AT&T Promises Galaxy S II in Coming Weeks, Cost to Follow originally appeared on AndroidGuys.

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I read that Nokia was slapping those loyal clients who have went out and bought the N8 and other Symbian^three devices early in the face by shipping new N8 and C7 devices with Anna preloaded. Without having question, they need to have very first provided the update to existing owners and this whole Anna update story is disappointing to me. I also read that Anna for the N8 was leaked and offered so I decided to risk it rather than wait for Nokia considering that my N8 was just sitting around useless anyways and now I have Anna on my N8 performing well so far.

This will void your warranty, risk bricking your device, etc. so I do not suggest any readers take these actions and just wait for Nokia to officially release it. That said, my wife&#8217s blue Nokia N8 consistently locks up and is a piece of crap so I am going to update hers making use of these actions following I test it out on my orange 1 for a few much more days. So far everything seems to be working just fine. There were a couple of Chinese apps on the N8 that I just uninstalled and so far so good. These actions are not too bad truly and didn&#8217t call for any DOS commands or anything like goofing around with my N900 did.

Any readers attempt this update and if so, how did it go for you?

UPDATE: Here is a page describing a new ROM version with the split screen/context sensitive keyboard and other improvements. I am going to put this 1 on my N8 now.

Android is receiving a good healthy dose of Fox it would appear. The 20^th century Fox Organization is obtaining set to being providing movies on the Android platform. Nonetheless, there is a catch, these movies will only be offered as a complimentary feature when you in fact purchase a Blu Ray movie. You will be given directions on how to navigate to a internet site exactly where you can load the movie you just bought onto your android powered device and have Blu Ray goodness with you wherever you go.  You can expect to commence seeing this service pop up in or about October, with the initial release being X-Males: The Initial Class.

Source: Engadget

Google showed off their movie rental service back in May at I/O, but only launched it for the XOOM. It was originally supposed to be for Honeycomb 3.1 devices, but non of the other Honeycomb 3.1 devices have access to it.

We do have an interesting development as some people saw the application in the Android Market briefly last night and were able to download it. Looks like they may be making this a widespread application soon. Of course, it will only be available for non rooted devices. No word on availability, but we will let you know as soon as we hear more. Check out the video of it running on a Nexus S after the break.

Read More…

Google movie rentals may be coming to phones soon [Video]

Android News, Rumours, and Updates

BlackBerry UK has announced that it will be hitting several train stations with BlackBerry stands offering up services to help you get the most out of your device. If you can make it to a stand between 2-3pm you can also be in for a chance of picking up some goodies too, including tickets to see Tinie Tempah and Wretch 32, amongst other special guests. You can also get yourself a free cup of coffee.

The stands will be popping up in train stations around London, Manchester and Leeds, starting Monday 4th July until Tuesday 12th July. It looks like the main focus of these stands are to help customers update their BlackBerry devices. Probably most beneficial for those average Joe consumers who don’t hit up sites like our very own CrackBerry, where we have a whole host of BlackBerry 101′s to help you update your device’s OS. Of course, you can still drop by and try to bag yourself some goodies. I am little disappointed that there will be no stands making their way across the border, it would have been nice for BlackBerry to have at least come to one train station in Glasgow.

Below is a list of the train stations the stands will be visiting:

• Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (London St Pancras) – Monday 4th July
• Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (London Waterloo) – Tuesday 5th July
• Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (London Liverpool Street) – Wednesday 6th July
• Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (London Victoria) – Thursday 7th July
• Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (London Paddington) – Friday 8th July
• Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (Leeds Train Station)- Monday 11th July
• Free coffee at BlackBerry Stand (Manchester Piccadilly) – Tuesday 12th July 

CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. BlackBerry stands coming to a train station near you

CrackBerry.com blogs

Yesterday HTC announced the availability of the EVO 3D for European carriers starting in July, and today brings us our first word of where to expect the glasses-free 3D smartphone when drops around the region. The UK will have Vodafone as at least one of their options for the gold-trimmed version of the handset, though an official release date and pricing details have not been given. You can, however, head over to the Vodafone website and sign up for the EVO 3D mailing list to receive updates on the phone’s launch status. We’ll leave you with the below video from the carrier touting their upcoming handset from HTC.

