Android Community |
- HTC EVO 4G looks great with Sense UI 3.5 [Video]
- Velocity Micro unveils new affordable Android tablets
- AT&T Impulse 4G gets official price and launch date
- File Expert app gets new NFC feature
- Motorola DROID Bionic Ultimate Hands-on and Unboxing [Video]
- Palringo Group Messaging and Chat App Discovery Update Review [Video]
- HoneyBar Removes Status Bar from Android Tablets on command
- Google Offices Raided by Korean Fair Trade Commission
- HTC Droid Incredible up next for Sense UI 3.5 Port
- HP TouchPad Android Port Moving Along, Gets Multitouch Support [Video]
- Maylong M-260 Budget Android Tab clears the FCC
- Beats Wireless headphones by Dr. Dre clear the FCC, Aimed at mobile
- Gateway A60 10.1″ 16GB Honeycomb Tab available for $399
- Acer Liquid Mini Ferrari Edition roars its engine
- Baidu and Dell building Android-based OS for phones and tablets
- Motorola Droid 2 Global Gingerbread Update Now Available
| HTC EVO 4G looks great with Sense UI 3.5 [Video] Posted: 07 Sep 2011 11:09 AM PDT I know many readers have already seen HTC Sense UI 3.5 but in case you haven’t check out this video. Thanks to a leaked RUU of the HTC Bliss running with the new HTC Sense UI 3.5 developers are starting to port the awesome UI to all the popular phones. The HTC EVO 4G being one of the biggest HTC devices it was only natural it would be one of the first. We have a full video and all the details below.
First we saw the Desire HD get Sense 3.5 and even the DROID Incredible we reported on yesterday. Now it’s time for the big boys to get some of the new user interface. Thanks to Team Nocturnal at XDA we have HTC Sense UI 3.5 for the EVO 4G.
As always this is a fully custom ROM with Sense UI 3.5 ported and working with the EVO 4G. This is still a work in progress and most likely you’ll spot a few bugs but as their name suggests, Team Nocturnal has been working day and night to bring this to the masses and things are moving along plenty quick. The build looks extremely stable and smooth from the video above and you can get all the details you’d need over at the XDA thread. Like I said this is still in beta and very much a work in progress. They mention the occasional Wi-Fi and camera issue, as well as SD card mounting problems but are quickly working to address everything and get this completely stable. If I still had my EVO 4G I’d have flashed this yesterday just for fun, but sadly I’ll have to wait. For another video of Sense 3.5 on the EVO 4G click here. Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
 Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
 [via XDA Forums] )
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| Velocity Micro unveils new affordable Android tablets Posted: 07 Sep 2011 09:01 AM PDT Velocity Micro has been making computers for a long time now and the company has now stepped into the Android tablet market with some new offerings. The company has announced a pair of new tablets with the Android OS onboard that have very attractive prices. The Tablets are the Cruz T408 with an 8-inch screen and the Cruz T410 with a 10-inch screen. Either of the tablets will cost you under $300.
The T408 will sell for $239.99 and the T410 will sell for $299.99. The 8-inch tablet has a 4:3 aspect ratio and the T410 has a 16:9 aspect ratio screen. Both of the tablets have a lot of features in common with premium design and feel at low prices. The screens have thin bezels and both support touch input. The processor inside is a 1GHz Cortex A8 and both will have front facing cameras. The tablets have WiFi connectivity with 802.11n onboard. They also come with a premium software suite installed from the factory with full versions of QuickOffice and Angry Birds Rio. Both of the tablets run Android 2.3 Gingerbread and have a 1-year warranty for parts and labor. They will both ship by the end of September. The price for these tablets sounds really good, I hope the performance lives up to the price.           [via SlashGear] )
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| AT&T Impulse 4G gets official price and launch date Posted: 07 Sep 2011 08:17 AM PDT
You can get the phone with a 2-year contract from AT&T for only $29.99. The smartphone will support Quad Band GSM/Tri Band UMTS/Edge networks at up to 14.4Mbps. The operating system on the phone is Android 2.2. It uses a MSM7230 chipset and a Scorpion 800MHz processor. The internal storage is about 512MB and it has a microSD card slot supporting up to 32GB more storage. The rear camera on the smartphone is a 5MP unit with automatic focus and flash that can record 720p HD video. The screen size for the phone is 3.8-inches with a resolution of 800×480. The phone uses Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and EDR. It also supports WiFi networks and has a 720p video output. The phone will be in stores on September 18. )
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| File Expert app gets new NFC feature Posted: 07 Sep 2011 07:56 AM PDT Last month we talked a bit about the File Expert app for Android smartphone and how you could set up the app to allow you to share files over a WiFi network with another smartphone or device. The wireless setup for the app was a bit complex. The good news is that the app has now been updated and if you can get much easier file transfers this time around assuming your Android device is up to it.
