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The free Slacker Radio app is available for Android phones. Music lovers can now listen to their favorite Slacker stations anywhere they happen to be on their Android-powered smartphones.

Owners of Android smartphones can now enjoy the Slacker music discovery experience, including creating a nearly unlimited number of custom stations, over 100 expert-programmed Slacker genre, seasonal and spotlight stations, or over 10,000 artist stations.

Slacker also gives listeners the ultimate music resource by providing artist biographies, album reviews, station fine tuning, “peek ahead” song previews and song lyrics. In addition to marking songs as favorites, listeners can also ban songs and artists to create perfect custom radio stations on their phones.

The free Slacker Radio application for Android is available immediately in the Android Market or by visiting Slacker.com on any Android smartphone. DROID by Motorola owners can find Slacker quickly in the Verizon channel of the Android Market. The Slacker Radio app works with the free Slacker Basic Radio service, Slacker Radio Plus and Slacker Premium Radio subscription offerings.

Verizon customers using the new DROID by Motorola can locate the free Slacker Radio application quickly by visiting the Verizon channel of the Android Market on that phone.

The Slacker application has been optimized for the new DROID by Motorola, DROID ERIS by HTC and the HTC G1 and HTC MyTouch Android handsets. For more information please visit http://www.Slacker.com/everywhere.

Droid has landed at Verizon and he's a quick view of the news and reviews. Through Twitter reports there have been lines at Verizon stores, today, but nothing that major. There were 100 people in line in New York City for a special midnight store opening for invited customers.

"Lots of white males btw 25-40 in the Verizon Wireless Droid line this morning. A little Star Trek-" noted one Twitter user.

Verizon sent out an email this morning, for future Droidites, suggesting you can beat the lines by by buying online.  If you buy a Droid online don't forget to use If you use the Wireless and Mobile News' online purchase coupon-link for Instant Phone Rebate Only Available with Online Purchase then you don't have to wait for the rebate. 
 
There are two Droid models available today, the Droid by Motorola and the the Droid Eris by HTC. 

The Droid by Motorola has already received good reviews and is built for  the Android 2.0 operating system that is power-packed with features that made the super-high-pixel Touchscreen explode. Features can be started with the touchscreen or the slide out QWERTY keyboard. The top features of this Droid include turn-by-turn directions and voice search. It is priced at $199 after rebates.

The Droid Eris by HTC is a touchscreen only smartphone that runs Android 1.5 and The  has a customizable a seven-panel wide home screen to fill with  different widgets and shortcuts. We uploaded a video of the Droid Eris, yesterday which gives a good overview of the Droid Eris by HTC.

Even industry analysts have gotten Droid Fever, iSuppli analysts suggest Droid could be the "Comeback Kid" for struggling Motorola. Their news release states, " Droid promises to reverse Motorola's fortunes in the cell-phone business."

Droid uses Google's Android Operating System (OS). Android is expected to account for only 2.4 percent of the total smart OS market in 2009. However, Android is expected to enjoy the fastest growth in usage of any of the smar-phone OSs, with shipments in 2013 rising at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 118 percent from 2008. This will give Android a 9.1 percent share of the global smart-phone OS market in 2013, boosting it the No.-4 ranking, up from a last-place seventh ranking in 2008 and 2009.

There are many things contributing to Android's success. Android is licensed by seven key handset OEMs, including No.-2 Samsung, No.-3 LG, No.-4 Motorola and No.-5 Sony Ericsson. The OS also enjoys support from eight global wireless operators, the most among all the seven major operating systems vying for a share of the smart-phone market. In addition to Verizon, Android is supported by Sprint and T-Mobile in the United States, as well as by China Mobile in China.

A popular new feature in Android 2.0 is free turn-by-turn navigation, which is available on Motorola's Droid. This will make the device more compelling in the smartphone market and poses a major challenge to the Portable Navigation Device (PND) industry.

Reviewers  are raving over the Droid's touchscreen display, which uses capacitive touch technology following in the footsteps of Apple's iPhone. Shipments of capacitive touch-screen displays are expected to nearly quadruple from 2008 to 2013.

"Droid is potentially a game changer for Motorola," said Tina Teng, senior analyst, wireless communications for iSuppli. "Motorola now is no longer just emphasizing slick form factors, such as it did with its RAZR handset. The company now has focused on the hottest segment of the global mobile handset market--providing compelling smartphone products that are usable and expandable through third-party applications. Droid also has capitalized on the trend toward smart-phone widgets, which allow users to customize products according to their own personality."

