Cranking out news for the geeks, music buffs and gossip junkies, my way. -Greg

I made a New Years resolution not to hate on Taylor Swift, Ford, Apple and pretty much anything in general that I’ve grown to dislike. I think I’ve done well to stick to it and feel good about that. So I’m not about to break that resolution here. That doesn’t mean I can’t review something right? Today Apple announced the iPad 2 and by nature I’m a geek so I sat in the front row (on engadget) and watched Steve Jobs and a few others tell us all about it. I have to say I was impressed for several reasons. Light, thinner, faster, cameras, and the battery life and price stayed the same. Good show Apple, good show! However I can’t simply applaud them without pointing out a few things against them. First up the obvious still no Flash support. Steve, you may think the future is html 5 and Flash is dying, but you’d still be the only one. Again no USB, I think Steve is just being stubborn. How about no 4G? If you’re trying to be a leader then why wouldn’t you use the latest in mobile network technologies? No, you won’t find support for LTE or HSPA+ on the iPad 2; however it will be sold on AT&T and Verizon’s 3G networks.

Now, let’s take another look at the price, yes it’s true that it stayed the same, however if you want HDMI, then you’ll have to fork out another $40. If you want their nifty cover that seems to be actually part of the design then you’re looking at another $40 for the poly and $80 for the leather. Adding these seemingly necessities could cost you $40-$120 more just for HDMI and the case, I’m sorry “cover”. Well that puts you up a few notches in price. Since there is no 4G support, USB, and Flash then you’re loosing a more than a few “how much is it really worth” dollars in my mind. So yeah the iPad 2’s out the door price is a little cheaper than the other major tab players, but your getting a lower end tab. -Greg

Here is a nice comparison chart provided by phandroid.com:

 You’ve heard “go big or go home”, well Motorola could use that as their new slogan. I had planned on waiting out my next 2 years on AT&T with my Captivate. I love it, don’t really have the problems (except that notoriously slow GPS problem) or complaints of some owners and have had it running Froyo for a while. I am more than satisfied and had planned on only looking to grab a tab after the frenzy that is about to be unleashed in 2011. I planned to let every major player get their tab out and fully tested and in the hands of the public before making my decision. However, Motorola has decided to tempt my patience with not only a tab, but also a phone.Motorola is looking to top Samsung in the Android Phone and Tab market, and help leave Apple’s iPhone and iPad in the dust.

I’ll start with their tab, Motorola’s XOOM:

• Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)
• 10.1″ screen
• 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 CPU
• 1280×800 resolution
• 1GB RAM
• 32GB internal
• front and rear facing camera
• records 720p video
• plays 1080p
• 32GB microSD
• HDMI & USB 2.0
• Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyroscope
• 3G/4G
• and of course Flash.

Safe to say it’s pretty well the top of its class. This out of all the tabs I read about from CES is the one that caught everyone’s eye and are sure to be purchasing. The Galaxy S and iPad (maybe even iPad 2) just can’t compete with this. Of course it’s only to be expected that the devices will continue to get better. So, I thought that once it had been out for a month or so, I’d grab one. Now somehow either in concentration for only Captivate and tab related posts or my laziness of scanning Android related blogs all together, I missed Motorola’s game killer of a phone the Atrix. Thanks to John for pointing out this mammoth of a phone and creating a stir in my head on what the heck do I do now? If you haven’t read much on this phone (as I hadn’t) then you might not understand the dilemma that I have now found myself in. So, let me enlighten you..

