SwiftKey X and its tablet counterpart have remained at the top keyboard replacements for a few determinable reasons. One, the app never stands still: hardly a month goes by without some sort of update, improving SwiftKey’s performance and predictive text. Two, they cover all the bases: a free preview version allows curious Android users to try out the keyboard before dropping a few dollars on the full version. And finally, they’re quite communicative with their customers and fans, allowing alpha and beta access to geeky types (hello!) who always want to try the latest version.

SwiftKey X regularly lands on the Editor’s Choice list in the Android Market, and its success made it one of the first apps offered in Google’s 10 Billion Apps promotion. It’s currently available for just $.10/£.10, though that may not last long – head over to the Android Market to get in on the reduced price. The company says it will use the cash infusion to strengthen its executive team and increase its presence in the US and Asia.

Thumb Keyboard doesn’t have any fancy gimmicks to separate it from the pack: no super predictive text engine, no Swype-style line entry, no fancy animations. What it does have is rock-solid reliability and enough customization to make and tweaker drool. The amount of settings and adjustments you can set manually is staggering, and the most important of these is the layout choice.

The app features seven different pre-defined key layouts that can be selected on any device, preconfigured for smartphones and various tablet sizes. The keys move around the virtual keyboard for the best thumb typing experience – for example, in tablet mode, the letter keys are spaced for easy reach in landscape mode, and the middle space fills with a dedicated number pad. At least one of the choices will absolutely suit you, whether you use one hand, two hands or a hunt-and-peck style. You can even switch layouts depending upon whether you’re in landscape or portrait mode.

You want themes? Thumb Keyboard’s got you covered. There’s 29 included themes to please lovers of nearly every color, plus themes designed to integrate with the various manufacturer Android skins out there. Default colors and styles for Froyo, Gingerbread and Honeycomb are included, plus a spiffy new Ice Cream Sandwich theme. You can adjust the font and size of the keys manually, making the keys themselves much easier to read on tablets.Cursor keys are included if you want them, making text selection a lot simpler.

But the greatest strength of Thumb Keyboard lies in its customization options. Nearly every conceivable setting is covered, from vibration to long-press duration to voice input controls. You can even manually re-assign the long-press functions of every single key. You could spend hours tweaking the app to be exactly what you want – and for a certain kind of Android user, such as yours truly, that’s highly desirable.

Thumb Keyboard isn’t free, but at $2.39 at the time of writing it’s well worth the price. Note that the app will work equally well on phones and tablets with a single purchase, a very economical choice for those with multiple devices. For all the Android phones and tablets that I go through, I try the native keyboard, but eventually come back to Thumb Keyboard every time. I can’t think of higher praise than that. Check it out in the Android Market now.

It’s not quite perfect, thanks to the noticeable lack of the microphone button. And since the active voice dictation was one of the things that really put the ICS keyboard over the top, the Android Market app becomes something of a theme for the standard Gingerbread or Froyo keyboard. Given the deep integration in ICS, a significantly improved version of Voice Dictation would be almost impossible to include, though hooking into the previous versions of voice to text should be easy enough. But hey, it’s got that neat-o ice blue color scheme all the developers are going crazy for these days, right?

If you’re lucky enough to own a Nexus S, Galaxy S II or Optimus 3D, you can actually try out Ice Cream Sandwich right now. If you’re the rooted/custom ROM type, all it takes is a quick flash – just make sure to create a backup. The earliest ICS ROMs are a long way from stable. And of course, you can always pay – or wait – for the Galaxy Nexus in your home country.

That may not seem like much, but it’s an absolute godsend to those of us using tablets running Gingerbread or earlier. When Swiftkey is installed on a 7-10 inch tablet, the keys default to their smartphone dimensions, making typing a hunt-and-peck hassle. But in the new beta you can choose between several different key heights, including a much larger option. Since the tablet version of Swiftkey is only available to Honeycomb users, it’s an important step in supporting a wide variety of devices. Issues with the prediction row not appearing on tablets seem to have been fixed as well. Check out the difference on my Touchpad running Cyanogenmod:

Elsewhere, support for fans of the Dvorak and Colemak layouts has been added ,as well as compatibility support for when Ice Cream Sandwich arrives. (Hello? Verizon? Anybody home?) If the Swiftkey servers are busy, you can save a custom prediction text for later. General speed and stability tests were also implemented.

