technology-headlines.com

There are a lot of great keyboards for Android. I have been an especially fickle consumer regularly jumping between a number of excellent choices. If you haven’t had a chance to use Swype with Dragon Dictate you’re in for a treat, it’s a great keyboard with an easy-to-use and very accurate voice recognition app that allows you to speak your text and have it transcribed automatically.

The latest Swype keyboard beta integrates directly with Nuance’s latest Android app Dragon Go which utilizes advanced language modeling for an up to 40% increase in prediction accuracy. The application learns over time as you use it, building up a personal language profile for you.

The latest Swype Beta features includes:

• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Support
• Swype Add-ons with DragonGo
• Downloadable languages for tablets
• Accuracy improvements

The current version of Swype with Dragon Dictate supports English, French, Canadian, Italian, German and Spanish for voice-to-text. There are plans to expand the list of supported languages in 2012. If your language is not currently supported, Dragon Dictation will default to English regardless of your current keyboard layout.

In order to download the latest Swype Beta you must register at beta.swype.com with an email address accessible via your mobile device. You will then receive a link to download the latest Swype beta. Please note if your phone came pre-installed with Swype don’t download this beta as it won’t work with your device.

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Preview: CooTeks TouchPal keyboard adds another great choice to growing list of quality replacement keyboards for Android (coming soon to iPhone) (technology-headlines.com)

TouchType is celebrating its one year anniversary with the launch of Swiftkey X for phone and Swiftkey Tablet X for Android tablets (previously in beta) (technology-headlines.com)

Swiftkey X : If you’re not already a TouchType customer you soon will be (technology-headlines.com)

BlindType has been acquired by Google!  (technology-headlines.com)

Thickbuttons: virtual keyboard replacement for Android (technology-headlines.com)

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I have been a CyanogenMod fan for some time now, I’m currently running a custom CM7 Gingerbread rom on a couple of my smartphones. I have briefly run an early Alpha version of a CyanogenMod 9 ICS Rom that is surprisingly stable and responsive for such an early version of the ROM.

I really enjoyed using the ICS ROM, but went back to the Gingerbread ROM because the camera is not yet supported on the Alpha ROM. As soon as this feature is added I will be re-flashing my phone to CM9. (Boot animation video after the break)

Today the CyanogenMod team posted the new CM9 boot animation by Cameron Bezadpour (73v1N) that looks fantastic. Take a look for yourself, let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Personally I can’t wait for the CM9 ROMS to be released!

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Related articles

• Motorola Triumph Hacks including ICS and Gingerbread ROMs (technology-headlines.com)
• Nexus One 980×800 24BPP Cyanogen tribute wallpaper (technology-headlines.com)

By Chris Coleman|@PhoneKnack

With Mobile World Congress (MWC) rapidly approaching phone leaks abound, MWC is the perfect stage for companies to unveil their products. According to the latest unsubstantiated rumors the iPhone 5 is slightly taller and wider than the 4 and 4S. The front facing camera is also higher resolution on the iPhone 5.

Is Apple looking to shape-up the front facing camera game on smartphones? If these rumors are true, we are on the edge of our seats awaiting further details about the iPhone 5.

If you head on over to Nokia’s Facebook page you will see a contest to win a white Nokia Lumia 800. The game is simple, upon opening the page, you will have 60 seconds to catch a white tile by clicking on it. After catching the tile a score will be displayed and you will be asked to enter your info for a chance to win.

With only a few weeks left before the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, information has been leaked about the handful of HTC’s quad core phones that will most likely be unveiled at MWC.

The latest leaked phone is the HTC One X which is looking to be a complete monster and maybe knock the Samsung Galaxy Nexus off its Android throne. With HTC providing Beats headphones with the One X, a 4.7 inch screen, and 32GB of pre-installed non-removable memory, all we can say is, “Winner, winner, chicken dinner.”

Let us know what you think of the HTC One X as well as what features you’d like to see in their quad core phone lineup.

