Review: Altec Lansing BackBeat 903 Bluetooth Earphones

The search for the perfect bluetooth earphones is never easy, but we can certainly help with that. The Altec Lansing BackBeat 903 phones offer amazing clarity, decent battery life and a price that is way too low for a quality wireless headphone.

The most important feature of a set of headphones is the audio quality. First and foremost, this has got to be one of the strongest pairs we have used. The sound is tight, very few drops and switches flawlessly between phone and music functions. The bass is a bit light for some of our tastes, but overall the sound quality is unbelievable.

The dual-noise cancellation mic performs great while on calls and the mute button makes it full hands-free operation when you are listening away from your EVO. The integrated controls will allow you to play, pause, skip, reverse and control the volume directly from your ears.

The distance on these seems to max out around 50 – 75 feet from the handset. More electronics or appliances can cut that distance pretty well, but it’s more than adequate to leave your EVO charging in the bedroom while you journey to the laundry room.

The listening time we experienced is between 4 to 5 hours with some phone calls while we played. The source of the audio stream didn’t seem to matter to the BackBeats, as Slacker played just as long as the stock music player.

Overall, we are hard pressed to find a better phone set under $75 much less in the under $50 crowd. Our partner site, GetSmartphones.Info has the Altec Lansing BackBeat 909’s for an unbelievably low $39.99, that’s $60.00 off their regular price. We recommend ordering two at this price and use the code: freeship at checkout to get free shipping on your item. Order your set today before supplies run out on this great deal.

5 Minute App Review: Amazon MP3/Cloud Player

Amazon shocked the world yesterday with the ‘official’ launch of the Amazon Cloud Music and file storage software. The software installs on your EVO in seconds as an update to the stock Amazon MP3 program. The program provides access to the complete Amazon MP3 catalog, your cloud storage and also provides amazingly quick access to the free song of the day.

The player interface is very straight forward with your store button on the upper right corner with the playlist access directly below that. The album art is located in the center of the screen with the title located right above the artist and album name. Directly at the bottom of the screen is the shuffle, reverse, play/pause, forward and repeat buttons.

The storefront section of the player continues to play your music while you shop the new titles. The two titles highlighted on the screen are the free song of the day and the MP3 Daily Deal Album. Usually these albums are $1.99 to $3.,99 and run for 24 hours at that pricing. Selecting one of the menus brings up the item you choose.

Once selected, a category like New Releases will show you the most popular new albums on Amazon. The purchase process is simple once you are set up. Log in with your Amazon account and you can one click purchase albums to be downloaded to your device directly. If you choose to do business online, you can simply have them stored immediately on the cloud server and stream or download them to your EVO later.

Overall, the player is more than adequate and the streaming service works great over higher speed connections. We don’t recommend trying this over a 2G or weak 3G network, but on a strong 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi, the experience is perfect.

Amazon MP3: 4 out of 5  -  FREE - Available in the Amazon Appstore and the Android Market

5 Minute App Review: Diner Dash 2

In the challenging puzzle style games, Diner Dash was always a favorite, even all the way back to our Windows Mobile days. In the simplistic, yet challenging format, you are a waitress in a restaurant and have to shuffle in the guests, feed them and get them out before the next set arrives or becomes unhappy.

Game play is very simple, with guests arriving to the left of the screen. You select the pop-up box, then place them at a table. You then click them to take their order, and run it to the counter by clicking the ticket holder in the upper left corner of the counter area. Once the order is done, select the plate for the table you are going to, drop it off and start the next one. As you see a table finish, click it to collect your money, then clear the dishes by dropping them in the dish tray to the right of the counter and start all over.

As you complete each level, you will be given more tables and more sets of customers. Be careful how you seat your guests as you only have a few tables that will hold the larger parties.

Overall, we have to give this game pretty high marks, but the $4.99 price tag might be a bit steep in an era of free being the going rate for many entertaining games. We give the game play itself a solid 4 out of 5, but the $4.99 price tag only gets it a 3. We will average it out at 3.5 and call it a fun way to kill some time.

Diner Dash 2: 3.5 out of 5  -  $4.99 in the Android Market or the Amazon App Store

Evo 4G vs. Evo 3D: Should I Wait?

This is the deadliest argument you can have with a smartphone fan. Do I wait for the next generation, or do I buy the tried and tested version that’s 9 months old? As the early adopters will usually tell you, the latest and greatest is ALWAYS the way to go. As the frustrated inexperienced user will tell you, ALWAYS wait for the bugs to get worked out.

