Any Verizon 4G phone marked down $100, but there’s a catch…

This may be some excellent news for those of you looking to pick up a Samsung Galaxy Nexus (or any other Verizon 4G phone for that matter). Verizon has been contacting some of its customers with a $100 instant rebate to any of their 4G phones if their customer was previously the owner of a 3G-only smartphone. Though they’ve been contacting select customers – all Verizon subscribers that fall into this situation are eligible.

The source comes directly from Verizon via Reddit user Prevo. They state that “The discount will apply if you are upgrading to a 4G phone and currently do not have one”. Now those of you interested in signing up for a new line of service with Verizon may not fall into this category; however, carriers are known for sweetening the deal to lure you into a new 2 year contract. So if you’re like me, on Thursday when you roll into your local Verizon retailer, you’ll mention this deal and see if they will honor it for new customers as well.
This will put the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Motorola DROID RAZR both at $199.99 – a great deal indeed. And seeing as how the DROID Bionic was already reduced, this promotion will let you nab one for only $99.99. I’m not sure how long this deal will last, but I certainly presume throughout the holiday season. Many OG DROID users are finally out of a contract, and Verizon is surely eager to keep them on their network.
[via Reddit]

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Pantech P4100 LTE tablet hits FCC and bound toward AT&T

Pantech recently had released the Breakout to Verizon earlier this year, and headed toward AT&T seems to be a tablet to run on their newly found 4G LTE network. The P4100 is only the model number of the device, but in due time we’ll find out its proper name. AT&T hasn’t advertised the P4100 officially, and if you hadn’t carefully been paying attention to the news then you wouldn’t know it existed.

All we’ve seen of the P4100 so far are a couple of NenaMark benchmark tests. The device scored ~42.6 FPS, with a 1024×720 pixel density and 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Adreno 220 CPU. It also sports a 7″ display, but as of now – that’s all we’ve got. However, we do know it will probably ship with Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) onboard; yet, there’s always that chance we may see it with Android 4.0.
AT&T’s LTE network has proved to be right on par with Verizon’s, so this tablet will at least have that on its side. It will accompany the HTC Jetstream as the only other 4G LTE tablet on AT&T’s lineup, so it will be nice to have another 4G option. It will most likely not hit until 2012, but Pantech could go ahead and rush it out before Christmas if the hardware is ready.
[via Wireless Goodness]

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CyanogenMod drops support for Samsung Vibrant citing 911 issues

Here’s an odd one: the CyanogenMod team, makers of the most widely-used custom ROM out there, have completely dropped support for the T-Mobile Galaxy S Vibrant. It’s not a hardware issue, as CyanogenMod supports much older and weaker phones. No, the problem comes from Samsung’s proprietary radio software, which is apparently keeping the custom version of Android from dialing 911.

The issue is particularly vexing since Samsung is usually quite good about releasing open-source code for its devices. And indeed, the Vibrant’s code is available, but the specific bit of code required for full access to the wireless radio is not. Samsung has a pretty good relationship with the modder community, especially after hiring Steve “Cyanogen” Kondik. I’ve got to believe that Mr. Kondik tried to get the relevant data from his employers, to no avail.
The CM team has dropped support for devices before when they hit a way that would make satisfactory development impossible. It’s likely that more modders will take CyanogenMod’s open source code and port it back to the Vibrant, but I wouldn’t recommend using it. You might never need to dial 911 from your cell phone, but going without the functionality is just asking for trouble. The Vibrant’s stock firmware was updated to Gingerbread, so it might be best to stick with that until you get a new phone, as the ROM developers suggest.

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A handy list of active Ice Cream Sandwich ports

While you’re reading this, hundreds of people are hard at work on getting Ice Cream Sandwich onto current Android hardware, long before manufacturers and carriers will be sending out official updates. We’ve covered some of the earliest and most interesting ICS projects on this very site, but there’s just too many to cover every single one. Luckily, we don’t have to: a friendly member of the XDA-Developers forum has put together a list of all the active Ice Cream Sandwich ports on the prolific modder site.

Pretty much every major device released in the last 18 months, and many many more, are represented. The ports themselves are at various stages of completion – naturally the options for the Nexus One, Nexus S, OG DROID and the like will be the most feature-complete, while newer and less popular phones and tablets will get the short end. Note that the list only extends to XDA, and if your device isn’t on there it may be getting love somewhere else, like RootzWiki. Some of the builds are straight from Ice Cream Sandwich’s source code, while others are based on CyanogenMod 9.
As always, be wary when trying out new ROMs. That’s doubly true with a brand new operating system, which still requires a lot of kinks and bugs to be worked out. Keep a Nandroid backup of your “daily driver” account, kiss your warranty goodbye, and have fun. 

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HTC Amaze 4G software update rolling out today

Anyone with a stock HTC Amaze 4G should be getting an over the air software update this week. According to T-Mobile the update is rolling out now and should begin hitting handsets soon. It’s not Ice Cream Sandwich but we’ll take what we can get, especially since there are bug fixes and even WiFi calling now too.

