April 2011 Archives

Apr

DROID X2 Press Shots Leak, With A Little Tweak To The Name

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Droid X2, News, Verizon Wireless

We've already seen videos and benchmarks of the not-so-well-kept-secret that is the Droid X2, and now we get to see some press shot goodness, along with a little bit of a name change. It turns out that it won't be called the DROID X2, but instead... DROID X². I told you the change was little. So, without further ado, here are the press shots:

That was kind of anticlimactic, wasn't it? Just like all the previous leaks, it looks almost identical to the original DROID X (sans camera button), with a tiny tweak in hue. The similarities stop there, though, because under the hood this beast should be rocking a 1.2GHz Tegra2 Processor and 768MB RAM, fronted by a 4.3 inch qHD display.

Apr

DROID Pro Update Is Rolling Out Now, Includes Bug Fixes and UI Improvements

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Droid Pro, News, Verizon Wireless

It looks like an update for the Blackberry-style DROID Pro has just hit the Verizon update network, which will bring the current software version up to 3.8.7. It's not as exciting as a Gingerbread update would be, but it does bring some welcome bug fixes and UI enhancements.

Also included in this update are several Exchange ActiveSync improvements, like calendar synchronization. The rest of this update consists primarily of bug fixes, a Bluetooth voice recording enhancement, and the addition of Verizon's V CAST Appstore.

According to Motorola's support forums, you should be able to pull this update now by going to Settings>About Phone>System.

Apr

Android Takes Over Rogers.com - This You Need To See

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Off-Topic, Rogers

Rogers, one of the top Canadian ISPs and carriers, wants you to know that it has some Android phones you can buy. It really-really wants you to know, in the most awesome way I've seen in a while (possibly ever). Have a look at the Android takeover of Rogers.com, which includes a brilliant intro and a landing page packed with Android news, videos, device info, and even a contest.

Alright, enough with this reading business - get to the watching part.

Source: Rogers via Mobile Syrup

Apr

Another Gingerbread Leak Shows Up, This Time For... The Samsung Galaxy Ace [Download Mirror]

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Dev, Galaxy Ace, News

So this one came as a shocker to me: according to PocketNow, an official Gingerbread 2.3.3 ROM has been leaked for the Samsung Galaxy Ace. For those unfamiliar with the Galaxy Ace, it is a budget smartphone that's available primarily in the European market as part of a quartet of devices, including the Galaxy Gio, Galaxy Mini, and Galaxy Fit.

The update is probably not final and could contain bugs, so download it at your own risk. If it doesn't end up working for you, let us know, and if it does, well, let us know as well.

You can grab you own little piece of cookie-based heaven from our painless download mirror here.

Apr

Samsung Releases Sidekick 4G Kernel Source Code, Bring On The Custom ROMs

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Dev, News, Sidekick 4G

Keeping up with its newfound timeliness as of late, Samsung has dropped the source code for the recently released Sidekick 4G. Considering the Sidekick seems to be easily rootable using the SuperOneClick method, it probably won't be too long before we are knee deep in all of the custom ROM goodness that we can handle.

Head over the the Open Source Developers Center and search for "SGH-T839_Opensource.zip" to snag the download.

Source: Open Source Developers Center

Apr

Samsung Infuse 4G Shows Its Face In A Walmart Circular, $178.88 Price Tag Intact

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, Infuse 4G, News, Rumors

Remember the massive-screened Samsung Infuse 4G that was announced back in January? If not, that doesn't come as much of a surprise, as this phone has found a way to stay out of the rumor mill since then. It couldn't stay silent forever, though, and now it has finally surfaced in a Walmart circular, accompanied by a $178.88 price tag (presumably with a new two-year agreement on AT&T). Unfortunately, there isn't an exact launch date listed, only that it's "available May 2011."

I'm sure a quick spec rundown is in order, so here you go:

4.5 Inch Super AMOLED Plus screen
1.2GHz Hummingbird Processor
16GB Internal storage, SD Card slot
8MP Rear camera with 1080P video capture, 1.3MP front camera
Android 2.2

As you can tell, this phone is nothing to turn your nose up at.

Apr

Latest Facebook For Android Update Fixes A Few Bugs, Adds Constant Force Close Feature

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Last Updated: April 24th, 2011

It looks like Facebook is continuing the juggling act with their Android app, as they have fixed a few bugs and added a few new features with the latest update. Here, I've got the short list for you:

New in v1.5.3:
* Added the ability to tag friends in status updates
* Added Find Friends feature
* Added the ability to add your phone number to your profile
* Various bug fixes

Not listed: the force close feature that kicks in all the damn time.

^{I have no idea who Bella is, but she's entirely too nice.}

It's amazing how far back the negative comments go; the app was updated three days ago, but get this: the first eighty-seven pages of user reviews are from today as of this writing (it's only 7:15 AM EST on April 22), and every page essentially mirrors the above screenshot.

Apr

[New Game] Great Battles Medieval: It's Like A Total War RTS For Your Tegra Device

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Games, News, Tablets

We've talked a lot about games designed specifically for Tegra2 tablets lately - but none quite like HISTORY Great Battles Medieval by Slitherine. In this strategy-action-RPG sponsored by the History Channel, you are the General of the English or French forces during the Hundred Years War, controlling up to 20 squads under your command. You can completely customize your army, selecting their armor, fighting styles, weapons - the whole shebang. The more you fight, the more you level up, and the better your skillset becomes. Have a look at this teaser video to get a taste of what this game is all about:

The English campaign is set up for novice users to get a better understanding of gameplay, while the French campaign is much, much more difficult.

Apr

Verizon Has 565,000 4G LTE Subscribers, Will Speeds Start Suffering Soon?

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, Carriers, Editorials, News, Verizon Wireless

Verizon released the first subscriber figures for its rapidly expanding 4G network today - presumably to highlight strong sales of the carrier's first 4G handset, the HTC Thunderbolt.

Of the 565,000 (500,000 is the number Verizon added to its subscriber base in Q1) 4G users, about 260,000 are utilizing Verizon's LTE service via an HTC Thunderbolt. This means that since the launch of the Thunderbolt on March 17, Verizon has been gaining over 100,000 new LTE subscribers a week. And with 4G devices like the Samsung DROID Charge and the Motorola DROID BIONIC on the way, it seems Big Red's 4G campaign is just getting started.