Tumblr, a popular blogging service, was updated today with a slew of new features. Most notably, the app features an upgraded user-interface that looks great. Posting on your blog is now much easier and snappier thanks to this update. Tumblr for Android also features “Tumblr Radar,” which displays top posts from across Tumblr’s network of blogs. If you update today, you will notice better photo-browsing and multiple blog notifications. You can check out the full release notes after the break.

 

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Well lookie there folks. Sprint posted a picture of an unbranded Galaxy Note on its website for all to see. We are hoping this  is not just a lazy graphic designer over at the Now Network, but rather an indication that this is coming soon. It does make sense, because Sprint is ramping up its LTE network. Moreover, the Galaxy Note would not be a bad addition. This time, we hope it features Ice Cream Sandwich right off the bat, unlike AT&T and Google Wallet thanks to the NFC chip offered on the LTE version. At any rate, if this is true, we should hear more from Sprint soon. Stay tuned.

(via Engadget)
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Netflix for Android was updated to version 1.7.1 this afternoon. The update is welcomed, because it adds a sleeker user-interface and a slew of bug and speed improvements. However, Netflix does not mention what the fixes are exactly. The UI enhancements are said to be specified around the volume controls and fast forward/rewind buttons. Did you download it? Let us know what you are experiencing in the comments below.

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We know everything there is to know about the Sprint Galaxy Nexus LTE, except for its launch date. According to Phandroid, the launch could be soon, because many Sprint retail stores received sign material to post around their stores. As you can see after the break, the signage is going to be posted in stores this Sunday, April 15.

From the looks of it, the launch of the Sprint Galaxy Nexus cannot be too far off. For those unfamiliar, the Sprint Galaxy Nexus packs two exclusive features: a faster 1.5GHz processor and Google Wallet compatibility. In January, we exclusively brought news that Wallet was left out of the Verizon version at Verizon’s request. This was attributed to Verizon working on its own mobile payment platform.

At any rate, Sprint customers will be able to take advantage of that “Everything Data Plan” for the Galaxy Nexus soon.

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For those of you who think a 10-inch tablet is too small, Toshiba just announced a new 13-inch tablet this morning to add to its Excite tablet line. Along with the 13-inch version, Toshiba also introduced smaller 7-inch and 10-inch versions, all set to launch in May and June.

Each version of the tablet features a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor and 1GB of RAM. Toshiba will also ship each version with Ice Cream Sandwich.

Toshiba is set to launch the Excite 10 in May 2012 for $449 for the 16GB model, $529 for the 32GB model, and $649 for the 64GB model. The Excite 7 is launching in June 2012 for $499 for the 16GB model and $579 for the 32GB model. The Excite 13 tablet launches in June for $649.99 for the 32GB model and $749.99 for the 64GB model.

Our own Seth Weintraub played with the 13-inch version at this year’s CES and said he was pretty impressed. What do you think about a 13-inch tablet?

Check out the full press release after the break:

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As the CyanogenMod team works to continue releasing new “nightly builds” of its custom Android firmware, it just released a blog post this morning asking for donations from the community. The team said it needed donations to purchase new servers to keep releasing new builds.

CyanogenMod is not a for-profit business. We are just a bunch of geeks, trying to make our phones more awesome. The donations we get currently cover our operating costs and occasionally go towards developer devices. This time, I need to ask for help from the community for something a bit larger. We need to purchase these servers in order to bring the build infrastructure back to full capacity.

The CyanogenMod community quickly jumped into action, and the CyanogenMod team earned the money it needed (and perhaps a bit more) in only a few short hours to purchase the necessary servers. The team will buy “Xeon-class boxes with lots of RAM” next week. Check out the full statement below:

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Consumer watchdog Electronic Privacy Information Center, also known as EPIC, sued the FTC last week in hopes to draw attention to Google’s new privacy policy. For those unfamiliar, Google’s new privacy policy merges 60 separate privacy policies into one unified document, and it allows Google to gather and implement user data across its services. EPIC did not like the move on Google’s part and quickly sued the FTC for not taking action.

NY Times reported that the FTC told EPIC to mind its own business and has asked the courts to dismiss the case. The FTC told the New York Times in an email statement “We are asking the court to dismiss the case because parties such as EPIC are barred by law from interfering with the proper investigation and enforcement of F.T.C. orders.” The FTC did not comment on its view regarding Google’s privacy policy change.