Android Phone Fans

There has been a lot of uncertainty about the DROID Bionic. It was a much-anticipated phone, and then there was rumbling that it might never see the light of day. The most recent rumors were that it would make an appearance, but might not be exactly the phone we wanted. Sadly, we still don’t know MUCH for certain, but Motorola did promise us all via Twitter today that there will, definitely, be a phone released that they deem worth of the Bionic name.

Hang tight, DROID Bionic is coming and slated for summer release. Our team is working on some new updates

We just saw the first day of Summer, so they have approximately three months to finish up their updates and bring the phone to market, if this promise rings true. And I, for one, eagerly await more info! Leave us your thoughts in the comments, and we’ll bring you more news as soon as it comes to light.

Motorola: “DROID Bionic is Still Coming, Don’t Give Up Hope!”

Android News, Rumours, and Updates

Aruba Networks today announced that its market share in the Enterprise WLAN space has increased to 15.9 percent according to a report issued by Dell’Oro Research. The market share increase came primarily at the expense of Cisco.

A sharply rising percentage of workers now bring their tablets and smartphones into the workplace, increasing the need for high speed wireless. Aruba reported that more than 90 percent of AP shipments in its most recently completed fiscal quarter were 802.11n with the company’s share of 802.11n enterprise gear growing from 15.5 percent to 20.8 percent.

The company’s Mobile Virtual Enterprise architecture unifies wired and wireless network infrastructures using controllers. Enterprise access points like Cisco’s 1142N ($ 799), ArubaAP 105 ($ 499), and Ruckus Zoneflex 7962 ($ 799) use hardware controllers.

New Cloud-managed competition hopes to cut Cisco and Aruba off at the knees. They’re using embedded controllers right in the AP, or providing simple, cloud-based solutions.

Access Points with embedded controllers are targeting the enterprise market with a compelling value proposition. They include the Aerohive AP120 ($ 695) + $ 110/year cloud fee, as well as the Meraki MR16 ($ 649) + $ 100/year cloud fee. Hive’s controller-less AP is said to enhance speed by allowing ad-hock networking between users, without going though a central controller.

A new line of Ubiquiti wireless access points promise to break open the enterprise-grade market. Their cloud-managed, 802.11n access points cost under $ 100.

The Ubiquiti UniFi access point is said to combine carrier class performance, unlimited scalability, and a virtual management controller. You install, configure, and manage all of your UniFi Wireless Access Points from one User Interface. The 802.11n hardware from Ubiquiti costs under $ 100. A simple cloud-based management system is free.

PowerCloud Systems claims to add enterprises-level cloud management functions to the $ 100 Access Point. Andrea Peiro, Co-Founder of PowerCloud, explains the benefits of their Cloud Command to Dailywireless editor Sam Churchill at last month’s Innotech conference in Portland, Oregon (below).

PowerCloud says the $ 100 UniFi access point can be flashed with PowerClouds firmware, which enables cloud management across multiple businesses or apartments for next to nothing. Once the APs are plugged in, they connect to the cloud-based console. A single login enables a manager to see each different site and assign those APs to different tasks.

Cloud-based LAN systems make ideal Digital Divide solutions. They’re cheap. They mesh automatically for extended hallway coverage. They’re easy to manage.

With the growth of tablets, smartphones and home networking, enterprise-level management and control is getting close to home. Real close.

One-Economy recently received $ 51 million in stimulus money to bridge the Digital Divide using cloud-based Meraki access points.