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ERP Analyst at Software Advice

According to US research advisory Gartner, mobile payments may be the next “big thing” for retailers. The firm expected 38 percent growth of mobile payment users last year, totaling 141 million.

While this may seem like a lot, the industry still has a long way to go and there are a number of roadblocks ahead, according to Sandy Shen, Gartner Research Director. “The biggest hurdle is the need to change user behavior by convincing consumers to pay with mobile phones instead of cash and cards,” says Shen.

Retailers can play a large role in changing user behavior, and the first step is learning more about the technology. Software Advice often hears from retailers that are curious about mobile payments, so they put together a FAQ. Here are answers to three of their top questions.

(1) What does a retailer need to do to accept mobile payments?

Outside of the other requirements for retailers to accept credit card transactions — merchant account, payment gateway, point of sale software, etc — retailers will need either an integrated NFC credit card machine or standalone NFC receiver. Standalone receivers are often much cheaper — sometimes as little as a couple hundred dollars.

(2) How much will mobile payments cost the retailer?

The interchange rate for mobile device payments is the same as MasterCard PayPass and Visa payWave; the rate is higher for these transactions than for traditional swipe-and-sign payments. Visa lowered rates to spur NFC in Italy–it could do something similar in the US, but this is unknown at this point.

(3) What should a retailer do to prepare for mobile payments?

All of the individual players in this ecosystem–from the financial institutions to the consumers–are playing a game of wait-and-see. Retailers can do well by staying on-top of NFC-related news and testing out similar technologies available today (e.g. Google Places), as well as other NFC happenings in the community, (such as the recently announced McDonald’s NFC awareness campaign in the UK).

For a full list of the top ten FAQs, check out Software Advice’s Mobile Payments: FAQs for Retailers.

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Have you ever wanted to capture a photo in a busy area without capturing a number of strangers in the shot as well? Up till now this has been all but impossible enter Scalado Remove, a technology that automatically highlights and removes any unwanted object from a captured photo. Scalado claims it’s the first Object removal software to be released on a mobile device.

Remove promises to solve this photographic conundrum by detecting and removing unwanted objects by touching the selections on the screen after capturing the image. Imagine capturing a photo and letting the camera remove the unwanted people for you! All of this can be done after the image is captured using post-processing to selectively remove anyone moving around, or select your subject and remove anyone else in the frame.

“After Zero Shutter Lag, Burst, and Rewind Scalado continue leading and changing the capturing landscape by bringing in new unique and needed capturing innovations”, says Fadi Abbas, CMO/VP BizDev and Co-founder of Scalado, -”What differentiate us is the combination of customers who believe in our superiority, leading industry partners and continuous innovations.”

“Our team has been working hard to maintain its leading innovation position in the camera capturing field”, says Sami Niemi, CTO and Co-founder of Scalado, -”Remove shows that our technologies are setting the guidelines for the whole market”.

I can’t wait to try out this innovation for myself, Scalado will premiere Remove at the 2012 Mobile World Conference (MWC) in Barcelona, February 27 to March 1.

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By Chris Coleman|@PhoneKnack

Reports have resurfaced on Crackberry.com with new pictures of the long rumored Blackberry London. From the looks of this device we can acknowledge that RIM, the makers of BlackBerry, are finally looking to join the ever-changing smartphone race.

The sleek design of the BlackBerry London has us brimming with excitement in the middle of winter. When is the BlackBerry London coming to the market? According to a leaked roadmap of RIM’s upcoming devices, the London washing ashore to American soil come Q3. (Photos after the break)

Photos courtesy Crackberry.com

From the photos that have been released showing the BlackBerry London and now BlackBerry 10 Operating System(OS), the tide may be turning in RIM’s favor. Do you Agree?

The smartphones race gives rise to the concept, repeat and duplicate. That seems to be the current trend. The Samsung Galaxy Note which was recently released in the US too much fanfare now has a direct competitor, meet the LG Optimus Vu.

