Microsoft added Android support for OneNote, enabling Android users to take notes from their device and sync them in the cloud. But a few key features are missing that appear in competing apps. Is this space owned by Evernote or can OneNote succeed on Android? Read More »
Bio:After spending 15 years in IT at Fortune 100 companies, Kevin turned a hobby into a career and began covering mobile technology in 2003. He writes daily on the industry and has co-hosted the weekly MobileTechRoundup podcast since 2006. His writing has appeared in print (The New York Times, PC Magazine and PC World) and he has been featured on NBC News in Philadelphia.
Kevin’s unique approach is to use the technology as a consumer would, so that he can report back to readers honestly about what they can expect from a device or app and help them get the most out of it. Freescale has named Kevin a “Top 20 Smart Mobile Device Pundit.” When not playing with the latest gadget, Kevin is typically spending time with his family, reading e-books or running in the rural areas near his home office in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Latest Tweets
- @m4tt Since you asked: http://t.co/KXilPepd ;)
- @Matt_Gerlach I hear you. GNex / Razr were last top ends IMO and very limited WP choices. Next Incredible worth a look.
- @VZWSupport doubtful: I review phones for a living. ;) @Matt_Gerlach
My Focus
Mobile technology
Netbooks
Smartphones
Wireless broadband
Recent Posts
Now that Google has brought its Chrome browser to desktops, laptops, Chromebooks (remember those?) and, just today, to Android 4.0 tablets and smartphones, where will Chrome appear next? For $60, it can be on your wrist, but don’t expect to browse for anything but the time. Read More »
Google merged its Chrome browser with Android today and I’m thrilled to see it. The Chrome beta is fast and it has a clean interface. If you’re a Chrome user on the desktop, Chrome for Android can open whatever webpage you’re browsing on the PC. Read More »
We already knew the iPhone 4S camera was good thanks to its small pixel size and backlit sensor. That’s helping the iPhone 4S to become the most used camera on Flickr, and it may help the iPhone 4S become the most used smartphone in a microscope. Read More »
Nokia released the Belle software upgrade for its recent Symbian phones on Tuesday, bringing additional home screens, much improved notifications and other features. The rollout is a day ahead of schedule, showing that Nokia is starting to make good on promises to deliver on time. Read More »
Based on a growing number of data points, Android’s sales dominance may be nearing its apex while iOS is on the rise. Even as a daily user of both an Android smartphone and tablet, I can’t deny the facts that Android’s future won’t rival Android’s past. Read More »
I took a look at Rdio’s new Android client and it’s a vast improvement. The application is a full re-write, rather than an update, and better supports Android 4.0 smartphones and tablets, allowing the app to be controlled on a device’s lock screen. Read More »
More Must Reads
Samsung’s next flagship phone, the Galaxy S III, is expected to be super-thin and run on a quad-core processor, with availability in May. The details aren’t official, but make sense given that code support for Samsung’s Exynos 4212 quad-core chip was found in October. Read More »
On average, 100 million people watch the Super Bowl. With connected devices everywhere, we’ll be tweeting about it and sharing thoughts on social networks. So will fans at the game. Here are some staggering numbers showing how Super Bowl 46 is ready for such mobility. Read More »
Calendar apps are great, but sometimes you need to track how many days until a future event or project. In some cases, you might want to track days from the past. D-Day is a free, simple iOS program that manages both scenarios on iOS devices. Read More »
The new Galaxy Tab 7.7 with dual-core chip tests just as fast, if not faster, than a recent quad-core tablet. Sprint is selling a capable $99 Android slate from ZTE, while Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus looked like it was losing Google’s support as a true Nexus phone. Read More »
The Verizon Galaxy Nexus LTE handset is reportedly no longer a Google-supported developer phone, which could have software update implications. Code for the CDMA/LTE Nexus has been archived for reference by Google and it sounds like the issue is Google Wallet, which Verizon simply doesn’t want. Read More »
