25
Sep
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Wirefly is notorious for its aggressive pricing when it comes to new phones, and we can't blame them: being an online-only seller, they need to offer something exciting to win customers over from the carriers themselves and other retail locations, such as Best Buy or Radioshack.

The T-Mobile G2 preorder deal that went live today is no exception - it beats out all competition:

  • $149.99 for new accounts ($199.99 for existing ones). Considering T-Mobile itself isn't even letting non-T-Mo customers preorder at all, this is a pretty damn good deal already. However, read on.
  • No tax - Wirefly.com doesn't charge tax, which makes this deal better than even Radioshack's $150 offer and is way under Best Buy's $200 price tag.
25
Sep
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To the sound of a resounding “Meh”, Sony Ericsson have publically indicated that they have dropped Symbian off their roadmap for future handsets. Having been a member of the Symbian Foundation since its creation, Sony Ericsson are now jettisoning the aging platform for greener fields, leaving Nokia as the sole steward of the Symbian brand. According to spokesman Aldo Liguori:

“[Sony Ericsson] have no plans for the time being to develop any new products to the Symbian Foundation standard or operating system”

Funnily enough, Sony Ericsson are still part of the Symbian Foundation, they just don’t have any Symbian handsets planned.

25
Sep
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Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

People like Android because they like openness and because they like choice. The ability to boot a second, open-source operating system on your Android device is then a pretty compelling proposition. Following a flurry of activity around various fora, some progress has been made in booting the Linux-based Maemo 5 successor, MeeGo, on select Android devices. These devices, namely the Nexus One, Streak, and Desire are all based on the Snapdragon QSD8250 and it is that chipset the development community is focusing on.

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Credit: vgrade/M.Brook

Right now, it’s unclear exactly how functional the OS is, and, as usual, the development is suffering from issues with driver cross-compatibility and other similar obstacles.

25
Sep
Screen shot 2010-09-24 at 8.55.42 PM

Considering the fact that the original Motorola Milestone was launched almost a year ago alongside the original Droid, it may seem a bit ridiculous that the device has just now landed in Alltel's measly lineup of Android phones (the only other option is the HTC Hero). Again, that's the original Milestone, not its recently announced successor, which closely mimics the Droid 2, nor a version that, if nothing else, includes a processor upgrade or at least a camera upgrade of some sort, but the original, unmodified, device.

Even more unbelievably, Alltel is somehow expecting customers to cough up $199 after a $100 mail-in rebate and on a new two-year contract, with the off-contract price remaining a steep $499.

24
Sep
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The new HTC Desire HD and Desire Z handsets are coming very soon, and we're incredibly excited about both of them (just take a look at that 5-second Fast Boot technology again).

In order to keep our excitement going, HTC just pushed out a new video of these bad boys flying up in the air, showing themselves off in various ways. I even got slight chills a bit at the end but I think it's mostly due to the epic music selection. Have a look (don't forget to notch up the quality to at least 720P):

Next up we are surprised that HTC hasn't forgotten about the slightly older but nevertheless one of the most game changing devices of this year - the EVO 4G and its smaller brother - the Droid Incredible.

24
Sep
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Here’s something to get your teeth into. Over at LaptopMag, a whole host of Androids have been put through their paces in a grueling battery life endurance test. The goal was to keep the phones’ screens on while doing a moderate amount of processing, namely cyclically browsing a collection of web pages. Despite the supposed power savings afforded by AMOLED screens, the phones employing that screen technology fell quite a ways behind in comparison to the traditional LCD phones.

Why is that? AMOLED is supposed to only use up power on non-black pixels, right? Well, as LaptopMag points out, the majority of webpages are actually dark text on a light background, a scenario in which AMOLED actually uses more power than an equivalent backlit LCD.

24
Sep
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Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

A version of the Motorola Flipout designed just for AT&T? Not possible, they say.