The experience isn’t that different from normal Swiftkey on a smartphone, but if you’ve been waiting for Swiftkey to become more useful on your Gingerbread tablet, head over to the download page right now. The larger keys make typing a lot easier, and well worth the upgrade, especially if you’re a long-time user. Swiftkey’s prediction is as fast as ever, and the Beta seems to be stable as the regular release at this point, even on my hacked software. Though anyone can sign up for a Swiftkey forum account, if you want to use the final version you’ll have to pony up $3.99 in the Android Market.

Developer TouchType has been hard at work improving SwiftKey since it debuted this summer, and it looks like the work is paying off. In addition to bug fixes and special themes, they’re adding in a new feature in an upcoming release: multitouch support. Currently only paying users of SwiftKey X can access the alpha download, and it will only be active for the next two weeks. It’s good to see that the devs aren’t resting on their laurels.

Unlike Swype, which markets directly to OEMs (not that it’s impossible to get otherwise) SwiftKey is available to just about anyone on the Android Market, and the Amazon Appstore to boot. That might make it harder for TouchType to get it pre-installed on a wider range of devices because of a perceived lack of differentiation. But the XOOM 2 is a good start, and we’ll be keeping an eye out for future devices with SwiftKey, and other 3rd-party keyboards, built in.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : DROID XYBOARD 10.1

Manufactuer : Motorola

Carrier : Verizon

Announced Date : November 03, 2011

Release Date : December 09, 2011

Also Known As : XOOM 2

Display

• Screen Size : 10.1 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x720
• Screen Type : LCD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 10 Inch
• Width : 6.83 Inch
• Depth : 0.35 Inch
• Weight : 599 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 3.2.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• MP3
• WMA

Video Playback:
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Hardware

CPU :

CPU Clock Speed : 1200 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 16 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 5 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 2.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS

FM Radio :

NFC :

It works like this: simply type a word or phrase into a text field in the normal way, or use Android’s voice input via the Microphone key. Then hold the Microphone key, tap “Translator,” and select your to and from languages. TypeSmart then sends your text to Google Translate and retrieves the translation, foreign characters, punctuation and all. Even for those of us who are native speakers or bilingual, this could represent a significant time savings versus using the official Google Translator app, or even hunting down the special characters that populate your language of choice.

TypeSmart supports most of the advanced features that soft keyboard junkies are used to: multiple layouts, haptic feedback, text prediction, spelling correction, et cetera. It even features Locale settings and themes for the hopeless tweaker. The developer Comet Apps hasn’t said when the beta program will end, or how much the app will cost when it goes gold, but for those of us who frequently use multiple languages every day, it could be a godsend. You can check it out now in the Android Market.

Shown in the image above is the default style and theme. With many different options for themes and colors, they even have a split key option for tablet users that don’t want to do the whole “hunt and peck” thing across the larger screen of a tablet. SwiftKey X launched back in July and you can see our more in-depth review here. A few of the main things that make SwiftKey X that much better is they use TouchType’s fluency 2.0 AI engine to learn from the user, and then think like you to help predict words as you type. They also have a cloud learning feature where the app will learn you tying style from Gmail, Facebook, Twitter and now with the latest version 2.1 — your own personal blog. This enables SwiftKey X to get a feel for its user and predict words in a much more controlled, and personalized manor making this one of the best keyboards around.

Like I mentioned above I really love the split key view for tablets, it makes the entire typing experience easier and faster. Once you get used to it you no longer feel like you are searching for keys, and typing comes naturally without having to remove either hand from the device. Here’s a shot of my favorite theme and the split key view below.

Now we all know plenty about SwiftKey X as it’s been available for some time. Today they’ve announced (and released in the Android market) the newest version 2.1 for both phones and tablets. Here are a few of the features you can expect, and for those that haven’t purchased SwiftKey X yet — they are why you should.

