Sir Steve Jobs proven wrong? The stylus is making a comeback, fueled by Draw Something and other stylus-friendly apps

“If you see a stylus, they blew it”. One of the most famous quotes of the recent years in the technology world came from Steve Jobs in 2010 and seemed to define the direction in which tablets and smartphones should move forward.

Two years later, though, a Bloomberg report confirms what I for one have been saying for a long time -the stylus is a great, fun tool to use with your smartphone or tablet of choice and, given the right app, right stylus, and right device, it can become popular again.

Well, the devices are there (the Samsung Galaxy Note is just one of the numerous Android-based smartphones that has a nice enough screen to beautifully support stylus input), the styluses were there from as far as I can remember, so the only thing that was missing was some cool free apps to challenge our artsy selves.

“Draw Something”  from OMGPOP is not your usual state-of-the art mobile game with groundbreaking graphics and a complex and complicated storyline. Yet, somehow, it managed to reach 20 million downloads in only five weeks after its launch.

It’s simple, it’s easy to understand and easy to play, and the only thing you have to do to become a “Draw Something” expert is to guess words based on your friends’ doodles and vice versa. Of course, in order to doodle things like a pro, you kind of need a stylus, as  drawing with your fingers it’s pretty uncomfortable and not very accurate either.

It’s no wonder, therefore, that styluses sales have seen an considerable boost over the last months. Just Mobile, for example, the manufacturer of the AluPen, recently released an official statement saying that their sales have doubled due to ‘’Draw Something’’.

Other accessory makers, like Spigen, Ten One Design, or Griffin Technology, have also talked about sales increase during the past weeks or months, so, all in all, it’s pretty obvious that the stylus is back with a vengeance.
Moreover, Samsung Galaxy Note’s success itself can be at least partially attributed to the fact that it comes with a stylus and it insists on the usefulness of such an accessory. The 5.3-inch “phablet” has already shipped in five million units worldwide and the numbers should increase gradually during the following months, to a whopping ten million, according to estimates.
“Draw Something” is not the only cool app that makes a stylus a necessity for any self-respecting artsy technology enthusiast, with other similar titles, such as ColorBox HD, Penultimate, or Notability being popular on the iPad, as well as on Android devices.
It’s hard to tell right now if the stylus’ comeback is only a fad or if, in fact, the accessory will remain popular from now on, but one thing is clear, nevertheless. Styluses should not be ignored – they can be fun, useful tools to make your tablet or smartphone experience more interactive. You can certainly live without them, but, at the same time, they can make your digital life way cooler

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T-Mobile discontinues the Sidekick 4G, no follower in sight at this moment

While I’m far from being a slide-out QWERTY smartphone fan (I find most of them unnecessarily heavy and kind of childish, between you and me), the Sidekick brand was one of the first that made me interested in the technology world.

Initially designed by Danger and manufactured by Sharp, the Sidekick received a nice upgrade about a year ago, when the guys at T-Mobile launched a mid-range gadget with a skinned version of Android Froyo 2.2 and all the works in terms of connectivity back then and named it the ‘’T-Mobile Sidekick 4G’’.

Unfortunately, the Sidekick 4G has been discontinued as of last week, according to a report (and a leaked screenshot) from TmoNews, and we might be faced with the end of an era, as there’s no follower in sight.

At least there’s no follower that we know of, because the guys at T-Mobile are one of the best in the industry when it comes to keeping secrets, so I wouldn’t be very surprised if in a couple of months or so we will be faced with another Sidekick, hopefully featuring 4G LTE and better tech specs.

We would also expect at least the running of Android 2.3 Gingebread, but let’s cool it down with all these expectations and return to being realistic. And realistically speaking, I’m unsure, as the guys at T-Mobile probably are, whether the Sidekick brand can stand the test of time and still manage to draw attention from technology geeks in a market that is so rapidly changed and development.

How about it, guys, is there anyone as sad as me seeing the Sidekick bite the dust or do you think that this is just another logical evolution step in the technology market? Also, would there be anyone interested in, say, a Sidekick 4G LTE with the same old full-sized QWERTY keyboard? Hit us with a comment and let us know.

