Amy Eichelberg

Just in time for the weekend, Google introduced its latest update to Google Maps. The map service will now cover live traffic in 13 European countries. The coverage will provide consistent updated information regarding major highways and roadways in countries like the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany in addition to displaying an increased street view for U.K. users. Can’t wait to plan your next European road trip? Now you can leave with a little extra pep in your step. See the complete list of supported countries below:  Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Germany Ireland Israel Luxembourg Netherlands Poland Slovakia Spain Switzerland […]

Not the news Sony Ericsson investors wanted to hear on Friday after the company posted a net loss of €50 million in the second quarter of 2011. Sony Ericsson cites massive supply restrictions resulting from the horrendous earthquake and aftershocks that shook Japan earlier this year. Shipments fell 31% for Sony Ericsson from the same quarter last year to a mere 7.6 million units. Meanwhile, analysts had expected shipments to range from 8 million to 11 million handsets. Revenue for the quarter rounded out at €1.19 billion, down from €1.76 billion in the same quarter during the previous year. Sony Ericsson President and CEO Bert Nordberg had this to

Apple consumers patiently awaiting to get their hands on the elusive iPhone 5 may have to wait a little while longer than expected. According to a Chinese translated report from Sohu.com, 9to5Mac reports the highly anticipated iPhone 5 may have caught its first road bump on the way to its expected release date. The iPhone 5 originally targeted to launch in September or October is now rumored to be pushed back until 2012. Why you ask? Allegedly, the device is having problems with an overheating dual-core A5 chip. As many in the Apple blogosphere have already speculated, Apple could release a slightly revamped “iPhone

Hulu announced today that they are proud to add four additional Android powered devices to their mobile supported lineup. Hulu enthusiasts can now take advantage of the service on the HTC Evo 4G, HTC ThunderBolt, HTC myTouch 4G and G2. The four new Android devices join the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Atrix as Hulu supported smartphones. Hulu subscribers are able to watch premium content whenever they want and now have more Android mobile options at their fingertips. Outside of the mobile space, Hulu Plus is available on a wide array of devices, including some

Spotify, the extremely popular music streaming service in Europe, made its official debut in the U.S. today. An excerpt from their press release introduces the service, “Hello America. Spotify here. Spotify, the largest and fastest growing music service of its kind, is available from today in the US. We’re massively excited to be here. Spotify is a new way to manage your music, discover new tracks and share songs and playlists with your friends. Now you can enjoy music whenever and wherever you like. More than 10 million Europeans can’t be wrong, surely?” Spotify allows user to stream unlimited music on demand

At the Mobile Beat 2011 Conference in San Francisco today, PayPal demonstrated its first Near Field Communications (NFC) widget for Android powered devices. Funds were transferred by simply running the widget and tapping two Nexus S devices together as shown in a demonstration. The NFC widget allows users to both send and receive money by holding the phones together until they buzz, entering in a PayPal password or mobile PIN, and the transfer is complete. Currently the PayPal widget only works on the Nexus S device but is slated to roll out to additional Android devices in the near future. The official launch

AT&T announced today that they will exclusively offer Sony’s S2 tablet for U.S. consumers. “We’re pleased to be working with AT&T on yet another unique mobile device,” said Mike Lucas, senior vice president of Networked Technology and Services Division at Sony Electronics. “AT&T provides the speed and coverage that are integral to the different features and functions of our tablet. We value our relationship as they share our commitment to growing the ‘Sony Tablet’ and the tablet market overall.” The S2 device stands apart from other tablets as it features a dual folding form of 5.5-inch 1024 x 480 displays housing a dual-core

T-Mobile announced today that they have doubled their theoretical download speed ceiling for its 4G HSPA+ networks and 56 new markets will be able to take advantage of the upgrade. Currently the T-Mobile Rocket laptop stick 3.o is the only device that is capable of utilizing the 4G HSPA +42 service. The laptop stick provides an average download speeds on its HSPA+ 42 network approaching 10 Mbps, with peak speeds of 27 Mbps. “America’s Largest 4G Network is now faster than ever and continues to deliver a fast and reliable broadband experience in more places than any other carrier,” stated T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray

HTC seemingly spoke directly to Apple today in a response to their latest patent infringement claim. HTC publicly dismissed the claims and suggested Apple should focus its energy on competing fairly like everyone else instead of resorting to suing everyone who gets in their way. Earlier this week, Apple filed a patent infringement claim with the International Trade Commission, requesting the ITC block and cease all sales of HTC’s mobile devices that violate Apple’s patents. HTC attorney Grace Lei had this to say regarding  Apple’s recent claim, “HTC is disappointed at Apple’s constant attempts at litigations instead of competing fairly in the market,

Today Google released new improvements to their Google Shopper 2.0 App for Android devices. The enhancements include additional tabs for a more personalized shopping experience along with an improved layout. Google moved the “starred” and “history” buttons to the top for easier navigation in addition to adding three new tabs to the bottom of the screen. The new tabs allow the user to gain access to local shopping offers while utilizing Google’s additional shopping features. The “Today’s Offer” tab essentially provides a single discounted item or service provided by a retailer nearby. The “Nearby Offers” tab displays discounts for food and entertainment as submitted through

T-Mobile finally announced yesterday it plans to launch the HTC myTouch 4G Slide on July 27th. The confirmed launch date coming after a series of recent device leaks. The slick device boasts HTC’s latest Sense 3.0 UI overlay with a service suite all atop the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) OS. Additional specs include a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor, a 3.7-inch WVGA display, an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video recording, support for SWYPE, and of course a full QWERTY keyboard to finish the device off. T-Mobile is pricing the device at $199 with a 2 year contract. To receive more information on when the device hits T-Mobile

HTC announced over their official Facebook page that they have updated their bootloader policy for Android devices and will begin offering unlocked bootloaders starting in August. The first device to receive the unlocked bootloader will be the global HTC Sensation followed by the  Sensation 4G for T-Mobile, and shortly after the HTC EVO 3D for Sprint. HTC recognized how unique the demand was for providing devices without a locked bootloader and ramped up internal resources to make this happen. As the change requires significant new software builds and massive testing, HTC will be rolling out the update to support unlocked bootloaders

Apple released their iOS 5 beta 3 software for developers today. The new build is compatible for iOS devices including the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad, Apple TV, and third and fourth-generation iPod touch devices. If you paid the $99/year developer access fee you can obtain the update now through Apple’s dev center site. As expected, Apple also released the third beta of iTunes 10.5, which will be necessary for developers to install in order to utilize the new iOS 5 beta 3 software. We included the full change log below for developers and inquiring minds alike. Notes and Known Issues

LG has formally introduced its latest Android handset, the Optimus Pro C660, in Italy. The device sports a full Blackberry-like QWERTY keyboard, a 2.8-inch QVGA display with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels, a 3 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, Quadband 3G radio, a removable 1500mAh battery, and all baked with Android’s Gingerbread OS (2.3). Additional hardware specs are hard to find but the handset likely houses a entry or mid level single core processor. The device appropriately targeted at business professionals is priced at  €179 which is approximately $250 dollars. Details surrounding a U.S. release are currently scarce as LG has

Lenovo’s IdeaPad U1 is finally nearing the home stretch towards a launch date. The unique Android and Windows based device is a tablet and notebook hybrid combination. The device reached the FCC for an approval filing making it ready for sale in the U.S. An exact release date remains to be confirmed. The FCC file revealed little about the device’s specs but did reveal a 1.3 GHz Snapdragon processor and a custom Lenovo interface. The file did narrow in on November 22nd which could indicate Lenovo’s target launch time for the device. A November launch would finally bring an end to the company’s