HP TouchPad Getting Android 2.3 Gingerbread Port This Week?

The HP TouchPad was the extremely popular webOS tablet from HP this year right? No not really, but once HP announced that they were retiring the brand and they’d no longer continue with the TouchPad series it quickly because the hottest selling tablet I’ve seen in a while. Now that the HP TouchPad is extremely affordable at only $99 for the 16GB and $149 for the 32GB (if you can find them in stock anywhere let us know) they are now attracting tons of attention. Users everywhere are snagging them up hoping to soon run Android on the dual-core tablet.

Yesterday we mentioned that a few developers have already started porting Android to the TouchPad and are calling it TouchDroid but now today we have even better news. New details are coming out from a YouTube video where one user is claiming to already have Android 2.3 Gingerbread running on the TouchPad and will unveil full details and instructions on August 24th, that is in two days on this Wednesday. Here is that video teaser below.


While that is only a teaser we also have a second video to show you today. This is Android 2.2 FroYo pre-installed running on the HP TouchPad instead of webOS. We don’t have a lot of details on this next video the sources are claiming it came out of the box with a ubuntu build and was in fact booting to Android 2.2 stock. That is extremely interesting and a bit odd to say the least.


Looking at that video it appears to still have the plastic on the device. It is running on Android 2.2.1 FroYo and at first boot we see the Qualcomm Innovation Center boot logo, also known as QuIC. These two videos are definitely causing a stir in the Android developer community and is peaking my interest to say the least. While I’ve still not bought one I did try to snag one at a few online retailers that accepted my hard earned dollars but they quickly returned it and said they were out of stock. Sound familiar anyone?
Hopefully we see more details in the next day or two regarding either of these videos as the entire HP TouchPad and Android news continues to climb. Stay tuned for more details.
[via Phandroid]

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LG Enlighten QWERTY Slider Images Leak, Headed to Verizon

We have been seeing a lot of mid-range devices out of LG lately and what we have here is no different. This is the LG Enlighten QWERTY slider headed for the big red, Verizon Wireless. You might also remember the name the LG Gelato Q as that is what this was first rumored to be. More details on that are available in this LG leaked roadmap. If what we have heard is accurate this device might even be rocking NFC but the details are still not all available.

While you wont win any design contests or performance benchmarks this is a neat mid-range offering that should be hitting the shelves later in the month or early September and at a great price too. We have a 3.2″ HVGA 480×320 resolution display, an 800 Mhz single-core CPU, a 3.2 MP camera on the rear that sadly is missing a LED flash and you should also get 2GB of internal storage on board here with the included micro SD card.

We haven’t heard much regarding this phone but rumors are already stating it will hit Verizon’s shelves come August 25th with an attractive $100 price tag. So while it may be as mid-range as they come (or low-range) you can’t beat the price and it would be a great phone for a first time smartphone buyer, not to mention just in time for back to school shoppers. They might even offer it free with a new 2-year contract but we’ll have to wait and see. Either way it wont cost much and should be hitting stores soon.
[via PocketNow]

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Motorola Droid 2 Global 2.3 Gingerbread Leaks [Download]

Fun stuff we have more leaked Gingerbread cookies and builds today. While the Motorola Droid 2 Global was supposed to get updated to 2.3 Gingerbread back in June it was quickly pulled and delayed after a few other Moto devices received updates that caused more harm than good. Thanks to a nice community member we have a leaked version 4.5.606 to try out for you guys.

This is most likely not the official or final version, but for those that don’t want to wait a leak is a leak right? It does appear to be somewhat close to a final build and is running stable but as always you flash this at your own risk. Just as a little reminder this file has not yet been rooted. In order to flash this file, you will have to return back to stock 2.4.330 without root or custom recovery before flashing.
Download and Installation:
-Download the file right here
-Rename it to update.zip
-Place it on the root of the SD card
-Boot into recovery by holding power+X
-Choose update
As always this could potentially cause problems or brick your device so RootzWiki or Android Community hold no responsibility for your actions. Flash this at your own risk and as usual, have a nandroid backup just in case. If you do run into issues you can also SBF back to the stock 2.4.330 after this if needed. Full details available at the source link below.
[via RootzWiki]

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Virgin Mobile takes on T-Mobile with another Ad Campaign [Video]

I don’t know about you reader but I personally like the T-Mobile Carly commercials as of late. A nice replacement for Catherine Zeta Jones if you ask me. Over at Virgin Mobile they feel differently about those commercials and that magenta colored dress and have a few of their own ad campaigns to prove it. Recently we’ve seen a few attacks come out of Virgin Mobile aimed directly at T-Mobile and their pricing.