Today, Verizon officially announced the Droid Eris, an Android powered touchscreen smartphone from HTC. It's a lot like the HTC Hero and uses Android 1.5. It has been rumored that will be upgradable to Android 2.0 at a later date. The major differences between Eris and Droid is that Droid has Android 2.0 and a QWERTY keyboard.

The Droid Eris by HTC comes with 8 GB MicroSD card, Bluetooth, 5 megapixel camera.

The HTC Droid Eris has a 528MHz Qualcomm process, a 320x480 screen.  This touchscreen-only smartphone also has HTC enhanced Touch Sense UI, visual voicemail, Wi-Fi, MS Exchange Sync, Media Uploader (for Facebook, Flickr, Picassa, Gmail,) Google services, news widgets, and Footpritns Geo-tagging for photos. The HTML Browser supports Flash Lite.

The Droid Eris by HTC  has a customizable a seven-panel wide home screen to fill with  different widgets and shortcuts.For social networkers, DROID ERIS by HTC also organizes interactions by person, which makes it possible to access text messages, e-mails, phone calls and even Flickr streams and Facebook updates from a single contact card.

Ceaser Da Costa, the marketing-guy has uploaded a video of the Verizon Droid Eris that shows the customizable scenes and widget which looks very useful on the video. All the apps are backed up through Google and can be restored if you loose your phone. You can open multiple windows and applications which Ceaser demos in the video.  

If you would like a live demo of Droid before it is released on Friday as early as 6:00 am. Verizon has uploaded a YouTube video that demonstrates some of the best aspects of the Verizon Droid by Motorola. You can view the video at the end of this article after you continue reading. The Droid has received good reviews and has some neat cool features, some of which you can see in this introductory video.

Marketing consultant Ceaser Da Costa reveals the physical aspects of the phone including the 3.5 mm headset jack and keyboard. He shows how easy it is to tap and drag a widget.  It's easy to hold drag and drop icons.

He also demonstrates how use Android Market and the download folder so that you can download your apps again if you change phones. The voice search on Google Maps finds pizza places by just tapping and saying Droid.

YouTube viewing is fast.  The alert plays "droid" and let you know when you get messages or updates. Mutli-tasking is shown from toggling from a browser, not losing your place while you are browsing. The Google Latitude app lets you know when your friends are in the area.

The Verizon Droid is landing on earth November 6 as early as 6:00 am and the momentum is growing. We've been using the Droid and discovered the best top most likable features of the this new Android smartphone which we call neat, cool and damn right amazing. The reviews have been good for the Droid by Motorola, but they didn't delve into delight that come from using the features of Droid.

Voice Search  - this feature is amazing, instead of typing a long url or several words, we just tapped the microphone and said, "Wireless and Mobile News" it Googled our words in seconds to show The Wireless and Mobile News website URL almost instantly.  This feature worked for almost all major common news sites and words.  The only place where it fell short is when we tried to find the popular feel-good app, "Feel-Goodies" which is a unique name and Googled up food places. The voice search also works for Google Maps which will show you where to go. To demostrate how well the voice commands work on Droid, Verizon, is letting people call an toll-free number to tell Times Square signs what to do.

Screen - this high resolution screen has been called stunning, gorgeous and brilliant. It's a 3.7″ WVGA 854×480 capacitive toucscreen with haptic feedback. It has excellent responsiveness and unmatched clarity. Verizon and Moto say it has DVD play-back quality and no matter how you phrase it is "lookin' good." The Verizon pr blurb notes that the screen "width of 854 pixels to reduce the need for side-to-side panning and more than 400,000 pixels total, DROID has more than twice that of the leading competitor."

New Google Maps - the turn-by-turn directions, layers of maps, turn Droid into a super GPS navigation unit. This Goggle mapping app comes with everything you'd expect to find in a GPS navigation system, like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice guidance and automatic rerouting. But unlike most navigation systems, Google Maps Navigation was built from the ground up to take advantage of your phone's Internet connection. It includes popular Google Maps features including street and satellite views.

Web Browser - Google is about the web and so is Android. Reviewers raved about the super fast HTML 5 browser which you can also search by voice. You can even have multiple browser windows open at the same time.

Egnyte introduced Blackberry and Android device interfaces that allow small business users secure access to all their business files via their Blackberry or Android-powered smartphones.

Egnyte's on-demand file server enables both Mac and PC business users to have online file storage, file sharing and automatic backup in one solution. The new interfaces, which require no additional software installation on the device, leverages a mobile drive -- "m Drive" -- that lets mobile users access all of their data stored via the Egnyte file server.

