Wednesday, 3 August 2011

Android Community

Android Community

Sharp Shows Off 7″ Android 3.2 Galapagos Tablet

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 10:32 AM PDT

Today Sharp has unveiled their newest tablet and this one will be running Android 3.2 Honeycomb on a small 7″ form factor. This Android slate looks nice and has an aluminum uni-body design around back and will be powered by those specs we are all used to for tablets. NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core 1 Ghz processor, 1GB of ram and should have 8GB internal storage.

While the screen isn’t 10″ like others the resolution is 1024×600 and you have a 5MP camera on the read and 2MP front. The new 7″ Galapagos also comes bundled with a 42Mbps modem inside for those looking for some data connectivity. We haven’t heard anything regarding a price but I’m sure the details will start coming in soon with the device being on sale by the end of the month.

Hopefully some of these Sharp products will make the trek here to the states and we even recently saw this tablet hit the FCC although whether that will be the version selling in other markets is still unknown. While we don’t have a side view the tablet does look nicely designed and sleek. Hopefully more details emerge soon.

[via Electronista]

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Android Community 101: The Android Device Directory at Device.AC

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 10:10 AM PDT

We’ve got a brand new device directory for you to be working with and it’s time to let you know how to use it. This is our big spec project and it’s been behind the scenes being built up for some time – all the devices running Android, all of them ready to be glanced upon in awe due to their sweet specifications and excellent links out to reviews and hands-on posts both here and at our sister site SlashGear. This is a whole new way for us to work with the Android ecosystem and a brand new look at the whole Android collection – let’s have a look!

What is Device.AC?

Our Android Device Directory is otherwise known as Device.AC, this also being a URL that will bring you directly to the directory for your further perusal. This directory contains most (and soon ALL) Android devices and all of the information you’ll want to know about them including hardware, cellular network (where applicable), connectivity, display, dimensions, weight, battery, and software. Specifications for each are the most updated look at the device, each number, letter, and symbol being only confirmed specs – we will never post rumored specs NOR will we ever post specs we’re unsure of. This is a directory of devices you can TRUST!

How do I navigate this directory?

There are many ways to get through the device directory we’ve got here, the first of these being the slider you see at the top of the front page. This slider currently houses the Samsung Galaxy S II and the Asus Eee Pad Slider. This sliding set of two devices has a set of the hottest devices of the moment. For one reason or another, both devices in this slider are at the top and featured at all times – maybe they’re the newest dual-core superphone, maybe they’re the hottest tablet on the market – anything such as this.

Below the slider, the latest phones and tablets are listed one by one with their title and a single image of their hardware. This set of thumbnails will lead you directly into the single pages where each device dwells, this set of images in order based on announcement date. You’ll notice the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet up at the front and the HTC Droid Eris and HTC Hero all the way at the back.

On the right of the directory you’ll find three lists. The first being Popular Carriers, the second showing Popular SoC Manufacturers, the third is Popular Manufacturers. Like the main set of thumbnails, this list is in order, but this time by popularity. Should Asus suddenly create about 40 new devices, they’ll be at the top of the list. For now though, it’s HTC, NVIDIA, and T-Mobile. Hitting the See More will allow you to see our full lists of manufacturers and carriers.

How about individual device pages?

Inside each description page is a set of information that’ll teach you everything you need to know about a particular device. In each device’s description is a clear definition of what the device is when it comes down to it, then you’ll have links to both reviews and hands-on posts where applicable, linking to Android Community and our sister site SlashGear.

There’s also a discuss button where you’ll be linked directly to the device’s unique board in our Android Community discussion forums. In addition to this, there’s a list in the upper right of the individual device listing that shows links to several threads pertaining to the device in our discussion forums again.

How is the device directory applied to our everyday news posts?

Outside the directory itself we’ve got the ability to add a mini device spec list to each post, this showing up as “Device Specifications and Information”, a slide-out list you may have already seen in quite a few posts here in the main news feed. Whenever you enter a review and you’re wondering about a specific piece of information inside the device, head to the bottom of the post and expand the list!

What about the Future?

As the directory expands, so too will our thirst for additional knowledge – in other words, as time goes on at Android itself finds itself on more devices, so too shall the directory grow. We’ll be adding devices as fast as we get the confirmed info on them, and Device.AC will from this moment on be your number one source for Android specs of all sorts! Any questions or suggestions? Feel free to ask or say below!

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Samsung Nexus S Free from Best Buy Today Only, All Versions Included

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 09:40 AM PDT

Have you been eying that Samsung Nexus S or been wanting a shiny new Gingerbread device without breaking the bank, well today is the perfect moment for just that. Today and today ONLY Best Buy is offering all available versions of the popular Google Samsung Nexus S device absolutely free. You can’t forget the handcuffs though because this is only with a new 2-year contract of course.

That is a pretty good deal if you ask me because who doesn’t want a powerful phone like that for free? We’ve had a few in for review so feel free to head about it here, and here. The Nexus S is a pure Google experience device running on completely stock Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, some have recently been updated to 2.3.5 as well.

