Eli Blumenthal
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Homepage: http://teenstalktech.com/
Posts by Eli Blumenthal
The Teen First Look: HTC Status
Jul 12th
While sadly there was no new Blackberry Bold Touch 9900 shown off today at AT&T’s Unwrapped event we did get to finally get our hands on one of AT&T’s most interesting new phones, the just announced Facebook-focused HTC Status.
So what are you waiting for? Read on for our Teen First Look of AT&T’s upcoming Facebook phone.
We’re Live From AT&T’s Unwrapped Event
Jul 12th
Sure summer is just getting started but that hasn’t stopped AT&T from hosting an event tonight to show off some of their upcoming phones and tablets for the rest of the year at today’s AT&T Unwrapped event in New York.
According to the official invite we’re gonna see some of the “hottest wireless products for the upcoming holiday season” but what these exact devices are we don’t yet know (hopefully one of them will be an AT&T version of the new BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900!)
If you have an upgrade on AT&T any time soon you’re not gonna wanna miss this. So make sure to check back here later tonight for all the info on whatever new devices AT&T shows off.
The Facebook Phone Gets A Release Date– HTC Status Coming To AT&T July 17th
Jul 11th
If you’re a Facebook addict and need to always have your Wall one click away this phone is definitely for you.
Previously known as the HTC ChaCha when it was announced back in February, the Status is not just a “Facebook phone” but also a pretty solid, cheap smartphone. Here are the full specs: thin design with 2.6 inch touchscreen and full keyboard underneath (at a resolution of 480 x 320 this screen isn’t as nice as HTC’s other Android phones, but it should be more than enough for the goal of Facebooking 24/7), 5 megapixel back camera with auto focus and LED flash and a VGA front-facing camera for video chat (what great timing! Unfortunately we don’t know if this will be able to Facebook video chat out of the box or if it’ll have to wait until Facebook updates their apps later this year), Android 2.3 Gingerbread with HTC Sense (including new widgets for Facebook chatting from the homescreen), and an 800 MHZ processor (again, this is not gonna be EVO 3D, Sensation 4G or ThunderBolt fast, but it should be more than enough for constantly updating your Facebook all day. And this lower processor speed should allow for much better battery life so you can stay connected even longer). And of course there’s that Facebook button on the bottom of the phone which allows you to instantly post on a friend’s wall, check in on Facebook Places, or share pictures, videos or links.
Best part about all this? The price. The Status will cost a very solid $49.99 with new 2 year contract and data plan (which starts at $15 a month for 250 MB or enough for more status updates than you could imagine) when it launches next Monday, July 17th (and for those who can’t wait you can pre-order the Status right now from AT&T).
Personally, I would rather just a more powerful phone like the Infuse 4G or iPhone 4 and just install the Facebook app as opposed to a “Facebook phone,” but AT&T readers we wanna know: are you completely addicted to Facebook that you need a phone like this or would you rather a phone like the Infuse 4G or iPhone 4 and just have the Facebook app installed? Let us know in the comments.
Don’t Buy That New Mac Yet– Is Apple Releasing OS X Lion and New MacBook Airs Next Week?
Jul 8th
If you are planning on buying a new Mac anytime over the next week we recommend you try to hold off until at least next Thursday. Rumors are Apple is planning some big things for next Thursday, July 14th, the day according to the latest rumors, they are expected to release the next major update to OS X, OS X Lion. We already went through everything you should be looking forward to in Apple’s next big desktop OS (for a recap see here and here), but there are also rumors that Apple is planning to update its MacBook Air (and possibly MacBook and Mac Mini) lines the same day.
As we all know, the MacBook Air is one incredible little computer with one of the thinnest designs we’ve ever seen. As we wrote last year, it’s so thin and light– while still keeping a full keyboard and great screen– that its perfect for traveling and taking to school every day. The problem with those current MacBook Airs though is that they could be a whole lot faster if they were using some of Intel’s latest and greatest Core i5 and i7 processors found in the new MacBook Pros and all modern PCs (the Core 2 Duo on today’s Airs is a few years old to say the least). Well, in this rumored update the new Airs would not just get these much faster new processors, but also an even faster Solid State Drive (this is similar to the storage found in iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads and is faster and gives the computer better battery over the traditional hard drive) and a ThunderBolt port (Apple and Intel’s next generation of USB that would make transferring files from your computer to an iPhone/iPod/backup hard drive a lot faster). Yeah these new Airs look to be ridiculously fast.