For existing Egnyte users who use a Blackberry or Android-powered smartphone, the new user interfaces allow businesses and professionals to easily navigate folder hierarchies and open and share files using their Blackberry or Android device keypad or touch screen. Last year, Egnyte introduced an iPhone interface following the launch of the Apple iPhone 3G. Following its introduction, users quickly adopted the interface, illustrating the need for mobile data support, as more and more business professionals seek to complete work functions outside of the traditional office.

Over the weekend it was rumored that the new Sony Ericsson Xperia Android smartphone would be called the the Xperia 3, that was previously code-named Rachel.  Instead Sony has jumped numbers to Sony XPERIA X10.

Sony created something similiar to the Moto Blur experience. They developed Android apps in what they call the UX Platform for media, contacts/social networking, email syncing and recoginizing faces. In a video demo they make all the features rock.

The UX platform builds on top of the Open OS and creates a unique Sony Ericsson user experience by combining entertainment features with signature applications.The Sony UX Platform Introduces signature applications like Mediascape and Timescape, the XPERIA X10 lets consumers organize everything in their phone in an intuitive way:

• Sony Ericsson Timescape manages all your communication with one person in one place.  Browse through your conversations the bright way to check out your  Faceboo Twitter, photos, emails, and texts all in one go
• Sony Ericsson Mediascape is the smart way to get all the music, photos and videos you want from your favourite friends and artists. It accesses content from everywhere - your phone, YouTube, PlayNoW - and presents everything for you

The T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ with MOTOBLUR, the first Android -powered device from Motorola and the only device to feature MOTOBLUR this holiday season goes on sale today.

To celebrate the CLIQ's arrival, also launched the T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ Challenge today, a nationwide contest to build the largest college fan club on Facebook.

The T-Mobile CLIQ delivers a powerful 3G mobile Web experience by harnessing the strength and speed of T-Mobile's 3G network and Wi-Fi. Available in two colors - Titanium and Winter White - the CLIQ features a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 3.1-inch HVGA full touch-screen display, support for T-Mobile's high-speed 3G network and Wi-Fi, a 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with video capture, a 3.5mm headset jack, a music player with pre-loaded Amazon MP3 store application, Shazam, iMeem Mobile, AccuWeather, MySpace Mobile, Quickoffice and a pre-installed 2GB microSD memory.

With integrated Google technology, the CLIQ brings one-touch access to the popular Google mobile services millions use every day, including Google Search by voice, Google Maps with Street View, YouTube and Picasa. The CLIQ also provides easy access to both personal and corporate e-mail, calendars, and contacts supported by Exchange Server and Gmail. E-mail is also supported by Yahoo!, Windows Live Hotmail, and other POP3 and IMAP e-mail services.

Zagg will be offering an invisibleSHIELD for the Motorola Droid. It's a clear shield that uses a Scratch-proof. The ultra-thin film is precision cut and won't bulk up the Droid while adding increased grip.

ZAGG obtained a working model of the Droid and has already created an invisibleSHIELD design for it. The Company began accepting orders for invisibleSHIELDor the  for the Motorola Droid today, November 2^nd, and expect to start shipping to key retailers prior to the advertised availability date for the device on Friday, November 6^th.

The InvisibleSHIELD is ZAGG's military-grade, virtually invisible and indestructible film that protects smartphones and other gadgets from bumps, scratches and dings with a lifetime guarantee.

"ZAGG continues to lead our industry by creating the world's finest protection and enhancement for all of the hottest new devices," said Robert G. Pedersen II, President and CEO of ZAGG. "We are excited about the combination of the Motorola Droid and the invisibleSHIELD, and we are certain customers will see it as a perfect fit."

Most Verizon executives have stayed quiet about the Droid invasion coming to Verizon on November 6.  All those Moto Droids landing with their beautiful dazzling screens that have wowed reviewers and HTML browsers could jam traffic on the "There's a Map for that" network. IDC Senior Analyst Ramon Lllamas commented on Friday, that Droid is helping fuel a positive wireless Q4 in 2009.

AT&T's image has suffered greatly because of network problems due to the deluge of iPhone data usage. Verizon Director of data services for the Illinois-Wisconsin region Arvin Singh tried to allay network deluge fears, he told Telephony, "We're anticipating the Droid will be a blockbuster, but we're not adding any new backhaul or new EV-DO carriers for the launch. We're not anticipating the network will take a hit on this."

We're wondering what do you think?  Will Verizon's network take a hit or is it ready for the Droid invasion on November 6? Will all the people following the Verizon guy still be smiling?

The Android OS doesn't have a built-in system that resembles the syncing ability of  iTunes, but Sony has an app for that which is being called "Mediascape."