A Nokia research project called Nokia Hello leverages wireless technology with Near Field Communications (NFC) chips to help people “speak” to each other. I figured it would be a good solution when speaking to someone in a non-native language (it is), but Nokia suggests another use. Read More »
The U.S. government has settled on Google’s Android platform for secure phones, mainly because the software is open and can easily be modified. But what about the dreaded Android software updates? No worries; the government says it can provide them within 2 weeks of Google’s changes! Read More »
Ting, a new reseller of Sprint’s voice, 3G and WiMax, launched with one of the most unique mobile plans to date. Families using Ting share voice minutes and messages. But there’s another twist: they also share their monthly data across all devices on the plan. Read More »
Alleged details of Windows Phone 8 emerged on Thursday in a leaked video intended for Microsoft’s partners. Information from the video was written up by PocketNow and upon first glance, all the details seem feasible. More importantly, they’re what Microsoft needs to improve sales. Read More »
Sunnyvale-based IP phone service provider ShoreTel purchased M5 networks for $146.3 million. The deal is made up $84 million in cash and 9.5 million shares of ShoreTel stock. M5 will be operated as a ShoreTel business unit and will be led by M5 CEO Dan Hoffman. Read More »
Sprint will carry the Optik, a 7-inch 3G-enabled tablet built by ZTE, a China-based company. The Android 3.2 tablet has capable components and runs Android 3.2. The best feature may be the price: just $99 with a two-year Sprint contract or $349.99 without a commitment. Read More »
Are you ready to have your own replicator: a device that can create physical objects? It’s here in the form of a 3-D printer, but it’s not cheap and it’s semi-limited. Still, if you can design an object, you can have your printer build it! Read More »
The Mobile World Congress is this month in Barcelona. How has the mobile ad market done since last year’s MWC? In the 12-month span, Mobile app monetization exchange inneractive, has seen more than 700 percent jump in clicks and nearly the same in ad requests. Read More »
Android fragmentation is less of a challenge than it was two years ago, and developers shouldn’t be as concerned about it says Localytics. Data from both Localytics, and even Google, show this to be true. And Android 4.0 is a chance for a “fresh start.” Read More »
Mint’s financial management app for Android makes the move from phones to tablets on Wednesday. The software offers the same functionality as Mint’s iPad app, which is experiencing much higher take-up rates on tablets compared to smartphones. Here’s why Mint hopes for the same on Android. Read More »
There’s a new app store available for millions of devices, but it’s not built for iOS, Android, or Windows Phone handsets. As of Tuesday, the newest app store is for robots, and the first four apps are compatible with the estimated 6 million iRobot Roomba Vacuums. Read More »
Now that Samsung offers the Galaxy Tab 7.7, my patience to upgrade the old Galaxy Tab has paid off: This small slate with high-def display offers big performance. Here are benchmarks compared to other tablets like the Transformer Prime; both are solid performers in real life. Read More »
T-Mobile added a new family locator service called FamilyWhere to its suite of carrier-specific Android apps on Tuesday. The software is powered by Safely, which now has passed one billion “locates” for premium subscribers. Will T-Mo customers pay after the free trial or simply use Life360? Read More »
Another hot device from this month’s Consumer Electronics Show is about to hit the market: AT&T announced a Feb. 5 pre-order date for the Samsung Galaxy Note. With a 5.3-inch HD display, can this phone, er tablet, succeed where Dell failed with the Streak? Read More »
RunKeeper announced nine new partner software titles on Monday, bringing the total number of compatible apps to 45. RunKeeper’s “secret sauce” is its HealthGraph effort, a method for health-tracking apps and devices to speak to each other in the same language. Read More »
When the first big security flaw even happens in one of the large enterprises, you will see this turn around. Wait for the day this happens. So says RIM’s new CEO, Thorsten Heins, as both iOS and Android devices are invading enterprises, the longtime realm of … Read More »
Samsung expanded its smartphone lineup on Monday, announcing the Galaxy S Advance for various markets around the world. But there’s little here to “advance” the Galaxy S design; it’s as if Samsung is now making Android handsets with spare parts left over from other models. Read More »