Virgin Mobile most recently used the advertisement to promote their unlimited web, data, messaging, and email plan at $35 a month while poking fun at everyone else in the biz but mainly T-Mobile while daring them to offer the same prices. I’ll post both videos below for your viewing pleasure but first we’ll do the newest one. This last video from Virgin is basically more of the same, not as hilarious as the last one but still manages to make T-Mobile look pretty dumb in the process. Showing that their expensive unlimited data plans are no good, and over on Virgin Mobile users can live like celebrities because of all the savings.



While this most recent video is still pretty awesome and funny it doesn’t quite do it for me like the last one did. Calling T-Mobile and their set “cheap” is pretty funny though, causing “Carly” to come out and say that T-Mobile isn’t cheap at all. Here is the other video as promised, I wont explain it and rather just let you watch and enjoy it for yourself.



Mimicking the white background and Magenta dress commercials from T-Mobile clearly shows Virgin is going for the throat with these ad campaigns. If AT&T and T-Mo do end up merging this could give Virgin Mobile a nice and comfy seat at #4 for top carrier here in the US. What do you guys think? Clever ad campaign or just a cheap shot? 
[via YouTube]

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LG Thrill 4G Appears in Target Ad, Listed at just $79

We aren’t really sure what AT&T and LG are doing with the LG Thrill 4G (or Thrill 3D) or whatever they are calling this phone, but we are seeing that awesome $79.99 sale price appearing again.  The Thrill 4G was supposed to launch on August 7th over at RadioShack and was even advertized by AT&T for $99 coming early August.

Now after more than a few delays another ad has appeared, this time Target is showing it for the low price of $79.99 again. This is an amazing price no doubt, but we have no clue when you’ll actually be able to purchase this glasses-free 3D smartphone. First we heard it was delayed til the end of August, but another report has recently appeared suggesting a September launch. So yes the $79.99 or $99 price tag is awesome but until we get an actual release date or some solid information all this offers is a potential good deal.
We’ve also seen the LG Thrill 4G show up in a Best Buy ad named the Thrill 3D so AT&T and LG might be changing the name or marketing strategy, but that shouldn’t take this long. I’m just hoping they didn’t find some hardware issues with the phone or else we might have another LG G2x “situation” on our hands.
While we wait for some official news on this phone feel free to check out this teaser video of CyanogenMod 7 running on the Optimus 3D.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Optimus 3D

Manufactuer : LG

Carrier : AT&T T-Mobile

Announced Date : February 14, 2011

Release Date : June 17, 2011

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.30 Inch


• Resolution : 480x800


• Screen Type : TFT

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.07 Inch


• Width : 2.68 Inch


• Depth : 0.47 Inch


• Weight : 168 Grams

Battery & Power

• Battery Type:


• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1500 mAh


• Talk Time : NA


• Stand By Time : 300 hours

Software

• Android OS:


• 2.3.x

• Audio Playback:


• AAC


• AAC+


• MID


• MP3


• WAV

• Video Playback:


• h.263


• h.264 / AVC


• 3GP


• MPEG-4 (MP4)


• WMV

• Messaging:


• SMS


• MMS

Hardware

CPU : OMAP4

CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 512 MB

Internal Storage : 8.192 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution :5 MP

• External Storage:


• MicroSD


• MicroSDHC

• Camera Features:


• Auto focus


• Flash


• 1080p Video Recording


• 720p Video Recording

• Sensors:


• Accelerometer


• Ambient light


• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

• Network Technology:


• GSM

• GSM Band:


• 850


• 900


• 1800


• 1900

Device Connectivity

• Wi-Fi:


• 802.11b


• 802.11g


• 802.11n

• Bluetooth:


• Bluetooth 3.0


• A2DP

• Location Features:


• Compass


• GPS


• Cellular location


• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

[via Google+]

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Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Rolling to more cities coming September 15th

While Verizon just got done flipping the switch and adding 15 more cities to 4G LTE on the 18th of August, it appears they aren’t looking to slow down any time soon. Today they’ve already announced another slew of cities that will be getting the same upgrade and improvements. Verizon has been steadily updating their LTE network since it launched and it continues to grow at a very fast pace. At this rate AT&T will be very behind come October or November like we’ve been hearing rumors on regarding the launch.

