Sprint users: The hot new HTC EVO 4G LTE will hit stores this Saturday

If you're a Sprint customer up for contract renewal now or in the near future, there's a new hotness coming to town this weekend: the HTC EVO 4G LTE. Running the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, the svelte new smartphone features a 4.7" display, dual-core processor, 8-megapixel camera, Beats Audio, 16GB internal storage, and support for NFC for mobile payments and wireless data transfer.

As the name cryptically implies, the new HTC smartphone features support for Sprint's brand new 4G LTE network — so brand-spanking-new, in fact, that it rather barely even exists yet. The new device succeeds the original HTC EVO 4G launched back in 2010, which had the distinction of being the very first handset to run on Sprint's WiMax network — at the time, the first true 4G cell network in the U.S. It also had the distinction of having some pretty terrible battery life as a result, so we hope the new edition isn't plagued by the same frustrating shortcoming.

After a short delay at U.S. Customs over one of those pesky patent squabbles, the HTC EVO 4G LTE will finally be on offer at a Sprint store near you this Saturday, June 2, for an on-contract price of $199. Will you be picking one up?

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Samsung Galaxy S3 hits store shelves in India

Samsung Electronics launched its flagship Galaxy S3 smartphone in India on Thursday, making an aggressive push to counter Apple's popular iPhones in a competitive market.

The 16 GB smartphone, priced at 43,180 rupees in India, runs on the Android 4.0 platform and features a 4.8 inch screen.

The Galaxy S3, powered by Samsung's quad-core microprocessor, also tracks the user's eye movements to keep the screen from dimming or turning off while in use.

Samsung packs new features such as the S Voice, its equivalent of Apple's Siri, and launched its own music service on the device. The S3 also boasts of an 8 megapixel rear camera.

"India is one of the top three strategic markets in the world for Samsung," a company release quoted H.C. Ryu, Samsung's vice president of sales and marketing, as saying at the phone's launch in India.

The company is aiming to outsell its previous model S2 that helped the South Korean firm topple Apple as the world's largest smartphone maker.

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3G Capable BlackBerry Curve 9320 Announced, To Arrive In June

RIM has announced a new BlackBerry phone – the Curve 9320, an entry-level device with 3G capabilities and BlackBerry OS 7.1, which according to the latest reports, is expected to arrive in India sometime in June. Pricing is as of yet unknown, but it is expected to be anywhere between Rs. 12,000 and Rs. 14,000, looking at where it would fit in the BlackBerry lineup.

The BlackBerry Curve 9320, first spotted in early March, is essentially the 3G-variant (7.2Mbps down, 5.76Mbps up) of the recently launched Curve 9220 (read our review), and shares most of its features, apart from a larger 3.15MP camera (compared to the 9220’s 2MP offering), with flash and image stabilization, as well as the GPS connectivity sorely-lacking in the 9220.

Common specifications include a 2.44-inch 320x240 pixel display, 512MB of RAM, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connectivity, stereo FM radio, 512MB of ROM, microSD card slot support up to 32GB, and a 1450 mAh battery, which is rated to deliver up to 7 hours of talk-time, and 30 hours of continuous FM radio playback. The Curve 9320 should also arrive in the same range of colours as the 9220.

Of course, like the Curve 9220, the Curve 9320 will come with the new dedicated BBM-button, for one-click access to the platform’s many integrated features. RIM has also added Parental Controls, allowing for feature and app access restrictions in BBOS 7.1. When introducing the smartphone, Carlo Chiarello, EVP of RIM’s Smartphone Business division, said:

“The new BlackBerry Curve 9320 is designed to make it easy for users to stay socially-connected. The new BlackBerry Curve 9320 will be especially popular with customers upgrading to a smartphone for the first time and existing Curve customers looking for a step up in speed and functionality.”

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Facebook Launches App Store, Seeks iPhone Magic

Facebook says it is launching an app store that will allow people to get access to social apps on the network, without much heavy lifting. The company made the announcement in a blog post today. The company is hoping that the new app store will make it easy for apps to be discovered on the platform.

Facebook, lately has been trying hard to make the world aware of its role in the fast growing app economy.

For instance, it has been talking up the success of video apps such as Socialcam and Viddy, and points to how it has turbocharged the downloads on Apple’s iOS platform. Of course the success of those apps and their post-download usage is debatable, for many view them as spam. In addition, there was been some talk of social news readers losing some traction after a fast start, that has made some question Facebook’s role in the app-economy.

In a blog post on their developer blog, Facebook’s Aaron Brady notes:

In the coming weeks, people will be able to access the App Center on the web and in the iOS and Android Facebook apps. All canvas, mobile and web apps that follow the guidelines can be listed. All developers should start preparing today to make sure their app is included for the launch.

For the over 900 million people that use Facebook, the App Center will become the new, central place to find great apps like Draw Something, Pinterest, Spotify, Battle Pirates, Viddy, and Bubble Witch Saga. Everything has an app detail page, which helps people see what makes an app unique and lets them install it before going to an app.

The App Center is designed to grow mobile apps that use Facebook – whether they’re on iOS, Android or the mobile web. From the mobile App Center, users can browse apps that are compatible with their device, and if a mobile app requires installation, they will be sent to download the app from the App Store or Google Play.

Facebook is also betting on creation of paid apps and building an ecosystem around those apps.

Many developers have been successful with in-app purchases, but to support more types of apps on Facebook.com, we will give developers the option to offer paid apps. This is a simple-to-implement payment feature that lets people pay a flat fee to use an app on Facebook.com. If you are interested in the beta program, please sign up to receive more information.

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Yahoo India Launches Cricket App for Windows Phone Users

Yahoo India has launched a cricket app for Windows Phone users in India. The app, available for free on the Windows Marketplace allows users to follow live matches, and also keep a tab on the recent and upcoming ones.

The app offers live scores, detailed ball-by-ball commentary which can be filtered by wickets, 4s and 6s; an interactive score card which allows the user to browse through the batting line up, fall of wickets and a complete chronology of how a match progressed. On a non-match day, the app will connect the user to photo-galleries, latest news articles on the game, player and team profiles, as well as results of completed matches, and schedules of upcoming ones.

Developed at the R&D centre in Bangalore, this is the third cricket app released by Yahoo, following the earlier apps built for iPhone and Android. Yahoo claims that its Android app has seen 11,000 downloads within 10 days of launch.

Yahoo! Cricket is the best place to enjoy the game of cricket (and not just follow) on the web, and now you can do that on your Windows phone too. This App comes with a slew of features and user-friendly interactions not seen on any Cricket App for and Windows phone yet.

App Description:

Here are some of them:

• A quick look at all the live scores of matches currently happening.
• A very interactive scorecard. Browse through the batting line-up to know about partnerships, who got out when, and who is coming up next.
• Provides users with various ways of enjoying a cricket match – from the basic scores, all the way up to a detailed ball-by-ball commentary
• Nifty shortcuts like shaking to refresh scores, flipping to switch between a summary view and a detailed view
• View specially created photo galleries showing the latest from the world of cricket.
• Read all the latest news articles on the game.
• A simple way to browse through results of completed matches, and to know schedules of upcoming matches.
• Browse through all international teams and players

Download the free app here

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