This deal is for today, August 3rd only and the price will jump right back up tomorrow so you better hurry and decide if this is the device for you. The Nexus S should be updated to the latest versions of Android for a while to come and will probably be one of the first to see Ice Cream Sandwich.

Is Best Buy making room for the next Nexus some are calling the Nexus Prime? Maybe they know something we all don’t.

Device Specifications and Information
Device Info
    Device Name : Nexus S 4G
    Manufactuer : Samsung
    Carrier : Unknown
    Announced Date : March 21, 2011
    Release Date : May 08, 2011
    Also Known As :
Display
  • Screen Size : 4.00 Inch
  • Resolution : 480x800
  • Screen Type : Super AMOLED
Dimension & Weight
  • Height : 4.88 Inch
  • Width : 2.48 Inch
  • Depth : 0.44 Inch
  • Weight : 130 Grams
Battery & Power
    Battery Type:
  • Lithium Ion
  • Battery Capacity : 1500 mAh
  • Talk Time : NA
  • Stand By Time : 713 hours
Software
    Android OS:
  • 2.3.x
    Audio Playback:
  • AAC
  • AAC+
  • AMR
  • MP3
    Video Playback:
  • h.263
  • h.264 / AVC
  • MPEG-4 (MP4)
    Messaging:
  • SMS
  • MMS
Hardware
    CPU : Cortex A8 Hummingbird
    CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz
    Core : 1
    Ram : 512 MB
    Internal Storage : 16.384 GB
    Front Facing Camera :
    Camera Resolution :5 MP
    Camera Features:
  • Auto focus
  • Flash
  • 720p Video Recording
    Sensors:
  • Accelerometer
  • Proximity
    QWERTY :
Cellular Network
    Network Technology:
  • CDMA
    CDMA Band:
  • 800
  • 1900
Device Connectivity
    Wi-Fi:
  • 802.11b
  • 802.11g
  • 802.11n
    Bluetooth:
  • Bluetooth 2.0
    Location Features:
  • Compass
  • GPS
  • Cellular location
  • Wi-Fi location
    FM Radio :

[via Best Buy]

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Samsung TouchWiz UX Rolling out to Galaxy Tab 10.1 This Friday

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 09:20 AM PDT

Since we first heard about and saw with our own eyes the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (and it’s smaller brother the 8.9) we’ve wondered when we’d be able to get our hands on this fantastic tablet with its most excellent version of Samsung’s TouchWiz interface yet, this one made specifically for tablets. The release of the 10.1 tablet is here, the device available separately as a Wi-Fi only unit or as a 4G LTE version at Verizon, but thus far we’ve only been using a near-stock version of Android 3.1 Honeycomb. What Samsung’s got prepared for this Friday is an optional upgrade to Samsung’s TouchWiz UX, the same (or very similar) to what we saw back at our first glance at CTIA 2011.

This new interface for you Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet will have several big additions to what you’re used to, these being Live Panel, Mini Mode Tray, Clipboard, Indicator Quick Panel, and Photo Editor. First, Live Panel will allow you to lay out your widgets in a magazine-like manner, this mode made to allow you to have a completely customizable display with one-touch entry into your most important information, news updates, and more. Mini Mode Tray allows you instant access to your most commonly used applications, displayed in a pop-up window on your display for all the multi-tasking your heart could desire. Clipboard allows you to use advanced copy and paste functionality allowing you to store photos, web pages, YouTube links, and more onto a virtual clipboard for easy sharing via social network sites and email. Indicator Quick Panel allows you to quickly switch on and off notifications, sound, Wi-Fi, brightness, and settings, all of this in the lower right-hand corner of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 display. Photo Editor is a new app that allows you to quickly rotate, crop, and adjust colors on all of your high quality digital photos and other images.

Our exclusive look at TouchWiz UX during CTIA 2011

Samsung’s Media Hub will be present here in full force, this being a place where you can download and use videos, movies, TV content, and more from NBC Universal, Paramount, MTV, Warner Bros. , CBS and FOX. This new version of the Media Hub also includes a Media Hub Show which allows users to play back Media Hub content on their television using a HDMI cable connected through their Galaxy Tab 10.1 adapter or media hub. Media Hub allows users to register up to five devices under one single account to share without extra cost between each of them. Samsung’s Social Hub will be updated as well, details on this particular update being sparse – mostly bug fixes we must assume.

Several apps will be preloaded with this update including Amazong Music Cloud Player, Amazon Kindle, and Words with Friends. Enterprise solutions and services will be added with this update including Cisco VPN, full support for Exchange ActiveSync version 14, Sybase MDM, Cisco WEbEx mobile conference, and on device encryption. With this update comes Samsung’s Kies 2.0, including better device management, powerful multimedia support, and faster performance. Swype will be added with this update, allowing you to roll with a keyboard that’s resizable, movable to anywhere on the screen, and of course, able to type via swyping. Finally, Mobile Printing will be added with this update, allowing you to print with any compatible printer.

To get this update, you’ve just to go to set up a Samsung account on your device. To do this, you’ve only to go to your Settings page on your device, find and tap Accounts & sync, Add an account, and tap Samsung account. Once you’ve set up your new Samsung account, you’ll be prompted (on Friday or at a later date, depending on when the update is pushed to you) to follow some on-screen instructions to grab the update. As instructions for this process are only offered in Wi-Fi Only devices, it remains unclear as to whether or not Verizon customers will be getting the Samsung TouchWiz UX update this Friday or if they’ll have to wait till a later date.

Device Specifications and Information
Device Info
    Device Name : Galaxy Tab 10.1
    Manufactuer : Samsung
    Carrier :
    Announced Date : March 22, 2011
    Release Date : June 08, 2011
    Also Known As : Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Google I/O Limited Edition
Display
  • Screen Size : 10.1 Inch
  • Resolution : 1280x800
  • Screen Type : TFT
Dimension & Weight
  • Height : 10.09 Inch
  • Width : 6.81 Inch
  • Depth : 0.34 Inch
  • Weight : 595 Grams
Battery & Power
    Battery Type:
  • Lithium Ion
  • Battery Capacity : 7000 mAh
  • Talk Time : NA
  • Stand By Time : 120 hours
Software
    Android OS:
  • 3.1.x
    Audio Playback:
  • AAC
  • AAC+
  • AMR
  • MP3
    Video Playback:
  • h.263
  • h.264 / AVC
    Messaging:
  • SMS
  • MMS
  • IM
Hardware
    CPU : Tegra 2
    CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz
    Core : 2
    Ram : 1000 MB
    Internal Storage : 32 GB
    Front Facing Camera :
    Camera Resolution :3.2 MP
    Camera Features:
  • Auto focus
  • Flash
  • 1080p Video Recording
  • 720p Video Recording
    Sensors:
  • Accelerometer
  • Ambient light
  • Proximity
    QWERTY :
Cellular Network
    Network Technology:
  • GSM
    GSM Band:
  • 850
  • 900
  • 1800
  • 1900
    CDMA Band:
  • 850
  • 900
  • 1900
  • 2100
Device Connectivity
    Wi-Fi:
  • 802.11a
  • 802.11b
  • 802.11g
  • 802.11n
    Bluetooth:
  • Bluetooth 2.0
    Location Features:
  • Compass
  • GPS
  • Cellular location
  • Wi-Fi location
    FM Radio :

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Huawei Vision smartphone looks sweet and packs new 3D interface

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 07:47 AM PDT

Huawei isn't a name that most of us think of when looking for a high-end smartphone. Generally, the company is firmly entrenched in the low-end cheap Android smartphone realm. It looks like Huawei is set to make a push for some of the higher-end market with a very interesting looking new smartphone called the Huawei Vision.

The phone has some nice features like a 3.7-inch touchscreen. Under the hood hides a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 processor, 512MB of RAM, and 2GB of ROM. The smartphone will run the Android 2.3 OS and has a unibody chassis made from an aluminum alloy. It will come in rose gold, silver, or charcoal colors and has a curved touch design. The phone has a profile of 9.9mm at the thinnest spot and weighs 121g making it very portable.

The Vision has a 5MP autofocus camera inside with LED flash. The camera can also record 720p video. Other features include WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and a full range of messaging capabilities that you expect on a smartphone. The 3D interface the phone uses makes it easy to access the phone features from the home screen. The Vision will ship starting in September in select markets and will come with Angry Birds, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, and other games installed.

[via SlashGear]

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Mobile Developer Report shows that devs think enterprise lead is a tossup between Android and iOS

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 07:29 AM PDT

The results of a survey conducted by Appcelerator and IDC have been published. The survey polled 2,012 Appcelerator Titanium developers from July 20-22 of this year on their perceptions around mobile OS priorities, app development needs, and the move by Google and Apple to the cloud. The results of the survey found in part that Google+ and iCloud are helping Apple and Google accelerate their lead in mobile.

The survey also found some other interesting things developers believe. Two-thirds of the devs that responded think that Google can catch up to Facebook in the social scene using Google +. 68% felt that Google assets like Search, YouTube, and maps trump Facebook’s social lead. The devs say the most important social capability in their apps to promote repeat use are notifications according to 52% and 42% said status updates were important among other things.

The developers surveyed also think that Apple’s iCloud will significantly disrupt the mobile cloud computing space. Of the devs planning to use loud services in the next year 51% think Amazon is top, with iCloud, Window Azure, VMWare, and OpenShift coming in order after. On the topic of platform predicted to win the enterprise market, iOS and Android tied at 44% each with only 7% thinking WP7 has a chance.