Yesterday, my own apartment complex, The Yards in Portland, Oregon, got an official One Economy rollout. One $ 200 Meraki repeater is shared by every 4-7 units (it should be no more than four). They mesh together along the hall. About four are used on each of the five floors which each have 20-30 apartments. That’s about $ 4,000 (20 Merakis) in deliverables. The entire building shares one 1.5 Mbps DSL line.

One-Economy gets about $ 1,000 for each apartment unit served, if you believe Dave McConnell’s PowerPoint (above) and do the math. But everyone knows that 100+ people can’t share a single 1.5 Mbps DSL line. It would be negligent to force an entire floor of 25 people to share a single 1.5 Mbps line — let alone an entire building.

It appears as though almost all of the $ 51 million in stimulus money is going straight into the pockets of administrators. One Economy Corporation, a global nonprofit based in Portland, will be leading a local community broadband summit on June 1st in Portland, with the support from the Public Utility Commission of Oregon.

UPDATE:

Okay, it appears I have over reacted to some bad information put forth by the One-Economy representatives yesterday. Indeed, providing 8 DSL lines of 7Mbps each at The Yards does seem reasonable and appropriate.

dailywireless.org

It was pushed in a facebook update on the Settlers of Catan page that they have been working on an official Android version of the game to launch by June this year. The details were scarce, but one could start to imagine how this could be a huge multiplayer mobile app real fast given the popularity not only of the game itself, but with the online gameplay as well. Really the only people that would get excited over this (including myself) are people who love playing this game…and there is an army of Catan players out there!

That said, a few questions come to mind. How mush will this game cost, or will it be free? Does it log you into your existing PlayCatan online account and render the screen for Android devices? Is it an entirely re-designed game tailored for use with touchscreen devices? We’ll have to wait and find out, but we’ll keep you posted.

Settlers of Catan app coming to Android devices in June 2011

Android News, Rumours, and Updates

Big fan of Wired Magazine?  Big fan of Android? Have a Tablet? Then boy do we have some treats for you as news comes to us by way of MWC at the Android booth.  Wired Magazine has produced a tablet version of their syndication for all of those addicts that can’t be without their Wired tidbits.  We’re seeing a great trend of magazines arriving in tablet form and we just have to say, keep it up!  Our friends over at Android Central were present at MWC and they were able to get a quick glimpse of the app in action running on the Motorola Xoom, courtesy of publisher Conde Nast.  Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Wired Magazine App Coming To Android

View full post on Android News, Rumours, and Updates

While Verizon has Skype and while T-Mobile and Sprint both have Qik, AT&T is the only carrier left out of the loop in regards to a major video-calling service provider. That may change according to PC World, who caught wind of a meeting between the two entities. Skype’s Rick Osterloh says to “…what out for some announcements there” in regards to a deal between them and AT&T. It isn’t concrete confirmation – and even Skype is declining to comment on what PC World alleged was said – but they never outright denied the story so I think we definitely will be on the lookout for some announcements in the (hopefully near) future.

View full post on Android Phone Fans

While we don’t have any pricing or an exact date on this release T-Mobile did state via Twitter that they would indeed inherit the new superpower amongst the Galaxy S line. Of course this really comes as no surprise with them also carrying the new Galaxy S 4G.

This phone however is no comparison to the Galaxy S 4g though aside from the internal storage, and the name they are completely different. The new Galaxy S II has a slew of goodies  not being offered thus far.

• Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• 4.27″ Super AMOLED Plus display with 800×480 resolution
• 1.2GHz Dual-core processor with 1Gb RAM
• 16Gb internal storage expandable via microSD
• 2Mp Front facing, 8Mp rear facing camera with LED flash and 1080p Full HD video capture

With the vast amount of Galaxy S phones that don’t have official updates from Samsung yet, maybe this will make up for it. Granted it requires purchasing, but also offers so much more capabilities than what users currently have. I know a lot of people are waiting to get their hands on this phone, and it’s always our pleasure to heighten the anticipation a little more.

