Android Community |
- Samsung Galaxy Tab to get Exclusive content including apps and games
- Motorola releases Q3 numbers; First growing quarter since 2006
- HTC Mecha leaked on HTC Sense Site
- Toys ‘R’ Us to sell Android Tablet for £90
- HTC Wildfire coming to the US this year
- O2 UK price Galaxy Tab ahead of Nov 1 release
- Google exec says Android was “best deal ever”
- Sony’s Exec. admits PSP could use cellular connection, ‘other smart phone gamers aren’t satisfied’
- U.S. Cellular get the Galaxy Tab too
- Android 2.1 update for Xperia X10 delayed
- Cellfire adds Mobestream QMobile coupons to Android app
- Droidthing helps you find the perfect Android device
- Sharp IS01 on sale in US
- DROID 2 Update 2.3.20 being pushed soon
- Android Market now Available Via Google Mobile Search
- Giant Android mascot roams Sydney
- Napster for Android – with Offline Playback
- T-Mobile USA myTouch 4G Hands-on Look
- T-Mobile Officially Announced myTouch 4G
- Motorola Update Timeline Updated
| Samsung Galaxy Tab to get Exclusive content including apps and games Posted: 28 Oct 2010 10:49 AM PDT After learning that the Samsung Galaxy Tab will be coming to T-Mobile for $400 on November 10, We learn that Samsung has teamed up with Financial Times, Gameloft, and WHSmith to bring exclusive content to the Tab. Samsung teamed up with the Financial times to create the first Android and HTML5-based app for the tablet. The app will allow users to download the daily FT and have access to FT videos and the latest market updates. The Financial times requires,like most other industry news outlets, users to pay for a membership to access their content, but it wasn’t mentioned on whether or not Tab users would be required to pay for access to the content.
The WHSmith will give Tab users a wide range of ebooks to choose from on their device. The app will also give users special discounts such as 60% off selected top-selling ebooks. Gameloft has partnered with Samsung to bring two games embedded at the launch of the device; 'shoot-em-up' N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance HD and racing game Asphalt 5 HD. Both games will take advantage of the accelerometer and gyroscope technology. More games will come as the device has been released. Tab users will also be able to download movies via the Samsung movie site directly on their Tab over Wi-Fi and will also be able to rent movies for 99p. There will be over 1,000 titles to choose from. I must say all of this exclusive content for the Galaxy Tab makes me more likely to purchase the device. Via [Press Release] )
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| Motorola releases Q3 numbers; First growing quarter since 2006 Posted: 28 Oct 2010 10:14 AM PDT For those of you who doubt that Motorola hasn’t broken out of their slump yet, check out their Q3 numbers which were released today. They have enjoyed their first growth quarter since Q4 in 2006. They ranked at $4.9 billion this quarter compared to $4.3 billion in Q3 in 2009. There was 13% change in revenue since Q3 2009.
This profit is undoubtedly due to the addition of Android running devices to Motorola’s arsenal of phones. The Droid was announced after Q3 in 2009, and you can see the profit improvements that Motorola has experienced. It was responsible for $2.0 billion in revenue and an increase of 20% since Q3 in 2009. Of the 9.1 million phones that were shipped, 3.8 million of those ran Android OS. They also met their goal of 20 Android smartphones with 22 current Android phones to chose from. With a large amount of Android devices coming out this holiday season as well, Motorola only looks to continue on its tracks of success. Via [Motorola] )
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| HTC Mecha leaked on HTC Sense Site Posted: 28 Oct 2010 09:44 AM PDT After hearing many different rumors about the HTC Mecha smartphone for a few months, its about time that we are shown some real evidence. The photo below is from HTC’s HTC Sense website. When choosing your device for your HTC Sense account, the HTC Mecha shows up along side the Desire HD and the Desire Z.
Although this does provide some confirmation that HTC is working on a device named “Mecha”, the image shown below appears to be the old HTC Hero smartphone. I’m not sure if HTC is planning on recreating the Hero’s design for a new phone, but probably not. Unfortunately, the HTC Mecha will no longer show up on the website if you attempt to create an account. We will keep you updated on any more rumors/details on the HTC Mecha.