The app now has NFC capability for transferring files. Many of the smartphones on the market today have NFC and File Expert now allows you to transfer files between two NFC smartphone like the Nexus S and Galaxy S2. With the File Expert app installed on both phones, when they are close you can transfer files with a simple tap of the screen. When the phones are tapped together, they automatically get Bluetooth enabled by the software and then transfer files with no need to pair the devices. The app allows the transfer of all sorts of files including photos, apps, video, and any other file format. You can also transfer file folders with multiple files inside. The app does ask permission to activate Bluetooth if not enabled. [via Compixels] )
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| Motorola DROID Bionic Ultimate Hands-on and Unboxing [Video] Posted: 07 Sep 2011 05:30 AM PDT It’s finally here! The Motorola Droid Bionic has officially landed and today Verizon announced that it will be available starting Thursday, September 8th, for just $299. We have been waiting for what seems like a year for the Droid Bionic and now that it is finally here we at Android Community have plenty of videos, pictures, and benchmarks for you guys. This is our ultimate hands-on and unboxing video of the Motorola Droid Bionic and all of the accessory docks too. Check it all out below.
What we have the pleasure of sharing with you all today is the Motorola Droid Bionic, the HD Station Dock, Standard Dock, Car Navigation Dock, and the Motorola Droid Bionic Lapdock — yup we have it all and you can see everything in the videos below as well as a full in-depth review that is coming soon. We’ll start with our hands-on and unboxing videos and then just to be nice we have a few preliminary benchmark and speedtest results for those that want to see it right now.
Motorola DROID Bionic, HD Dock, Car Dock and more hands-on and unboxing video I’m going to pretend for a minute that you are all new and don’t know anything about the Bionic (although we all know everything already). The Droid Bionic is the new flagship Android smartphone coming from Verizon Wireless. This is their very first 4G LTE phone that also is powered by a dual-core processor — Both speed AND power! We have a TI OMAP 1.0 Ghz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, a brilliant, bright, and crisp 4.3″ qHD 540 x 960 high resolution display, Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, an 8 MP camera on the rear with dual LED flash, and a 2 MP lens on the front for quality video chat. The Bionic also comes out of the box with 32GB of storage, that is 16GB of internal storage as well as an included 16GB class 4 micro SD card. Along with micro HDMI-out for just about everything you’d ever need from mirror mode to game on your HDTV, to using the webdock accessories and more. Enough of that, we already knew this phone was basically amazing, lets see the next video shall we. Motorola DROID Bionic Lapdock hands-on and unboxing video I must mention that so far this phone is truly stellar. I know I use that word occasionally in my reviews but so far I’m actually really really impressed with the Droid Bionic. Using the latest Moto Blur UI on phones like the Droid X2 and others I was a bit worried but they’ve really stepped up their game. From extremely fast and stable performance with the dual-core, blazing quick network speeds with 4G LTE, and a much improved overall user interface this is Motorola’s best phone yet, it truly is pretty epic. I don’t want to get into specifics too much as you’ll all need to wait for my full out in-depth review of the Bionic and all the accessories that is coming very soon but I do have some benchmarks and awesome speedtest results to show you all really fast. DROID Bionic Speedtest and Benchmarks First up we have 4G LTE speedtest results and lets just say Verizon is well ahead of the pack. My 4G LTE results were amazing inside, outside, and even while driving home (yes I couldn’t wait and opened it asap). I’m getting an average of around 9 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload speeds consistently, with performance peaking over 11 Mbps down and 3.5 Mbps up. Basically that compares to and beats many peoples home internet connection. Say hello to true 4G LTE guys.
