Motorola ELECTRIFY lands tonight at midnight on U.S. Cellular

So you’re working with the carrier by the name of U.S. Cellular here in the United States, are you? You’ve been waiting for what seems like forever for a device that’s any better than the HTC Merge? Today (or tonight, rather) is your lucky day (and night) because your smartphone companion for your Motorola XOOM is here, and it comes in a dual-core flavoring! It’s time for the Motorola Electrify, a device that’s basically the newest version of the Motorola Photon 4G and the Motorola ATRIX 4G, aka the first dual-core smartphone to be released in the USA officially. Now we’ve got the ELECTRIFY coming to U.S. Cellular and it’s coming tonight!

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, you can pick up this Android 2.3.x Gingerbread toting 4.3-inch qHD Touch Display having dual-core 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 AP20H processor that you’ll be able to use to access the NVIDIA Tegra Zone where you’ll be able to grab a whole handful of HD games that work ONLY on Tegra 2-toting devices. You’ve got an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, a VGA camera on the front, and 16GB of storage built in. There’s also a microSD card slot so you can add up to 32GB more storage.
You’ll also get Motorola’s Webtop software and the ability to purchase all kinds of accessories. All of this is covered essentially in the Motorola Photon 4G review we’ve got, just imagine that it’s got U.S. Cellular markings on it instead. There’s certain to be more than a few application change-ups as well, so of COURSE we’re going to do a full review of this device for you barring some sort of major natural accident.
All this said, midnight is the time. Over on U.S. Cellular’s website at http://www.uscellular.com/ you’ll be able to purchase the Motorola ELECTRIFY for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate tied to the purchase of a data plan. Data plans for new customers are two-year agreements and activation fees may apply for new customers as well. Those who are already on U.S. Cellular and have Belief Plans who are eligible for an upgrade will be able to get the promotional price without signing any sort of new contract. Fun!

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Samsung SCH-I815 Hits Bluetooth SIG, possible 7″ Verizon Tablet

This mystery device just hit and cleared its Bluetooth certification but we know nothing about it. Some are thinking it may in fact be a 7″ tablet headed to Verizon although the picture below says “phone” a few times. The model number SCH-I800 was used for the original Galaxy Tab 7″ on Verizon so this new device with a SCH-I815 model number could very well be the replacement for the original tab.

Have any guesses as to what this might be? We do. First off a replacement for the original 7″ Tab is to be expected although we’ve heard nothing of such device. Yesterday a Galaxy Tab “Plus” was spotted with a T-Mobile branding so this could very well be a similar device for Big Red.
Could the Galaxy Tab 7.7 that was announced at IFA and then quickly went missing be headed to the U.S. market soon? I sure hope so although carrier branded and priced tablets still are a bit expensive if you ask me. Our hands-on with the Tab 7.7 was a pleasant one and the ports seem to line up with what we saw leaked for T-Mobile yesterday that was linked to above.
The other thing to take into account is the Bluetooth SIG mentions Samsung “Phone” so that might throw a few people off, although that could also just be because the tablet will have 3G/4G inside since it seems to be headed for Verizon. A full-sized look at the picture can be found below. We should be hearing more about the possibility of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 soon.
[via Droid-Life]

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HTC Ruby press shot revealed, this is the Amaze 4G

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the 1.5 Ghz dual-core powered HTC Ruby (aka Amaze 4G) before, but today sources have revealed an actual press release image rather than just a blurrycam leaked photo like back in August. While we don’t learn anything new here seeing it out and around again is a good sign of things to come.

