According to Boy Genius Reports, there is speculation that the new iPhone could be launching on June 18th. This is speculation is all based on the mere fact that sales quotas for the month of June are apparently sky high which could only mean that the new iPhone is set to come out some time in June. BGR also says that the release of the device would have to be somewhere in the middle of the month because if the launch was towards the end then the stores would not be able to meet the 25%-30% increase in the quotas that they see for the month of June.

[Via BGR]

Today Sprint released the first 4G phone in the form of the HTC Evo 4G. The hardware specs of this phone are really good with a 1ghz processor, 8mp camera and also a front facing camera running android. However, from some of the reviews that I have read of the device the battery life SUCKS!!! Here are some of the specs from the press release for those who have not had a chance to look at the phone yet:

HTC EVO 4G features the increasingly popular Android platform, Android 2.1, offering more than 50,000 apps, as well as a mind-blowing list of features, including:

• Simultaneous voice and data capability in 4G or Wi-Fi coverage areas, enabling Web surfing and more during conversation
• Offering a new way to search with pictures instead of words, Google Goggles™ works with everything from books, DVDs and barcodes to landmarks, logos, artwork and wine labels
• Superfast 1GHz Qualcomm^® Snapdragon™ processor, ensuring a smooth and quick movement within phone menus
• Two cameras – an 8.0 megapixel auto-focus camera with HD-capable video camcorder and a forward-facing 1.3 megapixel camera
• Built-in mobile hotspot functionality allowing up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices to share the 3G or 4G experience on the go with a laptop, camera, music player, game unit, video player, or any other Wi-Fi enabled device
• Integrated HD video capture with the ability to capture and share live video via the Qik Web site, Facebook^®, YouTube or Twitter™
• Ability to easily watch video with the device on an HDTV via an HDMI cable (sold separately)
• Custom Web browser optimized for the 4.3-inch display and Sprint 4G speeds to deliver a full, no-compromise Internet experience
• A handy kickstand built into the back, making it easy to watch videos on-the-go
• Adobe Flash technology ensures that rich Internet content, such as embedded video and animation, are displayed the way they are meant to be seen
• Pinch-to-zoom and automatic text reflowing provide easy Web page views

Apparently its free with a new contract.  I don’t think I have ever seen a smartphone debut as free with contract. This might be the first phone.

[Via: Endgaget]

I am in the market for a new phone now since the mic on my Tmobile touch pro 2 took a dump and while looking over some phones over at Wirefly I noticed that they had the Kin one and Kin two for a decent price with contract on Verizon. I have Tmobile so this wont work for me but I figured I would pass this on to someone else if they are in the market for a new phone on Verizon network and like the Kin phones.

The Kin one is actually free with a new contract and free shipping as well. This is the cheapest I have seen the Kin one but other places like Best Buy have it for free also but with mail in rebates which can be a pain in the rear end. You do need a data plan with the phone and the cheapest data plan is $30 but you have to get a data plan no matter where you buy the phone. If you haven’t seen the Kin one or don’t know what I am talking about look that this review over at testfreaks.com by our very own Kristofer.  Link to Wirefly site.

Wirefly is offering the Kin two for just $39.99 with contract and free shipping. You need a data plan with this phone too and again thanks to our own Kristofer we have a review of the Kin two at Testfreaks.com. Link to Wirefly site.

If anyone has a kin one or kin two let us know what you think about it.

Says i am on Tmobile data but I don't have a data plan

Almost a year ago I wrote an article “Best Instant Messaging Client” and back then I claimed that Palringo was by far the best IM client out there and till this day I feel that Palringo is the best. Since my article,  the Palringo team has made a lot of changes to the software making it faster, simpler, and easier to use. However, I recently stumbled upon another feature of Palringo that makes it even more awesome, It works without a data plan or a text messaging plan!!!!!!

