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Aug

[Updated x2: It's Rootable] Exclusive Download: Official Gingerbread Build For The HTC Droid Incredible

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Exclusives, Incredible, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

We've been talking about Gingerbread for the Droid Incredible and its on-again-off-again status quite a bit lately, but after the official support docs showed up on VZW's site, we had confirmation of what we knew all along: the update is alive and kicking. It was rumored that it would start rolling out OTA-style earlier in the week but was delayed for unknown reasons, leaving Incredible owners without their cookie-filled upgrade just a little bit longer.

Fortunately, the wait is over, as we've received and exclusive leak of the Gingerbread RUU from a giving tipster. This looks like the final build, as it shares all the same version number from Verizon's documentation (4.06.605.2), as well as the same baseband (2.15.10.07.07).

Aug

Verizon Will Not Be Getting The Samsung Galaxy S II, Make Ready The Pitchforks And Torches

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S II, News, Verizon Wireless

Samsung has an event coming up on Monday where the US Galaxy S II will finally be announced. We've all been waiting for this beast of a phone to hit US shores for some time, but word just broke that one big name will be left out of the announcement: Verizon. That's right, folks, Big Red will not be getting the SGSII.

It's rumored that VZW will instead be getting the Samsung Stratosphere, a QWERTY-slider along the same lines as the Epic 4G, as well as the Nexus Prime. If that's the case, then I say it's a worthy tradeoff -- the Prime is going to be one device to be reckoned with.

Aug

Motorola Droid Bionic Release Date And Price Outed: September 8th For $299

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Bionic, News

We already know virtually every detail about the upcoming Droid Bionic, and now Phone Arena has snagged a photo of a VZW internal document that basically verifies the last of the rumors: release date and price. We've been hearing rumors of a September 8th date for some time now, and one look at the image shows that pretty much hits the nail on the head. The phone will come in at a minimum advertised price of $299 with a two-year contract, which has quickly become the standard pricing for all of Big Red's 4G LTE phones.

So, now we've seen it, taken a look at the specs, and found out when we can get it and how much it will be -- that pretty much covers all bases.

Aug

Chitika: Verizon Losing Android Market Share, AT&T And Budget Carriers On The Rise

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, AT&T, MetroPCS, News, US Cellular, Verizon Wireless, Virgin Mobile

Chitika released new Android market share figures today by carrier, and the results are somewhat interesting. Verizon, who previously controlled over 50% of the market for Android smartphones, has dropped to almost 40% over the last five months. Who's to blame? AT&T and small budget carriers, apparently (US Cellular, MetroPCS, Virgin Mobile).

August 2011

AT&T now makes up nearly 9% of all Android phones in the US - having more than doubled its share back in March, when it was a mere 3.5% of the pie. Smaller carriers control around 8.5%, up from around 3%. Here's the chart from March:

March 2011

It seems likely that low-end Android devices are having a big effect on these numbers.

Aug

Verizon Wireless Expanding Its 4G LTE Market On Thursday, August 18th - Adding 15 More Cities To The Mix

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Verizon Wireless

It its ever-expanding conquest for mobile domination, Verizon Wireless will be turning on 4G LTE connectivity in 15 more cities across the nation, as well as expanding in 10 existing markets, on Thursday, August 18th.

In the past eight months, VZW has expanded its 4G LTE network to cover over half of the US, putting it on track to bring LTE to more than 185 million Americans by the end of the year.

Cities affected by this expansion will be:

Tucson, AZ
Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers, AR
Bakersfield and Salinas/Monterey/Seaside, CA
Fort Collins, CO
Frederick, MD
Worcester, MA
Omaha, NE
Council Bluffs, IA
Albany, Ithaca and Syracuse, NY
Altoona and Johnstown, PA
Memphis, TN
Prova, UT

In addition to the new markets, ten existing markets will see an expanded coverage area:

Washington DC
Tampa, FL
Atlanta, GA
Baltimore, MD
Boston, MA
Lansing, MI
New York, NY
Cincinnati and Columbus, OH
Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT

If you're not one of the lucky ones getting LTE tomorrow, don't sweat it -- Big Red shows no signs of slowing down this rollout, so there's a good chance you'll be covered by year's end.