Posted on 1:39 AM / 0 comments / Read More

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G with T-Mobile contract will launch on March 28 for $149 on

For those of you on T-Mobile (or looking to switch carriers) holding out for the Galaxy S Blaze 4G by Samsung, you will be happy to know it is going to launch on March 28th.


The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G joins the Samsung Galaxy S II and the HTC Amaze as T-Mobile’s high-end 4G Android smartphone options.  The Galaxy S Blaze sports a 3.97 inch Super AMOLED display, Android 2.3, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and operates on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 42Mbps network.  For the most part, it features high-end hardware and the only real complaint is its lack of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on board.  Android ICS will hopefully be provided at a later date, however.


Again, it will launch for $149 on a two year agreement, whereas the Samsung Galaxy S II and HTC Amaze sell for $229 each.  On March 28th, it will be available in all T-Mobile retail stores nationwide, but it will also be available starting March 21st in select retail stores.

Posted on 1:39 AM / 0 comments / Read More

T-Mobile MobileLife Sweepstakes and More Android Overload: ZTE Fury Coming To Sprint March 11th,

Some interesting leftovers for you tonight, here in the Android Overload. This is where we stash all of the stories that didn’t make it onto our front page, so that you might have one final look at them before they’re lost to the web forever. T-Mobile customers might want to enter into the MobileLife sweepstakes. Never know when you might win something cool. Good luck!

• Motorola has a new version of the Defy (the Defy XT535) headed to China. [Motorola]
• T-Mobile wishes subsidized pricing on smartphones would die. Can’t do it without other carriers’ help. [TMoNews]
• Manufacturing hiccup could cause Raspberry Pi delays. [RaspberryPi]
• There are now more than 100 million smartphone users in the US. [BGR]
• ZTE Fury coming to Sprint on March 11th. [SprintFeed]
• T-Mobile MobileLife sweepstakes. You could win a Galaxy Tab 10.1 or GSII

Posted on 7:00 AM / 0 comments / Read More

T-Mobile U.S will have 10 LTE devices and iPhone 4G network by 2013

T-Mobile U.S will have 10 LTE devices and its 4G network will be compatible with a future T-Mo-branded iPhone by the end of 2013, chief technology officer Neville Ray said at the carrier’s Challenger Strategy conference call.

T-Mobile’s CTO said the carrier will cover 50 major markets with its upcoming LTE network and detailed plans about managing spectrum to best serve the needs of more intensive data networks.

“Our 4G network will be compatible with a broader range of devices,including the iPhone” Ray said. Now, this is a clear reference to a 4G iPhone, unless Ray considers the current HSPA+ compliant iPhone as 4G, something Apple has never done. It seems though that T-Mobile's CTO is referring to the roll-out of HSPA+ 3G and 4G services in the 1900MHz range, which the iPhone is compliant with. This is a huge $4 billion investment by the fourth-largest US mobile operator.

The big problem with the iPhone on T-Mobile is the awkward AWS bands that the carrier’s 3G runs on. The iPhone currently doesn’t support them and remains limited to slow EDGE data transfers.

Theoretically, T-Mobile’s LTE network will deliver up to 72Mbps, but we expect the realities to match those of the current LTE networks. That would mean download speeds of between 5Mbpas and 12Mbps.

“Our 4G network will be compatible with a broader range of devices, including the iPhone” Ray said, though did not clarify whether it was the current HSPA+ iPhone 4S he was referring to, or the much-speculated iPhone 5 with LTE support. Still, it seems likely that the reference was to T-Mobile USA shifting to offer HSPA+ on the 1900MHz band, increasing compatibility with HSPA+ devices used on AT&T’s network.

According to Ray, T-Mobile USA’s LTE on the 10MHz spectrum will support up to 72Mbps, at least theoretically. The carrier is also pushing the envelope in base station design, using antennas that are integrated with radios in their towers. As well as leaving room for LTE, the shifting use of spectrum will mean that 1900MHz HSPA+ will jump in power by around 16-percent.

Whether T-Mobile will be able to sufficiently court Apple with the promise of HSPA+ compatibility remains to be seen. At present, unlocked iPhones deliver a mere EDGE experience on the carrier’s network, and T-Mobile blamed defections for the iPhone 4S in Q4 2011 for its underwhelming financial results.

