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Jan

[Updated] Motorola Announces "Developer Edition" RAZR With Unlockable Bootloader Headed To Europe And Another Unlockable Device For The U.S. Soon

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, Motorola, News, RAZR / RAZR MAXX

Motorola announced today through its official community blog that a RAZR "Developer Edition" (evidently based on the original Droid RAZR, not its newer MAXX counterpart) is in the works. The dev-friendly device will carry an unlockable bootloader and is poised to hit European markets relatively soon, with a (yet unspecified) unlockable device bound for the U.S. "in the coming months." Oddly enough, the blog post was pulled (perhaps it was published prematurely; Update: it's live once again), but luckily the text of the post has been retained:

New Motorola RAZR™ Developer Edition will feature unlocked bootloader in Europe

We have some news for the community of people interested in unlockable/relockable bootloaders.

Jan

Motorola Files New Lawsuit In Florida, Seeks Injunction Against iPhone 4S And iCloud

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Legal, Motorola, News

Adding another suit to the series of legal skirmishes falling under the overarching battle between Apple and Android Manufacturers, Motorola Mobility has filed a new lawsuit in Florida, accusing Apple of infringing on a handful of technology patents. This suit is hot on the heels of a preliminary U.S. ITC decision that Moto had not infringed on Apple's patents, and comes as an addition to an existing Florida lawsuit (which began in late 2010).

The suit includes six patents, ranging from internal antennas to methods for communicating summarized data. Here's a full list, courtesy of FOSS Patents, who first broke the story:

U.S.

Dec

Samsung: The Galaxy Note Is Coming To The U.S. In 2012

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Note (GT-N7000), News

The Galaxy Note from Samsung, a device that has an almost cult-like following at this point. Those who love it, really love it. Those who hate it, well... just hate it. Some say it's too big, while others lust for its 5.3-inch Super AMOLED HD display. Unfortunately, U.S. users have been left wanting since the Note's release a few months ago. Sure, we've seen tell-tale signs that it is indeed going to land stateside eventually, but Samsung has now removed all doubt.

The company stated during its one-million sales milestone announcement that the device will be coming to the States in 2012.

Dec

Protip: Use Coupon Code "VZSucks" And Get $45 Off Your Unlocked U.S. Galaxy Nexus At eTailer Negri Electronics

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Deals, Galaxy Nexus, News, Verizon Wireless

With a phone as highly anticipated as the Galaxy Nexus, it's understandable that people are (very, very) frustrated with the many rumored release dates passing with nothing to show and no official word, especially when stock of the phone is sitting in store rooms at retailers around the countries. Worse, many theories are that it's basically motivated by greed on the part of Verizon. No surprise, then, that even retailers are hopping on board the Verizon-sucks bandwagon:

If you'd like to purchase an unlocked US Samsung Galaxy Nexus (GSM), you can get one for $730.50 at Negri Electronics. Rather hilariously, if you use the discount code "VZSucks", you can knock another $45 off that, bringing the new total to $685.50.

Nov

ASUS Officially Reveals The Transformer Prime's Release Date – It's Not December 8th, But Close Enough

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News, Tablets

Last Updated: August 2nd, 2012

Adding to the heap of Transformer Prime mania, ASUS has revealed to us the official release date for one of the most hotly anticipated Android tablets to date.

ASUS tells us that the Transformer Prime, (the world's first Tegra 3 tablet), should be available starting December 19th in North America (the previous estimate of December 12th has been ruled out, in an update from ASUS), with a rumored December 1st release date in Taiwan. European and Asian markets are expected to formally announce availability soon. ASUS also mentioned a 3G model headed for the US, but did not specify a release date just yet.

Sep

Poll: Does The Samsung Galaxy Player Really Have A Place In The US?

Posted by David Ruddock in Galaxy Player 4.0, Galaxy Player 50, Polls, Samsung

When I saw the announcement by Samsung that they were bringing the Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 portable media players to the US, I paused, and thought "Uh, why?" We have yet to come up with an answer.

That's to say, we're not sure what Samsung is thinking bringing a PMP (portable media player) product line into the United States, where the iPod Touch dominates that already-dwindling market to a laughable extent. PMPs are a product of the early smartphone era, where having a device that could make phone calls, store your music, videos, and play games was simply impractical because of technological battery and storage limitations.

Sep

Google Voice May Finally Be Coming To The Rest Of The World

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Applications, News, Rumors

Finally! After being limited to US users for the past 2 years, it looks like Google Voice may finally be opening up to the rest of the world. The Next Web has been informed by Jens Redmer, Google's European Director of Business Development, that "Google is currently 'dogfooding' its telephony service Google Voice in Europe ahead of a planned launch outside the US".

Google Voice is a telecommunications and VoIP service developed by Google that allows users (until now limited to residents in the US) to make domestic and international calls from their mobile phone, the Android and iPhone app, the web app, and/or by dialling their personal Google Voice number.

Sep

US Release Of Galaxy Tab 7.7 And Galaxy Note Not In The Pipelines, Says Samsung Rep

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Galaxy Note (GT-N7000), Galaxy Tab 7.7, News, Samsung

If the insanely high-res screens of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab 7.7 have you drooling, you're certainly not alone. But if you live in the US, it's all too likely that you will never have the opportunity to see either of the devices in person.

At IFA 2011, the very same conference where the 7.7 and the Note were made official, a Samsung representative told GottaBeMobile that there are currently no plans to sell the gadgets in the US. For a moment or two there was a glimmer of hope - it wasn't clear whether the rep was referring to the seven-inch mini-tablet or the five-inch jumbo-phone - but after a brief bout of texting, it became obvious: neither of the devices are scheduled to cross the pond.

Aug

Samsung Epic Touch 4G (Sprint's Galaxy S II) Press Shots Leaked: It's A Looker

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Epic 4G Touch, News, Samsung, Sprint

Samsung's NYC event may have been rescheduled for August 30th, but that doesn't mean you'll have to wait till Tuesday to see the US versions of the Galaxy S II. We've already gotten a sneak peek at the visages of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint's editions of the phone, and now (once again courtesy of Pocketnow) another press shot has been leaked:

This is, of course, the Epic Touch 4G - Sprint's version of the device. It looks like Big Yellow has done thankfully little tweaking of the GSII: unlike most modern smartphones, there's no logo on the front of the device, and the handset appears to be just as svelte as its European counterpart.

Jul

Galaxy S II Landing Stateside In August, According To Samsung's President Of Mobile Business

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Galaxy S II, News, Samsung

Sound the trumpets and ring the bells - Samsung's much-anticipated Galaxy S II will be arriving in the US next month! How do we know? During the announcement of the South Korean Galaxy Tab 10.1, Shin Jong-kyun, president of mobile business and digital imaging for Samsung, said:

"We expect to release the Galaxy S2 in the U.S. market sometime in August," Shin Jong-kyun, president of Samsung’s mobile business and digital imaging, told reporters at a media briefing.

Of course, this is hardly a firm release date, but at least we now have an idea of when we can expect to see this beauty on American store shelves.