorite pages from your computer on your phone.

Save a link and read it later

Easily save pages for later viewing, without cluttering your bookmarks.

Smart address bar

New Address bar that features auto-completion as you type, not only from your bookmarks and history, but also from Del.icio.us, Dolphin’s list of most popular sites, and Google.

Easy access to common features

Access to the most common features at the press of a button.

Quick access to Google services

Dolphin adds one click access to all of Google’s web applications, including Google News, Google Docs, Google Task, Blogger, and many more.

All-in-one start page

Dolphin adds a start page featuring easy access to your history, bookmarks, the most popular pages, Google services, your read-it-later list, and Del.icio.us links.

Fast windows switching

Quickly switch and close windows with a beautiful and intuitive interface.

Best Buy this Thanksgiving will be offering Palm Pre for $79.99. This offer is available only for 3 days beginning Black Friday. This pricing starts on Black Friday for in-store purchase. If you can’t wait till Friday you can start shopping early online on Thursday. This offer is of course tied with a 2-year contract.

When the Motorola Droid was released on Android 2.0 OS, it was the only device that had the Google Maps Navigation App (Beta) as a free feature of Google Maps. This was disappointing for owners of devices like the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and the G1 because these devices came with older version of Android. But today Google has announced that they have made the Google Maps Navigation App available for use on devices running Android 1.6 (Donut) and higher.

For starters Google Maps Navigation is a GPS navigation system with voice guidance and automatic rerouting all running on your mobile phone. This application works by using your phone’s data connection. You can type in or speak your destination (voice-activated navigation available only on 2.0) on the phone.

It shows you business and live traffic data with satellite and Street View imagery along your route. View My Maps, transit lines, Wikipedia articles about places, and more. This release also has the new layers feature that allows you to add geographical info on the map. To download this app just go to the Android market.

Check out the demo below: