I just tried out SpoofAPP and it’s awesome! Ever want to call someone but didn’t want them to have your phone number, use SpoofAPP.

SpoofAPP is a revolutionary Android App for Caller ID Spoofing, Voice Changing, and Call Recording. With SpoofAPP you can change the Caller ID Number people see when you make calls from your Android. You get to decide what number you want displayed when you make a call. SpoofAPP is a program that transmits your call information to a Caller ID Spoofing Provider which handles the actual calling.

One of the things that most of us want to see on any touchscreen smartphone is multi-touch capability. Android has been missing multi-touch since it debuted and it is high on the list of features that many Android users want.

CNET reports that multi-touch may finally hit the Android OS in time for the holiday season. Android 2.0 is said to be shipping this year and one of the key features will be multi touch. CNET is basing this rumor on other rumors apparently.

Reports have two more Android updates hitting this year. CNET figures the first of the updates will be a minor one and then the second is likely to be the Eclair refresh. Eclair is said to be shipping as Android 2.0. The phone to launch the new OS is expected to come from Motorola.

[via CNET

Software keyboards on mobile phones are a HUGE issue when you talk about the usability of the product. There are a TON of different elements that make up the overall user experience and these are often boiled down to a “I love it” or an “It sucks” with little physical evidence to prove the opinion. And to be honest, a lot of it is a matter of preference. But Lukas Mathis from IgnoreTheCode.net did a much more thorough review in an article titled “Virtual Keyboards on iPhone and Android” that deserves a close look.

The review takes a close look at the following elements that make up the overall software keyboard evaluation:

• Size (pixels and physical dimensions)
• Focus
• Speed
• Auto-correction
• Dynamic Key Resizing
• Language Support
• Landscape Keyboard
• Multitouch

The overwhelming winner of this battle is Apple’s iPhone and I can’t say I disagree. While I haven’t used the iPhone keyboard for any extended period of time, I wouldn’t adamantly oppose the notion that the keyboard is generally considered better than Android’s own. But still… I can’t help but believe that Android has the edge. Why?

1. Google will continue to improve Android’s native on-screen keyboard
2. 3rd parties will build their own on-screen keyboards to be placed in non-Google Experience devices (HTC Sense, Motorola Blur, etc…)
3. Half of the review is still based on the actual device… and I’m assuming the 3.7-inch screen on the Motorola Sholes will have a drastic and positive impact on the usability of its software keyboard.
4. Be reminded that by the end of next year there will probably be 50+ Android Phones on the market, all trying their hardest to provide the best software keyboard on the market.

Do the above 4 points mean that Android’s keyboard will inevitably win? No. But if you ask me, it means that it will inevitably narrow the gap and it has a good chance at being equal if not surpassing Apple’s own.

Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, it is refreshing to see such an in-depth look at an element of touchscreen phones that is often debated but rarely dissected. Props to the author and here is hoping that in the not too distant future the same objective comparison might have a different outcome.

The last few days, Lukas seems to have been hitting an awful lot on software keyboards and has made a few posts since on interesting topics related:

[IgnoreTheCode via JKonTheRun]

Yesterday we brought you the rumored specs for Motorola’s upcoming T-Mobile handset the Motorola Morrison, but the Morrison isn’t the only Android handset Motorola plan to launch this year.

The Motorola Sholes is more of a high-end Android smartphone than the Morrison and will be available on the Verizon network before the end of November, 2009.

The Sholes handset will feature a 3.7-inch touch-sensitive display (854 x 480 pixel resolution), a 5.0 megapixel camera with auto focus and video recording capabilities, GPS navigation, media player with support for AMR-NB/WB, MP3, PCM / WAV, AAC, AAC +, eAAC +, WMA audio files and MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, WMV video files, and a microSD / microSDHC memory card slot.

The smartphone will include a USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, Wi-Fi connectivity, and 512MB of ROM and 256MB of RAM.

It is also believed that Google’s upcoming Eclair branch of the Android platform will likely be included on the Sholes handset.

The Motorola Sholes is expected to launch later this year priced at $199 as part of a service contract with Verizon. A W-CDMA(UMTS) version of the handset is also believed to be in development which should see the handset available on AT&T across the US, and subsequently other networks across the globe.

[via softpedia.com]

Android is turning out to be a popular OS for more than just smartphones. Some computer makers still have Android-powered netbooks coming and MIDs are starting to surface with the OS. As Android grows in popularity, I am sure we will see it turn up on more and more devices.