Ah, but what's this? According to a recent auction on eBay hosted by seller hotjdragon, who, mind you, has a satisfaction rating of 99.9%, this square little device is indeed real and is indeed selling for the off contract price of $388.88. Of course, it's always possible that AT&T will jack up this price in order to lock customers into a two-year service agreement, but, at least for now, here is what $388.88 gets you:

  • a "brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item [Motorola Flipout] in its original packaging" along with a GSM radio designed for AT&T, although, of course, it is sold off contract
  • specs like :
    • a 700MHz OMAP3410 processor
    • a 2.8-inch QVGA (320x240) display, similar to that of the Charm
    • a 3MP camera
    • 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM
    • WiFi 802.11 b/g
    • Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
    • a 1170 mAh battery
    • a 2MB MicroSD card out of the box that can be swapped up to any other capacity microSD up to 32GB
    • a swiveling form factor
    • assisted GPS and eCompass for location services
    • a 3.5mm headset jack
  • MotoBlur on top of Android 2.1 Eclair
  • packaging that looks something like this:

  • and a device that looks something like this:

Motorola FLIPOUT with MOTOBLUR Front OpenMotorola FLIPOUT with MOTOBLUR Front Home

If you want one, you better hurry, though, as there appears to be only a few left!

24
Sep
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If you have 10 minutes to spare today, take a look at this new official Samsung video of the Galaxy Tab. It's professionally shot but this time instead of the marketing presentation that we saw before, we have an actual hands-on 9m20s walkthrough of:

  • the build
  • the UI
  • emailing (that 2-pane view looks nice!)
  • typing
  • using a calendar
  • editing documents
  • using the keyboard dock
  • calling (for non-US users)
  • video conferencing
  • reading books
  • listening to music
  • watching videos
  • utilizing Flash
  • HD streaming
  • using Android applications
  • GPS capabilities

Grab a coffee (if it's morning) or a beer (if it's night time or if that's just how you roll) and take a look:

Besides that, we have another video from SamsungMobileUSA, which is essentially a report from the Samsung Galaxy Tab press conference in New York that we attended last week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbE26Cmcz_8

Now feel free to go back to your regular scheduled programming and start saving up for that Tab.

24
Sep
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A bit off topic as there's nothing directly Android-related here, but interesting nonetheless: JD Power & Associates has released their findings for the Q2 2010 Wireless Smartphone Satisfaction Study, and Apple, Motorola, and HTC have grabbed the top spots (respectively), all landing above the industry average of 764 points (out of 1000).

Coming in below average? RIM (Blackberry), Samsung, Palm, and in last place, Nokia (note:  not all companies are shown, just the big dogs). The results are still fairly close, though - Apple (at #1) scored 800, while Nokia (last, #7) scored 711 - certainly not a lot of variation.

24
Sep
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As promised and exactly on time, the pre-order page for the upcoming T-Mobile G2 has gone live on T-Mobile's website. Unfortunately, it looks like only existing T-Mobile customers are allowed to submit their preorders, with everyone else being left to dry for now.

The upcoming flagship Android phone will cost you $199.99 after a mail-in rebate on a contract or $499.99 without. That is inline with Best Buy's preorder deal from 2 weeks ago and $50 more than Radioshack's preorder, which is currently the best deal available.

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Those in need of a refresher on this bad boy's specs can find them below:

  • Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ MSM7230 mobile processor
  • Slide-out QWERTY keyboard, unique Z-hinge design
  • Android 2.2 OS
  • 3.7” S-TFT WVGA display
  • 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of internal memory
  • 8-GB SD card, expandable to 32 GB
  • 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus
  • 720p HD video capture
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR + A2DP stereo
  • 3.5-mm stereo headset
  • 4.68” (L) x 2.38” (W) x .58” (H)
  • Weight: 6.5 ounces
  • Included battery: 1300 mAh Li-ion
  • Talk time: up to 6.5 hours
  • Standby time: up to 17.5 days

Whether you will want to reserve now or try to wait for deals which Amazon Wireless and Wirefly will undoubtedly launch soon is up to you.