Swype Beta Update Brings Dragon Dictation and 50 Languages

The folks at Swype have released a new beta for users to try out. The latest update brings Dragon Dictation support giving them a nice TTS input option over the default Android TTS option (which isn’t bad, but we like options).

It currently supports English, French, Italian, German and Spanish and more will be added over the coarse of 2012 Users can also download 50 different languages from within the settings menu of the app. They’re also adding another new feature called Advanced Language Modeling, but I’ll let them explain it for you:

Advanced Language Modeling
Swype now features an improved language modeling algorithm, designed to increase the accuracy of the suggestions we offer (such as knowing that you mean “mosh pit” instead of “mosh pot”). By analyzing the text you’ve already entered, Swype will offer more accurate predictions that make sense in the context of the sentence

• Up to a 40% increase in prediction accuracy when a language profile is present
• Learns over time as you use it, building up a personal language profile for you.
• Enabled only for English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. Other languages coming soon!

Users can go to the Swype Connect section of the settings menu in Swype and check for the update by hitting the refresh button. If nothing comes up, their server probably bounced you due to too many people trying to download it. If that’s the case, just download it later. The team advises users to wait 72 hours before reporting issues with grabbing the beta update. [Swype via Android Central]

Read more »

Android Team Wishes All a Happy Holiday

The Googlers of Building 44 took some time away from churning out Android improvements to spread some holiday cheer. As can be expected from Google, no expense was spared. They even trucked in some snow to make Santa Claus feel a bit more at home. We’re sending our warmest of holiday wishes right back at you, Android Team. Keep up the great work!

Read more »

Canadians Beginning to Receive Transformer Prime Units

It looks like the first group of North American citizens are beginning to receive their ASUS Transformer Prime units in the mail. Canadian reader Mark has reported receiving his through UPS. Check your tracking number from your respective retailer to see if yours is inbound.

United States customers have also reported that device shipments have headed out from various retailers, including a new tip received by us today that GameStop was shipping orders from today and customers should begin receiving them tomorrow (overnight shipping). Hopefully everyone can enjoy some sweet ice cream before Christmas.
All of this lines up with word from our ASUS rep that the ASUS Transformer Prime will, in fact, be available in North American markets starting this week so we’re sure more than a few of you should see it on your doorsteps or in store shelves in no time. Be sure to let us know if you’ve gotten confirmation that your order has shipped! [Thanks Mark and everyone who sent this in!]

Read more »

Verizon’s 4G Outage Issues Resolved

And the short saga comes to a close. Verizon’s just informed everyone that the 4G network outage that occurred earlier this morning has been resolved. They did not give a detailed explanation as to what caused the outage, as usual, but they did acknowledge which consumer may have been affected. I and many others have been back on 4G uninterrupted for a couple of hours now and everyone should be good to go. Take a look at Verizon’s short statement sent to us below.

"Verizon Wireless 4G LTE service is returning to normal this morning after company engineers worked to resolve an issue with the 4G network during the early morning hours today. Throughout this time, 4G LTE customers were able to make voice calls and send and receive text messages. The 3G data network operated normally."

Read more »

Android 4.0.3 radios for the Galaxy Nexus leaked

While it appears in the official capacity, the Android 4.0.3 update for the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S have been delayed, the good news for Galaxy Nexus owners is that leaked 4.0.3 radios for your device has been leaked, and based on reports from users across various forums, the leaked radios for the CDMA and 4G LTE Galaxy Nexus have improved signal reception.
Users have reported that the phone now locks onto a data signal faster and tends to keep it longer, along with smoother handoffs between 4G and 3G connections. Of course this leaked radio will require an unlocked phone with custom recovery, so proceed at your own risk as it seems that according to Michael Crider of Android Community, the leaked radio has “broken” his wireless tethering functionality.
We can’t be sure if this has happened to anyone else yet, but if you can’t wait for the official update, you can find the download link and instructions along with various user feedback on the XDA forums.

Read more »

Dell Streak Pro D43 hits China

We have seen a leaked Dell Streak Pro 101DL that is powered by Baidu’s Yi platform, and here is news of the Dell Streak Pro D43 (the 101DL is the Japanese counterpart) that has just hit China. This is the first Baidu Yi-powered smartphone in the world, and it will come with similar specifications as that of the 101DL, including a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, quadband HSPA support, a 4.3” AMOLED display at 960 × 540 resolution, 8GB of internal memory, and a microSD memory card slot for future expansion purposes. What are some of the features? We are looking at basic voice control in Mandarin, the ability to synchronize your contacts, Baidu Chinese input, Yi’s very own app store and 100GB of free cloud storage that is capable of supporting multimedia upload and secure file sharing. You can more or less say that the Yi platform is a different version of the Android platform, although it will not come with any of Google’s services.

Read more »

Sony Ericsson Gives Timeline for ICS Updates, Rollouts Start Late March 2012

Sony Ericsson earlier committed to bringing the Android 4.0 upgrade to all of their 2011 handsets and now they’re detailing which phones are getting it when. Rollouts start in late March or early April 2012 for the Xperia™ arc S, Xperia™ neo V and Xperia™ ray.

Shortly after, from late March or early April 2012 the Xperia™ arc, Xperia™ PLAY, Xperia™ neo, Xperia™ mini and mini pro, Xperia™ pro, Xperia™ active as well as Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ will all get the update.
Of course, Sony Ericsson warns that not all kits of any of these phones (meaning carrier versions) may not get the upgrade within this timeframe, if at all. That’s nothing new to note but there’s your disclaimer either way. Head on to Sony Ericsson’s site for more details. [Sony Ericsson Blog]

Read more »

Cricket Launches 4G LTE Network in One Market Today, No Phones to Take Advantage of it Yet

Those of you on Cricket will be happy to know that the budget carrier has launched their 4G LTE network today. Most of you probably won’t be drenched in 4G goodness as they’ve only launched in one market starting out – Tucson, AZ. And they don’t even have phones to take advantage of the network right now as their lone capable device is the Huawei Bolt, a USB modem. It’s still good news to hear that they’re at least beginning a rollout, though with just one market to speak of we’re not sure how long it’ll take for them to get coverage out to everyone. [via Electronista]

Read more »

Verizon customers hit by data outages across the US

US mobile operator Verizon appears to be suffering from extensive data outage issues across the US, with many of its customers heading to the company’s community forums to complain at the lack of mobile data on their handsets.
The nation’s second biggest carrier is reported to have lost both 3G and 4G network connectivity in Long Island, Manhattan, Las Vegas, Richmond and a number of other US states and cities, but the company itself has yet to issue a statement on how extensive the outages may be and when they can be expected to be rectified.

Customers have taken to Twitter to voice their complaints, as noted by The Verge, notifying the operator of problems on its network (if they weren’t aware already).
The outage marks the second time in two weeks that the operator has had issues with its networks, with customers in Houston, Boston, Iowa and New Hampshire reported problems accessing the company’s data services.
We have reached out to Verizon to identify the issue and will update the article should we receive a response. If you are a Verizon customer, let us know if you have access in your area — and if you don’t, let us know when or if it comes back!

Read more »