There are even more rumors that we may see a MacBook Air released at a price of $899 or $100 cheaper than the current 11 inch MacBook Air that starts at $999.
Much faster, possibly cheaper, and with Lion pre-installed? Yeah, if you’re looking to go Mac back-to-school shopping this weekend we definitely think you should wait a few more days to see if this comes out.
More info: Cult of Mac, 9to5Mac
Verizon Releases The Motorola Droid 3– The Most Powerful 3G Droid Yet
Jul 7th
Looking for a new Droid but want something with the power of the Droid X2, keyboard of the Droid 2 and front camera of the Droid Incredible 2? Then this latest version of the original Droid line is for you.
Today Verizon and Motorola released the Droid 3, the third generation of the original Motorola Droid released two years ago that really put Android on the map. And this new Droid 3 definitely looks to live up to the Droid name. As we wrote above, think of it as a best of the best of some of the latest 3G Droids– the Droid X2, Droid Incredible 2, and Droid 2. Here are the full specs:
- 4 inch high-res qHD screen– Basically this is one of the best screens on any Droid yet and should make everything you view on it look great. The screen is also made of what’s known as Gorilla Glass, or a really strong glass that should help keep your screen scratch free (a major plus in our opinion).
- Slide-out full QWERTY keyboard– It wouldn’t be a new Droid without it.
- 1 GHZ Dual Core Processor– So it’s just as fast as the recently released, blazing fast Droid X2. Everything on here should run fast and smooth just like its supposed to.
- 8 megapixel back camera with 1080p HD video recording and second, front camera for video chat– Just like the Droid Incredible 2. Pictures and videos on here should also come out great (the back camera even has face recognition!).
- Latest and greatest Android 2.3 Gingerbread– With Swype keyboard pre-loaded for when you don’t want to use the slide-out keyboard.
- 16 GB of built-in storage– With the ability to add another 32 GB through microSD which makes this perfect for storing all your music, videos and pictures.
Sadly the Droid 3 isn’t a 4G phone (we’re gonna have to wait for the Droid Bionic for that), but if you’re looking for a top of the line 3G Droid you can pick this up now for $199 with new 2 year contract and data plan from Verizon (and again, if you’re upgrading you can still keep your unlimited data with this).
The Teen Review: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
Jul 7th
There have been a lot of great phones already this year but the release of the Xperia Play, aka PlayStation Phone, was probably one of the most anticipated. Finally, the mix of a PSP and a phone was here. We finally got to spend some real quality time with Sony Ericsson and Verizon’s long awaited Android/PSP mashup, and well, was it worth the wait?
We’ve got all the info you’re gonna want to know and more, so read on for our full Teen Review of the Xperia Play.
Facebook Announces Skype Video Chat– And Yes, It’s Awesome
Jul 6th
As expected, Facebook today finally announced one of its most long-awaited features– the ability to video chat with your Facebook friends. Powered by Skype and starting today, you’ll be able to easily video chat with any of your Facebook friends just by clicking on the video camera icon in the normal chat window. That’s it and it works in all the major browsers– Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari– on Mac or Windows, so no matter what you use you should have no problem video chatting (and like Skype on the computer, if you don’t have a webcam you can still see and hear the other person but they can only hear you). Done with the chat? Just close the video and you’re done.
And like regular Skype you can also leave video messages for a friend if they’re not online (like a private version of posting a video message on their wall which is open for all of their friends to see), and you can also now call or chat with your Facebook friends right from an updated Skype app (available for Windows users here).
The new Facebook group chat
Facebook also today introduced two other updates to Chat– a better, more organized Friends list that has a sidebar for easy access to the friends you message most, and the ability to easily group chat with multiple friends (again, just by clicking the “add friends to chat” icon in the normal chat window).
Yes all this isn’t “groundbreaking” by any stretch, but the fact that it is such an easy and simple way to make an already very good instant messaging system better does in our opinion make it awesome.
The new Chat features will be rolling out to everyone over the next “couple of weeks” but if you can’t wait you can get right now here. Let us know what you think and don’t forget to Like us!
