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Jul

AT&T Samsung Captivate Galaxy S Series Phone Now Available For $199.99

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in AT&T, Captivate, News, Samsung

Today, right on schedule, AT&T has launched Samsung Captivate - a 2nd Galaxy S series phone incarnation in the US, 3 days after T-Mobile's Samsung Vibrant. The phone is available for $199.99 on a contract and $499.99 without.

Specs

Let's recap Captivate's specs:

1GHz Hummingbird processor
a gorgeous 4" Super AMOLED
a 5MP camera with 720p HD video recording
16GB internal storage
DLNA certified
comes with the Swype keyboard pre-installed
Android 2.1 Eclair
4.5oz
9.9mm
1500mAh battery

Our Captivate Preview

Samsung was kind enough to send us a Captivate early - check out our AT&T’s Samsung Captivate Unboxing And Initial Hands-On!

Jul

Motorola Droid X OTA Update On The Way, Bringing Bug Fixes

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Droid X (Shadow), News, Verizon Wireless

Verizon’s support page for the Droid X now has details on an OTA update for the Droid X. The update brings a number of fixes:

Verizon Wireless and Motorola encourage you to download this
update today.

Improvements:
+ Improved battery charging status indicator.
+ Smoother transition for camera and camcorder functions.
+ Redesign of weather widget icons.
+ Faster Exchange ActiveSync® email loading.
+ Streamlined organization of newly downloaded applications.
+ Organized favorite contacts by call count.
+ Updated Bluetooth® connection for enhanced video
sharing experience.
+ Coordinated date and time across phone displays.
+ Cleaner looking status bar for GPS symbol.

Jul

Amazon.com Drops T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant Price To $99.99 From $149.99

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Samsung, T-Mobile, Vibrant

On Thursday, Samsung Vibrant's launch day, Amazon.com one-upped T-Mobile's own store by offering an extra $50 discount off the phone's $199.99 price.

However, after seeing LetsTalk.com launch their offer of $99.99, Amazon.com didn't want to get left behind and now promptly followed suit, also dropping the price to $99.99 for new accounts.

If you are looking for information on the Vibrant, you can see our unboxing pictures and comparison to the AT&T's Samsung Captivate here.

Source: Amazon.com via Nick T

Jul

Motorola Won’t Blow Up Your Droid X With eFuse If You Try To Mod It - It Just Will Not Boot Until Reverted Back To Stock

Posted by John Thompson in Droid X (Shadow), Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the bootloader of the Droid X, and more specifically, whether the ‘eFuse’ will render your phone inoperable if you choose to replace the boot loader.

If you’re not up to speed with the story, it all started with this post a few days ago on MyDroidWorld, which claims that the Droid X boot loader is fitted with eFuse technology, which can physically brick the phone if you try to alter the boot loader in any way. Altering the boot loader is needed to install a custom recovery, which is then capable of doing full Nandroid backups and restores, as well as allows for installing custom ROMs.

Jul

Vodafone Releasing FroYo Update For Nexus One Soon

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Froyo 2.2, News, Nexus One (Passion), Vodafone

Vodafone Germany has been sending out a few interesting tweets lately, and the official word seems to be that Android 2.2 should be rolling out to Nexus One users sometime in the next few days (presumably, those are business days). Granted, we’re working with Google Translate on this one, but it’s probably safe to assume the translation is solid.

I’m a bit surprised there’s even a fuss at all, as the finalized FroYo update has only been rolling out to US N1 users for a short while, and no other phones have yet to receive official FroYo. Still, there you have it – should keep customers happy.

Jul

Surprise Unboxing Of The T-Mobile Vibrant + Plus A Short Hands-On And Captivate Comparison (Pics)

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in AT&T, Captivate, Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, News, Samsung, T-Mobile, Vibrant

Try to say that title 3 times fast, eh? Yesterday I received a text from my fiancee letting me know that FedEx had just dropped off a package for me, and more specifically, Android Police. After the Samsung Captivate arrived the previous day, I wasn’t expecting any additional deliveries, so I had her rip it open, only to reveal that the awesome folks at Samsung sent a shiny new Vibrant our way as well!

I meant to keep this unboxing and hands-on specific to the Vibrant, but I couldn’t help allowing the Captivate to join in on the fun. I took plenty of side by side shots and video (to be uploaded later) highlighting some of the differences and showing how the Vibrant handles 3D gaming.

Jul

HTC Desire Headed To Canada On Telus

Posted by Ron Hamelin in Carriers, Desire (Bravo/BravoC), News

Android is getting some love from the great white North: the HTC Desire is coming to Canada on Telus. The Desire features:

Sony SLCD 3.7” HVGA screen at 800x480,
1GHz Snapdragon processor
5 MP camera with flash and video recording
3G (850MHz and 1,900MHz bands)
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1
MicroSD slot with support for cards up to 16GB

Telus is also throwing in an 8GB microSD card for good measure, and the device will be running Android 2.1 with HTC’s Sense UI. Can you spot the difference between Telus’s Desire and the original? HTC has apparently chosen to start using SLCD screens on the device in place of the AMOLED display the European version possesses, presumably to make sure production capacity is high enough (due to the AMOLED “shortage”).

Jul

[Scorching Hot] LetsTalk.com Beats Everyone's Price - Sells Motorola Droid X For $150, Samsung Vibrant For $100 With Free Overnight Shipping + Car Charger

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Droid X (Shadow), Galaxy S, Motorola, News, Samsung, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Vibrant

Wow, we knew Wirefly and Amazon were trying hard to compete and offered excellent prices on both the Verizon's Motorola Droid X and the T-Mobile's Samsung Vibrant that came out today. And kudos to them.

However, this deal that LetsTalk.com, another large A+ BBB rated phone retailer, just posted up beats out all competition hands down.

Samsung Vibrant for T-Mobile: $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate shipped free OVERNIGHT, with a free car charger thrown in
Motorola Droid X for Verizon: $149.99 after an instant $50 discount, shipped free (though not overnight)

For comparison, both phones are being sold by the respective retailers for $200.

Jul

UPDATED: Want A Droid X? Don’t Want A Contract? Don’t Go To (Some) Verizon Retail Stores

Posted by David Ruddock in Droid X (Shadow), News, Verizon Wireless

UPDATE: Per our informer below in the comments, this may be limited to only some Verizon retail locations. But, there is confirmation that several actual Verizon locations would not sell unsubsidized devices in the link we’re sourcing.

Numerous persons are confirming in comments and side-notes on DroidLife that some Verizon stores are refusing to sell unsubsidized (full-price) Droid X’s to customers who are showing up and waiting in line for the device this morning. They are reportedly being directed to place orders online and have the phone shipped. While this is arguably little more than a shrewd business tactic, it certainly doesn’t make Verizon look any better given all the bad press the Droid X has been getting.

Jul

Motorola Droid 2 Coming In August; Droid 1 Being Phased Out

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Droid 2, Droid X (Shadow), News, Verizon Wireless

Word at DroidLife is that the original Droid is being phased out over the next few weeks (presumably with some promotions coming to help move the last of them off shelves). This is likely in preparation for the coming Droid 2, which is coming sometime in August.

The Droid 2 will be a direct replacement for the original Droid, complete with full slide out QWERTY keyboard (whereas the Droid X has none). Other specs: