Rumors - 23/24 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

Could Sprint And T-Mobile Be Merging?

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Rumors

News comes this morning that Deutsche Telekom has been having talks to sell its T-Mobile US unit to Sprint in a deal that would combine the third and fourth largest US carriers. Deutsche Telekom would reportedly still have "a major stake" in the newly merged company, so this would be seen as more of a merger than a selloff.

Deutsche Telekom Chief Financial Officer Timotheus Hoettges said about the possible deal: "In general, all options are open in the U.S. -- the sale of the whole business or of parts." Business Week reports that the talks have been on and off and that one of the biggest hindrances to a deal has been the failure to come to a mutual agreement about the value of T-Mobile.

Mar

[Updated: Now With EVO View 4G Trademark Filing] Sprint's Own Website All But Confirms The Rumored Nexus S 4G, EVO 3D, And EVO View Devices

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in EVO 3D (Shooter), EVO View 4G, HTC, News, Nexus S 4G (Crespo4g), Rumors, Samsung, Sprint

Sprint has been mum about its 2011 lineup throughout this whole year until yesterday, when we finally got a break and caught wind of not 1 but 3 upcoming Sprint Android devices - the Nexus S 4G, the EVO 3D, and the EVO View tablet. The rumors were dropped to both Engadget and AndroidAndMe by an anonymous tipster, but both sites seemed confident in their sources, meaning it wasn't the first time the same credible tipster provided reliable information.

If you are sensitive to unconfirmed rumors and have trouble believing anonymous tipsters, even you will be pleased with what these pretty darn good hints planted around Sprint's own website.

Mar

Does HTC Lack Confidence In The Flyer? Only 1 Million Reported To Ship By August

Posted by Will Shanklin in Flyer, News, Rumors

In what could be construed as a white flag being waved before even marching into battle, a new report is saying that HTC will only ship one million of their upcoming Flyer tablets between its launch (which is still unknown) and August. The news comes from a Chinese language newspaper, which also reported that the new slate would set buyers back $600.

The 7" tablet, which will march to the beat of its own drum (with a stylus and Android 2.3 with Sense overlay), has been met with largely ho-hum anticipation compared to larger, Honeycomb-running tabs like the XOOM, G-Slate, and Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Mar

Latest Thunderbolt "Release Date" Shot Down

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Rumors, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

You can chalk up another false rumor on the list of "impending releases" for the HTC Thunderbolt. The latest speculation to be debunked is that the March 10 date that had been teased is a no-go, according to a leaked Verizon chart picked up by Droid Life. The internal memo shows the much-delayed Verizon phone falling sometime after the iPad 2 launch (which is March 11).

This news makes sense, as, despite the anticipation for the first 4G phone on Verizon's LTE network, the iPad 2 launch would likely take priority with Big Red. The chart below, highlighting the launch of Apple's latest tablet, clearly shows the order of launches Verizon has planned:

To add another rumor to the list, our sources are telling us the end of March will be the real release date (possibly landing on the 24th).

Mar

Wi-Fi-Only Motorola XOOM May Be Hitting Staples Stores On April 3 [Update: Employee Training March 23]

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Rumors, XOOM

The latest in a string of rumors about the upcoming Wi-Fi-only version of the Motorola XOOM comes from the team at Droid Life, who say that the carrier-free model may be hitting Staples stores on or around April 3. The same folks are also now reporting another leak from Staples which shows that employees will get the slate in their hands to begin training on March 23.

This dates come from a tip offered up by a Staples insider. Take it as you wish, but this would be consistent with recent postings from UK site PC World, citing early April as the availability date for the UK market.

Mar

[Rumor] EVO 3D, EVO View Tablet, And Nexus S 4G To Be Revealed By Sprint At CTIA?

Posted by Zak Stinson in Flyer, HTC, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Rumors, Samsung, Sprint

Earlier this week, Sprint sent out an invitation to a special release event at the CTIA WIRELESS 2011 conference later this month. After a less than amazing showing at CES, and the "innovative" move they made with the Echo, Sprint is due for a highly anticipated device to come to their users. Thanks to an anonymous tip received by Engadget (though in no way confirmed or proved credible), you may now start anticipating.

Nexus S 4G

Last year, after flirting with the idea of carrying the first "Google phone", Sprint dumped the Nexus One and went with the EVO 4G.

Mar

Android Will Likely Be Getting A Blackberry Messenger App

Posted by Will Shanklin in Applications, News, Rumors

Last Updated: August 20th, 2012

While most Android users don't likely spend a lot of time thinking about what's going on in RIM's land of Blackberry, it has been revealed that one of the popular smartphones' mainstay features, Blackberry Messenger, will be coming to Android and iOS. The popular chat service known for its speed, conversation threads, and easy PIN contact transfer will most likely arrive later this year.

Up to this point, Blackberry Messenger has been a closed service, only available on Blackberry phones. Some found opening it up to other platforms to be a confusing business decision by RIM, as BBM has been one of the perks that has kept many of their customers from migrating to a rival OS like Android, but RIM will apparently hold back some key features like picture and video transfer only for customers on their phones.

Mar

Sprint Has Something Up Its Sleeve For March 22

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Rumors, Sprint

It appears that Sprint will be unveiling something for us in Orlando, FL on March 22, as they have issued media invitations for an event that will be "showcasing the latest innovations from Sprint."

What exactly will be showcased is a mystery at this point, but the last time we were invited to an exciting event from Sprint, it was to preview the dual-screen Kyocera Echo phone (which some viewed as a dud of an announcement). Perhaps the wireless carrier is poised to deliver the knockout punch that many were hoping for last month with this one, but that is all speculation at this point.

Mar

UK Version of Wi-Fi-Only XOOM Now Has A Price

Posted by Will Shanklin in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Rumors, XOOM

Last Updated: March 2nd, 2011

After last week's launch of the 3G (soon to be LTE) Motorola XOOM, many of us began to wonder about that cheaper Wi-Fi-only model that has been promised. We are still (agonizingly) without a confirmed release date, but those sitting on the edges of their seats in anticipation may want to know that the UK version has been priced at £449.99 ($732).

PC World's website announced the arrival and pricing of the much-anticipated slate, also advertising pre-orders (which were not active yet). After word spread of the £449.99 price, however, all references to the cost and pre-orders were pulled.

Feb

After Numerous Delays, The HTC Thunderbolt May Finally Launch This Week

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in News, Rumors, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

Electronista picked up on a (now deleted) tweet from the infamous Verizon-affiliated tipster black_man_x that "Thunderbolts are go!!!!", suggesting that the launch of the HTC Thunderbolt is imminent.

This is just a short while after GizmoFusion reported that it had received word of Verizon planning on releasing the device "as early as next week" (which is now "this week").

It is still a little unclear when Verizon's first LTE phone will launch, however the most recent rumours suggest the in-store date to be March 10. Although it could also be the 3rd or 4th.

This is a sigh of relief for Verizon and HTC after rumours surfaced that the LTE device would be further delayed due to horrid battery performance of two to three hours on a single charge.