And the tablet form factor is where the new app really shines. While the older app just scaled up the interface for larger screens, as most apps designed for Gingerbread or lower devices do, the new one has a dynamic bookshelf that works well on all different resolutions and densities. (It’s kind of like the Netflix app, which works across resolutions in a similar way.) Performance enhancements should make the app feel faster, and you finally get the ability to create multiple bookmarks.

Of course you can’t have any sort of service these days without making it social, which is why Kobo added sharing directly to your Facebook wall. You know, in case you really, really want everyone to know you’re reading The Host. Kobo’s selection still leaves a lot to be desired, but they’re definitely moving in the right direction.

[via MobileSyrup]

The tactfully named app “Parking Douche” works like this: you take a photo of an illegally parked car with your phone. The app records the licence plate and identifies the car by model and color.  Then the service shows ads on desktop web pages, exposing the car to the limitless shame of the Internet. But here’s the brilliant bit: it only shows the ad to those who are near the car’s physical location, increasing the odds that the driver (or someone who knows them) will see the ad, and reducing annoyances for everyone else. The location is determined by GPS, and spread only to web users with IP addresses that are close by.

In an even more sneaky move, web users can make the ad go away by posting the illegally parked car to Facebook, increasing the odds that the owner will be alerted by a scolding neighbor or co-worker. It’s this kind of mean-spirited, overly vicious behavior that really gives a cynic like me hope for the human race. You can download Parking Douche from Look At Media in the Google Play Store, but unfortunately it only works in Moscow at the moment. Come on guys, America needs you!

[via Modaco]

Yup, that Thorsten Heins. You know, the one who said that all Android phones look the same (seriously, the guy in charge of making BlackBerrys actually said that) and used some fuzzy math to declare that BlackBerry apps make more money than Android apps. It’s not much of a shock that this guy isn’t willing to play nice with other platforms – and it’s even less of a shock that he’s leading RIM into a laughable market position with just 6.4% smartphone share, down from 44% five years ago. Android’s currently sitting pretty with 59%.

We know that RIM had been working on BBM for multiple platforms, and we’ve seen the prototype app a couple of times. According to the report, RIM had been hiding the application on their developer devices as “SMS 2.0″. Reasoning for the decision was given as a refocus on the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, set to debut next year. Meanwhile, BBM itself seems to be dropping users just as fast as BlackBerry – one user reported that her BBM contact list had dropped from over a hundred contacts to just twenty-six.

[via SlashGear]

The Galaxy S III is its “Metallic Blue” flavor will reportedly land on T-Mobile on June 20th, in both 16GB and 32GB varieties. Notably, this is the same date that’s been seen for the Canadian version on four different carriers. On July 11th the Ceramic White version of the Galaxy S III lands in 16GB (no 32GB version in sight) along with the Galaxy Note, which has only been seen in dark blue on T-Mobile. The MyTouch phones in both their slate and QWERTY versions will land on the same day.

There’s at least some reason to doubt the June 20th date for the Galaxy S III, if only because there will be some unfortunate shortages of the blue version when it begins selling internationally later this month. The information that TmoNews could be slightly out of date – the shortage was only confirmed this morning. In any case, we’re excited at the prospect, and eagerly await some more verifiable information… including prices.

Well played guys, well played. It looks like both the carrier and HTC have teamed up and are shipping out free cases along with the smartphones to thank their customers for being patient and not canceling to opt for another device. Bonus! Then again there isn’t too many good choices from the Now Network, but users could have went for the Galaxy Nexus.