I’ve ran multiple tests and I’m achieving these types of quick and impressive speeds consistently as you can clearly see in the image below. Next up I also took a quick run or two of Quadrant Pro since that is still everyone’s favorite benchmark application. It might be hard to see in the image but the Droid Bionic scores well over 2600 out of the box, completely stock. My HTC Sensation 4G with a faster 1.2 Ghz dual-core only scores around 2100-2200 stock. That makes the Droid Bionic only second to the Samsung Galaxy S II with out of the box performance.
While you can expect more benchmarks in my full review coming soon I’ve also snapped a few photos running CF Bench too. Again coming in second only to the SGSII. I don’t want to give away all the details and everything on the first date, we still have plenty more benchmarks, videos, photos and more coming soon. For now this was just a quick rundown for all you readers that have been patiently waiting for this phone to finally arrive. I’ve added a few more photos in the full size gallery below so be sure to check all of those out for a better view. I’d like to take this moment to mention that if anyone would like us to try anything specific, or you have a request of something you’d like to see in the full review please share your questions, thoughts and more in the comment section below and I’ll be sure to do what I can. Feel free to check back all week long as we review everything shown in the videos above. Who is getting a DROID Bionic? Enjoy!                        )
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| Palringo Group Messaging and Chat App Discovery Update Review [Video] Posted: 06 Sep 2011 09:28 PM PDT There is an app out there in the world that takes group messaging to another level, one where you can not only communicate with the people you know and love on a whole slew of 3rd party networks, but through geotagging allows you to get a handle on those around you who are about to become your brand new associates. Starting today, key features have been added to the already cross-platform ultra popular platform (10 billion messages a month and 300,000 groups for 11 million users) to a newly minted discovery-heavy person finder as well. What we’ve got for you below is a look at this app as it was, as it is, and as it will be from this point on.
In addition to being able to add yourself to a slew of already-established chat programs like Aol Instant Messanger, Facebook Chat, and MSN Messenger, you can chat on the Palringo-based network on its own, each of these networks connecting through the same interface which is here made simple by Palringo. You can now do new things like geotag (with GPS, is what that means) groups to make it easier for Palringo users to find local communities of interest to them, search by category of interest, browse groups by stats like most active, types of messages, and etc, and more! The video above gives you a brief and basic tour through some of these features, mostly giving you an introduction to the interface with which you’ll be working here on Palringo. Note also that Android is only one of many different platforms with which you can access Palringo, desktop and Java ME amongst them as well, believe it or not. Some interesting uses and statistics from the platform as provided by Palringo are as follows:
The newest features you’ll find are as follows: Groups Directory : It is here that you’ll be able to browse groups and find what you’re seeking in a potential discussion about the subjects you love. Browse by category or interest, and find new statistics on these groups to better your understanding of how popular or well-trafficked the groups are as you glance through them. Geotagging : As you’ll see clearly in the video above, once you hit the map, you’ll instantly see the impact Palringo has had around you literally. You’ll now be allowed to tag groups with location information based on events and other criteria. Want to let people know you’ve got a chat group for the Fallcon comic convention coming up next month? Just tag the convention center and give it a title – simple!      Then there’s still the already working set of features you’ll love, especially if you’re not already familiar with the platform: push-to-talk messaging that allows users to use their devices like walkie-talkies, photos, location, and of course third-party service integration like those listed above. You can [download and use Palringo for free from the Android Marketplace] with all of the new features listed above starting today! )
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| HoneyBar Removes Status Bar from Android Tablets on command Posted: 06 Sep 2011 04:11 PM PDT It’s always good to have options, and with Android, there’s no mobile OS on earth with more of them – right? Turns out that’s not always true, or so it is if you ask any number of developers on the Android circuit, just so long as they’re looking for total and complete control they’ll never completely be satisfied. Thus, there must be apps such as this: HoneyBar, an app which requires root but gives you the ability to get rid of your Android 3.x Honeycomb status bar whenever you like, with just a tap of a button.