Unfortunately, waiting for the bugs to get worked out of the modern smartphone is impossible. When they fix one thing, a whole new crop of issues comes up. So, the long and the short of this argument is going to be, what are you going to use it for?

First off, spec battle…

The older 1Ghz Snapdragon in the original EVO has been out paced for quite some time. Sure, there are those that root and overclock, but at the expense of precious battery. The 1Ghz is more than snappy enough to power the device in your hand – although it will probably miss out on some amazing software in the pipeline – most notably Netflix.

The newer dual core 1.2Ghz Snapdragon in the 3D will run circles around the original, and powers the much nicer version of Sense that is included. Overall, it might be overkill unless you are a serious gamer – in which case, stop reading now. The greatest asset of the dual-core processor on the 3D is the advanced power management feature that allows both cores to power simultaneously and use different power levels between them. This means longer and more efficient battery life over a long day.

Second, the displays…

The original EVO features an 800x480 WVGA screen. The new 3D screen – besides being 3D – is 960x540 in the same 4.3” package. This keeps true with current HD TV resolutions (1920x1080) and delivers excellent playback of those Blu-Ray rips and 1080p videos from your phone’s camera.

While the qHD screen on the 3D is a great step up, it’s probably not one that is going to get noticed by the average user. The 3D functionality is something that can be shut off if you are one that gets motion sickness from the 3D experience, but overall, it’s simply amazing. Again, if you are purchasing a phone – both screens are completely adequate, but the edge goes to the higher resolution.

Third, overall functionality…

Now that we have addressed the horsepower and screen, it really comes down to what they do. Sure, the original EVO shot 720p video, but it was at 25fps, which drops some frames on playback. The new 3D is supposed to shoot at 30fps at the same resolution in 3D (one of the benefits of that dual-core processor) or 1080p in 2D. For capturing those family fun moments, you have to like the theoretical speed of that newer camera and processor. Of course, for mobile posting, you pretty well stick to 800x600 for the original which posts great to Facebook and YouTube.

The camera on the original EVO is amazing. I’ve taken some simply brilliant photos with it. With some basic tweaking and understanding how the cameras on the EVO work, you should be very happy with it. The 3D features, of course, the 3D imaging system – at 5MP – for some really cool stuff, but until we can print them or view them on our computer screens, the 3D feature seems a bit strange to have. Maybe in 12 to 24 months we all will have large 3D screens for viewing, but until then, I give the nod to the original on this one.

Media playback on both devices is stellar. The EVO 3D is rocking a slightly higher resolution for those movies, but honestly, on a mobile device it becomes more about compression than quality. The 800x480 display of the original delivers crystal clear DVD movies when compressed through programs like Handbrake. The newer 3D titles sure would be fun to watch, but would you really  want to watch Avatar in 3D on your phone. I think that battery is going to kick the bucket way too fast on that one.

Battery life… We’ll just call that one a draw and move on quickly. It’s way to early to try to think that that 230mAh they added to the 3D is going to make any difference. Just figure if you are going to do more than text and talk that you’ll need that extended battery on both.

The rest of the stuff doesn’t change much. Sense for the most part is Sense, despite the cool new lock screen that allows quick access to apps from the screen by dragging them into the locking area. The devices themselves are very similar in construction and feel. The best way to sum this one up is to see if you want the ‘newest’ or if you want a deal on the older?

Right now you can get the EVO in white for $184.99 at our partner site http://bit.ly/dLUMrQ or you can check back for when the black version is back in stock at the same price. There’s also a fantastic deal on the Samsung Epic 4G for $129.99 but that won’t last long. Great deal on that, now Froyo powered AMOLED screened beauty.

Also, don’t forget the accessories! Your EVO is just a phone without all the goodies! Shop online now for the best stuff on earth – or at least some amazing prices on headsets, memory cards and more! GetSmartphones.info is the place to go for the best deals in town – or the web…

Pandora Vs. Slacker–Fight!

Streaming music is something that everyone with an EVO should be enjoying. If you aren’t, then you should probably give one of these amazing apps a shot. When you head in to the Market, you will see dozens of options for streaming Apps. While there is not a ‘clear-cut’ favorite, we are highlighting our favorite two.