A very similar update was just pushed out for the HTC Sensation 4G so we were already expecting this for the Amaze. Now that it is finally starting to roll out here are a few of the improvements and bug fixes as outlined by T-Mobile and HTC:
New Features
–IMS Wi-Fi Calling
–Google Music
Improvements
–Improvements to Bluetooth connection
–Clock widget not updating with time zone change
–Improvement to Twitter and Peep application
–Improved Wi-Fi connection
WiFi calling and Google Music are probably the two big ones although we’ve been able to download Google Music for some time already. Many users of HTC Sense UI have reported problems with the clock and weather widget not updating correctly so it also seems they’ve fixed that small issue too. Nothing major here but it’s nice to see HTC keeping up with software updates and improvements. Now all we need is that sweet and frozen Ice Cream Sandwich and we’ll all be Amazed.

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VMware prepares consumer virtualization apps for Ice Cream Sandwich

When last we heard of virtualization specialist VMware’s efforts on the Android platform, they were decidedly corporate in nature, with VMware View making a sort of logins and profiles so that Android users could better separate their work and personal assets on the same device. Android Community has learned that the company is shifting its focus towards consumers, with their next product, which we are told is nearing completion. VMware’s Android app should be revealed sometime in the next few months, and it will be ready for use on Ice Cream Sandwich.

What will the software be? Our contact couldn’t say. Most consumer-level end users are familiar with VMware because of their OS virtualization offerings, specifically VMware Fusion, which allows Windows apps to run seamlessly on OS X hardware without dual-booting. A mobile version of VMware Workstation, which allows just about any operating system to run on a virtual machine inside of Windows, is not out of the question. Then again, VMware has been hard at work over the last year on cloud services for the corporate set, and that effort may be ready to jump to mainstream audiences.
I’d love to try my hands on an honest-to-goodness virtual machine for Android, loading up apps for PalmOS and Windows Mobile with ease. As vibrant as the app scene for Android is, there’s things you just can’t get on Android, like my beloved Space Trader. Virtualizing Windows Phone 7 is technically possible, but the strain that would put on even the best Android hardware might make it impossible. Recent full versions of Windows are probably out for the same reasons. WebOS is an option now that it’s open source, though given the timing, it’s unlikely that it’s what VMware has in mind .we’ll be keeping a close eye on the company for further developments.

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Huawei Honor first to Android 4.0 ICS upgrade

I’m honored today to confirm Huawei is one of the first to bring an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update to one of their smartphones. The Huawei Honor is just starting to hit the market in parts of Asia and Huawei is already offering the ICS update available for download right from their website — for those who dare.

The Huawei Honor is one of their best and highest class smartphones available and it was just recently reviewed by yours truly over on SlashGear. Officially announced back in September we are still hearing the Honor may land stateside as the Glory from Cricket Wireless complete with a 4″ display, 1.4 GHz single-core processor and Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
At the rate Huawei seems to be churning out what they consider stable releases for Ice Cream Sandwich this could possibly land on Cricket as their first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich device — but it’s too early to tell. Many other manufacturers have stated ICS updates will be coming sometime in 2012 so for Huawei to be on track so fast is very encouraging. Feel free to head to SlashGear for the full review and rundown of the smartphone rocking Gingerbread and if I can get this baby running that sweet and tasty Ice Cream I’ll be sure and shoot some more hands-on video.
Here is a demo running Gingerbread and feel free to head to Huawei and give the ICS builds a download — although I’m not having much luck here in the US.
Huawei Honor product page




[via TheUnwired]

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Vizio 8″ VTAB Gingerbread tablet just $159 today only

In the usual Woot.com fashion today we have another excellent deal for an Android tablet to share with our readers. We don’t have Honeycomb on board but this tablet still has plenty going for it. Today Woot is offering the Vizio 8″ VTAB Gingerbread tablet for a mere $159 complete with a folio case and just $5.00 shipping. That is over $170 less than retail although the unit does come refurbished.

The VTAB rocks an 8″ display, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 1 GHz processor with 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, micro-SD support and HDMI-out for those in need. It also has a full suite of applications catering around their smart TV’s and functions as a remote control at the same time. Again this may not be the biggest or the best but at that price it’s a great way to get into a decent Android tablet. If you ask me I think this is a pretty awesome holiday gift — especially at that price. Head down to Woot and get one today.
Woot.com

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New Sony Ericsson Nozomi photos ooze style

Say what you will about Sony Ericsson’s current lineup of Android phones, but the Nozomi (AKA the Arc HD) is a looker no matter how you break it down. A tipster delivered a new set of leaked photos to GSMArena, showing off the high-end handset’s sharp corners and chrome accents. This is the first we’ve seen of the phone’s back, and while it’s a little thicker than we’d like, there’s just no denying the appeal of the slate.

Notably the Nozomi may be Sony’s first device to launch with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, as seen in this press shot. Then again, that may just be Sony’s latest customized version of Gingerbread, since today’s leaked shots feature a launcher that certainly isn’t ICS-native. On the inside you get a 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon processor, and on the outside you get a delicious 1280 x 720 screen, though you’ll have to make due with whatever on-board storage Sony sees fit to include. There’s no MicroSD card slot to be found.
Even if the Nozomi doesn’t launch with Ice Cream Sandwich, it’ll likely get it soon enough. Sony has committed to an ICS upgrade to all current XPERIA phones, to the delight of owners stuck in two-year contracts. Though there’s no mention of a release date, the phone is coming sooner rather than later, since it features the soon-to-be-scrapped Sony Ericsson branding. We’ll probably be seeing this one at CES or Mobile World Congress early next year, so stay tuned.
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