Update: Everyone gets excited and T-Mobile retracts statement and tweets this after. Apparently they thought they were being asked about the Galaxy S 4G. We’ll have to wait for more updates. Back to the drawing board.

Source: Android Central via Mobile Central

View full post on AndroidSPIN

At MWC, in the Texas Instruments booth, there could be found a cozy little shack up of the unlikeliest of partners.  Get your head out of the gutter man.  We’re talking about Pathpartner and Ittiam.  At the event, Pathpartner demoed 720p video calling over that famous VOIP app, oh what’s it called?  Oh yeah, Skype.  You may have heard of it?  As of today, Pathpartner is working with Skype in an attempt to get “Skype certified”.  The app makers hope to successfully secure a number of other vendors, besides Ittiam, to get their application arriving stock on mobile devices.

The company’s senior technical lead, Alexy Mathew Joseph performed the demo on the OMAP 4 chip set platform, an extremely powerful CPU touted by TI.  The OMAP 4 platform offers a number of powerful options such as 1080p video recording and playback, 20 megapixel imaging and approximately a week of audio play time.  And now we can add 720p video calls.  It’s no surprise why Pathpartner wants to develop the rich video application on a handset running this platform.  This is certainly promising for Android users as it opens up a slew of doors when it comes to communication over video.  The app is being reported as possibly hitting Android devices some time near the end of 2011.  Head back over to Talk Android as we keep a close eye on the company’s emerging product and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments below.

720p Video Calling Over Skype Coming To Android By Way Of Pathpartner On OMAP4

View full post on Android News, Rumours, and Updates

Netflix has had an iPhone app for a bit now, and has made it clear that they plan to release a similar app for Android. Sadly, because the hardware on Android phones varies so much from device to device, Netflix had quite a struggle developing the app completely in-house. So, they teamed up with Qualcomm, who makes a respectable portion of the processors that Android phones run on, to get the job done. Apparently it’s coming along now, and Qualcomm announced that in the future, phones shipping with their Snapdragon processors will be the first ones to get the Netflix app. It was not specifically mentioned if/when it will become available on existing Snapdragon phones, nor other phones that don’t run on Snapdragon at all. That said, it’s unlikely that they would miss that market entirely, so I’m sure every effort will be made to roll it out to the other lines as soon as possible.

“Qualcomm is in a unique position to help bring the most optimized and advanced Android apps to market through working closely with the strong ecosystem of Snapdragon developers like Netflix.”

Netflix Coming to Android, Starting With Snapdragon

View full post on Android News, Rumours, and Updates

Carrying on with the great RIM news flowing out of MWC today we have word that BlackBerry Messenger 6.0 is on the way. While it won’t get too much of an overhaul on the UI side, there will be a bunch of great new features that will better integrate BBM with other apps on your device. You will be able to interact with other users in games, media players, ebook readers and much more. From within the app you can send a chat invite to other users and then chat with them via BBM through the app. From the looks of it you’ll be able to send much larger files (think images and audio) over BBM now as well. Developers will be able to get at the new goods in March, and if all goes as planned the new version should see a rollout to all users some time around May.

Source: bbnews.pl

CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. BlackBerry Messenger 6.0 coming soon with loads of new features

View full post on CrackBerry.com blogs

We got a few minutes to tour a couple brand new products from NEC that are destined to hit the shores of Japan for too long. The first Android tablet you see demoed has dual-screens with special multi-tasking features built-in while the second device is essentially an Android netbook/laptop. The latter will be out this week while the former is coming in the next couple months – both in Japan.

NEC hopes to gain popularity with these tablets and offer them in Europe and the United States, but I have to question that possibility. After seeing the XOOM, Optimus Pad, and Galaxy S2, I simply dont see the point in buying any type of Android Tablet that is running 2.X.

Android 3.0 is optimized for tablets and you can tell – most of the Android 2.X tablets are buggy, glitchy, underpowered, and the next generation is already arriving. Manufacturers would be smart to shelve any tablets they’ve got running Android 2.X and immediately begin working on launching products with Android 3.0 if they want to seriously compete.

And of course, the idea is to get AHEAD of the curve, so perhaps focusing on Android 3.0 isn’t enough. Maybe they should be working on Android 3.X and beyond… and in that case it’s a matter of getting enough access.

View full post on Android Phone Fans

Rogers customers can begin celebrating now.  The Xperia Arc and Xperia Play are both confirmed to be coming to Rogers.  Rogers is the largest wireless operator in Canada so this is a great announcement for many of you in the north.

As many of our readers might remember – Simon, Allen, and myself all were very much impressed by the Xperia Arc.  It is a great step forward for Sony Ericsson.  The Xperia Play (the Playstation Phone) is looking to bring Android it’s first real gaming experience.  This is a tailor-made experience for gaming.  The Xperia Play is expected to launch with 50 titles at launch.  Together these two phones will bring Canadians a couple very nice Android offerings.

Please sound off in the comments if you are from Canada – are you looking forward to either of these phones?  Which phone are you planning on buying, if any?

Here is some video of the Xperia Arc that we took while at CES2011 earlier this year

Source: Rogers redboard and Android Central

Press Release below
Get Your Game On! Sony Ericsson Xperia™ PLAY and Xperia™ arc, The Ultimate Entertainment Smartphones, Coming Exclusively to Rogers™, in Canada

Xperia PLAY combines a PlayStation™-quality gaming experience with the very latest Android™ platform version 2.3 , super fast graphics and dedicated game controls


Xperia™ arc combines super-slim stunning design with state-of-the-art Sony™ technology on Android™ platform version 2.3


Rogers™ becomes exclusive Canadian carrier of both Xperia™ PLAY and Xperia™ arc - extending its Android device leadership


The average game player age is 33 and 38 percent of game players are women


Slim, lightweight and strong, with perfect ergonomics


Extra wide 4.2" multi-touch Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine to ensure ultimate multimedia and viewing experiences


Sony Exmor R™ for mobile: for best-in-class low-light photography and video capture


