Sony Ericsson boosts Xperia Arc and Play to 2.3.3, includes Facebook integration

Well, Sony Ericsson might just deserve a gold star for effort. A week ago we reported that a possible rollout of the long-rumored Facebook integration update would come to select Xperia series phones this week, and we're seeing the process begin today. The recipients of this particular push are the Arc and Play, though it will come to all new Xperia devices down the road. While the download includes Android 2.3.3, the major focus is on "Facebook Inside Xperia," another way for you to sync your social media with other aspects of your phone, such as contacts, calendar, and photo gallery. Other improvements in the package include WiFi stability, improved battery performance, HD video recording performance (Arc only), and bug fixes. Don't stress if your phone hasn't seen the update yet; Sony Ericsson says it's rolling it out gradually due to issues with individual markets and carrier branding. No specific timeframe was given, though the company mentioned that "it can take a while." Should you be one of the lucky recipients to get it today, however, sound off in the comments below.

Sony Ericsson

Spotify and Facebook partner up, send Europe a friend request?

Spotify may still be in tough negotiations with record labels to bring its streaming music service to the US, but the Swedish company has managed to score a powerful stateside ally, reportedly striking a partnership with Facebook. Neither party is dropping any cash on the deal -- set to be called either "Facebook Music" or "Spotify on Facebook," according to Forbes's anonymous sources -- which will let members of the social network stream songs at the same time as friends and share their listening habits with those in their social circle. The service is reportedly currently in testing and could be launched in a fortnight, but its arrival in the US still hinges on those ever important label deals. In the meantime, we'll all have to share our listening habits the old fashioned way: by posting on our friends' walls.

Forbes

EVO 3D shipping with locked down bootloader, but HTC may reconsider policy

We've got some good news and some bad news. Let's do the bad news first: much like the Sensation, Thunderbolt, and Incredible S, Android Police has confirmed that the upcoming HTC EVO 3D will also be sporting a locked down bootloader of similar fashion, meaning custom ROM modders will have a hard time glamming up said phone. Not that anyone should be surprised by this finding though, given the sad trend. That said, there is still hope: earlier today, HTC announced on Facebook that it's "reviewing the issue and our policy around bootloaders" -- looks like someone's pulled a page out of Sony Ericsson's good book. If all goes well, we'll just have to wait and see whether HTC will beat Motorola to making their fans smile again.

Android Police, HTC (Facebook)

T-Mobile's Bobsled voice service returns to Facebook, relationship status now less complicated

We're still waiting for some more news about its promised mobile apps, but T-Mobile's new Bobsled sub-brand has now cleared one big hurdle that was thrust in front of it. The company's initial offering, a VoIP service for Facebook, has returned to the social network a full month after it was "voluntarily and temporarily" pulled during its first week of operation. In case you missed it, the Facebook component is simply a basic VoIP service that lets you make free voice calls to any of your Facebook friends, and it now boasts a redesigned interface that promises to "more clearly differentiate it from a Facebook owned service."

Bobsled (Facebook)

Windows Phone Mango and Bing Vision hands-on

We're done listening, it's time to start doing. Microsoft had a number of Windows Phone Mango devices scattered about after this morning's intimate event concluded. So we grabbed one, went somewhere quiet, and got a little more intimate with the operating system itself, checking out the new hubs, groups, and Bing Vision search that should make cross-shopping a whole lot easier. Join us, won't you, to see what Mango is -- and what it isn't.

Windows Phone Mango hands-on!

First of all, Mango is not necessarily Windows Phone 7.1. Microsoft simply had to get the SDK ready to go and, well, they "had to call it something." So, 7.1 is that something, a number applied to the SDK that we have a feeling will stick to the OS as well, but Microsoft is still far from carving that version into stone.

We also got a little more information about the Dell situation, that simply the company wasn't quite ready to commit to being on the Mango bandwagon. So, don't try to read too much into the company's omission from the slide deck here: there's no reason to think the company won't be there with bells on once the leaves start turning, joining the confirmed partners: Samsung, LG, HTC, Acer, Fujitsu, ZTE, and of course Nokia.

But, onto more important things. As you can see in the videos here the revisions and augmentations in Mango are tightly integrated into the OS, such that if you don't know where to look you'll probably miss them. The new Groups feature in the People Hub gives you a quick view into what's happening with your friends, pulling in photos and updates and really augmenting the social aspects of the device.

In fact, you could say that Kin lives on, its social DNA now imbibed by Windows Phone and, honestly, looking pretty great in its new digs.

We also tried out the new Bing Vision feature, which allows you to search for things using the camera. Unlike Google Googles or the like you can't take a picture of any old thing -- only visual codes (bar, QR, etc.) will be recognized along with book, movie, and album covers -- but things are much more responsive because of it. You don't need to take a pic and wait: the results just pop up. The OS can even identify and translate text in real-time, something you can see toward the end of the video above. Naturally, though, all of this relies on an active data connection.

