Motorola DROID 4 poses for the camera along side the XYBOARD tablets

Motorola and Verizon aren’t wasting any time this holiday season and are about to unleash another full lineup of DROID’s on the world. We know they are coming but lately more pictures have popped out of both the DROID 4 with its 5 row QWERTY keyboard, and the new DROID XYBOARD tablets (Xoom 2). Today we get a closer look at all of these devices, especially the slightly newer DROID 4.


The DROID 4 was first spotted back in October and latest rumors suggest a December 8th launch — hopefully along side the Galaxy Nexus. We know plenty about the awesome DROID 4 already and it will be the first DROID QWERTY slider to pack 4G LTE. Pair that with a 5 row edge-lit keyboard for easy typing this could be the best QWERTY smartphone yet — for those that like that sort of thing. We are still hopeful for a early December launch for the D4 and it’s dual-core processor but will update when we hear anything official.
Then we have that oddly named set of tablets known as the XYBOARD. If you were still on the fence as to whether or not that was the official name after last nights report then maybe the image below clearly showing “XYBOARD 10″ will make you feel at ease. I’m not so sure I like the name and sadly they only have dual-core processors and Android 3.2 Honeycomb but we should see ICS land on these tablets shortly after launch.

Pretty? Ugly? Good name or bad name? What do you guys think? Oh and take a look at the images at the source link below. Are those “blur” icons on the XYBOARD tablet? — sadness. Anyways We’d love to hear all your thoughts in the comment section below.

[via CNET]

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Galaxy Nexus desktop, HDMI and car docks shown in videos

Real nerds love docks. They make it so much easier to safely use a navigation app in a car, and instantly smarten up any desktop. Google and Samsung gave us a brief look at the desk and car docks for the Galaxy Nexus during the Hong Kong unveiling event, but now UK retailer MobilFun has given them a proper hands-on. They’re nothing mind-blowing, but it’s good to see that Samsung is going forward with the plans anyway.

There’s four docks on offer. The first is the standard car dock, which apes HTC’s design from the original Nexus One dock with wrap-around plastic and charging via the Galaxy Nexus’ electrical contacts. Next comes the basic desktop dock, which again uses the electrical contacts to charge and sync with a computer. A battery charger dock will hold the Galaxy Nexus up while charging a spare battery. And finally the HDMI dock holds the phone in Portrait mode while adding a mini-HDMI port for HDTV viewing. Check each of them out in the demonstration videos below:
















There’s no information on availability for any of the accessories, but they’ll probably be hitting the UK soon enough. Who knows when or if Samsung/Verizon will bring them to the US. In any case, Verizon’s LTE model may need redesigned accessories to accommodate its extra bulk. Here’s hoping that the Galaxy Nexus itself and its various docks make it to a retailer near you soon.

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AT&T 4G LTE now live in New York, Phoenix; tests show blistering speeds up to 40Mbps

GoAndroid noted during our hands-on look at the LG Nitro HD that AT&T’s next-generation 4G LTE network has gone live in New York ahead of launch, and it looks like another market has gone live as well: Phoenix, Arizona. Our speed tests Thursday night on AT&T’s fledgling 4G LTE network were nothing to scoff at — we saw nearly 7Mbps down and about 9Mbps up — but AT&T subscribers in Phoenix will be excited to learn that early speed test results reveal blistering download speeds up to 40Mbps and upload speeds in excess of 10Mbps. Read on for more.

The screenshot above, supplied to GoAndroid by a reader, was captured Thursday night outside Phoenix on a Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. The same reader also confirmed that speed tests performed on his Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablet reached download speeds of 40Mbps. These speeds, while impressive, may not be an accurate indication of network performance one 4G LTE service from AT&T launches in Phoenix.
AT&T has yet to confirm official launch dates for its 4G LTE networks in New York or in the Phoenix area.
Thanks, Scott

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Spotify introduces Predictive Search, Playlist Search and more features

In a week that saw Spotify launch as a platform for third party apps, in addition to its new App Finder feature, it’s also rolling out a bunch of other new features.
Today, Spotify announced that it would unveil a new Predictive Search feature in its next update, meaning that as soon as you start typing in the name of a song, artist, album or playlist, it will take a guess at what you’re looking for as you type.
There will also be a new Playlist Search feature, which will let you hunt down publicly available playlists from other Spotify users around the world. And it has also thrown in a new ‘Buddy List’ feature, which lets you see what your friends are listening to at the moment, and you can see and hear your friends’ starred tracks, and what music they’re adding to their playlists.
The ‘What’s New’ page has also been given an overhaul, and here you’ll also be able to find trending playlists and top tracks amongst your friends:

Finally, good news for Mac users…Spotify will now have full-screen support for Mac OS X Lion.
The next update will be rolling off the conveyor belt soon, but you can get your hands on these new features now via the preview version which is out now.

