This Saturday, January 28, 2012, the LoneStar PhoneGap group will hold their first meetup. PhoneGap is a mobile platform that helps you easily create mobile applications and more importantly helps you distribute one set of code to all of the major phone OS systems (Apple iOS, Google Android, Blackberry, WebOS, Windows Phone 7, Symbian and Bada). Nitobi, the parent company of PhoneGap, was acquired by Adobe last October.

I think it is awesome that a group is meeting on a Saturday afternoon! The meetup will be held at a public library just west of the university area. Free pizza and drinks will be served.

Here’s the event description, “Lets kickstart the first PhoneGap meetup in Austin. Come to learn about PhoneGap, network with other PhoneGappers in Austin, and discuss best coding practices. On the program is a 15 minute coding session where we will develop a simple PhoneGap application demonstrating some of the key features and coding style. You are wlecome to bring your laptop and code along with us.”

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Google has apparently released a brand new smartphone called the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. This device has the new Android 4.0 software on it which is codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich. It runs on the Verizon network and has the ability to use the LTE network which is the fastest I’ve heard. I would have been interested in reviewing the Galaxy Nexus as most of you know that I am still using my Samsung Ace Windows Mobile Phone version 6 but alas I was told back at Google IO that I am not on Google’s press list. No worries and my Ace is still happy to be warming my pocket.

For decades now I’ve always liked Samsung’s build quality and design and assume this phone continues this pattern. There are lots of reviews out there for the device in which all seem to indicate it’s awesome. I am guessing over the next few days we will see lots of photos on Google Plus of the devices as people receive them around the country.

You can buy the phone direct from Verizon for $299 with a two-year contract (Greg notes in the comments that an upgrade is $249). But you know that I won’t allow that – so here are some other options for ordering the Galaxy Nexus smartphone while saving some money to buy apps and music to use on your new device.

LetsTalk – this appears to be the best price out there – the deal will start at midnight Pacific time and will be offered for $155 for a new line of service or $175 for an upgrade on an existing contract. You will need to enter the code ‘$75VZN’ to get the special pricing.

UPDATE! As I expected, Amazon has dropped the price of the Nexus to $149 for new line and $249 for an upgrade. It shows backordered but you should still assume it will ship soon.

Amazon – currently Amazon shows the smartphone at $199 for a new line of service and $249 for an upgrade. The phone is listed with an 8-day backorder but this may change tomorrow. There is chatter that Amazon may actually reduce their price for the device as they have been heavily price matching this holiday season.

You should always read all of the terms of the contract carefully when you purchase a smartphone as each merchant may have special restrictions. Now I am off to play solitaire on my Ace.

My best advice is if you want one of these phones, you wait a few days before ordering as I am sure we will see more deals on Sunday for the device. I will continue to update this post as I find more deals for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

Note: Amazon link is an aff link.

Find more stories about: Android, Galaxy Nexus, mobile, Samsung, Verizon

Based on a number of conversations on the deal boards and confirmed by PreCentral, it appears that beginning tomorrow you will be able to purchase a HP Touchpad for $99 for the 16GB model and $149 for the 32GB model.

I have read a good number of blog posts about HP’s decision to discontinue their newly launched TouchPad and so far I haven’t found any posts that discuss what HP will offer to early adopters who ran out and bought the device during its short retail run. In fact, it’s not just early adopters — I watched several presentations on QVC pumping the HP TouchPad as a much better device than those “pad devices” because you could run multiple apps, etc.

Several years ago Apple offered a store credit for the early adopters who paid a higher price for their iPhones – and those devices weren’t canceled! HP really needs to do something here for those customers who ran out and purchased their “better tablet” — and they probably should have announced an offering before deciding to liquidate all HP Touchpad inventory.

I am not a mobile OS expert by any means but I wonder if there is a way to get Android to run on the HP Touchpad. The device apparently has the needed hardware and chipset to run Android. Frankly HP should hire a team to quickly make a utility to do the conversion. I asked on Twitter if it was possible to convert the software but didn’t receive any responses.

Maybe there is a golden quick flip business opportunity here for a mobile hacker – offer a conversion utility to make Android run on the HP Touchpad and charge $50 for it – so for $150 you get a great hardware offering running a mobile OS that isn’t going to discontinue operations tomorrow.

Something tells me that if you want one of these HP Touchpad devices for $100 – you better be quick because many will hedge their bets that eventually Android will run on the device and it will be a big win over spending an average of $400 for a current top-tier Android device.

