Motorola sends the XT316 to FCC

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Motorola has send their XT316 Smartphone to the FCC. The QWERTY Candybar model looks to be a solid option for BlackBerry users looking to transition to the Android platform. However, according to sources, the XT316 isn’t meant for the US, as it’s looking to head to the Chinese market in it’s initial launch. The world phone is being tested for WCDMA bands 850 and 2100, but offers no real support for US 3G networks.

And even if it were, would it be popular? It has a smaller 2.8 inch display and runs Android 2.2 (Froyo). Sure, BlackBerry users may not mind a smaller screen in favor of a hard QWERTY, but the trend is for larger screens, larger, though thinner phones. And this has neither.















But more businesses are looking to add smartphones outside of the BlackBerry to their networks and are working with Employees to make personal choices work, rather than issuing an official phone. This saves money for the businesses and keeps employees happier using their own phone. So a phone that eases the transition from BlackBerry to the Bot makes complete sense. Pity the XT316 isn’t US bound any time soon.





 

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Samsung Galaxy S II commercial clevery touts slim design

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You gotta admit, it’s a clever way to show how thin the Galaxy S II really is. And what’s telling is that Samsung didn’t appear to cheat on the door jam clearance, either, as there’s barely any. Which underscores what we said last month in our hands on, that this phone is the slimmest phone ever. And in spite of that, it’s packed with other great features.
In addition to slimness, the Galaxy S II has a 4.3″ Super AMOLED touchscreen, 1GHz dual-core processor, and dual cameras including an 8MP rear facing. It runs Android OS 2.3 Gingerbread fresh out of the box with a gesture based overlay of TouchWiz 4.0. It’ll support 1080p full HD video, and according to it’s benchmarks, it’s not only the slimmest phone out there, but also one of the fastest. And it looks to launch on several carriers, including Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, so no matter your preference, you can slide it under your door as well.

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Skype Video for Android ready & waiting on Verizon

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Word on the street is that Skype has finished testing it’s Video feature on Android handsets and is waiting for Verizon to distribute. The news came from a support reply to a query by Android user “Dmitri.” The issue is that Verizon controls updating of Skype to phones on their network and as such, users have to had to wait patiently for it. Skype has a partnership with Verizon, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t release it without Verizon’s “check.”

But Verizon may be overly patient to release it until any data vulnerabilities have been ironed out to their liking. As we reported last week, an enterprising hacker could harvest data from a user’s device using a rogue app without the user’s knowledge or permission. Skype replied that it did exist and then a week later, removed the vulnerability. So it would seem only a matter of time before users can enjoy video chat over Verizon’s 4G/LTE network.
That would be great news for users of the HTC Thunderbolt, Droid Bionic, Samsung tablet users who want a video chat solution over 4G. A beta version had been leaked a few weeks ago that users could try out, but that was before Skype’s attention was focused on the vulnerabilities. So users would well advised to
wait for the official version if security is more important to them than allowing their friends to see their mug via video. But when Verizon does release the new video Skype update, you can bet 4G users will be happily saying “can you SEE me now?”
 

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Pre-Order Your Wi-Fi HTC Flyer Today

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If you have been waiting to get your hands on the new HTC Flyer tablet, you can get one step closer today, as Best Buy has opened their pre-ordering for the unit.

A quote from the press release on pricing and details:

Best Buy today announced the Wi-Fi HTC Flyer™ will be available for pre-sale beginning April 25 in all Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile standalone stores. Best Buy is exclusively launching the highly-anticipated Wi-Fi only version of the HTC Flyer tablet later this spring. It will retail for $499.

$499.00 seems a bit steep for a non-honeycomb device, even with the added functionality of stylus writing and drawing. If the price point was $150 lower, I think this unit would fly off the shelves. It will be interesting to see what the response is going to be. Anyone planning on pre-ordering the Flyer?