We recently learned the Ruby will be called the HTC Amaze 4G and is headed for T-Mobile. Earlier this month it was spotted in the wild and gave us a clearer idea of what to expect as well as full hardware details. The Amaze 4G looks like a sibling to the myTouch 4G and the HTC Sensation and has some nice specs to go with it.
We have a boosted up 1.5 Ghz dual-core Qualcomm processor with 1GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage, micro-SD card, 8MP HD camera on the rear with dual LED flash and a front VGA shooter. Also powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread and the latest Sense UI 3.5 although we speculate it wont come with stock Sense UI. T-Mobile has been known for having their own spin off of Sense with what they call Espresso, most likely that is what will be included on the Amaze 4G. Packing a 4.3″ 960×540 qHD display as well as NFC capabilities this basically has it all. We still aren’t seeing anything regarding HTC’s Beats Audio here so this might be coming soon minus those goodies.
Rumors have the Amaze 4G slated for a late October release but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing this phone sooner than that so be sure and stay tuned for more details.
[via SlashGear]

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AT&T claims you can keep your T-Mobile plan and rate after merger

If you are one of the many users over on T-Mobile that have been wondering what will happen during and after this AT&T-Mobile merger goes though (if it does), AT&T and T-Mobile have outlined a few more details to put users at ease. AT&T is now saying users will be able to keep their current rate and plan after the merger goes through, even after your contract expires from T-Mobile. This is great news for many of the long time T-Mo customers with amazing grandfathered-in plans like myself.

AT&T may be eating T-Mobile like the image above, but it appears they wont be eating all the rates and plans — at first at least. According to the documents shown below it appears they will be grandfathering most customers plans for when the merger to AT&T starts. We knew they’d be allowing the plans to continue for the most part but to now know even after plans expire users will be able to continue with the same rate and plan should make many feel more comfortable with the idea of switching to the AT&T world.

Just as TmoNews states we were wondering the same thing regarding the future. What will happen when users want to upgrade their phone, and what about making small changes to a plan? Will this require you to lose what you’ve been using and sign into a new deal completely different than what you had before. These details I’m sure will continue to be explained and detailed as things move forward but with a merger this big there is bound to be some bumps along the way. For now we’ll just have to wait and see what the DOJ has to say about the deal.
[via TmoNews]

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Spotify Premium Members reach 2 Million Mark

If there was any doubt that Spotify would continue its crushing blow to the top of the streaming music world, today might well be the last time such a doubt was spoken. What we’ve learned, straight from the source of course, is that the Premium service that’s available with Spotify streaming music service has now reached and broken the 2 million person mark. This means that over 2 million people are now paying to have the full Spotify service on their phones and in their homes – is this fantastic for a group that started out only across the pond back in 2009?

Before we go any further, if you don’t know what Spotify is, you should check out the full guide on Spotify your humble narrator wrote for SlashGear back when it was first released here in the states. After that, you should check out our review of the Spotify Premium app that you’ll only be able to run if you’ve got the Premium service hooked up. Right after the USA launch we also gave a whole handful of invites away as well as reviewing that app, that’s how super pumped we were.

And that’s only the USA launch, not even a few months ago! Back on the 28th of May, 2009, our man in England mister Chris Davies made a video demo of the Spotify Android app as it existed in its first state. It was already pretty super neato back then. Now the combined collection of premium users all over the world is at 2 million. Are you one of them?

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HTC Hero S coming to U.S. Cellular

A new image has surfaced thanks to U.S. Cellular showing us a glimpse of the HTC Hero S. Last week we mentioned US Cellular would receive the Motorola Electrify and now it is being pictured with the HTC Hero S, confirming it’s headed to the market soon. Originally known and leaked as the HTC Kingdom, we now know this will most likely hit carriers any time now.


We first saw the HTC Kingdom way back in April and many were unsure as what to think or expect of the leaked photos, then in August a few more details were revealed showing that it was headed to the Now Network with 4G WiMAX. Originally thought to offer a 4.0″ display the image above shows it neatly next to the 4.3″ touting Motorola Electrify (aka Photon 4G).
Full specs and details were later revealed and they include a 1.2 Ghz Qualcomm Snapragon single-core processor, 768MB RAM, Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and a 4.0″ qHD Display. Now we know this will have a 4.3″ 960 x 540 qHD screen as well as a 5 MP camera and VGA front for video chat. Originally thought to be called the EVO 4G Design, it will be known as the HTC Hero S on U.S. Cellular and probably keep the EVO tag for the WiMAX carrier in yellow.
We are digging around for more confirmation but the leaked photo tells us plenty and most likely we’ll be seeing this land sometime here shortly in the next month or two.
[via PocketNow]