New Features with version 2.1
– Blog Personalization: In addition to support for Facebook, Twitter and Gmail, SwiftKey X can now intuitively learn your typing style from your blog posts
– New Insights Into Your Typing with Stats: Track how you type, keystrokes saved, words completed and typos/words corrected with SwiftKey X, then share your results with your friends.
– Heat-Map Visualization: See how SwiftKey models your typing accuracy to help tailor predictions more effectively.
– New Localization: Fully localized app support for more than 20 languages, including — French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
– New Languages Added: Support for predictions in five new languages; Bulgarian, Finnish, Greek, Slovenian and Ukrainian. This brings the app’s support to 33 total languages supported.
– Language Switching: Transition between two language keyboards by simply gesturing to the right or left on the spacebar.
– Instant language updates: Refresh your language list to see new languages and new updates as soon as they are ready.
– Autocaps Toggle: Now you can choose whether your sentences automatically begin with a capital letter or not.

SwiftKey X Tablet v2.1 hands-on

As usual with any update you can also expect a wide array of usability and stability improvements. Correct toggling of “go” and “next” buttons while typing and inserting email addresses and more. SwiftKey has added some general layout fixes as well as cut down on memory usage making SwiftKey X even more efficient in prediction.

One of my favorite new features listed above is the option for users to track there stats. Basically when SwiftKey X does its job and predicts words, finishes sentences and all those other awesome things it does, it also saves the stats so you can see just how useful and convenient it really is. I’ve been using it all week and my stat could was HUGE until I reinstalled it to take screenshots and lost my progress. Either way check out the stat list below for an idea of what you can expect as well as a few of the new heat-mapping tool to see how accurate you are — or aren’t.

So far from using SwiftKey X on both my phone and tablet it is the clear choice for me and what I’ve used for months and months. The latest update to v2.1 brings a few awesome changes that makes this keyboard just that much better. Being a Android fanatic, having Swiftkey X sync to my Twitter account it already knows words like Kindle, fire, adb, xoom, Galaxy S II, HTC, and all those other terms I’m typing regarding Android on a daily basis. Once synced to my Twitter and my Gmail I didn’t need to add anything to my dictionary as it does all the work for me — from names, weird words and more. It truly is awesome and I recommend everyone give it a try, then buy the full versions.

Both SwiftKey X Keyboard and SwiftKey X Tablet are available in the Android market by clicking here, and the newest version 2.1 should be available for update any time now. Go ahead and get the latest version and let us know what you think, because we love it.

[via SwiftKey X]

Many phones already have some version of copy and paste features built in, especially HTC Sense UI phones but the new system in which Swype has done it makes things even easier. No longer to you have to remove your finger from the keyboard and tap copy, then hold down and wait for the pop-up and hit paste. It’s all quick and easy using sliding gestures right on the keyboard. I actually am really enjoying this so far. Here are a few of the main new features:

Quick Editing – Access cut, copy, paste, and select-all functions in a flash!

Cut – Swype from the Swype key to the X key
Copy – Swype from the Swype key to the C key
Paste – Swype from the Swype key to the V key
Select-All – Swype from the Swype key to the A key

Send-to-Application – Highlight any text, anywhere, then send it directly to an application with a quick gesture. Currently supported apps are Twitter, Google Maps, and Facebook

Twitter – Swype from the Swype key to T-W to create a new tweet using the highlighted text
Google Maps – Swype from the Swype key to G-M to search Google Maps for the highlighted text
Facebook – Swype from the Swype key to F-B to create a new wall post on Facebook using the highlighted text

It may sound difficult but it’s actually extremely easy and here is a video to show you what I mean. I’ve tried this myself and it really is just as simple as the video makes it out to be.

It really is that simple, smooth, and easy. My favorite feature is actually being able to quickly copy an entire line of text, then with a simple Swype gesture head directly into Google Maps and search for it. No more misspelling addresses or zip codes or anything. Copy a few lines, instantly go into Twitter using the Skype Key + TW gesture opens Twitter but sadly that is currently the only option. Hopefully we will be able to choose the default client Swype opens for people like me that use TweetDeck rather than the default Twitter client. Same thing works for Facebook as well.

While this isn’t anything groundbreaking the amount of ease this actually brings to the table for a few of those simple daily text input and output moments really is a nice touch. Swype and their team have also updated the personal dictionary management as well as introduced something called Swype Connect. With Swype Connect the installation validation just got easier as it collects Swype-specific data and ensures the integrity and validity of the installation. This should help with installation errors for many of the users. Swype reminds us this collects keyboard data only and nothing personal.

Again, head over to the Swype Beta Page for details and download instructions.

