Rumor: Native Gmail App To Finally Drop On iPhone In Coming Weeks/Months.

Finally, finally the Gmail experience on iPhone won’t suck. Ex-TechCruncher (full-time anyway) Paris Lemon claims multiple sources are saying an official iOS Gmail app is nearing public release. Obviously it will have push notifications. In fact, as Paris states, the lack of Push Notifications had been the single biggest roadblock for Google. Now that that’s settled, other functionality such as true message flagging, one-click starring, Priority Inbox, and plenty more can steal the show. Of course, one thing Google isn’t so great at is…iOS apps. They tend to be stuffed with just as many bugs (if not more) as features and are quite ugly. *Cough* Google+ iOS app. *Cough*. But hey. We’re not going to be too harsh on el Goog just yet as we have yet to actually see what this rumored iOS GMail app looks like, what features it brings to the table, or how reliable it actually is.

If Mr. Lemon’s sources are correct, the email experience as we know it on the iPhone could become very different, and for the better. We. Are. Excited. You?

Oh, one more thing. All of this excitement hinges on Apple. If they feel it encroaches on Mail.app too much, it’s ban hammer time. Then again, Apple has gotten pretty lax with music players, camera replacements, and 3rd party browsers…

Can You Spot The Subtle UI Differences Between iOS 4 And iOS 5?

Apple is famous for sweating the tiniest of details. Steve Jobs was a detail freak (not to mention other people at Apple). While it may make for a stressful, time crunched environment, the end result is a product in which literally every pixel is looked at and ultimately perfected. Illustrating this are several examples of tiny, barely noticeable UI changes between iOS 4 and 5 compliments of Stam Design. Before you hit the source link, take a quick jaunt through iOS 5 and see if you can spot anything different…

#Fail: Windows Phone 7 Social Media Team Asks WP7 Users To Take A Screenshot Of Their Phones.

Every once in a while a tech company hires a social media person who fails to understand their product. While common sense would require that a person spreading news of your product at least know your product, we all know that common sense is a dying trait.

So when Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Facebook fan page operators decided to ask their followers to share a screenshot of their black and orange themed handset, humor ensued as a legion of commenters pointed out that screenshots aren’t yet (easily) possible on Windows Phone 7. Whoops!

(If you want to take a screenshot on a Windows Phone 7 device, you first need to developer unlock it. From there download an app called “Screen Capturer v3″, and follow these instructions.)

AT&T Announces Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket And HTC Vivid.

Oh hai, new phones!

Today AT&T took the wraps off their first two official LTE phones: The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket — Seriously, Samsung?! — and the HTC Vivid. The Skyrocket packs a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor, 4.5″ Super AMOLED display rocking 480 x 800 resolution, 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash + 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 16 GB of on-board storage and Android 2.3.5 while the latter features a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 4.5″ qHD (540 x 960) display, 8-megapixel camera with f2.2 28mm wide angle lens w/ 1080p video recording, and 16 GB of on-board storage. Both phones feature LTE.

The Samsung Skyrocket and HTC Vivid will be available November 6th for $249 and $299 respectively (2-year contract pricing). Data plans for LTE phones appears to be unchanged from the current 3G offerings — $15/month for 200 MB of data or $25/month for 2 GB of data + $10 for each additional 1 GB.

For now, AT&T currently provides LTE in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. On November 6th AT&T will launch LTE in several more cities including Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Athens and Boston.

Any takers, or are you making plans to jump ship for the Galaxy Nexus early next month?

Note to Samsung: Please. Pick a simple name and go with that. None of this 50-syllable, Twitter defeating BS. Thank you.

Latest Windows 8 Screenshots Show Metro Kicking Aero To The Curb.

Looks like Microsoft’s Windows Aero interface which debuted in Windows Vista is getting kicked to the curb in Windows 8. While earlier builds and screenshots showed the Windows Phone 7 inspired Metro interface retreating to good ‘ol Aero graphics when drilling down into Windows menus/apps, the latest screenshots from the MSDN blog point to an Aero-less future after all.

We get Microsoft’s whole methodology with Windows Phone 7, tiles, and the Metro interface — simplicity is key. But we’ll be honest. The screenshot of the task manager above looks like it was taken from a Windows 95/98 era OS (read: It’s hideous). It’s almost 2012. Microsoft needs to figure out a way to harness simplicity without making use of the past.

What do you think? Is Metro the new prom queen?

LG Responds To Ice Cream Sandwich Claims Regarding Optimus 2X and G2X.

While we’ve seen reports of LG responding to criticisms over Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade status for the Optimus 2X and T-Mobile G2X, we had yet to hear from LG themselves. Well, now we have. According to an LG spokesperson, the reports (as originally reported here) claiming the Optimus 2X and G2X were not going to be receiving Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades:

The reports are unfounded and originated from sources unattached to LG.

With the introduction of Android 4.0 two weeks ago, our engineers have been poring over Ice Cream Sandwich in an effort to fully understand its features and requirements. LG R&D will then make recommendations as to which of our smartphones will deliver the best user experience with ICS. This process will take some time so we thank our users and advocates for their patience and ask that they keep an eye out for a future announcement from LG on this subject.

Optmus 2X and G2X owners aren’t out of the woods yet but it’s a reassuring statement nonetheless.

Rumor: Apple Developing Two Iterations Of iMessage For OSX.

When Apple announced iMessage earlier this summer it instantly changed the future for wireless carriers and consumers alike. While similar messaging systems have been utilized by other platforms for man years, the ubiquitous and immediate rollout of iMessage made it possible for millions of iPhone users to simultaneously drop specific SMS/texting plans and rely on solely their data plan (we did). Though while iMessage is great on iOS devices, lack of support on OSX is one glaring hole in an otherwise great product.

According to 9to5Mac and “sources familiar with OSX development”, Apple is currently working on two implementations of iMessage in OSX: a standalone iMessage for OSX application and a version of iChat with iMessage built in. For simplicity’s sake we’d prefer it to be integrated directly into iChat but can see pros to having it split off too. With all that said there has been some leaked code that seemed to point to iMessage integration coming to the desktop OS, though nothing more has been seen or said in the many weeks following the initial leak.

At this time the information is undeniably nothing more than rumor — rumor that we hope materializes in the near future.

Hop past the break to see a video highlighting what iMessage integration in OSX might look like…