vzw - 15/20 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

Verizon Releases Explosive New Ad For Samsung's DROID Charge - Prepare To Have Your Mind Blown

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Charge (i510), Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Big Red has always been renowned for its awe-inspiring commercials, but this latest spot for the DROID Charge takes things to a whole new level. Trapdoors, monolithic Microsoft Surface-style touchscreens, mind-boggling explosions - you name it, Verizon's included it. I won't spoil the fun for you, though; go ahead and watch the ad for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz13Ecw9Fr4

Too bad that fulmination didn't rid the phone of its outrageous $300 price tag.

Source: Verizon (YouTube) via Droid Life

Apr

DROID Pro Update Is Rolling Out Now, Includes Bug Fixes and UI Improvements

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Droid Pro, News, Verizon Wireless

It looks like an update for the Blackberry-style DROID Pro has just hit the Verizon update network, which will bring the current software version up to 3.8.7. It's not as exciting as a Gingerbread update would be, but it does bring some welcome bug fixes and UI enhancements.

Also included in this update are several Exchange ActiveSync improvements, like calendar synchronization. The rest of this update consists primarily of bug fixes, a Bluetooth voice recording enhancement, and the addition of Verizon's V CAST Appstore.

According to Motorola's support forums, you should be able to pull this update now by going to Settings>About Phone>System.

Apr

Verizon Has 565,000 4G LTE Subscribers, Will Speeds Start Suffering Soon?

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, Carriers, Editorials, News, Verizon Wireless

Verizon released the first subscriber figures for its rapidly expanding 4G network today - presumably to highlight strong sales of the carrier's first 4G handset, the HTC Thunderbolt.

Of the 565,000 (500,000 is the number Verizon added to its subscriber base in Q1) 4G users, about 260,000 are utilizing Verizon's LTE service via an HTC Thunderbolt. This means that since the launch of the Thunderbolt on March 17, Verizon has been gaining over 100,000 new LTE subscribers a week. And with 4G devices like the Samsung DROID Charge and the Motorola DROID BIONIC on the way, it seems Big Red's 4G campaign is just getting started.

Apr

Verizon Expanding Its LTE Market To 6 More Areas Starting Today, For A Total Of 47

Posted by Cameron Summerson in 4G, News, Verizon Wireless

As of today, Verizon Wireless has announced plans to expand its 4G LTE market to 6 more cities, including Clarksville, TN; Hopkinsville, KY; Cleveland, TN; Columbia and Hilton Head, SC; Wilmington, NC; and the Greater Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. These new additions will bring the total list of 4G covered areas to 47:

· Phoenix, Ariz.

· Los Angeles, Calif.

· Oakland, Calif.

· San Diego, Calif.

· San Francisco, Calif.

· San Jose, Calif.

· Denver, Colo.

· Washington, D.C.

· Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

· Jacksonville, Fla.

· Miami, Fla.

· Orlando, Fla.

· Tampa, Fla.

· West Palm Beach, Fla.

Apr

Wirefly Unboxes HTC DROID Incredible 2, Confirms Global Radio And April 28th Release Date

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, Incredible 2 (Vivow), News, Verizon Wireless

Verizon hasn't officially added the DROID Incredible 2 to its Android army yet, but don't tell Wirefly that - the online smartphone retailer just put up an unboxing video for HTC and Big Red's latest handset.

You won't find much that we didn't already know from past leaks, but the vid does provide a nice recap of the phone's specs:

4-inch WVGA (800x480) TFT display
8MP camera with dual Xenon flash
768MB of RAM
8GB micro SD card out of the box
3G connectivity on Verizon's EVDO Rev. A network (no LTE, unfortunately)
Global (GSM/CDMA) radio with Verizon/Vodafone SIM out of the box
1420mAh battery

As for the box's contents, you'll find a smorgasbord of charging adapters, a microUSB cable, and...

Apr

[Poll] Updated: Motorola Pushing Back Release Of DROID Bionic To "Incorporate Several Enhancements"

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Bionic, Motorola, News, Polls, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

As you may (or may not) recall, we crowned the DROID Bionic the most exciting device in Verizon's LTE lineup after playing with it at CES, but it appears that the version we saw might not be the version that'll end up in retail stores. Over the past few days we've heard countless reports that the device has been delayed (or even cancelled), and now a Motorola spokeswoman has reached out to the Wall Street Journal with this nugget of information:

Based on compelling feedback since the show, we are incorporating several enhancements to make this an even better consumer experience.

Apr

HTC DROID Incredible 2 Spec Sheet Leaks Out, Confirms Global Radio

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, Incredible 2 (Vivow), News, Verizon Wireless

There's little that we didn't already know about HTC's upcoming DROID Incredible 2, but if there was any lingering doubt on your mind, you'll be happy to hear that Droid Life has acquired the official spec sheet for the device:

Indeed, the Incredible 2 will feature a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 4-inch SLCD display, SRS WOW HD surround sound, a 16GB microSD card, an 8MP camera, and Android 2.2 out of the box. But you probably already knew that.

What you might not have realized is that the phone will sport a global radio, meaning that, just as with the DROID Pro and DROID 2 Global, you'll be able to connect to a GSM network (likely Vodafone's) while abroad.

Apr

[Leak] Droid X 2 Pictures, Benchmark, And Video

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Droid X2, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

Well, well, well... look what our friends over at Techno Buffalo have come across - the Droid X2! One of their loyal tipsters has sent in some really great pictures of the DX2, including side-by-side shots with the original Droid X. And as if that weren't enough, they even grabbed a quick video of this upcoming monster performing a Quadrant benchmark. I know you're probably frothing at the mouth to see that, so it's first in line:

Did you see that score? Yeah, that was huge. Of course, I would expect nothing less, considering some of the rumored specs:

1.2GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor
768MB RAM
4.3 inch qHD screen (960x540)
8MP Camera
Android 2.2.2

According to Techno Buffalo, it has yet to be decided whether it will ship with Gingerbread.

Apr

Tiamat Kernel Adds SD Card Support To Motorola XOOM, Modders Show Up Google Once Again

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

The XOOM's currently nonfunctional microSD card slot has likely turned off many a potential buyer, but – if you're willing to take your chances with unofficial software from the Android dev community – the problem has finally been solved.

The solution comes by way of an update to Tiamat, a custom kernel from XDA member bigrushdog. Installation is more or less identical to any other kernel, but if you need instructions, knock yourself out:

1. Reboot into the bootloader by running:
adb reboot bootloader
2. Flash the boot image to your boot partition, then boot back into Android by running:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot reboot
3.

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.