In the official statement on their blog, BlindType stated:

As seen in the video demonstration below, BlindType allows you to type without being even slightly accurate, aka typing blindly. This could be very effective for people who type fast, distracted, or just mindlessly, and will still compute the desired result. Further word is to come, and we will for sure keep you updated!

[Via BlindType]

Time for a little bit of bad news, if you can call it that. This update is mandatory, I don’t know how they are planning on making it mandatory because when you receive an OTA it’s just a notification that you can ignore. And this update will wipe your phone so all you Droid Eris users start looking into some apps for backing things up, I recommend Mybackup Pro. All in all this is awesome news and it may very well be the last update for the Eris, Verizon has stated that they plan on pulling support for this device. HTC could pick up the slack though and decide to keep it updated.

Enhancements:

* Pinch-to-zoom is now available when using the Gallery and Google Maps.
* New support for voice-to-text entry.
* Whenever a text-entry box appears, simply tap the microphone icon on the virtual keyboard and speak.
* New Gallery application with 3D layout. View and share photos taken with your phone and images from your online Picasa Web albums.
* New Leap thumbnail view lets you pinch to jump between the seven panels on your home screen.
* Additional calendar views and easier access to contacts make navigating even quicker.
* Google Maps with Navigation provides free, traffic-enhanced, turn-by-turn navigation.
* With the Enhanced Android Market, you’ll enjoy a better browsing experience as well as even more applications, including Verizon Wireless content featuring self-service applications.
* Ability to log onto and access multiple Google accounts at once.
* Support for 19 Microsoft Exchange Server policies makes your phone more secure and business friendly.
* Desk Clock intelligently dims your screen and displays the current time while charging.
* Location-based cinematic full screen weather keeps you on top of changing conditions.

Improvements:

* Free Yahoo! Mail is now supported—simply sign in with your Yahoo! email address and password.
* Longer battery life due to power savings.
* Improved YouTube video playback.
* Better Bluetooth support, including contact transfer.
* Automatic settings for POP3 verizon.net email accounts.
* Added support for stand-alone Wi-Fi when device is in airplane mode.
* Improved handset audio when disconnecting a wired headset.
* Faster power-up time.
* Improved swipe-unlock functionality.
* Added support for Microsoft Office 2007 documents

[via verizon]

“Many smartphones are increasingly powerful in their features and specifications without continuing to improve the main reason that so many people have mobile phones — the ability to communicate with each other,” said Andrew Sherrard, vice president of product development, T-Mobile USA. “The new myTouch 3G Slide is a smart and sleek phone that fits into your pocket, your budget and your family life with exclusive T-Mobile features that put communication with your closest family and friends front and center.”

The myTouch 3G Slide features a 3.4-inch HVGA touch-screen, Swype is the default virtual keyboard and this device is less than 15mm thick. It also has a 5-megapixel camera, an 8GB microSD card, and enhanced video capabilities to make it easy for users to record and share pictures and videos, whether via e-mail, MMS or one-click upload to sites such as YouTube™ and Picasa™. The myTouch 3G Slide will come in black, white or red.

Faves Gallery™: Life is hectic, so it’s easy to miss opportunities to connect with loved ones. Faves Gallery presents up to 20 of your favorite people and the different ways to communicate with them — calls, texts, e-mail, instant messaging, social networking updates — in a dedicated application accessible through a soft button and an easy-to-use widget complete with photos, contact information and one-touch ability to respond. All of your Faves® get special status on your myTouch 3G Slide™; anytime they communicate with you or update their social network you get a notification in the notification pane. Even if you’re not using your phone, a custom green light lets you know you’ve got a communication waiting from one of your Faves. And you can respond directly from the Faves Gallery, without launching e-mail or other applications, so you connect more quickly and more often with the important people in your life.

myModes: myModes helps you draw the line between work and home by creating different themes with home screen apps, widgets and wallpapers to empower people in the different roles they play each day. You can set myModes to switch at a designated time, by location, or manually with the option to create and store up to 10 customized modes. myModes removes clutter and makes you more efficient both at work and at home. Want to forget about work on the weekend? No need to hide your work phone or switch to another device; just put away your work tools, like e-mail and your calendar by switching modes, and bring forward all the things you love to do on Saturday.

