Motorola DROID RAZR official: LTE speed in a svelte slate

After many, many leaks, Motorola has finally unveiled its latest flagship phone at a joint event with Verizon in New York City. The Gingerbread-powered device revives a classic Motorola nomenclature: they’re calling it the DROID RAZR after the drool-inducing flip phone of years past. The skinny 4.3-inch slate will be Motorola’s new flagship phone after the somewhat underwhelming BIONIC, and one of the most high-profile phones to use Verizon’s 4G LTE network. Chief among the new features is an armored Kevlar construction, a first in a mainstream phone.

The 4.3-inch qHD screen is the first to also be Super AMOLED and qHD – a step above the standard LCD panels. The screen size isn’t the only thing the DROID RAZR shares with the X2 and Bionic – from the no-frills tablet style to the hump on the back holding the 8-megapixel 1080p camera, you could be forgiven for thinking that the entire device was at some point known as the DROID X3. While the main section of the phone gets as slim as 7.1mm, the hump will be a bit more.
The phone’s construction is fairly novel. In addition to the armored back panel, the entire case is covered in a splash-proof casing and the stainless steel frame extends out into the exterior styling. Also included are aluminum and glass accents and parts of the phone are protected bu ultralight Kevlar, making the phone only 117 grams. Note the tapered corners, not unlike the Motorola Photon and leaked photos of the next-generation XOOM – these seem to be hallmarks of Moto’s industrial design going forward. Standard Micro USB and HDMI ports adorn the left side, and there’s a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera for all the video conferencing apps on the Android Market.

Underneath the hood you get some now standard superphone guts: a 1.2GHz dual-core processor with a full gigabyte of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and an extra 16 on the included MicroSD card. All this muscle is put to use on Android Gingerbread, though Motorola and Verizon are both promising an upgrade to 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which you might be hearing about later today. The large 1800 mAh battery should see you through a full day of standard use, according to Motorola. They’re claiming 12 hours of 3G browsing and 8.9 hours of talk time, getting help from the included battery manager app, which will be user-customizable. Verizon and Motorola are claiming a 42 Mbps maximum download speed from the RAZR’s LTE radio – in fact, the DROID RAZR will be the first smartphone to stream Netflix in HD.
Motorola is including some extensive cloud and syncing options, allowing you to access and download files from your desktop computer with MotoCast. Citrix collaboration software and compatibility with the Lapdock 100 dock and the new, more powerful Lapdock 500 will make it enterprise friendly. Other accessories will include desktop and car docks, plus a Bluetooth headset and two different keyboards.
Pre-orders will start on October 27th for $299. The phone itself will be available sometime in November. The phone will be called the Motorola RAZR in other markets, where it will also be available in November.

Read more »

HTC buys Zoodles developer for kid-friendly browsing and apps

Smartphone maker extraordinaire HTC announced its latest acquisition today: independent software developer Inquisitive Minds. The company’s primary product is Zoodles, a safe mode for desktop, tablet and smartphone browsers that allows kids to surf the web safely and ease parents’ minds. HTC says that Inquisitive Minds will continue to operate separately, but you can expect the company’s software to find its way into future HTC Android devices.

HTC has been on a spending spree of late, investing $300 million in Beats Audio and buying a significant portion of video game streaming company OnLive. Zoodles will cost the manufacturer $13 million, which is relatively small given their other investments. Since kid-friendly modes for Android is gaining some traction with the Motorola XOOM Family Edition, it seems like a wise purchase. Zoodles will continue to develop for other platforms and devices, but HTC will presumably have first pick of its software. Zoodles is already included on some HTC devices like the Flyer tablet.
If you’ve never used Zoodles, it’s basically a heavily monitored and filtered browser/development platform. The bright an extra-large user interface allows kids to learn the basics of web browsing, while ad blockers and content filters keep them from accessing anything they shouldn’t. Zoodles is expandable as well, with educational apps and games playing via extensions. There’s even a selective block feature that allows parents to block specific parts of games if the cutesy characters get too annoying. You can try out Zoodles Kid Mode on the Android Market now for a preview of what you’ll be seeing in your next HTC smartphone or tablet.

