Android passes iOS for most mobile app downloads

Apple’s leads in the individual mobile sectors are dropping one by one – it’s no wonder the lawyers are working double overtime. The latest hurdle that Android has passed is the number of app downloads. In the second quarter of this year, Android accounted for 44% of all mobile app downloads, whereas Apple had only 31%.

The numbers aren’t exactly shocking. Android has been leading Apple in total device sales for months, and is now beating the Cupertino giant in every world market. Though Android users still download fewer apps per capita than iPhone, iPod or iPad users, the sheer number of them has led to a greater piece of the overall pie. The total number of global downloads across all devices expected by the end of the year is a staggering 29 billion.
The iOS App Store still has a lead on the Android Market by about 200,000 apps, largely because apps tend to disappear from the Android Market at a faster rate. Though the current total is less than 350,000, the number of overall published apps is cumulatively more than half a million. The Android Market is expected to surpass the App Store by the middle of 2012. Even Apple’s deathgrip on the tablet market is slipping, with Android tablets making up a full quarter of sales in the last three months.
Those Cupertino lawyers had better start working faster.

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Amazon Wireless sells the HTC EVO Design 4G for just $30

I tell you what, I know where I’m buying my next phone. After a massive Verizon sale earlier this month, the Wireless store at Amazon is selling the brand-new HTC EVO Design 4G for just thirty bones – a savings of $70 on the retail version. Of course, to get this rock-bottom price you’ll have to sign up for a new two-year service agreement. The phone’s already back-ordered, so you might want to get an order in soon.

The HTC EVO Design 4G is an updated version of the EVO Shift 4G, and a worthy one at that. IT utilizes HTC’s newfangled unibody metal construction, and with a 4-inch qHD screen it looks good from either side. A 1.2GHz processor and 769MB of RAM should handle Gingerbread nicely, and the 1520 mAh battery should be alright as long as you don’t hit the WiMAX too hard. 4GB of on-board storage is bolstered by a generous 8GB MicroSD card, and assuming you can find a 4G signal, you can share it with up to 8 devices via the mobile hotspot app.
Early reports are that it’s a solid alternative for the $100 price tag, so at just $29.99, it’s a real bargain. Head on over to the Amazon link above to get one for yourself, or wait for the Android Community review later this week.
[via Phandroid]

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Motorola RAZR headed to AT&T, clears the FCC

We are seeing a few interesting things turn up from the FCC today, first some sort of Motorola tablet passed through, and now we are seeing a Motorola RAZR headed for AT&T. The Motorola DROID RAZR was announced last week headed for Verizon with 4G LTE and we’ve also heard a few non US carriers will also get a version of the RAZR as soon as November 1st. Today what appears to be the same RAZR smartphone has just hit the FCC packing AT&T radios, that means the Verizon “DROID” wont be present in this bad boys name.

Today a GSM version of the RAZR went through the FCC with GSM 800/1900 bands as well as WCDMA bands II and V, which are what are used by AT&T here in the US. This phone is so thin it might just slide away from Verizon exclusivity and come to other carriers soon. We’ve seen many similar devices from Motorola land on more than one carrier, so this could just be another slightly tweaked version for AT&T although I have a feeling they’ll want to keep the iconic RAZR name going.

While we don’t know for sure this will be a RAZR, it will at least be something very similar if not the same thing. The FCC ID is a bit different but the battery isn’t. With the model number SNN5899A it has the same battery used by the Droid RAZR. We’ve recently learned the RAZR’s bootloader is only locked because Verizon made them do it, and other carrier version will not be locked down. If the Motorola RAZR hits AT&T with the same awesome design and build quality yet is fully unlocked, that would be awesome and I’m sure many will be happy to hear it.
If you’d like to stir through the FCC filing you can see all you’d like by clicking here. Hopefully after Motorola announces an official launch date for Verizon they’ll give us some more information regarding what is next for them and AT&T.
  Motorola Droid RAZR hands-on

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Galaxy Nexus ICS boot animation live wallpaper, get it here [Download]

Who is ready for another awesome live wallpaper? Yes, you read the title right and that sweet boot animation from the Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich can now be used as a live wallpaper. This is one of the many awesome reasons why I love Android. Thanks to the quick developer mazook98 from XDA Developers, we now have a fully working and beautiful looking LWP built from the 4.0 boot animation, check out my hands-on video and then grab the download below.


I usually always try to find something unique and different and this definitely qualifies. Sadly like most of my features wallpapers this one will NOT work on tablets. Well, it will, but isn’t designed for the larger screen and I doubt anyone will find it enjoyable. For now this live wallpaper works best for smartphones and I recommend you give it a try. The graphics truly look great, even on my qHD 960 x 540 resolution phone and on a smaller screen it looks even better. Here’s a quick hands-on video below. Recorded using Screencast for Android (sorry for audio quality).
Galaxy Nexus Ice Cream Sandwich boot live wallpaper





The developer understands not all devices are created equal and has provided a few different screen size options in the application, then for those older devices that aren’t as powerful you can even lower the frames per second from the stock 30 fps anywhere from 1-60. Again, this is the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich boot animation turned into a live wallpaper and it looks stellar on my phone and so far battery isn’t taking much of a hit, but with something like this you’ll just have to try it out. All the details are available at the xda forum post.
Galaxy Nexus Live Wallpaper Download: Click Here
Give it a try and let us know what you think by giving us a shout below in the comment section.