The developers of this application, namely Perry Nguyen, are rather against the idea that this sort of functionality hasn’t been added per a request at Google Code for such an ability to be active. He’s decided to create an app that costs $0.99 and adds a big ugly white box in the middle bottom of your display, disappearing after you’ve activated the single ability this app activates 10 times. In addition to being able to hid e your Honeycomb status bar, you’ll be able to do so with a slightly offset button should you be using Samsung’s TouchWiz UX as there’s a button in this same location to bring up some quick launching min-apps in that particular tablet UI. You can pick this app up on the Android Market if you wish, and you MUST remember that it will not work unless you’ve achieved root on your tablet device. Should you try the app out without root or on an Android handset instead, not much of anything will occur. The developer of this app also has several other Android control apps that work with the basic functions of your Android device to give you the top experience you expect from a device you want utter dominance over. [via Android Market] )
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| Google Offices Raided by Korean Fair Trade Commission Posted: 06 Sep 2011 03:04 PM PDT It appears that Google’s Seoul offices have been raided today by Korean trustbusters looking for information on the possible stoppering of search opponents in the company’s mobile operating system Android. Search engine company NHN (popular in the area) and Daum Communications this past April asked the country’s Fair Trade Commission to investigate Google’s mobile search business practices. It appears that this request may well have been the source of the raid this week, and Google has responded with compliance and assurances to the public that they’ve got no ill willing code in play that would make their OS an unfair playing field.
It appears that other mobile device manufacturers in South Korea have also raised questions about restrictions Google has placed on their Android mobile OS. Of course we all know this to be preposterous, if I do say so myself, as any restrictions put on Android of course come only with a carrier or manufacturer’s wish to carry the Android Marketplace. Android is an open-source operating system which any group can use to create a device, and Google offers a certain package of requirements on the back end IF a manufacturer or carrier does so desire it. Aka this set of requirements is not necessarily required. Google has released information in a statement, part of which reads as follows:
Just this past May the same Google office in Seoul was the target of a raid by South Korean police, this time on suspicion that one sect of Google’s mobile advertising outfit was illegally collecting personal location data. This would have been, said the Korean police at the time, and according to Rueters, “without consent or approval from the Korean Communication Commission.” We must of course turn our attention back to the post we posted a few days ago, that being one on how the South Korean government is very likely looking into developing their own mobile OS based on Android. How this situation and that situation could possibly both be in effect without being related to one another is nearly unfathomable. How and why this whole situation is going down without the evil eye pointed directly at it is another situation entirely. [via CNET] )
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| HTC Droid Incredible up next for Sense UI 3.5 Port Posted: 06 Sep 2011 02:55 PM PDT Hey folks, it was only a matter of time before all the HTC phones started getting ports of the recently leaked HTC Sense UI 3.5 seen here. Thanks to the HTC Bliss we even received some hands-on video with the new Sense UI. Now all of the developers over at XDA are starting to port the awesome new UI over to all of our favorite HTC phones and the DROID Incredible is up next.
Last week we also brought news of Sense UI 3.5 being ported to the Desire HD and it was only natural that we’d start seeing more devices appear soon. So far this Incredible build seems pretty far along and like most of the bugs are gone. Initial support and reactions over at XDA seem very happy and can’t wait to give it a try. I like the new launcher icon and app tray myself.
Shown in the images clearly we can see these are all based off the HTC Bliss build that was recently leaked, same goes for the Desire HD port. Although the Desire HD version already is flashable and users are trying it out as we speak sadly the DROID Incredible build is not quite ready for prime time. Sorry to get everyone’s hopes up but this is just news today, but most likely will be a flashable ROM very soon so stay tuned here, and at the XDA thread. In just a few short days they’ve made a lot of progress and are moving quickly, don’t worry you should have a build available shortly. Device Info
Display
Dimension & Weight
Battery & Power
Software
Hardware
Cellular Network
Device Connectivity
[via XDA Forums] )
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| HP TouchPad Android Port Moving Along, Gets Multitouch Support [Video] Posted: 06 Sep 2011 02:14 PM PDT If you’ve been watching the HP TouchPad Android ports news lately you’ll know that things are slowly but surely getting there. Developers are making some great progress with Android for the failed HP Slate that recently has seen huge sales thanks to the $99 firesale price. The developers TouchDroid, are hard at work and have a booting and running CyanogenMod 7 Android 2.3.5 port for the TouchPad but things are still very beta.