Aug

Android 3.2 OTA Update Rolling Out Now For The Verizon Motorola XOOM 3G

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, XOOM

Motorola XOOM 3G owners, today is your lucky day. Okay, well, maybe not lucky, but still good - the OTA update to Android 3.2 has officially started rolling out. This update brings some subtle, yet nice new features to the Motorola tablet:

+ Screen Scaling Compatibility Mode:
Ability to switch to double pixel mode for selected applications.
When selected, application sub-windows and drop down menus are
also doubled. In addition, pixel doubling settings are saved for each
application.

+ SD Card Support:
New microSD card support allows you to use a file manager to view
all the important files, pictures, music, videos and more stored on
your SD card, as well as write content to your SD card via connection
to a PC or Mac.

Aug

Verizon XOOM Android 3.2 Update Rolling Out Soon - SD Card Support Is Finally Here

Posted by David Ruddock in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Well, it's only taken about five months, but Verizon XOOM owners will finally be able to make use of that lovely microSD slot on the side of their tablet. Of course, the OTA update in question does a fair bit more than allow you to up your XOOM's already robust storage. Take a look at this list:

While Verizon (they're the ones publishing the update) doesn't explicitly state that the update, dubbed HTJ85 (has a nice ring to it, right?), brings Android 3.2 to the XOOM, it's clearly implied by the addition of "Screen Scaling Compatibility Mode" - a feature of Android 3.2 that we talked about a while ago.

Jul

[Update: Ready To Rage?] Verizon's Samsung Galaxy S II Will Be 4G LTE Enabled, According To The VZW Support Twitter Account

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S II, News, Verizon Wireless

Update: As if we didn't all see it coming (you should see all of the @mentions we received on Twitter regarding VZWsupport's history of ignorance when this post when live), Verizon Support just tweeted that they were actually referring to the Galaxy Tab 10.1, not the Galaxy S II. One of these days, Verizon should probably consider hiring support people that actually know something about the products in which they support, instead of a group of neophytes that know as much about technology as my eighty-six year old grandmother (read: nothing).

[Thanks, @packruler!]

Here's some news that a lot of you have been waiting to hear: the Verizon branded Samsung Galaxy S II will have 4G LTE -- if the @VZWsupport Twitter account is to be believed, that is.

Jul

[Update: Confirmed] Motorola XOOM To Receive 4G LTE Upgrade In September

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

In the slowly unraveling drama that is the XOOM 4G LTE upgrade, another chapter has been put in place. Rumor has it that VZW XOOM owners may receive an email today letting them know the the upgrade will happen in September -- but we have no confirmation as of yet.

Update: Here is the email we received confirming that the update should indeed start in September:

The original word on the street was that the upgrade should have happened only three months after launch, a deadline severely missed by Motorola/Verizon. If the September date is correct, the VZW XOOM will have been out for seven months when it finally gets its 4G LTE chip. To add insult to injury, the 4G LTE equipped Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is set to hit Big Red's shelves on July 28th.

Jul

DROID 3 Review: It's The Best DROID To Date - Pentile And No 4G Be Damned

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Droid 3, Motorola, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: October 3rd, 2011

The original DROID blew everyone away. It saved Motorola from almost certain bankruptcy, breathed new life into Verizon's smartphone catalog, and made Android a desirable mobile operating system rather than a cheap alternative to iOS. In short, it ushered in a new age of Android devices.

A lot had changed by the time its successor, the DROID 2, launched. The latest Android handsets had larger displays, better designs, and (perhaps most importantly) less buggy custom UIs. While the D2 wasn't a bad phone, it didn't stand a chance - frankly, Motorola had brought a knife to a gunfight.

And now, in July of 2011, yet another sea of change has hit the Android realm.