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NOOK Color Official Froyo Update: It’s Almost A Real Tablet Now, No Hacking Required

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The Barnes & Noble NOOK Color has been the e-reader of choice for many Android power users because of its hackability, making it easy to transform it into a full featured tablet. B&N must’ve taken note from the Android dev community, because an update has just been released for the NOOK Color that brings Froyo, apps, flash player, and more to this budget friendly device.
Before you get too excited, though, it’s not exactly what you think. There is no access to the Android Market, nor does it include any Google Apps. In order to keep the user experience consistent, B&N has its own set of proprietary libraries that developers must use when writing apps for the NOOK Color, so everything flows together within the NOOK ecosystem. Whether or not your favorite apps will be available on the NC is completely up to the developer, but according to Engadget there should be around 125 different apps currently available, with upwards of 5000 developers actively working on bringing more to the device.
There are also numerous updates to the reading experience, including improved animations, the ability to read in landscape mode, and the addition of videos and animations to books. The latter should prove to be convenient for how-to applications, such as cookbooks, but don’t expect to watch a feature film inside of your book. For the kiddies, there is a new feature being added to some books called "read and play" which brings simple games and interactive activities within the book.
Also included in this update is beta access to the social portal – a place where friends can share what they’re reading, comment, and even "lend" books to one another.
While this update brings many welcome features to most NOOK owners, I’m sure that the most savvy of us will still want to root, hack, and mod the NC to lovingly force it to do things that a full Android Tablet should do.
The update is scheduled to roll out to all devices in the coming weeks, but if you don’t want to wait that long, you can grab the update from here.
 

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Download: Galaxy S II Live Wallpapers

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The Galaxy S II has been in the hands of quite a few folks outside of Samsung now and you had to guess that a system dump would be in the pipeline. We don’t get the full plate of things such as ringtones and static wallpapers, but we do get several very nice live wallpapers from the device.
Rawat from XDA has them here, and you should already know what to do with them after you download them. (Just make sure you enable third-party application installs in Settings > Applications.)

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1v Coming to Portugal with €590 Pricetag

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 A while back, Samsung had announced two pretty impressive tablets, coming in 8.9 and 10.1 inch flavors. Afterwards, the iPad 2 came out with an extremely impressive 0.34 inch slimness, causing Sammy to take their tablets back to the drawing board to knock them both down to 0.33 inches thick, the thinnest tablets currently announced. Well, back then, Samsung had stated that the original tablets weren’t going to be completely scrapped, but instead made available for overseas Vodafone customers. This promise has come to fruition, as tomorrow Vodafone Portugal will be getting their realease of Sammy’s Honeycomb-flavored 10.1v tablet love. The Galaxy Tab-branded tablet will also be sporting elements of Samsung’s TouchWiz interface to complement Honeycomb’s tablet optimizations. Don’t be concerned about it being an older version either, as the dual-core 1 GHz processor and 16 gigs of on-board memory match what’s on its slimmer brother. Any of our Portuguese readers out there planning on picking this up? Let us know in the comments!

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SugarSync for Android automatically backs up images

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There’s a new app which will automatically back up images wirelessly when users get near their computer. The app, dubbed SugarSync, automatically backs up any images, documents, and folders to all your computers. In addition, SugarSync backs up to the cloud as well. There’s no connecting, no selecting, and Sugar Sync doesn’t even have to be running resident for it to happen.

The process is called “autosync” and it also works with folders as well. So users can sync documents to and from their PC to the Android. Any work done to documents is then backed up back to the cloud and your PCs. It’s an ideal solution for business travelers looking for a simple sync solution.


Users just set up autosync in the app by pressing the menu button, choosing settings and enabling the autosync options. Users can also customize when and how the autosync happens. So, for instance, a WiFi only option can be made in order to save on data caps and battery life. Or, a time interval can be set to that autosync backs up when you want.
 

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Some Verizon Android Phones Cheaper Than Free From Amazon

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In a move that starts to show the unique ways Amazon has to promote its Appstore, the online retailer will begin giving $25 in Appstore credit free to those who buy a Verizon Android device via Amazon Wireless.

With last year's models like the Droid X and Droid Incredible priced at one cent (with contract), this sets up buyers to get a new handset for less than free. And it gives users who might not otherwise do so a good reason to give the Appstore a try.
No word yet whether Amazon will run similar promotions for other carriers' devices.
Whether or not Amazon ultimately releases an Android-powered tablet, the fact that it is now in the game of selling both Android hardware and software means that it's uniquely able to offer promotions like this. Would $25 to spend in the Appstore encourage you to buy your next device from Amazon, or to try out their Appstore if you haven't yet? Let us know in the comments.
 

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