Slacker Radio and Pandora Radio both offer free and paid options for their services. Pandora offers limited skipping and 40 hours of free listening per month. Slacker offers 6 skips per station per hour and has audio commercials between songs. It does offer unlimited listening even on the free service.

Pandora charges a flat $36 per year for unlocking the unlimited time and skipping. You can also custom craft stations using Pandora’s enormous library. Slacker has two payment options to access their unlimited service. This non-commercial, non-ad service includes unlimited music and skipping for $4.99 a month or $47.88 a year.

The interfaces are almost identical between the two programs. The basic layouts feature the album art, artist name, album name, song title and player controls – skipping, like/don’t like and a pause button. Slacker features the station name at the top of the player and their magical upgrade button. Pandora has the same information, sans the station name, but includes a great “info” button in the corner.

While both options are great for streaming quality and selection, Pandora’s software steps it up a few notches by including some amazing features. Lyric searches, album and artist notes and more are included with the ‘info’ button at the top of the album art in the main screen. A major added bonus like this more than makes up for the constant banner ads flashing across the bottom of the player.

Overall, if you are looking for a completely free option that can be used everyday, Slacker is the better choice of the two. If you want to go to the paid versions, Pandora’s software is light years ahead of the Slacker player and is about $12 a year cheaper. So, if you are stingy, get them both and enjoy the unlimited ad supported music on Slacker or the limited hours on Pandora with all the bonus features.

Don’t forget to check out our newest smartphone accessories available online now at http://www.getsmartphones.info.

How To Remove The superuser.apk

So you decided to root your EVO just to get that free tethering, but now you have an issue and have to return that device to the Sprint store. You start with the simple re-flash to stock and get all your information off when – uh oh… Superuser is still listed in your app list.

Well, this is actually a pretty simple process, but without instructions, it’s a serious problem.

1) Do not try to unroot your phone until you get superuser.apk removed.

2) Simply download Root Explorer from the Market.

3) Open Root Explorer and enable “Write” by clicking the Mount R/O and switching it to Mount R/W. This enables you to change files in this program.

4) Navigate to Android > System > App >

5) Scroll down to superuser.apk, long press and select Delete.

6) REPEAT this for all superuser.apk files that you encounter.

You can now check your application list by simply pressing the Home button and pulling up your app list. Now uninstall all your ‘root’ apps, including Root Explorer, and enjoy your ‘unrooted look’ EVO. You can also perform an unroot now if you are really concerned that they will give you grief, but most of the store people only look for a few applications that are red flags.

Also, make sure to reinstall your bloatware before you return your device as missing Sprint apps are a sure sign of alteration.

Google Voice On Your Evo – Now with Sprint Superpowers!

Google Voice is an amazing addition to your Evo and with Sprint’s upcoming partnership with Google, it becomes even more powerful. By entering your Sprint number as your new Google Voice number you receive a number of amazing features that are unmatched in the industry.

First and foremost, you have the power of Google Voice calling at your fingertips. While these minutes do count against your ‘anytime minutes’, you can call many locations free, including Mexico and Canada. Discounted rates to the UK are as low as $.02 per minute. This is a fraction of what cellular minutes currently cost to call the UK or other worldwide destinations.

Next on the amazing features list is the powerful SMS tool that is incorporated in to the Voice app. Free texting is great – although not a major bonus for most EVO users. The nice bonus to Google’s voice system is that the SMS message can be forwarded directly to your Gmail inbox for a BlackBerry’esque experience.

Another feature is voice mail access from any computer. By simply enabling other phones/devices on the Google Voice site, you can forward your Google Voice number to your home, office and even your weekend getaway locations.

Call screening, blocking and grouping is another wonderful feature of this new service. You can block those annoying telemarketers, who will then receive the “Dee dee deet – We’re sorry, the number you’ve called is no longer in service” message when they call you next.

Grouping allows you to have different messages for different people when they call you. Your friends can have one message, while your co-workers get a more professional greeting.

The final feature that we will highlight is the call screening option. You can actually screen calls live and decide whether or not to answer them when the voicemail picks up. A brilliant play when you aren’t sure who is calling or if you really want to talk to Uncle Bob right now.

Overall, the merge of Google Voice and Sprint services will make life grand – especially for newer users just getting on the bandwagon. Get yourself over to http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=1205635 and get all the details now.

Sprint And Google Reach New Partnership With Voice Service

After losing out on the T-Mobile bidding wars to AT&T, Sprint made an exciting announcement in a new partnership with Google. Sprint and Google will be linking your existing cell phone to your Google Voice account. With their unlimited plans in place, this makes a very formidable plan for any carrier, and even more so for one that is so committed to the Android platform.