Many other groups also expressed concern over the new privacy policy:

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Google’s Chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt plans to sell $1.5 billion in Google stock that he owns, according to a filing with the SEC. Schmidt’s stake in Google is currently 2.8-percent. The prearranged sale of 2.4 million shares of Class A stock will lower his share to 2.1-percent. Google closed at $604.64 per share on Friday. WSJ reported:

Google Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is selling stock currently worth about $1.45 billion as part of a trading plan that would cut his ownership stake in the Internet giant to about 2.1% from 2.8%.

As of the end of last year, Schmidt owned 2.8-percent of Google, which equivalates to 9.1 million shares of Class A and Class B stock. At the end of the sale, Schmidt will own 6.7 million shares of stock— or 2.1-percent of Google.

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The YouTube team announced a few updates to YouTube Channels on its YouTube Blog today. The major addition to Channels include the ability to promote your Google+ profile (as seen to the right). Viewers can now click on Google+ Profiles from YouTube, signifying Google is continuing its push to integrate Google+ across services.

The second addition is that users can posts videos onto their Channel’s Feed by posting a Channel Bulletin. This can be done from the “Post to Feed” box under the feed tab on your own channel. You can also a comment under the video. Lastly, the YouTube team implemented new annotations to add on your own videos, as seen below.

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Google Drive was rumored to launch for sometime now and looks to be coming even closer. Geek Wire reportedly obtained a screenshot of Drive from one of its readers. As you can see, Google Drive looks very similar to Google Docs, which can also upload any type of file. Below, Geek Wire enlarged the Google Drive favicon, perhaps exposing the service’s logo.

Along with a web based interface, Google Drive is also rumored to have a desktop application very similar to Dropbox, where users can push files to the cloud for access anywhere. There will also be deep Google Drive integration available on Android, several reports said.

Last week, WSJ reported Google Drive would launch in the coming weeks or months. Google Drive will be available for free, but premium versions will also be available for those who want more space.

Google Drive was already referenced to in Google Docs code. Maybe Google Drive will also be integrated somehow into Google Docs at some point. Expect to see Google Drive in the coming weeks.

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Your favorite custom keyboard for Android, Swype Beta, just updated with Ice Cream Sandwich compatibility (via Android Central). Sadly, this update still does not make Swype available on the Android Market, but you can download it from the Swype website. For those of you unfamiliar: Swype is a custom keyboard preloaded on a few phones that lets you drag a finger across the keyboard to type. It is very intuitive and definitely worth a try.

Besides seeing ICS compatibility, Swype Beta also saw an upgrade for improved word accuracy, new downloadable languages, and add-ons with DragonGo.

You can download the new Swype Beta from Swype’s website.

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The iPhone is great in many ways, but perhaps one of the best cases is in a medical emergency. KVAL reported a 57-year-old Oregon man was suffering from a diabetic reaction while driving down a local highway. (Video link here.)

When two medical responders came to the scene and tried to assist the man, they ran into quite a language barrier. The man only spoke Chinese, but luckily, one of the responders knew to reach for his iPhone. He fired up Google Translate and was able to speak Chinese with the man to figure out his condition and give him the help he needed.

Cross posted on 9to5Mac.

Just as you are getting content with Google’s latest Android offering Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, there are more rumors tonight on Google’s next version of Android. The sometimes-accurate Digitimes reported that Google might launch Android 5.0 Jelly Bean this summer.

This new version of Android will reportedly have a focus on tablet PCs, but hopefully not like the tablet exclusive Honeycomb. Ice Cream Sandwich hoped to pick up on Honeycomb’s mistakes by unifying both the handset and tablet platforms.

Digitimes said Android 5.0 would have a unique feature, because it will have a dual operating system approach. It will reportedly be able to boot into both Android and Chrome without having to shutdown. Perhaps Chrome will be part of the experience like it did with the launch of the browser as an app.

We will most likely hear more at Google I/O in June where Google does many of its big announcements.

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Attention Nexus S 4G users: The moment you have been waiting for is finally hitting tomorrow. Android Police reported that the Nexus S 4G would receive the long-awaited Ice Cream Sandwich update tomorrow, according to a screenshot of Sprint’s internal systems (seen after the break). The over-the-air update should hit any time now, so get ready. Let’s hope nothing goes wrong in the process.