Today we have another video to tease everyone with showing off not only CM7 booting, but full touch support with 10 point multi-touch fully functioning. Not only is everything working but it appears extremely quick, responsive, and we don’t see any lag from the video. This my friends is what we call progress! While I’m sure things are still a long ways away from being fully functional, this is a great start and enough to get plenty of users excited. The last video we saw things were not too far along and nothing was working but today’s shown above shows not only the progress that has been made, but that things are moving quite fast thanks to team TouchDroid. They still have a long ways to go but I figured a few would be glad to see the video and the TouchPad in action. Stay tuned as we will be keeping our watchful eye on the TouchPad as more develops. [via Android Police] )
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| Maylong M-260 Budget Android Tab clears the FCC Posted: 06 Sep 2011 01:47 PM PDT How exciting, we have another amazingly fast and awesome tablet for you all today. Actually it’s quite the opposite because this is the Maylong M-260 “budget” Android tablet and it has just cleared the FCC. You may not be familiar with Maylong but they are the producers behind more than a few cheap Android tablets in the past.
You may remember the Maylong M-150, it was a $149 budget tablet that landed at places like Walgreens and some Toys-R-Us stores nationwide. Sadly no dual-core CPU’s present but for that price what did you expect. Lets just say the M-150 didn’t review well. The next tablet from Maylong is headed to markets soon and today it cleared the FCC showing its internals.
I’m not a fan of the dedicated buttons that is for sure, but who would now we have Android Honeycomb tablets at our disposal. We don’t know much on the M-260 yet but from the images we see it has HUGE buttons, a micro USB port, micro SD, 3.5mm headphone jack and a few other large holes on the bottom possible housing a stylus to go with the cheap resistive touchscreen. I’m also hoping that circle on the face is a camera and not a power button. From the photo found in the manuals it appears to be running Android 2.3 Gingerbread but that is about all we know. We will update when more specs become available for those looking for a great entry level budget Android tablet.    [via Engadget] )
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| Beats Wireless headphones by Dr. Dre clear the FCC, Aimed at mobile Posted: 06 Sep 2011 12:55 PM PDT You can call these Beats by Dr. Dre or by HTC now that HTC owns the majority of the company. What we are seeing today is a brand new Beats Audio headphone with bluetooth wireless capabilities and more. Dubbed as Beats Wireless, it appears they are about to get a nice upgrade just in time for the holiday season.
The new Beats Wireless have just hit the FCC and we are learning it has a few tricks up it’s sleeve. These headphones use Bluetooth and can be used as both headphones and a headset for calls. With plenty of controls on the top right earpiece for both music and call controls. With play, pause, volume up down and more all easily accessed.
From the looks of things these are wireless headphones for mobile use. Now that HTC has acquired Beats Audio we are hoping to see these work wonderfully with new upcoming phones by HTC such as the Sensation 2 or HTC Runnymede. The new Beats Wireless will feature a rechargeable battery built in rather than sucking down AAA batteries all the time. Being able to use these as both headphones, and a headset for voice calls sounds pretty awesome if you ask me. Hopefully Beats and HTC will be announcing more details shortly. [via SlashGear] )
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| Gateway A60 10.1″ 16GB Honeycomb Tab available for $399 Posted: 06 Sep 2011 12:24 PM PDT Here is a little deal and news for everyone. Over at futureshop.ca you can get the Gateway A60 Android Honeycomb tablet for just $399. Wait Gateway makes tablets? Yup we recently saw the A60 clear the FCC back in June and now it is available for purchase.
If looking through the FCC pictures above you didn’t notice, this is almost exactly like the Acer Iconia A500 Tab. The Gateway A60 is basically a re-branded Iconia Tab with a few minor changes and a glossy black color scheme but everything else remains the same. Not to say that is a bad thing because we do have the usual awesome Honeycomb specs on board.
