The image above is of the Blackberry 10 Dev Alpha Device from what we are hearing, and basically looks like a smaller Playbook shaped more like a phone. Hey, at least the OS appears to finally be ready for 2010… err I meant 2012. While we don’t get a good look at the OS in general RIM did show off a few neat things like that impressive keyboard. That is about the only thing that caught my eye other than the tidbits of Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich colors and menu buttons.

Pretty neat? Or too little too late? I must admit that keyboard predictive text is pretty innovative and looks amazing. I want it already. I wonder how long it’ll take for that to appear in the Google Play Store — I’m giving it 2-3 weeks tops. Anyways check out all of the Blackberry 10 coverage from the SlashGear link provided above, or from the video, then let us know what you think.

Will Blackberry 10 compete with Android or iOS? Is it too late for RIM? Should they do what Nokia should have done and just jump to Android? Lets hear it all in the comments below!

The reports are coming out of VG 24/7 although we are hearing some high-level Android developers were tweeting with Nintendo folks recently and that has stirred up the rumors too. This seems far-fetched to say the least but if those tweets ever make it to the public eye we could be in for a treat.

Whether the Wii U would be completely based off of Android, or just have some parts integrated into the device is unknown. We could see Nintendo take the same approach that RIM has done with their Playbook and try to get Android apps and games working on the game console, but that is pure speculation. Nintendo hasn’t been much of a supporter of Android, iOS, or mobile gaming at all other than their own products, so I’m taking this with a huge grain of salt. Other non-Android rumors mention a dashboard similar to Xbox and PS3 with multiple options like NetFlix, YouTube and the rest of the goods. Then some rumors about an impressive version of Metroid will be released too, but we’ll leave that to the non Android sites.

Thoughts? Would the Wii U running on Android interest you? Or would you buy it if Nintendo offered Google Play Store support for Android apps and games?

Australians rejoice, for you’ll be able to buy as many Samsung products as you want – and just in time for the holidays too. Hopefully, Samsung lawyers can cook up some more magic in the case against blocked tablet sales in Germany. Either way, hard-core Android followers will surely get there hands on one – even if they’re required to hop a train towards nearby France to pick it up.

It’s hard to even think of the iPad and Galaxy Tab lines as similar. With so many divergent characteristics in the actual OS, you would have thought to even consider banning one would require never turning on the device. The iPad has a completely icon-dependant homescreen where the Galaxy Tab 10.1 layout is showered with many different widgets. Both sport completely different lockscreens – the differences are practically endless. It seems Apple wants to make sure its competitors refrain from designing anything that comes close to their tablet’s dimensions – well that’s just not going to happen. I’ve got a nice block of wood about the size of an iPad, maybe they’ll come for me too.

[via Phandroid]

While we heard some pretty compelling information earlier this month based on some hands-on time with the secret device, nothing else is really fully known at this point. This Wednesday, September 28th right in NYC at 10 AM the world will know. Sadly this invite like mentioned above is pretty plain and only lets our minds wander.

We’ve been seeing rumors about an Amazon tablet for a while, just like these claims of Foxconn being the manufacturer. Hopefully all the details and more come from this event next week. This may be just a new Kindle or e-reader but we have a feeling Amazon will be talking about and announcing much more than just a e-reader. All the speculation will be over soon so be sure and stay tuned right here at Android Community for all the details.

The marketing head of Isis, Jaymee Johnson, believes that the broad spectrum of compatibility for the payment system will give it the competitive edge over Google Wallet. Isis is backed by Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile, as well as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have spent a total of approximately $100 million to support the system. This in response, no doubt, to Google’s choice of one carrier to debut Google Wallet.

While Isis does have the partnerships in place to size up to its strongest competitor, there are a couple of snags that might hold the service back. First of all, Isis has yet to announce a release date more specific than early 2012. Additionally, in the minimum four-month gap between the launch of Google Wallet and Isis, other credit card companies have been added to Google’s service. Though we have yet to see if the other carriers will follow suit, Google’s heavy influence is sure to play a part in their decisions.