Genius Button™: With the Genius Button, you press one button, talk, and it delivers. The Genius Button, powered by Dragon Dictation from Nuance Communications (Nasdaq: NUAN), is an easy-to-access button on the front of the new T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide allowing the use of voice commands to control the phone and it’s features including making calls, composing and sending texts and e-mails, searching the Web or your surroundings. It will even read text messages aloud, and lets you dictate responses naturally as if you were speaking directly to a person.

Full Press Release:

New T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide Improves Communication through T-Mobile Exclusive Software

The latest Android-powered smartphone marries beautiful form with superior function on a faster 3G network.

BELLEVUE, Wash. — May 4, 2010 — T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced a new addition to its exclusive line of AndroidTM-powered T-Mobile myTouch® 3G smartphones — the T-Mobile® myTouch 3G SlideTM. Anticipated to be available in June, the new myTouch 3G Slide combines a roomy slide-out QWERTY keyboard with an incredibly crisp, high-performance touch screen powered by the latest Android software. The T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide is purpose-built for communication, with unique new features that help customers connect more easily, more quickly and more often to their closest family and friends.

“Many smartphones are increasingly powerful in their features and specifications without continuing to improve the main reason that so many people have mobile phones — the ability to communicate with each other,” said Andrew Sherrard, vice president of product development, T-Mobile USA. “The new myTouch 3G Slide is a smart and sleek phone that fits into your pocket, your budget and your family life with exclusive T-Mobile features that put communication with your closest family and friends front and center.”

New features only available on the T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide include the following:

Faves GalleryTM: Life is hectic, so it’s easy to miss opportunities to connect with loved ones. Faves Gallery presents up to 20 of your favorite people and the different ways to communicate with them — calls, texts, e-mail, instant messaging, social networking updates — in a dedicated application accessible through a soft button and an easy-to-use widget complete with photos, contact information and one-touch ability to respond. All of your Faves® get special status on your myTouch 3G SlideTM; anytime they communicate with you or update their social network you get a notification in the notification pane. Even if you’re not using your phone, a custom green light lets you know you’ve got a communication waiting from one of your Faves. And you can respond directly from the Faves Gallery, without launching e-mail or other applications, so you connect more quickly and more often with the important people in your life.

myModes: myModes helps you draw the line between work and home by creating different themes with home screen apps, widgets and wallpapers to empower people in the different roles they play each day. You can set myModes to switch at a designated time, by location, or manually with the option to create and store up to 10 customized modes. myModes removes clutter and makes you more efficient both at work and at home. Want to forget about work on the weekend? No need to hide your work phone or switch to another device; just put away your work tools, like e-mail and your calendar by switching modes, and bring forward all the things you love to do on Saturday.

Genius ButtonTM: With the Genius Button, you press one button, talk, and it delivers. The Genius Button, powered by Dragon Dictation from Nuance Communications (Nasdaq: NUAN), is an easy-to- access button on the front of the new T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide allowing the use of voice commands to control the phone and it’s features including making calls, composing and sending texts and e-mails, searching the Web or your surroundings. It will even read text messages aloud, and lets you dictate responses naturally as if you were speaking directly to a person.

Powered by the Android 2.1 software, the myTouch 3G Slide offers a rich mobile Web experience and access to thousands of applications on Android Market from games to location-based social networks to on-the-go shopping and more. Similar to the original, the new myTouch 3G Slide was designed to facilitate personalization inside and out. A five-pane home screen, with the option to increase to seven panes, offers plenty of real estate for your favorite widgets, applications and themes.

Designed by HTC exclusively for T-Mobile, the myTouch 3G Slide features a 3.4-inch HVGA touch- screen display with virtual keyboard as well as a roomy, slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Less than 15mm thick, the elegant design slides easily into your pocket proving that Android brains don’t have to come in a sci-fi box. The myTouch 3G Slide also features a 5-megapixel camera, a music player with a pre-installed 8GB microSD memory card, and enhanced video capabilities to make it easy for users to record and share pictures and videos, whether via e-mail, MMS or one-click upload to sites such as YouTubeTM and PicasaTM.

The device’s powerful mobile data experience is supported by fast data speeds via Wi-Fi and T-Mobile’s nationwide 3G network, which is getting even faster this year as T-Mobile upgrades its network with the latest wireless technology.

