The worst kept secret of the summer, the Droid 2, is now official. Starting tomorrow, August 11th, customers can begin pre-ordering the successor to arguably the most successful Android phone to date. The cost falls right in line with pretty much everything else we’ve seen this summer at $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a new two-year customer agreement. Thursday the 12th will see the phone go full-on with an advertising blitz likely to start this weekend.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is finally coming stateside. Nearly a full year after the first leaks and official announcements, AT&T customers will be able to get their hands on the sexy and once top-of-the-line Android handset. Starting next week (August 15), new and eligible subscribers can grab the X10 for $149 after rebate. Interestingly, SonyStyle.com has the phone listed with a $129.99 price point. As a reminder for those of you who forgot, the X10 features a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 4-inch touch display, and an 8-megapixel camera. Even with an outdated Android 1.6 OS, it should still be quite an attractive buy for folks looking to save a little cash.
If you’re in the market to pick up a new Bluetooth headset for your Android phone, I recommend the Motorola Pure H15 from the AndroidGuys Store. I recently spent some time with the device and found it to be rather impressive.
Sprint announced today that they will be bringing the push-to-talk Motorola i1 to their customers later this month for $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. Available next Sunday, July 25th, the ruggedized i1 features a 5 megapixel camera, a 3.1-inch HVGA screen, and a strong lineup of preloaded applications. Unfortunately, the phone is hampered by the fact that it runs Android 1.5 and there’s no telling when an update will arrive. On the other hand, this is the most advanced smart phone that Nextel customers have had to choose from. It’s also worth pointing out that the target demographics is highly unlikely to care about games and downloading the latest apps.
Android is now live on AT&T with the new HTC Aria! OK, that may not be completely true since Motorola launched the Backflip on AT&Ts network a few months ago, but if any of you have actually played with that phone, you know that’s it’s likely the worst Android phone ever released in the U.S. market. Yes, you can get the Nexus One from Google that works with AT&T 3G bands, but since you can’t actually get the phone from AT&T, we’re not going to count that one. The HTC Aria is the smallest Android phone from HTC to launch on this side of the pond, but that doesn’t mean this phone is a slouch in any way.
AT&T’s first high end Android phone, the Samsung Captivate has finally been given a launch date and price point. Look for the Ma Bell flavored Samsung Galaxy S to arrive July 18th at the ever-popular $200 price point. Don’t worry about mail-in rebates or gift cards as that’s the price you’ll pay up front!
Motorola finally confirmed what we’ve been expecting for the last few weeks, a new MOTOBLUR handset is headed for T-Mobile. Officially dubbed the CHARM, it is the first device in the United States to come with the new version of MOTOBLUR. Features include a 2.8-inch touch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, and a BACKTRACK navigation pad on the back of the handset. Much like it does for the Backflip, the pad allows for an unobstructed view of the screen for a better browsing, texting, and gaming experience. Other features found in the phone include Adobe Flash Lite, a 3-megapixel camera, pinch zooming, multi-touch, and corporate email capability.
The Android 2.1-powered CHARM is officially due “this summer” which could mean any day now. Unfortunately a price wasn’t announced for the device but we’re hearing both $75 after rebate as well as free for back-to-school promotions.
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Yesterday LG unveiled the Optimus line of Android devices which they claim will highlight the company’s ability to produce devices that “tame consumers’ information-dominated lives.” The Optimus line will feature ten new Android devices, one of which will be a tablet. It was previously mentioned that LG hopes to release a total of twenty Android phones in 2010. This would certainly go a long way to making sure that happens.
T-Mobile has officially pulled back the curtain on a terribly kept secret as they announce their version of the Samsung Galaxy S. Called the Samsung Vibrant, it’s loaded with all the great hardware and software you’ve been expecting.
As expected earlier this year, the top four carriers in the United States will each carry their own version of the Galaxy S from Samsung. Hot on the heels of the Epic announcement for Sprint this morning comes Verizon’s Samsung Fascinate. Unfortunately, we don’t have any pictures to share of the phone but it’s much like the other iterations.
Running Android 2.1 and Samsung’s Touchwiz 3.0 UI, the Fascinate will be a full Google experience with apps like Gmail, YouTube, and the Android Market. The hardware is pretty much everything you’d expect, and hope for.