Some details that are highlighted are the ability to have 6 numbers ring with your Sprint/Google number, plus you can forward them to your PC as well. You can also ring certain handsets when certain people call, block unwanted callers, and screen calls in real time – picking up only when you want to.

Google Voice continues to offer free Voice Mail transcription, push notifications for Voice Mail, Text Messages and call logs, via the Google Voice app.

More information is available online at http://www.sprint.com/landings/googlevoice/?ECID=vanity:googlevoice with more details coming soon at http://www.google.com/voice/

Refurbished or Reflashed?

So, disaster strikes and you are forced to go to a Sprint store for a replacement EVO. You head in with your, what was perfect device, and they take your information and order a new one for you. Unfortunately, you are not going to get a new phone, but rather a "refurbished" model.

A refurbished phone is one that someone else had issues with, returned and got a new one or another refurb. The units that are returned are supposed to be registered, repaired and then reset to head out in to the world again. This is a pretty simple concept and usually works well. With the EVO, however, this doesn't appear to be the case.

After the horrible drop of 2011, I received my refurbished EVO and was so happy to have my phone working again. I did notice a few issues right off the bat, but they were very small and really weren't noticeable until I was side by side with another EVO.

The first issue was the minor light leak at the bottom of the screen. No big deal, but annoying. The second issue was a poor fit from the battery cover. Again, no big deal, but how did that slip past a refurbishment check? Third, and what is the deal breaker, is the earpiece is shot, and I mean terrible static and crackle. Back to the store, but not before doing a bit of research...

Reaching out in some Android Forums, I was able to track down the original owner of this phone! He said he had returned it because if the ear piece crackle and the battery cover. So, now with emails sent to HTC we await their response to see if their refurbishment department missed one or if they just plain don't fix them.

How To Destroy Your Evo Battery Life

For far too many days, blogs everywhere, including here, have been writing how to get the MOST out of your EVO battery. Well, today we tried a different challenge – how quickly can we KILL the EVO battery. So, without further ado, our wonderful scientific test…

Our test begins at 8:57 am with a 100% charged battery. We flipped on Sprint TV, Bluetooth Audio and started our 3 hour tour…

30 Minutes in our JuicePlotter grid shows us down 17% to 83% battery remaining. With the usual drop when the EVO is unhooked, this isn’t too far from what we expected.

An hour in, the battery has dropped an additional 12% to 71%. A 12% drop in the second half hour really made us wonder how long this will hold. That’s a 29% drop in hour number 1.

Now drifting into the hour and 30 minute mark, the battery has dropped below the 60% mark and fallen an additional 12%. This seems to be a pattern of about 25% per hour on Sprint TV, regardless of if you are using Bluetooth Audio or not.

Finally getting to the 2 hour mark, and surprisingly we are only down to 44% – even if we missed it in the screen capture above. A bit more severe drop, as we were down 15% in this half hour period, but it’s still holding steady at that 25% per hour discharge.

Finally, at 18% remaining at 2 1/2 hours in, the battery is done. It played TV for about 3 more minutes before the 15% battery warning kicked in and the TV stopped. So, the full battery life for a maxed out EVO is about 3 hours tops – but closer to the 2 1/2 hour side of that measurement.

We’d love to see your results of the stress test like this – email us at smartphonedeals@gmail.com and let us know how your EVO does!

More About The Battery

We get more emails asking, "How do I get better battery life from my EVO?" than you can imagine. Unfortunately, there's also just as many answers to this question and most of them will not work for everyone.

Battery life on the EVO is pretty bad. Not terrible, but not feature phone, 3 days on a charge good. Most Sprint Android devices are pretty weak in the power department, so you almost have to wonder if it's a network strength issue. Those that mention days of use on a charge are usually running WiFi when possible and turning off background data features.

Next are the ones that claim conditioning the battery worked for them. 8 hours of charging, power off, charge while off for an hour, then turn it on again and run it for 2 minutes before powering down again for another 1 hour charge. Sure, this will work for a short term solution, but as soon as you are back at using your device regularly, it will revert to the same battery issues you had before.

Our extensive battery testing did reveal some power hungry tasks that your EVO performs and some others that don't do much to its power supply. Downloading data with the screen and Bluetooth on is one of the hardest functions on the device. Slacker, Pandora and SprintTV are all programs that allow this to happen. 30 minutes of Sprint TV is about a quarter of your daily battery.