[via FierceMobileContent]

Apart from the inclusion of LTE, the device’s specs are a little low key compared to the other Android powerhouses on the market, but seem sizable to MetroPCS’ existing lineup. The LG Esteem features a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, with 512MB of RAM and 8GB of on-board storage. The LCD display is 4.3 inches with a 720p enabled, 5 megapixel camera on the back. The device also features a front facing 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat as well.

MetroPCS had also recently announced that they would be developing 3G service over their existing EV-DO network. The company made bold moves by initially skipping over developing a 3G network in support of quickly building its LTE network. For reasons that they haven’t specified quite yet, MetroPCS had recently announced that they would be upgrading approximately 30% of its EV-DO towers for Rev. A support.

[via AndroidCentral]

Judge William Alsup, the judge who will preside over the case, had initially suggested that the two companies attempt to produce a mediation before bringing the case before a jury. At the time of that statement, both sides appeared willing to negotiate an agreement outside of court. Unfortunately, Oracle’s court filing suggests that the two groups could not come to terms on the infringement.

Additionally, Oracle cites that the initial claim by Google that Oracle sought damages of approximately $2 billion dollars were incorrect. However, Oracle’s initial damage estimate in the case came in at around $6 billion. The revised estimate is a result of Judge Alsup’s rejection of the initial six billion dollar claim, and Oracle has since reevaluated its claim.

The trial date has been set for October 31st.

[via Reuters]

Speaking for a conference today AT&T CFO John Stephens revealed that his carrier will finally be flipping the switch on its LTE network this Sunday, September 18th, coming to five markets. They include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston as well as plans to add an aditional 10 markets before the end of 2011. While this is a good start Verizon has been adding 15-25 new markets almost every 3 weeks as of late and are making a huge leap ahead in this race.

With AT&T 4G Hotspots and USB sticks being available since August, AT&T plans for this launch to breath some fresh air into their network and boost sales. With the HTC Jetstream finally here, the HTC Holiday coming soon with 4G LTE as the HTC Raider, and possibly another Galaxy S II coming later this year with 4G LTE they have a pretty solid starting offensive line. With Verizon just releasing the DROID Bionic we sure hope AT&T plans to release something similar here very soon, they need to.

More details should be surfacing regarding their 4G LTE roll-out as well as upcoming phones and tablets so stay tuned.

[via PhoneDog]

This isn’t the first time we have seen or heard of hardware running on Intel processors aboard Android but this is a sign that things are surely moving along. This shows us that Intel and Google have been working together to bring Intel mobile processors and more to the world of Android.

Both Intel and Google plan to develop and improve their offerings and support for each other and this only proves that Android is and will continue to grow. The best news so far, is that all future versions of Android will have full support for Intel’s low-power portable and mobile processors and will even be “optimized” for Intel. The only thing I don’t like about the Medfield-based phone shown on stage and pictured above is how closely it resembles an i*hone 4. We will stay up on all things Intel and report it as we see and hear it.

[via Engadget]

Over at ft.com they even went as far as to say “Samsung needs to hit the reset button.” With the Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned in Europe, Netherlands, parts of Australia and possibly more areas things are getting a bit dire for Samsung. Next on Apple’s sights is the U.S. market and they aim to seek injunctions against the entire Galaxy S and Tab arsenal from Samsung. If things were ugly before, they are only going to get worse.

Samsung is primarily a hardware manufacturer and they are great at it, but as far as software goes, they are a bit lacking. This is what many consider their weakest link and something that may ultimately cost them down the road. Getting software out isn’t nearly as easy for the company as the hardware aspect of things and small acquisitions like Steve Kondik wont help them in the long run.

According to rumors, Google’s recent move into the hardware side of things when they acquired Motorola Mobility seriously raises both the stakes and the concerns for Samsung, and they can no longer expect to reply on Android throughout the future. Recent reports out of South Korea suggest that Samsung had been dismissive of the government’s idea or suggestions of building a homegrown operating system – until the Google Motorola acquisition.

