AT&T - 34/38 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jan

It's A Phone! It's A Laptop?! It's The Motorola Atrix 4G

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in AT&T, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, Froyo 2.2, Motorola, News

Last Updated: January 11th, 2011

The Atrix 4G may not be the only dual-core powered Android phone announced this year at CES, but it certainly seems to be the only one that claims to 'redefine the line between a phone and a laptop'. It's able to blur said line by featuring the relatively unique 'Laptop Dock' accessory, which, for all intents and purposes, will convert your Android phone into a netbook running Motorola's 'Webtop' application.

Details on the actual Webtop interface are sparse, but Motorola did spill the beans on the internals powering the Atrix 4G:

Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core 1 GHz processor
1 GB RAM and 16 GB internal memory
HSPA+ 4G compatibility with AT&T
4 inch qHD display
5 MP rear camera with LED flash
VGA front-facing camera
Fingerprint scanning security (located on the back of the device)
Android 2.2 (Froyo) with MotoBlur (which looks to be refined, I might add)
Wi-Fi b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
1930 mAh battery for 9 hours talk time

Note the incredibly beefy battery - 1930 mAh is probably the largest mobile phone battery we've ever heard of.

Jan

AT&T Seriously Stepping Up The Game With LTE/HSPA+ 4G Expansion, 12 Android Devices In 2011

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in AT&T, News

AT&T has been keeping very quiet about its 4G plans over the past year, letting the other 3 major players freely roll out their respective 4G technologies - HSPA+ for T-Mobile, WiMax for Sprint, and LTE for Verizon. However, after the announcements at this morning's AT&T Developer Summit, it is clear AT&T is seriously stepping up its game.

According to Ralph de La Vega, AT&T's CEO, AT&T has already completed the upgrade of the whole mobile broadband network to HSPA+, or Evolved HSPA, which is the same technology used by T-Mobile that currently offers theoretical speeds of about 21Mbps downstream.

Jan

AT&T’s New Galaxy S Phone, The Samsung Infuse 4G, Pairs A 1.2 GHz Processor With A Massive 4.5″ Screen

Posted by Nate Kimmey in AT&T, Infuse 4G, News, Samsung

Last Updated: January 27th, 2011

It appears that Samsung is going to continue with the Galaxy S brand name, but this upcoming AT&T handset is unlike any other Galaxy S phone you've seen before. The Samsung Infuse 4G improves on the original in just about every way - in fact, it easily tops any phones on the market today:

1.2 GHz (single core) processor
4.5" Super AMOLED Plus display
8 megapixel rear camera
1.3 megapixel front-facing camera
HSPA+ support
TouchWiz UI
Extremely thin (thinnest phone on AT&T when it launches)

The most interesting aspect is the Super AMOLED Plus display. A 50% increase in sub-pixel count promises better readability in sunlight (a common complaint of Super AMOLED screens) and better contrast.

Jan

AT&T Gets A 4.3″ 4G Phone To Call Its Own – Introducing The HTC Inspire 4G

Posted by Nate Kimmey in AT&T, HTC, Inspire 4G (Ace, Stallion), News

Last Updated: January 27th, 2011

Eyeing the HTC Thunderbolt or EVO 4G with envy but stuck on AT&T? Fortunately, the carrier, which has a long reputation of not embracing Android (none of their Android phones can officially sideload apps) has just announced its next "superphone." The HTC Inspire 4G looks to be just about the same as the Thunderbolt, with a 4.3" screen and 4G connectivity, although it will support AT&T's HSPA+ network instead of their upcoming LTE network. Also worth noting is that this device will launch with the latest Sense UI, the same as we've seen on the Desire HD and Desire Z abroad, which will allow access to HTCSense.com as well as extra features such as offline maps and fastboot.