8.1 megapixel camera and HD video recording capability


Android Market™ - thousands of applications to keep you entertained


TORONTO, Feb. 13 /CNW/ - Is Canada ready to play?  Sony Ericsson and Rogers think so. Canadians will be among the first in the world to experience the Sony Ericsson Xperia™ PLAY, the world's first PlayStation Certified smartphone, and the Xperia™ arc smartphone, which will debut in Canada exclusively at Rogers™.  The Xperia™ PLAY and Xperia™ arc are expected to be available in Canada in Spring 2011.
"Connecting people to the things they are passionate about is what we do. Whether it's watching the latest episode of your favourite show or beating your gaming high score, we are always looking for game changers that connect our customers to more of the things that matter to them, when they want, wherever they are," says Raj Doshi, Vice President, Mobile Product Management, Rogers Communications Inc. "Together with Sony Ericsson, and backed by the amazing power of Android, we believe the Xperia PLAY and Xperia arc are going to revolutionize mobile gaming and entertainment experiences for Canadians and we're excited our customers will have exclusive access to them."
"We're showing that we've got game by introducing our most exciting Xperia™ products yet and Canadians have a lot to look forward to this year with two of the hottest Android™ smartphones," said Peter Farmer, Head of Marketing - North America, Sony Ericsson. "Both the Xperia™ PLAY and Xperia™ arc combine best in class multimedia Sony™ technology with the latest Android™ platform and breathtaking design to entertain and wow consumers."
According to the Entertainment Software Association of Canada's 2010 Essential Facts:
Xperia™ PLAY
Xperia™ PLAY delivers the smartphone functionality that the most serious power users could need, teamed with the immersive gaming experience that any gamer would want.
In portrait mode, the Android smartphone offers all the benefits that users have come to expect from Sony Ericsson's existing range of Xperia™ smartphones with best-in-class entertainment experiences, a great 5 megapixel camera, a brilliant 4" multi-touch screen and great social networking features.
However, slide out the gaming control and users enter a new world of immersive mobile gaming. The slide out game pad reveals a digital D pad, two analog touch pads, two shoulder buttons and the four PlayStation icons: circle, cross, square and triangle. Qualcomm's optimized Snapdragon processor with a 1Ghz CPU and embedded Adreno GPU graphics processor deliver silky smooth 60fps play-back 3D mobile gaming and Web browsing with minimal power consumption soXperia™ PLAY users can enjoy long hours of battery life and game time.
Xperia™ PLAY will run on Gingerbread (version 2.3), the latest version of Google's Android™ platform. The Xperia™ PLAY will also be the first PlayStation Certified device. This means it will have access to PlayStation® game content provided through the PlayStation® Suite initiative, currently under development by Sony Computer Entertainment and due to launch later this calendar year.
Sony Ericsson has partnered with key publishers in the gaming industry to deliver a rich, vibrant ecosystem at launch and post launch with many leading new titles available via the Android™ Marketplace. Leading franchises coming to Xperia™ PLAY includes EA's Sims 3 and a world-first multiplayer version of FIFA 10 for mobile. Sony Ericsson is also partnering with Unity Technologies, using its award-winning development platform, to ensure a continuous flow of high quality 3D game titles.
Xperia™ arc
Xperia™ arc takes the stunning design that Sony Ericsson has become known for to a new level. Super slim and light, Xperia™ arc is just 8.7mm at its thinnest part and has an extra wide 4.2" multi-touch screen. Created from premium materials and with a stunning arc body, this smartphone is sleek, and designed to fit perfectly in the user's hand. The best of Sony™ technology is inside Xperia™ arc.  The Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA® Engine delivers exceptional visual brilliance and a crystal clear image which enhances the overall entertainment experience. Furthermore, Sony's award-winning Exmor R™ for mobile sensor, with the f/2.4 lens, enables the capture of high quality, bright pictures and HD videos even in low light. All pictures and videos can be shared in HD on your living room TV via the built in HDMI-connector.
Xperia™ arc will launch on the latest version of the Android™ 2.3 platform providing access to Google Mobile™ Services and the myriad of applications available on the Android market.Xperia™ smartphones add best in class entertainment on top of smartphone fundamentals such as apps, maps, email and fast Internet to create the most entertaining smartphone experience.
Sony Ericsson Xperia™ arc - Key Features
Pricing will be announced at launch.  Any product features, specifications or statements in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual product features, specifications or forward-looking statements are subject to change.

View full post on AndroidSPIN

If you have a Sonos Wireless Music System in your home, then first off, I just want to say…darn I’m jealous.  Secondly, you’re in for some good news.  Sonos has not forgotten about you as they’ve announced that an Android app is in the works and should be arriving soon.  The app allows you to seamlessly control your audio system throughout your home.  You can control music flow in one or multiple rooms simultaneously.  Check out the video for the intro of the app and hit the source link for the sign up page, to be the first to know when it’s released.  And don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sonos Controller App Coming To An Android Device Near You, Soon.

View full post on Android News, Rumours, and Updates

My flight from Alaska back to Washington was delayed last night due to a problem with the wing and my first thought went to the Twilight Zone episode where the monster was tearing apart the wing as they flew. I then boarded another plane, fell asleep, and eventually made it home. When I landed I saw all of the Microsoft Nokia news and thought I might really be in a Twilight Zone show or I was still dreaming, but after jumping on Twitter I realized that my ultimate smartphone dream had come true.