Is Samsung in a difficult position and need to rethink their strategy and plans for the future, or will Android remain open and fair following the Motorola deal? A potential purchase of their own OS to slim down their dependance on Android could be in Samsung’s future and may even be a top priority for Samsung but none of this has been remotely confirmed. Do you guys think the Google-Motorola acquisition will cause issues in the future for other manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, and LG or is this all just speculation?

[via ft.com]

We heard rumors last year regarding a similar situation where there was mention of their own OS but that was about it. Now, HTC chairwoman Cher Wang has said a few comments regarding this again according to Focus Taiwan.

We have given it thought and we have discussed it internally, but we will not do it on impulse.”

Obviously with such huge potential and an ever growing mobile market they are probably open to some sort of purchase. We have heard rumors regarding HP’s Web OS and those are starting to appear more and more recently now that HP has canceled that little project. We have heard reports that HP has no plans to sell Web OS but you never know what the future holds.

HTC has a unique position because they can potentially use any OS they want as they’ve developed and improved their highly popular Sense UI into many different platforms such as Windows Mobile, Android, and now Honeycomb too. HTC’s Sense is a very complex and thought out user interface with many integrations that make it able to stand on its own. With cloud gaming, streaming media with HTC Live, HTC Watch and Onlive they have more to offer than most. Whether they’d leave their current cash crop, Android behind is another story and something I doubt we’ll see for a while if ever.

While HTC doesn’t have a single OS of their own to focus on, their Sense UI is as close to one as any user interface will ever be and have plenty of work regarding that and Android. As long as HTC’s amazing build quality and innovation keeps up with Android I see nothing but good things ahead and I’m sure they do too.

[via SlashGear]

Yi will consist of Android but be stripped of anything Google and replaced with Baidu and have a beautiful user interface over the top, looking a bit like iOS and MIUI combined for a nice pretty UI. Dell sees this as an opportunity and is already planning a large hardware partnership with Baidu to launch their own smartphones and tablets running on the new “Yi” OS. Some being branded by Dell, and other by Baidu they expect this to greatly improve their mobile business.

Some analysts stated this is just Dell grasping at anything to help their ailing mobile business not to mention China still has a huge fan base of Apple products that dominate the market. While seeing 3rd party or custom “operating systems” running off of Android is nothing new, I do like to see what others come up with and how they will implement everything. Did you guys see the Google Android running Yahoo! Phone? This is what comes to mind although something tells me Baidu has a much better chance than Yahoo does.

More as this story develops.

[via SlashGear]

In case anyone isn’t following the TouchPad Android progress there is also a video clearly showing the HP TouchPad running on Android 2.2.1 FroYo and I’ll post that below. It appears to be a QuIC (Qualcomm Innovation Center) developer unit that somehow managed to get boxed up and sold at Best Buy. Lucky for the entire android world the user was nice enough to get a full system dump of all the files to help out.

Now exclusively over at RootzWiki the files are available for download and the port of Android 2.2, 2.3, and hopefully 3.2 Honeycomb can all get a little head start. We mentioned more on this here once before but the port will be called TouchDroid and the amount of support and developers keeps growing by the day. I have a feeling we will be seeing Android on the HP TouchPad sooner rather than later.

[via Android Police]

The ViewPad 10 Pro is powered by an 1.5GHz Intel Atom processor Z670 (single core), 2GB of RAM, 16GB and 32GB flavors will be available (SSD Hard Drive) all on a 10.1″ 1024×600 resolution display. It will also feature a 1.3 MP front facing camera and a micro SD slot for expanded storage options. While the specs do look quite impressive the slightly lower screen resolution and single core CPU might be the weakest links here in a market flooded with top performing dual-core NVIDIA Android Honeycomb tablets.

The ViewPad 10 Pro will be available with both Windows 7 Professional, and Home Premium. The 32GB ViewPad will be offered with Windows 7 Professional and run an EST $699 while the 16GB flavor will operate under Win 7 Home Premium and will cost slightly less at $599. As a reminder android runs in a virtual environment over Windows 7 on the tablet and will be launched via a single click of the Android OS App but performance should still be plenty fast and stable.