The latest MID to get Android is from Eston and it is called the MID-02 Slider. The device will be offered on French carrier SFR and is a rebadged Compaq P8860.

Under the cover is an Intel Atom Z500 at 800MHz, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of SSD storage and a slide out QWERTY keyboard. The device sports a 4.3-inch touchscreen. Apparently, the official release details are unknown and the Android MID can only be purchased in bulk right now.

[via SlashGear]

BusinessWeek interviewed Eric Schmidt of Google and here is what he said about Android.

How about Android? What’s the strategy going forward?
“Android is many things. First, it’s an operating system for a mobile phone. It’s particularly powerful because of the way it was built. The software is free, you can extend it, you’re not locked into any applications vendor or any network. What we like about Android is its perfect expression of openness. A next generation of [Android-based] phones will be coming out in the fall. They won’t necessarily displace other [phones] because they’re also doing well. But we will have a significant bet in mobile phones. So from our perspective it looks like Android is going to be a success.”

[via BusinessWeek]

The ability to natively view and edit Microsoft Office documents on smartphones is often limited to Windows Mobile devices only. For other platforms to be able to do this requires third party software like Documents to Go from DataViz.

DataViz has announced that the new 2.0 version of Documents To Go for Android devices is now available. The new version allows viewing, editing, and creating of PowerPoint files in the latest file formats. Users can view Adobe PDF files with full options.

The new version also enhances support for Word and Excel files with viewing and editing of Word .doc and .docx files and Excel .xls and .xlsx files. A free version of the newly updated software is also available that lets users view Word and Excel files.

To install Documents To Go 2.0 go to the Market on your phone and search for “Documents To Go” or “DataViz”.

Key Features

• Download, open, save and send attachments

• Access files stored on expansion cards with built-in file browser

• Securely open password-protected files

• Supports latest Microsoft Office file formats including Office 2007

• Word To Go supports rich formatting including bold, italics, underline, font color, alignment, bulleted and numbered lists, tables, bookmarks, comments, footnotes, endnotes, track-changes, word count, find & replace, etc.

• Sheet To Go offers powerful data computation with support for 111 functions, cell, number and sheet formatting, row and column preferences, auto-fit options, freeze panes, sort, cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, etc.

• NEW! Slideshow To Go allows you to effortlessly “flick” through slides, review notes, rehearse timing and make last minute modifications to presentations when on the go.

• NEW! PDF To Go provides high-fidelity viewing of important reference materials with options for page view, word wrap, auto-rotate, bookmarks, search, select and copy text, and more…

• NEW! Quickly access recently used documents via new ‘Live Folder’

• IMPROVED! Scrolling, panning, navigating and editing options for optimized rendering on a small screen

• Localized in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish

[via DataViz]

The Motorola Morrison was first revealed back in May as part of T-Mobile’s handset roadmap for 2009. Since then, there’s been little information revealed about Motorola’s first Android phone, other than the roadmap’s proposed launch date for the 2009 holiday season.

Latest rumors regarding the Motorola Morrison suggest that the handset will be available on T-Mobile from October 21st, falling inline with early estimates from the 2009 roadmap.

The technical specs for the Motorola Morrison have also surfaced online this morning, here’s a rundown of what the handset will likely include:

• CPU: Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 MHz
• Memory: 256MB RAM
• Flash Rom: 512 MB
• Memory Card Type: microSDHC, Class 6, 32 GB supported
• Display: 320×480 (HVGA)
• Accelerometer: 3-axis, Four-way screen rotation
• Magnetometer
• Proximity Sensor
• Ambient Light Sensor
• Voice Bands: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, W-CDMA 900/(1700 or 1900)/2100
• Wireless Lan:  802.11 b/g, WEP, WPA, 802.11i (WPA2)
• Bluetooth Version: 2.0 + EDR
• Bluetooth Profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, GAP, HFP 1.5, HSP, SDAP, SPP
• USB: USB 2.0 High Speed, Micro USB connector
• Headset Jack: 3.5mm, Stereo out, Mic
• Camera Resolution: 5 MP
• Image Capture Resolution (max): 2560×1920
• Camera Features: Autofocus, White Balance, Geotagging, Color Effects
• Camera Digital Zoom (max): 5.4x
• Video Recording Resolution: 320×240 (QVGA)
• Video Recording Frame Rate: 25 fps
• Location Services: Standalone GPS w/ internal antenna, Assisted GPS, E-Compass
• Email Protocols: POP3, IMAP4, Exchange ActiveSync

Earlier we mentioned the Motorola Morrison Engineering Diagram Leak

[via unwiredview.com]

HTC has been making big waves in the mobile phone world with the announcement and launch of some high profile Android phones over the last few weeks. HTC isn’t alone in rushing Android devices out to the masses; HTC and Motorola are as well.

