After spending some quality time with RIM’s in-production BlackBerry PlayBook at CES, I can tell you it’s a beautiful 7-inch tablet. A sharp, high-resolution screen, pleasing rubberized perimeter, and gesture-based interface converge to create a piece of electronic equipment that I would proudly make my mini-computing companion. (Hands-on CNET videos here and here.) However, the …

Google’s Google Places pushes further on Yelp today as it joins iPhone. Like Yelp, the free app, originally released for Android, lets you look up and rate local business. Since it’s Google, the Places app ups the ante with another feature, recommendations supplied by Google’s Hotpot recommendations engine. To start using Places, log into your Google account and begin either …

Now playing: Watch this: Dialed In #157: Hello, Verizon iPhone 4 42:21 We had a pretty mighty haul of cell phone and smartphone news, what with a killer CES barely in our rearview mirror and Verizon’s “big reveal” yesterday of the iPhone 4 coming to its network. In fact, we should congratulate ourselves on a job well done for surviving …

So you’re thinking of switching to the Verizon iPhone next month from another carrier? Assuming you’d like to keep your current phone number, there are some clear-cut dos-and-don’ts when it comes to porting numbers. Here’s a refresher in case it’s been a while. Read up on everything else you need to know about the iPhone 4 here. Do I cancel …

While the announcement of the Verizon iPhone 4 may be “magical” for some, there was one sleight of hand nobody wanted to see. When Verizon’s iPhone splash page launched on Verizon Wireless this morning, we found side-by-side images of a white and a black iPhone 4 nestled in the “Capacity and color” section of the tech specs. Well, that got …

Judging by the elated reactions to today’s announcement of the iPhone 4, a significant contingent is poised to switch to Verizon, or switch to the iPhone, anyway, if they’re already a Big Red subscriber. The Verizon iPhone has plenty to offer, but keep in mind that it won’t do it all. There are still plenty of other phones on Verizon’s …

As the race for carriers and phone manufacturers surges to push out LTE 4G-enabled phones of the likes that poured from CES last week, we’ve seen some rumors that Samsung is prepping to release a new LTE phone with MetroPCS. The photos of the phone information clearly show that the phone is the Samsung SCH-R910 running LTE (look under Baseband …

I’ve never been completely sold on the accuracy or practicality of Google Goggles, but an update to the Goggles for Android app makes this experiment in photo searching more useful day-to-day. The new Google Goggles for Android 1.3 adds three significant features–faster Google’s bar code and QR scanner, the ability to recognize print ads like in newspaper and magazines, and …

Sprint continues to add partners to its Sprint ID theme packs for select Android smartphones (LG Optimus S, Samsung Transform, and the Sony Zio for now). ESPN is the latest, officially joining the Sprint ID gallery today. ID packs like the new offering from ESPN includes apps, widgets, wallpaper, and ringtones that gather around a main theme: sports. The ESPN …

The word you’re looking for is “finally.” As in, “Oh look, Skype has finally stepped up to the competition by adding two-way video chatting to its VoIP iPhone app!” Indeed, this anticipated addition is one for which Skype-watchers and users have been thirsting since Fring’s two-way video calling app nosed into the iPhone app store this past July, following Apple’s …