Sprint is now the FIRST carrier to offer full Google Voice integration! No need to pick a new number, just use your Sprint wireless number.  For more information about Google Voice and Sprint, visit http://www.google.com/googlevoice/sprint/

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Sprint today unveiled two new Android smartphones from Motorola that will arrive in 2011. The Motorola XPRT and Titanium smartphones are aimed at enterprise users.

The Motorola XPRT, which features a BlackBerry-like form factor, comes running Android 2.2 (Froyo) and features a 3.1-inch HVGA touchscreen, Push-to-Talk service via Sprint's iDEN network, 5-megapixel camera, 3G hotspot capability, 1 GHz processor, support for Flash and business-grade 256-bit encrypted email. 

The Titanium is the successor to the i1, which was launched last year. The Titanium comes running Android 2.1 (Eclaire) and features a 3.1-inch touchscreen and Nextel Direct Connect. Following the i1's footsteps, the Titanium is certified to military specification 810G for dust, shock, vibration, low pressure, solar radiation, high temperature and low temperature.

The Motorola XPRT will be available June 5 in Sprint Stores and online for $129.99 with a two-year a contract. The company said pricing and availability for the Titanium will be announced at a later date.

via Wireless Week

LG Optimus S is now FREE from Sprint with a new 2-year activation!  The Optimus S features the latest Android innovation and the ability to customize your experience with Sprint ID. Move from item to item and message faster with the 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen and virtual QWERTY. Download games and apps from the Android Market™, or catch the latest shows and videos-on-demand with Sprint TV®. Snap photos and clips with the 3.2MP camera/camcorder and upload to your favorite sites, or check out new music on the MP3 player or Sprint Music Plus. If that's not enough, crank up the Mobile Hotspot feature and support Wi-Fi connections for up to five devices. With striking color choices, impressive functionality and the customization offered by Sprint ID, the Optimus S provides a dynamic experience – all at an incredible price: FREE!

Features include:

· Android 2.2 OS

·  3.2” touch screen display

·  3 MP camera w/flash

· Full Google Integration

· WiFi and GPS capable

· Sprint ID

· Mobile HotSpot capable

· Available in Gray and Purple

This offer won't last long, don't miss out on a FREE Android device!

Change is never easy, especially if you're a business owner.  You budget, ponder, plan, compare, and discuss for what seems like forever only to determine that you still don't know what you're going to do.  This morning I attempted the simple task of booking a flight.  There were so many options and choices in front of me.  I consulted websites, got quotes, weighed options, checked frequent flyer miles, compared more rates, played around with more options, visited more websites, made a chart, compared more rates again, calculated final costs, and made a decision.  I may be a bit more thorough than most with decisions likes this, but I found this to be, in my mind, what it must be like for people to switch wireless carriers.  Hear me out:

1. Consulting websites:  When any decision is made these days, we google things to get more information.  Not sure what to eat for dinner?  Research recipes for the ingredients you have.  Not sure what fashions are in this year?  Check out a store's website and see what's new.  Not sure which car to buy?  Visit reporting sites to gather information.  We will Google and Google until our hearts are content, just to make sure we know what we're getting ourselves into.  Finding out the intial information about the different wireless carriers is probably the most tedious and time-consuming task, but vital none-the-less.
2. Getting quotes:  we always want the best deal whether it be apples, televisions, or new wireless providers.  We do fake orders on the same websites we used to gather our information just to see what the bottom line is.  We call up connections and see if they can 'work us a deal.'  Contacting the right source for the quote or proposal is the next valuable step in the process of changing carriers, and for many the most important.
3. Weighing options:  like I said, change isn't easy.  Is this a good deal?  Can we find a better deal?  Does this fit within our budget, and if not, what can we/they change?  Is this a good value for what we're receiving?  Sometimes this part requires the 'sleep on it' attitude, and usually takes the longest.
4. Playing around with more options:  maybe you've decided that there are some problems with the intial quote and want a new one. Sometimes you need a second opinion.  Maybe we can cut this here and add that there?  The second go-around comes in here, and usually combines with my favorite step, making a graph. At this point, you should be narrowing down your options to 2-3 and getting close to finalizing.
5. Caculating final costs:  we're in the home stretch here!  You've narrowed it down to 2 choices (hopefully) and are doing the final number crunching.  You know what you want, who can give you the best cost, and are usually weighing what you consider to be the best value here.  You do a few final test runs, attack that calculator one last time, hover your finger over the go button, anxiety at its highest point until you...
6. MAKE A DECISION: hooray, we've made it!  You've chosen your phones, your plans, and your costs (or in my case flight times, where I'm flying out of, and cheapest manipulation) and took the leap of faith.  You made a trusted decision with much thought from both yourself, your advisors/joint decision-makers, and the wireless provider.  You have determined the value, made the choice, and committed to it. 