The key statement in the whole report is:

Google and Apple's move into the 'mobile cloud' and application development needs. New analysis shows that Apple and Google are accelerating their lead in mobile by redefining mobile app engagement, loyalty, and cloud connectivity through their new Google+ and iCloud offerings. Developers also indicate that they see Apple and Google gains in the consumer application space translating into significant traction in the enterprise space over time.

[via Appcelerator]

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Qualcomm Snapdragon Receives Branding Update, Shows Quad-Core

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 07:01 AM PDT

Today Qualcomm has announced a new naming scheme for the Snapdragon platform. They are moving to a simple and easy to understand outline for the naming of current and upcoming products to keep everything easier to understand. They also showed a few specs of what we can expect to see in the future and things sure are looking good, can you say quad-core!

No longer will processors be broke down with confusing naming schemes like MSM8x55, instead it will be simply broke down into system categories such as System 1, System 2, etc. Much like Intel does with i3, i5, i7 Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets will now be known the same way. Recent devices like the EVO 3D and Sensation 4G with their dual-core processors are in the S3 category and lower end phones will be either S1 or S2.

Above you can see the old roadmap and branding system how it has been thus far. This will be changing to the system detailed above and here is another photo (below) showing an example of how the new branding scheme and future roadmaps will look.

Interesting note is the S3 category shows 1.5 Ghz devices with the new Adreno 220 GPU as well as upgraded resolution offerings that reach well above current phone and tablet resolutions. This set of specs lines up exactly with the recently seen HTC Vigor that should have a dual-core 1.5 Ghz CPU and a high-res 720p HD display. You can throw that beast into the S3 category and expect more to follow. This new branding scheme will make things easier to understand, easier to follow, and easier to categorize moving forward. Here is an example of current devices on the market in the new branding method.

I am excited about S4 which Qualcomm has stated we will start to see arrive in consumer devices starting next year but no other time frame was given. Qualcomm system 4 (S4) series will bring quad-core devices with dual-core GPU’s on a smaller, more efficient platform and that is just one of many exciting things coming from Qualcomm in the near future.

I can’t wait to see what else Qualcomm has in store for the S3 level as well as the rest of 2011 as we make our way into the Holiday season and quad-core devices. Things are really going to get interesting when our phones have PS3 power inside come early next year.

qualcomm-snapdragon-logo-large Snapdragon roadmap Snapdragon roadmap NEW Snapdragon Smarter Snapdragon everywhere Snapdragon S3 )


Sony unveils part four of Two will teaser campaign for S1 and S2 tablets

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 06:21 AM PDT

We have talked about all the other parts of the slow paced, but really cool teaser videos for the Sony S1 and S2 tablets. You can see part 1, 2, and 3 if you missed them. The video series is called Two will and they all have some interesting Rube Goldberg style machines that see all sorts of interesting things happening. My favorite parts are still when the ball bearings fly down and hit at the precise angle to fly over and activate another part of the machine.

The fourth installation is pretty much the same as the other three with a new machine to look at. Along the way, you get to see the tablets activated by various balls along the way. I like these commercials, but it would also be cool to see something that focused more on the features of the tablet than the machine that activates the tablet.

Sony also notes in the YouTube description of the fourth episode that the complete story will be shown in the fifth episode. That fifth episode is “coming soon” according to Sony. I have wondered if all of these videos tie together into one large machine. I guess we will find out before long. Check out the video below for yourself.

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Amazon Appstore free app of the day hurts devs more than it helps?

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 05:21 AM PDT

A very interesting story has surfaced at ShiftyJelly about what it means to a developer who gets their app featured as the Amazon Appstore Free App of the Day. Clearly, the free app of the day is a move by Amazon to increase the traffic to the Appstore in hopes of selling other apps as well. You might expect that the developer that offers the app for free gets some payment out of the deal, but that would not be correct.

Since Amazon makes no money on the app, it pays no money out. For some apps that might not be a big deal, the hope is that the exposure will help the developer sell more copies of the app after it runs as App of the Day. The ShiftyJelly app that was featured as the Free App of the Day was Pocket Casts. According to the devs they would have made $54,805.14 from their 20% of the app sales had they actually been paid for the 101,491 copies of Pocket Casts that were given away. Instead, they got nothing.

The developers also say that the two weeks after the promotion that they were moved to the Appstore main page Amazon cut the price of their app to 99 cents costing them money again. In the case of Pocket Casts, the app uses a server to parse podcast feeds and the new influx of free users meant that they had to buy new hardware and maintain that hardware. In the end, the Free App of the Day deal cost the developers money. After the promotion ended, their sales went back to the same levels that were seen before all it started. The only difference is they have more expenses as a result.

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Android fans are twice as likely to get malware today as they were six months ago

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 03:04 AM PDT

The number of malware apps for the Android smartphone and tablet users to contend with is growing all the time. Some of the malware seeks to make money charging for bogus services and some wants to do other things like record your calls. CNET reports that a new report from Lookout shows that Android users are twice as likely to run across malware today compared to six months ago. The figures are based on detection rates from Lookout users on Android.