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Samsung SHV-E120L uncovered: 4.7″ HD Display and LTE

A new Samsung handset has surfaced that is showing some mighty impressive specs that have more than received my attention. Details are scant regarding this handset but we do have a pretty full hardware specs sheet that should make more than a few of you excited to see this phone in the flesh. Between hearing LTE and the HD display I want it already, see below for the full details.

We are hearing some of these details came from a NenaMark result seen a few months back but the photo above reveals the rest of the specs. This sounds impressive to say the least. We have an unknown Samsung smartphone powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread that is rocking a 1.5 Ghz dual-core Qualcomm processor, 1GB of ram and 16GB internal storage. Then here’s the fun part, we have a 4.7″ 1280 x 720p AMOLED HD Display (like the Galaxy Note), 4G LTE, and the powerful 8 MP camera on the rear and 2 MP up front that we are accustomed to from the Galaxy S II smartphone.
With a huge 1850 mAh battery and the latest Android 2.3 Gingerbread this sounds like a beast. My first thought is whether 4.7″ is too large for most, although the Galaxy Note linked to above received plenty of praise when it was announced so maybe 4.7″ is just another large screened awesome smartphone many will want. I know the image above doesn’t tell much, or give us any idea where these details came from but for now you can peg me as excited.
[via Blog of Mobile]

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LG Optimus EX dual-core phone leaked

A new Android 2.3 Gingerbread phone from the teams at LG has been leaked along with a press photo and some impressive hardware specs. This is the Optimus EX (aka LG-SU880) and for now we are just starting to receive information on this handset. First off hitting markets in Korea, we can hopefully expect to see it land on others soon.

The LG Optimus EX will sport a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor though we are still unsure on make and model but most likely a Qualcomm, 1GB of RAM, a 5MP camera around the rear as well as a front camera for video chat. Packing a 4.0″ WVGA display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and all those other usual sensors this appears to be a nice, well rounded phone from LG.
We’ve yet to see this type of design from LG and from looking at the image above it almost appears as if the speaker grills are on the front of the device, unless that is just the snazzy design. It’s said to be sleek and sexy being only just 9.5mm thick. We haven’t heard anything regarding pricing or availability outside the US, or if it will pack 4G LTE like its recently leaked LTE brother. We will update when we hear more details on this mystery phone.
[via PocketNow]
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Apple board member Al Gore, speaking at conference, ‘confirms’ iPhone 5 in October

Former Vice President and Apple board member Al Gore has confirmed that a new iPhone will be released in October. He specifically stated that ‘the new iPhone would be out next month’ at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit today.
Yes, it’s completely true that Apple has been saying that it will release iOS 5 and, presumably, new hardware to go along with it, this fall. But this is the first time that anyone with ties to the Apple organization, even if it is just a Board Member, has made any affirmative statements about the release of its next-gen iPhone.
There is always the possibility that Gore misspoke, of course, or was just making statements based on the rumors that are already out there, but it seems like a pretty big mistake to make at a public conference.
Just this morning a report from All Things D pegged the date of Apple’s next event as October 4th. This statement was later corroborated by Jim Dalrymple of The Loop. Both Dalrymple and All Things D are known to be excellent sources of Apple information so we’re pretty confident that this date is correct.
Still, it’s pretty unusual to have an Apple Board member say anything definite about Apple’s Plans for future products, as its company policy is that it does not speak about them, period. Although Gore isn’t an Apple employee, he has been an influential member of Apple’s board, spearheading efforts to make the company more environmentally friendly and energy efficient.
So, now that Gore says that we’re getting a new iPhone next month, do you believe it more? He is a politician after all and we all know how much they like to say things, regardless of how true they are.

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