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TextOnly Browser for Android

Want to save data costs on your Android-powered device? Then you might want to check out the TextOnly Browser, where the name itself gives the game away (not that there is anything to hide in the first place though). Yes sir, this browser intends to help you reduce your data usage by up to 90% through the displaying of readable content only, doing away with ads,scripts and images. Now how about that? This paves the way for instant reading of articles on websites without having to scan through the page before realizing that only a certain segment is meant for reading, while the rest yield this temptation to click away at ads and promotional links.
Not only that, it will minimize your data usage and maximize your productivity if you are a voracious online reader. Most sites with good RSS feeds will be supported, and over 95% of websites are compatible with the TextOnly Browser. The web version of TextOnly Browser for Android can be found here, so why not give it a go?

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Carrier IQ, Samsung and HTC Get Hit With Class Action Lawsuit That Could Cost Millions

Class action lawsuits serve a great purpose. The parties involved often aren’t looking for money (if they are, it isn’t a large sum at all). I like to think it’s used as a “target enhancer”, so to speak – bring some light to the situation at hand so that some real investigation can be carried out.

The big situation in the world of mobile as of late – Carrier IQ being accused of logging sensitive information and possibly transmitting it to themselves or third parties – has quickly turned into a firestorm for all parties involved.

A day after a United States senator asks Carrier IQ to answer questions regarding their service and the accusations that it greatly threatens user privacy, Carrier IQ and a couple of their partners have been hit with a class action lawsuit under grounds that they are violating the Federal Wiretap Act.
Alongside the firm – who Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile are confirmed to be partnered with – HTC and Samsung have been included in the lawsuit. No other OEMs and no carriers have been pointed out despite the fact that many others use Carrier IQ.
Estimations suggest each party could be hit with hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties if they lose. This could prompt a more official investigation – maybe even a federal one – and it would force Carrier IQ to show the world what’s really going on inside our phones when they send data back off to carriers, OEMs and whoever else they may be in bed with. This is getting really interesting, folks. [PaidContent via Gizmodo]

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus cruises through FCC with AT&T bands

With Verizon having exclusivity on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, many AT&T customers have been wondering when their favorite carrier will launch it. According to FCC filings, a Samsung G-Nex with model number GT-i9250T has just cruised though FCC with AT&T’s GSM 850, GSM 1900, WCDMA II and IV bands.
As you all know, AT&T has been quiet about their plans to release their very own variant of the Galaxy Nexus. Maybe the fact that they asked their Google+ followers if they want the phone on their network was an indication that they’re already planning to launch it. And if they do, we have no idea when it will release. After all, Verizon hasn’t even announced when they’ll release the Galaxy Nexus.
Can we say that there will be a multi-carrier Galaxy Nexus release at this point?
Source FCC
via Wireless Goodness

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Discover new music from around the blogosphere with Uberhype for Android

The Hype Machine is an essential site for music enthusiasts looking to discover new sounds. The site aggregates songs shared on a wide variety of music blogs, making them available in one place. While it’s had a slick, official iPhone app for some time, there hasn’t been anything anywhere near as good for Android – until now.
UberHype is an unofficial app that is essentially what The Hype Machine would create if it launched on Android, allowing you to stream new and popular songs being shared on music blogs via a great-looking player interface.
You can log in using your Hype Machine account, giving you access to songs you’ve marked as favorites, and your friends’ favorite songs. Additional features include the ability to open up the blog post that orginally shared the track you’re listening to as you stream it so you can read the story behind the music.
You can also search the music blogosphere for any artist or song you’re interested in hearing. If you like the tracks shared by a particular blog, you can subscribe directly from the app to get future songs sent straight to your feed.
In short, Uberhype is a beautifully executed app, and existing Hype Machine users or not, it should get Android-using music-obsessives more than a little excited. It’s a free download.
➤Uberhype

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Windows 8 coming your way February 2012

Windows 8 is set to arrive in public beta form in February next year, allowing early access to to the new OS from the start of next year.?
A post by The Next Web points to the February release date, citing sources close to Microsoft. It clears up a lot of the speculation over exactly when Windows 8 was set to arrive in beta form. Many expect a 2012 release for the final build of the OS, with the February beta adding further weight to this rumour. No exact date has been given for shipping of Windows 8.
The new operating system sees a major departure from Microsoft's traditional UI, incorporating a home page which draws heavily from Windows Phone 7. The Metro UI of the OS uses similar live tiles to that of Microsoft's phone OS.?
Windows 8 is also expected to be a cross platform piece of software, designed for both tablets and computers. No details as to what will be released in the beta currently exist, so we cant be sure whether it will arrive with the email function currently exempt from the developer preview.?
Given the beta date it is entirely possible that we see Windows 8 appearing on hardware Christmas next year. Exciting stuff from Microsoft then, just shame the beta isn't earlier.

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