Home Blog Page 1266

T-Mobile Gives Re-Birth, Announces Sidekick 4G

Scott Webster
-
0

T-Mobile and Samsung have just formally announced their next big Android device, one which will be familiar to many of you.  Dubbed the Sidekick 4G, it’s everything you’d expect from these two companies.  Looking like a blend of Nexus S and Sidekick 2008, it features a 1 GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, a 3.5-inch touch display, a front-facing camera, and support for up to 21Mbps download speeds on the burgeoning 4G network.

Like many Sidekick models before it, this latest iteration offers a five-row QWERTY keyboard and a unique opening mechanism.  This time around it’s called a “pop–tilt” hinge and it looks good in theory (and Flash animations).  In terms of software, the Sidekick 4G comes with Qik Video Chat, Facebook, Twitter, Media Room, and T-Mobile’s DriveSmart. Oh, and most importantly, it runs Android 2.2 under the hood.

Read on past the break to see the full press release!  Which color are you getting – matte black or pearl magenta?

Continue

Verizon Officially Taps XOOM with $599.99 Price Tag, February 24th Release

Scott Webster
-
0

Verizon has confirmed the recent rumors surrounding the price and availability for the world’s first Android 3.0 tablet.  Look for the Motorola XOOM to go on sale later this week on February 24th with a $599.99 sticker.  If that sounds steep, you’ll probably not like hearing that this is the contract price, with a two-year agreement required.  Should you opt to go outright, be ready to pull another two Benjamin Franklins out of your wallet.

The tablet will be 3G at launch, however it will be upgraded to 4G in the second quarter (Q2 ’11) at no cost to the consumer.  Speaking of which, the 3G data service plans start at $20/month for 1GB of data and go up from there.  For more details, hit the press release below or visit Verizon and Motorola’s respective sites.

Continue

HTC Debuts HTC Incredible S, Wildfire S, and Desire S

Scott Webster
-
0

HTC had one busy morning today in Barcelona where they unveiled not only a pair of Facebook phones, but updates to some of today’s current designs. At some point over the next quarter (Q2 ’11) we can look forward to the Incredible S, Wildfire S, and Desire S rolling out across Europe and Asia. As one might expect, these handsets feature the latest iteration of HTC Sense poured on top Android.

The Incredible S features a 4-inch WVGA Super LCD display, an 8-megapixel camera with dual flash, and a front-facing camera for video chats. For those of you looking to share your pictures and video on larger screens, you’ll be happy to learn the phone has DLNA support.

The Desire S comes with an aluminum unibody design, somewhat resembling the HTC Legend from last year. Powered by a Qualcomm 1GHz 8255 Snapdragon processor, the handset offers a 3.7-inch touch screen as well as front- facing and rear-facing HD cameras.

Then we have the smaller Wildfire S with its 3.2-inch display and 5-megapixel camera. This phone will be among HTC’s smallest phones to date and is targeted at the younger, social network loving crowd. If official press releases are your type of thing, hit the break and check it out!  You’ll also find high resolution images of each device.

Continue

HTC Announces Android-Powered Facebook Phones, ChaCha and Salsa

Scott Webster
-
0

HTC finally put a long-standing rumor to bed this morning with the announcement of two “Facebook Phones”. Making their debut in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress, the ChaCha and Salsa both run Android 2.3 and feature the latest version of HTC Sense.  A dedicated Facebook button on each phone ensures that sharing your information is but a quick tap away.  Wanna let people know what song you are listening to?  Bingo.  How about where you are going to be dining for the next few hours?  Presto!  As part of developing tighter integration with the social networking experience, HTC brings Facebook data front and center with new widgets and contact/caller information.  

Continue

MetroPCS Announces 4G Samsung Galaxy Indulge at $399

Scott Webster
-
0

MetroPCS has jumped ahead of the competition today, announcing the world’s first commercially available 4G LTE Android handset. The Samsung Galaxy Indulge will carry a suggested retail price of $399 when it hits stores and online later this week. With no required contract to worry about, their $50 and $60 rate plans are a bargain, considering the unlimited talk, text, and data. Specs for the Android 2.2 phone include a 1 GHz processor, 3 megapixel camera, slideout QWERTY keyboard, and 4GB microSD card. Some readers may recall seeing this device  Hit the jump for the full press release!

