Motorola DROID 3 OTA update coming soon

Well, the Motorola Droid 3 hasn’t been out too long but it is already set to get an over the air update soon, possibly sometime this week. Something we have heard of many times is about to start and that is a “soak test” for the over the air update. This update should hopefully fix a slew of small problems plaguing the device since launch such as battery issues and what not, as well as hopefully add Google Talk voice chat capabilities with Android 2.3.4

In the photo below is a copy of an email sent out to many readers and Droid 3 owners that will take part in the “soak test” to make sure the update is ready for the masses and will start rolling out to all users a few days following, as long as no issues are found that are show stoppers.

We’d like to hear from our readers. If you are experiencing any issues with your Droid 3 feel free to drop us a comment below and we will be sure to check on it. Hopefully this update comes sooner than later and will fix any issues users are having but I’ve not heard any large complaints thus far. Stand-by as the update should be starting soon in the next week or two.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Droid 3

Manufactuer : Motorola

Carrier : Verizon

Announced Date : July 07, 2011

Release Date : July 07, 2011

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4 Inch
• Resolution : 540x960
• Screen Type : qHD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 4.90 Inch
• Width : 2.50 Inch
• Depth : 0.50 Inch
• Weight : 184 Grams

Battery & Power

• Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1540 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 300 hours

Software

• Android OS:
• 2.3.x

• Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

• Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)
• WMV

• Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : OMAP4

CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 512 MB

Internal Storage : 16.384 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution :8 MP

• External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

• Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

• Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

• Network Technology:
• CDMA

• GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

• CDMA Band:
• 800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

• Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

• Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 2.0

• Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

[via Droid-Life]

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Nexus Prime Confirmed again via Unlisted Samsung Code

When it comes to leaked information about Android devices, the name Nexus (or Nexus Prime in this case) ranks up there with ravenous hoards of Android-based automatons bent on the destruction of the human race – and Nexus isn’t going to kill you, so that’s saying something! What we’ve got today is another leak of information from Samsung on their upcoming device very likely called the Nexus Prime. What this magical mystical future device is said to be holding is the first and most vanilla flavored Ice Cream Sandwich of them all, and today Samsung has been discovered to be hosting a webpage that all but confirms the handset’s existence.

It is at /uaprof/NexusPrime.xml in Samsung Mobile’s webpage guts that you can for yourself see the clues as they present themselves plainly. We can now be pretty sure that not only is Samsung preparing to deliver a device by the name of Nexus Prime, but we can see that this device, codenamed GT-I9250, will have what can only be described as a surprisingly tiny 480 x 800 pixel WVGA resolution display. While this does seem to present itself as a devastatingly small specification for a display on a device that’s set to hold the next big generation of Android mobile OS, it is possible that Samsung placed such a number in the code to throw publishers like us off the trail. Sneaky of them!
This device is more than likely set to be released inside 2011, with another factoid presenting itself in the form of a camera spec allowing us an additional clue as to the true innards of the device. What we can see here is the MMS Max Image Resolution set at 1200 x 1600 pixels. Will this MMS, often also the main camera’s resolution numbers as well, be what we can expect from the camera itself, or is Samsung setting us up for a fooling once again?
Then there’s a quite separate account of Ice Cream Sandwich we’ve got to pay attention to, this one being spoken, perhaps mistakenly so though I doubt it, by none other than Eric Schmidt at this year’s Dreamforce conference in San Francisco:

“We have a new operating system, internally known as Ice Cream Sandwich for some reason, which is being released in October/November, which everyone’s really excited about.” – Schmidt

Check that spoken aloud in the video below at about halfway through:


Finally, and this is a bit off topic, there’s an image floating around these Android internets that you’ve likely seen before, this being a vector-illustrated Transformer set inside the Nexus X logo, as seen below. I’d like here to let you know who made this image so you can revel in his awesome works: head to the online portfolio of ~nviii~Surberus to not only get a large-sized image of the bot, but a wallpaper of it as well. Win!

[via SlashGear]

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Motorola DROID Bionic being sold through Verizon phone sales

In cased you guys missed it the Motorola DROID Bionic is finally official today. It will be available starting tomorrow September 8th, so you better hurry and go wait in line tomorrow morning, or do you. A few readers and tips are starting to flood in this afternoon that Verizon’s phone sales are actually taking orders if you get lucky.