From the picture below, as well as reports by The Verge a nice and sincere letter of apology has been packed inside of the pre-order shipments, and users are getting a neat little case. Hopefully the same is happening at retail stores or those opting to buy from Best Buy, but we’ve heard no such reports. The smartphone being delayed by customs was for the most part out of their hands, but it’s still nice to see them owning up and being cool about it. That is just one more reason to like HTC. Now click here and root that shiny new EVO 4G LTE.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : EVO 4G LTE

Manufactuer : HTC

Carrier : Unknown

Announced Date : April 04, 2012

Release Date : May 18, 2012

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.7 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x720
• Screen Type : SLCD 2

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.31 Inch
• Width : 2.72 Inch
• Depth : .35 Inch
• Weight : 134 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 2000 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : S4

CPU Clock Speed : 1500 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 16GB GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• CDMA

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0
• A2DP

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

Should we call this a Moniblet? Just like Samsung and others are calling the Galaxy Note a Phablet. According to Engadget it seems ViewSonic will be calling this new lineup “smart business tablet monitors,” and will be showing off a wide array of them at Computex this year in Taipei. We are also hearing they’ll have similar offerings with Windows 8 but I’m more excited about Android tablets of course.

I sure hope this 22-inch Android 4.0 ICS tablet has an impressive screen resolution, a massive battery (or a power cord perhaps) as well as a stand because I won’t be holding it for more than 30 seconds at a time. The idea sounds pretty fun although we can basically do this now by using HDMI-Out on current smartphones and tablets. The difference here is the entire panel will be the touchscreen. The show kicks off on June 5th so we might be seeing this massive tablet sooner than we thought.

You should all know plenty about the HTC One S by now but if not here is our full review. This 4.3-inch smartphone rocks T-Mobile’s increasingly fast 4G HSPA+ speeds and a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm S4 processor to keep things smooth, while getting great battery life. Wirefly is offering a $25 dollar off code by entering HTCONES25 at checkout to save a few dollars. Then you can pickup a case with the savings to protect that shiny new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone.

This little promotion for the HTC One S will only be available this week for Memorial Day so if you’ve been debating the purchase and the discount has put you over the edge and helped you decide you better hurry and snatch it up. It isn’t the best deal we’ve ever seen, but for a new phone of this caliber it’s worth a quick mention. Get it today from Wirefly.com

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : One S

Manufactuer : HTC

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : February 26, 2012

Release Date : April 25, 2012

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.3 Inch
• Resolution : 540x960
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.15 Inch
• Width : 2.56 Inch
• Depth : 0.31 Inch
• Weight : 120 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1650 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Snapdragon S4

CPU Clock Speed : 1500 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 16 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

CDMA Band:
• 1700
• 2100

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

[via Android Police]

Earlier this week during the Google Glass Walk in San Francisco tons of pictured were snapped of the augmented reality headset and we have now received are first look (gallery below) at them not being worn. What does this reveal? A power button on the inside of the frame, a micro-USB port for charging and probably flashing new software, as well as a wide array of color options Google already has on the table. From Orange, black, grey, metallic blue, and even different color aluminum frames too. Orange might be a bit too “loud” for me, but then again you are wearing crazy awesome glasses that will get some head turns either way.

Then another Google+ post shows us not only multiple photos taken with the prototype glasses, but some 720p video capture too. Man, if they wanted to tease every nerd with tons of coverage slowly appearing, Google’s doing a fine job of it. Check out the video below and imagine the possibilities with Google Glass.

[via SlashGear]

This latest leak comes as one of HTC’s proprietary ROM Update Utilities, a ROM and installer wrapped up into one Windows EXE file (Mac and Linux users need not apply). Just put your phone into debug mode, plug it into your computer, make sure you’ve got the correct drivers, run the program, and wait. Keep in mind that this will technically void your warranty, but you should be in the clear if you get back on the “official” path when the software OTA becomes available.

We don’t have an EVO 3D to test it on, but it’s a pretty fair bet that the 1.13 update includes the same Sense 3.6 interface that’s been popping up in other, older HTC phones with ICS upgrades. If that’s not good enough, you can try out this One S adapted ROM, or just go out and buy an EVO 4G LTE. You know, now that the ITC says you can.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : EVO 3D

Manufactuer : HTC

Carrier : Unknown

Announced Date : March 22, 2011

Release Date : June 24, 2011

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.30 Inch
• Resolution : 540x960
• Screen Type : S-LCD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.00 Inch
• Width : 2.60 Inch
• Depth : 0.47 Inch
• Weight : 170 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1730 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 355 hours

Software

Android OS:
• 2.3.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• MP3

Video Playback:
• h.263
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Snapdragon

CPU Clock Speed : 1200 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 4.096 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 5 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 720p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• CDMA

CDMA Band:
• 800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

[via Phandroid]

According to multiple sources it appears the blue version of the highly anticipated phone has suffered some manufacturing problems and Samsung had to destroy hundreds of thousands of the blue models outer shell. Multiple comments over on Reddit have confirmed this with different pre-order sites from different countries now starting to confirm delays.

