Hands on with SwiftKey X Beta for Android (Video)

SwiftKey X Beta is a replacement soft-keyboard for your Android-powered smartphone. It's got a few bells and whistles over traditional input methods, but in the end, it's still a keyboard. That is, until you look at its real power. 

SwiftKey X figures that your writing style is pretty much the same and can use what you've written in the past as a predictive method in the future. Sounds fair enough, right? But where can SwiftKey X get information about what you've written in the past? Sure, you could use it for a few weeks and it could "learn" your style, but that would take a while. To get over that hurdle, SwiftKey X does something really interesting -- and a little scary: with your permission, they poll what you've written on Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, and SMS to create a profile for you. 




I was able to save 55% by using SwiftKey X over my traditional soft-keyboard. You're mileage may vary. The concept is cool. The app is still beta (and has some kinks to be worked out), but if you can get past the fact that it will know everything you've posted everywhere bit, and once it's out of beta, I think you'll be very impressed with SwiftKey X! 

SwiftKey X Beta (Phone) 

NEW

by TouchType Ltd

50,000 downloads, 1749 ratings (4.4 avg)

Free

Install

Download from the Android Market 

No NFC On Your Phone? How About an NFC sdcard?

With Google's recent announcement of Google Wallet and other fun goodies using NFC, they got our collective hope up -- only for us to realize that owners of the Nexus S and new phones with NFC built in will be able to take advantage of all the NFC fun, and not the rest of us. 

To get around that a Chinese company called Netcom (no relation to the Norwegian carrier with the same name) has put together a microsd card with NFC built in. Much like the EyeFi card (which combines Wi-Fi and flash storage), this card will combine an NFC chip and antenna with a flash memory card. Sounds great, right? 

Before you pull out your wallet, there are some restrictions. Your smartphone's back cover can't have any metal in it, nor can the microsd slot be made of metal. Since the antenna is tiny, scanning is reportedly "tricky" -- especially if the reader has a small sensing area. The phone needs a special app running in the background to communicate with the NFC circuitry. Lastly, the device hasn't been released yet, so even if you wanted to, you couldn't buy it. 

None of those restrictions makes it any less cool! 

Source: Engadget

Verizon Selling HTC Thunderbolt for $100 to Select Subscribers

Thought that Amazon's $130 was a good deal for the HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon LTE? After all, Verizon's still selling it direct for the premium smartphone price of $250. There's a chance you may be able to score an even better deal, letting you pick up the phone for a cool hundred. 

Verizon customers should check their inboxes, as certain subscribers are receiving notification that they're entitled to a loyalty discount in addition to extra savings through this private sale, knocking $150 off the phone's price tag. Just because you haven't received one of the emails doesn't mean you're completely out of luck for getting this discount; especially if you've been with Verizon in good standing, knowledge of this deal may enable you to convince a sympathetic Verizon employee to let you in on the savings. Heck, maybe you were supposed to be offered this price all along, and the email didn't get through; you won't know until you try! 

If the Thunderbolt's not your thing, Verizon is also offering a free-on-contract BlackBerry Curve, but considering all-new BlackBerry hardware is on the horizon, and what a good price this is on the Thunderbolt, we're feeling the urge to take the Android route in this case. The deal runs through June 12. 

Source: Android Community 
Via: Android Spin

Dropbox Makes Sony Ericsson Deal; Some Users Get Extra Storage

We've looked at Dropbox before, a multi-platform cloud storage app that gives you a free 2GB storage locker you can access from your home PC, work PC, and any number of mobile devices. The companyjust announced a new deal with Sony Ericsson, setting the app up to be pre-loaded on some of the company's phones, as well as an offer that will let some users get extra free storage. 

Now that Dropbox has extended language support, the company is looking to get a foothold in the new markets it now has access to. That means that this Sony Ericsson partnership is targeted at mostly non-English-speaking countries. Supposedly these Dropbox-enabled phones will be available in ten countries globally, including the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, and Italy. While the pre-loading arrangement will cover all those nations, only Dropbox users in Japan on SoftBank will see the deal that increases the storage they get with the free version of Dropbox from 2GB to 3GB (unrelated to the SE partnership). Of course, in any of these countries, you can always get a paid Dropbox account to receive extra storage and features. 

The Sony Ericsson partnership starts now, and will cover current Androids like the Xperia Arc and XperiaPlay. The SoftBank deal in Japan will kick off later this month. 

Source: Dropbox 
Via: Into Mobile

HTC EVO 4G Gingerbread Update Rumored for June 3

HTC's EVO 4G on Sprint is getting Gingerbread, and it really looks like it's getting it soon. An apparently official Gingerbread ROM has already leaked, and we've been hearing rumors trying to tie down just when the update will finally drop. Things finally looked like Sprint was ready to send out the update last week, when the carrier updated its website to indicate that at least new orders for the smartphone would ship running Gingerbread, but it quickly denounced that move as an error. Now a leaked document gives us a new date to expect Gingerbread: June 3. 

According to the leak, as of June 3 you'll be able to check for available system updates and retrieve the Gingerbread package, bringing your EVO 4G up to software revision 4.22.651.2 after installation. If you're waiting for your phone to let you know on its own that an update is available, that supposedly won't be going down until June 6. 

Besides all the standard Gingerbread goodness, HTC is including fixes for the Android SMS-recipient issue, Spanish language SMS fixes, better handling for discharged batteries, and a Gmail multiple-account fix. 

Source: Android Central