With buyers choosing overnight shipping the BIONIC could be on your doorstep tomorrow morning rather than running to a nearly store and dealing with that drama. This isn’t confirmed but we have received more than a few reports on this so feel free to give it a try and hopefully order your own amazingly fast 4G LTE Bionic.
If you would like to give the phone sales a try and hopefully reserve a Bionic for yourself feel free to call *611 from a Verizon phone, or             1-800-256-4646       from any other phone. Oh and as an added bonus another Bionic commercial has leaked online although the quality seems to be lacking, check it out below.

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Samsung Stratosphere Verizon 4G LTE Slider hits the FCC

The Samsung SCH-i405 better known as Verizon’s 4G LTE rocking Samsung Stratosphere, passed through the FCC today with what obviously are 4G LTE bands on board.

I personally welcome 4G LTE phones in the mid-range price offering and it appears Verizon has more than a few planned. Between the Stratosphere and the Pantech Breakout they are off to a good start. Seeing the Samsung Stratosphere finally clear the FCC makes us believe we will be seeing this device hit the streets rather soon, but we can’t be for sure.
A recently leaked roadmap marks the Stratosphere down for a September 8th release along with the DROID Bionic but chances are this mid-range LTE phone is still a few weeks away. The Stratosphere is basically a Samsung Epic 4G with Verizon 4G LTE, with similar specs to a Galaxy S device and not a SGSII.
More options are always welcome, and a 4G LTE slider should make a few people happy, stay tuned for more details.
[via FCC]

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NVIDIA CEO talks Quad-cores and the future of mobile CPU’s

In a recent sit-down, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang broke down all sorts of good news for the mobile industry and Android. Not afraid to talk about business or revenue Huang safely discussed the future of Android tablets, quad-core processors and NVIDIA’s role as a hardware manufacturer for Android and mobile devices.

Moving on to revenues, Huang said analysts had predicted $4.45 billion for NVIDIA and the company is expected to post figures in the $4.7 billion to $5 billion range and beat most expectations. Then moving on to the future he also noted that new devices running the Kal-El quad-core NVIDIA chips should hit stores in Q4 putting them in time for the holiday season, but slightly later than the original projections. This is both good and bad news because at least we have official word that they are coming this year, but bad because they might be later than expected.
With mobile markets and the mobile processor industry only getting bigger and bigger NVIDIA will continue to aim more focus on these markets. With big plans for Q4 2011 and even more for 2012 they have some exciting things ahead of them. With the recent acquisition of Icera, NVIDIA will be integrating 3G/4G wireless modem chipsets into their Tegra processors for an all-in-one solution to better compete with the likes of Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments.
Huang briefly mentions part of the initial delays for the quad-core Kal-El is for changes as they continue to make improvements to increase efficiency and performance. I have a feeling NVIDIA has more than just quad-core tablets and phone planned for 2012 but we will just have to wait and see. The next few months should be really exciting in the world of Android. Then again isn’t every month exciting?
[via SlashGear]

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HP TouchPad CyanogenMod 7 Build THIS CLOSE to Complete

If you thought you’d never see CyanogenMod 7 working on that $99 TouchPad you picked up a few weeks ago, you’ve clearly got no faith in the awesomeness of others. Last we heard, the TouchPad had been given multitouch support for an Android port, but now we know the CyanogenMod 7 build to be a few steps ahead, nearly ready for a full release! All they’ve got left to get working, apparently, is Wi-fi support and a few other tinier bugs. Sound like the system for you?

Certainly John Sheible isn’t looking back at his multi-pad purchase with regret as CyanogenMod 7 makes this tablet a fully functional and fully awesome Android tablet to behold! Touchscreen support is working, accelerometer is working, and all graphics drivers are ready to roll. And if you’re feeling adventurous, you can get internet over a USB cable like the rest of the weirdos using alternate means for internet. You’ll be working hard on your unique 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor, appearing to work faster here than it ever did in review units before Android was planted.