Recently, I left my phone in my car and went on a 15 mile bike ride around a lake where I live and when I came back to my car I notice the “new Palringo message” icon on my top task bar and thought that it was weird because I do not have a data plan on my phone and my WIFI is turned off. However, my data connection was turned on. I don’t have a data plan but  my cellphone does show the 3G, H, or Edge icons whenever it connects. So, I called Tmobile and asked them to make sure that I do not have a data connection and they confirmed that I do not have a data plan and that they do not see any data usage of any sorts from my phone. I thought maybe it is using my text messaging plan but I continued to use Palringo when I am not at home and don’t have a WIFI connection and did notice any increase in my text message usage. Look at the Images below to see what I am talking about (After the break).

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Yesterday Sirius XM Radio announced that their new Android application will be available for free. Currently Sirius XM is offering a free 7 day trial of their Premium Online Service with the download of the app. Sirius XM provides users with over 120 channels of exclusive sports, talk, entertainment, news, comedy and commercial-free music over cellular and WiFi networks. Also those who already have subscription to SIRIUS XM Premium Online subscriber or subscribes to the Company’s Premium Online service in conjunction with their satellite radio subscription do not need to pay extra for the Android service.

You can get the app by visiting www.siriusxm.com/android

I was reading ESPN today and I came across a news headline that said, “Padre makes right call — appendicitis via iPhone” and I thought to myself, “What an interesting story…. I wonder how the iPhone was responsible in diagnosing appendicitis. Maybe it is some sort of special app.” I clicked on the story and quickly figured out that it was total crap and had nothing to do with an iPhone. Here is how the iPhone was used according to the article:

Not only can he pitch, it turns out he can diagnose maladies, too. Stauffer had called up a medical website on his iPhone, entered his symptoms and came up with what could be appendicitis, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

REALLY??? No sh*t any web enabled phone can do that and it is not something specific to the iPhone, so I don’t understand why “via iphone” needs to be added to the title of the article. This is not the first news article I have seen where the mere use of an iPhone has made the story news worthy.

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Here is an interesting drawing/ photo editing app that showed up at XDA-Developers thanks to menos. Some of the current feature of the app are:

* Drawing
- Pencil
- Rectangle
- Circle
- Callout
- Text Typing
- Stample tool – e.g. for watermarking your image, Stamping icons…etc
* Image Editing
- Resize
- Crop
- Convert to B&W
- Convert to Sepia
- Rotate Left & Right
- File-type Conversion
- One step undo is possible
* Supported File Type
- JPG (By saving JPEG image, you have a possibility to limit image size – good for preparing images for uploading to some WebSite that has file size limitation)
- PNG
- BMP

Some of the issues with the app so far are that it does not support landscape mode, does not pull images that are in subfolders unless you move them to phone from your SD card, memory hungry process and it is not as finger friendly as I was hoping. Overall, it is a good app to do some quick editing of images and then being able to email them or upload them right from your phone. To download the app head over the the XDA-developers thread.

I usually like to browse the internet, check my emails or respond to an email before I go to bed but usually by that time my phone is pretty much out of battery. I plug it in to the charger but the cable seemed really short and the wall outlet was not in a good location so I had to stay on on one side of my bed and could not roll around :). So to fix this problem I took a USB extension cable I had lying around the house and connected it to the charger and then connected the cable that came with the charger to the USB cable and TADA! I had a charging cable that was twice as long.

Here is what the USB cable looks like: You can get a 10ft!!! cable if you want for for $0.06 + shipping on Amazon

This only works for people who have HTC phones that came out after the Fuze because HTC started using the detachable USB cable after the fuze. It might work for our favorite Iphone as well but I am not sure. I am sure one of you can tell me if it works for the Iphone chargers too.

OpenMobileMaps is an app that is being developed by Cipher over at XDA. This app is very similar to GoogleMaps but it relies on openstreetmap.org. Some of the features of this app are:

• showing map in fullscreen
• finger friendly user interface
• map tiles are automatically downloaded if internet connection is available
• map tiles are stored locally for offline use
• GPS support and GSM triangulation
• show actual position on map
• follow-mode to automatically scroll the map
• search addresses (testing)
• calculate routes (not yet implemented)
• gps and gsm tracking (not yet implemented)
• choose between different OSM servers (not yet implemented)

Download this app here. It is still a work in progress. So try it out and give the developer some feedback at his XDA thread.