After using the G1 for about three months, I came to one conclusion.  The battery life just sucks.  You can’t get through a day with light use and if you are a heavy user, like myself, you will need to charge before you even get halfway through a day.  The Kanex High Capacity Battery for the G1 solves this and gives a heavy G1 user like myself all day battery life.

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I’ve been reading up on the Droid release, and I came across a post on TheUnlocker.com who have learned from Tmonews that an internal web page has been found indicating that the Motorola Sholes and Sholes tablet will both be coming to T-Mobile.  No word on when it is going to get to fans of T-Mobile or even if it’s official. The Sholes/Droid looks to be a winner of a device.  Only time will tell when – and if – this gets to T-Mobile here in the states.

With Android 2.0’s release imminent on the Verizon Droid and the SDK available it was only a (short) matter of time before someone ported over the yet to be released OS to the original T-Mobile G1. In my experience most of these ROM ports are rough around the edges and if you REALLY REALLY want the best Android 2.0 experience you’re best bet is to buy a device with Android 2.0. Until the official Android release here’s a video to satisfy your curiosity and take you on a pretty complete tour of Android 2.0 on the T-Mobile G1.

Engadget

As expected T-Mobile this morning unleashed two new phone plan categories called Even More (2 year contract) and Even More Plus (no contract). What’s surprising is that they appear to have dropped their MyFaves option which was widely available under older plans and allowed for unlimited incoming and outgoing calls to up to 5 phone numbers determined by the subscriber. These numbers could be changed once per month and many subscribers were able to use a MyFave number in conjunction with Google Voice to obtain unlimited calling at price points as low as $39. Searching the T-Mobile site for “MyFaves” brings up a description of the old feature however the links re-direct to the new plans that don’t include MyFaves. Continue Reading

T-Mobile has at least temporarily halted sales of their popular Sidekick phone. This action is in light of a likely data loss for their customers caused by events apparently connected to a recent server outage. The Sidekick is one of the few phones that is highly dependent on a remote server for storage and updating of data such as contacts and calendars. The phone is very popular with teens and also has a very large user base of hearing impaired users whose Sidekicks act as a replacement for more traditional TTY. The outage and data loss is raising eyebrows because Danger is owned by Microsoft who is therefore tasked with securing this data. A loss of user data for a pay service would be a significant black eye for the company as it looks to ramp up services to battle competitors like Google in the cloud computing market.

CNET

If you use a Sidekick. DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR PHONE OR LET THE BATTERY DIE!!! That’s the message from T-Mobile and Danger/Microsoft. Apparently that data outage last week did more than just knock everyone offline…it also hosed their servers, which means everything stored there (calendar, contacts, pictures, emails, etc) is most likely gone.

This is just a terrible situation, and it doesn’t look like there’s an offline backup solution. Hopefully T-Mobile, Danger, and Microsoft can come up with a better answer than “Oops…all gone!”, but in the meantime make sure you don’t turn your phone off! And if you don’t use a Sidekick, this is a good opportunity to remember to download a good backup application and run a backup at least once a week if not daily. Never trust that a 3rd party, even your carrier or the manufacturer of your device, can always guarantee perfect service.

Frankly, I think it’s totally unacceptable that all T-Mobile and Danger/Microsoft have to say is to not turn off your phone, but it is a Saturday night, and hopefully by early in the week we’ll see a more concrete solution or reparations for affected users. Can anyone who uses a Sidekick and has been affected comment on this? What steps, if any, are you taking to protect your data if you still have it on your device?

Via: Engadget, Electronista and Boy Genius Report

When Motorola announced their upcoming Motorola CLIQ Android phone that’s due on T-Mobile November 11, they said it would be the only phone to feature their custom Android user interface that they call MOTOBLUR. Apparently this guy didn’t get the memo and ported the ROM over to the T-Mobile G1 where he gives us a rundown of the interface.

MOTOBLUR on G1 via TmoNews

We mentioned a few weeks ago that the Android 1.6 SDK had been released for developers, and T-Mobile and Google have been rolling it out over the past few days to T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G owners. It seems that the rollout is in full force now, as I received the update recently. Read on for more information and screenshots of the new features.