Also note that with this release comes dual-boot to both Android and webOS, this meaning of course that you wont have to uninstall this tablet’s original operating system to get the newly minted CyanogenMod 7 build working inside. As for the touchscreen issues, which appear to be at the forefront of development woes here on the device as far as Android goes, the CyanogenMod developer in the video does not reveal the driver that was used to make this build work, but does note that it was originally, of course, another CyanogenMod build that made it happen.
Stay tuned as we ramp up to a final build.
[via Liliputing]

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Ice Cream Sandwich coming October or November says Eric Schmidt

Well folks, this makes things sound a bit more official. We have been hearing rumors of an October or November launch for a long time for the net version of Android, but today Google’s own Eric Schmidt was nice enough to confirm the same time frame. Ever since we first saw ICS at Google I/O we’ve been patiently waiting for more details.


Remember the leaked Ice Cream Sandwich screenshots? Those got everyone excited but we’ve seen nothing since then. During a sit-down at Salesforce.com’s Dreamforce conference, Schmidt was talking about our favorite green robot Android and let it slip that ICS was coming in October or November.

His remarks are about 30:00 minutes into the video

We have a new operating system, internally known as Ice Cream Sandwich for some reason, which is being released in October/November, which everyone’s really excited about.

While this isn’t anything extremely new or details we didn’t already know or were assuming, it’s always nice to hear something like this right from Google themselves. Now I just wish they’d confirm the Samsung Nexus Prime already, and if it’s headed to Verizon or not.
We can expect tons of details and news regarding ICS to start flooding the news and Android Community soon so stay tuned as those dates get closer.
[via androidandme]

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HTC EVO 4G looks great with Sense UI 3.5 [Video]

I know many readers have already seen HTC Sense UI 3.5 Thanks to a leaked RUU of the HTC Bliss running with the new HTC Sense UI 3.5 developers are starting to port the awesome UI to all the popular phones. The HTC EVO 4G being one of the biggest HTC devices it was only natural it would be one of the first. We have a full video and all the details below.

First we saw the Desire HD get Sense 3.5 and even the DROID Incredible we reported on yesterday. Now it’s time for the big boys to get some of the new user interface. Thanks to Team Nocturnal at XDA we have HTC Sense UI 3.5 for the EVO 4G.




As always this is a fully custom ROM with Sense UI 3.5 ported and working with the EVO 4G. This is still a work in progress and most likely you’ll spot a few bugs but as their name suggests, Team Nocturnal has been working day and night to bring this to the masses and things are moving along plenty quick. The build looks extremely stable and smooth from the video above and you can get all the details you’d need over at the XDA thread.
Like I said this is still in beta and very much a work in progress. They mention the occasional Wi-Fi and camera issue, as well as SD card mounting problems but are quickly working to address everything and get this completely stable. If I still had my EVO 4G I’d have flashed this yesterday just for fun, but sadly I’ll have to wait. For another video of Sense 3.5 on the EVO 4G click here.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : EVO 4G

Manufactuer : HTC

Carrier : Unknown

Announced Date : March 23, 2010

Release Date : June 04, 2010

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.30 Inch
• Resolution : 480x800
• Screen Type : TFT

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 4.80 Inch
• Width : 2.60 Inch
• Depth : 0.50 Inch
• Weight : 170 Grams

Battery & Power

• Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1500 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 144 hours

Software

• Android OS:
• 2.3.x

• Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WMA

• Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

• Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Snapdragon

CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz

Core : 1

Ram : 512 MB

Internal Storage : 1 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution :8 MP

• External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

• Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 720p Video Recording

• Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

• Network Technology:
• CDMA

• CDMA Band:
• 800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

• Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

• Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 2.0

• Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

[via XDA Forums]

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AT&T Impulse 4G gets official price and launch date

The last time we mentioned the Impulse 4G smartphone we knew the Android device was heading to AT&T, but we didn’t know when it would land or how much it would cost. AT&T has now gone official with the price of the smartphone and when you can walk into a store and pick one up. The phone is made by Huawei and is one of the cheapest Android devices out there.

You can get the phone with a 2-year contract from AT&T for only $29.99. The smartphone will support Quad Band GSM/Tri Band UMTS/Edge networks at up to 14.4Mbps. The operating system on the phone is Android 2.2. It uses a MSM7230 chipset and a Scorpion 800MHz processor. The internal storage is about 512MB and it has a microSD card slot supporting up to 32GB more storage.
The rear camera on the smartphone is a 5MP unit with automatic focus and flash that can record 720p HD video. The screen size for the phone is 3.8-inches with a resolution of 800×480. The phone uses Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and EDR. It also supports WiFi networks and has a 720p video output. The phone will be in stores on September 18.

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