Google introduced Google Fast Flip today, a web service that fights the pain of slow loading news feeds. Because media-heavy sites often take up a lot of time to load, Google has sought to solve the problem by creating a virtual page flip for popular news feeds. With Google Fast Flip, Google is attempting to re-create the feel of flipping pages in a magazine in the web space. In their own words:

Fast Flip is a new reading experience that combines the best elements of print and online articles. Like a print magazine, Fast Flip lets you browse sequentially through bundles of recent news, headlines and popular topics, as well as feeds from individual top publishers. As the name suggests, flipping through content is very fast, so you can quickly look through a lot of pages until you find something interesting.

Google Fast Flip currently offers over 3 dozen feeds from top publishers in both web and print and it's very likely that we'll see more in the future if Fast Flip proves to be successful. We think Google has a pretty interesting take on improving quick news reading on the web and suggest you give Fast Flip a spin for yourself. Google Fast Flip is available through your Android browser at fastflip.googlelabs.com

If you're familiar with the HTC Hero (and who isn't?), you should know that the biggest selling point of the device is its custom built UI, HTC Sense. The Sense UI is absolutely beautiful, sleek and sexy, and polished. However, the one thing it wasn't was fast. In fact, most pre-release reviews complained that the lag could potentially kill all usability of the device (sounded like TouchFlo 3D to us). Yikes.

Luckily, the lag problem has been solved because the HTC Hero is receiving an official firmware update that improves on the speediness of the device. The update is demoed in the video above and every aspect of the phone feels quicker--the app drawer, opening and closing applications, sliding between home screens--the whole user experience feels much tighter.

We're assuming that the Sprint version of the HTC Hero will come pre-loaded with this new Hero firmware so future US Hero users will have nothing to worry about. But to those who are lucky enough to already own a Hero, the update should be hitting you very soon.

[via gizmodo]

LG just officially announced their first Android phone, the LG GW620. We've heard about the LG GW620 before and have even seen it at the IFA tradeshow a week ago, but it's always nice to get official confirmation. The LG GW620 will be available in the fourth quarter of this year in select European markets. The GW620 packs a QWERTY slider keyboard and 3 inch touchscreen--though the press release doesn't specifically mention specs on the camera, we've heard it to be 5 megapixels.

We don't expect any custom UI to be built on top of Android for this device, the LG GW620 will very likely rock the Android you already know and love. Truthfully speaking, we're not even expecting LG to push the GW620 too hard, LG has a deep partnership with Windows Mobile--even in its press release LG makes sure to mention that they have 13 WinMob devices on the way.

Either way, the sheer amount of Android devices on the way has to excite even the most cynical and surprise the most optimistic. What do you guys think?

[via engadget]

We've spent some time with the Motorola CLIQ--we know how it looks, how it works, its specs, the carrier it's going to be on--the only thing we don't have confirmed is its price and launch date. We were only offered a 'before the holidays' timeline. But fear not, BGR reports that the CLIQ will be made available in mid-October (we know the graphic above shows a November launch, but it's supposedly an old slide). Still no official word on price, but we definitely wouldn't expect anything over $199 (esp. considering that 'free' image we saw earlier).

It's also interesting to note that a T-Mobile Huawei device is slated for release. Could that be the T-Mobile Pulse launching in the UK?

Don't worry T-Mobile users, there will be a day when your 3G Network will be the best network in the country. Yep, even though your current 3G network is in its infantile stages, T-Mobile promises that their 3G network will eventually reach 21Mbps (other 3G networks are currently trapped under the 7.2Mbps limit). The one problem? Every other carrier will have moved to 4G already. Eek.

In the short-term, you really have nothing to worry about. 3G is real, 4G is not. And for the next couple of years, it'll stay that way. It's going to take time for the other carriers to roll out their 4G (LTE) network, which would assumedly play to T-Mobile's favor. But once their 4G network is finished, it'll leave T-Mobile in the same spot it finds itself today: a generation behind, scrambling to catch up.

What do you guys think? Is T-Mobile being smart by sticking with superspeed 3G or should they plan their 4G network already?

[moconews] 

It was an awfully big week for Smartphone Experts. In addition to coverage of the iPod and Android announcements, we also celebrated the ten year anniversary of our network, which began back in 1999 with the launch of VisorCentral. It's been a wild ride and we look forward to another ten! Let's get on to the week's news, here's what you may have missed.

You can never say that Oprah doesn't have your back. To celebrate the premiere of Oprah's 24th Season, Oprah and T-Mobile have decided to offer a $100 discount to the T-Mobile myTouch 3G, bringing the total cost of the still-new mobile device to $99. What a steal!

To activate the savings, type in KICKOFF24 in the promo box, the deal will reportedly be valid until September 24th. What're you doing? Go get it!

Thanks Oprah!

Oh boy. Sprint just made a doozy of an announcement by introducing Any Mobile, Anytime. Any Mobile, Anytime allows for your Sprint phone to call any mobile phone (be it from AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile) for free at any time of the day. It's basically free mobile-to-mobile for any mobile phone in the US.

What's even better is that Any Mobile, Anytime will be offered for free to 'Everything Data' customers which basically means any Sprint smartphone user with a data plan will be able to take advantage of this offer. No added fees, no hidden charges. Those 'Everything Data' plans (which start at $69.99) are looking like a wonderful deal: unlimited calls to any mobile phone, unlimited data, unlimited SMS, unlimited MMS, Sprint TV, etc--our friends at PreCentral.net are obviously happy.

So if you're shopping for a Hero, Sprint made it that much easier to jump ship. We're just saying.

The Motorola CLIQ was spotted yesterday for the low, low price of free (with qualifying contract). The CLIQ comes in either Winter White or Midnight Titanium and was supposedly also being offered for $399.99 without contract. Though no one could 'add the CLIQ to cart', a free Android phone would be an exciting prospect.

In the end, we're not sure if this price is going to stick, we're fairly certain T-Mobile would still like to squeeze a bit of money out of us, so we wouldn't get our hopes to high. But a free Motorola CLIQ? Talk about game changer.

[via engadget]

If you're interested on how MOTOBLUR works on the Motorola CLIQ, you're just in luck. Motorola just released a CLIQ simulator that details how it manages to integrate all the different social networks into one beautiful UI. You can either watch videos showcasing MOTOBLUR's features or even venture out and 'click' the CLIQ yourself. We recommend doing both.

The CLIQ simulator is definitely worth a look. Even if you're not interested in the Motorola CLIQ, it's definitely interesting to see the direction that Motorola is taking with Android. Introduce yourself to MOTOBLUR here.