This added-to-Android Mediscape video looks very impressive and commenters call it "slick and sexy." Others point out that they think the iPhone iTunes is cleaner and better.

Beware because at the beginning and end of the video is a key phrase, "This video is conceptional and only intended for internal use. Do not distribute"

The song goes, "Get ready to jump. I'm ready to jump!"

If you look carefully at the video the amount of processor power and memory for all the jumping flashy animation would surely cause a glitch or a screen freeze.  For entertainment purposes though, the Rachel Android UI video is fun to watch and it is easy to dance/jump to.

If you would like to see photos and specs of the real Android Rachel Sony Xperia 3 read today's earlier article.

Whoa, Verizon's Droid Invasion continues with sneak peak leaks at the Droid Eris by HTC. The Droid Eris by HTC has similar specs to the HTC Hero that is going to sell for the rock bottom price of $99 after rebates according to leaked documents.

The HTC Eris has a 528MHz Qualcomm, a 320x480 screen, and Android 1.5.  This touchscreen-only smartphone will also have HTC enhanced Touch Sense UI, visual voicemail, Wi-Fi, MS Exchange Sync, Media Uploader(for Facebook, Flickr, Picas, Gmail,) Google services, news widgets, and Footpritns Geo-tagging for photos. The HTML Browser supports Flash Lite.

The Droid Eris by HTC comes with 8 GB MicroSD card, Bluetooth, 5 megapixel camera. 

Meanwhile, Verizon has added new promotions for the first Motorola Droid with a QWERTY Keyboard.

Sony Ericsson is set to unveil a new high-end phone on November 3. Let's see what open operating system that is invading earth would it have?

This power-packed smartphone which has been kept top secret, shows signs of Android. The Sony Xperia 3, code-named Rachel, is expected to have an 8 megapixel camera, 1GHz processor snapdragon processor a 4.1″ OLED capacitive touch screen (larger than Droid), 32GB internal storage and loaded with apps for Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

It's interesting to note the that the Sony Xperia 3 is silver with rounded corners not black like the Verizon Motorola Droid that recieved excellent reviews. Smartphones with Android and the sold-out HTC Touch Pro2 are fueling positive expectations for Q4.

Last year, over the holidays, the Sony Xperia was mysteriously pulled from Sony Style Stores and off the website.  We were told by sales associates that it was recalled.

One thing that has been noted about Android smartphones it not all of them come with preinstalled software to sync media with your iTunes or Windows Media Player files on your PC.

IDC isn’t the only research company that is reporting a positive outlook for wireless in the fourth Quarter. ABI Research is reporting a slowing of the contraction in the market and calls Android the “dark horse” that could capture 10% of the market in 2010.

“The outlook for mobile handset markets continues to improve”, says Jake Saunders, ABI Research’s VP for Forecasting. “While 3Q-2009 showed a YoY 6.5% contraction in shipments to 291.1 million, 2009 should close out with only a 4%-5% contraction (to 1,138 million for the year).”

Handset vendors are starting to mutter confidently of 4Q-2009 cash tills jingling to the tune of robust handset sales. In 3Q-2009, North America and Asia-Pacific helped to spearhead a recovery. In North America, the avid enthusiasm for smartphones was the driver. In Asia-Pacific, recovery in the local economies has been stoking interest in upgrades.

Market shares are starting to thaw. Nokia saw its market share slip from 38.3% to 37.3% in 3Q-2009. Samsung continues to steam ahead, raising its market share to 20.7%. Despite some very novel handset model introductions in 2Q-2009, LG’s market-share softened in 3Q-2009 (10.9%). All the other vendors either held their ground or lost a small amount of market share.

The prime exception is Apple: its iPhone range of smartphones increased its market share from 1.9% to 2.5%. There have been arguments that Apple’s limited handset line-up will constrain growth, but for the mid-term, ABI Research does not expect any slowdown in Apple’s market-share growth.

“Despite the successes of the iPhone operating system, the leading player in the smartphone OS market is still very much Symbian (48%), followed by Blackberry (18%),” notes practice director Kevin Burden.

“The ‘dark horse’ in all this is Android.” This week Motorola announced the launch of its navigation-friendly “Droid” handset. As the list of vendors committed to releasing Android handsets expands, product momentum should translate into increased Android sales. ABI Research estimates Android could capture 10% of the smartphone market by 2014.

Verizon Droid Rated 4 out 5 by Wireless and Mobile News' Review of Reviews

The new reviews of the Verizon Motorola Droid just came out and reviewers were all impressed with the fast processor speed, web browser and brilliant display on the Verizon Droid smartphone.