Find more stories about: Android, Best Buy, HP, mobile, tablet, TouchPad

When I visited Berlin for the first time, it was shocking just how much graffiti was all around the city. On buildings, on trains, everywhere – reminded me of the 1980s on the NYC subway. While I can’t say I am a fan, some of my friends have searched out graffiti installations in cities as they travel. Today a new mobile app is launching that will help make those searches easier.

Art.mapped is a mobile app for the Apple iPhone (coming soon to Android) that maps out street art, graffiti, public art and architecture. Founder Michael Stearne notes regarding Art.mapped, “(we) catalog(s) the locations of great graffiti, street art, public art, architecture and design. Great graffiti and street art goes away and art.mapped would like to help keep a record of these works and their locations over time.”

It’s a pretty neat idea to help you find art outside a typical museum – especially as you visit new cities. And you can help the app grow by sharing art that you find in your travels. I wonder how you report where you find subway graffiti since it’s a moving target.

The app is free and you can download Art.mapped in the Apple iTunes App Store.

For those of you who lived in NYC in the 70′s and 80′s, here’s a bit of classic graffiti:

Find more stories about: iphone, iPhone 4, mobile, new york, NYC

Back in December, Walmart offered the Apple iPhone 4 for $147 which included a $50 gift card.  Today Walmart has announced they are bringing back the Apple iPhone 4 special for $147 with no gift card required. The sale model is a 16GB version available for both AT&T and Verizon as your carrier choice. And you can select from the black version or the new OMG OMG OMG white version. The deal is available in Walmart stores that have a mobile department.

This is a $50 savings over the Apple store price — you still need to sign a two-year contract. There are still refurb deals on the iPhone 3GS direct from AT&T for $49 and $99 however now I would steer you towards spending the extra $100 for the latest Apple iPhone model. Of course there is talk of a new iPhone arriving later this summer.

Find more stories about: Apple, iphone, iPhone 4, mobile, walmart

Last week I wrote about a deal on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7″ for $280 — it was the WiFi only version. Today I’ve learned about a new weekend-only deal through AT&T on the Galaxy Tab 3G AT&T version.

The deal through AT&T is for a refurbished 7″ Galaxy Tab for $200 after a $150 instant “social media credit” (WTF!).  You need to signup for a data plan for one month – the 2GB plan can be added to your shopping cart for no cost. Just make sure to cancel the plan inside of the first month so you aren’t charged for additional months. The device has no contract outside of this initial one-month data plan requirement.

During my time at Google IO this week, I received a 10″ Galaxy Tab tablet. So far it seems like a very well built device that I can see using all the time although the 7″ seems like it might be a bit more portable.

If you are new to the Galaxy Tab, check out Louis Gray’s in-depth review.

Find more stories about: AT&T, Galaxy Tab, mobile, Samsung, tablet

Back in January, Sprint announced a price reduction for the 7″ Samsung Galaxy Tab Android tablet to $299 with a two-year contract. And now T-Mobile offers the Galaxy Tab for $199 with a two-year contract.

Meritline is offering a refurbished Sprint-branded 3G Galaxy Tab for $310. Meritline lists the device specs as, “ARM Cortex A8 1GHz, 16GB, 7 inch TFT LCD, 3G, BT 3.0, Android 2.2″. There’s no contract required on this refurbished model although you will need a Sprint mobile plan to use the 3G service. You can use the device in the WiFi only mode — no Sprint plan is required for WiFi only mode.

Update: If you decide to purchase from Meritline, here’s a coupon code that brings the price down to $280 – MLC5HVNRPK6NL

If you are looking for a WiFi only Galaxy Tab, Amazon appears to have the best price at $349.

You should note that a 10″ Galaxy Tab with Android 3.0 Honeycomb appears to be on the way.

If you are new to the Galaxy Tab, check out Louis Gray’s in-depth review.

Find more stories about: Galaxy Tab, mobile, Samsung, tablet

A year ago I wrote about, how even though I moved, how thanks to technology I was able to remain home (that’s NYC). In the post, I noted that I was able to watch a month’s worth of Yankees games via MLB.tv thanks to a $5 Groupon offer. It was pretty awesome but keeping the service going after the deal was over was just too rich for me. Luckily a number of NY Yankees games have been broadcast locally on ESPN, Fox and TBS. These stations know which team is the best in baseball so they show the team as often as possible.

Today I’ve learned that the MLB has reduced the prices of their MLB.tv plans by $10. Naturally a month of the season is over so it makes sense to reduce the price. The basic MLB.tv plan is $89 and the premium plan is $109. The premium plan includes audio from both home and away teams, dvr controls and multi-game view so you can watch up to 4 games at once.