Polling email isn't a killer unless you have the mail program set to unlimited file size. That can crush your battery and you may never know why it happened - until you realize your buddy emailed over 2 songs that auto downloaded.

Screen brightness has a large effect on battery life, as does camera and video use. Your camera defaults the screen to 100% when in use, so keeping it to a minimal time on screen is imperative.

Overall, there isn't a magic fix to the battery on the EVO. If you work indoors, keep a charger handy. If you are staying in for the evening, plug it in. If you have an hour commute, then get a car charger. Getting continuous power to the EVO is very important.

For those wanting to condition batteries, don't try that cycle stuff that other sites recommend. It is a very simple process of getting a second or maybe 3rd battery and cycle charging them outside the device.

Charge battery #2 while #1 is in the phone. When #2 shows a complete charge, unplug it for 10 minutes and then plug it back in. When your external chargers says it is full again, switch and repeat. For best results you need to perform this on both batteries every few days.

Getting a larger battery is also another choice, but it will severely limit your cases and carrying options.

Visit our online partner today to order an external battery charger and spare battery while they are available. Get one today at http://www.getsmartphones.info.

Sprint Offering $125 Credit For Converts And Re-defines “Unlimited” In The Same Week

What an amazing week for Sprint. Although their $125 port-in credit has been running for some time on smartphones, the addition of the $50 feature phone port-in credit is a nice additional for those  that don’t want to have smartphones.

Another nice change this week was the inclusion of the new pricing on the Sprint website. When you select a feature phone, it lists the pricing of $69.99 on individual or $129.99 for families. The smartphone selection now reveals the new pricing of $79.99 and $149.99 respectively.

The last major news of the week is Dan Hesse’s new commercial slamming the competition for their unique definitions of “unlimited” and throttling or overcharging.

Hopefully, this is a sign of great things to come for Sprint. Remember, any great news for the Now Network is great news for the EVO owner.

Remember, take advantage of that port-in credit if you don’t have your EVO already. Get yours today at www.getsmartphones.info.

Making The Most Of Your Movies

One of the greatest features of your EVO is the 4.3” media display, but one of the major issues confronting the EVO is how to encode those movies to look their best on that amazing screen.
First off, it is very important to realize that the legal issues that surround ‘copying’ DVD’s. It is a very gray area and even the movie industry can’t decide on how to enforce their own rules. 321studios creates some of the most popular DVD Decrypter software. What this software does is simply decrypt the CSS security of the DVD and allows it to be copied to a hard drive.
Regarding the legal aspects, 321studios gave the following statement to PCMag.com, "Several courts have ruled that decryption technologies used for copying DVDs are illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but these are all lower-court decisions that influence but don't dictate the results of the 321 Studios case. Since the issue is still being litigated, whether it's legal or illegal is unclear. Though there is a small theoretical risk of criminal prosecution under the DMCA, the movie and recording industries typically pursue commercial users rather than consumers.""
So, while it may not be ‘legal’ in every essence, more and more studios are now including the ‘digital copy’ for mobile devices. The software itself is not allowed to be sold, so getting your hands on the decrypter software can be a bit difficult, but not impossible.
The next piece of the puzzle after mirroring the ‘cracked’ movie to your drive would be encoding it to fit the EVO. There have been many format arguments and other stylistic differences between the blogs, but these seem to work great for us.
Best encoding software – HandBrake – FREE - http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php
HandBrake is a great mobile video encoding software. It records mainly to an iPod format – m4v video. Although the m4v format may look strange to your mp4 player, they are actually identical. When you set your file location, you can simply change the extension to .mp4 and they play flawlessly.
Without further ado, here are there optimal settings for the EVO after days, months and well, months of testing…

Set the video to 640 x 368 with the Keep Aspect Ratio box checked.

Then select the video tab, and change to the MP4-File. Select the MPEG-4 (FFmpeg) codec. Then select the Avg. Bitrate (kbps) and type in 400. This sets your movie to 400kbps in a great size and format.

Finally, select the audio tab, and change the bitrate to 160. If you save these settings you can use them over and over again without having to change them every time you use HandBrake.
The average 2 hour movie will be around 500MB and give you stellar quality. Get that 16GB card rolling to your door today, a nice set of bluetooth earphones, and maybe that extended battery to enjoy more than just one and you will be all set. You can order all the supplies you need for enjoying your movies today at GetSmartphones.info.

