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Aug

Music Lovers Rejoice - Sony Ericsson Unveils "Live With Walkman" Android Smartphone

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Live w/ Walkman (Coconut), News, Sony Ericsson

Last Updated: December 30th, 2011

The "Walkman" brand name, originally created by Sony over 30 years ago, lives on in Sony Ericsson's newest Android device, the "Live with Walkman". This diminutive smartphone, announced in a press release earlier today, will be a music playing device first and foremost with a dedicated music discovery button and "deep Facebook integration," which means it will most likely carry something similar to (or exactly like) Sony's "Facebook inside Xperia" interface.

The device will run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and will have the following mediocre specifications:

3.2-inch capacitive touch-screen display (480 x 320 pixels)
1Ghz processor
5MP rear camera with 8x digital zoom, auto focus, and LED flash
Front facing VGA camera
720p video recording
320MB internal storage (Editor's Note: Yes, we think this is as absurd as you do.

Aug

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 3G Available For Pre-Order On Amazon UK For £605.34, Launches On August 12th

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Galaxy Tab 8.9, News

Unveiled at CTIA earlier this year, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 was slated for a “summer” launch in the US. However, if the Amazon UK pre-order page is the real deal it looks like our English cousins will be the first to get their hands on this device when it launches on August 12th in the UK (the original “in stock date” was reported as August 11th by Engadget, however this appears to have changed).

The 3G-enabled device can be pre-ordered for £605.34 and according to the Amazon page it will be available in “pure white”. There does not appear to be any indication of how much memory this particular version will have, however the rather exorbitant price suggests that this is likely to be the 32GB version (priced at $569 in the US).

May

[Update: Now It's Official] Samsung DROID Charge To Finally Hit VZW Shelves Tomorrow

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Charge (i510), News, Verizon Wireless

If you have been patiently waiting for the first 4G LTE DROID to hit Verizon's network after last month's 4G outage that delayed the original release, you'll be pleased to know that your wait ends tomorrow, as the Samsung DROID Charge is finally set to hit the shelves of Big Red.

The DROID Charge has been subject to heavy criticism due to its high price tag and lackluster hardware (read: lack of a dual core processor), and even got a not-so-great review from our own David Ruddock. Regardless, this will most likely be the new flagship device for VZW, but it's going to have a tough hill to climb if it wants to successfully compete with any of the previous DROIDs.

Apr

Samsung DROID Charge Launching April 14 At Sears, Incredible 2 To Follow On April 21

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, Incredible 2 (Vivow), News, Rumors, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Verizon Wireless, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

Last we heard, Samsung's DROID Charge was scheduled to be released on April 7th - yesterday. Well needless to say, that date has come and gone without so much as a mention of Samsung's LTE handset; however, thanks to Sears, we now have a new timeline: April 14.

The leak also brings news that's bound to make HTC fans smile - the Incredible 2's release date has been rescheduled from April 28th to the 21st, a decidedly welcome change.

Finally, Sony Ericsson's Xperia PLAY is, apparently, still pegged for a 4/28 release, despite reported supply shortages.

Of course, all this info comes with a disclaimer - in the words of the leaked pamphlet itself, "[these] launch dates [are] subject to change." Still, it's refreshing to at least have a general idea of when these three smartphone behemoths will be available for purchase - that way, you can start preparing yourself and your camping materials for a long night outside your local Verizon store.

Mar

[Updated] The Amazon Android Appstore Now Live - Angry Birds Rio Is The First Free App Of The Day [Download]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Apps/Games, News

Moments ago, after months of preparations and precisely on the rumored release date of March 22nd, the Amazon Android Appstore finally went live.

Update: The Amazon App Store is now back up, but it looks like it's US-only. Also, the Test Drive is not available anymore, at least for now.

If the appstore is still down for you, try downloading the app using this direct link to the appstore APK (I got it via an SMS from Amazon): http://amzn.to/getappstore. You should be able to log into your account, browse, and download apps this way.

You can filter apps by featured categories, such as Instant Trials, Bestsellers, Top Rated, New Releases, Free, and Deals, as well as conventional categories, such as Games, Music, News & Weather, etc.

Feb

Latest From The Stack Of HTC Thunderbolt Release Date Rumors: February 24th

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

First it was a mystery. Then it was the 14th of February. After that, it was indeterminately postponed. And now, Android Central is reporting that the Thunderbolt will finally launch on February 24th.

This lines up perfectly with Droid Life's earlier speculations, though of course, it's always possible that Verizon will push the date back yet again. Because, you know, it's not like anyone is eagerly awaiting the carrier's first 4G phone or anything.

Update: Things are looking even more certain now: BGR has also been told that the Thunderbolt will be released on the 24th.

Feb

Vodafone Makes It Official: Nexus S Launching Worldwide In Black And White

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in Google, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Vodafone

Vodafone has officially announced they will be launching a black and white Nexus S on contract in 24 countries worldwide. Vodafone, which was one of Google's first carrier partners for the Nexus One, has listed the device as "coming soon" on their website. This should bump Nexus S sales a bit in the UK as up until now, the Google-branded handset was only available in the UK unlocked.

At this point, we do not have any details on a price or probable launch date, but look for this device soon. For those interested, hit the source link for more details.

Feb

HTC Thunderbolt DELAYED By Verizon, New Launch Date To Be Decided

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

Some internal document sent somewhere at some point today was captured by someone and then sent on to Droid-Life, and the news it contains isn't going to be making anyone particularly happy:

Here's the deal: the Thunderbolt won't be launching on the 14th (next week). Amazon and Best Buy apparently had it wrong, and Amazon has since updated its page to reflect that unknown launch date.

The Thunderbolt's Mobile Hotspot feature has also been pushed back, but I would assume this is merely to accommodate the device's new release date. The XOOM also got a mention - something about a delay with the "creative" for the device, I presume this is in reference to advertisements and kiosks and such (correct me if I'm wrong on this, commenters).

Dec

Sprint Officially Launches 4G (WiMax) In The SF Bay Area For San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Jose, And Oakland

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Epic 4G, EVO 4G (Supersonic), News, Sprint

Earlier this year, on June 16th (which also happens to be my birthday), I stepped out of a train in Mountain View and, to my delight, caught my first ever 4G signal in the Bay Area. It seems I was not alone, and soon many of you were reporting seeing a weak signal, which slowly grew stronger and spread across the Bay.

Fast forward 6 months, and the announcement is finally here - Sprint just unleashed the 4G hounds and is officially supporting San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Jose, and Oakland in full capacity. The new WiMax connection has smaller latency and is over 5 times faster than 3G, although the coverage area still lacks quite a bit.

Dec

Best Buy Drops More Details Regarding Launch Of Samsung Nexus S

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju)

Want to know more about this Thursday's Samsung Nexus S launch? Well, Best Buy isn't going to leave you hanging. Earlier today, the company dropped a few more tidbits of information regarding the exclusive launch of the Samsung Nexus S. The details are as follows: