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May

Vodafail: The Story Of The Stolen Xperia Play Shipment In New Zealand Is Fake, Just A [Tasteless] Marketing Ploy

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Vodafone

Earlier this morning, news broke of a horrible deed - the entire stock of Xperia Play phones was allegedly stolen from Vodafone NZ, leaving hundreds of giant-thumbed customers button-mashing nothing but air for the foreseeable future. We deliberately skipped this story, even though it was spreading like fire, but what happened next prompted me to grab my ~~pen~~ keyboard and give this crime some coverage.

Remember those missing devices? Yeah, never happened. The whole event that started with last night's post on Vodafone's own Facebook page, later augmented with video footage of the alleged attack, was a carefully orchestrated stunt by the company.

Apr

CNN Remembers Not All Of Us Have Tablets, Releases App For Android Phones

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Almost 2 months ago, CNN pushed out its first news app to the Android Market, though with one quite annoying caveat - it was created specifically for Honeycomb devices, which were quite scarce to say the least (i.e. the XOOM).

As you can imagine, ~~those without Honeycomb tablets~~ pretty much everyone started demanding an app as well and today finally got their wish granted. CNN App for Android Phones (as opposed to CNN App for Android) was just released to the Market, with support for Android 2.1+ and full of features you would expect from a smaller screen port of its big brother:

U.S.

Feb

Yes, Folks, Honeycomb IS A Tablet OS - Though Some Of Its Features May Arrive On Phones "Over Time"

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

If, for whatever reason, you didn't believe that Honeycomb is an OS built exclusively for tablets (despite the third slide of Google's official video teaser), here's yet more proof for your doubting mind.

First up, we have a report from PC Magazine, who has been told by a "company spokesman" that Honeycomb will not be available on Android smartphones. However, some of its features will be carried over (PC Mag thinks Movie Studio and browser enhancements are likely candidates) - just as should be expected.

Additionally, Phandroid has a "trusted source" who claims that Google is currently working on Android build GRI17 (that's Gingerbread post-Honeycomb, or Ice Cream Sandwich).

Jan

Sony PlayStation Suite And PlayStation Store Official, Bring PSOne Games To Android Devices

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Games, News, Sony, Sony Ericsson

Sony's new PlayStation Suite isn't the PlayStation Phone (or the Xperia Play) we were expecting, but it's arguably something even better for those of us who love gaming but hate the idea of giving up our current Android device(s).

Sony claims that PlayStation Suite will offer "legendary original PlayStation content" and says it will be a "cross platform, cross device" PSOne emulator. In reality, it's limited to Android 2.3 and beyond - a version of Android only one currently available handset runs (and it's not Sony's own Xperia X10). Still, PS Suite does look intriguing, especially when you consider Sony's "PlayStation Certified" program for hardware manufacturers, which will, supposedly, ensure a high-quality gaming experience.

Jan

T-Mobile To Launch A Massive Pre-MWC Sale On February 11th - 12th

Posted by Josh Cooter in Deals, News, T-Mobile

T-Mobile is planning a huge sale on February 11th and 12th to kick off the new year, TmoNews learned today. According to a memo sent to T-Mo retail stores, "it is expected to be similar to the first half of the Father's day promotion," which reportedly reeled in over 100,000 new customer contracts last year.

Little else can be confirmed about the sale until more information is provided on February 8th, but we can be sure that it will be a knockout because each store is being told to "max out as many employees as possible for the first half of the day."

Curiously, the big sale goes live 2 days before MWC, where we expect to see a flood of mobile related announcements and product launches - clearly, T-Mobile is having the fire sale before it's too late.

Jan

Eric Schmidt In HBR: "Preparing For The Big Mobile Revolution"

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News, Off-Topic

While only tangentially related to Android, a post on the Harvard Business Review by Eric Schmidt (the CEO of Google, in case you weren't aware) provides a glimpse of what he sees coming in the world of mobile technology. His post isn't especially long, and I'm not too keen on plagiarism, so here are Schmidt's three points:

Focus on developing LTE networks
Using mobile phones for commerce (to transfer money)
Smartphone proliferation - put smartphones in the hands of the poor

While short, it's an interesting piece; certainly worth a read.

[Source: Harvard Business Review]

Jan

[Giveaway] 6 Excellent Trident Cases Are Up For Grabs - Samsung Vibrant (2), HTC Droid Incredible (2), Motorola Droid X (2)

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Contests / Giveaways, Droid X (Shadow), HTC, Incredible, Motorola, Samsung, Vibrant

Last Updated: January 18th, 2011

Introduction

This contest is now over. We have selected the winners - see if you are one of them towards the bottom of the page.

Remember Trident Case, the company that produced the excellent Cyclops case for the EVO 4G? Well, it turns out that very manufacturer has a whole lot more cases in its inventory, including the following beauties:

^{From left to right: the Cyclops case for the Samsung Vibrant, the Kraken case for the HTC Droid Incredible, and the Kraken case for the Motorola Droid X}

As good as they are, however, there will be those of you reluctant to hand over $34.95 for a case to protect your phone, which is understandable in these tough economic times.

Dec

Samsung Sells Three Million Galaxy S Devices In The States Alone, Becomes #1 Android Manufacturer In The US

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in AT&T, Captivate, Continuum, Epic 4G, Fascinate, Mesmerize, News, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Verizon Wireless, Vibrant

If you thought the news that Samsung shifted more than a million Galaxy Tabs was impressive, just wait 'til you hear this one: the company today announced that over three million of its Galaxy S smartphones have been sold in the US alone. This not only means that Sammy now owns 32.1% of the Android market in the US; it also makes Samsung the #1 supplier of Android devices in the US. Unfortunately, it's clear that the rollout of Froyo hasn't been able to keep up with the devices' sales.

via Engadget

Samsung Mobile Named #1 Android Smartphone Provider Based on Retail Sales in U.S.

Nov

Amazon Wireless Black Friday Android Deals Are Up - Most Phones On Sale Starting At $0.01

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in AT&T, Deals, Devices By Manufacturer, News, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

If you thought Amazon's recent deals on all AT&T Android phones and all Verizon Droids were good, just wait 'til you see what they've got in store for the holidays. Amazon Wireless' Black Friday deals are now up, though without a definitive end date - instead, the deals will be available while supplies last. Of course, it goes without saying that Amazon Wireless does not charge tax in most states (except for KY, KS, NY, ND, and WA) and has free shipping, beating out carriers' own retail stores any day.

Check out the great deals we have on some of our bestselling smartphones from all the major carriers.

Nov

Panasonic To Enter The Smartphone Market In 2011 Using Android

Posted by Nate Kimmey in News, Panasonic

If the Samsung Galaxy S taking over sales of the iPhone 4 in Japan is any indication, Android is growing at an insane rate, and isn't showing any signs of stopping. And that's exactly why Panasonic is choosing our favorite mobile OS in its return to the smartphone market. Starting early next year, the company plans on selling multiple smartphones in Japan, although sales in other countries will not begin until 2012.

"We misjudged the speed at which smartphones would be taken up in the Japanese market," Osamu Waki, head of the company's mobile communications unit said at a news conference.