Motorola Xoom “Family Edition” hitting retail stores

This is an odd one, what we have here is a Motorola Xoom Family Edition that has been spotted and opened up for the cameras from what sources are calling a big box electronic store. We aren’t sure where yet but this Family Edition Xoom looks a bit different, and also seems to have all sorts of family and kid-friendly software pre-installed. Go big Moto, go big.

 Although 4G LTE for the Motorola Xoom is finally here, I was hoping for something a little faster and thinner for the next Xoom like the recently leaked ones we’ve seen. I’m not sure anyone saw this family edition tablet coming, but it’s here so lets check it out. We don’t know much about this, but according to Engadget it has plenty of pre-installed software for family’s or kids with something called “Kids Mode”.

With Kids mode there are a few games and apps, something called Zoodles, and more. They are saying around $40 dollars of stuff all aimed at Family’s. We don’t know anything regarding a price, release date, or internal specs but most likely it features the same dual-core Tegra 2 as the original Xoom. Judging from the picture above its not exactly the same as the original Xoom, for one the camera looks different but before we start breaking things down hopefully Motorola gives us a little confirmation here. We’ll be digging for more details and will update when we see more.
[via Engadget]

Read more »

US Cellular’s HTC Flyer tablet takes off on October 7th

Regional carriers are often a little behind the times when it comes to the latest devices, but US Cellular customers usually get a pretty good assortment of new toys to play with. Come October 7th (tomorrow), they can add the HTC Flyer Gingerbread tablet to the list. The 7-inch tablet will cost $399 after a $100 mail-in-rebate at its lowest.

The $399 price requires a two-year contract and at least a $54.99 a month data plan – an expensive proposition for a tablet whose WiFi version is now only $299 at most retailers in the US. HTC dropped the price after competition in the Android tablet world heated up from the Amazon Kindle Fire. The HTC EVO View 4G, the only other version of the Flyer hardware that’s available from a wireless carrier, is $399 without the hassle of a rebate. If you’d like a cheaper data plan, you can purchase the tablet for $599 after rebate on a $15.99/200Mb a month data plan. That’s almost $800 at retail, enough to make the HTC Jetstream sit up and take notice.
Still, buyers can console themselves with the fact that the 2.3 Gingerbread tablet will be getting a Honeycomb upgrade soon, though getting it though the wireless carrier is not a certainty. The Flyer comes with 16GB of on-board memory, a 1024 x 600 capacitive touchscreen, a 1.5GHz processor and a respectable 5 megapixel rear camera.

Read more »

Android Developers YouTube Channel Confirms Ice Cream Sandwich Launch

Well folks, would you look at this. The official Android Developers YouTube channel has now confirmed we will see Android 2.4 (or 4.0) Ice Cream Sandwich detailed at the CTIA Samsung Unpacked event next week. While this isn’t a big surprise seeing it from the official channel makes it even more official. We will be seeing the next Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich next week, and we’ll be there live to bring you all the details.

       
The Androiddevelopers channel has been bringing us Android related videos for a while now, and in case you don’t remember — that was where we all got our very first glimpse and tease of Android 3.0 Honeycomb. This is a sure sign that the Nexus and Ice Cream Sandwich will be unveiled in just 4 long days. At least those not there will be able to watch it live right?
Sadly we all have another 4 days and 20 something odd hours to wait for the official details — in the mean time check out all these juicy Samsung Nexus rumors. Then check out this amazing render of the new Samsung Nexus Prime we just covered. Doesn’t it look beautiful? I have a feeling that might actually be pretty close to what we see come Tuesday.
Either way I’m super excited about this event, who’s with me?

Read more »

New Nexus Prime mockup is beautifully speculative

Are you sick of Nexus Prime/Galaxy Nexus leaks and mockups? Well friend, you’re probably on the wrong website. An anonymous Tumblr user extrapolated from the early Nexus Prime render, which was itself taken from the Samsung Unbox Teaser video, to get the beautiful bit of fantasy you see here. While of course this is about as unofficial as you can get, it matches up with both Samsung’s teaser and the supposed first wild photos of Google’s next superphone.