Continue

Sprint Announces World’s First Dual Screen Smartphone – The Kyocera Echo UPDATE

AndroidGuys
-
0

The above video shows the newly announced Kyocera Echo Android powered smartphone from Sprint.  It is an interesting concept, a phone that can turn into a “tablet like device” and back.  There are a lot of unanswered questions about the Echo, such as battery life for a dual screen device, which are sure to be answered as we get closer to release this Spring.

UPDATE: We have some more specs we wanted to include for your information, including the fact that it is coming with Android 2.2 under the hood:

• 5-megapixel camera with flash, autofocus and digital zoom
• 720p HD camcorder to quickly capture those on-the-go memorable moments
• 1GHz Snapdragon processor (QSD 8650 Android)
• 1 gigabyte (GB) of onboard memory and an 8GB microSD™ card for the
external memory card slot supporting cards up to 32GB

Continue

Review: T-Mobile G2

AndroidGuys
-
0

More than two years have gone by since Google, HTC and T-Mobile gave us the world’s first Android phone, the G1. Tucked behind the 3.2inch display and 5-row keyboard was an infant OS with exponential potential. Now the same team has come together again. The G2 gains a modern design and HSPA+ support, while retaining the G1’s landscape qwerty keyboard. Evolution or just a spec bump? Will it stand as a great device even with all of the new dual-core phones? Read along to find out.

Continue

T-Mobile Announces Vibrant 4G, Coming This Month

Justin Marden
-
0

Well, it’s probably not the most popular decision, but Tmo and Samsung officially announced the Vibrant 4G. As expected, it’s more or less exactly like the original Vibrant, with Froyo, an HSPA+ radio, front-facing camera, and T-Mobile TV. There’s no official date or pricing, but we do know it’ll be available in February, so we expect to see it within the next few weeks. In the press release, Tmobile touts their 4G speeds until they can’t tout them anymore. Tmo also announced that they’ve launched HSPA+ in 8 new cities, including Chattanooga, TN, and Rochester, MN.

There’s not much to say on this one. It follows the whole Vibrant-Froyo fiasco from a few weeks ago. But since we first got word of this device, hell hath frozen over, as the original Vibrant got its precious Froyo. Anyone going to pick one of these up when it launches? Anyone going to buy one just to throw it on the ground and spit in Samsung’s face? Sound off in the comments! You can check out the full press release below.

[spoiler show=”Press Release”]

Galaxy S 4G from T-Mobile to Offer Blazing-Fast Speeds and Unparalleled Entertainment Experience Featuring Movies, TV and Video Chat

T-Mobile expands America’s Largest 4G Network to eight new

metropolitan areas in South and Midwest

BELLEVUE, Wash., and DALLAS — Feb. 2, 2011 — T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S. 1, today announced the anticipated February availability of the Galaxy S™ 4G, exclusively from T-Mobile. According to T-Mobile, the Galaxy S 4G will be the fastest smartphone running on America’s Largest 4G Network™2. The Galaxy S 4G, T-Mobile’s first smartphone capable of delivering theoretical peak download speeds of up to 21 Mbps, offers enhanced mobile experiences and unparalleled entertainment including mobile HD TV3 through T-Mobile TV, the ACADEMY AWARD® Nominated film INCEPTION, and T-Mobile Video Chat powered by Qik™ — delivered at 4G speeds on its 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen display.

T-Mobile also announced the expansion of America’s largest 4G network into more than 100 major metropolitan areas, reaching more than 200 million people nationwide. In addition to expanding its 4G footprint, T-Mobile also has aggressive plans to double the speed of its 4G network in 2011, and the company expects that 140 million Americans in 25 major metropolitan areas will have access to these increased 4G speeds by midyear.

“The Galaxy S 4G pushes the envelope by reaping the benefits of our network’s unprecedented speeds and by offering groundbreaking entertainment experiences,” said Andrew Sherrard, senior vice president, product management, T-Mobile USA. “We are excited to continue to expand our portfolio of 4G devices that enable our customers to have access to unique and compelling features and an optimal 4G experience.”

“The Galaxy S 4G offers customers Samsung’s core premium product investments to speed, screen and content,” said Omar Khan, chief strategy officer, Samsung Mobile. “Galaxy S 4G is T-Mobile’s fastest smartphone and offers Samsung’s brilliant Super AMOLED display and rich multimedia features for premium movie and TV content.”