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7.7 is in the house as is the Asus Transformer Prime with Ice Cream Sandwich. Hear early impressions on these new tablets from Matt and Kevin, along with thoughts on Nokia’s Windows Phone performance to date. Plus a good Android browser gets better! Read More »
This week, two of the latest Android tablets arrived on my doorstep: An Asus Transformer Prime and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7; solid upgrades from last year’s models. Android tablet sales are finally on the rise, mainly on the back of Amazon’s Kindle Fire. Read More »
I love watching high-definition movies on my Galaxy Nexus because the phone actually has a true high-definition display. There’s a problem though: after watching the rentals, the massive media files aren’t disappearing from my phone. Here’s the quick fix which requires a file manager application. Read More »
As an avid e-book reader and lover of gadgets, I love the concept of this “virtual” book. Siglio Press is offering 250 copies of a print book that requires a webcam and computing device to actually be read. Read More »
We often see third-party device teardowns, but Samsung bucks the trend by showing breakdown of its 5.3-inch Galaxy Note. Those who say Android screens are getting larger mainly because of LTE radio size need to take a closer look at this dissection. I think they’re wrong. Read More »
Asus kicked things up a notch at CES with the Transformer Prime and Nvidia’s Tegra 3 processor, making for the best tablet gaming I’ve seen yet. The Transformer Prime with keyboard dock should run for at least 18 hours; here’s a look at this potent portable. Read More »
Amazon’s Kindle Fire is the latest example of a growing trend to move traditional computer activities to tablets and smartphones. AlwaysOnPC, a $25 mobile app, connects the Kindle Fire to a cloud instance of Fedora Linux with Open Office, Firefox, Chrome and integrated Dropbox support. Read More »
Nokia’s smartphone sales were down 31 percent in the final quarter of 2011 as the company’s switch to Microsoft’s Windows Phone continues. But one million Lumia’s sold to date is a good start, and Nokia is delivering on its transition plans, which gives it a chance. Read More »
Here in the U.S., we’re lagging behind nations where HD Voice has been implemented. Thanks to Bria for Android, and its support for wideband audio codecs, I’m now starting to get a taste of this higher voice quality and recorded a demo for you to hear. Read More »
One day before Nokia announces results for the most recent quarter, the company is touting a sales milestone: 1.5 billion Series 40 phones sold. That’s a huge accomplishment, but Series 40 now faces challenges from low-priced Android phones, so the momentum may not continue. Read More »
Verizon customers craving a thin LTE smartphone with all-day battery life get their wish later this week. Motorola’s Droid Razr Maxx launches on Jan. 26 for $299 with contract. But the battery is only one standout feature among many: Bluetooth 4.0, GLONASS and Super AMOLED. Read More »
Choosing a home automation network standard can be a hassle. It’s too bad there isn’t a ubiquitous network standard to use in plug-and-play modules. Oh wait: what about Wi-Fi? Belkin’s new WeMo products use Wi-Fi, which may help move home automation from geeks to the mainstream. Read More »
How ubiquitous is Nokia’s iconic ringtone? An easy but inadvisable way to find out is to leave your phone’s ringer on during a concert recital and see what happens when a call comes in. See how Slovakian violinist Lukas Kmit deftly handled the situation. Read More »
Dolphin Browser, a popular third-party web client for Android devices, is set to get even more popular. On Tuesday, the browser gained two new add-ons: support for both Skitch and Evernote, making it easier to annotate, draw on, or capture web content for saving or sharing. Read More »
OnLive’s game service is already available for Android devices, but there’s an iOS version in the works. Here’s a hands on demo with the beta client on an iPad, along with the OnLive wireless controller, which I think brings a much better experience than the touchscreen. Read More »
Although there’s some overlapping functionality between tablets and e-readers, it doesn’t seem to set up either device to cannibalize the other; at least not yet. The number of adults who owned either a tablet or an e-reader doubled this holiday season. Here’s why neither is “winning.” Read More »
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