Lookout provides free and paid Android security apps to protect users. Lookout estimates that 500,000 people were affected by Android malware in the first half of 2011. The most common malware threats for Android users include DroidDream and GGTracker. DroidDream was inside over 80 apps with different version of the malware.

GGTracker is thought to be the first malware that actually steals money from users. It steals the money by signing the user up for premium text services at $10 per service up to as much as $50 per service. The report also outlines a type of attack most probably never suspect. The user can download a legitimate app that does nothing to start with. When the app is automatically, updated malware is added that compromises the device.

[via CNET]

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Google Plans To Use Texas Instrument OMAP4 CPU in Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 08:51 PM PDT

We have heard nothing but rumors regarding the next Nexus device and some have been calling it the Nexus Prime. We are still short on news regarding Ice Cream Sandwich too but we have all been wondering for a while what phone would launch with the lovely new operating system. While we still don’t know the details some new information is suggesting it will be running on a TI OMAP 4 CPU when it finally launches.

While this isn’t the first time we have heard chatter regarding the OMAP 4 series being the choice for ICS this news comes from someone inside Texas Instrument so that gives us a slightly better feeling regarding the entire thing. Apparently a TI employee slipped up in an email and mentioned they have been in a close partnership with Google for Ice Cream Sandwich, and even though most companies can say the same thing the image above was also found inside to give us more confirmation.

While that doesn’t give us a ton of details it does make us wonder if they are in fact who Google has chosen for the preferred CPU in Android Ice Cream Sandwich. Until recently they have only been found in a few Motorola devices like the recently released Droid 3. For the past few months NVIDIA has ruled the entire Android platform with dual-core phones and basically every Android Honeycomb tablet but things could be changing soon.

We know Ice Cream Sandwich will be a beautiful blend of Android 2.3 Gingerbread and Honeycomb and it will sandwich together to make an amazing operating system. With this latest news, NVIDIA’s quad-core SoC headed to market soon, and Qualcomm building some amazingly fast and stable dual-core systems heading upwards of 1.5 Ghz and more this is looking to be another exciting few months in the world of Android.

[via Cnet]

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Sun Rise Live Wallpaper, Even the birds enjoy the sunshine!

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 04:45 PM PDT

I’m back today with another live wallpaper for everyone to enjoy. Today I’ll be featuring Sun Rise Live Wallpaper. This is a simple and pretty sunrise scene that will look great on both your phone and any tablet. I always try to pick wallpapers that work on both and today is no different. With birds enjoying the sunrise to rainbows appearing this will stay put as your wallpaper for weeks.

Waking up in the morning to a pretty sunrise is a nice touch for my device, it lightens your spirit and better than looking at the gloomy overcast clouds here in Vegas. As always I pick a wallpaper that has a few options and choices so the user can make it their own. Sun Rise is pretty limited but the paid version is only $0.82 cents, yup only .82 cents you wont even have to spend a whole dollar.

With a pretty sun rise like that who wouldn’t wake up feeling refreshed right? With options to remove the flying birds or the rainbox you can do exactly what you want. You can even speed up the rate the birds fly or make the rainbow only appear when you get a new SMS text message. The clouds calmly move in the background as the sunrise hits the tree-tops.

This app is available in the market for free, or you can always buy the paid version for just $0.82 cents and unlock all the features and settings you’d like. Although the birds could use a little work the rest is extremely simple and beautiful. I like having these types of wallpapers rather than flames and some of that other crazy stuff.

Feel free to scan or click the QR code below to head to the market and download Sun Rise Live Wallpaper and don’t forget to see the rest of our wallpapers at the Live Wallpaper Portal. Thanks!

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Motorola Xoom 3G Update to 3.2 Honeycomb may start Tomorrow

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 04:06 PM PDT

I wont be calling the Motorola Xoom a 4G device until the upgrade actually happens and apparently that wont be until September or later. At least Xoom owners can look forward to getting timely updates for Android right? Even though the Wi-Fi version was already updated and same with the Transformer to Android 3.2 Honeycomb, it appears the Xoom 3G should start getting it possibly tomorrow.

Earlier today we mentioned the Xoom was doing a “soak test” for the update and now it looks like it will be coming sooner than we thought, but I’m not complaining. If you haven’t seen what comes along with Android 3.2 here is our short guide. Users will have zooming and scaling options for applications not taking full advantage of the screen real estate being a popular improvement.

The Wi-Fi Xoom was upgraded to Android 3.2 Honeycomb back at the first of July and you can download the Android 3.2 SDK right here. We will finally be seeing official MicroSD card support for the Xoom as well as improvements to the movie streaming service. Movies will now have adaptive streaming capabilities to provide the best playback experience based on network or wifi performance.

Looking over the Verizon Wireless Support pages we found the above information and we haven’t seen anything yet regarding the 3G Xoom from Verizon. Hopefully this means the soak test has already been completed and the 3.2 update will start rolling out soon, if not tomorrow.