A side by side shot of the two phones shows how eerily similar they are. The Lg Optimus Vu gains the upper hand with a wider screen due to its 4:3 aspect ratio. Both screens are 5 inches and its reported that just like the Samsung Galaxy Note utilizes a stylus, the LG Optimus Vu will also have one.

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by George Heymann|@techeadlines

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We recently reviewed the Motorola Triumph a CDMA pre-paid phone which is being offered by Virgin Mobile. We generally liked the Triumph but were disappointed that the phone is currently being delivered with Android 2.2 Froyo installed with no official upgrade path announced as of this date.

Well we’ve come across a great resource “Motorola Triumph Hacks” that addresses many of the Triumphs shortcomings. The site features downloads for several of the more popular third party ROMS that add additional features and bug fixes as well as instructional videos that include step-by-step instructions to help even novice users enhance their Motorola Triumph experience.

Following one of the featured guides I’ve now upgraded my Triumph to Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread which made the phone noticeably more responsive. The only feature not enabled on the third party build that I installed that is HDMI, which was not a critical feature for me. (Video after the break)

There is even details of an early Alpha Cyanogen Mod 9 (CM9) ROM build that includes Ice Cream Sandwich for the Motorola Triumph that is surprising stable and responsive for such an early build of the ROM. I really enjoyed using the ICS ROM, but went back to the Gingerbread ROM because the camera on the Triumph is not yet supported on the Alpha ROM. As soon as this feature is added I will be re-flashing my phone.

If you own or are considering buying a Motorola Triumph phone you need to add “Motorola Triumph Hacks” to your browsers bookmarks and tell Kyle hello and thank you for all of his work.

Related articles

• Motorola Triumph review (technology-headlines.com)

By Chris Coleman|@PhoneKnack

Starting February 13th through the 14th, Verizon is allowing users to tweet their most creative confessions with the hashtag #TweetHeart in order to win a free colored Droid RAZR. If you don’t like purple, simply give it to that special someone of yours. Until then, be on the lookout for the contest on Verizon Wireless’s official Twitter page.

PS. your partner may still like a romantic date even if you win the free phone.

For those who happened to miss the Samsung Galaxy Note Superbowl ad, the ad is simple no longer shall customers have to wait in long lines in order to buy a subpar phone such as iPhone, instead the Samsung Galaxy Note shall be your savior. It was a quirky and funny commercial, some may say it was a tad over the top, but the stage it was premiered on, sometimes over the top is better.

See the Samsung Mobile USA- Thing Called Love ad after the break

by George Heymann|@techeadlines

technology-headlines.com

Google introduced Chrome for Android Beta today that brings many Chrome desktop features to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phones and tablets.

Some of the Chrome for Android features include:

•  Browse fast with accelerated page loading, scrolling, and zooming
• Search and navigate directly from the omnibox
• Open and switch between unlimited tabs in an easy-to-view stack
• Send pages from desktop Chrome to your smartphone or tablet with one click and read them on the go, even if you’re offline
• Browse privately in Incognito mode
• View open tabs: Access the tabs you left open on your computer (also signed into Chrome)picking up exactly where you left off.
• Get smarter suggestions: If you visit a site often on your computer, you’ll also get an autocomplete suggestion for it on your mobile device, so you can spend less time typing.
• Sync bookmarks: Conveniently access your favorite sites no matter where you are or which device you’re using.

Chrome for Android beta is said to be focused on speed and simplicity unfortunately I haven’t been able to test the beta for myself as my phones and tablet have yet to be updated to ICS.

technology-headlines.com

Facebook is set to begin showing advertising to mobile users according to a recent Reuters report.

Facebook allegedly has already entered in negotiations with advertising agencies for displaying ads which it is calling “featured stories” in the news feed seen by users providing Facebook with a new source of revenue.

Facebook mobile users could see the advertisements as early as March ahead of its $5 billion dollar public offering, according to the Financial Times sources.

It is unclear at this time if we will see these “features stories” added to the web version of Facebook as well at some point.