More on the Droid RAZR

When I wrote about the new Droid RAZR this morning I hadn’t seen one in person. A few hours later, I visited with representatives of Motorola and Verizon and got a demo and a bit of hands-on time.

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Samsung’s Boneheaded PR Mistake

File this one under “So Stupid You Can’t Believe It’s True.” With all the legal hubbub between Apple and Samsung at the moment, you would think both companies would be walking on eggshells. But one of them apparently isn’t paying attention. Daring Fireball’s John Gruber was tipped on Monday that promotional materials for the upcoming Galaxy Player include a very interesting screenshot.

Nestled within the list of features is a section on the Galaxy Player’s Google capabilities. The screenshot is not of the Android OS Google app, though: instead, it is a shot of the Maps app in iOS. Yes, really.

Some enterprising investigative reporting has tracked down the image to female-centric technology blog BlogHer, in a 2008 post about “game changing” iOS apps. How the PR department didn’t notice this when lifting the image is beyond me. Doesn’t Google Image Search tell you where it comes from?

The errant screenshot sat on Samsung’s own website for an unknown amount of time here, but has since been removed. See the image after the jump, you have to see this to believe it!

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Hey, There’s a New RAZR!

The first thing I noticed about Motorola and Verizon Wireless’s new Android phone was the name. The Droid RAZR is a neat nod to one of the most iconic phones of the pre-iPhone era. (What’s next–the Droid Star-Tac?)’

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Bill Shock Be Gone: FCC, Wireless Carriers Strike a Deal

Rather than face regulation, wireless service providers have struck a deal with the Federal Communications Commission to warn customers about impending overage charges for voice, text and data use.

Customers will receive free text alerts in real-time when they’re about to exceed their limits, CNET reports. The move is supposed to cut down on the “bill shock” people may feel when hit with sky-high rates for extra usage. Wireless carriers will also warn customers who travel overseas about the additional fees they may incur.

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I’m at Web 2.0 Summit

For much of the next three days, I’ll be attending the Web 2.0 Summit here in San Francisco. It’s always one of the year’s best conferences: This year’s guest list includes everyone from Sean Parker to Steve Ballmer. I’ll report on interesting tidbits I glean, but you can watch the whole conference yourself as a free livestream.

New Wii Bundle: Same Price, New Game, No Gamecube

Nintendo’s repackaging the Wii once again for U.S. gamers, with a slighly different design that removes Gamecube support.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because Nintendo introduced a similar model for Europe a couple months ago, saying at the time that it “does not currently have any plans” to bring the console stateside. (But as I noted back then, “no plans” usually means “we have plans that we’re not telling you.” Nailed it!)

Anyway, the new Wii bundle costs $150 and includes New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a vamp on Nintendo’s classic 2D platformer that supports four players on the screen at once. It also includes the soundtrack to Super Mario Galaxy, which is a puzzling addition, but also kind of cool if you like boppy orchestral music. The console’s physical design isn’t much different from it’s predecessor, but it removes the stand that allows you to prop the Wii up vertically.

In the United States, Nintendo will continue to sell its existing Wii model and bundle, which supports Gamecube games and includes Mario Kart Wii and a Wii steering wheel. At least, that’s the story for now. In time, I expect Nintendo to phase out the backwards-compatible Wii. No one’s developed a Gamecube title in four years, and demand for backwards compatibility is surely dropping among whoever hasn’t bought a Wii yet.

Still, I’d urge anyone who’s interested in a Wii to consider the old model, and the treasure trove of great GameCube games it supports. You might want games like Metroid Prime and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in case the novelty of motion control wears off.

iPhone 4S: Over Four Million Sold

Is the iPhone 4S the fastest-selling consumer electronics device ever?

Fake Battery Apps Invade Androidland

More evidence that Android is the Windows of mobile operating systems: It’s under attack by sleazeware. PCWorld’s Tom Spring reports:

Brandt says that one Android battery app, called both Battery Doctor and Battery Upgrade, is particularly problematic: Not only does it not upgrade a battery or extend a charge, but when it’s installed and unlocked, it harvests the phone’s address book, the phone number, the user’s name and email address, and the phone’s unique identifying IMEI number. With a phone user’s name, IMEI, and wireless account information, an attacker could clone the phone and intercept calls and SMS messages, or siphon money from a user by initiating premium calls and SMS services. Once the battery app is installed the program sends the phone ads that appear in the drop down status bar of the phone at all times – whether the app is running or not. Lastly it periodically transmits changes to the user’s private information and phone-hardware details to its servers.

