HTC Sensation XE first to sport Beats enhanced audio

Remember HTC’s $300 million deal with Beats Audio? Well, that union has brought about the first love child – the HTC Sensation XE, which we did talk about in the past in the form of a special edition for the HTC Sensation. It will come in a rather menacing black and red color scheme, and essentially, this is but your regular HTC Sensation, although it will come with the Beats Audio branding to boot. What can you expect if you decide to pry the case open?
Well, we start off with a 1.5GHz processor within, while the rather high capacity 1,730mAh battery would definitely be able to let you enjoy hour after hour of uninterrupted audio playback – and for watching movies, too. Up front, the 4.3″ qHD resolution display does not seem to be that hot these days in terms of real estate, but it should do the job nicely.

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Firefox Nightlies Now Available for Honeycomb Tablets

Firefox for Tablets was previewed just a few backs, and it seemed we may have to wait some time to get our hands on it. Not the case, as the first nightly builds of the Honeycomb-tailored web browser have become available. You can head over to Mozilla’s site to grab the most recent release and take a spin around the mobile web.
[Mozilla via Gizmodo]

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Opera 11.1 Now Ready For Download – Adds Honeycomb Support and Patches Security Flaw

Opera was just updated in the Android Market today. While all the normal goodies were added (bug fixes and the like) this update now officially supports Honeycomb with the new large screen compatibility mode. The update also fixed some serious security holes in regards to the older version of the app storing cache files with permissions that were not restrictive enough. This could potentially allow for malicious apps to gain access to your sensitive data stored on your device’s SD card. As for the rest of the new stuff check out the changelog below:

• Added support for font styles on Samsung Galaxy devices
• Fix for problem with text disappearing in text fields
• Fix for HTML5 <audio> tag auto-play
• Fix for mismatched RGB colors on some devices
• Fix for black screen when starting Opera Mobile on some devices
• Fix for various stability issues on certain devices
• Fix for various font issues on certain devices
• Security update fix (see below)
• Permissions: See bit.ly/opera_permissions

[Market Link]

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HTC Kingdom Could Be Headed To US Cellular As HTC Hero S

The HTC Kingdom has been leaked for awhile now, showing up in leaked ROM and images like the one above. While it was hard to peg the device to a specific U.S. release, we’ve pretty much known all the in’s and out’s as far as specs go. A 1.2GHz single-core Snapdragon will be powering this thing along with 768MB of RAM, a 4.3-inch qHD display and 5MP rear/1.3MP front facing cameras. So where’s this device headed?

Well, apparently the Kingdom could be on it’s way to Alltel Wireless as the HTC Acquire, Sprint as the HTC Evo Design 4G and now — thanks to a custom gel case that appeared online — US Cellular as the HTC Hero S. You’ll notice the gel case in question is compatible with all of those devices and although the site doesn’t specifically link the “Hero S” to US Cellular, Pocketnow is reporting that one of the tipsters has confirmed it.
[Via Pocketnow]

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Amazon App Store offering great deals for “Geek Week”

The Amazon App store isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and the great ideas they have just keep getting better and better. Not only do they offer a free app of the day every single day, but now they look to be starting something called “Geek Week”. It may not be every week but they are offering amazing Android apps that many power users (or geeks like myself) will find very useful all at extremely low prices.

This first round of “Geek Week” looks to please all the rooted and power users of Android because this is almost what I’d call the essential app list for root users. I own four of those apps and the only thing missing is Titanium Backup. Check out all the awesome and highly highly popular apps below at huge discounts thanks to Amazon.
Easy Tether $9.99 –> $4.99
Root Explorer $3.99 –> $0.99
WidgetLocker $1.99 –> $0.99
Wave Launcher $1.99 –> $0.99
SetCPU $2 –> $0.99
RepliGo Reader $4.99 –> $1.99
Xtralogic Remote Desktop Client $24.95 –> $12.99
BackupEverything $1.99 –> $0.99
If you have a rooted Android phone and are yet to buy Root Explorer and SetCPU now is the perfect time as both of those apps are essential and something I’ve been using for a long, long time. If you’ve been debating on whether its worth it to set and and use the Amazon App Store this would be another one of those good times to give it a try, all you need is an amazon.com account.
Geek Week App List
[via Android Police]

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LG Optimus Black to be called the LG Marquee

It looks like the LG Optimus Black we’ve seen a few times that was also said to be headed to US carriers back in July is finally here, but with a different name and a slightly different cover around back. The Optimus Black will be called the LG Marquee and will debut here in the U.S. on the Now Network in yellow.