The myTouch 3G Slide is expected to be available in June, exclusively from T-Mobile USA in three colors — black, white or red. Customers can visit http://mytouch.t-mobile.com for more information.

The pamphlet was discovered this afternoon by the guys over at slashphone. Although the word Eclair or Android 2.1 doesn’t appear in the pamphlet, all of the new features are those found in 2.1.

If you want to see the details of the update, codenamed software version AP: ESE53/BP: C_01.3E.03P by Verizon. You’re in luck.

Enhancements:

* Pinch-to-zoom is now available when using the browser, Gallery, and
Google Maps.™
* New Weather and News application plus widget.
− The Weather and News app pulls the information you want from the
Web and brings it to your fingertips. You get weekly and hourly
weather forecasts based on your location, and news headlines.
* New support for voice-to-text entry.
• Whenever a text-entry box appears, simply tap the microphone
icon on the virtual keyboard and speak.
* New Gallery application with 3D layout. View and share photos taken
with your phone and images from your online Picasa Web albums.
* Live Wallpapers offer richer animated, interactive backgrounds on the
home screen. Access them with a long press anywhere on the home
screen. Tap Wallpapers, then Live Wallpapers.

Improvements:

* Free Yahoo!® Mail is now supported—simply sign in with your Yahoo!
email address and password.1
* Google Maps update.2
− Personalized suggestions and synchronized starring with
desktop maps.google.com.
• Starred items are stored and synced automatically between Google
Maps on your device and maps.google.com on your computer,
making it easy to search for places you’ve searched
for before.
− New night mode in Google Maps Navigation automatically changes
the screen at night for easier viewing.
* Improved pattern-lock functionality.
* Improved handset audio when disconnecting a wired headset.
* Email accounts no longer need to be re-entered after an
over-the-air update.

[via slashphone, Verizon]

This multimedia handset features a user-friendly touch screen and virtual keyboard and most importantly, Android. Also, it provides immediate access to information and diverse Android applications including web browsing, widgets, music and e-mail all from the comfort of your own home.

Taken from their press release:

“Highly portable, built on an open platform, and easily personalized, the DSP Group-designed multimedia handset is based on the Company’s innovative XpandR™ II, a comprehensive system-on-a-chip solution that integrates Wi-Fi and DECT. With an integrated processor, DSP, Wi-Fi and DECT baseband processor, analog front end, and software packages, XpandR II includes all of the components needed to develop a range of new and advanced portable and location-free multimedia products.”

UPDATE: Based on an ARM processor at 240 MHz, the phone has a touch screen 3.5 inches, a keypad, a USB port and a port for memory cards and WiFi. It also runs natively VoIP.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb9po86HXL8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[via DSP]

• Voice recognition for virtual keyboard. Anywhere you can type, you can dictate. Swipe your finger across the keyboard (or press the microphone button) to activate. Same as on the Nexus One.
• Virtual (on-screen) keyboard enhancements.
• 3D Gallery: Should be the same as the new gallery that’s on the Nexus One, and that’s been ported to the Droid.
• Pinch to zoom: Already on board for Google Maps, now you’ll have it in the browser and gallery.
• News and weather widget/app. That’s the widget from the Nexus One that we get questions about in our videos.
• Previously published Google Maps 4.0 improvements.
• Enhanced Music application. New tabs at the top for easier access an navigation to artists, songs, albums and playlists.
• Google Goggles: Now built into Android 2.1. No separate downloads.
• Fixes the security lock bypass.

• Yahoo e-mail now has setup optimization.
• Battery life improved.

[via androidcentral, motorola]

Although the unknown Motorola smartphone on the above image is tipped to have the Android OS and a 3.8-inch touchscreen as well as an 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash. There isn’t any hard evidence to support those claims, and very little is known about this unnamed Motorola handset.

Since several AC forum members were not sure about this phone, they took it upon themselves to investigate. AC member samuraiBSD came back with the images below to compare one of the images from the back of the mystery Motorola device. As samuraiBSD put it: “Notice that the Motorola logo has something weird going on, and the design of the back looks overall very similar to the Omnia…too similar.”

[Thanks to TheJuan and samuraiBSD]

Google does have the INTENTION to release and over the air update (OHA) that includes elements taken from the cupcake update.  A senior G1 PDA Specialist, Dylan, has apparently made a few facts clear, these facts are listed below.