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Gigabyte announced a new Android handset called the GSmart G1355 that is launching at the end of the month. The GSmart G1355 looks as if it is the best phone to feature a dual-SIM card slot—a rarity in many upscale devices. Most dual-SIM devices do not have the best list of specs, so this sure looks like a solid device.

Specs for the device include 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7227T chipset, Android 2.3, 512MB RAM, 4.3-inch screen, and 5-megapixel camera.

The GSmart G1355 is set to see some action on the show floor of Mobile World Congress, and it is releasing at the end of the month. There is no word on pricing as of yet. Again, not the best specs, but they are decent for a dual-sim device. (via GSM Arena)

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This year’s world Olympics are set to take place in London this summer. NBC Universal will do the majority of the broadcasting worldwide, and according to PaidContent, NBCU recruited Google and ComScore to develop new ways to track viewership over broadcast, mobile, cable, and Internet.

According to the report, Google will track viewership by creating a small panel of 3,000 consumers. Google will also— in its typical style— create an algorithm to help. As for ComScore, it will be conducting a study from 750 AT&T U-verse customers.

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Google just released an update to its Google+ for iOS, bringing it to version 1.0.9.4278. Today’s update for the iOS app brings it up-to-par with the Google+ Android app, which was updated last week. The update brings three new updates: Instant upload of photos, you can see who +1d posts, and the new “What’s Hot” stream.

You can grab the update on the iTunes App Store.

Google has announced on their Official Google Blog that Google DNS is now the world’s largest DNS service, processing a whopping 70 billion requests a day. Google’s DNS efforts make for faster load times if you choose to use the service. Google describes DNS as, “If you had to look up hundreds or thousands of phone numbers every day, you’d want a directory that was fast, secure and correct.”

We launched Google Public DNS in December 2009 to help make the web faster for everyone. Today, we’re no longer an experimental service. We’re the largest public DNS service in the world, handling an average of more than 70 billion requests a day.

Google also dropped word that they currently have over 10 million users using the service. 70% of Google DNS’ traffic comes from outside of the United States, with key markets being North America, South America, Europe, and an emerging Asia.

Not using Google DNS? Check out how.

The United States Department of Justice approved Google’s purposed $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola, according to Reuter’s Poornima Gupta. The approval comes after we brought word that the European Commission also cleared the acquisition earlier today.

Europe and U.S. regulators are the biggest hoops for Google while it works to acquire Motorola Mobility. Now that it has cleared those two, it will continue to aim for approval in China (who has until March 20 to sign-off), and Israel and Taiwan (who have yet to sign-off on the acquisition).

Presumably, U.S. regulators will follow similar steps as European regulators by monitoring “strategic use of patents.”

The D.O.J.’s full press release after the break:

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We have talked about the HTC Endeavor a lot lately as a rumored Mobile World Congress announcement draws closer. However, a new report from Economic Daily News (via DigiTimes) indicates that the Endeavor will be announced by HTC on Feb. 26, just one day before MWC kicks off.

HTC will unveil Endeavor on February 26, one day before the opening of the 2012 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the paper indicated.

The HTC Endeavor will reportedly pack a 1.5GHz Tegra 3 based Quad-Core processor, 4.7-inch 720P HD screen, 8-megapixel camera, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0. The handset will also feature Beats audio experience onboard, as well the Sense 4.0 user interface that was shown off today. So, stay tuned!

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Google just announced on its Official Google TV Blog the “big announcement” for tomorrow. The Google TV crew announced an all-new YouTube app for the Google TV platform. The app features a smoother experience and bug fixes. The big feature here, however, seems to be a new feature called “Discover” that lets users view YouTube channels by different categories (as seen above).

The YouTube app will also gain the new channels that the desktop version of YouTube has seen. From there, you can navigate through users’ videos, favorites, and subscriptions.

When viewing a video, you can use the up and down arrows on your Google TV’s remote to navigate to the information screen. On the information screen, you can interact with a video by giving it a thumb’s up, adding it to your favorites or playlist, and leaving a comment.

The update should roll out to every Google TV user in the next few days from the Android Market. Oh, and I have to say that I am disappointed. Google overhyped this announcement.

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