Via [Engadget] )
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| Toys ‘R’ Us to sell Android Tablet for £90 Posted: 28 Oct 2010 09:25 AM PDT After we saw yesterday that Walgreens would sell the Maylong M-150, Toys ‘R’ Us has decided to sell the Elonex e Touch Android tablet for £90. The price will convert to around $120-$130 depending on the current exchange rate. There will be two models of the table available for purchase; a 7-inch tablet that will cost £89.99 and a 10-inch tablet that will cost £149.99. Both of these models look similar to the iPad with the square home button, but a narrower overall shape.
Mike Coogan, marketing director at Toys ‘R’ Us talked about the product; "This is yet another new, exciting and innovative product that we are confident to bring to our sales floor. It is important that Toys 'R' Us inspire this young and inspirational market offering the best affordable products on the marketplace.” The table will run Android OS 2.1 on a ARM 11 1GHz processor. The 10-inch tablet has 2GB of memory which can be expanded via a micro SD card slot which includes a 2GB micro SD card. THe table will also feature a 2.0 USB and a mini USB port along side a 3.5-inch audio port. This tablet may be due to the fact that kids don’t want regular toys anymore and are more interested in the latest gadgets than action figures. Via [Pocket-Lint] )
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| HTC Wildfire coming to the US this year Posted: 28 Oct 2010 08:27 AM PDT The HTC Wildfire the upcoming Android 2.1 smartphone with HTC Sense will be coming to the US this year. Confirmed by HTC, we will be seeing this compact smartphone this quarter on regional carriers.  The fact that this is coming to regional carriers is not surprising, the big 4 already have enough high profile HTC devices and the smaller wireless carriers, who are trying to get into the Android smartphone market have been looking for powerful budget options for their service, and that's exactly what the HTC Wildfire is. Shipping with a 5-megapixel camera, 3G, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and a digital compass, the HTC Wildfire is definitely a great option for people looking for a nice Android device on a regional carrier. )
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| O2 UK price Galaxy Tab ahead of Nov 1 release Posted: 28 Oct 2010 07:42 AM PDT O2 UK has announced pricing for the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and as expected it’s not going to be a cheap slate. In fact, O2 aren’t subsidizing the 7-inch Tab at all: it will be £599 on the carrier’s pay-and-go mobile broadband tariffs.
There’ll also be a choice of pre-pay and monthly voice & data plans on offer, for those who want to use the Tab for voice calls as well. Only “selected stores” will have the slate in stock, and to be honest you’re better off heading to Amazon or another online retailer where the Galaxy Tab is listed for around £530 instead. )
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| Google exec says Android was “best deal ever” Posted: 28 Oct 2010 07:31 AM PDT According to David Lawee, vice president of corporate development of Google, buying Android Inc., the wireless-software company founded by Andy Rubin, was Google’s “best deal ever.” He said this at a conference at Stanford University. Lawee said that when Google purchases a company, its up to the people behind that company to make it a success. Google bought Android in 2005 for an estimated value of $50 million.
Lawee was initially skeptical about Rubin’s ability. “I saw this guy in my building for two years, walking his dog, and I was like, I hope this guy does something.” Rubin stayed with Google and created one of the most successful mobile operating systems. It is now used on many of today’s top smartphones, successfully competing with Apple’s iPhone. Rubin’s work has paid off, and now Lawee can say that it is a success. Keep in mind that Google doesn’t profit off the operating system, but by mobile ads. Remember when Eric Schmidt said that he believed there would be 1 billion Android smartphones at some point, well that goal may be not as far away as many of us think if Android continues its mobile dominance.
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| Sony’s Exec. admits PSP could use cellular connection, ‘other smart phone gamers aren’t satisfied’ Posted: 28 Oct 2010 07:00 AM PDT Peter Dille, Sony’s Senior Vice President of marketing at SCEA, had a recent interview with CNN, and said some interesting pieces of information regarding the new Playstation Phone. While still sticking to company policy about not spitting any rumors, Dille said that the fact that there is no cellular connection on the PSP really holds back the lines of portable gaming consoles. “The PSP is a Wi-Fi device,” he said. ” People are used to having connected devices.”
He then comments on the gaming experience on current smart phones by saying they are “Time-killers” and “gamers aren’t satisfied with that.” Another encouraging fact that this phone may be a reality was when Sony spokeswoman also said “we have good relationships with Google.” Peter also said that their current vision that the Playstation Network will always be accessible can’t become a reality when the PSP is limited by Wi-Fi connection. “I don’t think we fully realize that vision with a Wi-Fi device,” Dille said. “If it’s not connected [to a cell network] then it does sort of limit people.” We won’t be jumping to any conclusions about the phone yet, but this did help shed a little light on the situation.
