Samsung has no plans to bring Galaxy Tab 7.7 or Galaxy Note to the US

If you watched the hands on videos we posted up yesterday about the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 and the Galaxy Note and though you would like to get one of those new tablets for yourself, we have some bad news. Apparently, those tablets will not be coming to the US. That means if you want one in the States you will need to import or go without.

The confirmation that the tablets would not be coming to the US came by way of a company statement that said there are “no plans” to launch either tablet in the US. Perhaps that could change if a carrier shows interest in either device. That doesn’t seem likely to happen though with all the other tablet offerings already available unless these two can be offered at a low price.
Davies speculated yesterday that the Tab 7.7 would still come to the US lacking its voice service capability. That doesn’t seem likely at this point. With Samsung saying it has no plans for the US it has likely shopped the tablet around and found no carrier interest at this time.
[via MobileBurn]

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Imo instant messaging app for Android gets update

The geeks behind the multi-chat service app imo have announced a new update for the app that is now available to download. The update adds some interesting new features to the app. If you aren’t familiar with imo for Android the app allows you to take all those IM apps that you use to chat with people and combines them into one place. The app supports Skype, GTalk, MSN, ICQ/AIM, Yahoo, Jabber, Vk.com, Hyves, Myspace, Facebook, Google Talk, and Jabber.

The new update brings some interesting features with a new easier to use UI. The chat history is now viewable and searchable from inside the app. You can also have chat groups set up. The chat groups will work with people on different devices included from the web, Android phones, the iPad, and Blackberry devices.
The group chats also allow for photo sharing and a bunch of bugs are fixed as well in this update. The update landed yesterday and is up for download right now. The current versions is 2.2.7 and you need a device running Android 1.6 or higher.

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New Verizon Leaked MAP Outs HTC Rhyme – Coming Sept 29th

Another leaked Verizon MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) made it’s way online, this time outing the mysterious ADR6330 as the HTC Rhyme. The model number of the Rhyme puts it smack in between the HTC Merge (ADR6325) and the Droid Incredible 2 (ADR6350). What device could this be? Well, the name alone hints at something “musical” (no, I’m not talking about A Day to Remember) hinting at a possible mid-range “Beats by Dre” device.
Oh- and it looks like the Motorola Xoom LTE capable version will be in stores the same day as the Droid Bionic (Sept. 8th). This can pretty much be seen as nothing less than a five-finger slap in the face to current Xoom owners who will likely still be waiting for their 4G LTE upgrades from Motorola.
[Via DroidLife]

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New Leaked Image and Specs For the 4.7-inch HTC Runnymede 2

HTC seems to be taking to heart the phrase “bigger is better” and it’s no better exemplified than in their upcoming 4.7-inch HTC Runnymede 2. Wait- 2? When was the first one released? In any case, we’ve recently posted some of the supposed specs but it seems now we’ve finally got it down in print, complete with a render of the device. Everything on this spec list screams “premium device” except for the dreaded single-core processor. I know, it’s dual-core or bust for a lot of you. So why the “lesser” processor? Well, maybe it has something to do with the bundling of that huge Beats Solo headset with the device. Have to cut costs somewhere.
This device will most likely turn out to be the Android version of the recently announced Windows Phone 7 HTC Titan. The camera on this behemoth is also said to be right up there with the Mytouch 4G Slide (and HTC Holiday Raider). Anyone a smidgen interested in this device?
[Via AndroidGuys]

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AT&T offers customers 1,000 free rollover minutes

AT&T sent text messages to its customers on Thursday offering 1,000 free rollover minutes. The message specifically said: “There’s no cost or obligation to you. It’s our way of saying thank you. To have your minutes added, reply “YES,” by 9/7/2011.” We received the SMS on an iPhone in the office and confirmed that we did indeed receive 1,000 free rollover minutes. An AT&T spokesperson did not immediately responded to a request for further details on why AT&T issued the offer.

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ViewSonic ViewPad 7x Android 3.2 Tab Hands-on [Video]

ViewSonic is bringing their own 7″ Android 3.2 Tab to the market and we have some details for you. Hanging out at IFA 2011 the team was able to get some hands-on video with the device as well as all the juicy details. We mentioned the ViewPad 7x earlier today but now we have pictures and video for you to check out after the break.