MLB.tv is now also offering a mobile device plan for $49 for the balance of the season. The plan is good for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and some Android devices. The mobile only plan is limited but does allow you to listen to both home and away audio (this is actually a pretty cool feature).

It’s important to remember that if you order MLB.tv, you can only watch out-of-market games. Blackouts are determined by IP address on both the desktop and mobile versions.

It’s also important to note that if you are a Red Sox or Mets fan, your pricing is double the listed rates. This is due to a special “we wish we were as good as the Yankees” tax on those specific teams.

Find more stories about: MLB, mobile, online video

Even though AT&T is working on acquiring T-Mobile, if you live in Seattle you will want to continue reading this post. This weekend, T-Mobile stores in the Seattle area are going to hold a speed contest. If you own an Apple iPhone on either Verizon or AT&T, you can win a quick $1,000. It’s a brilliant marketing strategy because it gets customers of competing carriers to open the door to T-Mobile and to have a look at the latest Android 4G phones. It will be interesting to see if T-Mobile can convert anyone who owns an iPhone over to an Android device since we know that speed isn’t the only reason consumers select one device over another.

To win the cash, your Apple iPhone needs to beat the T-Mobile Galaxy S smartphone on the T-Mobile 4G network. The rules clearly state you can’t use the WiFi option on the iPhone, it must be on the 3G network. Additionally, the rules state, “Speed challenge consists of three tests of the Galaxy S 4G versus the iPhone based solely on download speeds as measured by the Application; participants will be eligible to receive $1,000 if their iPhones are faster in two out of the three tests.”

I am sure some of the gadget blogs will create some good 3G routines which you can use to get your iPhone ready for the competition!

I wonder what odds Vegas gives to a 3G phone beating a 4G phone in terms of download speed.

You can find all of the contest details and the participating T-Mobile store locations here.

Find more stories about: AT&T, iphone, mobile, Seattle, T-Mobile, Verizon

The New York City MTA (that’s the group that runs the subway and buses among other transit functions) has announced the upcoming launch of the first NYC transit MTA App Center. The App Center will operate in a similar fashion to the Apple App Store and is described as a way, “to showcase the great apps you have built for MTA customers and make them easier to locate.”

If you want to be included in the launch of the App Center, you need to submit your info by Friday April 29, 2011. If you miss this initial launch round, your submission will be included in a future App Center update.

To learn more about the MTA developer programs, check out their developer website.

Here’s the list of information your submission needs to include:

• App Title
• Developer Name/Company Name
• One-sentence app description
• What MTA services your app covers (e.g. Metro North, LIRR, Subways, Bus)
• Platform (e.g. Web, iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, IVR, SMS, etc)
• Cost
• An image of 150 * 250
• Link to the application – the link should be to your app website or to iTunes or similar place where the customer can learn more and download/purchase your app
• What feeds you’re using (e.g. bus schedules, service alerts, elevator/escalator feed)

Submit your package to MTA Developer Liaison Sarah Kaufman via email. Her email is in the format firstname.lastname@nyct.com.

Good gosh I miss my subways and buses!

Find more stories about: App Store, mobile, MTA, NYC, subway, transit

The State of Texas has announced the launch of their first Android application today. Apparently a lot of residents in Texas use Android devices although most of the ones I see holding their phones while driving are using iPhone devices.

“In the first two months of 2011, nearly 40,000 visits to Texas.gov were from a mobile device. Of these visits, 37 percent were from an Android. In response to this growing trend, it is important for us to continuously provide Texans with new tools that allow them to conveniently access government information and services on their mobile devices,” said Doug Holt, Deputy Executive Director, Department of Information Resources.

The app contains maps and directions to local government offices, photos of Texas landscapes, a Q&A section, an information search and options to connect with the State on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Flickr. Popular sections of the app include information on driver license renewals, concealed handgun permits, vehicle registration and birth certificates.

So far the app has one review from Eric, “I hate Texas but this app is helpful.”

The app is free and you can download the State of Texas Android app in the Android Market.

Find more stories about: Android, mobile, Texas

T-Mobile, the company that might be acquired by AT&T for $39 billion, posted on their Facebook page that tonight beginning at 9pm Pacific (that’s midnight for you Yankees fans and 10pm for all of your hook’em horns fans), they will provide web-only specials on two of their 4g smartphones. There are some questions on the Facebook posting whether the deals will be valid for existing customers or only for new customers – no official reply as of yet.