Updates, Rooting and ROMs?

One of the most popular topics in the Android blogs right now is if the EVO will receive that coveted Android 2.3 update? Gingerbread, as it is officially known, would be the 3rd official update for the EVO. While getting the newest updates are always wonderful, the differences in functionality between the current 2.2 and the newer 2.3 are very minimal to the everyday user.

Features like VoIP, front camera support, motion sensing and larger screen support are all new features in Gingerbread that will make little difference to the EVO’s functionality. Front camera support has been built in by HTC since day one. Larger screen support will be of no help as the EVO’s display is 800x480 and won’t be changing any time soon.

The jump from Android 2.1 to 2.2 delivered the largest performance boost to date. The Dalvik compiler for 2.2 delivered speeds of 2 to 5 times faster for cpu heavy programs. The 2.6.32 kernel also allowed support for devices with more than 256MB of memory on-board. The 2.2 update also delivered the Apps to SD installation for the first time.

Other features included in the jump from 2.1 to 2.2 can be seen on the 2.2 platform page located here.

Basically, the talk of jumping to Gingerbread would be a very, very small performance increase if any at all. What the EVO community would benefit from the most is the updated Sense interface directly from HTC.

What Would A Sprint/T-Mobile Merge Mean For The Evo?

 

With the craziness of the internet comes rumors galore and articles are published with a furry that rivals jackals around a downed wildebeest. Of course, all of these ‘rumors’ need to be taken with a grain of salt, but usually there is a bit of truth to them. Just like the once rumored Verizon iPhone, 3 years later, the rumors came to pass with the release of the CDMA iPhone4.

The newest barrage of major rumoritis surrounds Deutsche Telekom (the parent of T-Mobile USA) selling their interest in T-Mobile USA to Sprint/Nextel for a simple controlling interest in the new company. The biggest issue that would face a merger of the number 3 and 4 carriers is the incompatibility of their networks. T-Mobile currently operates a GSM/HSPA+ network and Sprint is running CDMA/WiMAX. This creates a logistical nightmare not unlike the one that Sprint is still working through after their 2005 merger.

Overall, the short-term affects of a deal of this magnitude would be rather small. For the first few months after announcing an agreement, Sprint and T-Mobile would continue to operate as 2 separate companies. About 6 months in to the deal, the FCC would grant their approval, which is almost assured since both companies are bleeding funds and need something to stop the hemorrhaging. This is also about the time that billing departments, technical support lines and retail locations will be merged into a single entity.

Within 12 months of finalizing the deal, a network protocol will be decided on, the new hardware designs will be drifting into Sprint/T-Mobile Stores. New signage and plans will be popping up in stores and the websites will soon merge to the new and improved ‘T-Int’ network.

By the time the merger is finalized, phones like the EVO, will be due for upgrades. But if for some reason, Sprint closes the door on the WiMAX option before your date is up, you can bet you will see an early upgrade credit. For now, get that EVO while you can and enjoy the best 4G experience in the nation on the Now Network.

Get your HTC Evo 4G today at our partner site – http://www.getsmartphones.info.

Shifty’s, 3-D’s and Tablets, Oh My!

 

Sprint is obviously going for the gusto with the EVO line. What started out as the monstrous, first 4G volley from the nation’s 3rd largest carrier, is quickly turning in to the largest phone series since the ‘Droid’ name hit Verizon Wireless.

With the amazing success of the original EVO 4G, HTC followed that up with the compact EVO Shift 4G. This ended the announcement of 4G devices leaving just 3 in Sprint’s arsenal. The EVO, the Shift and the Epic from Samsung. CES 2011 came and went with just the peep of 4G devices. The official announcement of the HTC EVO Shift, the BlackBerry Playbook 4G and a new 4G MI-FI device. Other than that, the 4G cloud was looking rather empty.

Hope arose, however, when Sprint was readying a February announcement for another, “industry first.”

The hope of the Sprint universe was that the EVO 2, Pre 4G or something amazing was coming but what was announced was the Kyocera Echo. The dual screen, 3G phone should lend itself to a very unique client group, and will be available shortly to users on the Now Network. Unfortunately, shortly after announcing the new device, rumors ran through the blog-o-sphere that Sprint was abandoning the WiMAX train and heading to LTE-ville.

