U.S. Cellular In late April, U.S. Cellular took to its Facebook page to announce the upcoming availability of the HTC Desire and teased a second Android device that would soon be joining its lineup. Now, we’ve finally learned the identity of that mystery handset: the Samsung R880, aka Samsung Acclaim. Actually, the Acclaim remains a …

Here’s another date to add to the Apple iPad UK launch rumour mill: 26 April. CNET UK has learned that a major publisher’s app team is readying its iPad app for release on that date to coincide with the much-hyped tablet’s launch. Previous rumours suggested Apple Store staff had been told not to take the day off on Saturday 24. …

What is the future of newspapers? Ask any iPad owner and they’ll probably trot out their New York Times Editors’ Choice and USA Today apps–both of which deservedly earned spots on CNET’s recent roundup of top 20 free iPad apps. Ah, but what about folks who prefer a more traditional, more local newspaper experience? What option is there for those …

The HTC Evo 4G is one step closer to launch. FCC Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve started to see increasing signs that the Sprint HTC Evo 4G might be heading toward an imminent release. There is talk of the Shack taking Evo 4G preorders later this month; Sprint has an Evo 4G event planned for Wednesday; and now, …

Apple claims to have shifted 300,000 units of the Apple iPad on the first day of sales. That includes pre-orders and deliveries to third-party retailers — including massive operations such as Best Buy — but it still means a very minimum of $150m arriving in Steve Jobs’ snug Levi’s back pocket. There’s more to come when the much-hyped multimedia tablet …

Google’s Android operating system edged out Apple’s iPhone operating system for the No. 2 spot in the U.S. consumer smartphone market in the first quarter, research firm NPD Group reported Monday. According to NPD, devices running Android accounted for 28 percent of the units sold to U.S. consumers in the first quarter of 2010. BlackBerry devices made by Research In …

Wireless devices that run at speeds in gigabits rather than megabits have been given the green light to hit the consumer market. The Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) announced Monday that its 60GHz multi-gigabit wireless technology is now available for member companies to start turning out products that use the new high-speed standard. Operating at the unused frequency of 60GHz, the …

Verizon’s customers are a happy lot. AT&T’s? Not so much, still. At least those are the findings of a survey (PDF) released last week by ChangeWave Research that found Verizon tops among cell phone users for customer satisfaction and fewer dropped calls. Of the 4,040 wireless subscribers questioned for the survey in March, 49 percent of Verizon’s customers said they …

Big news in the world of sat-nav voices! Nokia’s Ovi Maps now puts your own voice in charge of directions, while TomTom is using the force to guide you with the voice of Darth Vader and others from the Star Wars series. Be your own navigator: Own Voice for Ovi Maps To get your phone directing you in your own …

Samsung At first glance, Sprint’s latest handset, the Samsung Seek, looks like your typical messaging cell phone, with a slider QWERTY keyboard, threaded text messaging, IM, and social-networking integration. However, it also has a green conscience. The Seek is part of a new trial recycling campaign from Sprint and Samsung that enables customers to use the Seek’s packaging to ship …

Terminator 2 could be back… in 3D. Fresh from reinventing 3D filmmaking with Avatar, James Cameron wants to go back in time to target his own back catalogue and convert Aliens and the Terminator films into 3D — once he’s finished adding an extra dimension to Titanic. Cameron is currently working on converting his 1997 Oscar-snatcher to three dimensions. He’s …

Australian telcos Telstra and Optus have revealed their new Apple iPad broadband data pricing, which offers five times more data than similar data plans on other mobile devices. Telstra’s prepaid pricing for iPad starts at AU$20 per month for 1GB of data and increases to AU$30 for 3GB, a much higher data allowance than that given to all other Telstra …

commentary Electronic manufacturer Apple is renowned for its ability as a company to control its marketing message. Apple almost never makes comments outside of its official and carefully constructed press statements, and this is arguably one of the key factors in the company’s success in recent years. But over the last few months we’ve seen Apple extend the reach of …

StoryCorps is a terrific nonprofit organization dedicated to recording, sharing, and preserving stories told by friends and family members. If you listen to NPR’s Morning Edition, you’ve almost certainly heard some clips. The StoryCorps app for iPhone lets you listen to some of these stories, then learn how to record and share interviews of your own. Unfortunately, the app falls …

LG is allying itself with Iron Man 2 to promote the Android-powered Ally phone, which is confirmed for lift-off this month. The Ally boasts an 81mm (3.2-inch) touchscreen, covering a slide-out, full-Qwerty keyboard. It packs a 3.2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and GPS. LG came late to the Android party, starting with the InTouch Max GW620 earlier this year. That was recently …