Every step of the way, there was something driving you to the goal, and other somethings keeping you from getting there.  Making a major decision like changing wireless carriers can be stressful and nerve-wrecking, but sometimes you have to take flight to the better value to be happier in the long run.

Sign up for a FREE telecom expense consultation and evaluation from The Wireless Authority here.

One of the biggest complaints about the HTC Evo 4G is the battery life.  I was lucky to stumble on this article this morning providing a few tips and suggestions for users on increasing their battery life.  Please note the suggestions for every day users vs. root users!  If you're not rooted, ignore the suggestions for root users:

18 Battery tips and tricks for longer battery life

If you’re new to owning a smartphone the biggest thing you’ll have to get used to is how often you’ll have to charge your phone. Especially if you’re coming from a phone that was, well, just a phone; it’ll be a big change from charging your phone once  every other week to once every other day. So here are some tips that can help you max at your battery life.

If you try and do all of these it may ruin your Android experience because you’ll be constantly finicking with your battery; thats not what this is for. These are ALL the tips/tricks I know. Even I don’t use all of them. Using just a few of these (possibly even one or two) should be enough that you notice an increase in your battery life.

FOR ALL USERS

1. Turn off of your radios when not using them

Radios are what connect your phone to the rest of the world. You have your general mobile connection, wifi, data/internet connection (3G), GPS, and/or 4G. Those are listed in order from least to greatest in battery consumption. If you’re not using the radio turn it off. If you know you won’t be online for a long time, why turn 3G data on? If you’re at home, use wifi instead of 3G. If you’re not using Google Maps why is your GPS on? You’d be amazed at how much battery life you can save just by turning off the radios that you aren’t using. There are plenty of widgets in the market that will allow you to turn off the radios without even going through settings (Sense users have these widgets packaged in).

2. Vibrate uses more battery

Anytime your phone vibrates a lot of battery is used. This include haptic feedback. A lot of keyboards have the option to turn off haptic feedback and I would recommend it. If you’re a heavy texter you’ll notice very quickly how much longer your phone will last. Also, if you’re in a place where you can easily hear your phone why do you need to have vibrate enabled? If you know you’ll be able to hear your phone there’s no reason for it to be buzzing too.

3. Don’t use task killers

Crazy, right? Especially if you’re on Froyo (Android 2.2) or higher, Android has it’s own task killer that’s actually very good. If programs are using too much memory your Android OS will kill it. A common misconception is that apps run in the background forever; this is not true. If an app is using too much memory (which links to battery life) it’ll be killed by your phone. That’s why if you play a game, check a message, and come back the game is still running. It’s memory usage isn’t that high. However if you put your phone down, walk away for an hour, and the game is still trying to run in the background, there’s a good chance it will be closed before you come back. Separate task managers have to constantly be running in the background which can actually use more battery than it saves. Yes, task managers can use more battery than they save.

4. Do this shenanigans

Originally posted by kthejoker20, this trick came from HTC themselves and can seriously DOUBLE your battery life.

With the phone in the on position.

Fully charge the battery with the phone on… (until the led turns green.)

Once the led turns green, unplug the charger until the led goes off.

After the led goes off, plug the charger back in. When the led turns green , power off the phone.

now…. with the phone fully powered off…

1. Unplug the charger.

2. Wait until led goes off.

3. Plug charger back in until the led turns green. When it turns green, unplug the charger again and go to step 1.

4. repeat steps 1 and 3, 10 times. This may take anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 mins per cycle. Typically only about 1 minute. though.

It takes too much work for me, but I’ve done it once just to test it. It works.

5. Juicedefender

A lovely free app (there’s an extended version called UltimateJuice) that helps your phone save battery. You have to see it to understand it, but anyone who is serious about saving battery needs this app.

6. Don’t use live wallpapers

They look awesome, right? They also use a lot of battery (especially the more complex ones). We’ve all used live wallpapers to show off how cool our phones can be, but for daily use they can KILL your battery.

7. Set your screen timeout to something shorter

Some phones start with their screen timeout at 3 minutes or more. That’s completely unnecessary. While you don’t want it to be instant, you know your preferences. Set it to as low as you see fit. The sooner your screen goes off, the longer your battery life will last.