Then again with news from the folks at XDA Developers where they mention Samsung had to toss nearly 600,000 rear casing for the phone and have since modified their production process. Some online retailers have also sent out emails saying Samsung has delayed and stopped all shipments on the blue flavor. This could mean a shortage in general for the Galaxy S III, but hopefully they have enough white models to go around until they can ramp up production again. The Pebble Blue Galaxy S III might become a bit of a collectors item over the next few weeks. So there you have it folks. Were you planning on picking up white or blue come launch day?

We’ve reached out to Samsung and will update when we get a status report on the situation.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy S III

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : May 03, 2012

Release Date : May 29, 2012

Also Known As : The Next Galaxy, SGSIII

Display

• Screen Size : 4.8 Inch
• Resolution : 720x1280
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED HD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.37 Inch
• Width : 2.77 Inch
• Depth : 0.33 Inch
• Weight : 133 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 2100 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Exynos 4 Quad

CPU Clock Speed : 1400 Mhz

Core : 4

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 32 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• A2DP
• Bluetooth 4.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

The entire team won’t be switching, but an anonymous source says that lead designer Matt McNulty and those responsible for “99% of the code” will be jumping ship. And why not – it isn’t like HP is doing much with WebOS at the moment, after halting all hardware production last year and committing the project to the world of open source. You’ll find plenty of WebOS fans still out there (your truly among them) but there’s just not a lot of interest in its continued development.

What will Google do with Enyo? The obvious answer would be set them to work on improving Android, but there are plenty of other places that their particular skill set could be applied. They could be used for Chrome, in its desktop, mobile or separate OS incarnations, or any one of a hundred Google projects that uses HTML5 on the web or on mobile. In any case, it’ll probably be months at the very least before we start seeing the effects of their work, whatever it turns out to be.

The process is about as easy as it gets on Android: just set your phone to USB debugging, install the relevant software drivers and run the batch file provided in the XDA thread. Bingo, you’re ready for unlicensed tethering and overclocking to your heart’s content. So far no serious problems have been reported, and the method works for Windows, Mac and Linux PCs. If you’re on Windows, just make sure to download the correct 32-bit or 64-bit drivers. Interestingly, this is exactly the same method as was used for the ASUS Transformer Prime.

And if you should mess up (and if you’re a regular modder, odds are pretty good that you will eventually) there’s already an RUU available. RUU stands for “ROM Update Utility”, and it’s HTC’s version of Odin or SBF for Samsung and Motorola, respectively. If you should find yourself in a boot loop, just plug your phone into a Windows PC, run the RUU (see the forum for the file) and you’re back to stock.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : EVO 4G LTE

Manufactuer : HTC

Carrier : Unknown

Announced Date : April 04, 2012

Release Date : May 18, 2012

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.7 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x720
• Screen Type : SLCD 2

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.31 Inch
• Width : 2.72 Inch
• Depth : .35 Inch
• Weight : 134 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 2000 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : S4

CPU Clock Speed : 1500 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 16GB GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• CDMA

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0
• A2DP

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

[via XDA Blog]

Hardware

The Sony Xperia U is pretty much identical to the Xperia S, sharing the same design but in a smaller chassis. That hard plastic makes a return, although the back feels soft to the touch and is resistant to fingerprints and smudges. The 3.5-inch screen has a 854×480 resolution, and spec wise you’re looking at a NovaThor U8500 dual-core 1Ghz processor with Mali-400MP GPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, and five megapixel camera with 720p.

Before you get too excited at the mention of a Mali GPU, remember that this is a slower version of what’s found in the Galaxy S II and other phones, so don’t expect anywhere near the performance. The other piece of bad news is that the phone only comes with 4GB of storage, and there’s no microSD card slot. That’s pretty bad, and you’ll run into problems extremely quickly even if you just add music to the phone. The upside is that USB OTG does function properly, so you’re not completely stuck, but having a USB cable dangle off your phone for extra storage is hardly an ideal solution.

The display on the Xperia U is a mixed bag. It’s plenty bright, and the viewing angles are generally decent, but tip the phone past a certain point and you can invert the image being displayed. There are three problems with the screen, though. First, there’s no oleophobic coating. That means you’re going to be looking at a very messy screen very quickly, and it’s hard to clean properly without a dedicated cloth. Second, if you’re particularly sensitive to screen quality then you’ll be able to notice the strange texture and odd colorization of the display on light colored backgrounds. Finally, you can see the digitizer grid just below the screen when shifting the phone against certain colors like yellow and white.

microUSB is found on the left side of the phone, and power, volume rocker, and a dedicated camera key are on the right. The 3.5mm headphone jack and microphone are on top, and another mic is located on the bottom. Speaking of the bottom, the cap can be removed and replaced with different color covers. All we have to say to this is: why? Otherwise you’re looking at the same clear antenna strip that you’ll find on the Xperia P and the Xperia S, which also lights up on certain notifications and alerts. You can change the color the strip using the different Themes that Sony provides in the Android settings.

Software

Just like the P and the S, the Xperia U ships with Gingerbread instead of Android’s latest and great, Ice Cream Sandwich. Sony has promised an update for the handset in the future, but it’s still disheartening to see ICS missing. If you’re familiar with the software modifications that Sony has made to previous Android handsets, then you pretty much know the score with the U as well.

There is a little bit of bloatware bundled with the device – McAfee, OfficeSuite, WisePilot – and a few other included apps like WhatsApp and Astro File Manager. All of them can be uninstalled without any issues, allowing you to claw back some of that precious 4GB. Otherwise, expect to see Sony’s own apps, including Music Unlimited, Video Unlimited, Track ID, Media Remote, and Play Now, which is Sony’s app store. There isn’t anything too exciting on there, with a lot of apps carried across from the Play Store.

The software keyboard looks daunting at first given the small size of the display, but we didn’t have too much trouble with it. Mistakes were few and far between, although the keyboard did lag on occasion with haptic feedback left on. We personally didn’t have any issues despite the horizontal resolution, although those with larger digits may struggle.

Performance and Benchmarks

Sony has managed to achieve quite a feat with the Xperia U, slotting a NovaThor U8500 dual-core 1Ghz processor and a slower Mali-400MP GPU into the device. General performance is good too: flicking around homescreens and through apps is smooth, with very few instances of stutter or lag. Web browsing is good too, with pinch-to-zoom and double tapping resulting in smooth transitions. The phone did have to catch its breath occasionally on heavier webpages, or those with Flash, but overall we’d say it performed admirably.

Benchmarks seem to back that up too. It doesn’t blow the doors off by any means, but it does seem to be beating everything in this price category. Quadrant gave us a result of 2204, SunSpider 0.9.1 achieved 2526ms, AnTuTu returned 5359, and NeNaMark 2 scored 29.2fps.

Camera

The five megapixel on the Xperia U is decidedly middle of the road. It can take some nice photos in the right circumstances, with good colors and detail, but noise reduction seems to be ever present in photos. In good lighting conditions, it’s not too much of an issue, with only occasional splotches as minor noise is dealt with. In poorer conditions, however, the noise reduction ramp up, smearing images and taking detail out along with the noise. Otherwise, we didn’t have any major complaints. It’s a competent shooter, just don’t expect miracles.

Taking photos is a bit tricker. The two-stage dedicated camera key on the side of the phone seems awkward to use, with the first press being a little too light, and too much effort needed to press the button all the way down to take the photo. Tap-to-focus is missing in the camera app too, so if you want to focus and meter the shot before you take one you’ll have to hold down either the on-screen camera key or task a risk with the physical button.