Device Specifications and Information
Device Info
    Device Name : XOOM
    Manufactuer : Motorola
    Carrier : Verizon
    Announced Date : January 05, 2011
    Release Date : February 24, 2011
    Also Known As :
Display
  • Screen Size : 10.10 Inch
  • Resolution : 1280x800
  • Screen Type : TFT
Dimension & Weight
  • Height : 9.80 Inch
  • Width : 6.61 Inch
  • Depth : 0.51 Inch
  • Weight : 730 Grams
Battery & Power
    Battery Type:
  • Lithium Ion
  • Battery Capacity : 6500 mAh
  • Talk Time : NA
  • Stand By Time : 336 hours
Software
    Android OS:
  • 3.0.x
    Audio Playback:
  • AAC
  • AAC+
  • AMR
  • MP3
    Video Playback:
  • h.263
  • h.264 / AVC
  • MPEG-4 (MP4)
    Messaging:
  • SMS
Hardware
    CPU : Tegra 2
    CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz
    Core : 2
    Ram : 1024 MB
    Internal Storage : 32.768 GB
    Front Facing Camera :
    Camera Resolution :5 MP
    External Storage:
  • MicroSD
  • MicroSDHC
    Camera Features:
  • Auto focus
  • Flash
  • 720p Video Recording
    Sensors:
  • Accelerometer
  • Ambient light
    QWERTY :
Cellular Network
    Network Technology:
  • CDMA
    CDMA Band:
  • 800
  • 1900
Device Connectivity
    Wi-Fi:
  • 802.11b
  • 802.11g
  • 802.11n
    Bluetooth:
  • Bluetooth 2.0
    Location Features:
  • Compass
  • GPS
  • Cellular location
  • Wi-Fi location
    FM Radio :

[via Verizon Support]

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Motorola Domino+ smiles with its mid-range specs

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 03:52 PM PDT

A few pictures lately have leaked regarding another handset by our good pals Motorola. This will be called the Motorola Domino+ and I’m not sure what to say about it other than it looks “cute” and will be a decent little mid-range offering over in China first, but might make its way elsewhere shortly.

Looking over the specifications of the device everything looks decent until we get to the CPU. It will be rocking a slightly outdated 800 Mhz CPU, but it will feature a 3.5″ display, 512 MB RAM, 5MP camera with flash and even a VGA front shooter for video chat. Sounds a bit like the Motorola Droid in its own way. It may not be the best device around but its no slouch either.

Deep down it will be running on the latest iteration of Android and that is 2.3.4 Gingerbread but will most likely be covered up with that Moto Blur UI stuff. It still has a bit of charm to it when looking over the device. The design is nice and playful and it doesn’t have those squared edges like most Motorola phones as of late. The curved edges and thin looks you see in the photo above are a bit unique but I actually sort of like it. The glossy white finish might not be my favorite but that is just me.

Whether this device makes it out of China or not is still unknown but it will be launching sometime in August for those that may be interested.

[via MICgadget]

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Motorola Working on New Smartwatch?

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 02:19 PM PDT

All of a sudden watches are apparently “in.” Just this morning we talked about WIMM Labs’ new “Wearable Android Platform,” and now someone’s sent out images of what is supposedly an upcoming smartwatch by Motorola. Android has been ported to all sorts of devices, obviously none as successful as phones. Will Moto’s latest attempt to push smart device boundaries bring our little green buddy along for the ride?

The watch, potentially called the MotoActive, is not an unheard of concept from Motorola. In June a leaked redesign of Moto’s website featured a watch called the Tracy XL (named after Dick Tracy). This new watch seems to be much more fitness oriented than for fighting crime though.

Let’s take a look at the watch itself. Clearly these pictures indicate a focus on exercise, allowing you to track your jogs and bike rides. We can also pretty clearly see a music app in the bottom pic. The other question here is whether or not this will run Android. While it appears that there is a standard back button in the bottom left corner, its worth pointing out that its a bit different from Moto’s standard version.

Keep in mind that this is all on the word of the tipster who sent released these pictures. The images don’t actually show any Motorola branding and whether or not this watch will run Android is even if it is real isn’t known. We’ll keep an eye out for more info on the future of this or any other Android watches to come.

[via Engadget]

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Samsung Stratosphere Headed to Verizon?

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 01:51 PM PDT

With a name like the Stratosphere we can only assume this thing is reaching for the top, or the clouds I should say. It appears Verizon made a support page for the upcoming Samsung Stratosphere and then quickly removed it. It’s worth noting many other Verizon handsets all have similar pages so this could prove to be the name of a new phone or the rumored Samsung Galaxy S II 4G LTE phone.

We don’t have any actual details on what this device will actually be but like mentioned, a name like that you can bet Verizon is planning something big and it will most likely be one amazing device with a dual-core and 4G LTE as a start. This could be a slider or an entirely different Samsung device altogether but that fancy name has us thinking differently.

