Verizon Wireless - 20/33 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

HTC DROID Incredible May Be Getting Gingerbread (Android 2.3) In June

Posted by David Ruddock in Gingerbread 2.3, HTC, Incredible

Droid-life just dropped an exciting informational tidbit for Incredible owners to mull over: the device may be getting the Gingerbread bump some at the end of the second quarter. The upgrade to 2.3 will entail all of the optimizations made to the Android OS since Froyo's release almost a year ago, and hopefully will provide Incredible owners with the newest version of HTC's Sense UI.

The tip came via an email from an HTC rep in response to a customer's help ticket:

Dear Thomas,

I will be happy to assist with your software update inquiry. Indeed the Incredible is going to get 2.3 Gingerbread and we expect to be ready to release it with Verizon before the end of the second quarter of this year.

Mar

It Wasn't Just Verizon - The HTC Incredible S' Bootloader And Recovery Are Signed As Well

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, HTC, Incredible S (Vivo), News

Conspiracy theorists would have you believe that the ThunderBolt's signed (and locked) bootloader was all Verizon's doing, but it appears that isn't quite the case - the Incredible S, one of HTC's unlocked GSM phones, is shipping with a similar failsafe system. That basically means no custom ROMs for you (at least until a viable workaround is discovered).

Proof? Look no further than the contents of this Incredible S RUU:

From what our friends at AndIRC can tell (note that they don't have a device in hand), the Incredible S includes a signature check much like the one on the ThunderBolt.

Mar

Best Buy Wises Up - Thunderbolt's $249.99 Price Extended Past March 20

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

Just a couple of days ago I was ranting at Best Buy's preposterous announcement that they were going to hike the price of the HTC Thunderbolt, starting on March 20, from its launch price of $249.99 to a staggering $299.99. Apparently someone in the land of BB thought twice about this plan, as the folks over at Droid Life bring us news that the retailer is now changing its tune. Best Buy today announced that they would extend the $250 price tag "beyond the initial [March] 20 end-date outlined in the original announcement."

Verizon was going to continue selling it for $250 and Amazon is even hocking it for just $179.99, so you would have had choices even if Best Buy had stuck with their original ~~robbery~~ plan.

Feb

Did EA Just Diss Verizon Users Again? Bejeweled 2 Now On Sale For $0.99, Unless You're On Verizon ($2.99)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

A couple of weeks ago, EA released Bejeweled 2 to the Android Market, and many Bejeweled fans jumped on it like bees on honey. Most found the game in the Market just fine for $2.99, but others were stumped when they saw a whopping $7.99 price tag.

Those others were all Verizon customers, as we found out after digging in, because apparently EA decided to release 2 separate, but otherwise exactly identical versions of the game - one for VZW customers and one for everyone else.

After being called out by us and a few other blogs, EA came to their senses, quietly lowered the VZW app's price to $2.99, and everything was back to normal again.

Feb

Sanjay Jha On Motorola XOOM Pricing: 3G Version Will Cost $799, WiFi-Only Model To Retail For $600

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Told you so - the price of the XOOM will indeed be significantly less than $1,200 (at least according to Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha). In fact, if you decide to take the WiFi-only route, the tablet will cost just $600 - half of the price Best Buy put up (and subsequently took down). 3G connectivity will come with a $199 premium (jacking the price up to $799), though it's worth noting that the XOOM's radio will see an LTE upgrade sometime down the road.

Of course, there's probably one question on your mind: "How does this look next to Apple's pricing?" Well the cost of the WiFi-only model actually compares favorably - a 32 GB WiFi iPad costs $599, so the two tablets will be neck-to-neck.

Feb

[Videos] WireFly Reviews The HTC Thunderbolt, Compares It To HTC EVO 4G And Verizon iPhone 4

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in HTC, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless, Videos

Last week our friends at WireFly unboxed the HTC Thunderbolt, but spent little time actually using the device. They left us with a few tantalizing tidbits though, saying "this phone cranks," and promising a full video review, as well as head-to-head comparisons with the iPhone 4 and the EVO 4G. Yesterday, the last of the three videos went up - let's take a look.

Video Review

The review video is just over 8 minutes long. The first few minutes are spent running through the system, and from the 4:10 mark onwards, they run some benchmarks and compare the scores to other devices.

Jan

Whoa: Verizon's New VZ Navigator VX Might Just Give Google Navigation A Run For Its Money. Yes, Seriously.

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Applications, Apps/Games, Droid X (Shadow), Fascinate, Incredible, News, Verizon Wireless

Based on the press release and official video, Verizon's new VZ Navigator VX is awesome. Really awesome. Potentially better than Google Maps 5/Google Navigation - and yes, I can hardly believe I'm saying that either, since the new GMaps combo provides a hell of a punch. But check out the short (just over two minutes) promo video, and you'll see what I mean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRV8-u7adeQ&feature=player_embedded

Two major items of note there: first, assuming everything works, then big red did a hell of a job on the app. Second, they've delivered just what we've all been asking for: more Bing! As the video proudly shows, there's a serious degree of Bing integration in the app.

Jan

Abra-Kadabra! HTC Thunderbolt To Allow For Simultaneous Voice and Data On Verizon 3G!

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

With training for the HTC Thunderbolt starting today, a few Thunderbolt goodies surfaced. According to the leaked screenshot, the HTC Thunderbolt will be able to handle both voice and data simultaneously on Verizon 3G. As many of you probably already know, Verizon's CDMA network was incapable of producing this in the past (voice and data use separate channels on CDMA), but apparently HTC and Big Red have done some magic and figured out a way on this new 4G device.

For those who can’t see the text in the watermark in the image above:

There is functionality in the Thunderbolt that allows simultaneous voice and data while on the VZW 3G network, however, we cannot promise the experience will be one that is consistent with our brand. As a result, do not reference this functionality as a benefit during your conversations with customers.

Jan

Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha: Atrix 4G, 3G XOOM Coming At The End Of February; Droid Bionic, LTE XOOM In Q2

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Atrix 4G (Olympus), Bionic, Motorola, News, XOOM

You could say Motorola's earnings call ended on a high note - the company's CEO, Sanjay Jha, told analysts that the Atrix 4G will be launching at the end of February, as will the 3G version of the XOOM. That doesn't quite line up with the rumors we've been hearing about a February 17th release, and Jha later added that the XOOM might even be bumped to a release in March if things don't go according to plan. Bummer.

As for the Droid Bionic and the LTE-capable version of the XOOM, Sanjay said those devices should arrive at the end of Q2.

Jan

Motorola XOOM To Launch On February 17th, Confirmed By Internal Best Buy Document

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Motorola, News, XOOM

An eager reader forwarded an internal Best Buy memo to Engadget which indicates, in no uncertain terms, that the Motorola XOOM tablet is set to launch at Best Buy on February 17th.

A leak from Verizon has confirmed that the unsubsidized price of the XOOM will be $799. However, Best Buy may be retailing the device for an altogether different price.

The XOOM is an important device for both Motorola and Google because it will be the first tablet to run Android 3.0 Honeycomb, an iteration of the Android OS that supports the tablet form factor. Google rubber-stamped their approval over this product when Andy Rubin demoed Honeycomb on the XOOM at AllThingsD's D:Dive Into Mobile.