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Jun

Canadians Get In On The Galaxy S Action With Bell's Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Bell, Galaxy S, News, Samsung, Vibrant

Samsung’s plan for ~~world~~ smartphone domination seems to be going smoothly. After the news that their Galaxy S would be launching on all major US carriers (as well as US Cellular), it has just been announced that the phone will also be launching on Bell, Canada’s second-largest cell phone carrier, as the Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant (just Samsung Vibrant wasn't enough, eh buddies?).

The specs are, of course, similar to the Galaxy S models that have already been announced for US carriers:

4.0” Super AMOLED screen
1 GHz Hummingbird processor
5 megapixel camera
and Android 2.1 with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.

Jun

Samsung Galaxy S Launch Event Recap, Photos, And Q&A

Our Samsung Galaxy S Launch Event Report, Photos, And Q&A

Posted by Andrew Gould in AT&T, Captivate, Epic 4G, Fascinate, News, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Vibrant

Last Updated: July 23rd, 2010

Last night, Samsung officially announced their Galaxy S smartphone family at a swank New York City party after several weeks of blurrycam shots, spec sheets and rumors. Spanning all four major US carriers - Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile - the Galaxy S flavors stand to be a surging juggernaut in the HTC dominated Android world.

Incidentally, I was at the event and had the pleasure of doing a live blogging session, followed by some hands-on time with all the phones.

Galaxy S Line

The Galaxy S line in the US consists of the following devices:

Verizon Fascinate
T-Mobile Vibrant
AT&T Captivate
Sprint Epic 4G

All four phones run Samsung’s skinned Android 2.1 OS variant (TouchWiz) and feature Samsung’s new Super AMOLED multi-touch screens.

Jun

[Secret Deal] Get The HTC EVO 4G From Sprint.com For $150 ($50 Off)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in EVO 4G (Supersonic), Sprint, Tips & Tutorials

If you're in the market for a new phone or are looking to buy an EVO 4G specifically, the deal I just found on Fatwallet may be exactly what you needed.

The regular price of the phone at Sprint.com is $199 after a mail-in rebate, compared to places like Best Buy that will replace the mail-in rebate with an instant one. However, you can get an extra $50 off if you buy it from Sprint.

Positives And Negatives

Positive: $50 off
Negative:
- You have to deal with a $100 mail-in rebate instead of an instant $100 discount at Best Buy.

Jun

HTC EVO 4G Battery-saving, Root-killing OTA Update Re-Released, This Time With The Bricking Feature Turned Off

Posted by Nate Kimmey in EVO 4G (Supersonic), News, Sprint

Though yesterday’s OTA update for the HTC EVO ended abruptly when it was reported that some EVOs were being bricked, it seems that it is now being rolled out once more. The update is a little larger than yesterday’s (30MB vs 23MB), but it seems nothing else has been changed (with the exception of phones not being bricked.)

Just like those who successfully received the update yesterday, users receiving the update today are reporting better battery lives, improved Exchange Active Sync, and, more noticeably, much improved Wi-Fi signal strength. Of course, it still does not fix the 30 fps on the phone, and it will break unrevoked root (for now).

Jun

Verizon Gets Serious About 4G: 25 Markets Scheduled To Begin Rollout November 15th, Phones To Follow Shortly Thereafter

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Carriers, News, Sprint, T-Mobile, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless

An unnamed source at Boy Genius Report today provided a tip that Verizon is planning to begin its 4G LTE network rollout in 25 markets on November 15th, 2010. Some interesting details emerged from the tip - most of them good. To summarize:

4G LTE data plans will be tiered by data caps, but will not add a premium to your bill. Presumably this means the caps will be combined 3G/4G usage (you listening, Sprint/EVO/$10?).
The 25 markets scheduled for coverage will encompass over 100 million potential subscribers.
A “slew” of 4G phones will be released on Black Friday, November 26th.

Jun

Samsung Moment II To Be Called Intercept – Coming To Sprint July 11

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in News, Samsung, Sprint

Last Updated: July 2nd, 2010

Word over at Boy Genius Report is that the Samsung Moment II will be known as the Samsung Intercept. Technical details are a little scarce right now, but we do know:

Android 2.1 (Eclair)
3.2” display (I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s AMOLED, ‘cause Samsung)
4 row, slide-out keyboard
Wi-Fi (would guess 802.11n)
GPS
2 Color Choices – Pink or Dark Gray

Given that Samsung doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get their phones hotted-up via FroYo, I doubt they’ll update to Android 2.2 before launch. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it come shortly after launch (1-2 months), as Sprint seems to want to upgrade phones for the first few months after their release (i.e.