The 720p video recording, however, is horrendous. The H.264 Baseline L3.1 clips have an average bitrate of around 6Mbit/s, but you wouldn’t know it. Clips are filled with compressions artifacts, with textures obliterated and scenery swimming in macroblocks. Sharpening creates awful halos around the edges of objects, and the jelly effect is in full force, so any quick panning or fast moving vehicles will result in distortion.

Battery

The 1,290mAh battery sounds small, but its definitely a champ when it comes ot performance. A video battery rundown test took a 720p H.264 High Profile L3.1 with AAC video and played it on loop with screen brightness set to 100%, and headphone volume set to 50%. After 4 hours and 37 minutes, the phone automatically shut down.

In typical usage, the Xperia U can easily get through a full day, and if you’re a light user, you’d be able to push two without any issues. Our usage is admittedly light, with only one push email account, some WhatsApp/texting, and occasional browsing, but even heavier users won’t have any problems getting through a full working day.

Wrap-Up

The Xperia U sounds like a very average device: it doesn’t do anything particularly well, but it’s not a bad phone at the same time. What makes the phone interesting is the price point that Sony is hitting. Three UK offer the phone for £180, which brings it in cheaper than the HTC One V while offering a slightly higher screen resolution and faster processor. There really aren’t any phones around that price point that have a dual-core processor either.

Having said all that, there are some niggling issues that will irritate some users. The display is the big one, and while I imagine most people will be perfectly content with the screen, others will be frustrated once they notice the panel funk and digitizer grid. Kudos to Sony for blessing the phone with a sensible 854×480 resolution when so many other phones in this bracket don’t even match that, but otherwise the HTC One V’s display is much, much better.

If you’re on a tight budget but want the best performance your money can buy, the Sony Xperia U is a safe choice. Users need to be wary about the lack of storage space, however, as 4GB will disappear very quickly, and if you can stretch your budget just a little bit more, the HTC One V has more going for it despite the single-core processor.

Here’s Sony’s official statement:

In regards to Xperia PLAY, after extensive in house testing with our developer teams and working with our partners, we have concluded that a consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed for this smartphone on Ice Cream Sandwich – therefore, we will not make the Android 4.0 upgrade available for Xperia PLAY.

This decision was also verified when we received similar feedback from the developer community; both experienced developers and advanced users, along with game content providers following our ICS beta ROM for unlocked Xperia PLAY smartphones.

Sony reached the decision after carefully monitoring feedback from the Beta Android 4.0 ROM that they made freely available to developers and other root users. Their claim of issues is backed up by independent reports. The combination of the Xperia PLAY‘s rather unique input hardware and Ice Cream Sandwich seems to cause some serious issues with games that don’t present a challenge for the more stable Gingerbread build.

Sony reaffirmed its commitment to bring Ice Cream Sandwich to the other members of the 2011 Xperia line. Those of you who aren’t satisfied can still try the beta ROM, or opt for one of the Ice Cream Sandwich builds floating around the mod community, many of which are based on Android Open Source Project code. So, Sony, when are we getting an Xperia PLAY 2, huh?

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : XPERIA Play

Manufactuer : Sony

Carrier : Verizon

Announced Date : February 13, 2011

Release Date : April 01, 2011

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.00 Inch
• Resolution : 480x854
• Screen Type : TFT

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 4.69 Inch
• Width : 2.44 Inch
• Depth : 0.63 Inch
• Weight : 175 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1500 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : 425 hours

Software

Android OS:
• 2.3.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• MP3

Video Playback:
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Snapdragon

CPU Clock Speed : 1000 Mhz

Core : 1

Ram : 512 MB

Internal Storage : .4 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 5 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 720p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 2.0

Location Features:
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

We gave the Transformer Pad TF300 a pretty glowing review, and why not: it combines all the charms of the Tegra 3-powered Transformer Prime with a lower price, while simultaneously doing away with the latter’s reception issues. Speaking of the Tegra 3, we’re not sure what processor the unit at the FCC is running. A week ago we’d have assumed it was using a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, but with Nvidia’s new Icera 410 radio, AT&T’s LTE network no longer presents a technical barrier for the Tegra 3.