I must warn you the video has a bit of background noise as it was an extremely busy event over in Berlin, Germany, today so you’ll have to bear with us but the details are audible. What we have in the ViewSonic ViewPad 7x is an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tab with an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core CPU at 1.0 Ghz, 1GB of RAM and comes with an 8GB and 16GB flavor. We have a 7″ 1024 x 600 resolution display, a rear facing 5 mp camera with LED flash (720p video) with 2 MP front for video chat.

For connectivity, we have micro-HDMI for 1080p video out, micro USB, stereo speakers, and a micro SD slot to expand storage all neatly on the bottom of the device. ViewSonic has said it will offer a Wi-Fi only model first but they do plan to bring a 3G HSPA+ model to market soon. I really like the Viewscene 3D UI they’ve added, it looks quite spiffy and you can check it out with the video and pictures below.



Sadly they still mention that extremely steep 349 Euros price tag which is around $499 USD, a price that should absolutely be lower for a 7″ Tablet. We should see the ViewSonic ViewPad 7x Android 3.2 Tab hit the streets in late September.
)

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Motorola DROID Bionic Retail Price is $589, User Manual Available for Download

More Droid news folks, the Motorola Droid Bionic will be priced at $589 without contract for those few that may be looking to buy this beast outright and not sign any agreements or contracts. While this may not mean a lot I’m sure there is more than a few of you out there that aren’t eligible for an upgrade but can’t wait to get your hands on the superphone — start saving those pennies.

After a few prying eyes were looking through the DroidDoes.com terms and conditions they spotted that the retail price would be that which was mentioned above, $589.99 and this isn’t really a surprise as I could have guessed something very similar. We still don’t have any official word on what pricing will be for those agreeing to new terms and such but plenty of rumors suggested $299.

In other exciting news, the Droid Bionic user manual has been leaked to the interwebs and is available for download in PDF form for anyone possibly interested in looking through all that goodness. In case you missed it the DroidDoes ARena Augmented Reality App is now available for those planning to search out and try to win one of these bad boys.
Who wants a Droid Bionic by a show of hands?
[via Phandroid]

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Google Nexus S in Space Round 2 [Video]

Lets talk about a different Samsung device for a minute, this is the Google Samsung Nexus S and its made the long trek to space. Back in July we told you about the Nexus S joining the space shuttle Atlantis for its last trip to space. Today the team at Google has updated us with an awesome video clip showing some of the amazing work NASA and the Nexus S are doing so check it out after the break.

Not only did NASA give the Nexus S the green light to enter space, but it appears they chose it for its ease of use and for how open and accessible the Android OS actually is. Pretty cool coming from the geniuses at NASA right? Check out the video below:

NASA is using ground controllers moving and controlling spheres in space using the Google Nexus S. The device picks up data, sensor readings and more and sends it all back to the user, pretty neat stuff. Using custom software the Nexus S hardware such as camera, sensors, gyroscope, motion control and more all become the central brain for the robots in space. Everything neatly in sync using Wi-Fi on the device and shuttle being tied to the ground crew for ultimate control. Sounds pretty awesome if you ask me.

Thanks to NASA and Google we can all sit safely grounded to Earth while the smartphones and robots do all the dirty work. More information is available at the source.
[via Google Mobile Blog]

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Samsung i727 makes a stop at the FCC, reveals Galaxy S II features with AT&T 4G LTE

I think I figured out what Samsung is doing, they’ve gathered everything they have been working on for the past year and decided to release most of it all in a 3 day period — then say GO! New documents show that another Samsung device has hit the FCC today revealing a Galaxy S II type device rocking AT&T 4G LTE radios. This is fresh off of Tuesday’s event where AT&T announced their own Galaxy S II already (without 4G LTE).

I wasn’t sure at first but after looking closer it has the same SGH-i727 model number as Rogers’ Galaxy S II LTE, so that is where the SGSII speculation comes from, but we wont know for sure until we get more details. What we do know is the documents revealed that it will indeed have AT&T 4G LTE on board. This may be one of the first few phones launched on AT&T with LTE.
This would give the HTC Holiday a little competition and is appearing at the FCC right at the perfect time since AT&T just made the HTC Jetstream 4G LTE Tablet official. This FCC filing could also be the Samsung Impulse we saw last week. Hopefully Samsung will release some details shortly so all you AT&T users can start to debate with yourself what you should buy next.
[via FCC]

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