Google Navigation goes back in time, Android 1.6 gains official support. [Update]

If you were eyeing your non-Android 2.0 device because of it’s lack of exciting features — namely Google Navigation — Google would like to extend a welcome Happy Thanksgiving to you. The cause for celebration…? Google has gone ahead and ported Google Navigation backwards to Android 1.6 (Donut) devices. Oh happy day. That pretty much wraps up everyone in the Pre-Droid/Android 2.0 game. Heck, even the goldfish memory sized G1 is getting in on the action. How about them apples? And who says the G1 is dead…

**Update: TechCrunch points out that the Google Nav for everyone misses one key feature — the “Navigate to” voice command. Deal breaker? Hardly.

Google Blog

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Apple tries to help AT&T portray their god awful network as anything but. Fails to highlight the obvious…

You know, after all the flack that AT&T has gotten for boasting of a POS network and Apple for stubbornly sticking with them for the last 2-1/2 years, you have to admire AT&T’s determination. Almost. AT&T’s Luke Wilson ads that have making been getting some pretty frequent air time on TV go to prove how terrible is at making commercials in their defense. They’re pretty much just as terrible as the Microsoft/Seinfeld duo. However, when AT&T simply can’t go on to put together a decent commercial to save their lives, lo and behold here comes Apple with two new commercials of their own defending the network and their choice of network. The main gist of the commercials is to tout AT&T’s biggest advantage over Verizon — AT&T’s 3G network allows voice and data at the same time. Mind you, Verizon’s EVDO network while speedy and pretty much everywhere does not. That means all you Droid owners (myself included) will have to hang up to check that web page or download that feed. I’ll admit it was a flesh wound that hasn’t yet affected me but there’s always a possibility. Still, I’d much rather have a dependable network and have a minor inconvenience such as hanging up a phone call before doing any data related tasks than not being able to do anything at all.

So in the end, how do the ads fair? Well, they somehow manage to put their Apple sugarcoating on the cold hard truth: You may be able to use voice and data at the same time but good luck getting a fucking signal even 100 yards from our damn towers…

The two new commercials right inside.

Blinking LED ads to thrust us into the 9th circle of advertising hell

Using something as simple as blinking LED lights has incredible possibilities for fast and easy transmission of information and data. Now if someone in the gadget world such as manufacturers and 3rd parties can create apps and services to allow end users to interact with one another, this technology could really take off. Geeky dreams and hopes aside, one industry that is looking to employ such technologies is one that we could stand to lose a bit of interaction with — advertisers.

Advertisers in Japan have figured out a way to tweak the technology so that LED’s attached to ads can beam information to your phone. In their defense, the ads aren’t intrusive in the sense that you’re going to get beamed repeatedly as you walk down the street. Instead, users who see a billboard or ad and are seeking more info can point their phone at the sign and receive more info. While on one hand another way for ads and advertisers to invade our lives sucks, but at the same time, the technology in itself is really cool. It saddens me to even lust after such things as the US is years away from actually embracing and using any such technology for our mobile devices. What do you think: Is the technology so cool that even the ads won’t push you away? Or is it business as usual with these advertisers…?

Mobile Crunch

Fast Food Flowchart makes midday munchie quandary super easy.

Fast food has absolutely nothing in common with gadgets. Not a single shread. But still this flowchart made my laugh. I being a fairly on the go person do find myself eating at some of america’s finest establishments every now and then. Maybe my choices will be faster and easier from here on out now that I have such a chart to look at. And so my laughter is passed on to you. Which path did you journey on?

Gekkologie > Grubstreet

Mophie Juice Pack Air coming home to AT&T

As sad as it is, most of the good smartphone accessories aren’t often found in stores. It is those online stores which carry those most sought after accessories with the brick and mortar stores usually getting second rate, cheap junk that no one every buys. But every now and then, a good one will come home to a store near you offering you the chance to “try before you buy”…or at least seeing it in person — a big help as computer screens just don’t offer the same experience. The next time you stroll into your local AT&T store, go over to the iPhone section and look at the accessory wall and you may see a new addition: the Mophie Juice Pack Air. If you are anything above a moderate user, you need one of these for your iPhone as the standard battery simply doesn’t cut it. The Juice Pack Air’s 1200mAh battery should give you a good 80-90% longer runtime all while keeping the overall size nice and thin thanks to a carefully designed battery and case. Besides the new location, the Juice Pack Air now comes in several more colors so now everyone that doesn’t like black, white, or purple can finally find something to suit their needs. The Juice Pack Air isn’t anything new, but having a closer location to actually go and touch one yourself is certainly newsworthy I think. Interested?

Gear Diary

VistoThemes returns with a few BlackBerry 9700 themes: BB OSX, Droid 2.0, and Docked

While Corey over at VistoThemes has been pretty quiet for a while, it’s nice to see that he hasn’t given up BlackBerry theming for good as he’s freshed up a few of his older themes for the new BlackBerry 9700. Those themes include: BB OSX, Droid 2.0, and Docked. Back in the day (all of one roughly one year ago) when I carried a BlackBerry around, VistoThemes was one of my favorite theme shops. Hopefully Corey begins cranking out themes like he used to because he had quite some lookers. If you’re in the market for a quality made BlackBerry theme and top notch support, go ahead and give Corey’s themes a try.

• Visto Themes
  CrackBerry

Apple G4 mailbox.

Yeeeeooop. It’s a slow news day. How about some light hearted reading. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll just let it do the talking. Feeling crafty?

Gizmodo