ASUS has announced its intention to release 3G and LTE tablets in Asia and Europe (not the least of which is the drool-inducing Padfone) but has so far remained mum on the Americas. Even without an official statement, the FCC filing gets us excited, and more so than the usual fare – including AT&T’s LTE bands indicates that this device is more targeted than the generally unlocked phones and tablets that go through the commission. Here’s hoping we see some quad-core, LTE, Ice Cream Sandwich tablet action in the States soon.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Transformer Pad 300

Manufactuer : Asus

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : February 27, 2012

Release Date : April 22, 2012

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 10.1 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x800
• Screen Type : IPS LCD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 10.35 Inch
• Width : 7.12 Inch
• Depth : 0.39 Inch
• Weight : 635 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Polymer

• Battery Capacity : mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• MID
• MP3
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Tegra 3

CPU Clock Speed : 1400 Mhz

Core : 4

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 16 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

[via Talk Android]

There’s nothing too surprising here – the final international hardware seems to be identical to the phone revealed in early May at Samsung’s London event. For a more exhaustive look, sans the retail gleam, check out our own hands-on post. There’s nothing extra in the photos below (except a bad habit or two) but this is what the Galaxy S III will look like when it hits Europe next week.

In setting up his new phone, the submitter notes that as promised, users get an eye-popping amount of free storage on Dropbox: 48GB on top of the standard 2GB for free users. You’re prompted to enter your Dropbox account or set up a new one during the first-time boot, just so you don’t miss it. We haven’t seen any indication that this feature is region-restricted.

The Galaxy S III is scheduled to hit European retailers on May 29th, and the UK the day after. American dates haven’t been announced, but a leaked ad shows the superphone hitting four Canadian carriers on June 20th. The Galaxy S III is the machine to beat at the moment, with a 4.8-inch 720p Super AMOLED screen, quad-core Exynos processor (international), a full gig of RAM, 8 megapixel camera, and Samsung’s expanded TouchWiz running on top of Android 4.0.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy S III

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : May 03, 2012

Release Date : May 29, 2012

Also Known As : The Next Galaxy, SGSIII

Display

• Screen Size : 4.8 Inch
• Resolution : 720x1280
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED HD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.37 Inch
• Width : 2.77 Inch
• Depth : 0.33 Inch
• Weight : 133 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 2100 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Exynos 4 Quad

CPU Clock Speed : 1400 Mhz

Core : 4

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 32 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• A2DP
• Bluetooth 4.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

This is a long way from an official confirmation, but it’s certainly promising. Samsung has said that it intends to  bring its new flagship to the Americas sometime this summer, and that certainly fits, along with the fact that the Galaxy S family has proven popular with just about every major carrier in both countries. We can but hope that Canucks can get their Galaxy S III on in less than a month.

The better question is which version of the phone will make it to which carriers. We know that because of the hardware limitations of Samsung’s Exynos 4 Quad, Verizon’s model (and probably AT&T’s as well) will go with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, just as the HTC One X has, in order to operate on LTE networks. Rogers, Bell and Telus all use LTE on limited markets, but Virgin Mobile doesn’t.

The Galaxy S III is set to launch on May 29th in Europe, and the day after in the UK. A few units of the international version are already leaking out in Dubai. There’s still no confirmation of when it will launch in the US, though versions for all four major carriers have been indicated.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Galaxy S III

Manufactuer : Samsung

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : May 03, 2012

Release Date : May 29, 2012

Also Known As : The Next Galaxy, SGSIII

Display

• Screen Size : 4.8 Inch
• Resolution : 720x1280
• Screen Type : Super AMOLED HD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.37 Inch
• Width : 2.77 Inch
• Depth : 0.33 Inch
• Weight : 133 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 2100 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Exynos 4 Quad

CPU Clock Speed : 1400 Mhz

Core : 4

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 32 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• Flash
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light
• Proximity

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• A2DP
• Bluetooth 4.0

Location Features:
• Compass
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :

[via Engadget]

To celebrate , all their premium paid themes for both CyanogenMod 7 (Gingerbread) and CyanogenMod 9 (Ice Cream Sandwich) are one-third off in the Google Play Store. You can see all their products here. (Not all are CyanogenMod themes.) Keep in mind that CyanogenMod isn’t the only ROM that accepts compatible themes – many custom ROM builders, including the AOKP team and various other with modded and “deodexed” builds, use the same standard.

