Devices By Manufacturer - 417/534 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

Watch Motorola's XOOM Super Bowl Commercial, Now Available In Full Length

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Motorola, News, Videos, XOOM

Remember the 15-second preview of Motorola's XOOM Super Bowl commercial that was leaked online a few days ago? Guess what - it's Super Bowl Sunday, the ad just aired in front of millions of people, and Moto immediately released the whole thing on YouTube, so that those of us who missed it could inspect just what exactly Moto's creative genius has been up to lately.

Unsurprisingly, the ad's 1984 theme (remember the teaser?) continues to implicitly take silent jabs at Apple, introducing the XOOM as "the tablet to create a better world."

So, does the full 1 minute ad impress or has Motorola failed to showcase the product properly?

Feb

Confirmed: Sony Ericsson Announcing Xperia Play On February 13th, Gingerbread Included

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Gingerbread 2.3, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

There's been no shortage of leaks involving the Xperia Play, but Sony Ericsson hasn't said a single word on the matter... until now, that is. A new event was just posted on the company's Facebook page, and guess what it's related to:

That's right - expect an official announcement of the Xperia Play on February 13 (the day Mobile World Congress kicks off) at 1:00 p.m. EST / 10:00 a.m. PST. Can't wait? Check out the (now official) commercial for the device - not only is it super creepy; its description confirms that the phone will ship with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

Feb

Notion Ink Adam Tablet Gets A Software Update (No, It's Not Honeycomb)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Adam, News, Notion Ink, Videos

Notion Ink's Adam has been through quite a bit on the long road to last month's launch, including concerns over its legitimacy and policies, ordering snafus, booting problems, and various bugs, but it hasn't stopped the company from steadily working on Adam's second major software patch.

While the first update ended up soft-bricking some devices (preventing them from booting, fixable by full system restore), the second one seems to be safe to apply and contains quite a few fixes and enhancements.

Infamous Greg from Notion Ink Fan does a great job highlighting some of the bugs and demonstrating the fixes in the following videos.

Feb

Honeycomb's Boot Screen Looks Just As Amazing As The Rest Of The OS

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, XOOM

It's pretty much universally agreed upon that Honeycomb's UI overhaul looks awesome, with its Tron-inspired holographic UI touching just about every part of the operating system. But what about the boot screen? It turns out that looks just as slick - TechCrunch managed to grab a video of it, and - despite the poor lighting - we can see that it looks nothing like previous versions of Android, which featured the Nexus "X" animation. Check it out in the video below:

Also noteworthy: The XOOM boots in less than 10 seconds. Mmm, Tegra 2 goodness.

Source: TechCrunch

Feb

Motorola Releases 15 Seconds Of The XOOM Super Bowl Ad, Pokes Fun At Apple Yet Again

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Motorola, News, Off-Topic, XOOM

Super Bowl XLV is going down this Sunday, and while most people can't wait to see the Steelers face off against the Packers, Android fans have another reason to be excited: Motorola plans to air a commercial for the world's first Honeycomb tablet during the big game.

However, for those of us who simply can't wait any longer, Motorola's released 15 seconds of the ad - check it out:

As you can see, Motorola has decided to take yet another jab at Apple and the iPad's lack of customizability - not exactly the most innovative approach, but so long as it piques the public's interest, it should suffice.

Feb

Mysterious HTC Desire 2 Pops Up in Vodafone Inventory System, Is It The Pyramid?

Posted by David Ruddock in HTC, News, Vodafone

A German HTC fan blog by the name HTC Inside published a shot from Vodafone's internal inventory system last night, revealing the existence of an HTC phone by the name "Desire 2". Phandroid pointed out that this may be a European version of the upcoming and equally mysterious dual-core Pyramid, and I'd say that's not too farfetched a theory.

We'll probably find out what this thing is at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (which starts on the 14th), so the mystery shouldn't last a whole lot longer.

HTC Inside via Phandroid

Feb

Motorola XOOM Coming To Best Buy On February 24th, HTC Thunderbolt On February 14th

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

A short while ago, the Best Buy Grand Rapids Facebook page prematurely posted a status update indicating the release dates of the Motorola XOOM tablet and the HTC Thunderbolt.

The status update suggests that the Motorola XOOM will be available for sale at Best Buy from February 24, while the HTC Thunderbolt will be available starting February 14 (the day after Mobile World Congress 2011 officially kicks off). Additionally, the Verizon iPhone 4 will be coming to Best Buy on February 10, and the Samsung Presto 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot will be available from February 17.

A Facebook page of a Best Buy outlet does not seem like the most appropriate place to disseminate information on release dates; however, we have also received independent confirmation from a reliable source indicating that the HTC Thunderbolt will go on sale online on or around the date mentioned in the Facebook message.

Feb

Dell Venue On Sale Now For $500 From Dell; Shipping February 18th

Posted by David Ruddock in Dell, News, Thunder

Do you have $500 laying around to spend on a smartphone? Well then, have we got a deal for you - Dell's most attractive piece of Android hardware to date, the Venue (formerly know by its code name "Thunder"), is up for grabs on Dell's website right now. At $500, it's not too exorbitant a price for an unlocked handset, and you get your choice of frequency band versions: AT&T or T-Mobile. You can expect it ship by the 18th of this month.

There will be no contract pricing, at least for the moment. The plus side to that, of course, is that on T-Mobile you can get a reduced pricing plan as a pay-as-you-go customer off contract.

Feb

CLIQ XT Owners To Be Forever Stuck In Android 1.5 Hell But Motorola Bets They'll Loooove The CLIQ 2

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in CLIQ / DEXT (Morrison), CLIQ 2, CLIQ XT (Zeppelin), Motorola, News, T-Mobile

Even though Motorola's original CLIQ received a 2.1 upgrade a long time ago, CLIQ XT owners have been patiently (and impatiently) waiting for the good news ever since. Unfortunately, it will never come, as Motorola's official decision, posted on their Android Software Upgrade News, is to forever doom it to 1.5. It is hard to imagine which differences between the original CLIQ and the XT prompted Motorola to refuse the upgrade, because the phones are really very much the same, and the biggest difference between them is the physical keyboard on the CLIQ.

As if that wasn't enough, about a week ago, Motorola/T-Mobile sent a lovely targeted email to all CLIQ XT owners (in addition to Backflip and potentially some others), inviting them to upgrade to the CLIQ 2.

Feb

The Android Effect: HTC's Gross Profit Has Tripled Since Introduction Of Nexus One

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in HTC, News, Nexus One (Passion), Off-Topic

Business Insider took a look at HTC's gross profit, and noticed something interesting: since the introduction of the Nexus One, the company's gross profit has nearly tripled. Although the Nexus One was a flop by sales standards (although certainly not by consumer standards - I've yet to meet an N1 owner who doesn't swear by the phone), there were clearly positive implications in building the device for HTC.

It's hard to say what caused the massive increase - whether because building the flagship device provided the company with valuable experience, because it coincided with Android hitting its stride, or because of the attention the company received for being chosen by Google.