Let me start off by saying this: I really rather like the default Android homescreen. It’s simple, it’s functional, and above all, it’s endlessly customizable. Thanks to Google’s “do anything” approach to handling app development, end users have countless tools to trick out their phones anyway they want. That, as anyone who’s ever used MySpace knows, is a double-edged sword: the end results are usually range from the rare and wonderful to the terribly tacky.

The guys over at Larva Labs have taken a different, almost Facebookian approach. Instead of allowing users to directly get their hands dirty, they completely stripped down the Android into a sparse, information-oriented design they call SlideScreen, which looks something like a mashup between WinMo 6.5 today screen and HTC’s minimalist TouchFLO style. I was given the chance to play with a nearly final build of the app, which is slated for general release within the next few days, and for you info junkies out there, this may be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

What was immediately apparent was the level of work that went into it: the whole shebang runs very smoothly, and at times seemed more responsive than the normal homescreen ever was. Each category is color-coded, and dragging the status bar up and down allows you to cycle through new tweets, stock updates, unread Google Reader items, new text messages, emails, and calendar entries. A quick tap on the corresponding icon opens up the associated app, while a long press lets you create a new entry. Without the traditional homescreen, the menu key is now in charge of bringing up the app drawer, along with a shortcut bar along the top for quick access to the apps that were normally out front.

The text, while small, is totally readable, especially on a high resolution screen like the Droid’s. Full disclosure: I’ve been wearing glasses since the fourth grade, so you may want to take any vision-related judgments I make with a grain of salt, but SlideScreen was just as legible on the G1 and Cliq I tested it with. Granted, the experience wasn’t quite as smooth, but considering the underpowered hardware involved, I still came away impressed by the whole affair. SlideScreen also can be run as a separate application instead of a homescreen replacement, just in case people want a one-stop shop for their personal and public information without having to give up pretty wallpapers and such.

It goes without saying that SlideScreen isn’t going to be ideal for everyone. As much as I like its style and organization, it’s certainly more information in one place than some users will feel comfortable with. Still, for those tired of looking at a stock Android install whenever they fire up their phone, SlideScreen is a solid, stylish homescreen replacement that may do them some good.

UPDATE: SlideScreen has just hit the Android Market in two forms, an ad-supported free version and the unfettered Pro version going for $6.99.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

As someone who makes a living babbling about cell phones all day, I can’t complain too much about my job. With that said, the dudes over at the Ericsson Labs don’t have it too bad either. Their job, as I see it:

1. Make something really cool
2. Release the source code for aforementioned really cool thing
3. Start making something else that is really cool

The latest cool thing to come out of Ericsson Labs is “3d Landscape”, a set of APIs for pushing 3D maps to web services and Android applications. It’s still super early in development — maps are only available for Stockholm, for example — but Ericsson’s engineers promise that more locations are on the way. Should we expect 3d map goodness to hit all of our favorite location-based Android apps? Probably not just yet – but if this project keeps progressing, we wouldn’t mind it one bit.

Check out the video after the jump.

[Via Android Community]

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We knew it was coming, and we knew when it came – what we didn’t know, however, was that one was going to show up on our doorstep today.

I’ll be giving Aliph’s latest-and-greatest headset Bluetooth headset a runthrough over the next few days, so expect a full review within the week. In the mean time, feel free to peruse our quick little gallery of the deboxing process after the jump.

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Looks like there won’t be a “Google phone” in China, not for a while at least. Well, an official phone; I’m pretty sure the gray market will take care of that. And yes, it has to do with the ongoing Google-China troubles. The deal is that the phone, presumably the Nexus One, was supposed to launch on Wednesday. Google has postponed the launch because it says the applications on it won’t work as well as they’re designed to because of the restrictions China places on Google. Google it trying to get China to ease up on its restrictions, lest it pull out of the country altogether.

I could really write this post in all of about eleven words, and it would still have the same effect. It’d go something like this “Apple, leak, new iPhone OS, screenshots, multitasking, banshees, multi-touch gestures”. However, I’m from the Internet, and we’re paid by the word* around these parts.

To make a short story long, one of Boy Genius’ “connects” (a word which he’s trying his damnedest to make trendy) came through with an alleged screenshot of iPhone OS 4.0 and some details. The screenshot is just trivial enough to seem a bit shaky, though BG says the source is trusted.

What the source had to say:

• Multi-touch gestures are being incorporated throughout the OS
• There will be a “few new ways” to run applications in the background.
• Plenty of UI changes were put in place to make using the OS more efficient.
• Sadly, the rumor indicates iPhone OS 4.0 will be iPhone 3G/3GS only. iPhone 1 owners, it’s time to retire your piece.
• “Brand new syncing” capabilities for the calendar/contacts system.

As with almost every Apple rumor in the history of ever, the details are just vague enough — but also just enticing enough — to pique everyone’s interest without revealing a damn thing. Churn on, rumor mill – churn on.

* Not really.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Traveling overseas can be such a pain – there’s just so much to remember. Did you board the dogs? Did you turn the oven off? Did you remind your fight club buddies that your basement would be unavailable that week? Did you remember to get your handset unlocked by T-mobile so you could use a different SIM card overseas?

Gettin’ ol magenta to hand over the unlock codes has always been a bit of a pain; while it’s totally within your rights (according to your contract, at least), you’ll more often than not get an operator who needs to be convinced that you fit the criteria. Well, that just got a wee bit easier.

Starting this Thursday, T-mobile will be relaxing their unlock guidelines. Whereas you once had to be a T-Mobile customer for 90 days before you could request an unlock, FlexPay and PostPaid customers can both now call in for a code at just 40 days. Folks on prepaid plans will have to wait 60 days and will need to have at least 10 bucks in their account (though as long as you’ve refilled within the past 30 days, you should be set).

Have you tried to unlock your T-mobile phone before? Let us know how it went in the comments below.

[Via TmoNews]

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