SwiftKey X Released. New UI, Improved Accuracy, And Social Features.

SwiftKey X (beta) has been officially to the Android Market. New features include a revamped UI, new setup guide, and options to tap into your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Why the latter social integration? Part of SwiftKey X’s improved accuracy and performance scores are that in has the ability to learn how you type by way of “Personal Input Modeling” (see image below) by adjusting sensitivity, as well as using the previously mentioned social APIs in learning frequently used words too.

SwiftKey X is a free upgrade to paid users and available now in the Android Market for Android 2.x devices and above. For those unaware of how awesome this 3rd party keyboard is, we invite you to view the available video after the break…

RIM: “Lawsuit Citing False And Misleading Statements Untrue.”

A recent lawsuit filed against RIM alleging that the Canadian-based BlackBerry maker made “false and intentionally misleading statements about its financial future to investors” have been rebuked by RIM. Today, the company issued a statement claiming the lawsuit and its allegations are “untrue and without merit”.

A lawsuit about lying to investors on the state of their product portfolio is the last thing RIM needs to be worrying about right now…

T-Mobile Reveals Another Release Date For G2X Gingerbread Update.

Ok, so “summer” isn’t necessarily a date and is in itself quite vague. Also take into account that back in April T-Mobile said G2X owners would be receiving the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) update “soon”. A month later this is what we get. Hopefully sooner comes rather than later…

Patent Troll Lodsys LLC Turns Focus Towards Android Developers.

A little under two weeks ago news broke of a patent troll company by the name of Lodsys LLC that had begun sending out letters to iOS devs informing them that they were violating various patents in regards to in-app purchasing and demanding a cut of revenue. Naturually, iOS developers were worried as many of them are small-time outfits whom don’t have the resources to fight larger companies in the courtroom. As such, they turned to Apple for help. Luckily, Apple responded and basically told Lodsys to “beat it”. Will Google do the same for Android developers now that Lodsys has apparently set their sights on them?

An ongoing Google Groups discussion details Lodsys’ attempts to extra money from Android developers as well.

We recently implemented in-app purchases for our Android application and several weeks later we received a letter from Lodsys, claiming that we infringed on their patents.

Have any other Android developers out there been sent a letter? Has Google taken any action on this issue yet? Has Google given direction to any developers that have been hit by this? We are obviously a small shop and are not financially capable of defending ourselves over a litigation.

Google is an equally large company that is unlikely to let its developers be pushed around by some useless patent troll looking to make a living by suing the defenseless. With that said, Google has yet to respond. Check back soon for the latest…

Google Being Sued By PayPal Over Google Wallet, Employee Poaching.

Less than 24 hours after announcing Google Wallet, Google and it’s new mobile payment service are already creating controversy. Fellow digital payment giant, PayPal, has filed a lawsuit claiming Google stole company secrets from PayPal by hiring two former employees (Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius) with close ties to an as of yet undisclosed mobile payment system of their own. Such a claim is rather serious as it can carry some fairly hefty settlement fees and/or fines associated with “stealing trade secrets”.

While the similarities in directions Google is moving with Google Wallet compared to PayPals obvious next path to mobile wallet functionality are high, we can’t help but feel this is a case of PayPal suing to prevent competition rather than suing for actual damages that may have occurred. Feel free to speak your own opinions after the break…

Read More: Full PayPal Claim

PSN Update: Asian Market Re-Launching May 28th. “Welcome Back” Package Detailed.

Fans residing under the PlayStatin Asia umbrella have had to wait long than most to get back at their PSN goodies and Qriocity accounts. The reasoning was that the local governments, especially, Japan, wanted solid evidence of Sony’s progress in shoring up security protocols before reopening customers to more potential security issues based on “empty talk”. While we can certainly understand the added aggravation it may have caused customers in said locations, we can also understand the various governments wanting reassurance a data breach of this magnitude never happens again.

With that said, Sony issued a new update today detailing the phased re-launch (starting May 28th) of PSN and Qriocity services in their Asian markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand — Honk Kong and Korea will be announced at a later date — while also detailing the regions own “Welcome Back” package. Hop inside for the full rundown…

HTC Confirms Unlocked Bootloaders here To Stay!

While it may seem like you as an individual have little to no chance of persuading a global company to change their ways, we’ll only provide you with this example — HTC has listend to “overwhelming” consumer feedback and just announced that they will return to unlocked bootloaders. Per CEO Peter Chou:

“There has been overwhelmingly customer feedback that people want access to open bootloaders on HTC phones. I want you to know that we’ve listened. Today, I’m confirming we will no longer be locking the bootloaders on our devices. Thanks for your passion, support and patience.”

We know quite a few Android enthusiasts, developers, and people who just love to tinker with their phones who are going to be very happy. See, you can make a difference!

(Motorola and Samsung: Care to join in?)