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| U.S. Cellular get the Galaxy Tab too Posted: 28 Oct 2010 06:08 AM PDT U.S. Cellular has become the latest North American carrier to promise to offer the Samsung Galaxy Tab, following in the footsteps of Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. The carrier is yet to announce pricing or availability, but we’re guessing it’ll drop sometime in November 2010.
Otherwise this is the same Tab we’ve seen before, with a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen, 3.2-megapixel camera, WiFi b/g/n and GPS. More info here. Press Release: )
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| Android 2.1 update for Xperia X10 delayed Posted: 28 Oct 2010 05:08 AM PDT If you are an owner of a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 or X10 mini that has been counting the days until the 2.1 Android update lands for your device, you need to start counting again. Sony has delayed the update to both of the phones.
Apparently the delay will be for a “couple more weeks”, the update was supposed to hit by the end of October according to reports. Today being the 28th, this is the end of October so that original date is out. Considering that little fact along with the history of update delays, you can bet we are looking at some time in November for this update to land if not later. With the common delays in updates for Android devices, I always wonder exactly what the issue is. Sony has offered no reason as to why the delay is happening. The update should bring some nice new features like HD video recording with continuous autofocus for the X10 when it finally lands. )
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| Cellfire adds Mobestream QMobile coupons to Android app Posted: 28 Oct 2010 03:08 AM PDT Mobile coupons are cool and they are growing rapidly with more and more platforms and retailers taking advantage of them. There are all sorts of mobile coupons today that let the smartphone user have their phone scanned at the register for discounts.
One of the larger mobile coupon companies out there is Cellfire. Cellfire has announced that it has expanded its QMobile coupons program with the addition of Mobestream Media. The coupons from Mobestream are now syndicated to the Cellfire app for Android devices. The company offers the coupons using its Key Ring Rewards Cards 2.0 application where the user can browse available coupons and then upload them to their rewards cards for participating retailers. This is a cool app and rather than having to pull out your rewards card from your wallet at the grocery store you could just have your smartphone screen scanned. )
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| Droidthing helps you find the perfect Android device Posted: 28 Oct 2010 02:52 AM PDT There are so many Android devices on the market today that it can be hard for the people that are new to Android to find the perfect device. Rather than having to run down the devices that you like for a pal that wants a new Android phone or tablet, you can now just send them to a site called droidthing.
Droidthing is an online database that has interactive listings of all the devices on the market. The person looking for a new device can pick things that are important to them like the amount of memory, video capability, screen size, carrier, and a lot more. The site will then filter all of the devices and offer the user with the perfect ones that meet their exact needs. Droidthing has images of the products for side-by-side comparisons and there are reviews and forums to read and search. )
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| Posted: 28 Oct 2010 01:39 AM PDT Sharp’s IS01 clamshell Android MID has gone up for sale in the US, courtesy of importer Conics. They have the 1GHz Snapdragon MID up at $246; that gets you a 5-inch 960 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth and dual cameras.
Unfortunately the 3G functionality doesn’t work, since it uses a Japanese 3G radio. Still, it’s a cheap MID and a good way to get a hardware QWERTY keyboard on an Android device. [via Pocketables] )
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| DROID 2 Update 2.3.20 being pushed soon Posted: 27 Oct 2010 10:38 PM PDT We all love updates to our devices, weather it’s a major OS update or a simple update with little features and bug improvements. Well the 2.3.20 update for the DROID 2 that we heard about last week is finally ready to be pushed to devices.  The update is hinted at being able to be ‘pulled’ at midnight, so check your About -> System -> System Updates page for a an update request. If you can not get it just yet, give it a few hours or check again in the morning. Let us know if you have gotten the update! This update includes the following: Improvements: -Improved battery life. Enhancements:
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| Android Market now Available Via Google Mobile Search Posted: 27 Oct 2010 10:29 PM PDT It’s been hinted at for a while now, and it’s here. Now users have the option of seeing Android Market search results directly from their mobile browser via Google Search.  To find Applications you will need to navigate to the more tab in the top right of your screen, select Android Apps and on top of news, videos, and image results you will now have the option to be linked directly to the Android Marketplace. Now although this is not ground breaking, it does make it easier to download an application after researching it through Google and we can expect to see it’s app results showing up in search on the top similar to how iOS apps do after a related search is preformed. )
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| Giant Android mascot roams Sydney Posted: 27 Oct 2010 08:41 PM PDT It seems like the weird South Korean obsession for the Android figure has now spread to the down under as well. The giant red robot you see below is one step of Vodaphone Australia’s plan to increase customer awareness of Android OS.
