T-Mobile just announced a very sweet Android phone that has features that are making a few of us here at Gear Diary stand up and take notice. What makes it such an attractive phone? Read on for details.

The T-Mobile G2x (by LG), not to be confused with the T-Mobile G2 (which has a hardware keyboard), is definitely an interesting handset. Some of the key features that Francis and I find interesting include:

• Two Processors – NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual-Core 1 Ghz processor
• Two Cameras – an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and autofocus, and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera
• Support for T-Mobile

Here’s a change from what we saw at Mobile World Congress, HTC has today announced three new US devices, and one of them happens to be a Windows Phone 7. Two of the devices are for Sprint, and only one is for AT&T. Let’s take a look at the HTC HD7S first, and then we’ll check out the EVO 3D and the EVO View 4G…

HTC HD7S [AT&T]

I’m glad to see an upgrade to the HD7 being released, but I’m surprised that this was the only Windows Phone 7 HTC announced — and it was on AT&T instead of T-Mobile (the carrier that the original HD7 debuted on). I guess if you aren’t on AT&T, there is no upgraded HTC Windows Phone goodness for you … yet, anyway!

The

Later today you’ll be able to buy the HTC ThunderBolt from Verizon for $299 with a two-year contract; yesterday I received a review unit, and I have spent much of the day (and evening) getting acquainted with it. The 4.3″ WVGA screen is beautiful, and it’s immediately reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite devices, the HTC HD2. You’ll likely hear quite a few comparisons to the HD2 as I work my way through this post and the resulting review, because more than any device since its introduction, the ThunderBolt feels like the HD2′s worthy successor.

The ThunderBolt is hefty! It measures 4.75″ tall… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

OK, not totally free, as always you’ll need to be a new customer or eligible for an upgrade – and sign on to a 2-year contract. Still, the Pre 2 is a great phone with excellent features, and is supposedly going to get the Web OS update later this year allowing for the cool features HP showed in their media event a few weeks ago!

Head on over to the HP Wireless Store and get your Verizon Pre 2 Upgrade for FREE!

I have wanted to like Android for quite some time. I really did. I kept trying device after device hoping that the next device would be “the one”. Sadly, that never seemed to happen. Even with those devices that I initially liked I found myself growing tired of both the device and the operating system within a relatively short period of time. As a result, the Android handsets I purchased ended up on eBay within a relatively short period, and those that I had received as loaner review units went back without any remorse on my part. Yes, I wanted to like Android, but none of the smartphones I tried were able to win me… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Beyond hamming it up with wandering oompah bands at Mobile World Congress, Helena and I managed to  get hands-on time with some of the new devices and technologies that will be causing a stir in 2011 and beyond!

HTC’s New Android Devices

HTC won me over with their lovely new ChaCha. After using the BlackBerry Bold for a week, with its tiny little keys that I never got used to, the generously sized keys on the ChaCha, along with its softly curved body … I so wish that my Tru SIM had been installed in one of these babies.

A number of us here at Gear Diary quite like HTC products.  Heck, I even had one myself for a while before I got my iPhone.  Apparently, though, we’re not the only ones:  GSMA has chosen HTC the “Device Manufacturer of the Year” award, beating out rivals like Samsung, Apple, Nokia, and all the rest.  Pretty impressive, honestly.  I’d go on about HTC devices, but heck, why don’t you just read about the award below?

HTC Corporation, a global designer of smartphones, has been honored this week with the highest industry honor as ‘Device Manufacturer of the Year’ by the GSMA at its Global Mobile Awards ceremony in Barcelona.  The award follows a year of global

Helena and I were able to spend some time at the HTC VIP lounge this afternoon, time that was well spent fondling the six devices introduced by HTC earlier today. Of course the one that most captivated us was the 7″ Flyer, HTC’s new tablet device. It will be shipping with Gingerbread instead of the newer Honeycomb, which seemed odd given that all of the other tablets and the majority of new phones we’ve seen have featured the newer version of Android. If it means that we can get our hands on it sooner (and that there might be a future update possible), then I suppose I can’t complain.