We have seen a few different names for a possible Samsung Galaxy S II for Verizon with one being the Samsung Function and that name has appeared more than once so we still might see the Samsung Function as the SGSII for Verizon, and then maybe a 4G LTE slider similar to this leaked device.

We might be hearing more about this device soon so we will be sure to keep our ears open for more details. I still like the name and I’m hoping for something special.

[via Droid-Life]

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo, Play, and Arc Soon to get Official CyanogenMod

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 01:29 PM PDT

CyanogenMod, everybody’s (or at least my) favorite custom ROM is in line to make its way to several of Sony Ericsson’s latest devices. Earlier this year SE made developers overjoyed when it announced plans to help owners of its latest phones unlock their bootloaders at the cost of official updates and warranties. That freedom is about to pay off as code for bringing CM 7.1 to the Xperia Neo, Play, and Arc is currently awaiting official approval.

CyanogenMod is one of the most popular ROMs around, being ported to a number of phones other ROMs could only dream of. Sony Ericsson’s latest Xperia devices may not be the most cutting edge devices technically, but CyanogenMod is going to go a long way to making these devices more awesome.

CyanogenMod strips off UI overlays, and gives you back the feel of stock Android. The other benefit of official CM support is that CyanogenMod upgrades much faster than official ROMS (unless you happen to have a Nexus phone). This is means Xperia owners will be able to unlock their phones without worrying about the loss of SE’s official updates.

The Xperia Arc, Neo, and Play specific code is currently biding its time in CyanogenMod’s Gerrit review system. This usually means that CM is essentially stable enough for nightly builds. To maintain its high standards though, the build has to be approved by the CyanogenMod team first though. Keep an eye here, as we’ll be sure to let you know once the builds are approved and nightlies are posted.

[via CyanogenMod Gerrit]

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Pandigital Nova Cheap Android Tablet Just $169 at Best Buy

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 01:28 PM PDT

I know everyone wants a cheap Android Tablet and this could be just what you were looking for. If a fancy Android Honeycomb tablet doesn’t suit your needs but you’d like a tablet let me introduce the Pandigital Nova. It may not be amazing but it does have an 800 Mhz processor, an 7″ 800×600 resolution display (should look decent) and it even comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread for the low price of just $169.

While this may not come with stellar build quality you do get the latest version of Android (tablet OS excluded) and 4GB of internal storage for games, movies, and apps for your dollar. It also features a front and rear camera, microSD slot and even HDMI-Out so you can stream videos to your TV. Not bad for the price if you ask me.

This is available at Best Buy right now and you get all those specs packed into a device only 0.5 inches thick so it wont be very big either and will even fit in your pants pocket. Oh and let me say this one more time, it’s only $169 at Best Buy so if you’d like a fun toy feel free to go snag one.

[via Best Buy]

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Motorola PHOTON 4G Rooted with Massive Process

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 01:21 PM PDT

So there’s this device called PHOTON 4G, a Motorola device that we’ve got a full review of and have been playing around with for about a week or so. It’s got several awesome docks, the ability to work with Motorla’s newest Webtop mode, has a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, and feels really awesome to hold with its special diamond shape. Now we’ve gotta root it, right? Every great device such as this needs a bit of the ol’ root. So what do the folks at XDA do? They find the most convoluted and insanely difficult process possible!

Welcome to a giant amount of steps toward the rooting of your device, the newest look at a dual-core device toting NVIDIA’s dual-core processor. You should know that the predecessor to this device, the Motorola ATRIX, has just been given Gingerbread – which one will you choose now?

Steps:
0. Instal SSHDroid from the Market
1. Open SSHDroid, and make sure it is listening on port 2222
2. Connect Photon to HD Station
3. Connect keyboard and mouse to HD Station
4. Connect HDMI to HD Station and TV/Monitor
5. Turn TV/Monitor on
6. Change TV/Monitor input to HDMI
7. Open Firefox in webtop
8. Download href="http://higgs.cygnusx-1.org/~edgan/Superuser.apk" class="external" rel="nofollow">http://higgs.cygnusx-1.org/~edgan/Superuser.apk and save to /mnt/sdcard/download
9. Download href="http://higgs.cygnusx-1.org/~edgan/su" class="external" rel="nofollow">http://higgs.cygnusx-1.org/~edgan/su and save to /mnt/sdcard/download
10. Go to href="http://higgs.cygnusx-1.org/~edgan/pulse.tar" class="external" rel="nofollow">http://higgs.cygnusx-1.org/~edgan/pulse.tar
11. Open it instead of saving
12. Extract pulse.tar to /var/tmp
13. Connect to phone via ssh at ip address mentioned in SSHDroid and port 2222
12. Type /var/tmp/pulse/pa_race
14. Type /system/bin/pm install /mnt/sdcard/download/Superuser.apk
15. Type mount -o remount,rw /system
15. Type cp /mnt/sdcard/download/su /system/bin
16. Type chmod 4775 /system/bin/su
16. Type mount -o remount,ro /system

Goodness gracious, great balls of steps toward being able to delete bloatware and overclock your system. How awesome do you think things are about to get? Do you think the PHOTON will be able to beat out the ATRIX because it’s a newer bit of hardware? Do you think the ATRIX will win over the PHOTON in sales because it’s carried by AT&T?