• FACT – There WILL be a G1 update shortly as it was INTENDED to be by mid-January so the next target is now by the end of January.

• FACT – T-Mobile will not just provide Cupcake elements to the G2 and leave the G1 behind.

• FACT – The next update will be called RC31 and include Cupcake elements.

• FACT – The mass of calls lately for Cupcake is registering and causing T-Mobile to double their efforts in getting the update out.

• FACT – NO ONE has received RC31 as of today.

• FACT – When the update is released it will be done in stages “Over The Air” but it will be by region not when you purchased the G1.

• FACT – The memo I was privy to is NOT distributed to Support personnel.

• FACT – T-Mobile Specialists & Support are LAST to know when an update happens and are notified AFTER it is released as was the case with RC29 & RC30.

• FACT – T-Mobile does have a battery improvement program in motion.

• FACT – T-Mobile’s plan for battery improvement will be one of OR a combination of efficiencies in an OTA update and an extended life battery replacement.

[Via GoogleAndBlog]

Open source developers who prefer using Python to Java can now rejoice as Damon over at damonkohler.com has managed to get it running on his G1. As most projects are in the first stages this is still a little rough, but it does show great promise with future development. More photos of the OpenMoko FreeRunner running Android have surfaced. Nothing new or exciting to report here.

ShopSavvy needs your help to win the Crunchies 2008 Best Mobile App award. Voting only takes a few seconds and two clicks of the mouse. Please help Big In Japan win the award for creating such an amazing application. Google has sent out an email to those registered as developers informing them that paid applications will indeed be available in mid January. So grab the free applications while you can.

HTC has a firm belief that the cupcake update will become legitimately available through Google in time. HTC has no say while Google and T-Mobile are in full control of what is included in the update. Right now Google and T-Mobile are declining to comment on such a statement. The guys over at VentureBeat have managed to get Android running on the Eee PC 1000 netbook. Though there are still a few issues with the port, they say that the process was fairly easy. There were a few other discoveries made while digging through the source code.

The RC29 firmware has made its way to the Internet and now users who upgraded to the RC30 firmware and lost root access can now regain it. The process is fairly easy to do and has been confirmed to work. As with all firmware updates we advise you to proceed with caution.

HTC however believes that it is only a matter of time before T-Mobile makes this update a reality for everyone. As of right now HTC is still out of the loop on when and how things will proceed. It’s all up to Google and T-Mobile. Google has been quick to send out patches and updates to fix bugs, but we have yes to see any major changes since Android released.

Right now it appears that T-Mobile, Google and HTC are not making comments on any rumors or speculation just yet. With the on-screen keyboard is such high demand, Google would be wise to deliver this update asap.

[Via Engadget]

A video of the on-screen keyboard working on the T-Mobile G1 has popped up on YouTube and we just had to share. We cannot tell you how excited we are to see that there is a full-blown working on-screen keyboard on the T-Mobile G1. This means that you wont have to slide out the keyboard to message someone and say hi, or quickly search for the nearest burger joint.

The video shows the black full QWERTY keyboard being used in the Google search bar at the Homs screen and throughout the native browser. From what we can see the keyboard is very responsive and easy to use. Laid out much like the keyboard on the iPhone it seems to work well with your fingertips. While we cant vouch for the authenticity of this video, it certainly makes up excited. For now this will remain an unconfirmed rumor.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Nvy3iRffM[/youtube]

It seems as soon as the one new application hits the Android Market, the floodgates are opened and more quickly follow. Opera just recently launched their very famous Brower for Android and now we are seeing other companies release their browsers as well. Steel is the latest to give us more options when it comes to browsing the Internet on our T-Mobile G1.

Kolbysoft’s Steel is based off WebKit just as the G1’s browser and iPhone’s Safari. Eventually Steel will have plenty of great features including multiple windows, downloads, configurations, clear application history and cache and an on-screen keyboard. Yes you read it right, an on-screen keyboard will be added.

This come from behind browser is still in the early stages so don’t expect it to outshine Opera anytime soon, but definitely give it a spin. For those who cannot live without an on-screen keyboard, this just may be the browser for you as there has been no word on keyboards in other browsers at this time. We are certainly happy to see very useful applications come to the Android Market rather than another version of the tip calculator.