Read more »

Ice Cream Sandwich will include built-in screen capture

It’s about time. The officers over at Android Police have uncovered some code that indicates Ice Cream Sandwich phones starting with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be able to take screenshots without any additional software or rooting. The addition is a long time coming – while screenshot capabilities have technically been a part of Android since its beginning, it’s always been a bit of hassle. The new process will allow any user to take a screenshot by pressing the Power and Volume Down buttons at the same time.

To be fair, it’s always been possible to take a screenshot even without root by using the Android SDK, and manufacturers like HTC and Samsung allow some of their phones to take advantage of the process without connecting to a computer. As of now screenshot apps like ShootMe require rooting, and some custom ROMS including CyanogenMod include the feature in its base code. But with Ice Cream Sandwich, easily accessible screenshots will be availalble for all users – which, frankly, is one of the only iPhone features that I’ve been truly jealous of for some time.
Android 4.0 is the belle of the ball in Hong Kong tonight, when Google takes the stage to unveil Ice Cream Sandwich running on Samsung’s Nexus Prime. Earlier today Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo confirmed a November release (for Japan, anyway) and set months of rumored specs to rest. Join us at 10PM EST tonight for all the breaking news, or let it come to you by following @Androids on Twitter.

Read more »

Galaxy Nexus smiles for NTT DoCoMo in leaked press shot

Japanese cell phone carrier NTT DoCoMo has already tweeted the release date for the much-leaked Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and now they may have given us our very first official look at the front of the Ice Cream Sandwich developer phone. A flyer promoting the November local launch date shows the Galaxy Nexus in all its glory, along with yet another set of specifications. The hardware lines up with previous spy videos and mock-ups.

While the phone itself is a pretty sight, the real star here are the specifications, which may indeed be the last word in the back-and-forth leaks that have been running around the tech world lately. a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display with an impressive 1280 x 720 resolution is confirmed, and you can see the integrated Android navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen. The curved construction of the phone allows it to be super-slim, though not all the way through: at its thinnest point the phone will be 8.8mm, while the “Galaxy hump” will stretch it out to 11.5 mm. The phone runs on a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor (TI OMAP4460, if you’re curious) with a gigabyte of RAM and  32GB of on-board storage.

One area the phone seems to be lacking in is its 5 megapixel camera, though full 1080p video recording is included. The Galaxy Nexus will use NTT DoCoMo’s UMTS/WCDMA network with maximum data speeds of 14.4Mbps down and 5.76Mbps up, and with a roomy 1750mAh battery, it should last you a good while on it. And of course, it’s running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
The photo and specifications seem official enough, but none of this is officially official until late tonight. Keep an eye on Android Community and @Androids at 10:00 PM EST for all the news as it comes out of the Google-Samsung event.
[via SlashGear]

Read more »

Ouch: Samsung caught using an iPhone screenshot to promote its own device

It seems that the Apple – Samsung war is far from over; it was discovered that Samsung used screenshots of the iPhone’s Maps application in the promo materials for its brand new Galaxy Player. As AppleInsider says, the screenshot Samsung uses has been lifted from a blog post by Laura Scott written in 2008 – three years ago!
Samsung recently announced that it will do everything to stop Apple from selling the iPhone and iPad in South Korea, but the request got denied. I guess there might be some bitterness there, as Apple managed to convince the Dutch court to ban three of Samsung’s smartphones due to patent infringement.
A similar thing happened to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab in Australia and let’s not forget that Samsung’s lawyer was unable to distinguish between Galaxy Tab and the iPad during the court hearing.
It looks like this is a battle where one side will eventually fall, and it will fall hard. If you take into consideration that Samsung is a major supplier of components for Apple, we might witness a break in this deal. If Apple ditches Samsung and gets nasty, it might use its patent rights all over the world to shut down sales of some of Samsung’s devices. If that happens, there will be nothing that Samsung could sell in its stores, which by the way have been accused of being heavily inspired by Apple.