Contrary to what I… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

As expected, HTC made a big showing this morning by introducing six new Android devices — the  HTC Flyer, HTC ChaCha, HTC Salsa and next generation HTC Desire S, HTC Wildfire S and HTC Incredible S phones. I hope to have hands-on pictures and impressions direct from the MWC showroom floor later today, but in the meantime, here are the press releases and stock photos.

I’m a little worried about the Flyer tablet; it looks a bit thick in the included photo, but I love that it will have a 7″ aluminum unibody …

HTC

I wanted to put in a quick mention for Tru, the service that offered to send me an international BlackBerry Bold 9700 to use for Mobile Congress Week along with their Tru SIM. The ultimate goal is that we’ll compare what I would have spent on the same amount of Tru usage versus AT&T’s best international rate (since they are my regular carrier) after Mobile World Congress is done.

Here’s where it gets even better, though. DHL came through and got the BB Bold to me before I left. Because Tru was worried that it wouldn’t arrive in time, they also sent a BB Bold via DHL to Helena’s and my hotel in Barcelona. When… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

CES saw the release of the new Sony Ericsson Experia Arc, but tonight we got to see three new Experias: the neo, the pro and the long-awaited PLAY — the Playstation phone. Oh my.

I had a chance to attend the press conference where these were introduced, and a moment to fondle all three.

The Experia neo: The phone I am most excited about personally is the neo; it has a beautiful screen and an amazing camera that works well in even the worst lighting situations. This phone is very media focused, and it comes equipped with HDMI support, an 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera. The camera… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Imagine this situation. The phone rings with the caller id displaying your significant other. You gladly answer the phone but the voice on the other line sounds strange. The caller id never lies, so you believe it is who the phone says it is. A horrible, sinking feeling comes over you as the caller confesses to cheating with your best friend, complete with gory details. Your life is instantly falling apart with feeling of rage, sadness and confusion overwhelming you as the caller laughs and hangs up. Later, the complete conversation is found for all to see on Facebook with you as the victim. Believe it or not, this is all possible with a… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Last week when a video of a woman falling into a fountain at a Pennsylvania mall showed up everywhere, it was interesting … especially since I first noticed it on Windows Phone Thoughts where it was highlighted as ‘Windows Phone 7 Ad Comes True’.

Microsoft, you might recall, has a new phone generation out (you are forgiven if you missed it, and the 40 people who bought them will probably not notice), and their commercials show people completely immersed in their phones to the point of missing out on real life. Here is the mall security video showing the event:

Fortunately, you can immediately see that the person wasn’t seriously… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Doing news items as I often do, I am constantly tempted to throw in words that pull traffic (“Natalie Portman”!), just to, ya know, pull traffic.  But I don’t, because I have some standards, durn it!  Also, Judie would yell at me.

But I’m fortunate in that I get to use one particular word that both can pull traffic, and doesn’t make Judie mad.  Free!  Yup, FREE!  (It’s very similar to “fee,” but less taxing.  Ha!  A tax season joke!  Get it?  Taxing?  No?  Back to the news  U.S. Cellular is offering Samsung Messager Touch, Motorola GRASP and LG Mystique for free.  (Sorry:  FREE!).  I’m not entirely sure why U.S. Cellular is calling these… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

It’s kinda interesting to me, the coincidences life sometimes tosses at you.  Like this particular news piece, for example  Just today, as I plowed through my Twitter feed, I followed a link to a post talking about the supposed fragmentation of the Android market, and whether that’s a bad thing, a good thing, or a neutral thing that one simply has to accept in an open platform environment.  I have no opinion, not being one of Gear Diary’s resident Android folks, but it’s a fascinating discussion.

And then I started to do this news piece . . . about a new Android phone!  Funny old thing, life, eh?

In any event, Alltel and LG are getting together to… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...