You can see the screen mocked up to look like Ice Cream Sandwich, or at least what we’re guessing it will look like. Note the virtual navigation buttons on the bottom of the Launcher screen, the homescreen’s search and voice control links, and the Honeycomb-inspired color scheme. All in all its a wonderfully well-done render, though I think the hump on the phone’s back is probably going to be on the bottom, not the top. if the real Galaxy Nexus/Nexus Prime looked like this, a lot of Android fans would be happy.
There’s a lot of back-and-forth going on over the rumored phone’s “real” specs. The first leak this morning claimed about the same specifications we’ve been hearing for months, but with a disappointing 5 megapixel camera and a rather typical battery capacity. New rumors this afternoon peg the battery at 2050 mAh, larger than pretty much all the smartphones currently on the market, and an 8MP, 1080p back camera. The processor also gets a theoretical bump to 1.5GHz, and the tipster claims that the phone will have a hybrid 4G CDMA/GSM radio ta make it work across all US carriers.
A rumor can run around the world before the truth has got its boots on. We can’t wait until Tuesday, when all hearsay will be put to rest at CTIA.

Read more »

HTC net profits grow by two thirds in third quarter

Pay no attention to that dipping stock price, HTC is rolling in the dough. The company announced its Q3 earnings today, and profits are up by 18.64 billion Taiwanese Dollars, or about $615 million USD. That’s an increase of 68%. The company’s total revenue has hit an impressive $4.4 billion, almost all of it coming from Android and Windows Mobile 7 phones.

Margins on HTC devices are lower than other Android manufacturers, especially in their higher-end Android phones. Between that and a sliding stock price based on increasing competition in the smartphone space, some investors are questioning HTC’s long-term viability against Samsung and Apple. But the numbers speak for themselves: HTC’s market cap is sitting at about $33.8 billion dollars, more than Nokia or RIM, and definitely enough to compete with the bigger players.
To top off these impressive numbers, HTC announced its new Sensation XL in London today. The new phone, previously codenamed “Runnymede”, takes full advantage of HTC’s partnership with Beats Audio with on-board software and Beats headphones included in the retail packaging. While the Sensation XL is slated for a November release in Europe and Asia, there’s been no announcement as to when it’ll be crossing the pond to North America. 

Read more »

Sony looks to buy out Ericsson’s half of Mobile Division

If you are like the many of users that just thought Sony phones came with a last name, that being Ericsson — you were wrong. The joint venture that began back in 2001 looks to possibly be coming to an end as Sony is about to close the deal and buy Ericsson’s half of their mobile division according to reports. Sony plans to bring all the operations in house to go along with the TVs, Cameras, Media Players, and more that they’ve produced over the years.

Apparently the Japanese company plans to take the reigns of the mobile division and bring it up to par with the rest in the market. Combining forces from their tablet, smartphone, and handheld gaming divisions into one that will all work together on various levels as they develop future products. According to the Wall Street Journal, the acquisition for the Stockholm company’s half of the team is about to be closed and Sony will take charge.
Obviously this will kill the “Ericsson” part of the brand, and we are unsure if in the future we’ll just see shiny SONY logos on devices or if they’ll continue to use a name like the Xperia. Analysts have valued Sony Ericsson at $1.3-$1.7 billion not to mention all the mobile patents in their portfolio. This could also be a move from Sony to acquire some patents in the process to fend off possible lawsuits like we’ve seen lately. The deal is expected to be finished here soon but no official details or cash values have been tossed around. As soon as we hear the asking price we’ll be sure to update with further details.
Sony has been known to release some pretty quality products over the years so hopefully this will bring them up to par with the likes of Samsung. I’m hoping we see more Sony branded Android offerings here in the states soon.

Read more »

Toshiba AT200 Excite Tablet hits the FCC

Toshiba recently unveiled their brand new super thin Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet named the AT200. We’ve seen it a few times being rumored as the Toshiba Excite. Today it has cleared the FCC making this ultra-thin slate headed to the U.S sometime soon. This is the next tablet coming from Toshiba and will replace its larger brother, the Thrive.