Ultimately Mango is not a groundbreaking update, but it is definitely shaping up to be a great addition to the world of Windows Phone, adding the seamless integration other smartphone platforms lack, tying loose ends together to create a nicely woven final package. The only problem? It won't be ripe until fall, and while there will surely be a suite of new devices that ship with this software it remains to be seen just how long it'll take this juice of this fruit to trickle out to all the existing WP7 devices. It also remains to be seen just how much further we can take these mango references, but rest assured we aren't finished yet.

Opera Mini lands on the iPad in version 6.0

Been loving the Opera Mini experience on your iPhone and wishing for it on your larger iOS device? Opera is today turning that desire into reality with the release of v6.0 of its Mini mobile browser, which now has support for all iOS portables, including the iPad and iPad 2, plus a specific shoutout for the iPhone 4's retina display. The overall design of the web explorer has also been freshened up, with a "new look and feel," while a social sharing function will let you blast URLs into Twitter and Facebook directly from the app. Additionally, the new version includes the ability to load tabs in the background and improves support for non-Latin alphabets like Arabic and Chinese. Hit the source link for the download.

iTunes

Comcast's next generation Xfinity Spectrum DVR shows off quad tuners, new menu and apps

It's been about six months since we heard Comcast was running tests of a brand new set-top box platform but now thanks to one of our tipsters we're able to see it in action and find out what's on the way. From the remote to the box to the menus it's all new, and appears to be a major step forward for the company and already includes familiar apps like Facebook and Pandora. The look of the new guide mirrors what we'd seen in the manual received by the FCC in December and demonstrated on Samsung HDTVs at CES earlier this year, intended for 16x9 displays and moving the main navigation elements to the top. The redesigned remote has a few new buttons and while it hasn't gone the QWERTY route, the software and hardware are designed around T9-style access for searching and messaging, with a button and microphone icon suggesting voice control is a possibility as well. The DVR itself is the Pace box we'd seen previously, although there was differing information on the number of tuners and hard drive space available, suggesting these details may still be up in the air. Check after the break for more details and our tipster's first hand account of the new TV experience.

Comcast Xfinity Spectrum DVR hands-on

"Major step for Comcast/Xfinity. The old guide was obviously very dated, and Spectrum offers an updated, modern and user friendly guide. There is a full TV guide that lets you search for programs/times/actors/genres/you name it, and there is a mini guide that keeps half the screen as the current program you are watching. Channel logos are more prevalent throughout the guide with detailed information about each show as it's highlighted. Every option is available from here as far as recording options, upcoming shows of the same title, similar/suggested shows, etc. A cool feature is a last 9 channels watched list that allows switching between multiple channels a breeze. Imagine 9 different football games on and being able to go to each game very quickly, as the boxes are labeled with what program is on that channel. A much more connected feel with plenty of visuals, data, and options as compared to the old guide."

"I haven't delved into the DVR much, but I did test it out. The installer said it is a 4 tuner DVR allowing me to record 3 programs while I watched a 4th. However, the user guide said I could only record 2 and watch a 3rd. Didn't test this out, but either is enough for me. It appeared to be the standard DVR functions that you would expect. I asked the installer the size of the hard drive, and he said 1 terabyte with around 160 hours of HD recording. Again, the book said 500 GB, so not sure what is correct here."

"The apps section is pretty cool. As of now, weather, traffic, Facebook, Randora, and Twitter are the apps available. Traffic and weather data sync automatically, but you have to go to spectrum.comcast.net to sync Pandora, Facebook, and Twitter."

"The weather app is great. It offers real time forecasts, 5 day forecasts, and a nice radar map showing any rain on the way. You can choose multiple locations to view weather all over the country. The traffic app is also handy. Not so much for me living in North Augusta, but I changed the location to Atlanta and saw multiple traffic warnings and accident indicators. This is all done over a road map overlay with a key showing what the traffic incidents are. Accidents, congestion, road work, delays are all indicated on the map. You can also set up a destination route if you were going out of town. Set starting and finishing points, and the app tells you of any road warnings for that route. Pretty cool stuff."

"The Facebook and Twitter apps are what you would expect. Your feeds are displayed on the screen, so you can check your profile and any updates your friends have made. It's very similar to a mobile app and doesn't offer too many editing options. I don't see myself using these much, as my mobile apps (iPhone) for these clients are much faster and easier to get to. The Pandora app is something I see people using a lot. Very similar to the computer and mobile apps with the same thumbs up/down ratings we are used to. The user created channels automatically show up on the right, as well as a mix option that randomly selects channels. I was told by the developer there is no cap on usage for this pandora app. Album art and song data are displayed on the screen as well."