Dec

Carrier Billing Comes To Android Market On AT&T - Creates Audible Drop In The Paid App Bucket

Posted by David Ruddock in Apps/Games, AT&T, News

That's right, carrier billing is now available for some Android users on the least Android-friendly wireless carrier in the US. Huzzah. I guess I shouldn't be so cynical - I am an AT&T customer, after all. Unfortunately, I also run CyanogenMod 6 on my AT&T Nexus One, and have not yet received any Market update to allow me to use carrier billing, and doubt I will until an official Gingerbread build coaxes me off my custom ROM goodness.

The Android Developers blog has stated the carrier billing option will roll out to phones as part of the larger Market update that has been floating around in ZIP form for a couple of weeks - but it remains entirely unclear what phones or versions of Android will be eligible.

Dec

AT&T Will Buy Wireless Spectrum For $1.93 Billion To Expand Its 4G Offerings

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in AT&T, News

AT&T will be purchasing wireless spectrum from Qualcomm, the computer chip manufacturer, for $1.93 billion to provide higher speeds for its 4G network. The spectrum is in the lower 700 MHz frequency band and covers 300 million people in the United States.

The AT&T mobile network has been criticized heavily for some time because of connectivity issues which have caused poor service for its iPhone users. The iPhone uses more data than any feature phone and most smartphones (but not Android phones), so having exclusivity over the phone has put a severe strain on AT&T's network. Customers in heavily populated areas, such as New York City, are known to experience dropped calls and generally slow Internet browsing speeds.

Dec

Will The FCC's Net Neutrality Order Cost Smartphone Users?

Posted by David Ruddock in Carriers, Editorials, News

In a word: yes. Wireless carriers in the US (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.) have long been deeply opposed to net neutrality over their so-called "mobile broadband" networks, but today they've been given a power they have long desired to see the FCC put into writing.

If you haven't been following the net neutrality saga, you might want to find out what exactly "net neutrality" is, or what it means.

What is "net neutrality"?

It's a loaded term, to be frank. Net neutrality activists will tell you it means the complete freedom of information from corporate interference by requiring that ISPs (Internet service providers) do not give any preferential (or deferential) treatment to any information transmitted over their networks, unless it is clearly illegal or dangerous.

Dec

[Exclusive] Wet Ink: Our Interview With Notion Ink’s Rohan Shravan

Posted by David Ruddock in Adam, Exclusives, Interviews, News, Notion Ink

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

As promised earlier this week, Notion Ink CEO Rohan Shravan took time out of his schedule to answer a number of questions from Android Police. What did we ask the creator of the Android world's most anticipated tablet device? A lot of the questions you, our readers, wanted answers to - as well as a few of our own. The interview, in its entirety, below.

Questions From Our Readers

AP: Many have speculated about Notion Ink's production capacity - can you tell us how many Pixel Qi units were sold on pre-order? How many do you expect to be able to produce per month?

Nov

Rumor: Motorola Olympus To Be Released In December/January

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in AT&T, Motorola, News, Olympus

While we originally heard that AT&T would start selling the dual-core Motorola Olympus by the end of January, it now appears that the phone may be available earlier - according to a Facebook message which has since been deleted (see below), the handset may go on sale as early as December. Unfortunately, AT&T, who posted the message, later stated that "we don't have any information to share about upcoming devices" and that the message was posted "erroneously," so not much else came out of the leak. Still, here's what we do know: we're looking at a Tegra 2 handset that will most likely feature a front facing camera, a relatively slim profile, and a display in the 4-inch range.

Nov

Samsung Captivate And Vibrant Finally Get GPS "Fix" Via GPSSamsungRestore App

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Apps/Games, AT&T, Captivate, News, Samsung

The Galaxy S phones are, without a doubt, among the best Android phones out there, but for some time now, the handsets have been plagued by one potential showstopper - malfunctioning GPS capabilities. Worry not, though - in addition to an update that rolled out a few months ago, Samsung has developed an app called GPSSamsungRestore which is now available from the Android Market for all users of AT&T's Captivate and T-Mobile's Vibrant. So what does it do? It undoes any modifications to the GPS and basically reverts it to its original state. While it remains to be seen how reverting the GPS to its original, broken state fixes it, I suppose it can't hurt to give it a shot if you're a Captivate or Vibrant owner.