Device Specifications and Information
Device Info
    Device Name : Photon 4G
    Manufactuer : Motorola
    Carrier : Unknown
    Announced Date : June 09, 2011
    Release Date : January 01, 1970
    Also Known As :
Display
  • Screen Size : 4.30 Inch
  • Resolution : 540x960
  • Screen Type : TFT
Dimension & Weight
  • Height : 5.00 Inch
  • Width : 2.63 Inch
  • Depth : 0.48 Inch
  • Weight : 158 Grams
Battery & Power
    Battery Type:
  • Lithium Ion
  • Battery Capacity : 1700 mAh
  • Talk Time : NA
  • Stand By Time : 199 hours
Software
    Android OS:
  • 2.3.x
    Audio Playback:
  • AAC
  • AAC+
  • AMR
  • MID
  • MP3
  • WAV
  • WMA
    Video Playback:
  • MPEG-4 (MP4)
    Messaging:
  • SMS
  • MMS
Hardware
    CPU : Tegra 2
    CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz
    Core : 2
    Ram : 1024 MB
    Internal Storage : 16.384 GB
    Front Facing Camera :
    Camera Resolution :8 MP
    External Storage:
  • MicroSD
  • MicroSDHC
    Camera Features:
  • Auto focus
  • Flash
  • 720p Video Recording
    Sensors:
  • Accelerometer
  • Ambient light
  • Proximity
    QWERTY :
Cellular Network
    Network Technology:
  • CDMA
    CDMA Band:
  • 800
  • 1900
Device Connectivity
    Wi-Fi:
  • 802.11b
  • 802.11g
  • 802.11n
    Bluetooth:
  • Bluetooth 3.0
    FM Radio :

[via XDA]

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LG Revolution Update Coming Soon, Not Gingerbread but will fix bugs

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 12:57 PM PDT

The LG Revolution is next in line to get an update, sadly this wont be that tasty Gingerbread 2.3 and you’re not getting any milk either but it will fix a pile of bugs and add some new features. This will be the first update for the Verizon LTE device, it is 69MB and will bring users to version VS910ZV6.

The update will bring along improvements to users while on calls, updates to email and texting applications and a host of other things all seen in the picture above. The voice data app will now be pre-loaded with text to speech and the all popular VCAST App Store is getting an update too.

It may not be too exciting or bring unlimited tethering and Gingerbread but plenty of the pre-loaded applications will get updated in the process. Apps like Netflix, Amazon Kindle, Rockband and then everyone’s favorite — Bing! Basically all the bloatware will get updated as well as a few software enhancements and bug fixes.

Hopefully next on the list is Android 2.3 Gingerbread but at least they are updating and fixing bugs in a timely manor. Users should start seeing this update land on their Revolutions starting soon.

Device Specifications and Information
Device Info
    Device Name : Revolution
    Manufactuer : LG
    Carrier : Verizon
    Announced Date : January 06, 2011
    Release Date : May 26, 2011
    Also Known As : LG Revolution, Verizon Revolution, LG Revolution LTE, LG Revolution 4G
Display
  • Screen Size : 4.3 Inch
  • Resolution : 480x800
  • Screen Type : TFT
Dimension & Weight
  • Height : 5.03 Inch
  • Width : 2.63 Inch
  • Depth : .52 Inch
  • Weight : 172 Grams
Battery & Power
    Battery Type:
  • Lithium Ion
  • Battery Capacity : 1500 mAh
  • Talk Time : NA
  • Stand By Time : 335 hours
Software
    Android OS:
  • 2.2.x
    Video Playback:
  • h.263
  • h.264 / AVC
  • MPEG-4 (MP4)
    Messaging:
  • SMS
  • MMS
  • IM
Hardware
    CPU : Snapdragon MSM8655
    CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz
    Core : 1
    Ram : 1000 MB
    Internal Storage : 16 GB
    Front Facing Camera :
    Camera Resolution :5 MP
    External Storage:
  • MicroSD
  • MicroSDHC
    Camera Features:
  • Auto focus
  • Flash
  • 720p Video Recording
    Sensors:
  • Accelerometer
  • Ambient light
  • Proximity
    QWERTY :
Cellular Network
    Network Technology:
  • CDMA
    CDMA Band:
  • 800
  • 1900
Device Connectivity
    Wi-Fi:
  • 802.11b
  • 802.11g
  • 802.11n
    Bluetooth:
  • Bluetooth 3.0
    Location Features:
  • Compass
  • GPS
  • Cellular location
  • Wi-Fi location
    FM Radio :

[via Verizon Support]

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