Team Carbon’s themes aren’t just palette swaps – they bring a new look to the entire interface, from the widgets to the dialer to the individual app icons. But unlike manufacturer skins like TouchWiz and Sense, there’s no significant hit to performance, since the themes simple replace system files without adding any new software. Of course, not all themes are compatible with all ROMs, especially those that stray from the official CyanogenMod source. Be sure to try out your theme during the Play Store’s 15-minute return window.

[via AndroidSpin]

The source goes on to say that it is indeed a 7-inch tablet, lending even more credence to the idea that it’s a copied or reworked version of the $250 MeMO 370T. ASUS’ Tegra 3-powered budget machine has been conspicuously absent since its announcement earlier this year, and NVIDIA recently showed off plans to bring quad-core tablets (with a definite ASUS teaser image) to market at a price of $200.

What’s more interesting at this point is what software it’ll be running. The source was unclear on whether or not the “Nexus Tablet” would be running Jelly Bean, if in fact that is the next version of Android. Google will certainly have some new software to show off at Google I/O, but whether or not it’s ready for prime time is yet to be determined. An incremental update, say Android 4.1 or 4.5, seems more likely.

As always with news from unverified sources, treat this rumor as just that: rumor. We haven’t heard anything about a Nexus Tablet from a source that we’d consider 100% dependable yet. That said, we’re certainly hoping to see something in San Francisco in two months’ time, and hear about Google’s potential plans for expanding the Nexus program to as many as five manufacturers.

Along with NVIDIA and us here at Android Community, this same giveaway is also being celebrated by our sister site SlashGear. Celebrating an entire year of awesomeness from NVIDIA and their TegraZone.com full of impressive Android games. The full instructions and details will be link to below but for now here’s how to enter from NVIDIA, as well as us. you’ll want to hit the NVIDIA players choice awards voting site, or scan the QR code below to get started.

Then for our side of things it is really simple, you’ll just have to follow the instructions below:

Circle us on Google+ at: +Android Community
- Leave a comment in [this G+ thread] telling us why you think you should win, what your favorite Tegra game is, or what game you’ll play when you win.
Winners will be selected like so: we’ll pick a set of our favorites and put them in a hat to pick at random. We’ll select one a week for 3 weeks.

The NVIDIA TegraZone Anniversary Tegra Pack we’re pushing out to you courtesy of ASUS and NVIDIA consists of no less than an ASUS Transformer Pad TF300, a TF300 keyboard dock, a wireless Logitech game controller, and a Jawbone Jambox Speaker in slimy awesome NVIDIA green. Then when you win you’ll be all set for hours upon hours of Tegra 3 gaming.

For complete details and all the legalities of the giveaway feel free to read over them in our original giveaway post. Then you’ll want to read up on all things Transformer Pad TF300 and NVIDIA from our timeline of news below. Good luck guys!

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Transformer Pad 300

Manufactuer : Asus

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : February 27, 2012

Release Date : April 22, 2012

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 10.1 Inch
• Resolution : 1280x800
• Screen Type : IPS LCD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 10.35 Inch
• Width : 7.12 Inch
• Depth : 0.39 Inch
• Weight : 635 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Polymer

• Battery Capacity : mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• MID
• MP3
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• MPEG-4 (MP4)

Messaging:
• SMS
• MMS

Hardware

CPU : Tegra 3

CPU Clock Speed : 1400 Mhz

Core : 4

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 16 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

External Storage:
• MicroSD
• MicroSDHC

Camera Features:
• Auto focus
• 1080p Video Recording

Sensors:
• Accelerometer
• Ambient light

QWERTY :

Cellular Network

Network Technology:
• GSM

GSM Band:
• 850
• 900
• 1800
• 1900

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0

Location Features:
• GPS
• Cellular location
• Wi-Fi location

FM Radio :

NFC :