Coming in at just 7.7mm thin, this will be one sleek tablet that is for sure. Being thinner than the Galaxy Tab 10, unless someone else beats them to market with something thin this will be the thinnest tablet around. Clearing the FCC is a good sign of things to come. An interesting note: the FCC documents from the listing show this device to have been constructed by Quanta, the same Chinese OEM that’s about to be responsible for the Amazon Kindle Fire.
We have a 10.1″ 1280 x 800 resolution display Android 3.2 Honeycomb Tab, powered by a TI OMAP 4430 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. Toshiba will be offering the tablet in three options: 16GB, 32GB, and even a 64GB flavor. The Toshiba AT200 (Excite) is said to be coming in Q4 for a holiday release, no pricing or official date has been set but with it passing through the FCC we should be hearing more soon.

Toshiba AT200 hands-on video:



)

Read more »

Lenovo A1 7″ Gingerbread tablet just $199, available now

Lenovo is all set to start shipping their newest tablet offering. The Lenovo A1 Android 2.3 Gingerbread tablet with a 7″ display and powerful 1.0 Ghz processor. First spied way back in July, it was officially announced at the beginning of September coming in with 4 awesome color options available, we have all the details below.

The Lenovo IdeaPad A1 is an affordable 7″ Android 2.3 Tab. It will feature a TI OMAP 3622 Cortex A8 1.0 Ghz single-core processor, a 5 MP rear and 2.0 front facing camera. Coming in at 11.9mm thin (0.46 inch), and weighing just 400g. Lenovo is using a magnesium alloy roll-cage internal frame design to keep the tablet strong, yet thin,light and affordable. The 7″ LED display will have a 1024 x 600 resolution similar to the Galaxy Tab 7 and offers a great visual experience.

Starting at just $199 the IdeaPad A1 comes in 4 bright colors shown above. We have 2GB of internal storage for just $199, then all available colors are being offered with 16GB storage for just $249. This may not be a powerhouse Honeycomb tablet, but for the price you have a pretty well rounded Gingerbread tablet that is portable and should fit many users budget. My only concern is the $199 dual-core Kindle Fire might have something to say here, just a thought. Although we do have dual cameras and full Google support on the A1, rather than Amazon’s ecosystem they’ve been building with the Fire.
For full details on the Lenovo A1 tablet head over to Lenovo.com, for a more detailed breakdown on colors and pricing you can click here. They are available for order right now and will begin shipping October 27th.
)

Read more »

Trinity Kernels for Nexus S and G2x receive updates

If you are one of the many that indulge in the rooting, overclocking, and general tweaking of your Android phones this will be some great news if you own one of the mentioned devices. The extremely popular Trinity kernels by Morfic have all been updated with some awesome improvements to both top speed, and for those battery conscious users that also want great performance.

Update: It appears just the Nexus received updates today, check em out anyways because I hear they are awesome.
Mainly built for the Nexus S and S 4G, he also compiles awesome kernels for the LG G2x. Morfic’s main focus is on the Nexus S and we have kernels that range from underclocked and undervolted for extremely great battery life at just 880 Mhz, all the way up to 1.54 Ghz for the single-core Nexus S. Today’s latest update the new TEUV kernel has been completely tweaked and improved for top battery life and performance both. Lowering the Nexus S from the stock 1.0 Ghz down to .88 GHz (880 MHz), this gives the device amazing battery life while still managing to perform as good or better than almost any other single-core (and some dual-core) phones on the market.
This is just a few of the many reasons we choose to root and toy with our Android smartphones. We’ve covered Trinity kernels before and with its help our G2x reached blazing fast speeds and list topping benchmarks. Then the Nexus S scoring well over 5000 in quadrant thanks to Trinity and CM7.
I know benchmarks, overclocking, and tweaking isn’t for everyone — but for those that do the Trinity kernels are worth giving a try that is for sure. Since these types of things are to be done at your own risk, as always proceed with caution and if you are considering giving a few of these a try yourself you should already know how. All the details, downloads, and versions are available at the source link below. — Thanks Simms
[via Trinity]

Read more »