Posted on 9:35 PM / 0 comments / Read More

Review T-Mobile Galaxy S Blaze 4G Hands-on

T-Mobile is currently the only one of the four major US carriers that didn’t have any specific roadmap for transitioning to a 4G LTE network. At least until a couple of days ago when the carrier unveiled its “challenger strategy” under which it will invest $4 billion in developing the high-speed LTE network with theoretical limit of 100Mbps on the downlink. Now, with the news that it will skip the upgrade to 81Mbps HSPA+, the jump to 4G LTE will be direct and should happen even faster.

Previously, as soon as at CES 2012, T-Mobile had plans for going first to 84Mbps HSPA+, up from the current 42Mbps HSPA+ network. It seems that the carrier has decided its resources will be better spent on LTE instead.

Now, the transition to 4G is expected to reduce the 2G capacity on TMo’s network, and to make up for that the carrier will stop offering 3G devices in favor of the new LTE-enabled ones. This shoud offset the effect.

Still now, not yet another Samsung Android smartphone showcased at MWC 2012, the T-Mobile Galaxy S Blaze 4G is, obviously, destined to join the ranks of T-Mobile's portfolio of products in the US. So, what can it do to win over some attention from the geeky crowd in the States? Well, basically, the Blaze 4G looks like a well-balanced offering, being packed with some decent hardware, but keeping things firmly placed on the ground, without getting too ambitious.

Right off the bat, we noticed that, typically for a Samsung handset, the Blaze 4G is mostly made of plastic, and having in mind its generic shape,  we don't really think that it will manage to stand out from the rest of the Android gang that's already available. Hardware-wise, there's the Snapdragon S3 processor inside, clocked at 1.5GHz, so we expect plenty of speed with this handset. Indeed, while we were trying it out here, we did notice the fluid nature of the UI.

The T-Mobile Galaxy S Blaze 4G is mostly made of plastic

The 4” Super AMOLED screen on the front of the device doesn't really make a statement either, having the good-old WVGA resolution. Of course, the Super AMOLED technology does its job to cover the imperfections of the relatively lower res.

Other features that you'll find with this new mainstream player include a 5MP camera with autofocus, capable of 720p video recording. Even though you won't be able to record 1080p video though, you'll still be capable of playing it on the device, which is still appreciated.

The 4” Super AMOLED screen on the front of the device doesn't really make a statement

Currently, the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G for T-Mobile is running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but we really hope that the manufacturer is to update it to Ice Cream Sandwich... at some point. But you didn't think you'll get away without TouchWiz, right? Well, of course Samsung has also pre-installed its trusty TouchWiz user interface. So, overall, the situation on the software front is that we'll be pretty much waiting for Samsung to release ICS for this device, until we can start referring to it as a serious contender in the mainstream Android space.

Right now, the Blaze 4G is expected to hit the shelves sometime in late March, at a price of about $149 with a two-year contract. Anyone planning to get this handset?

Posted on 8:48 PM / 0 comments / Read More

T-Mobile variant of HTC One X confirm have quad-core and stock Android 4.0

No sooner had the word come down that a version of the HTC One X would beheading to the States through AT&T, than the news broke that the version being added to the carrier's lineup would replace the quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor. As we pointed out, AT&T had to make that switch if it wanted the HTC One XL, as the phone will be called, to support its fledgling LTE service. As it turns out, theNVIDIA Tegra 3 is not yet compatible with LTE connectivity.

Sprint, too, is expected to offer a version of the HTC One X with the quad-core processor replaced by the dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4. The latest speculation is that this will be given the code name of the HTC Jewel for now before being launched this Spring as the EVO HD LTE.

HTC One XL heading for AT&T

So is there any U.S. carrier willing to give up LTE connectivity just to offer the quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor? According to a rumor passed along by Android Guys, there is indeed one such mobile operator and it goes by the name of T-Mobile. The speculation is that not only will T-Mobile's model of the HTC One X get that quad-core Tegra 3 power juicing the phone, the unit will also come with stock Android 4.0 aboard. In other words, on T-Mobile's variant of the phone, Sense 4.0 will not be running on top of Ice Cream Sandwich. While there are many fans of HTC's Sense, there might be quite a number of smartphone fanatics interested in seeing an HTC manufactured phone running stock Android 4.0 using quad-core power. Just remember that until the word becomes official, this is just a hopeful wish for customers of the nation's fourth largest carrier.

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