Samsung has announced that its Android-powered i7500 smartphone has been official launched in the Taiwan market. HTC is reportedly sending press invites for an event in Taiwan where it will launch its next Android smartphone for Taiwan, the Hero.

The Hero is already on the market here in America. HTC will reportedly be offering the Hero in Taiwan through Chunghwa Telecom. The i7500, in case you missed it before, has a 3.2-inch touchscreen, 5MP camera, and 8GB of storage.

[via Computer World]

Jason Calacanis writes a long but thoughtful article on why he is done with Apple and their monopolistic practices. He’s not alone as many other devoted iPhone users are speaking out as well like Michael Arrington of TechCrunch and Peter Rojas of GDGT.com and the founder of Engadget.

Summary: About six years and $20,000 ago, I made the switch to Apple products after a 20-year love affair with Microsoft. That love affair started with the humble PCjr and ended with an IBM ThinkPad. From DOS to the first version of Windows (the run-time version that only loaded one program), and on to Windows 95 and XP, I dealt with the viruses, driver incompatibilities and other assorted quirks of Microsoft’s wildly open ecosystem.

The Love Affair Ends

Steve’s a great guy, and the love affair has been wonderful, but I’m starting to look past him and back to Microsoft for a more healthy relationship that is less–wait for it–anti-competitive in nature.

The Case, The Five Parts

I’d like to discuss four major issues around Apple’s current product line that I believe are stifling the industry, consumer choice and pricing. Instead of just giving a simple solution to the problem, I thought long and hard about the opportunities for Apple to be less controlling and more open. For example, if the iPhone was available on more carriers, Apple would sell many, many more units, which would inevitably lead to people switching from Windows desktops to Macs (which is what happened with the iPod).

1. Destroying MP3 player innovation through anti-competitive practices

There is no technical reason why the iTunes ecosystem shouldn’t allow the ability to sync with any MP3 player (in fact, iTunes did support other players once upon a time), save furthering Apple’s dominance with their own over-priced players. Quickly answer the following question: who are the number two and three MP3 players in the market? Exactly. Most folks can’t name one, let alone two, brands of MP3 players.

2. Monopolistic practices in telecommunications

Apple’s iPhone is a revolutionary product that has devolved almost all of the progress made in cracking–wait for it–AT&T’s monoply in the ’70s and ’80s. We broke up the Bell Phone only to have it put back together by the iPhone. Telecommunications choice is gone for Apple users. If you buy an Apple and want to have a seemless experience with your iPhone, you must get in bed with AT&T, and as we like to say in the technology space, “AT&T is the suck.”

3. Draconian App Store policies that are, frankly, insulting

Like lemmings, we fell for your bar charts extolling the openness of the iPhone App platform and its massive array of applications. We over-paid for your phone–which you render obsolete every 13 months, like clockwork–and then signed our lives away to AT&T. The way you pay us back is by becoming the thought police, deciding what applications we can consume on the device we over-paid for!

4. Being a horrible hypocrite by banning other browsers on the iPhone

Opera is a fantastic browser built by a company in Oslo, Norway. In fact, a decade ago, I had a speaking gig there and got to interview the CEO of the company for Silicon Alley Reporter. (Sidebar: Man, do I miss being a journalist. I wish I could split 50% of my time being a journalist and 50% of my time being a CEO.) For over a decade, Opera has been making lighting-fast, lightweight and quirky browsers. Long before Apple launched Safari, with the goal of designing the fastest browswer on the Web, Opera was already there.

5. Blocking the Google Voice Application on the iPhone

Apple took Google’s innovative and absurdly priced phone offering, Google Voice, out of the App Store and is currently being investigated by the FCC for this action. This point is similar to the browser issue, in that Apple wants to own almost every extension of the iPhone platform. How long before Apple decides to ban a Twitter client in favor of an Apple Twitter-like product? Seems crazy, I know, but by following Apple’s logic you should not be able to use Firefox or Google Chrome on your desktop.

In Summary

I’m not a huge fan of government involvement in business, so I would rather see Apple resolve these issues for themselves.

[Read Full Story Here]