"The remote has some very intriguing pieces to it. It's a new Xfinity labeled remote that uses an IR blaster. According to the developer, the remote can be updated wirelessly when new updates are available. The standard circle of buttons with the OK button in the middle dominate the remote, with an Xfinity button above to take you to the guide, dvr, on demand, settings, and apps. What's also neat, and very useful, is the numbered buttons double as T9 text input. For instance, if you want to watch Tosh.0, type 867 and immediatly Tosh.0 appears, along with a list of any other programs, actors, channels, genres, teams, etc that match that T9 combination. I used this multiple times to search for programming for my DVR. You don't have to go to a special location for this. Just type it in as you were dialing in a new channel. Can't remember where HBO is? Type 426 and channel 426 will show up first on the list, but HBO will be second. Very handy tool and kudos to Comcast for thinking of this."

"Now, look at the picture of the remote closely. There is a curious microphone icon at the top of the remote. On the side of the remote, there is a button that is not labeled, nor mentioned in the user guide. I called the special Spectrum phone number, and the specialist had no idea what they were for. On the back of the remote, there is a small speaker above the battery compartment. The only thing I could think of was some sort of voice guided control for the guide using the side button, similar to a walkie talkie. Either that or they are listening in on me (scary thought).

The developer warned me about some kinks that are being worked out, and I have already experienced some. The apps section worked perfect through the first part of yesterday, but stopped working last night (which is why there are no pics of the apps). Tried to reset the box, but it didn't help. Also, I paired the controller with my pioneer receiver, but it only works for 5 minutes or so, then quits working. Apparently, this is a known issue and they are working on it."

SOURCE: Engadget

HTC HD7S coming to AT&T on June 5 for $200

Do we sense just a wee bit of jealousy here? Not to be outdone by Verizon's Windows Phone darling, AT&T swiftly reacted to the Trophy's official launch by whipping the long-expected HTC HD7S out on Facebook and stamping a seal of approval on it. With the go-ahead in place, we can expect to see the new device going on sale June 5 at a penny under $200. This may be a tad steep when comparing its WP7 brethren, but it's not an unusual starting price for many of AT&T's top-end smartphones. If you like to fill up your inbox with the latest "email alerts and special offers," drag your cursor to the source link below.

WMPowerUser

Facebook, AT&T

Facebook granted patent for tagging digital media

It's taken the US Patent and Trademark Office four and half years to consider it, but Facebook now finally has a patent on one of its central features: photo tagging. Applied for in October 2006 and just granted this week, this legal doc gives Mark Zuckerberg and a couple of his buddies credit for designing a method for identifying users in "a selection of an item of digital media." That could be photos, video, audio, or text -- the main drive of the patent is that it lets people associate a given chunk of media with a person and inform others of this association. The wording of Facebook's claims is rather specific -- you have to, for example, allow the identified person the opportunity to reject the identification -- so having this patent need not necessarily preclude other sites like Flickr from engaging in similar, but not identical, behavior.

Inside Facebook

USPTO

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, Arc getting Android 2.3.4 update next week, Facebook integration in tow

There's still no confirmation as to when it will be headed to the soon-to-be-released Verizon Xperia Play, but Recombu is reporting that at least some iterations of the phone will be getting upgraded to Android 2.3.4 next week, at which point the Xperia Arc will also get bumped up to the same version. Assuming there's no surprises in the next week, that would seem to make them the first non-Nexus phones to get the update. What's more, in addition to various Android-related updates, both phones will also be getting Sony Ericsson's so-called "Facebook inside Xperia" update, which promises to more deeply integrate your phone (including your calendar, contacts, and even music) with the social network. The company's also confirmed that the Facebook integration will be included on all future Xperia phones, and it will be headed to all Xperia models released so far this year.

Recombu

HTC's Facebook phones, ChaCha and Salsa, get Amazon pre-order with June 26th delivery

Feeling the need for a phone with a dedicated Facebook button? HTC's got two to offer you, and now Amazon's UK bureau is ready to take pre-orders for the new Salsa and ChaCha handsets for a June 26th delivery. The ChaCha's equipped with a portrait QWERTY keyboard and a 2.6-inch touchscreen, while the Salsa stretches out to 3.4 inches and eschews the physical keys. Both feature 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 processors and 512MB of RAM, which are used to run Android with Sense laid over the top. The unsubsidized prices are set at £250 ($409) for the ChaCha and £320 ($524) for the Salsa, though we're sure you'll be able to get them without any upfront payments if you're happy to sign your life away to a carrier for the next couple of years.

dialtosave

Amazon UK (ChaCha), (Salsa)