8. Kill tasks you aren’t using

Not the same as an automated task killer. Find an app in the market that can kill programs MANUALLY. People running AOSP Devices (Android Open Source Project…aka your phone is pure Google and not HTC Sense or some other skin) have the benefit of being able to hold the back button to kill apps.

9. Your camera flash and battery don’t get along

If you like using your camera LED for a flashlight realize that will absolutely MURDER your battery. In all seriousness, your flash uses battery more than any other process on your phone.

10. Low cell signal hurts battery

Your phone is always searching for a stronger signal…This process gets more hectic as the cell signal goes down. So if you’re at one bar your phone’s battery life will drop faster than if you’ve got full coverage. There’s not much you can do here, but if you’re in a place where your phone has little to no signal anyway, you probably won’t be making calls so you might want to just turn on airplane mode or your phone off.

11. Turn off always on mobile data

I know on my Evo the setting is hidden under menu>settings>wireless & networks>mobile networks>disable always on mobile data. What this will do is turn off your internet/data when you’re not using it (specifically after your phone’s been asleep for 5 minutes). It will turn back on shortly if you have a new email or need to sync something.

12. Speaking of syncing…

Check your settings to see what is syncing and when. You probably have things syncing you don’t even use (stocks, news, contacts, etc). You can turn those off and edit the other ones. I don’t need my contacts’ statuses every hour, so my facebook sync is scheduled for once a day rather than the old once an hour. However, I like my weather being up to date so it’s synced every half hour. Find out what you need and how often you want it, and turn the rest off.

13. Don’t use GPS unless you have to

Some apps give you the option to precisely determine your position using GPS, or make a general estimate (usually within 100 meters) based on wifi or 3G data. While this isn’t always the best (like if you’re driving or getting navigated), try to use the 3G connection when it doesn’t really matter. The data radio uses far less battery than GPS.

FOR ROOT USERS

If you’ve rooted your phone you have a few more options. You don’t gain too many more options, but they are even more effective than the ones listed above.

14. Trickle charging kernels

Try and get kernels that use trickle charging. These will really ramp up your battery life.

15. Find out if your phone likes HAVS

Basically, try undervolting kernels and see if your phone likes them. If it does, use them. They change the voltage your phone uses based on your activities and how much battery life you have left.

16. If it doesn’t…

Use the Collin_ph Battery Tweak. That one is specific for the Evo, however there are other builds for other devices. I personally use this and can testify that it works WONDERS.

17. Underclock your phone

Just like SetCPU can overclock your phone, it can underclock it as well. Set it to underclock when the phone is sleeping or even lower the max clocking speed.

18. Try different kernels

Just because he/she said that it works for their phone doesn’t mean it will work for yours. Every phone handles kernels differently. Trying some of them (GIVE THEM A DAY OR TWO TO SET IN) can give you a perfect experience of performance and battery.

Try using these tricks and your battery life will never be better!

article via http://www.talkandroid.com/33477-18-battery-tips-and-tricks-for-longer-battery-life/

How’s the Evo 4G look close to a year later?

With how fast Android has been advancing, anti-Android pundits like to point out that your device will be outdated merely a week or two after you buy it. What does that say about your device in 10 months? Does that make it archaic? The HTC Evo 4g was released to the public on June 4th, 2010. This was in the middle of possibly the most heated stage of the “Android vs iPhone” war. The iPhone 4 was just around the corner, Android was starting to really pick up steam, and the Evo 4G was marked with the typical “iPhone killer” (stupid phrase) even with the expected iPhone 4 coming out just later that month. The device received rave reviews, numerous awards (including a rather prestigious award from Popular Mechanics), and few criticisms. It set the standard for devices with large screens and brought about a new wave in how people view smart phones. Suddenly the standard 3.5 inch screen that the iPhone taught the world was the norm wasn’t as appealing. 4+ inch screens became the new black with the Evo leading the way (Yes, Verizon supporters, the Droid X was released in response to the Evo). Of course, all new technology is amazing when it’s initially released. The shelf life and its use months later, however, are what set the device apart from the pack.  I’ve been asked a lot lately whether or not I’m considering selling my Evo for a newer phone (Evo 3D anyone?). Well, let me ’splain it to ya:

Software

The Evo is currently running Android 2.2, or Froyo. The device originally launched with 2.1 with the promise of Froyo coming soon from HTC. The Evo was the first device (excluding the obvious Nexus) to receive the Froyo update, yet the phone still runs beautifully and majestically. Froyo really was quite a step up from Eclair (2.1) and that still shows with the Evo. Combined with it’s 1 GHz processor, Froyo allows the device to load apps and menus almost instantly. How many of you remember the days where hitting “all applications” in your settings meant waiting a good 10 seconds before the list showed up? Probably very few of you. Now you click the same option and your list appears before you instantly. In terms of technology performance, 10 seconds is huge. The Evo still feels plenty fast and can stand toe to toe with even recent phones when it comes to its speed. Pretty nice for an old phone, eh?

