Verizon has a list, dubbed the “Advanced Device List” (available here), that basically lays down all of their smartphones and netbooks that have a high ETF (Early Termination Fee) of $350, compared to the standard almost $180. According to a tipster, the Motorola Droid 2 is now on said list, while Verizon has yet to officially announce the device.
[via Droid-life]
There were reports last week about the fact that there may be a “silent recall” on HTC Wildfire handsets on T-Mobile. But, HTC is now saying that although the device showed as “out of stock” on their site, there is no recall. According to a PR Rep for HTC:
…there’s absolutely no truth to the HTC Wildfire T-Mobile recall. The handset is simply sold out due to demand, and HTC has received no complaints from T-Mobile.
I guess that’s why they call it the rumor mill, eh? Let us know what you think in the comments.
[via Sohaib, HTC PR]
According to an analysis done by Canalys, which involved adding up the Q2 reports from smartphone carriers and manufacturers, the shipment of smartphones worldwide grew an amazing 64%. What’s better than that? How about the fact that Android shipments have risen by – I hope you’re sitting down – 886%. Come back to this article when your heart attack finishes.
According to their findings, Nokia is till in the lead in the mobile space, but the gap is quickly being filled in their 38% market share. Nokia’s smartphone shipments came in at a record-setting 23.8 million handsets in Q2, which is an increase of 41% from last year. RIM’s blackberry handsets also increased 41%, putting them at 18% market share, right in behind Symbian. Apple’s iPhone shipments were up 61%, which is slower that years passed, putting them at 13 % market share.
Then, there’s Android. Coming in at almost 900% growth. While we wouldn’t expect this rate to continue, it is quite easy to see how Android’s marketing and development is paying off. It wouldn’t be at all unreasonable to expect Android to take the lead into the top 3 in the next year or so.
[via intomobile]
According to a report by Digitimes, while PC vendors are looking to release tablet devices, they are leaning away from the Intel Atom + Windows combination in favour of focusing on designs that run Android and make use of ARM CPUs. ARM processors offer advantages in terms of power consumption and heat dissipation over those from Intel, as well coming in at lower prices. Naturally, using processors similar to those found in smart phones rather than notebooks means that Android is the OS of choice.
Naturally Intel and Microsoft have some considerable clout to push for tablets based on their own hardware and software, but if manufacturers get behind Android for their first wave of tablets, then we could see the OS achieving similar growth as it has experienced for phones. We believe this would be a good thing, of course.
Tablets such as Augen’s could soon be joined by many from large PC vendors, if reports from Digitimes are accurate.
According to the twitter account of a PR spokesman for Orange, consumers on their network using HTC Desires will have the update to Froyo in about 4 weeks. The exact quote from his tweet says:
We are working with HTC to bring the 2.2 Android update to Desire customers as soon as we can. This process normally takes about four weeks
It is probably best (for the company) that consumers aren’t given an exact date for the upcoming release, as Android devices are notorious for having updates pushed back beyond release dates.
What do our readers on Orange think about this? Be sure to let us know in the comments!
[via Twitter]
Well we know it’s supposed to be released around August 20th, but now the official site for Sprint’s own Galaxy S phone, the Epic 4G has gone live. In case you haven’t heard, the Epic 4G will be Sprint’s second 4G phone and will have features like a 4in Super AMOLED display, 1GHz Hummingbird CPU and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Feel free to click the image above to get it in full size.
Also in Sprint news, they have launched 4G network coverage in Delaware, Florida and Michigan. They’ve even expanded their 4G California coverage. They’ve been busy haven’t they? Check out the full press release and link to the Epic 4G site after the break.
There is a one click root the Droid X. DroidMod just updated their Android app to root the Droid, Evo, and Droid X within the app. It was only a matter of time before someone decided to make a one click root method for the Samsung Galaxy S series. Sorry to everyone else though, this one is only for the Captivate.
TGA_Gunnman over at XDA Developers has created an almost identical application to the one click root for the Droid X. It is a simple application that that has only two buttons: One-Click Root, and One-Click Unroot (Unroot button isn’t shown above). Like the Droid X method, this only works on Windows (sorry Mac users). Also, this has only been tested to work with Android 2.1, so whenever that update shows up don’t do it unless you aren’t thinking of rooting at the time.
To use the application, go to the link located in the source below. Make sure you read all the instructions and understand the risks before rooting your device. It also has a pretty decent thread for any questions other users have had, so if you are having any trouble this would help. Once you’re ready, download the file and follow the instructions. You’ll be running some sort of froyo ROM in no time.
[via: XDA Developers]
What you’re trying to read above is a shot of a Verizon Droid 2 showing off it’s Quadrant benchmark score of 1299. Also accompanying the leaked benchmark score above, is some more information on the internal specs of the phone as well as some pre-installed software:
[via intomobile]
Not to shabby eh? Head over to Wirefly before this offer ends on August 2nd
[via wirefly]
Verizon has started the Droid 2 training getting ready for the upcoming release. Still no official date but if you look at the screen picture above from a Phandroid tipster, it states that the phone will join the device line-up in the next few weeks. For us original Droid owners this is great news, especially those who have come to love the physical keyboard but want a newer faster phone.
The screen shot also re-confirms the presence of Froyo on the phone at launch which is another added bonus with the slow speed of updating lately. Are you looking forward to the Droid 2 and wanting to upgrade to it from your old phone?
[via bgr]