The Verizon Motorola Droid is scheduled to land on earth on November 6 and some reviewers think it is "out of this world.'   Droid has everything an alien or earthling could want, Wi-Fi, multi-window web browsing, super-high res 3.7", mutlittasking of apps, voice search, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and DVD playback, turn-by-turn Google navigation(Beta) while reviewers found just a few things to criticize.

For those who do a lot of texting or emailing the slide-out QWERTY keyboard should be a welcome addition but reviewers were disappointed by its flatness and that it could slide back-in accidentally.

Some reviewers loved the media playing functions and one especially liked the YouTube videos. Unfortunately the Verizon Droid doesn't currently sync media with a PC. However, the Droid email functionality which includes unified email from mutiple source including pushed MS Exchange/Gmail and often checked Pop3 email, worked well. The universal search feature was mentioned and appreciated. The Verizon Droid is geared more towards a business user therefore it doesn't have as good as social networking integration as the Motorola CLIQ.

Reviewers called the Verizon Droid the fasted and most lust-worthy Android smartphone but still don't believe the iPhone should be or will be killed. None of the reviewers had time to test out the turn-by-turn directions but did note that turn-by-turn Google Maps Nav Beta is a game changer because it's free.

Droid by Motorola will be available in the United States exclusively at Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement after a $100 mail-in rebate. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. If you use the Wireless and Mobile News' online purchase coupon-link for Instant Phone Rebate Only Available with Online Purchase then you don't have to wait for the rebate.

The Droid has taken the thunder out of the BlackBery Storm2 which is now included in Verizon's Buy One BlackBerry or Netbook Free deal.

Flixster updated to its popular Android app. Flixster 2.0 for the Android launched today, adding integration with Facebook Connect, a newsfeed for up-to-date friend ratings, and other enhancements.

Flixster offers an easy way to share your movie choices and meet-up with movie-going friends because it is a combination of movie information and social networking.

Using Flixster, you can find information about movies and showtimes, you can buy tickets using Flixster, you can search for theaters, find maps and even find restaurants.

You can also immediately share your reviews, ratings and opinions with friends and read what they have to say.

Flixster's mobile apps link with Facebook, so you can make movie plans with friends, share your opinions and read other users' reviews, blending "traditional" movie information with social networking.

Flixsterites are busy, on average, mobile Flixster users rate a movie every five seconds and stream 140 trailers per minute. The Android app is available in the Android marketplace. 

Let the inter-galatic smartphone wars being. Droid will be invading the planet on November 6. 

Motorola and Verizon unveiled Droid by Motorola today. Most of the features were previously leaked, and they are impressive. Verizon is touting its high-speed web browsing, voice-activated search, customizable large screen, and what they call the best 3G mobile network in the country. Droid also includes access to Google Voice and Google apps.

They claim Droid by Motorola  is one of the thinnest full-QWERTY slider phones available. It is a no-fuss, high-tech, location-aware, voice-recognizing, over-the-air updating, multi-tasking machine - and it is available just in time for holiday wish lists.

Droid has everything an alien or earthling could want, Wi-Fi, multi-window web browsing, super-high res 3.7", mutlittasking of apps, voice search, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and DVD playback, turn-by-turn Google navigation(Beta),

Droid by Motorola will be available in the United States exclusively at Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online on Friday, Nov. 6, for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement after a $100 mail-in rebate. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. If you use the Wireless and Mobile News' online purchase coupon-link for Instant Phone Rebate Only Available with Online Purchase then you don't have to wait for the rebate.

Support for Android 2.0 has been added to  the Android SDK, in time for tomorrow's Droid announcement.

There are some major changes to Android 2.0 which users will love:

• The most beloved aspect for business users is Microsoft Exchange Support for syncing email.
  
• Facebook users will like the integrated Facebook support that syncs to Facebook contacts.
  
• The browser is improved with double-tap to zoom and speeds similar to iPhone 3GS.

Flurry analytics for mobile devices, today reported an unprecedented 94% increase in application project starts by Android developers between September and October projected totals within its system.

Beyond its Android-focused partnerships with T-Mobile and Motorola, Flurry attributes increased Android developer focus in its system to the upcoming November launch of Droid by Verizon Wireless.

The Droid is expected to land at Verizon November 6 and it has many high end features.

"Flurry market data shows that Android continues to gain interest from application developers, and that iPhone is no longer the only game in town," said Simon Khalaf, Flurry president and chief officer.

"Developers who used to develop only for iPhone are now adding Android applications to their line up in record numbers."