Upgrades

Another big problem people have with buying expensive devices is the fear that the company will stop supporting the device. It has to happen eventually (unless your Sony and you can’t let go of your PS2 love child), you just don’t want it to be while you’re still using/depending on the device. When will that time come for the Evo? The bad news: with the release of the Evo 3D, probably sooner than your two year contract expiration date if you bought it recently. The good news: probably not in the immediate future. HTC has the best track record for upgrading their phones (according to a study done in January) and Sprint is behind only Verizon in upgrading times. You have the most reliable phone maker and the second quickest carrier; you’re in good hands. All of this is besides the point for two reasons:

1) [The Average Consumer] : HTC has already announced that the Evo will be getting Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). While most of us were already guessing they would, HTC wasn’t going to let their original flagship phone die off so easily. So to the 95% of you that don’t root your phone, GB and more than lidely Sense 2.0 are just around the corner. HTC has claimed it for Q2 of this year which is in the April-June range.

2) [The Root User]: Do you care that HTC may eventually forget about your phone? Does it matter to you that HTC takes longer than Google to release updates? Probably not. Many of you are already running the newest version of Android through ROMs (such as Cyanogen’s CM7) and could soon be even running Honeycomb. You’re like myself, as long as the developing community doesn’t forget about the Evo I’ve got nothing to worry about (and seeing how popular the Development section is over at XDA, I’m no where near worried).

Hardware

The final nail in the coffin for most electronic devices is hardware. Software can be upgraded but that can only take it so far. That’s not even accounting for software upgrades that requiremore up to date hardware. The Evo’s 4.3 inch multi-touch capacitive screen is still one of the best of its kind. It is still just as smooth and responsive as the day I got it and the capacitive buttons are much the same. It does not feel like a brick and still has a slim profile by modern standards. When someone inevitably comments with “the [insert your favorite phone here] is slimmer by x mm!!!” I won’t even reply. Here’s what I say to you: Do you REALLY notice it while holding it when the difference is almost indistinguishable to the human eye? Probably not.

The 8 megapixel camera is still top of the line. I’ve actually developed a small fondness for photography now that I have a camera with me that doesn’t take pictures that looks like they’ve been assembled by Lego blocks. The Wimax radio also still holds its own. You can make any claim for LTE you want (because honestly, it is that fast), but Wimax isn’t exactly the poor child. For those of us with 4G access you know how fast it is and probably don’t care that you can finish loading your Youtube video while 4 seconds into the video instead of 6; it’s still better than the constant stuttering and stopping or waiting for it load that we’ve been accustomed to on 3G. Sprint might switch to LTE, only they really know. But for the time being, Wimax will more than suffice. And besides, some people claim LTE is a bigger battery eater than Wimax (which I’d be amazed if that’s true).

Last but not least, the “Achilles Heel” for the Evo: The Battery. The only problem people could find with the Evo was that its battery life was often horrendous. How can age affect that? Other than the argument that there are newer, bigger, more efficient batteries out there (which you can buy for the Evo as well, by the way), there’s not much HTC could do about the battery life, right? Wrong. HTC sent out an update that somehow has DRASTICALLY improved the battery life for stock users. It was found that Sense was the biggest killer for the battery (excluding the gorgeous 4.3 inch power sucker you’re accustomed to looking at) and HTC corrected that. Will the Evo ever win best battery out of the box? No. But it no longer has the tag of “worst battery life ever.” In fact, if users are smart, they can adjust the Evo so that it runs for DAYS without needing to be recharged (not you frequent gamer/GPSer). I personally don’t charge my phone but every other day and I’m on it constantly. A little knowledge about your phone can go a long way.

The Verdict

In case you haven’t been able to draw a conclusion until now, I have no problems with my Evo. In fact, it doesn’t feel a day older than when I first got it. Whenever it starts to get that old, crusty feeling I just flash a new ROM and it feels like I have a new phone. I love that about Android, and I love that about my phone. The Evo is still selling well so I’m not the only one who finds this phone still attractive. So how about it Evo users? How’s your relationship with your device?

article via http://www.talkandroid.com/35119-hows-the-evo-4g-look-close-to-a-year-later/?utm_source=AndroidDigest&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AndroidNewsGoogleAndroidForums+%28Android+News%2C+Rumours%2C+and+Updates%29#

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