It looks like T-Mobile currently has three 4g smartphones: the myTouch 4G, Samsung Galaxy S and the T-Mobile G2.

TalkAndroid is also reporting that, beginning tomorrow, T-Mobile will offer two new unlimited plans. T-Mobile will offer a $59.99 pre-paid unlimited Even More Plus plan and a $79.99 unlimited Even More plan for two-year contracts.

What I’ve noticed in my shopping research as I look to get a new phone (although this LG Optimus isn’t bad!) is that Amazon and other online shops offer much better deals than going directly through the carriers especially if you want the latest and greatest Android smartphone.

Find more stories about: Android, mobile, Phone, T-Mobile

This is no April Fool’s joke – this is damn serious. To celebrate the launch of the Amazon Android Appstore, Amazon is offering one application for free each day. Earlier this week Amazon offered the SwiftKey Keyboard for free — now it’s back to $1.79.

Today Amazon is offering the popular game Fruit Ninja for free. The Fruit Ninja team of ninjas note that they have sold over six million copies of the game worldwide. The game creators describe the game as, “a juicy action game enjoyed by millions of players around the world with squishy, splatty and satisfying fruit carnage! Become the ultimate bringer of sweet, tasty destruction with every slash.”

Amazon is also offering Angry Birds Rio for free — this appears to be a longer running deal but if you want the game, I’d suggest downloading soon because there is no specific end date listed. The game is basically the same as the Crush the Castle except instead of chucking rocks and bombs you chuck birds. The free game is ad-free and contains all 60 levels.

To get the free games, you need to install the Amazon Android Appstore onto your Android device. Here’s an overview of how to install the Appstore.

You can download both Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds Rio from the Amazon Android Appstore homepage or from within the Appstore after you load it onto your Android device.

If you are on an iPhone, sorry this deal isn’t for you. You can purchase both games from the iTunes App Store for $0.99 each.

Find more stories about: Amazon, Android, casual games, games, mobile

Last month Sprint (NYSE:S) announced an offer of $125 towards your monthly bill on a two-year contract if you port your number and purchase a smartphone.  This past Sunday, AT&T announced plans to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion.

There is now a lot of chatter that Sprint will be offering instant rebates on their phones instead of the currently advertised mail-in rebates.  This means there will be no more wait for your money. The change will run from March 27 – April 16. You can read more about this rumor on the SprintUsers forum and on SlickDeals. Sprint is currently showing a $100 mail-in rebate on the Evo, Evo Shift and Samsung Epic.

If you combine the instant rebate and the $125 port-in credit noted above, it looks like a pretty strong deal for those who prefer to purchase directly from Sprint.

There are better deals out there thank buying a smartphone directly from Sprint — for example, Amazon sells the EVO for $119 while the same EVO is sold on the Sprint website for $199 after the $100 rebate. The Samsung Epic is sold on Amazon for $129 and on Sprint’s website for $199, also after a $100 rebate.

I am digging around to try to get confirmation on this offer and will update if I get additional information. If you are planning to purchase a new smartphone directly from Sprint, I’d suggest waiting until the 27th so you get the $100 instantly instead of waiting many weeks and having to deal with the fun rebate paperwork.

I really, really, really want a new smartphone and have heard great things about the Nexus S but so far no Sprint release date has been released.

Find more stories about: mobile, Sprint

While attending Lean Startup day at SXSW 2011, I met with Ask.com VP Communications Valerie Combs to learn more about their new group texting mobile app. It seems that this year you aren’t cool if you don’t have a group texting app. Ask Around lets you view and engage in conversations near you.

You select your radius and then you can see what’s happening around that zone. You can also change the location — for example, you might be at the SXSW conference in Austin but want to see what’s happening at the Berlin main train station. You can also select a “spot” which will give you a list of popular locations to monitor the conversation.

The app doesn’t appear to have topics so it looks like everyone is just bundled together – I wonder how that works in terms of conversation flow. I guess it’s like Twitter – everyone just messages in whatever they want with no actual focus – but in this case the idea is that the conversation should be focused around a specific location.

I asked Valerie what makes Ask Around different than the 847 other group texting apps that have recently launched. She noted that Ask Around is specifically focused just on location – there are no algorithms, no matchmaker services, just a focus on the conversation around a location.

The Ask.com Ask Around app is free for download and currently only available for iPhone.

Below is Valerie’s video demo of Ask Around – you can check out another demo with Abby Johnson of WebProNews who spoke with Ask.com Chief Product and Technology Officer Lisa Kavanaugh.

Find more stories about: ask.com, iphone, mobile, sxsw, SXSW 2011