Back at Google IO in May, our benevolent overlords detailed their intentions to make mobile advertising more immersive, akin to Apple's iAds. Today, we're starting to see some of the fruits of that labor with AdWords location extensions. Businesses can show their location (via an embedded Google Map, natch) and clickable phone number all in an expanding and contracting ad, right inside an app. Says Google:

This new ad format is available on mobile devices with full Internet browsers and allows you to expand your advertising campaigns to reach highly engaged mobile users with relevant local information as they use their favorite apps or websites to check the weather, read the news, play games or pursue other mobile interests.

Ads that truly are useful? Crazy talk! [Google Mobile Ads blog]

Posted originally at Android Central

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One of the shining features of Android is its ability to understand what you want. Case in point: the voice-to-text feature. You speak, it listens. Here's a quick tip for an easy Google search. Hold down the search button on your phone. A window will pop up telling you to "Speak now." Do so, and Google will automagically search for whatever you said. Go ahead. Try it.

Posted originally at Android Central

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Motorola this morning announced its second-quarter numbers, earning $162 million in Q2. That's up from $26 million in Q2 2009. Overall, however, mobile sales were down 6 percent, to $1.7 billion, compared to last year. Motorola cited the Droid X, i1 and it's applications section as it shipped 2.7 million smartphones.

CEO Sanjay Jha said he expects sell between 12 million and 14 million smartphones by the end of the year, and Motorola should have released more than 20 models worldwide. [Motorola]

Posted originally at Android Central

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Nexus One. Android. Rocket motors. You see where this is going, right? Self-described "Freelance scientific molecular evolutionary biological videographic NASA microgravitational & space education specialist" (and Phish fan) Matthew Reyes dropped word to Make: Online about the RocketMavericks event last weekend in Nevada, where James Dougherty's Intimidator-5 rocket did the deed. It was all in the name as using smartphone technology as low-cost rocket components, which is about the coolest thing we've ever heard.

Nexus One went up, Nexus One came down, shooting video all long the way. Did it survive? Well, watch the video after the break, and be sure to check out the Flickr page for the aftermath. [Make: Online, Flickr] Thanks, dppatel!

Posted originally at Android Central

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If you fly more than, say, once a year, you absolutely should look into an Android travel app. And a new one to Android is FlightView. It's got the all the basics that you'd expect from a top flight-tracking app --track by flight number, track by route, flight mapping, speed and altitude, departure and arrival info, delays at major airports, notes -- the works, basically.

FlightView is nicely designed and easy to use. You also can save flight info to build an itinerary, which is a must for frequent fliers. But that's also where FlightView's Achilles' heel presents itself -- there's no integration (yet) with a service such as Tripit. You have to manually input all of your flights, which is OK if it's just one or two, but a big pain if you have connecting flights. The developer tells us, however, such service will be added in future updates.

But for now, if you've looking to try another travel app, FlightView's a solid performer. It's available in ad-supported form, or for the low, low price of 99 cents. More pics and download information is after the break.

Posted originally at Android Central

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Remember how a leaked Froyo ROM was promised for the Galaxy S? Well, it's out, it's working (mostly) and Italian site HDblog has been giving it the what-for on camera. A reminder that this is for the international version of the Galaxy S and won't (yet) work with your Samsung Captivate or Vibrant, but hopefully we'll see that change soon. Check out the hands-on video after the break. [Samsung-Firmware, HDblog] Thanks, iNicc0lo.

Posted originally at Android Central

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Seen here at right is the Samsung Vibrant, but the options are largely the same on all Android phones, though they may have slightly different names.

"Gallery" lets you set a photo you've taken as a wallpaper.

"Live wallpapers" are those cool animated deals that were introduced with Android 2.1. Older phones might not have these.

Then there's the standard "Wallpaper gallery." It's a preloaded section of static wallpapers.

And of course you can add more wallpapers. We've got instructions and a slew of pictures you'll want to check out in our forums, and more are being added every day. Android Central Wallpaper forums | Wallpaper how-to guide

Posted originally at Android Central

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Sprint this morning announced its second-quarter earnings, and more than a few investors likely had to be picked up off the floor after learning that the carrier had a net gain in subscribers for the first time in three years.

We'll let that soak in for a second. Sprint gained more subscribers than it lost. For the first quarter in three years. (That's, like, a lot of quarters.) There were a total of 111,000 subscribers gained in Q2, which also happens to be when the Evo 4G, Sprint's largest (and currently best) Android smartphone was released.

Money-wise, Sprint saw $8 billion in revenue but a net loss of $760 million, which it attributes to some long-winded financial thingy you can read all about if you want. [Sprint]

Posted originally at Android Central

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We know all you T-Mobile fans are waiting with bated breath over what's going to be the carrier's first HSPA+ phone for its updated network.  One train of thought is that it'll be the as-yet-unannounced HTC Vision/Blaze. Let's throw something new into the mix. Above is what our tipster says is the myTouch 3G HD, and indeed it does seem to match the shape of that mystery T-Mobile HSPA+ phone silhouetted at TMo's website [via PhoneScoop].

But, wait, there's more. Source code for the HSPA+ site [via BGR] originally made use of the "Vanguard" code name, which we've seen before and was widely believed to have been the HTC Vision/Blaze. That Vanguard reference is now missing, which could mean that it was a true leak, or it could mean that it was just wrong. Or maybe it means what we see above is the Vanguard. Who knows?

But let's return our attention to that tall-drink of black-slab water you see above, which at least "feels" like more than a fan-rendered mockup (though that's still a possibility). That's definitely a sizable touchscreen, and the Genius button introduced on the myTouch 3G Slide is back, alongside physical home, menu and back buttons (matching what's on the myTouch 3G Slide, along with the trackpad). We're thinking that button on the side is slaved to the camera. And speaking of cameras, is that a front-facing job up there next to the earpiece?

Anyhoo, for now we'll have to wait and see what comes out of it all. Anybody licking their chops over this one? Thanks, C!

Posted originally at Android Central

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T-Mobile scored the very first Android smartphone with the G1. And now with the introduction of the Samsung Vibrant, it has one of the fastest and most powerful as well.

The Vibrant, as you know, is part of the Galaxy S line of Samsung Android smartphones, along with the Sprint Epic 4G, AT&T Captivate and Verizon Fascinate. Each remains the prototypical black slab, albeit with its own personality and customizations. And like its cousins, the Vibrant also sports one of the fastest mobile processors available, one of the best screens and some great software tweaks.

Need more prompting? After the break, we dive into the T-Mobile Vibrant and see what all the hubub's about.

(For more from the Galaxy S class, read our AT&T Captivate review)

Posted originally at Android Central

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