While it brings a little less black along with it by losing that in the name and replacing the rear black battery cover with a grey pinstripe it still looks plenty sexy and I hear it feels great in the hands too with that curved design. The LG Marquee may not have the power we all love and crave in those dual-core processors but it does have an amazing screen and the latest version of Android.
The Marquee claims to have one of the best and brightest displays for mobile phones with the LG NOVA display. It also features a 1.0 Ghz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, a 5 MP shooter on the rear with LED flash and VGA front. With Android 2.3 Gingerbread it rolls in as a nice mid to high-range smartphone. It should be shipping around October 2nd but we have no word if this will feature 4G WiMAX but sources are leaning towards a no. If the EVO 3D is too much for you and the Samsung Galaxy S II isn’t your thing either maybe the LG Marquee will be what you desire.
[via PocketNow]

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Who needs Android or Windows? HTC may just go it alone

So, you have a massive Android and WP7 presence. You've transformed yourself from the manufacturer of handsets for networks to one of the biggest players in the market on your own merits. Where do you go next if you're HTC?
Just buy your own OS! Simples!

At least, that's the implication we've been getting from the Taiwanese manufacturer, which feels that there are possibly too many Android and WP7 handsets doing the rounds.
Boss, Cher Wang apparently told the Economic Observer of China: "We have given it thought and we have discussed it internally, but we will not do it on impulse."
"We can use any OS we want. We are able to make things different from our rivals on the second or third layer of a platform. Our strength lies in understanding an OS, but it does not mean that we have to produce an OS."
HTC has been one of the big success stories of the Android revolution. It was the first manufacturer to launch a handset on the platform in the T-Mobile G1 and since then has gained a prominent place in the market with its customisable and highly distinctive Sense interface which, ironically, launched on the Windows Mobile OS.
The strategy is simple - add your own look to the vanilla build and then make it your own, which is what Sense does so well.
And if HTC wants to buy its own OS, there'll be at least three potential targets in theory, with both MeeGo and Symbian potentially looking for love thanks to Nokia's decision to buddy up with Microsoft. Then there's webOS, which HP paid big money for when it bought Palm, but is effectively now on the shelf now that HP is ditching its mobile division.
Of course, in practice any deal for HTC to get involved with any of those three will be way more complicated than just flashing some cash, but the point is there are potentially options out there.
But, it'll face stiff competition from Android co-developer and mobile rival Samsung which, as we reported yesterday, is continuing to throw cash at its own protege, Bada.
It'll be interesting could very well be linked to the ongoing row with Apple over patent infringements but either way, more choice for the consumer can only be a good thing.

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Upcoming Android versions will be tweaked to run on Intel hardware

At Intel’s Developer Forum, Google’s Andy Rubin just appeared on stage to confirm that Google and Intel will be continuing their partnership. Expanding it, even, as Rubin announced that all future versions of Android would include optimizations for Intel silicon – from the core of the OS up to multimedia. So to catch up: today we saw Microsoft tout Windows 8 running on ARM processors and we saw Google tout Android running on Intel processors. Yes, we got the order right there.
Intel took the opportunity to tease an Android tablet and phone both running on the Medfield chip. Both appeared to be prototypes (and no manufacturer was named), but Intel promised we’d see phones running on Intel chips in “early 2012.” Intel also showed off “Intel Pair & Share” software, which will allows users to get notifications and sync media on their computers.
After the break: a video of Rubin’s announcement and more photos from the event — including another shot of the tablet and one of the phone.
Update: More photos of the tablet prototype, built by Intel as a “reference design,” have been added to the gallery!
Update 2: One more picture added to the gallery to show the NFC logo on the back of Intel’s Android tablet prototype, which CarryPad just noticed.
Source: Intel

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Sprint Posts Samsung Epic 4G Touch User Guide

The release of the Samsung Epic 4G Touch is only a few days away, but for those with the phone on pre-order and plans to run out and buy it as soon as the nearest Sprint store opens for business on the 16th can get a leg up by checking out the user guide now. Sprint has posted the document to their support site as of today. If you’re still on the fence, be sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming review.
[Sprint via AndroidForums | Thanks, cds0699!]

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