Samsung Galaxy Tab Available for Preorder by Sprint Premier Customers

For the next three days, Sprint will be taking preorders for their version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The seven inch tablet is expected to be a major iPad competitor, and has been announced for T-Mobile and Verizon, too. The Galaxy Tab features a seven inch capacitive touchscreen, dual cameras, and Android 2.2. The tablet also has support from Google and features the Android Market and Google apps, something that some other tablets have failed to get. The tablet has already been reviewed by a few sites, such as Engadget, with one of the major complains being that some of the apps don't scale properly for the different screen size of the Galaxy Tab. Pricing is $400 with a new two year contract, and the smallest data plan is $29 a month for 2 GB of data. Oh, and for all you 4G fans out there, this is a 3G only device, so sadly no Wimax.

Sprint Plans to Phase Out iDen

Sprint has plans to end its iconic push to talk network within the next few years, according to CEO Dan Hesse. Although the service is popular with customers looking for the very best push to talk service, the network technology used for the service is aging rapidly and doesn't work well for data transfers, which are quickly becoming the most important thing in mobile phones. Although they won't be ending the service right away, as time goes on it should be easier to end it with the amount of customers that have been leaving the iDEN network. Sprint plans to get customers to use the more popular CDMA network. When they eventually shut down the iDEN network, they will use the spectrum for other services. (Engadget)

Foneshow Delivers Podcasts By Phone Call

For all those Sprint customers out there without a data plan, or don't feel like using their precious data for downloading or streaming podcasts, there is a great service called Foneshow. I have been using Foneshow for about two weeks now, and feel that the service is great, especially for customers that don't have smartphones with data plans to get their podcasts.

After signing up for an account on foneshow.com, you can select any shows that they have on the site and subscribe to them. They have a variety of shows from many different sources, and I am currently subscribed to some from Cnet and Engadget. Once you do this, you should get a text message with the latest episode and a phone number that is wants you to call. Here is what one of my text messages from the service looked like:
Buzz Out Loud from CNet: Buzz Out Loud 1254: Google has an honesty prob 29:41 call ---------- to hear this Foneshow!
The number goes where I put the dashes. I just call the number there and it delivers the Foneshow through the phone on a voice call. It is very simple to use and whenever a new episode is released it is usually quick to alert you by text message and let you listen to it through the phone.

Some will be turned off by the fact that it uses your normal minutes on the phone call, which wasn't a big deal for me since I have tons of leftover minutes from Any Mobile Any Time. Just make sure you watch your minutes and how long your podcasts are, and if you are short on minutes you can listen when you get night or weekend minutes. If you are a Sprint/CDMA user (you most likely are if your reading this), you will also not be able to get data on your phone when using the service, unless you are connected to a Wifi (or WiMax) network when on the call.

The service is also very useful by resuming the podcast where you left off if you hang up or it gets dropped, which makes it better than streaming because you don't have to find the place the video was. The feature also has pause, fast forward, start from the beginning, and other functions right from the call.

If you like to listen to your favorite podcasts without having to remember when they come on, Foneshow is a great service that is helpful to keep up on your latest podcasts. It is also nice for users without good data reception at their house or work, without smartphones, or who need to watch their usage of data. Although some people can just get the podcasts right on their phone, I find Foneshow easier to use and it doesn't take up space on your memory card or internal memory. (Foneshow)

HTC Legend Coming to Sprint?

It looks like the popular Hero has a follow up device, with the HTC Legend supposedly coming to Sprint. With a new unibody design and still having the same Sense UI, it is essentially just an updated Hero. And to support it coming to Sprint, it has already cleared the FCC tests that are required for every phone before being released on the United States. (Engadget)

Engadget WebOS App Now Available

If you are regular readers of Engadget like me, you have probably checked their website too many times to count on your mobile device. Engadget has now made it easier for you to read everything from their blogs on your WebOS device, with their new app. It's the first app of 2010, too, and the 1000th app in their catalog! You can find the app by searching in the catalog on your Palm device. (Engadget)

WebOS 1.4 Update Now Available

If you have a Palm Pre or Pixi, you might already have updated to the latest OS, WebOS 1.4. The update includes numerous bug fixes and adds a few new features, so if you haven't checked for an update already, it might be time to get the latest OS. (Engadget)