Through the delivery of faster speeds comes an enhanced experience when viewing video entertainment over the Web using services such as YouTube. In addition T-Mobile TV, a preloaded application, offers consumers access to live and on-demand mobile HD TV on T-Mobile’s 4G network, including free programming from select stations like ABC News NOW, FOX Sports, PBS Kids and Azteca America.

To further enhance the entertainment package on the Galaxy S 4G, T-Mobile has preloaded, at no additional cost to consumers, Warner Bros. Pictures’ ACADEMY AWARD® Nominated film INCEPTION which is nominated for Best Picture, Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Music (Original Score), Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.  Customers also have the option to rent or purchase their favorite movies and TV programs directly from the Samsung Media Hub, which features a robust collection of new releases and TV shows.

The Galaxy S 4G’s blazing-fast speeds will make sharing memories via e-mail, social networks or video quick and easy. For example, the preloaded T-Mobile Video Chat application powered by Qik enables customers to share any moment with loved ones virtually whenever and wherever they want through T-Mobile’s network or Wi-Fi. Using either the front-facing or the rear camera, which features a 720p HD camcorder, paired with Video Chat allows customers to hold video conversations with friends and family who have a compatible mobile device.

Featured as a pre-installed application, doubleTwist® with AirSync™ provides customers with a useful and easy way to auto-sync and back up photos, HD videos and music to and from their home computer. With a Wi-Fi connection, customers can easily sync their media wirelessly and at no additional cost. The doubleTwist Player lets customers enjoy their favorite tunes and videos directly from their phone while on the go. The Galaxy S 4G also comes preloaded with Slacker Radio, offering music fans more than 130 genre stations and ability to create their own custom stations for free.

With a slim and sleek design, the Galaxy S 4G’s 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen display gives customers a vivid, sharp viewing experience, whether consumers choose to watch a movie or read a book or newspaper with the preloaded Kindle for Android application while on the go. Powered by Android™ 2.2, the Galaxy S 4G is equipped with a speedy Samsung 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Application Processor, an ST-Ericsson M5720 HSPA+ 4G modem to enable theoretical peak downloads of up to 21 Mbps, a 5 megapixel camera, a pre-installed 16GB microSD memory card, and a 1650 mAh lithium ion battery.

Availability

The Galaxy S 4G is expected to be available to T-Mobile customers in February. Customers can visit http://galaxy-s.t-mobile.com/4G for more information.

Beginning today, T-Mobile’s network will also be delivering 4G speeds to Albany, Augusta, Columbus and Macon, Ga., and Chattanooga, Tenn., in the South region as well as in Champaign, Ill.; Lansing, Mich.; and Rochester, Minn., in the Midwest.

[/spoiler]

Android Eclipses Symbian to Become #1 Smart Phone Platform in World

Scott Webster
-
0

Booya.  Android has just become the number one smart phone platform in the world.  The latest figures from Canalys are in and it shows Android accounting for 33.3 million handset shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010, slightly ahead of Symbian’s 31 million smart phones.  Coming in third, Apple pulled 16.2 million shipped, which was nearly double what it had last year.   BlackBerry handset maker RIM took fourth with 14.6 million smart phones shipped, up from 10.7 million the year before.  Microsoft rounds out the top five at 3.1 million shipped, just slightly ahead of “other” smart phones. Hit the break to see how each fared in terms of overall market share.

Market share for Q4 2010

  1. Android 32.9%
  2. Symbian 30.6%
  3. Apple 16%
  4. RIM 14.4%
  5. Microsoft 3.1%

Keep in mind that these figures should not be taken as gospel, rather, they are indicative of trends in the industry.  Every report that comes out offers a slightly different perspective.  The best thing to do is to look at the bigger picture which shows how the various platforms are performing.  As a whole, the smart phone jumped 89 percent from this time last year, topping 100 million units in the fourth quarter alone. For the year of 2010, the total figure comes in  just under 300 million smart phones shipped.  New efforts from all players involved will see this figure decimated come January 2012.

T-Mobile and Samsung Formally Recognize Galaxy S 4G with Press Release

Scott Webster
-
0

Following directly on the heels of today’s acknowledgment, T-Mobile and Samsung have issued a press release to announce the Galaxy S 4G.  And really, that’s about all they did.  The press release (after the jump) only tells us that it’s set to arrive in the coming weeks and that more details are forthcoming.  The Galaxy S 4G is said to be the first device from T-Mobile able to achieve the theoretical speeds of 21Mbps on the carrier’s network. 

Continue
1...1,2651,2661,267...1,281Page 1,266 of 1,281