Jun

The Promised EVO 4G OTA v1.47.651.1 Is Here - Not Froyo

[Updated: Sprint Pulls The OTA Due To Bricked Phones]. The Promised EVO 4G OTA Update v1.47.651.1 Is Here - Not Froyo, Details Inside

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in EVO 4G (Supersonic), HTC, News, Sprint

Update #1 11:11AM 6/28/10: Sprint published the official announcement, though only listing the original 3 update points from 4 days ago. Go to the thread and voice your concerns to them if you've bricked your EVO with this update.

Update #2: 6:00PM 6/28/10: Sprint pulled the update because of numerous reports of bricking legitimate unrooted phones. More info as soon as it's available.

If you guys remember, 4 days ago a BGR connection at Sprint leaked information regarding an OTA update for the EVO 4G scheduled to arrive on June 28th and fixing the following issues:

Improvements to Wi-Fi performance

Exchange Active Sync improvements which include a fix to issue including new account set up, PIN policy usage, and Exchange Server 2010 Calendar Sync

Addresses Social Networking Sync issue with Facebook application which can improve battery performance

It looks like he wasn't lying, as a 21.43MB v1.47.651.1 OTA did hit EVO 4G this morning:

It is currently not known what exactly was changed, although from what I could gather from the comments over at Engadget:

802.11n was indeed enabled
the grounding issue that prevented the touchscreen from working when the phone is laid flat was fixed (my EVO definitely suffers from that - take a look at this video around 1:40)
the 30fps limit was NOT fixed
you can select the resolution for HDMI video out
the update reportedly breaks the unrevoked root Edit: confirmed

A whole slew of users is reporting that the update bricked their EVOs.

Jun

Updated: Latest Nexus One Froyo OTAs Show Up For Both AT&T (Eclair EPE54B->Froyo FRF85B) And T-Mobile (FRF83->FRF85B)!

Posted by Ian Douglas in AT&T, Development, Eclair 2.1, Froyo 2.2, News, Nexus One (Passion), T-Mobile, Tips & Tutorials

Another week, another Google update for the Nexus One, both for users already running Froyo and unrooted Eclair on both AT&T and T-Mobile!

I’ve installed the update from FRF83 (500K) on my own Nexus One, and installation was smooth, as always.

It is unknown what the update brings and whether it will be the last one before we see the final official Eclair>Froyo update.

Download

You can download the update here if you didn't get the OTA yet:

T-Mobile Nexus One: FRF83 > FRF85B (500KB)
AT&T Nexus One: EPE54B > FRF85B (46.5MB) - this will update your stock unrooted Eclair 2.1 AT&T Nexus One to Froyo!

Jun

Samsung Galaxy S Series Devices Now Confirmed For Sprint (Epic 4G), Verizon (Fascinate), And US Cellular. T-Mobile’s Version (Vibrant) Details Emerge

Posted by Nate Kimmey in AT&T, Captivate, Epic 4G, Fascinate, Galaxy S, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Vibrant

Last Updated: July 1st, 2010

It was reported some time ago that the Samsung Galaxy S would hit every major carrier in the US – and it seems like the prediction was dead on. First announced for AT&T as the Samsung Captivate, the Galaxy S has already been confirmed for T-Mobile as the Samsung Vibrant, and was just announced as the Samsung Epic 4G for Sprint, the Samsung Fascinate for Verizon, and an unnamed version of the device for US Cellular.

Samsung Epic 4G - Sprint

The Epic 4G is Sprint’s version of the Galaxy S Pro (the only US carrier to get the Pro version, which includes a sliding keyboard), and is, as the name implies, compatible with Sprint’s 4G network.

Jun

Motorola Charm Headed To T-Mobile, Bringing New Form Factor To Android

Posted by Nate Kimmey in CHARM, CLIQ / DEXT (Morrison), CLIQ XT (Zeppelin), Motorola, T-Mobile

Charm

It seems a new Android phone is on its way to T-Mobile stores, but it might not be the superphone you’re looking for. The Motorola Charm, revealed in leaked training materials sent to Engadget, is running an enhanced version of Motoblur on top of Android 2.1.

However, what makes this phone unique is its form factor, a candybar style with a front-facing keyboard, similar to many Blackberry devices. The materials also note a variety of changes and additions to Motoblur in 2.1:

Seven home screens
Motoblur widgets can now be resized
Widgets include enhanced functionality including “Like” for Facebook and “Retweet” for Twitter
Usual Android 2.1 enhancements, such as multitouch and 3D Gallery

No technical specs were included, but given the nature of the device, you shouldn’t get your hopes up.