July, 2011 - Android Community

Monthly Archive: May 2013

Samsung device surfaces on Developer Center packing 720p HD screen, but is it a phone or a tablet?

By Shane McGlaun
on 27 Jul, 2011

We have a bit of a mystery today with some scant details of a new Samsung device turning up on the Developer Center. The details are very scarce and in fact, we don’t even know if we are looking at a tablet or a smartphone. The only hard fact the mysterious posting does point out is that the screen res is 1280 x 768 and it supports 16M colors.

Vodafone ditches HTC EVO 3D before it even arrives

By Chris Davies
on 27 Jul, 2011

You snooze, you lose, HTC. UK carrier Vodafone has confirmed that it has dropped the HTC EVO 3D from its line-up, after continued delays in the glasses-free 3D smartphone's availability. Speaking to a Vodafone spokesperson today, Android Community was told that the carrier had decided that, given the devices it currently offers and those it has in the pipeline, and that "due to delays to the launch of the device" it felt the EVO 3D was no longer required. Those customers who had already pre-registered their interest in the EVO 3D on Vodafone will be contacted and the decision not to range it explained. The handset has already been removed from the Vodafone "Coming Soon" page. "We realise this will come as a disappointment to some people but we already offer some fantastic phones, like the HTC Sensation and Galaxy S2, with some really exciting handsets in the pipeline" the Vodafone spokesperson told us, "and we'll continue to focus on bringing the latest and greatest smartphones to Vodafone customers." While the EVO 3D went on sale in the US on June 24, having been initially announced back at CTIA 2011 in March 2011, European sales of the GSM variant are yet to begin. HTC confirmed it would be offering the device in GSM form back at the end of June.

Samsung hits 5m Galaxy S II sales

By Chris Davies
on 27 Jul, 2011

Samsung has announced that global sales of the Galaxy S II have passed the 5m mark, again beating its predecessor, the Galaxy S, to the milestone. Currently available in various European and Asian countries - though not, yet, the US - the GSII has been on sale for just 85 days. The handset had already passed the 3m point after 55 days on the market. In contrast, the Galaxy S took 85 days to make it to 3m, and 125 days to reach 5m. Beyond that, after seven months of availability, the Galaxy S hit 10m sales, a record Samsung now says it is confident the Galaxy S II will beat. Availability in North America - which has taken longer than for the Galaxy S - will undoubtedly help achieve that goal. Verizon Wireless is expected to be the first US carrier to offer the Galaxy S II - in CDMA form - with a launch within the next 2-3 weeks tipped, while Samsung is believed to be crafting custom versions for all four major networks. Meanwhile, a slider version of the smartphone, packing a QWERTY keyboard and apparently headed to AT&T, was spotted earlier this week. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Motorola Droid X2 Getting Gingerbread Soon

By Cory Gunther
on 26 Jul, 2011

Just last week Verizon started testing the Motorola Droid X2 Gingerbread update in what we call a "soak test". It looks as if things went smoothly and everything is a go because the official update page is now being shown right on Verizon. This should bring the Droid X2 up to Android 2.3 as well as the exciting new enhancements to Moto Blur or whatever they are calling their user interface enhancements.

Samsung Galaxy S II Rounded-Edged Candybar Photo Leaked

By Chris Burns
on 26 Jul, 2011

It appears that someone is out there dropping images of some phantom devices saying it's the Galaxy S II, varied to the max on several carriers, double-time today on AT&T. What we're seeing here is a decidedly un-appealingly shaped variant of the original Samsung Galaxy S II with extra-round corners and the newest version of TouchWiz in tow. The originator of said photo says it'll be coming in on AT&T and notes that it's not the same as the earlier leak today which was instead a Samsung Galaxy S Slide (or Slider, or whatever you'd like to call it.)

Motorola XPRT Review

By Chris Burns
on 26 Jul, 2011

Welcome to the second iteration of Motorola's Android business phone for the portrait typing of emails, calendar scheduling, document work, and of course, web browsing. This device is made to be working with the keyboard as much as the touchscreen, and in many cases more of the former. The first look at this device (or an earlier edition of it, if you will,) was the DROID Pro, a Verizon joint. The similarities are immense, but the battery is much, much larger. That and this one's just better because the back is rubbery and textured.

New Android Market 3.0.27 Rolling Out Now, Download it Here!

By Cory Gunther
on 26 Jul, 2011

This is more of a reminder for those that missed the Android Market leak a few weeks ago. Google updated the Android Market with movie rentals and book rentals as well as a few other improvements. The user interface has almost completely changed and is more in-line to Honeycomb and what we should be seeing with Ice Cream Sandwich. Only problem is no one has got the OTA update that I've heard, but today it is hitting devices.

Android Tablet Sales Devastatingly Low in Face of 7-inch Definition

By Chris Burns
on 26 Jul, 2011

It appears that John Gruber of the blog DARING FIREBALL has done a bit of number crunching aside a couple of factoids released by Google on Android tablet sales starting at the beginning of time and running through last week. In a recent analyst call with Larry Page and Google Co, it was announced that approximately 135 million Android devices had been activated through the 6th month of the year. Impressive number, yes? There a bit of a doozy in the works here that'll show you that tablets aren't exactly winning this race at the moment - not by any means! That's not to say that they won't soon, on the other hand.

Oracle Deletes Blog Post Showing CEO’s Approval of Java in Android

By Cory Gunther
on 26 Jul, 2011

While I'm not going to jump into this story too deep I'll start with linking to our Oracle Portal. You will find all the stories and background you need. Basically Oracle is suing Google for the use of Java code in the Android OS. We reported on this a while back and little bits and pieces have slowly appeared over the past few months.

Verizon To Be First U.S. Carrier with the Galaxy S II

By Cory Gunther
on 26 Jul, 2011

We have heard more than a few different stories regarding the Galaxy S II coming to the U.S. but industry analyst Paul Mueller today is shaking things up by stating that Verizon will beat all other carriers to market with the SGSII and it could be here as early as mid August (2-3 weeks). We have heard the name Samsung Function for the Verizon branded model but that is about it.