Motorola’s Atrix:

• Android 2.2 (Froyo)
• 4″ qHD display – 24-bit
• 2GHz NVIDIA Tegra dual core processor
• 1GB RAM
• 16GB internal
• microSDHC 32GB
• 5MP Camera w/ Flash
• VGA front facing camera
• Dual microphone
• 1930mAh battery for 9hrs of talk time
• Full version of Firefox
• 3G/4G
• and of course Flash

As if that’s not enough, this thing docks and I mean it docks. First, how about a multimedia dock that connects to your TV and lets you use a remote to playback everything you could think of. Next up, how about docking your phone into a laptop shell whichturns it into a full fledge laptop. You beginning to see where my problem is, do I buy the tab or upgrade my phone to the Atrix. I’m thinking the cost will be similar, XOOM I’m looking at around $600. For the Atrix I’m looking at $150-$200 for the phone and then another $150 for the laptop dock and maybe another $100 for the media dock. Really either way you go it’s going to be about $600, then the additional data plan. If it wasn’t for my new truck and upcoming honeymoon, I’d probably get both <insert huge grin>. Maybe your in the same dilemma, maybe you have an easy answer, maybe you just don’t care (loser). Well I leave you with the latest video from Motorola for the Atrix, enjoy. -Greg

Turning your Samsung Captivate into a mobile hotspot with Froyo (Android 2.2) couldn’t be any easier. Setting this up is easier than setting up your home network. Its minimal options make it both easy for the average joe and boring for the geeks. I had this setup with 2 iPhones connected to me in under a minute. The speeds were getting better than 250k down and 75k up. Considering that’s over 4 times the speed of dial up, I’d say it’s not to shabby. This of course was through AT&T’s lovely 3G network. 1 thing to note is I’m using the leaked I897UCJI6 version of Froyo from xda, which I’ve posted just recently. Lucky for me I was grandfathered into the unlimited data plan so I can suck it up for now. I’m very curious to see when the official Froyo build comes out if AT&T will have removed the Mobile AP feature altogether or add some nifty feature that tells AT&T to start running the meter. If that’s the case I will hang on to my leaked Froyo even after the official release.
Accessing and setting up the hotspot is pretty simple so I’m not going to narrate, but if you do have any questions let me know I’d be glad to help. -Greg

Google is not only complaining that ISP’s have dropped the ball on get high-speed Internet out to homes, but they are willing to prove it. Google has announced plans to launch 1Gbps fiber out to 500,000 households. I hope a the very least this will light some fires out there and get the US on the move towards higher speeds and to reach more rural areas. Google’s bitpipe might be an innovative pipe, how about:

• Integrated shared 802.11n WiFi. Imagine being able to roam authenticated(!) with your laptop or iPad through town hopping on and off people’s WiFi access points. This can be done in a way that is completely secure for the network you’re roaming on
• Integrated picocells: imagine Google integrating picocells and then leasing them out to Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T or allowing people to configure them to their network of choice. Better 2G, 3G, and 4G coverage for all would be the result

Services like these could make Google stand tall and make the current providers anxious to jump aboard. Imagine AT&T leasing bandwidth from Google, there’s something to ponder. I would love to see AT&T become “just another carrier”, rather than the giant they still are today. Google you will have a lot of work ahead of you to make this reality nationwide, but I think you have every household behind you. -Greg

Want to read more, ars technica has some info to soak up..

The Nexus One has probably been the single largest phone craze that hasn’t been released. Google has created quite a frenzy with what once called imaginary or possible hoax. It is now official, for the most part, that Google phone does exist and will become officially official at the CES in just a few days. I hadn’t been so much sucked into the Nexus One craze until now, reports say that the Nexus One may be releasing a 2nd version of the phone. This version would be unlocked and have support for AT&T’s 3G band. That’s right folks it could also be available for AT&T. Of course this is only a rumor at this point, but in on 2 days well know more. Now I’m still not all that excited about the Nexus One in general, that’s because the phone still isn’t anything more special that the next. The Nexus One did make its way to  Engadget and they said its not much faster than the Motorola Droid, doesn’t support multi-touch, no physical keyboard. The only reason I’m even getting close to exited is the possibility that it makes it to AT&T. I already have my fingers crossed for the Motorola Android phone (it’s not the ‘Droid’) that maybe making it’s way to AT&T, now I’ve crossed even more for the Nexus One. Lets all hold hands and pray that at least 1 of these Android phones will be announced on AT&T! -Greg

Here is Engadget’s exclusive one their very own Nexus One.