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Apr

Motorola Says 2011 Devices To Have "Unlockable/Relockable Bootloader"

Posted by Zak Stinson in Development, Motorola, News, Rumors

Last Updated: April 27th, 2011

Motorola has had a dark past when it comes to bootloaders. Apart from a couple exceptions (most notably, the XOOM), all of the major Motorola devices have had locked bootloaders, and thus, Android customization enthusiasts have been shut out from such tweaks as custom kernels.

Recently, there has been quite an outcry directed at Motorola and their bootloader policy, in the form of petitions and hijacked polls, and it looks like they have heard users' requests. In response to questions from Irwin Proud, the man behind the petition, Motorola has indicated that they plan on changing their tune.

“In terms of your question – we completely understand the operator requirement for security to the end user, and as well, want to support the developer communities desire to use these products as a development platform. It is our intention to enable the unlockable/relockable bootloader currently found on Motorola XOOM across our portfolio of devices starting in late 2011, where carriers and operators will allow it.”

*Hold for applause* Yes, it looks like the company notorious for their developer-unfriendly attitude has heard the requests of the Android community and is ready to embrace handset freedom.

Apr

[Free Stuff Alert] Amazon Is Giving Away 8 Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi Tablets

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, Motorola, News, XOOM

If you head over to Amazon's Facebook page right now and press "Like," you'll find the first product in Amazon's ongoing A-Z Sweepstakes, a Motorola XOOM, is up for grabs. Eight of them - to be precise. All you have to do is give Amazon your name, email address, and phone number to enter. This is a US residents-only contest, though (unlike our super-awesome Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi Giveaway.)

Amazon

Apr

HTC Sensation To Ship With 'HTC Trace' - A Swype Style Keyboard

Posted by Zak Stinson in EVO 3D (Shooter), HTC, News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid)

We Android fans love our input methods. Luckily there is no shortage of options, with keyboards ranging from the standard Gingerbread keyboard all the way to wacky ones such as 8Pen. Despite all the competition, and the fact that it isn't even available on the Android Market, Swype is one of the most popular custom keyboards around. It makes the tedious act of touchscreen typing that much smoother by letting users glide their thumb from letter to letter rather than tapping.

There are a number of imitators on the market today that try to implement this swiping method of text input, and HTC Sense 3.0 is said to be bringing another into the mix.

Apr

Nielsen: Android Runs On 37% Of All US Smartphones And 50% Of All New Smartphones Sold

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

NielsenWire has released yet another one of their bar and pie chart-filled smartphone surveys for the US this morning, and it's just more good news for Android. Here's a quick breakdown of some of the key stats Nielsen compiled:

Android now represents 37% of all US smartphones
50% of smartphones sold in the month of March were Android phones
31% of consumers said their next purchase will be an Android phone, compared to 26% one year ago. Android now leads iOS here as well (iOS accounts for 30%, down from 33%)
20% of consumers don't know which OS their next smartphone will run

Another interesting tidbit the survey revealed is that Blackberry has finally dropped to third place in all three of the comparisons Nielsen publishes (future purchases, March purchases, total market share).

Apr

Samsung Nexus S 4G To Hit Sprint On May 8th for $200

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Sprint

We've known about the Sprint variation of the Nexus S 4G for over a month now, but now it finally has an official release date. You will be able to get this hunk of Gingerbread-powered love on May 8th for $200 with a new two-year agreement. I'm sure that most of you already know the specs, but what kind of person would I be if I didn't throw in a reminder?

WiMax
4-inch Super AMOLED display
1GHz Hummingbird processor
512MB RAM
16GB Storage
Stock Android 2.3 Gingerbread

It feels good to type "Stock Android" for a change. If that doesn't warm the soul, then I don't know what does.

Apr

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Sold Out At Best Buy, Supply Shortages Likely To Blame

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Eee Pad Transformer, News

Yesterday, we told you that the Acer Iconia A500 tablet was available at Best Buy for $450, but if that wasn't your cup of tea, to wait one more day. That day has passed, and now the 16GB ASUS Eee Pad Transformer is available for $399 making it the most bang-for-your-buck Honeycomb tablet on the market. While the Transformer may be a very economical Android tablet, that doesn't mean that Asus skimped on specs:

10.1 Inch 1280x800 IPS display
1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor
1GB RAM
16GB Storage
5MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera
Honeycomb

It looks like the 32GB version isn't available just yet, as I couldn't find it on Best Buy's website.

Apr

DROID Incredible 2 and Casio G'zOne Commando Join The DROID Charge - All Coming To Verizon On April 28th

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Charge (i510), Incredible 2 (Vivow), News, Verizon Wireless

April 28th is going to be a big day at Verizon for Android lovers, as three new phones are scheduled to hit the sales floor, adding even more choices to the already vast lineup of VZW Android powered goodness.

Samsung DROID Charge

First on the list is the Samsung DROID Charge. I realize that we've known the release date for several days, but it's definitely worth mentioning again since it's the first 4G phone to carry the DROID tag and will most likely take its place as the new flagship phone for VZW.

Specs:

4G LTE
4.3 Inch Super AMOLED Plus display
1GHz Hummingbird processor
8MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera
Mobile Hotspot with support for up to 10 devices
Android 2.2 with Samsung's TouchWiz interface
Price: $299 with a new two-year agreement

It is (unjustly) the most expensive phone on the list, with the fact that it runs on Verizon's 4G LTE network the only thing that it really has going for it.

Apr

Sony Unveils Its Own Pair Of Honeycomb Tablets - The S1 And S2

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, S1, S2, Sony

Last Updated: June 30th, 2011

The tablet news just keeps on coming. In the past few days, we've already caught wind of two Honeycomb tablets from Lenovo, and now Sony is officially revealing the S1 and S2 tablets. The event is being live blogged by the Wall Street Journal here, but thanks to an official press release we have plenty of details on both the tablets. First up, the S1:

9.4" display
Android 3.0 Honeycomb
"Off-center of gravity design" (check out this mockup for an idea of what this means)
NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor
Front and rear cameras
Wi-Fi and 3G/4G connectivity

And the S2:

Two 5.5" 1024 x 480 screens
Android 3.0 Honeycomb
NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor
Front and rear cameras
Wi-Fi and 3G/4G connectivity

Both tablets will also be joining the Xperia Play as PlayStation Certified devices, as they will be able to play PS1 games using on-screen controls.

Apr

HTC: We Will Be Updating The Flyer To Honeycomb Shortly After Launch

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

We've heard several rumors about when the HTC Flyer would get a Honeycomb update, but now we have something a bit more concrete - this time directly from HTC. According to its official Twitter page, HTC has said that "[they] will be updating Flyer to Honeycomb shortly after launch." We've know for a while that the Flyer would get Honeycomb eventually, but this is the first time that we've gotten wind of any sort of time frame.