I just posted my initial thoughts on the Nokia – Microsoft partnership on my ZDNet site and won’t repeat everything I wrote over there. As you know I am obviously a fan of Nokia smartphones and have been for years. You might also have picked up in my writing here that I am a Windows Phone 7 fan. I am probably one of the very few people in the world that have a love of both platforms and also quite a bit of usage of both under my belt. Needless to say, I am quite ecstatic about the news and think it will result in the best of both resulting in a product that easily competes and in many respects blows away the iOS and Android competition.

There is a great post on the Nokia Conversations site where Steve Ballmer and Stephen Elop provide so strong words to support this partnership, including the following:

Together, we have some of the world’s most admired brands, including Windows, Office, Bing, Xbox Live, NAVTEQ and Nokia. We also have a shared understanding of what it takes to build and sustain a mobile ecosystem, which includes the entire experience from the device to the software to the applications, services and the marketplace.

Today, the battle is moving from one of mobile devices to one of mobile ecosystems, and our strengths here are complementary. Ecosystems thrive when they reach scale, when they are fueled by energy and innovation and when they provide benefits and value to each person or company who participates. This is what we are creating; this is our vision; this is the work we are driving from this day forward.

There are other mobile ecosystems. We will disrupt them.

There will be challenges. We will overcome them.

Success requires speed. We will be swift.

Together, we see the opportunity, and we have the will, the resources and the drive to succeed.

I LOVE everything they are saying here and like the specifically stated they do indeed need to be swift and get something out this year.

I wrote the following points as I see them from a user perspective:

• All cameras in Microsoft’s smartphones have sucked, but Nokia rules the world with Carl Zeiss optics and imaging technology that rivals high end dedicated cameras
• Nokia has the ONLY penta-band smartphones so it doesn’t matter who your GSM carrier is you can get 3G data support (this includes T-Mobile’s special 1700 MHz band)
• Nokia brings hardware with aluminum colored bodies, Gorilla Glass, HDMI out, USB on-the-go, amazing RF reception and call quality, long battery life, and more
• Windows Phone 7 is amazingly fast and responsive while also being unique
• Windows Phone 7 is rock solid stable and after using it since July 2010 I can confirm it is the MOST stable mobile operating system I have ever used
• Windows Phone 7 gaming rocks, Zune is fantastic, multiple Exchange support is solid, Office integration is great, and developers are building apps
• Email on Symbian blows, but on Windows Phone 7 it absolutely rocks and I prefer to use my WP7 smartphone for email handling over even my Outlook desktop client

I know that die hard Nokia fans will likely react negatively to such a deal with Microsoft, but is that due to some kind of unfounded hatred for the Microsoft name? If you try Windows Phone 7 then you may change your mind. I know that Microsoft has stumbled in the past, as has Nokia. However, there are brilliant people at both companies and the potential for amazing success is there and can be realized through this partnership.

Is anyone else excited about this partnership like I am? Stay tuned for MUCH more of my writing here as I will have a platform that I am very excited about along with hardware that I love. We’ll see how it works out with WPCentral, but since there will still be other Windows Phone 7 makers and Nokia will still make non-WP7 devices we might see both sites remain as they are too.

View full post on Nokia Experts

I was wondering what games we would see come preloaded on the BlackBerry PlayBook at launch. While I was sort of hoping for a souped up version of BrickBreaker, it looks like RIM is going a different route. They are really trying to put the play in PlayBook… coming preloaded on the BlackBerry PlayBook at launch is going to be EA’s Need for Speed Undercover and Tetris.  And based on the press release, we’re not talking demo versions of the games here, but the full thing (at least that better be the case!). Keep reading for the full press release. RIM will be demoing the games next week in Barcelona at MWC, so we’ll soon see the action for realz. Does this make you even more excited to get your PlayBook? Do you think we’ll still see BrickBreaker in some form (I sure hope so!). Sound off in the comments!

