By Aldo Panessidi

Before October, the casual smart phone consumer was likely blissfully unaware of the existence of a company by the name of Carrier IQ. Thanks to researcher Trevor Eckhart, it has come to light that the stealth software company is recording keystrokes, SMS messages and other information and possibly reporting the data back to their servers. Carrier IQ’s response? Issuing a cease and desist letter to the whistleblower, Eckhart, and releasing a media alert dismissing the accusations saying that they are “not recording keystrokes or providing tracking tools.” Enjoy the freedom brought about by unlocked phones... which allow you to choose not only the service provider but the plan that best meets your lifestyle needs.
The potential privacy contagion is rumored to be limited to certain smart phone OS’s, so be an informed consumer and review all your mobile device options. The best part is the great offerings and [...]

By Megan Fleet
In an era where patents are sold and bought like commodities in lieu of protecting intellectual rights; and where mall innovators are snapped up for their technological visions and execution, - HTC is a wonder to behold. The rising star of the smartphone world has « arrived. »
Ten years ago HTC couldn’t even be considered a boutique cell phone to set yourself apart from the mundane crowd of Motorolas and Nokias. It was, however, a company earning its chops manufacturing hardware for Windows Mobile-powered devices for household names like Compaq and XDA. Now HTC is manufacturing the Raider, Amaze and Desire line of cell phones coupled with a plethora a innovative protective solutions and premium electronic accessories
HTC's big break came in 2008 : with the Android. The Dream and G1, which launched the brand into the periphery of the ever growing smart phone consumer [...]

Written by: Aldo Panessidi
It's the most explosive development in the tablet market since the release of the original iPad and the latest apple tablet the iPad2. The launch of the Amazon Kindle Fire represents a major shot across the bow at Apple, according to a new ChangeWave survey which primarily targeted North American consumers.
According to ChangeWave demand for tablets this holiday season is three (3) times higher than for the same period last year.
It seems that today, shoppers have broadened their tablet interest from to include the Kindle Fire from Amazon... you can view more in this consumer demand survey
The more interesting stat, perhaps, is that more than a quarter of respondents in ChangeWave’s survey who confirmed an imminent Kindle Fire purchase said they would buy the Amazon tablet in place of an iPad.
“Tablet providers (Iconia, Xoom, Flyer, Galaxy Tab, PlayBook, etc) have failed to gain appreciable traction against iPad’s [...]

One of the most highly anticipated phone releases in recent memory is that of the HTC Incredible.  Recently, details of the specs for the HTC Incredible have surfaced on the internet and this phone looks to be quiet incredible indeed.  Here is a list of some of the key features that we will be seeing when the Incredible is finally launched.
• 4.63″ x 2.3″ x 0.47″, 4.59 oz.
• Android 2.1 “Eclair” with Sense UI
• 1GHz Snapdragon QSG8650 processor
• 512MB ROM / 512MB RAM
• Dual-band EV-DO Rev. A
• 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• GPS
• 3.7″ WVGA OLED capacitive display
• 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus and video capture
• HTML browser with Flash Lite 4.0
• Microsoft Exchange support
• 8GB internal memory
• microSD support for up to 32GB
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Accelerometer
• 312 minutes talk time / 149 hours standby
• Pre-loaded with Google Calendar, Gmail, Search, Maps, Latitude, Navigation and Talk
With a list of features like that it is no wonder why people are eagerly awaiting the release of the Incredible by HTC. 

The 8 [...]

Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, continues to cause quite a commotion with his various antics and comments.  While speaking at CTIA on Wednesday Chou declared that the Nexus One was a complete success and will surly drive new business to HTC despite the shaky public reception it has received.  For those of you that might be unaware when the HTC was first released it was to a somewhat unsettling beginning.  Early customers reported 3G reception issues that damaged the views of various consumers.  Lagging sales numbers clearly put the Nexus One well behind the DROID in popularity as well.  Now these current issues surrounding the display have further damaged the phones reputation.

Chou also caused a stir with his reluctance to acknowledge any shortcomings with the phone.  Instead Chou decided to focus on the innovative design of the Nexus One and the experience HTC gained when developing the Android 2.1 device.  [...]

 This might be some interesting news for all of you Sprint Hero owners out there.  According to a screenshot posted on phandroid.com it looks as if the upgrade to Android 2.1 might be right around the corner.  The leaked internal document was regarding a future fix for the phone’s Picture Mail woes but might actually point to the highly anticipated upgrade from Android 1.6 to Android 2.1.  While other mobile devices are going to have everything worked out behind the scenes the Hero’s patch is supposedly set to be released alongside a broader “maintenance release” on April 9th.  This broader maintenance release will provide a great opportunity for Sprint to upgrade the Hero to Android 2.1 at that time. 
Of course this is not official and April 9th could come and go without any update to your Sprint Hero handset.  This is purely speculation at this point but it does appear [...]

With March rapidly drawing to a close the anticipation for HTC’s launch of Android 2.1 in early Q2 is growing rapidly.  HTC has reportedly issued a statement on a Chinese website called Plurk, which is very similar to Twitter here in the US, that they expect to release the new Android 2.1 update in HTC’s home country of Taiwan on April 26th.  It is expected for this update to go global very quickly after this release on April 26th.  This is fantastic news for all of us that have been waiting patiently for this new Android update.  Now we finally have a set date when we can expect Android 2.1 to appear on our HTC Hero mobile devices. 
Finally it appears as if the waiting is coming to an end for those of us who have eagerly been anticipating the new release of Android 2.1.  I am especially excited to see [...]

It is hard to believe some of the things that our cell phones can actually do.  We have come from a time when cell phones were so big and clunky as well as so expensive that nobody could really afford them.  Now our cell phones are mobile offices, as well as a way to connect to the Internet.  Many of the functions of a laptop and our digital cameras can now be done with a touch of the finger by our cell phones.  Just take a look at some of the wonderful things that our new touchscreen smart phones can do.
Now the Motorola Droid unlocked cell phone or HTC Imagio can download an application that will enable it to function as a remote control for a TV.  We have had this concept for a while, but the folks at Verizon have just made it that much easier.  This new application will [...]

So thanks to MobileCrunch.com we have learned that HTC is finally making the switch to the 3,5mm audio jack.  The jack is pretty standard but some companies have chosen to go with either a smaller jack (2.5mm) or go with their own design completely
Well HTC was one of those companies that used a different jack from the 3.5mm "standard" but with the launch of their new andriod phone, the HTC Hero, they will be switching over to the 3.5mm jacks themselves
According to MobileCrunch they HTC position is
The vast majority of devices we launch after Hero will have a 3.5mm jack. Devices that we have already announced but that still come out after Hero will not necessarily be a part of this change...
So it does look like a few handsets will be released over the next year using the old jacks but going forward they will be using 3.5mm jack which [...]

Last year when Rogers released the iPhone in Canada they also introduced a 6GB data plan for $30 a month.  Unfortunately this plan only lasted a short amount of time.  Well now according to our buddies over at BoyGeniusReport it looks like Rogers might be set to bring this plan back.
It would make sense with the anticipated release of a new iPhone, the HTC Dream and Magic that it is brought back to encourage sales.  This plan is like having unlimited data on your cell phone.  For all intents and purposes you won't have to worry about going over.  Not to say there aren't people who don't but for the average person the 6GB should be more then enough.
Keep in mind this is still a rumour and nothing is official yet, but if it does this mean you can likely use it with any smartphone.  So everyone will have to [...]