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Motorola will bring Ice Cream Sandwich devices to market 6 weeks after Google [Update]

Well, according to Motorola’s official Twitter account we will be seeing Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich devices from the company just 6 weeks after Google launches and releases it. Maybe they’ve had a little extra prep time now that Google aims to take control of Motorola Mobility, we don’t know but either way this is good news.

The tweet doesn’t reveal much, and quite often these comments on Twitter by big companies quickly get updated when someone makes a mistake (not saying this is or isn’t). We are just glad to hear this fast of a turn around might actually be possible from Motorola. Here is what the official tweet had to say:

When asked if the Atrix would receive 4.0 ICS the answer above is what was given, that is a good sign although we’ve recently heard the new DROID RAZR wont get 4.0 until early 2012 but that is a little longer than 6 weeks — just saying. We could be looking a bit deep with this comment and even though it was a reply to a device update they mention “releasing” devices with Ice Cream Sandwich soon, not updating. Most likely they are referring to a few tablets we’ve recently seen at the FCC but with a comment so bleak it’s really anyone’s guess.
Update: Motorola has now sent out another message on twitter now that a few users have started to ask questions regarding the above tweet. They seem to have confirmed that the Bionic, RAZR and Xoom will all get 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich within 6 weeks of Google releasing it. We aren’t really sure if they mean they’ll actually update these devices 6 weeks after ICS launches, or if they’ll just announce dates for when the updates will actually be available. 6 weeks from the end of November is early 2012, so we should be seeing some updates or at least hearing some news by then. Thanks Motorola!

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Motorola Xoom 2 roaming around the FCC

It appears the Motorola Xoom 2 might have been hanging out at the FCC this weekend. What seems to be a mystery tablet from Motorola was spotted sporting specs similar to recently leaked Xoom 2 devices, but we still aren’t sure what we are seeing and have been digging around trying to figure out more on this mystery device.

What we do know, is we have a Motorola tablet most likely part of the Xoom family but that is all she felt like sharing. In September we saw two new Xoom tablets, a 7″ and a 10″ variant and then recently a few reports of an 8.2″ model has also been revealed. The slate is tagged with a FCC ID of 56MJ3 that makes it line up with other Motorola tablets, and the FCC filing claims a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, HDMI out and the usual 1280 x 800 resolution so things are sounding pretty accurate about now right?

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This could also just be the FCC filing for the recently spotted Xoom Family edition that is very similar to the original but it wasn’t listed as having a faster 1.2 GHz dual-core processor so most likely we are seeing more evidence of the new slates coming soon. The last details we heard was that the new Xoom 2 in the 7″ form factor was coming this November, with a super thin 10″ version hitting the shelves in early December. Sadly I wish the filing would say Ice Cream Sandwich but I’m just dreaming here. Hopefully we see more of these tablets soon and if we do, you’ll be the first to know.
[via Engadget]

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Motorola DROID 2 Global new 2.3 Gingerbread update rolling out now

It’s that time again and those of you rocking the Motorola DROID 2 should have an update hitting your device sometime over the next few days. To start, we’ve heard and seen plenty about the 2.3 Gingerbread update for the DROID 2 Global and after more than a few soak tests and trial updates from as far back as June, today it’s officially rolling out again and should be smooth and ready to rock.

Verizon started the rollout back in September but users experienced a slew of issues and problems and the update was quickly pulled. It has has received a full overhaul and hopefully things will be smoother and easier this time around. The updated info was leaked earlier this month but we now have full details below.

Just like all the recent Motorola 2.3 Gingerbread updates we have a refreshed UI and everything that comes along with Gingerbread. Such as a new user interface, download manager, improved copy/paste, browser stability and speed enhancements and more. Specific to Motorola they’ve fixed some stability and reboot problems, bluetooth connection issues and a slew of small bugs that were affecting some users of the Droid 2 Global. Users should see increased stability and speed, improved battery life and a few pre-loaded new applications such as Google Books, Amazon MP3, Blockbuster, Flash 10.2 and a few others.
Feel free to take the over the air update once it hits your device, or as always you can update manually by going to settings > about phone > and check for updates to pull it down now and enjoy the tasty Gingerbread as soon as possible. Please feel free to drop us comments below if you have any issues as we’d love to hear your thoughts. Full update documents are available in the gallery below.

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HTC partners with Dropbox, offers all Android users 5GB free storage

Another win for Dropbox has just been announced today thanks to HTC. We knew something like this was coming ever since we heard Sense 3.5 users would get free Dropbox storage but today HTC has announced that they’ve partnered with the popular cloud storage company Dropbox, and will be giving 5GB of free storage to all Android users.

Today HTC made the partnership official on their Facebook page but they didn’t share any other details regarding the partnership or how they plan to move forward. Whether this will only be with new HTC Android phones, or if old users can sign up and receive the same treatment is not yet known. Either way Dropbox is amazing and I highly recommend you check it out.

HTC went from offering all Sense 3.5 users free Dropbox storage to now allowing all Android phones the same luxury, something I’m sure no one will have any complaints about although it will now come pre-installed, but I’d never actually call it bloatware. As soon as we learn the full details from HTC we’ll be sure to update with the latest. Now go get Dropbox by clicking here.

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O2 Launches Galaxy Nexus Landing Page

Though it seemed like the end, the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was only the beginning of the wait for the next Google flagship device. While a handful of carrier have committed to stocking the handset, none have come clean with any specifics on release date. Still, November is the loose time frame we are playing with. This was once again confirmed by a new landing page over at the O2 site, which also reveals the UK carrier will launch the HSPA+ version of the GNex. We still have no clue on pricing, but look for various contract actions to take a chunk out of the initial cost.
[via Engadget]

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