This isn’t the first dual-boot tablet from ViewSonic but it’s nice to see a more updated Android build running here instead of 1.6 like before. More details are available at the full Press Release.

This is a different approach that is for sure. This shows us the myTouch 3G Slide is getting 2.2 Froyo but in retail stores only, no OTA. The myTouch 4G is getting Android 2.3 Gingerbread even though it has already started rolling out last week. You can update it yourself or head into a store to use this new SD card method. The T-Mobile G2 is also on the list getting the same treatment.

The G2 Gingerbread build was leaked last week too, here is the details. While I like the idea of this I can’t help but wonder who all is doing the upgrades and if they’ve been properly trained. Otherwise that really nice young brunette could accidentally flash the wrong SD card and brick your new myTouch 4G instead of adding Gingerbread.

I guess this is for those so smartphone challenged (like my parents) that can’t hit the simple “OK” button when the OTA update arrives front and center on their screen. I guess it is better to have the option than nothing at all right?

[via TmoNews]

This first chart takes us back to January, 2008 and shows the trend for smartphones based on OS preference going forward and future purchases. Back then it shows RIM being in a pretty sweet spot but it is all downhill from there. Take note around September 2009 when Android takes a huge jump and has since stayed at that level. It appears Android is slowly becoming the preferred mobile OS but it’s still a tight race with Apple. Adding in the latest survey reports as of June, 2011. Users planning to buy a smartphone favor Apple currently sitting at 46% with Android at 32% although from looking at the chart things are always changing.

While Apple has stayed at similar levels throughout those few years you can clearly see when Android made its huge jump is really where Blackberry and RIM started to really dive. Interesting results to say the least. Next up they have a few numbers regarding satisfaction with the OS. This is an area where Android could potentially do extremely well in my opinion, but with so many different phones and custom user interfaces the platform and experience as a whole probably effects the numbers and poll results. One of Androids biggest upsides is also a downside because you get great products and tons of options, but there is also those low quality phones that never get updated we all just forget about.

This suggests that when users were asked if they are satisfied with their mobile OS around 70% of iOS users responded saying “very satisfied” compared to just half (50%) of Android users. This could be in part to what I mentioned above with all the different options and user interfaces overlays and what not, but still the numbers reflect an overall positive sign for Android. They do however mention Windows Phone 7 has a much more satisfactory rating compared to the old Windows Mobile, and again RIM is in last.

The rest of the survey talks mainly about Apple and iOS as well as the Rim/Blackberry situation so I wont go into all of that with much detail. I do like reading these sorts of surveys and polls especially when they go back as far as 2008 so we can get a clear picture like the first chat shown. With Google having great numbers in recent revenue reports, and with over 550,000 new Android phones being activated daily these numbers are sure to continue to rise. What do you guys think of these surveys? Are they even worth the read for average users? I like to see the changes and increases but then I’m an android junkie so I don’t really count.

Our thoughts might be biased here at Android Community, as well as our readers but how do you guys feel. Are more than 50% of us satisfied with our android experience? I know I am. Feel free to comment below with any thoughts you may have as we love to read them all.

[via ChangeWave Research]

There could be a few possibly answers here, not only is Android selling over 300,000 smartphones a day but they have larger screens than most the competition, mainly the iPhone and some are now reaching 4.5″ in size. We all love our NFL Mobile on Verizon or our Netflix and those could all be a few explanations.

Recently Nielsen said in a data usage report that on average Android users used 582MB per month in Q1 2011 opposed to 492MB per month by iPhone users. Windows Phone 7 for its short time on the market looks to be using a fair amount as well. When it comes down to it we all love our phones, they are capable of sooo many different things we might as well use them to their full potential right — I mean isn’t that why we pay for unlimited data? I know some of this might be thanks to the Android rooting and tethering community but that is only a small percentage. I know I am way over that 500MB a month mark personally, but that is just me and I don’t tether, I blame Twitter. While I’m on the twitter topic feel free to follow us at @androids for all the latest news.