Press Release

EA’s Need for Speed Undercover and the Tetris Game Coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook at Launch 

WATERLOO, ONTARIO and REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA–(Marketwire – Feb. 10, 2011) – When users turn on their new BlackBerry(R) Playbook(TM) tablet for the first time, they had better be prepared for some fun and excitement with two iconic games from Electronic Arts preloaded(i) and available for hours of entertaining gameplay – Need for Speed(TM) Undercover, the high-octane action game, and Tetris(R), one of the world’s most popular video games of all time.

read more

CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. Press Release: EA's Need for Speed and Tetris Coming to BlackBerry PlayBook at Launch

View full post on CrackBerry.com blogs

We just provided the exclusive rumored details of the Droid Incredible 2 and it seems some other popular Verizon Androids are coming in the very near future, too. One of our trusted tipsters is telling us the Droid 3 and Droid X2 will both come in the 2nd Quarter along with the Samsung Stealth. Here are some details we’ve learned of each:

• Motorola Droid 3: 4-inch screen with QHD resolution (960 by 540 pixel resoultion - same as Bionic), slideout QWWERTY keyboard
• Motorola Droid X2: Didn’t gather any details
• Samsung Stealth: This is the Samsung 4G LTE as seen at CES

The Droid 3 and Droid X 2 are sure to turn some heads if not only because their predecessors commanded the attention of the masses. I don’t doubt these versions will be equally as exciting. It seems like we’ve hit a motherload of Verizon Wireless rumors and now we’ll eagerly await hard evidence in the form of pictures and videos and hopefully official confirmation before long. Hey – Mobile World Congress is right around the corner so maybe it’ll be a short wait!

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Rumors are exactly that — just rumors.  We don’t know anything for sure, but there’s been a lot of talk lately about the Froyo update coming to the Epic4G, specifically…but we think all Galaxy S phones will be following close behind.  Tipsters who claim to have an inside track are saying that the Sprint Epic 4G will be getting some Froyo love in less than two weeks, to be delivered on February 21.  Supposedly Samsung and Sprint are embracing version EA17 and are about ready to call it official, and hopefully we’ll be seeing it named legit in here in about 13 days.

Rumors Saying Froyo Coming to Sprint’s Epic 4G Feb 21

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Remember that snazzy Toshiba tablet prototype that we were speculating about early last month? Well, Toshiba has finally launched the official Toshiba Tablet website, with a confirmation that the Honeycomb device will be available this spring.

The website itself is pretty sleek and pleasing to the eye, which is hopefully a sign that the Toshiba Tablet will be just as great. The Android section of the website confirms that the tablet will be running Honeycomb and allow custom desktops, apps, and the like.

Take a look at TheToshibaTablet.com by clicking the source link. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on the upcoming Toshiba Tablet in the comments.

TheToshibaTablet.com goes live, Toshiba Honeycomb tablet coming this spring

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It looks like there is a possibility that we could at least see one handset sporting “Ice Cream” or “Ice Cream Sandwich” in April before the Gingerbread updates roll out, “if” they even roll out.  That’s a crazy thought, isn’t it?  In an exclusive interview with Pocket-lint, ViewSonic has stated that their ViewPad 4 smartphone will come packed running Android 2.4 upon launch, which will be sometime in April.  Supposedly, the update will allow for some of those Honeycomb elements we heard Mr. Andrew Kovacs mention, which we should see trickle down onto smartphones.

According to sources at Pocket-lint, 2.4 is being released to ensure that dual-core apps customized for Honeycomb (3.0) have the ability to function with single core devices.  And get this, it will still be called Gingerbread!  Huh?  That’s right, according to those same sources, the current Gingerbread 2.3 doesn’t make this possible.  This is why we could see a big push for 2.4 on mobile devices ahead of Android 2.3.  It looks like this could be the single cause as to why we are seeing a slow implementation of the 2.3 Gingerbread update on devices other than the Nexus S. Read More…

Android 2.4 Coming In April On ViewSonic First?

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