Verizon Is Changing Data Plans On Thursday– What You Need To Know
Jul 6th
Well, we knew this was coming at some point but unfortunately it’s finally here– the true beginning of the end of unlimited data. Starting this Thursday, July 7th, Verizon will stop offering its current smartphone data plans of $30 a month for unlimited data and instead switch to what’s known as tiered data plans. Tiered data plans are certain amounts of data a month with different amounts being offered for different prices (this is what AT&T started last year with its $15 a month for 250 MB or $25 a month for 2 GB data plans).
The new Verizon plans will be: $30 a month for 2 GB (good for a lot of email, BBM and web browsing/Facebook checking and some video watching and video chatting), $50 a month for 5 GB (good for a lot of video watching and video chatting), and $80 a month for 10 GB. Yeah, it’s nowhere near as good of a deal as the current $30 for unlimited (if you go over your limit for example, you’re looking at $10 for each additional GB), and we do wish Verizon added a cheaper plan for those who don’t use the internet as much from their phones (like what AT&T does with it’s $15 a month for 250 MB)– but what can ya do.
So what does this mean to you, dear reader with a Verizon smartphone? Well, don’t freak out about this just yet– Verizon has also confirmed that those new data plans are for new accounts only and anyone who currently has an unlimited $30 data plan can keep that plan even after you upgrade and regardless of if you have a 3G or 4G phone. In terms of upgrading from a feature phone that doesn’t already have a data plan, Verizon hasn’t officially said if you could get an older unlimited plan (as like a sort of loyalty thing), but if we had to guess you’re gonna have to get one of those new tiered ones.
In short, if you were thinking of switching to Verizon (or upgrading to a smartphone), we recommend you do it really soon.
More info at Fierce Wireless
Facebook Launching Something “Awesome” Next Week– Is It Facebook Video Chat?
Jul 1st
You may have heard recently about Google’s big new Facebook competitor, Google+, and how it looks to take everything you currently do on Facebook and make it even more social by connecting you with all your Gmail/Google account friends.
With new features like Circles (creating groups out of all your friends for easier organizing and communicating like say family, classmates or friends from camp. Now you can post updates for just certain people to see instead of your whole Friend’s list), Huddle (think of this like Group Text on the T-Mobile Samsung Sidekick 4G and myTouch 4G Slide– its group texting to your Circles from your phone or computer that should make figuring out what you’re all doing later a lot easier), and most importantly, Hangouts, Google+ looks to be the first real rival to Facebook. Hangouts is the real big thing here and allows for video chats with specific friends or Circles right from your phone/computer– something we all know has been badly missing from Facebook over the last few years.
And while Google+ is right now only in a very limited beta (or testing, not yet ready for everyone) stage, it looks really good and could finally be something that really threatens Facebook for your social networking attention. Facebook of course isn’t taking this new threat without a fight back and has sent out invites for an event next Wednesday, July 6th, where they promise they’ll be launching something “awesome.” And what is this rumored new “awesome” feature? Well if these latest rumors are to be believed (and we believe them) then next week we’ll finally see Facebook video chat thanks to a partnership with Skype.
To us this all makes perfect sense. Facebook needs to steal some of the buzz around Google+ before it grows any larger and what better way to do that then by partnering with one the largest providers of video chat in the world in Skype (oh, and Microsoft– who also is a big rival of Google– is a big investor in Facebook and just so happens to now own Skype).
Again, Facebook hasn’t said exactly what they’ll be announcing next week (some rumors are it’ll be an iPad app or some better photo uploading from phones), but we wanna know: what do you want to see from Facebook next week? Would you use a new Facebook/Skype video chat over iChat, Google Talk, ooVoo or whatever other video chat app you use? Let us know in the comments.
Top 5 New and Upcoming T-Mobile Phones: Summer 2011
Jun 30th
We’ve covered AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint a little while ago but now it’s time for us to cover the final carrier on our list: T-Mobile.
So T-Mobile users– you’ve got an upgrade coming up sometime over the next couple of weeks/months and while you like some of the phones already out there, you really wanna know what T-Mobile’s got planned during those next few weeks or months so you don’t go out and buy something only to really regret it a week later. We’re here to help. While not all of these are confirmed to be coming to T-Mobile (some are just our best guesses based on rumors we’ve been hearing), here are 5 phones that are said to be on their way to T-Mobile that anyone with an upgrade should be really excited for (and trust us– they’re really good).