What really puzzles me is that what does this big red monster do when people walk by? Does it talk about key features of the Android OS? Does it hide in the shadows and wait to scare people who aren’t paying attention?We will have to find out. It wouldn’t surprise me if some dedicated fans even bowed down in front of this mascot. Keep an eye out for a video on this monster roaming the streets in Sydney. Via [Android Australia] )
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| Napster for Android – with Offline Playback Posted: 27 Oct 2010 06:09 PM PDT One filesharing titan goes down, another one rises up. But this one’s an old monster, Napster! I remember back when Napster was the first program I ever used to download music, way before it was possible to pay for digital files. Now look at the world. Napster had their hand slapped a bunch of years ago, but file pirating didn’t stop, in fact it got bigger, lots bigger. What happened to Napster though, you might ask? They didn’t fizzle, they made some deals with the music industry and their back, with the exact same logo, on your Android, and they’ve got offline content.
Napster’s own blog reveals today that after releasing a streaming-only service for their Android App, that they’re releasing an update that’ll allow you to save your favorite playlists and albums to your phone so you’ll be able to play them offline. Isn’t that the same as stealing again? Idunno. Let’s talk about it. Napster lets us know that “Napster plus Mobile Access” is available on Android devices and iOS devices like the iPhone, and that they’ve got over 11 million songs ready to play for a cost that’s “less than I spend on sugar water every week.” That’s weird. So it’s a monthly cost, and now you can save the music to play later. I imagine it’s the sort of deal where you can’t then take it off the phone for later, but who cares? Seems like a neato deal to me. [Via Napster] )
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| T-Mobile USA myTouch 4G Hands-on Look Posted: 27 Oct 2010 05:55 PM PDT Welcome back to NYC! Our man in the field Vincent Nguyen has his hands on a whole batch of myTouch 4G phones at the New York launch event and we’ve just gotta show you all about em. Plastic and metal and Snapdragon, oh my! It’s 3.8 inches of 4G smartphone loveliness in 4 pretty colors.
It’s solid, study, and very responsive because of the magical 1GHz MSM8255 processor. It’s lacking in the UI department, at least compared to the HTC Sense, but it does run Android 2.2 Froyo. Bright, clear, and positioned as a strong PMP alternative with an 8GB microSD card preloaded. Five megapixel camera on the back, cam on the front with OK frame rate. Final conclusion: “another strong Android smartphone from HTC and another solid addition to T-Mobile USA's line-up.” Check out the full post on SlashGear. [Via SlashGear] )
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| T-Mobile Officially Announced myTouch 4G Posted: 27 Oct 2010 04:43 PM PDT The rumors we heard earlier this week were true, T-Mobile is set to release it’s upcoming myTouch on November 3rd. Named the myTouch 4G to reflect it’s ability to be used on T-Mobiles HSPA+ network and will launch for $199 with a 2-year contract.  The phone is just as we have heard and expected. Coming with the new HTC Sense UI (now named the myTouch UI) above Android 2.2, this is definitely one of the key contenders in this year’s holiday cell phone war. The phone will feature T-Mobile TV, as well as the 3 second boot that we saw earlier in the month. We were at the event today and expect a full review and hands-on video here soon. )
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| Motorola Update Timeline Updated Posted: 27 Oct 2010 02:35 PM PDT Motorola has always been open with their plans on software updates for their devices. While they are not always right, many times their software releases been delayed once or even a few times but they always let us know. Continuing in the openness pattern Motorola has posted their updated Software Upgrade News chart.  Nothing too groundbreaking or previously unknown, but it’s nice the company is committed to keeping us informed of their current plans. From the chart we see that the BACKFLIP is still set for a 2.1 update by the end of the year, as well as the CLIQ XT. And the DROID X 2.2 upgrade is still rolling out while the original DROID is complete with the push. Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America and Mexico updates are detailed on the official support forums here. )
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