With the Gateway A60 you’ll get a NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core 1.0 Ghz CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 10.1″ 1280×800 res display, 16GB of internal storage, HDMI Out, Micro SD support, and everything else most tablets have these days. 5MP camera on the rear, VGA up front, W-Fi and the works all for just $399. This is basically just the Acer A500 with a different color and a few curves aimed a different direction but otherwise a perfectly great and functional tablet at a decent price. Get it at Futureship.ca right now and they’ll throw in a free 16GB microSD card giving you 32GB of storage all for $399. [via AndroidGuys] )
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| Acer Liquid Mini Ferrari Edition roars its engine Posted: 06 Sep 2011 12:01 PM PDT We haven’t seen much from Acer or the Liquid Mini lately but they are planning their next Ferrari phone and we have the details. Who remembers the Acer Liquid E Ferrari Edition? Basically what we have is that same idea wrapped around the recently released Liquid Mini.
The Acer Liquid Mini was released in April in the UK and at one point was spotted at the FCC heading to AT&T. While carrier or regions aren’t yet known we are now seeing the new Ferrari edition looking beautiful in glossy red roaring its engines for everyone. This is as special edition as it gets.
For those that don’t remember the Liquid Mini this is an Android 2.3 Gingerbread phone with a 3.2″ display, 800 Mhz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, 512MB of RAM, 5MP camera on the rear and 8GB of internal storage. Basically a decent little mid-range offering surrounded by Ferrari and topped off with a custom UI overlay by Acer. It will come in exclusive glossy Ferrari Red and also come with an included Ferrari branded bluetooth headset. More details about specs, color, chrome trim, turbo chargers and more can all be seen at the source below.    [via Acer] )
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| Baidu and Dell building Android-based OS for phones and tablets Posted: 06 Sep 2011 11:42 AM PDT While Google is huge in America and many other places around the world, Baidu is the biggest in China and are planning to get their own slice of the Android and mobile market. Google operates a big operation in China but is still behind Baidu in that region. China has a massive mobile market and it’s only getting bigger, they are aiming to build their own OS using Android at the center but call it “Yi”.
Yi will consist of Android but be stripped of anything Google and replaced with Baidu and have a beautiful user interface over the top, looking a bit like iOS and MIUI combined for a nice pretty UI. Dell sees this as an opportunity and is already planning a large hardware partnership with Baidu to launch their own smartphones and tablets running on the new “Yi” OS. Some being branded by Dell, and other by Baidu they expect this to greatly improve their mobile business.
Some analysts stated this is just Dell grasping at anything to help their ailing mobile business not to mention China still has a huge fan base of Apple products that dominate the market. While seeing 3rd party or custom “operating systems” running off of Android is nothing new, I do like to see what others come up with and how they will implement everything. Did you guys see the Google Android running Yahoo! Phone? This is what comes to mind although something tells me Baidu has a much better chance than Yahoo does. More as this story develops. [via SlashGear] )
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| Motorola Droid 2 Global Gingerbread Update Now Available Posted: 06 Sep 2011 11:17 AM PDT Quick reminder for those that may be running with a Droid 2 Global, no Verizon and Motorola didn’t forget about your update, they just were making sure to get it right and now it is finally available. Although FroYo was cold and tasty Motorola now has some fresh baked Android 2.3 Gingerbread ready for the D2 Global and it should be rolling out right now.
Back in August the Droid 2 Global 2.3 Gingerbread build was leaked and available for all but this latest release is the official version and should be hitting handsets all week. The standard Droid 2 just started its update a few days ago so it’s good to see users didn’t have to wait long for the official version. As always with most updates this is rolling out in phases and you should see it within the next few days. I know there are always a few that don’t want to wait and as usual you can manually pull the update by going to Menu > Settings > About Phone > System Update to get the Gingerbread goodness started. From there the entire update process should take about 10-15 minutes. I’d back up anything of importance just to be safe, but you should be good to go. Enjoy the Gingerbread and feel free to drop us any comments below if you have any issues or comments after the update. [via Motorola] )
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