From the ashes of the failed (for the moment) LTE rumors, begins a new chapter WiMAX toting monster rumors that are now running across the popular tech blogs. The EVO 3D – the next generation of the EVO line is set to be announced at CTIA later this month.

The EVO 3D has been slated for release since HTC originally demonstrated their 3D technology at World Mobile Congress in 2010. Many write-ups featured this ‘glimpse of the future’ stating that HTC would be the first to bring a 3D handset to market and many called for the device to be released before the end of 2011.

The second addition is going to be the BlackBerry Playbook 4G. The Playbook is the much anticipated tablet offering from Research In Motion. While it won’t have the ‘Android’ power of the EVO line, it’s a formidable addition to the longevity of the EVO as it will continue the WiMAX line to another device.

Finally, the Samsung Nexus S in Sprint flavors. For some, getting their grubby mitts on a Nexus on Sprint is the cat’s meow. For most Sprint users that have been abused by previous Samsung offerings (see the model links below), the Nexus might not offer enough incentive to upgrade. While the Nexus offers some amazing specs, the EVO is so close to it in power, it’s hard to see why one would leave the amazing EVO for something with so little support and so many issues.

Sprint’s street credibility with Samsung is not the strongest. The Moment, Intercept and Transform have all had major issues and the Epic has been slower than molasses in receiving its Android 2.2 update.

Overall, the CTIA announcement should do nothing to the thrill of purchasing your new EVO. Sure, the 3D features might be fun for some, but for others they might be very annoying and migraine inducing. Overall, the announcement does more to solidify Sprint’s commitment to WiMAX and a longer lifespan for the original EVO 4G.

JD Power Gives Sprint “Better Than Most” Rating

The latest JD Power and Associates ratings for Wireless Call Performance have been released with Verizon Wireless topping the charts in the western states. Sprint finished a very close second in the same area. While Sprint coverage may not be great everywhere (um, Sprint, can we work on that whole Montana thing?) this is a good sign that your new EVO will work very well for you in most areas of the west.

The JD Power survey found that more people are using their devices indoors and less are using them in cars. Given that this is nothing more than personal opinion, you have to give a huge round of applause to those “old CDMA” networks that are outperforming T-Mobile and AT&T in the eyes of their users.

Now, if there was only a way to get more choices of handsets on Sprint – maybe the EVO 2 is around the corner?

Source: http://www.jdpower.com/telecom/ratings/wireless-call-quality-ratings-(volume-1)/west/

Lost That MP3 Album Art?

Too many times we start to transfer our music from one SD card to another or from one computer to another and something goes wrong. We start our new playlist on our new EVO and find – that horrible Sense powered “Music Note” instead of our wonderful album covers.

Although there are many amazing album art searching programs in the market, Android Id3 stole the show for us. After testing out 3 different options, including: iTag, DroidId3 and Android Id3. Android Id3 was the simplest interface and the best functionality.

Android Id3 is made finding the album art simplistic and intuitive. Select how you want to search, select the song that is missing the art or with the tags you want to change and save it. It’s as simple as 1,2, 3.

Although Android Id3 violates our free app likings with ad support, something as heavy as running the EVO without plugging it in for an app like this is probably something we wouldn’t recommend anyway. When you are running an ID app, remember you are running the screen, the data radio and taxing the processor pretty hard with the search. For this reason, we won’t knock the free support version, but we won’t recommend using it for more than a few songs unless you have a power source.

You can easily select the art from downloadable internet sources and save them to the songs Id3 information. Then after a few restarts your albums will begin to show up in Sense’s album player.

Not only can you edit your cover-art, you can also edit album names, song titles, artist name and more with the utmost simplicity. It’s the easiest, most comprehensive free package available for editing all your MP3 file information on your device.

Android Id3: 4.5 out of 5  -  Free (Ad supported) in the Market

5 Minute App Review: IMDb

For movie buffs, a smartphone can be a life changer. From looking up movie times on the go to seeing online previews, Android has an app for everything. IMDB is one of those amazing apps. IMDb.com is a movie-goer’s paradise with previews, cast and crew notes, trivia and the ability to check who has been in what movies and where you can get them now.

IMDb is a brilliant app with quick menu access, easy to follow scrolling and a simplistic user interface that makes searching and finding what you want very simple.

With one quick click, you can see what’s new in DVD, Theaters and even new to Blu-Ray. You can also view what’s coming soon and check out the newest trailers right from the device. The resolution on the trailers is more than adequate on the EVO’s amazing display.