Image credit: AppleInsider.com

Read more »

HTC to acquire children’s apps developer Inquisitive Minds for $13 million

Taiwanese smartphone giant HTC continues its content push with an announcement that it has agreed to acquire children’s app and interface designer Inquisitive Minds Inc. for $13 million.
Inquisitive Minds is behind the popular Zoodles brand, which provides children with safe learning environment on desktop computing, smartphone and tablet devices by blocking third-party advertisements, introducing parent dashboards, games and other educational features.
HTC has indicated that it is willing to make acquisitions to help expand its strategic options, with the $13 million acquisition helping the Taiwanese vendor move further into the U.S market, where it is the largest provider of Android smartphones.
In its announcement HTC said that Inquisitive Minds already boasts around 2 million users.

In February, HTC acquired London-based mobile platform firm Saffron Digital, also investing $40 million in U.S.-based gaming company Onlive Inc. In the months following, the company purchased S3 Graphics in an attempt to boost its patent portfolio in the light of increasing legal action from smartphone rivals Apple.
Most recently, HTC said that it was considering purchasing a mobile operating system, noting that the company has discussed doing so internally but will “not do it on impluse”. Reports linked it with the ailing webOS platform but the company has yet to indicate which mobile platform it intends to purchase.
The purchase is likely to see HTC incorporate more child-friendly smartphone and tablet applications in an attempt to compete with Apple’s iPhone and iPad, which has received praise for its usability by a younger audience.

Read more »

Huawei MediaPad hits FCC en route to T-Mobile

Our pals at the FCC give us more insight into the gadgets that are coming down the pipe than anywhere else. Since all the hardware that hits store shelves packing wireless anything has to come through the FCC on the way to launch, the first pics of the device often come by way of the FCC. Such is the case with the new Huawei MediaPad that has hit the FCC. The tablet will apparently be headed for T-Mobile when it gets the approvals it needs.

We have no idea when the tablet will launch, but it will likely be soon since the FCC is often the last hurdle to clear for launch. The MediaPad will use a 1.2GHz processor, a 7-inch screen with 1280 x 800 resolution, and it will have dual cameras. The MediaPad will also pack HDMI and run Android Honeycomb 3.2. The T-Mobile version will pack in 3G and HSPA+ connectivity as well.
One of the more important features of the tablet will be the price. The MediaPad is said to sell for $200 on contract making it a very nice deal. The normal price is said to be $500. That $500 tag will be a very hard sell and most people that buy will end up getting it on contract.
[via Pocketables]

Read more »

NTT DoCoMo tweets Galaxy Nexus for November ahead of launch

If you have been following all the leaks that have been surfacing over the last week or so about the Galaxy Nexus smartphone we know the device is coming soon. In fact, the smartphone is expected to surface today in Hong Kong officially. This will be the first Android Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone and will launch all around the world.

We already know some of the carriers that will have the smartphones in the US. NTT DoCoMo has now announced via a tweet ahead of the Hong Kong unveil that it will be among the first to launch the Nexus. Among the first implies that other carries in Japan will also be launching the smartphone as well. The launch is expected to happen at some point in November.
NTT DoCoMo didn’t offer up any specs in the tweet so we will still have to wait a few more hours to see what the smartphone has inside it for sure. The rumors so far point to a 4.65-inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED HD screen, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, NFC, and high-speed data connectivity. The rear camera is expected to be an 8MP unit supporting full HD recording. Sister site SlashGear will be on hand at the Hong Kong event so stay tuned for all the details as they are unveiled.
[via SlashGear]

Read more »

Google adds coupons, rewards points to Wallet app for Android

Google has expanded the capabilities of its Wallet app for Android smartphones, adding the promised coupons and rewards features that were announced when Wallet was originally revealed.

Users can now use Wallet to redeem coupons from American Eagle Outfitters, The Container Store, Foot Locker, Guess, Jamba Juice, Macy's, OfficeMax, and Toys "R" Us. Wallet will also track reward points at stores that offer that service. The act of paying, using a coupon, and collecting rewards are all handled by the Single Tap feature. Users don't have to worry about finding their coupon or rewards cards anymore, as Wallet's Single Tap will handle the whole transaction.

And, before you ask, yes, Google Wallet is still only available on one phone (Google Nexus S 4G) and one carrier (Sprint). Hopefully Google will fast track the roll-out to other devices and carriers so that more users can enjoy the features of Google Wallet. In the meantime, watch the video to see other people use Google Wallet to pay for things.

Read more »