android

Samsung Captivate for AT&T available July 18

It looks like AT&T will be the first one to release one of the Samsung Galaxy S smartphones, as the carrier announced on Thursday that the Samsung Captivate will be available starting July 18 for $199.99 with a two-year contract (voice plan and minimum $15 data plan required).

The Captivate is AT&T's most feature-rich and powerful Android device to date, featuring a 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen, Samsung's 1GHz Hummingbird processor, 16GB of onboard storage, and a 5-megapixel camera, among other things. You can check out our hands-on video for a closer look … Read more

YouTube for the boob tube

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

YouTube launches a beta version of YouTube Leanback to bring the video service to your television and revamps its mobile site for easier touchscreen navigationMotorola announces the Motorola CHARM, a new Android phone for T-MobileSprint announces the Samsung Intercept, its latest Android offeringAmazon launches an online grocery store in the UKTime Magazine will stop publishing its magazine articles for free online until they are two weeks oldA new study shows that students do suffer from attention span problems after consistent exposure to television and video games

CNET to the Rescue: Rafe and Josh talk keyboards

If you're going to spend more time touching your keyboard than your spouse, you might want to put some time into picking a good one (keyboard, that is). Here are our tips for keyboards. Plus, of course, your questions answered. And the obligatory Evernote tip.

Samsung Intercept: Affordable Android for Sprint

If the Samsung Epic 4G is a bit too much for your needs , then let us introduce you to the Samsung Intercept.

Announced on Wednesday for Sprint, the Intercept gives customers a more budget-friendly Android option, coming in at $99.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The smartphone features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and, like the Samsung Moment, has a combination of touch-sensitive keys, physical buttons, and an optical trackpad.

The Intercept will ship running Android 2.1 and also includes a 3.2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS. However, it will work only … Read more

Slick chatting

Instant messaging may be a fun, convenient way to communicate, but how well these chat apps are structured is serious business. Luckily, Yahoo for Android possesses most of the ingredients necessary to make a great IM experience.

It's visually lush, not to mention easy to navigate, to update a status message, and to add new contacts. Crucially, there are also multiple ways to launch a conversation, and the app offers a combination of audio alerts and visual cues to help manage simultaneous chat conversations.

In addition to basic chatting, Yahoo has made sure to include favorite Yahoo features like … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1264: Das Faceboot (podcast)

Germany says nein! to Facebook spamming non-Facebook users. Also, Amazon gets a patent on the Barnes & Noble Nook dual-screen concept, and Netflix begins closing the window on when new movies are available for streaming. Special guest: Darren Kitchen of Hak5!

PriceGrabber releases free Android app

PriceGrabber.com expanded its mobile portfolio beyond the iPhone on Tuesday when it released its Android application. The free title, which is available in the Android Market, offers many of the shopping tools found on the company's Web site. At its core is the ability to search the massive catalog spanning millions of products from thousands of merchants. Other features include product reviews from users and experts and the capability to purchase items directly from the handset. It's also possible to create a "wish list" with your favorite products.

PriceGrabber's BottomLinePrice also makes the jump … Read more

T-Mobile turns on the Motorola Charm

T-Mobile has come under the spell of another Android device, and it goes by the name of Motorola Charm.

Available later this summer, the Charm will ship running Android 2.1 and an enhanced version of Motoblur. The latter includes such improvements as resizable widgets (much like the Droid X), better management of your social-networking streams, and the option of different power modes to conserve battery consumption.

Setting it apart from the flood of other Android devices coming this summer is the Motorola Charm's squarish design, complete with a full QWERTY keyboard. It also has a 2.8-inch capacitive … Read more

Borders launches its eBook store

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Borders launches its eBook store with reader programs for Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, and AndroidTwitter launches @earlybird to help advertisers push out limited-time deals and discountsHollywood director Kevin Macdonald and producer Ridley Scott are accepting YouTube video submissions on July 24 to turn into a documentaryBest Buy now has its own broadband serviceA project out of MIT lets you mouse around your computer mouselessly

The 411: Traveling with Android

Welcome to The 411, my new Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I'm stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.

I was wondering if you could recommend a good Android Phone with GSM capability as I travel internationally extensively. The Evo 4G and Incredible are both CDMA, so I am unable to buy due to that. Your advice on the matter is much appreciated. -- Chaitanya, via e-mail.

That's a good point, Chaitanya. As much as we praise the HTC Evo 4G and the HTC Droid Incredible, we have to admit they are not very useful when traveling abroad. When traveling, we still prefer GSM phones, especially those with quad-band support. Luckily for you, there are several good GSM Android phones, such as the HTC Aria for AT&T and the MyTouch 3G Slide for T-Mobile.

However, perhaps my favorite choice for international travelers is the HTC Nexus One. You can buy the Nexus One unlocked, so you can use it with T-Mobile or any other GSM carrier. You might not be able get 3G data speeds with it, as T-Mobile has a different 3G frequency than what other carriers' use, but you can still make and answer calls. While the Nexus One may not be as flashy as some of the newer Android phones are, it's still a solid handset with a nice screen and decent performance. Also, Google tends to push Android firmware updates to the Nexus One first, so it's nice to get the new OS features and fixes first.… Read more