They have also built in one more amazing feature in the DVD/Blu-ray menu system in the ‘Buy at amazon.com’ link. This makes purchasing those new DVD’s extremely simple. Click the link, select the title and you are done.

Overall, for the movie buff in all of us, the IMDb app is amazing. If you aren’t a movie fan, this is definitely a skip. So for the first time in history, we are offering 2 different ratings on an app: one for movie fans and one for non-fans.

For Movie Fans: IMDb: 5 out of 5  -  FREE in the Market

For Non-Fans: IMDb: 1 out of 5 – FREE in the Market

The EVO Heads to Japan!

This article was taken from Engadget.com - one of our favorite tech blogs online. It highlights the EVO's trek to Japan to KDDI au. It also pays some serious compliments to the device by calling it "one of the best phones on the American market well over half a year since its release on Sprint."

So, Mr. Ziegler, thank you for the wonderful article and everyone make sure to follow Engadget.com for all the greatest things EVO and non-EVO. We are especially big fans of the mobile section at http://mobile.engadget.com!

HTC EVO 4G coming to Japan's KDDI au, WiMAX and all

By Chris Ziegler posted Mar 3rd 2011 9:58AM

Talk about longevity: HTC's EVO 4G persists as one of the best phones on the American market well over half a year since its release on Sprint -- and it's just now getting ready to take its 4.3-inch, Snapdragon-powered act international. The phone is reemerging on Japan's big CDMA carrier, KDDI au, as the EVO WiMAX ISW11HT, which -- as the name implies -- means that it'll be carrying over the WiMAX radio. Interestingly, KDDI steers clear of the tricky "4G" label altogether, referring to the WiMAX network as "WX" in the status bar when you're in range of a signal. Otherwise, judging from the video, the phone looks like a fairly accurate carry-over (with Japanese localization, of course); sure, you could make the argument that it's been outclassed a couple times over since its original announcement, but we're pretty sure it's going to find some delighted buyers nonetheless. Follow the break for KDDI's full promo video.


<Original Article Address>
http://mobile.engadget.com/2011/03/03/htc-evo-4g-coming-to-japans-kddi-au-wimax-and-all/

The Truth About Bluetooth Audio On The Evo

Over and over, blogs everywhere are reporting the great battery saver of turning off your Bluetooth radio on your Android phone. Unfortunately, the truth isn’t always apparent in blogs and this is one occasion where you shouldn’t believe everything you read.

When you see the battery information on your EVO, you might think you need to take drastic measures to save every ounce of power you can. But, when you begin to disable things like your Bluetooth radio, you begin to eliminate functionality of the device. The Bluetooth radio is most commonly used for hands-free calling, but with the newer accessories available on the market today, Bluetooth can be used for tethering, music streaming, device sync and more.

As one begins to dissect the battery life on the EVO, there are a few major power crunchers that are easy to eliminate. It looks very concerning to see numbers like the ones in the screen capture below. When you see a process consuming 25% of your battery after 1 hour of use, it’s simple to see why so many people insist that streaming music through Bluetooth ‘destroys’ the battery.

What is seen above is a simple 1 hour screen capture after streaming Bluetooth music via the on-board music player for the entire 56 minutes the EVO has been off the charger. A simple baseline test showed the EVO battery drained 10% during the 1 hour test. 85% was used for a starting point in the test to make sure there was no deviation from the trickle charging or other variances from charge times or voltages.

The EVO was running the same apps with no email polls or other outside programs running besides the Music Player. The display was checked at 15 minute intervals for 30 seconds. Based on those numbers, with the battery charge percentage dropping from 85 to 75, it can be concluded that the active streaming of Bluetooth audio contributed to a discharge of about 2.5% per hour.

In theory, a user can playback Bluetooth music for 10 hours a day – assuming your earphones will handle that much before dying – and only consume about 25% of the battery. This is about the same as watching 30 minutes of SprintTV, or 60 minutes of SD Card video. The music player itself contributes to a 1% drop during the hour or about 10% of the battery when used for 10 hours of playback.

So, before panic mode sets in, look at other reasons for battery drain before deciding that Bluetooth audio is a bad idea. First and foremost, check for background apps that sync like FriendStream, Peep, Weather, Stocks and News. A simple Facebook refresh can cost as much as 2% on the battery and a 30 minute update interval will blow 40% of the battery in the same 10 hour period.