Facebook Officially Comments On LaptopMemo About Facebook Phone

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Facebook Officially Comments On LaptopMemo About Facebook Phone

by Stefan Etienne on 19. Sep, 2010 7:03PM in Exclusive

Rather then stay on the laptop and play with code or multiplayer video games like Bad Company 2, Facebook’s Rebecca Hahn decided to comment on my earlier post regarding the breaking news of a “Facebook Phone”. Spoiler: she shoots it down with facts.

The story is not accurate. Facebook is not building a phone. Our approach has always been to make all phones and apps more social, not build a phone. Current projects include include everything from an HTML5 version of the site to apps on major platforms to full Connect support with SDKs to deeper integrations with some manufacturers.

Our view is that almost all experiences would be better if they were social, so integrating deeply into existing platforms and operating systems is a good way to enable this. For an example, check out Connect for iPhone and the integration we have with contact syncing through our iPhone app. Another example is the INQ1 phone with Facebook integration (the first so-called “Facebook Phone”).

The people mentioned in the story are working on these projects. The bottom line is that whenever we work on a deep integration, people want to call it a “Facebook Phone” (even internally) because that’s such an attractive soundbite, but our real strategy is to make everything social and not build one phone or integration.

T-Mobile G2 Is Official And It’s Coming Later This Month

by Stefan Etienne on 09. Sep, 2010 12:21AM in Android, Breaking, Exclusive, FTW, HTC, Mobile, T-Mobile

I just got hit up that the HTC-built T-Mobile G2 is headed to consumers for pre-sale later this month without a precise release date or price. The handset, powered by stock Android 2.2 and a Snapdragon MSM7230 CPU clocked at exactly 800Mhz, has a 3.7-inch screen, slide-out QWERTY, a 5 megapixel camera with AF/Flash/720p HD video recording, HSPA+ ’4G -like’ connectivity, the famous Swype keyboard, and finally 4GB of internal memory with an 8 GB microSD memory card with support for up to 32 GB of storage. Keeping up with the G2 is simple, just visit http://g2.t-mobile.com to sign up for updates.

The official T-Mobile press release is after the break!

[Thanks, D1337]

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HTC DROID Incredible getting FroYo ‘at the end of the month’, says my sources

by Stefan Etienne on 15. Aug, 2010 8:24AM in Android, Exclusive, HTC, Mobile, Verizon

While a lot of you may have heard of Mashable’s story regarding Android 2.2 frozen yogurt coming to the Droid Incredible on August 18th, I’ve recently spoken to a very experienced Verizon ninja who has yet to fail me, and says the it will begin rolling out “at the end of “the month. It will bring Flash 10.1 ,720p HD video recording, a boatload of other improvments, and of course, the gloating aspect where you can say “My Droid has Froyo! on it”.

[Thanks, Joe!]

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Before iPhone 4 Morning: At The Apple Store In Lincoln Road!

by Stefan Etienne on 24. Jun, 2010 12:23AM in Apple, Exclusive, Featured, Mobile, News

What’s a short visit to South Beach (more preferably Lincoln Road) without a stop at the Apple Store, pre-iPhone 4 madness? After hopefully scoring a morning interview at the venue with Channel 7, I proceeded to strut the Pentax K-x’s stuff and begin a small photo rampage that will appear in future stories, as well as some extra time with the iPad (all iPhone 3GS units were replaced with iOS 4 models). There was also a large crown hustled behind (in their tents or on the floor) and all around me while the security guards were playing security (read: guards) and playing with iPads (read:at the same time). Throughout the hot 89 degree weather and practical chaos, there was one particular Apple fan (I’ll call him Miami Apple Fanboy) who shouted “7:00 AM!” to one of the guards. As you dear readers might already know, the iPhone 4 launch starts at 7AM Eastern tomorrow. Check out the gallery for some shots, and hit up the line break for some video!

Apple Store Lincoln Road – Pre-iPhone 4 Launch!

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Motorola’s iDEN-Based i1 Smartphone Delayed For Online Launch? Yup

by Stefan Etienne on 20. Jun, 2010 12:59PM in Android, Exclusive, Mobile, Motorola

The Motorola i1 by Motorola was due for a launch today on BoostMobile’s $50 Everything Plan (your eyes aren’t fooling you, that plan is real). Strangely though, both BoostMobile’s and BestBuy’s sites still show the first iDEN powered Android phone as “coming soon”. Seems a little strange, since a military-grade smartphone could be the perfect Father’s Day gift, in our opinion. According to a noble LaptopMemo tipster, the i1 has been delayed for an unknown time past June 20th. More on this, while we dig deeper.

UPDATE: There are about 6 user reviews on BestBuy’s site, meaning that the handset won’t be available online, at least on launch day.

[Thanks, Joe!]

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YouTube Tests New A Video Player, And It’s More Refined

by Stefan Etienne on 28. Apr, 2010 9:40PM in Exclusive, Google, Internet, Web 2.0

After going in cruise control while looking at possible ways to do certain things (like brainstorming) I came across just what I was looking for: the new YouTube player. Complete with fancy opacity and animation effects, this is the YouTube player update probably rolled out to the select few on the already redesigned interface of the site (I’ve confirmed it doesn’t work with featured videos or some episodes of Top Gear). Gradients are added to the play/stop and volume buttons, where in order to change the volume setting a red bar appears via a very smooth animation. Remember I’m not talking about the new site, but the player itself that’s changed. Check out the screengrabs after the jump to live through the new awesome player Google has been tinkering with.

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Nexus One “won’t be carried by Verizon”, says Verizon? (update: Wrong. Great.)

by Stefan Etienne on 23. Apr, 2010 4:11PM in Android, Exclusive, Google, Mobile, Verizon

Talk about confusion, or maybe strange PR emails. In my quest of finding out whether or not the Nexus One by Google and HTC will ever head to Verizon; with that “coming soon” option on the Google Phone Store sitting there forever, what I found might have some doubts of whether or not a PR contact that I have at Verizon Wireless is speaking the direct truth from their superiors, but here’s what came up in the reply field:

“Thank you for your question. Google’s Nexus One phone will not be carried by Verizon Wireless. You will have to contact Google directly for any information. It would be inappropriate for me to answer questions on a phone that Verizon Wireless won’t sell.”

This could simply mean that Verizon just won’t sell the Nexus One in its retail stores, and that Google, as previously rumored, would take care of that. But that extra line, “Google’s Nexus One phone will not be carried by Verizon Wireless,” is a little strange to me, and probably wrong (hopefully?). While I try to get more info on this, I’ll leave this to the Internets to discuss. And no troll flaming guys.

UPDATE: You could definitely say that VZW will support the Nexus One, but won’t sell it, and Google will. So that’s that, I guess (?). Now onto the usual programming…

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An Exclusive: Why Core i5 Is Not In The New Macbook Pro 13-inch

by Stefan Etienne on 13. Apr, 2010 1:09PM in Apple, Exclusive, Featured, Laptops

With today’s announcement of the new Macbook Pro line, the 15-inch and 17-inch models now either sport new Core i5 or Core i7 processors, but the Macbook Pro 13-inch, which is in fact the most popular Mac sold by Apple is still sticking to a 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo. You might be asking yourself, “Why”? After speaking to Tim Bajarin from Creative Strategies ~~at Apple~~, we have the full scoop as to how it’s excluded from the new Macbook Pro, as well as how Apple engineers could actually do it in the future. Read on past the break!
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