[via VentureBeat]

Asked to comment, Motorola did not deny the existence of the project but re-affirmed its interest in Android. “Motorola Mobility is committed to Android as an operating system,” a company spokesperson said via email.

Now, the fact that Motorola is hiring people from Apple and Adobe is interesting. It’s really easy to see some strange Frankenstein-esque OS that’s as elegant as the iPhone but can freakishly and natively play Flash. And it’s easy to see how there are so many different Android products in the market that it becomes really different to tell one from the other in terms of performance. But creating a new OS to go up against two very seasoned platforms with vast app catalogs is extremely risky. Particularly when Motorola has been doing quite well with products like the Droid and Xoom thanks to the Android Platform.

Motorola may also be thinking of the next generation OS, years down the road when everything is linked to cloud. Sure, that could be. And with Google’s CR46 project, HPs webOS, it seems that everyone has their heads in the clouds. So why not Motorola as well? But seriously, we don’t think Motorola is going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Not by a long shot.

[via Information Week]

The idea of the info is to offer devs an idea of how many devices their apps will be compatible with. The data in the first chart was collected over two weeks ending on March 15. According to the info the most common version of Android right now is 2.2 with 61.3% of devices on the market running 2.2. The next most common is 2.1 with 29% of devices using that version.

Android 1.5 has 3%, 1.6 has 4.8%, 2.3 has 0.7%, and 2.3.3 has 1% of the market. The least common Android flavor today is Android 3.0 at a mere 0.2% of the market. A second chart offers similar version details in a historical distribution chart with stacked line graphs. Its details range from September 2010 to March 2011.

These toys are the only ones currently working under an official license with Google, and are at the moment all designed by designer/artist Andrew Bell. These fancy little toys are distributed by BIC and are co-designed and sold at DYZPlastic, a division of Dead Zebra, Inc..

What is it?

Now that we’ve got all that stuff out of the way – what is this thing? Why would you post such a thing, Android Community, that’s a toy, not a phone or a tablet or anything in it that can run Android’s OS. What’s the deal? The deal is that this little fellow right here is a sign that Android is taking a different route off the road that all the other big names in OS design are walking on. This one goes straight into the heart of the hipster culture, the culture that’s currently got their pants chains hooked onto Apple because they love the hipness.

This little guy (and his compatriots) work on basically the same level that the gigantic statues in front of the Android building do – there for fun, there for awesomeness. But they’re not half badly made. In fact they and this little toy are made to some very high standards. When you fan out to other products that have basically nothing to do with your main product, a toy from a mobile device operating system, you’ve got to make sure you do well, because it could make you look terrible!

Is it Awesome?

It’s totally awesome, and it’s completely nicely made. Not only is the actual character (with more than 4 points of articulation) well designed, molded, cut, and painted, the box he comes in is high quality too! Bright colors all around, and an extra layer of gloss ink to give it that extra special touch. Take a peek at the unboxing of this delightful little thing right here:

Where Does it Come From?

It comes from the internet. Generally you can purchase one of these characters for around $10, or $7.50 if you just want the standard green and white, and they’ll be right over at http://shop.deadzebra.com/ – but this Chinese New Year Android is very special, and is therefor hard to come by!

Why is He so Special?

This man right here, Cai Shen Dao, the god of wealth, is an Asia exclusive! DYZ Plastic has worked with their Asia distributor to create this special edition Chinese New Year version of Android to celebrate the Chinese New Year – imagine that! Luckily, there was very recently a super secret sale of 200 of the dude for sale by lottery in the Americas and in Europe. The rest are going to be for sale soon in China, Singapore, and Taiwan, and are being given out to employees of Google, Inc. in Beijing!

Take a peek at the stores he’ll be at:

Taiwan:
http://www.androidfanstore.tw

China:
http://www.hypepulse.com

Singapore:
Ozzo Collection

Wrap-Up

Good luck grabbing this particular one (Cai Shen Dao is currently listed for $60-$140 on ebay and has sold for $70,) but check the rest out! The groups responsible for making these little fellows are showing no signs of stopping anytime soon, and as you’ve just learned, they can increase in value even before they’re sold in stores. Neato!