Motorola will be making a special appearance on today’s season premier of the Oprah Winfrey Show.  Why?  Because they are going to announce the new ruggedized Defy for T-Mobile USA.  That’s why!  According to the press release that has already hit the wires, the scratch and water resistant smart phone will be available in time for your holiday purchases.  A quick primer on the Defy – It will feature a 3.7-inch touch screen, MOTOBLUR, a 5-megapixel camera, and Adobe Flashfor the web browser.  There’s no mention as to what build of Android the phone comes with, but it’s definitely not 2.2 as it would feature the full Flash experience.
Motorola Announces Defy for T-Mobile USA, Available “In Time for the Holidays”
T-Mobile G2 Confirmed, Pre-Sale Starts This Month
T-Mobile has just pushed out the official press release for the true successor to the groundbreaking G1. Â Unfortunately, they didn’t drop any actual release date or pricing on us. Â However, they did confirm a handful of rumored details and unveil a couple of new goodies. Â Among the new uncovered gems are the 8GB pre-loaded memory card that goes along with the 4GB internal memory as well as the fully integrated Google Voice application. Â In a first for all involved, the new Voice app lets customers sign up for an account directly from the handset.
Pretty much everything mentioned was leaked over the last few weeks. Â The G2 comes with a 3.7-inch screen, 800MHz Snapdragon MSM7230 processor, and of course, support for the new HSPA+ network rolling out. Â Oh yeah, there’s also customizable Quick Keys! According to the press release, the G2 will be available for preorder (in limited quantities) later this month. Look for more details in the next few weeks. Â If you haven’t already done so, sign up at http://g2.t-mobile.com for updates. Â Look for a $200 price tag whenever T-Mobile gets around to talking costs.
LG Announces Dual-Core CPU Based on NVIDIA Tegra, Coming to Optimus Series This Year
LG and NVIDIA have teamed up to bring you the next generation of super phones.  Based on the new, world first Tegra 2  dual-core CPU, LG’s Optimus Series of phones will see a level of performance that today’s smart phones can only dream of.  The new chispset uses two 1 GHz processors to share workloads and improve web browsing, game playing, and HD video playback.  LG has committed to dropping these processors into their phones as early as the fourth quarter.  Yeah, that’s right… over the next few months.  Don’t be shocked if that future LG  T-Mobile handset is an Optimus-class phone rocking a dual-core Tegra 2!
Official: Verizon Drops Samsung Fascinate in Two Days (Sept 9)
It doesn’t get much closer than this. Â For some reason, Verizon decided to wait until the eleventh hour to make the announcement that their Samsung Galaxy S series phone, the Fascinate, is dropping soon. Â Officially confirmed today, the long held rumor was that September 9 would be the day that the 1GHz beauty would arrive. Â This brings the fourth iteration of the carrier branded Samsung handset to the United States. Â Like its siblings, the Fascinate features a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, Android 2.1, and Swype’s virtual keyboard.
Look for the Fascinate to hit Verizon’s website tomorrow, September 8th, with stores following the day after. Â Final pricing is the familiar $199.99 after $100 mail-in rebate and two-year service agreement. Â Full press release, and another two pics, after the jump
Samsung Makes Galaxy Tab Official with IFA Announcement
We can finally put the Galaxy Tab rumors to sleep. Samsung has officially unveiled the Galaxy Tab earlier today at the IFA conference in Berlin, Germany. Looking very much like a giant Galaxy S phone, the Tab features a 7-inch TFT-LCD, WSVGA (1024 x 600) display, Cortex A8 1.0GHz processor, 3-megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash and a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera for video telephony. The tablet runs Android 2.2 and offers full Flash 10.1 support, which should like great on a device this size. Other hardware details include 3G HSPA connectivity, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 3.0 support. Look for the Galaxy Tab to start rolling out in Europe later this month while U.S., Asian, Koreans markets are expected to see theirs in the coming months. (Full press release and additional pictures after the break).
Rumor: Next Iteration of Android To be Honeycomb
As we’ve mentioned over the past few weeks on our podcasts, we are now hearing from other sources that the next iteration of Android after Gingerbread will be called Honeycomb. The latest report comes from industry publication TechRadar UK. In keeping with the sweets-themed naming conventions, this OS will follow Cupcake, Eclair, Froyo and Gingerbread.  I for one hope it will be as sweet as honey. Hit the jump for more!
US Cellular Taps Desire for August 27th Release
U.S. Cellular has announced this morning that the Android 2.1-powered HTC Desire will be available effective August 27. For those new to Android, the Desire features a 1GHz processor, a 3.7-inch touch screen, 5-megapixel camera and more. Except for the optical trackball and Sense UI, you can think of it as a Nexus One. The Desire follows the July exclusive release of the Samsung Acclaim and comes ahead of three more promised Android phones in 2010. Full press release after the jump.
Droid 2 Official for August 12th, R2D2 Version Arrives in September
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.
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Officially Hits US Next Week via AT&T
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.
Review: Motorola H15 Bluetooth Headset
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.