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The HTC Touch Pro II is currently running $149 after 2 year new T-Mobile service contract on Amazon. The price is even higher, $349, if you go direct to your friendly T-Mobile store. However if you know the secret handshake code you can take advantage of an exclusive offer and get the phone FREE by calling 866-464-8662, press option 3 for new service, and mention promo code “Windows Mobile” when ordering. This offer is only valid via the 800# provided (offer not available at authorized T-Mobile retail stores). PS – Yes this requires a new 2 year service agreement and though the phone ships with Windows Mobile 6.1 it will be upgradeable soon to 6.5, phone also packs 3.6″ WVGA screen, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, TouchFlo.

WMDeals via SlickDeals

Over the past few days, I’ve been reading a lot on the rumors related to a Sprint/T-Mobile merger.  Honestly, I was really surprised when I initially heard this. From a business point of view, it makes tons of sense; but from a technology point of view, it really has me scratching my head.  Let’s stop and take a look at this for a moment…

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Motorola announced the addition of a new smartphone handset running the Android operating system. The Motorola CLIQ features a custom user interface called MotoBlur. The handset will be available on T-Mobile exclusively later this year. This announcement realizes the move for Motorola to Android for their smartphone handsets. More details after the break.

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Since I got my G1, I have been interested in viewing documents on my G1.  However that was not possible, except for PDF files.  I was able to quickly find a good PDF viewer in IcViewer.  However, there have been times that I would like to create a Word document or Excel spreadsheet.  Since there is no Open Office port for Android, I had to make do with some note apps, bringing the text into a document once I got back to my desk.  Once that was done, I either had to print to a PDF file to view it in IcViewer, or just not have a copy of the document on my phone.  That’s all changed now, because of Dataviz Documents to Go. Continue Reading

It’s no big secret that a new another BlackBerry is going to be hittin’ the streets soon.   We know the Storm2 is brewing, and the next BlackBerry Bold (aka 9700 “Onyx”) has been seen on the ‘net for some time.   Credit Al Saaco with scoopin’ some very nice details about the device,  which is planned for release this year on T-Mobile.

But wait, BlackBerry fans, there’s more! …

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photo credit: Victor Svensson

I first touched an iPhone in late July of 2007. I was immediately taken with this revolutionary device, and within a few days had one of my own. Like many I found the iPhone to be revolutionary. I initially got the iPhone, planning to use it as my “recreational” device by using a windows mobile handheld for work. Within a week of getting the iPhone however, it was the only device I was using in my windows mobile handheld was on eBay. Its impact on my computing life was remarkable, and with each new version of the operating system it became less and less a “smart phone” and more and more a handheld computer. When the App Store opened a little over a year ago the mobile space was changed forever.

So enamored of the iPhone was I, that for a year I owned and operated an iPhone application review site. When I left that site to put the entirety of my blogging attention here on Gear Diary, I came on board as one of the resident Apple-dedicated site members (aka “crazy fan-boys”). The overwhelming majority of my posts initially focused on iPhone apps and accessories, as well as Mac news and applications.

Over the past few months I have become increasingly disillusioned with some of the moves that Apple has made. Moreover, I have grown increasingly concerned that Apple’s insistence upon total control over the App Store and the device itself, not to mention their often shoddy treatment of developers may in the long run damage the growth and usability of the platform. Add to that my decision to move to Google Voice, and relying exclusively on the iPhone became increasingly problematic for me. Yes, I own both of the “offending” Google Voice applications that Apple unceremoniously pulled but even they don’t fully integrate with the device due to the core limitations Apple has imposed. Even in the best circumstances Google Voice has to initiate the call, call me back, and then connect.  It’s Obnoxious.

All of this led me on a search for a possible alternative device. Half a dozen devices were purchased and returned in short order, but finally – a week ago – I came upon one that is a keeper. Here’s my journey away from full-fledged iPhone-maniac to gasp… joining the ranks of the Blackberry addicts.
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Have you ever had to work when the Shuttle is scheduled for lift off and work blocks NASA TV as it’s not work related?   Need something to do while waiting for that connection in the airport?  Well SPB Software is proud to announce SPB TV for Android Phones which may help cure that boredom.  SPB TV works over 3G or wifi and can stream NASA TV and over 100 other channels right to your Android Phone.  You may never be bored again…as long as you have some of the G1’s valuable battery left!

SPB TV is available on the Android Marketplace for $9.95.