Come September 15th Verizon is adding another 15 or so markets to their LTE line-up. It appears they might be rolling it out in stages of 15 or so cities at a time, although we’ve seen much larger groups at once before. New cities this go around include Canton and Cleveland, Ohio and even Fargo, ND. Who remembers the awesome movie Fargo? I sure do.
Next in line for 4G LTE include:
-Fargo, ND
-Moorhead, MN
-Rockford, IL
-Moline, IL
-Rock Island, IL
-Bloomington/Normal, IL
-Champaign/Urbana, IL
-Springfield, IL
-Mansfield, OH
-Canton, OH
-Lima, OH
-Iowa City, IA
-Davenport, IA
-Bettendorf, IA
-Blacksburg, VA
With competitors slowly launching or even updating existing networks, Verizon adding a solid 15 or more every few weeks seems to be a great system so far. They are leaving the competition in the dust and at this rate things wont be changing any time soon either. We can expect to see another announcement with a similar list sometime shortly in September outlining the next cities for the upgrade. Keep em coming Verizon!

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Sony Ericsson Live Walkman Announced, Runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread

The Walkman brand I’m sure many of you used back in the days isn’t dying out anytime soon. The folks at Sony plan to keep it chugging along and today they have announced a new Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman handset running the best OS around, Android of course. Thinking back on the huge Walkman disk player I carried around in my younger days before the iPod was fun, but the 128 CD carry case I also tugged around wasn’t. Now we can just throw all that music on a micro SD card and throw it in the new Live Walkman smartphone.

Today the ageless Walkman brand continues with this Android offering. We have a decent little mid-range phone here and this Walkman will sport a 3.2-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen display powered by a single-core 1GHz processor with 380MB of RAM. You even get a front facing camera so you can video chat and listen to music at the same time. 5 megapixel rear camera and all those other goodies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, DLNA and even Sony’s xLOUD system for enhanced audio output.
The Sony Ericsson Live Walkman is set to arrive sometime around October and will have Android 2.3 Gingerbread on board. Sony mentions it will come featuring a built-in Track ID app as well as there usual Qriocity music and video streaming service. The press image does also show the widget for the Spotify music streaming service making us believe it might come pre-installed too, but we cant know for sure. Why they’d show that and their own Qriocity at the same time beats me. More details at the press release below.
[via Sony Ericsson]

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Motorola Mobility has 17,000 Patents, 18 Are Important to Android

When the news broke that Google had acquired Motorola everyone was surprised to say the least. The patent wars of late have been getting very old and it seems most of the OEM’s welcome the deal and see it as protection to the Android ecosystem. A new report has came out after a few have dug through the patent portfolio from Motorola and they are now mentioning what will be the key patents for Google and Android thanks to Motorola.

I quickly found myself wondering what all Motorola had patents on, and how much of them would actually be useful to Google and Android. Google did offer up $12.5 Billion dollars to Motorola so they must have seen something they liked. If the Google Motorola deal goes ahead as planned, they will take on 17,000 existing patents while another 7,500 are pending approval. Out of that massive portfolio, only about 18 will be key to Google defending the Android platform, according to patent lawyer David Mixon, who spoke with Bloomberg.

Any patent owner, before they consider litigation is going to carefully evaluate their patents to withstand an attack. You don’t want to hold any back. You want to pick your strongest patents,” said Mixon in a telephone interview.

Mixon goes on during the interview to mention specifically around 18 patents that will be key for Google and Android. They include antenna designs, email transmissions, location and GPS services, software-application management, 3G wireless technology, and touchscreen motions. Included in “touchscreen motions” is also a proximity and touch sensor patent for when the device is near a head or in a pocket to prevent accidental hang-ups or dialing.
If the deal goes on as planned it’s safe to say Google may end up with a nice combo for counter-attack should the situation present itself. Defending off the lions at Apple, Microsoft, and RIM wont be an easy task, but this might make it a heck of a lot easier. Motorola has been in the Mobile industry for a very long time, they have an impressive portfolio and I’m sure there is plenty more to find once Google gets their feet wet. Hopefully this helps calm down all these crazy lawsuits we’ve been seeing as of late.
[via SlashGear]

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Verizon Users in New York Having Weird GPS Issues, We’ve Got a Temporary Fix For You [Forum Talk]

The HTC Droid Incredible section at AndroidForums.com was filled to the brim with users on Verizon – who also happen to live in New York – having GPS issue. Some users were getting GPS coordinates placing them in Spain and France, while others weren’t able to receive a lock at all. There’s also a sizable thread going over at Google’s support forums.
We’re not exactly sure if Verizon is aware of what’s going on, but we’ll ping them just in case. In the meantime, a user at AndroidForums.com has come through with a temporary workd-around that many users are reporting does well to fix their issue. You’ll have to repeat this process every time you reboot the phone, but it’s better than nothing. Look below for the simple steps, and be sure to thank AndroidForums.com user csg261 as he is our benefactor for this one.
We also hear that getting the latest official Gingerbread build will do the trick – more on that in a bit.

turn on gps
activate airplane mode
run gps test by mike lockwood – menu>clear aiding data
exit airplane mode
satellites seen and lock

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