RIM Tries to Make Amends for BlackBerry Outage With Free Apps

After the worst BlackBerry outage ever–it affected customers around the world last week for up to three days–RIM is trying to make amends. It’s decided to let customers download a bunch of apps, worth more than $100, for free from the BlackBerry App World store.

They include:

• SIMS 3 – Electronic Arts
•  Bejeweled – Electronic Arts
• N.O.V.A. – Gameloft
• Texas Hold’em Poker 2 – Gameloft
• Bubble Bash 2 – Gameloft
• Photo Editor Ultimate – Ice Cold Apps
• DriveSafe.ly Pro – iSpeech.org
• iSpeech Translator Pro – iSpeech.org
• Drive Safe.ly Enterprise – iSpeech.org
• Nobex Radio™ Premium – Nobex
• Shazam Encore – Shazam
• Vlingo Plus: Virtual Assistant – Vlingo

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Putting the iPhone 4S Camera to the Test

My pals at PCWorld Labs compared the iPhone 4S camera to those on a bunch of Android phones, plus a Nikon point-and-shoot. The results? The 4S and the best Androids were basically tied, and just a hair behind the Nikon. (The iPhone 4S rated Good for video, but the best Androids did even better.)

The iPhone 5: Jobs’ Last Product?

Brooke Crothers of Cnet is reporting that analyst Ashok Kumar says that the iPhone 5 that some people thought Apple would announce this month–the thinner one with a bigger screen–is real, and will be announced at Apple’s WWDC conference next year. He also says that it’ll be an LTEC device and that he expects it to be a blockbuster based on the fact that it will be the last major product to bear Steve Jobs’ personal imprint.

Kumar has, um, a spotty track record when it comes to rumors. Sometimes they pan out; quite often they don’t. But there’s nothing inherently implausible about this one, and it’s presumably true that we haven’t yet seen the last Apple stuff that Steve Jobs worked on.

The iPhone 4, Only More So

Over at Techland, I’ve reviewed the iPhone 4S. Executive summary: It’s not the one right phone for everybody, but I do think it’s the single best smartphone on the market, in part because of the features it offers, but just as much because Apple’s level of polish and efficiency beats Android so handily, and because the App Store is such a huge asset.

As the 4S’s very name tells you, it’s not a big advance on the 4. But the faster processor is noticeable and welcome, the camera is much better, and Siri is both useful and fascinating.

One question I touched on in the review but want to write about at greater length soon: Is the 4S’s small screen compared to Android and Windows phone handsets a pro, a con, or something else? I’m still figuring out my take on that, and am curious what you think.

Google Buzz Buzzes Off

Google is killing some more products that never caught on, including Buzz, its 2010 stab at competing with Twitter. Buzz is famous mostly for the immediate controversy over its privacy practices; for a service built right into Gmail, it gained amazingly little traction. And now Google+ does everything it does, only better. So it’s no shock to see it go, and I wonder just how many people there are on the planet who will mourn its demise.

Good News for Great Sites

Over at my Challengers blog on Cnet News, I wrote about happy developments this week for two of my favorite scrappy Web services: DuckDuckGo and Wolfram Alpha.

AT&T iPhone Activation: Messy Once Again

The iLine outside the Stonetown Galleria for the iPhone 4 this morning was practically pleasant: Cheery Apple Store employees provided advice, coffee, and bottled water while we waited for 8am to come. But once my wife and I got into the store, we ran into trouble–namely AT&T activation glitches that prevented her from paying for her iPhone 4S and taking it home. In fact, it’s 11am now and she’s apparently still waiting. (I had to leave eventually.) And she’s not alone.

Greetings From iLine 2011

Once again, Apple is releasing a new iPhone. Once again, I’m in line at the crack of dawn at the Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco. This time I’m here with my wife Marie, who’s excited about upgrading from an iPhone 3GS to a 4S. We’ve been here for an hour; there were around 40 folks here when we arrived, along with a few phantom lawn chairs.)

There may be Apple Stores where iLines are still festive, even circus-like affairs. Not this one, at least so far. There are no kids dressed as iPhones. And Woz isn’t here. Just a lot of rather quiet people. And some Apple employees, who have already been consulting with people about carriers, capacities, colors, and the many and varied virtues of Applecare.

I’ll let you know if any excitement breaks out…