Rumors - 20/24 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

[Update: It's Something Else] HTC Kingdom Gingerbread ROM Leaks - Is This The Sprint EVO 3D? [Analysis, Download Mirrors]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, EVO 3D (Shooter), Gingerbread 2.3, HTC, News, Rumors

Last Updated: July 18th, 2011

A few days ago, the Chinese HTC blog 911sniper that most HTC ROM leaks originate from posted images and a minimal amount of information on HTC's 2 newest and mysterious devices: the Rider and the Kingdom. Not much was known about either, except that the Kingdom has a qHD (540x960px) resolution.

Today, 911sniper gave birth to an actual ROM of the Kingdom, which cleared up quite a few things to us.

Update: Porting of this ROM to the Desire HD is already in progress.

Update: Looks like it is indeed a whole new device - it's got a smaller, 4" screen, compared to EVO's 4.3" and is possibly a world device.

Apr

DROID 3 Display And Digitizer Assembly Shows Up Online, Is This Really The Targa?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Droid 3, Motorola, News, Rumors

Well, I can honestly say that I didn't expect to be typing this today. It looks like things may be starting to unfold with the Bionic/Targa drama - as in, the Bionic may not be the Targa at all. Now you're curious, right? Allow me to explain, but keep in mind that this is all speculation.

We all know that manufacturers use code names for their devices. For example, the original Droid was codenamed "Sholes" while the EVO was called "Supersonic" during its testing phase. Several weeks ago, we saw some leaked images that were supposed to be the Motorola Droid 3, which suggested a codename of "Solana".

Apr

[Rumor] Samsung Galaxy S II Coming To T-Mobile?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy S II, News, Rumors, T-Mobile

I'm a sucker for a good rumor, and I just can't pass up sharing this one with all of you. According to TmoNews, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S II might be landing on T-Mobile. How this information came about, however, does make me a little skeptical (I said I'm a sucker for a good rumor, not that I believe every one that comes along).

The above image was taken from Adobe's website, and it appears to show a Galaxy S II on the T-Mo website. This has to be the real deal, too, because no one ever makes Photoshop errors, right?

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

[Rumor] Is Lenovo Working On A 7-Inch Honeycomb Tablet?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Lenovo, News, Rumors

We heard about Lenovo's Honeycomb-sporting ThinkPad (aka Think Slate) tablet yesterday, but I guess that just wasn't enough rumor coverage for Lenovo. In the same PowerPoint where they found the info on the ThinkPad, tech blog This Is My Next has also stumbled across a 7-inch Honeycomb tablet that could possibly come out sometime in Q4. While there is little known at this point, here are the (rather vague) details from the leak:

7 Inch, 1280x800 display
Dual Core ARM processor
"Le OS / Honeycomb" Android with Lenovo UI
Available Q4 2011

It looks like it should have the same custom interface as the ThinkPad, which we don't really have a lot of information on.

Apr

Google Cloud Music? - Rumors Of Partnership Talks Between Spotify and Google

Posted by Zak Stinson in Android OS, News, Rumors

The word on the web today is that Google is in negotiations with Spotify, the European answer to Grooveshark, to partner up on Google's upcoming music streaming project. CNET's source claims that during talks with major record labels, Google did a bit of name dropping and announced that they were hoping to work with the popular European music streaming service, although nobody from either Google or Spotify was available to comment on that rumor.

This isn't the only cloud music company that Google has shown an interest in. Back in May 2010, Google bought Simplify Media, a company that allows users to stream music and photos from their desktop machines to their mobile phones, which was no doubt involved in the interesting preview of the Android music syncing service we were privy to earlier this year.

Apr

Samsung Infuse 4G Shows Its Face In A Walmart Circular, $178.88 Price Tag Intact

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, Infuse 4G, News, Rumors

Remember the massive-screened Samsung Infuse 4G that was announced back in January? If not, that doesn't come as much of a surprise, as this phone has found a way to stay out of the rumor mill since then. It couldn't stay silent forever, though, and now it has finally surfaced in a Walmart circular, accompanied by a $178.88 price tag (presumably with a new two-year agreement on AT&T). Unfortunately, there isn't an exact launch date listed, only that it's "available May 2011."

I'm sure a quick spec rundown is in order, so here you go:

4.5 Inch Super AMOLED Plus screen
1.2GHz Hummingbird Processor
16GB Internal storage, SD Card slot
8MP Rear camera with 1080P video capture, 1.3MP front camera
Android 2.2

As you can tell, this phone is nothing to turn your nose up at.

Apr

Clove Outs June 6 Release Date for LG Optimus 3D In The UK

Posted by Zak Stinson in Devices By Manufacturer, LG, News, Optimus 3D (p920) / Thrill 4G (p925), Rumors

Continuing with the trend of high-end Android devices getting speculative release dates, LG's 3D smartphone, the Optimus 3D, has been given a release date of June 6 by online UK retailer Clove. They say that the device should be on their shelves by that date, but gives the caveat that this information is "subject to change - but accurate at this time."

With a 1GHz dual core processor, 4.3-inch WVGA display and a 5MP dual-lens camera to capture glasses-free 3D content, this is going to be a worthy opponent to the HTC Sensation, which has been rumored to have a June 8th release date.

Apr

[Updated] Is Motorola Prepping A Blur-Less Device For Virgin Mobile USA?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Motorola, News, Rumors, Virgin Mobile

Update: It looks like the homescreen is just a generic placeholder, because it's the same one used here for the Optimus V at Best Buy. Thanks Nate!

This may not be of interest to the 7 people out there that actually like Motorola's Blur interface, but for the rest of us this is pretty good news. It looks like Motorola is prepping a new DROID-esque Android 2.2 device for Virgin Mobile USA, and it appears to be sans-Blur in the one leaked picture that Pocketnow has obtained.

With that said, it looks like the device may still be running some sort of a custom interface, judging by the three-column homescreen grid, which is not currently possible with stock Froyo's four-column launcher.

Apr

[Unconfirmed] Is An HSUPA-Enabling Software Update Coming For The Motorola ATRIX?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Development, Rumors

Last Updated: April 29th, 2011

Last month, AT&T confirmed that an HSUPA-enabling update was in the works for the Motorola ATRIX 4G and was expected to hit sometime in April. Well... April is here and guess what? It looks like they may actually deliver on that promise.

nate2569, a user over at the XDA forums, received not one, but two mysterious updates on his ATRIX yesterday evening. The first one was a software update to bring the system up to version 1.75 and there was some initial confusion, so nate2569 uploaded a picture displaying some of the "About Phone" contents for proof. Have a look: