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 :

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]

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 :

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.

Just like all of HTC’s recent phones you can go to HTCDev and unlock it with a few simple steps. Sadly AT&T chose not to allow that process on their version of the One X (International version is fine.) I’m sure you’re all well aware of this. It looks like all you need is a little command line skills and you can easily change it so HTC’s unlock tool identifies it as a Rogers model, and you’ll be unlocked in no time. Well played AT&T, well played.

Here’s how:
– Root device
– Dump MISC partition
– Edit CID in dump to change from AT&T to Rogers
– Flash patched MISC partition
– Use official HTCdev unlock tool

The instructions are actually a bit harder than that, our friends from MoDaCo simplified them with the outline above. The actual process is a bit more difficult and involved than those simple instructions look, but if you’ve done any command line tweaking or developing in the past it should be fairly straightforward.

For more detailed instructions as well as all the support you might need if you’re worried about taking on this task head to the XDA via link at the bottom of the page. As a friendly reminder you’ll need to be rooted for this to work. If you flashed the leak this morning that as of now can’t be rooted, you’re out of luck.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : One X [AT&T]

Manufactuer : HTC

Carrier : AT&T

Announced Date : February 26, 2012

Release Date : TBA

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.7 Inch
• Resolution : 720x1280
• Screen Type : S-LCD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.31 Inch
• Width : 2.75 Inch
• Depth : 0.36 Inch
• Weight : 131 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1800 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 : S4

CPU Clock Speed : 1500 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1000 MB

Internal Storage : 16 GB

Front Facing Camera :

Camera Resolution : 8 MP

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:
• 850
• 1900
• 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 XDA]

In 2011, NVIDIA and their partners released 15 dual-core Tegra 2 smartphones and had pretty good success as they attacked the marketplace. In 2012 they will be taking a much larger approach with the Tegra 3. With the HTC One X available now, and the LG Optimus 4X HD coming this month Mike teased us with an awesome comment, “We have 28 more Tegra 3 quad-core smartphones coming in 2012.” And that is just smartphones, we can expect multiple tablets too.

This shows NVIDIA’s commitment not only to Android, but to smartphones. They’ve been largely focused on tablets but this year that will change. With NVIDIA KAI, their $199 quad-core reference design we can expect cheap, powerful phones and tablets all year long. Of those 28 Tegra 3 phones on the way, 18 will be headed to China, and all 18 will be under $300. That leaves 10 NVIDIA Tegra 3 powered smartphones and hopefully multiple will hit the US soon. While we listen in on Analyst Day 2012 we’ll be sure and keep you up to date with any and all details. Stay tuned!

According to Android Police multiple customers have already received their new HTC EVO’s today and are enjoying those 3G speeds until 4G LTE arrives from the Now Network. Early reports suggested Best buy would start shipping to pre-order customers yesterday, so these could just be a lucky few that opted for overnight shipping.

It looks like a bunch of threads appearing on XDA have confirmed the phone arriving early for users in multiple locations from Ohio to New York. If you ordered the HTC EVO 4G LTE with overnight delivery you might have a little treat waiting on the doorstep this afternoon. If you’re still debating the purchase you’ll want to check out our full EVO 4G LTE Review for additional details of the new smartphone.

Did your EVO arrive today? Let us know in the comments below.

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 :

The new and improved user interface known as TouchWiz for the Galaxy S III has been ported to the Samsung Galaxy S II, as well as the Galaxy Note for those that would like to take it for a spin. Well the launcher has at least. Yes it was fast and stable on the SGSIII’s quad-core, but it runs great on older phones too.

For now this will only work on Samsung based ROM’s so CM9, AOKP, and others won’t work with this just yet. For more info you’ll want to head to XDA and get the skinny on all the details. If you have the Galaxy S II you’ll want to head to this thread. Or Galaxy Note users can get the latest TouchWix now that it’s been added to this ROM at XDA. It might not be the full on real thing, but it’s pretty close and appears to run quite great from the comments we’ve read.

As always be sure and flash these at your own risk. Let us know how it goes and enjoy that early taste of the Galaxy S III goodness.

[via PocketDroid]

This opens an entirely new window for both the developers, and the consumer. I could really see this being useful with multiplayer games like NOVA 3, or MMO’s but this also will come in handy with TV, Magazine subscriptions and many other instances. Just think if Gameloft offered us $4.99 a month subscription access to every single game from them on Android, I’d probably do that occasionally.

This isn’t just for magazines and games either. Developers can also use in-app subscriptions to sell access to bundled products, game levels, music and video content, value-added services, and tons of other digital content or services. Developers can get started today by checking out the In-App Billing Documentation and implement these subscriptions right now. This is a pretty large change that should bring some neat options to the Android community, so long as developers don’t go too crazy with subscription pricing. Hit the via below for more details.

[via Android Developers Blog]

Grand Theft Auto III for Android actually is quite awesome. It runs on most newer dual-core phones, supports Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and even plays nice with all the Tegra 2 and quad-core Tegra 3 tablets available. The graphics are stellar and just to confirm that check out my GTAIII hands-on.

Until today GTA III for Android has been $4.99 in the Play Store but for Memorial Day they’ve lowered it to just a dollar. You’ll want to grab this game and enjoy it all weekend long. Running from police as I’ve done in the photo above (or to them). If Grand Theft Auto isn’t your type of game it appears all the Indie developers have teamed up this week too, and have almost 60 Android games on sale. It is called the Because We May Game Sale. Get GTA III right now for Android and have some fun in Liberty City.

[via Play Store]

While none of the specs are what we’d call top-tier or up to par with a few of LG’s recent showing this phone should make all the keyboard fans plenty happy. The phone is essentially the LG Viper 4G LTE but with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a keyboard. The screen is 4.0-inches and only 480 x 800 in resolution. The processor is the older Qualcomm S3 1.2 GHz dual-core with 4G LTE for the Now Network, and it will probably sport the same 5 megapixel camera.

The picture is pretty blurry and doesn’t really reveal much. One good thing here for this phone is the fact that it will be launching with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the gate, rather than waiting for an update. No other details or dimensions are available at this time but I’m sure we’ll be hearing more soon about this 4G LTE device for the Now Network. All those fans of the original Epic 4G should be happy to see this coming.

[via BriefMobile]

The Appeal is a rather low-end budget-friendly smartphone running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and might be just what you’re looking for. It only comes with a 3.2-inch HVGA display, an 800 MHz single-core processor with 512MB of RAM and a decent 3 megapixel camera, but should be great for kids and plenty for those Angry Bird fans.

The phone is rather small but we wouldn’t call it sleek because it does offer a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, so it should be a big hit with the heavy text message users. The all new Samsung Galaxy Appeal prepaid offering will hit Walmart first come June 5th and then be available from other retailers and AT&T on June 15th for around $149 outright, with no contracts required.

[via AT&T]

According to the guys from XDA the build is actually quite stable and appears to be running great on the 4.5-inch 720p rocking smartphone. It was actually the first 720p Android phone on AT&T if you remember. The leak appears to also be working for users of the Nitro on AT&T, Bell, and even Fido for those up in those parts.

Some flashers have reported problems with losing their IMEI numbers for their phones so you might want to use caution. Then again this is a leaked build so you should always use caution when flashing something of this type. Good news is battery seems to have actually been improved with the ICS leak so that might push a few into upgrading early. Hopefully this will be officially released soon but for now head to the via below to get started.

Device Specifications and Information

Device Info

Device Name : Nitro HD

Manufactuer : LG

Carrier : AT&T

Announced Date : May 31, 2011

Release Date : December 04, 2011

Also Known As :

Display

• Screen Size : 4.5 Inch
• Resolution : 720x1280
• Screen Type : LCD

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 5.27 Inch
• Width : 2.67 Inch
• Depth : 0.41 Inch
• Weight : 127 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• Lithium Ion

• Battery Capacity : 1830 mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 2.3.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 : Scorpion

CPU Clock Speed : 1500 Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1024 MB

Internal Storage : 4 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

FM Radio :

NFC :

[via PhoneArena]

You can’t play Will Smith, and you won’t be smacking any reporters either, but the game sure looks pretty awesome from my limited time playing it. Honestly the controls aren’t the best and the feel and play reminds me a lot of The Sims, but the graphics are cool and hey, it’s free. Here’s what you can expect from the all new MIB III from Gameloft for Android.

CREATE AND MANAGE YOUR OWN MIB AGENCY
• Train your agents and assign them to missions
• Access a wide range of MIB weapons and gadgets like the Neuralyzer, the Deatomizer and the infamous Noisy Cricket.
• Build dozens of different rooms to upgrade your weapons and develop your agency.

TAKE DOWN ENEMIES IN 1969 & 2012 NEW YORK
• Travel in time to fight aliens in different areas of New York including Brooklyn, Times Square, and Central Park
• Utilize your agent’s futuristic weapons and equipment
• Meet dozens of aliens faithfully inspired by the Men in Black universe

ASK YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN THE AGENCY
• Invite your friends from Gameloft LIVE! & Facebook to play
• Ask for your friends’ help during fights to defeat powerful aliens
• Visit your friends’ headquarters and get rewarded for lending a hand

After the initial download the game only needs about 68 MB of additional download space for the game, so it isn’t much compared to many. The game is a freemium title so it’s free to play, but users can make in-app purchases for weapons and the further advance into the world of the Men in Black. Like most titles from Gameloft not all devices are supported but at least it’s available in the Play Store instead of their own site only.

Check out the new MIB III game today and drop us a few comments below letting us know what you think.

GameFly has announced they’ll be opening up their own Gamestore for Android that will hopefully compete directly with the Google Play Store, NVIDIA’s Tegra Zone and more. GameFly also wants to release their own games almost like Gameloft, and have set a large amount of funds aside to start development for mobile games. Here’s a quote from their co-founder:

“GameFly is dedicated to giving consumers the best user experience possible, and to be their single destination for console, PC and mobile gaming needs,” said Sean Spector, GameFly co-founder and SVP of Business Development and Content. “We plan to be a leading player in mobile games by launching our retail GameStore for Android and helping to fund mobile developers of all sizes to publish, promote and sell their smartphone and tablet games.”

GameFly will be offering expertly curated Android games along with top sellers, most popular, and even daily deals like many other competitors in the “app store” front. They will be releasing their own games, as well as helping the struggling developer out that needs additional funding and throwing those games exclusively into their own store. They are accepting email entries from developers right this minute at Gamedev@gamefly.com and expect their first title to launch sometime this summer. More details are available from the official GameFly press release.

[via Android Police]

According to the folks at BGR, they’ve learned this from reliable sources that has seen the app for iPad and Android first hand, and it looks very similar to recent leaks from TheDaily that Microsoft has clearly denied as being real. If sources are accurate later this year Microsoft will be launching on Windows 8, iOS, and Android all around the same time — obviously with Windows 8 first.

There is also the possibility that Microsoft Office will be coming to smartphones too. As BGR reports the launch screen said “Microsoft Office for iOS” and not just the iPad. This could be a good move for Microsoft even though they probably would rather not launch their popular programs for the competition, but you can’t ignore the millions and millions of users. Android fans, would you use Microsoft Office for mobile, or just stick to Google Docs?

eBay has made tons of tweaks and improvements to make selling and buying on Android even easier. Not only that but for those listing, and often relisting auctions that has been overhauled as well. Another important addition is the new best offer notification — something users have been asking about for quite a while. Here’s the full change log for those interested:

– Best Offers and Best Offer notifications
– Access to Wish and Custom lists in My eBay
– List, relist and revise Parts & Accessories items (US)
– List, relist and revise items in Canada, France and India
– Share items on Facebook, Twitter and SMS
– Improved Item View design
– Lots of other new features and improvements throughout the app

Now when you search an auction and are on the item page you can scroll to the bottom and hit share to bring up the usual and popular Android share options for Gmail, SMS, Email, Twitter, Facebook and whatever else is in your list. Sadly nothing about the app feels like Android. While the design and user interface is decent, nothing matching Android’s design elements — except for maybe the search bar up top but even it feels clunky.

Get the latest eBay for Android from the link below and get to selling all that stuff you’d otherwise throw away. Oh and don’t expect it to work too great with a tablet either. We are still waiting on a tablet optimized app from eBay.

[via eBay]

Handcent SMS is one of the most customizable text message apps for Android and has well over 10 million downloads to date. While their UI might not be the prettiest out of the box you can customize everything and make it exactly how you’d like it. My favorite feature is the quick reply pop-up box. Two updates this week have addressed several bugs with contact images, as well as multiple issues with Motorola phones as of late.

Today’s update further fixes any outstanding bugs with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and Handcent has also focused on Sense UI 4.0 that is running on the HTC One X and One S smartphones. Then their newest feature is custom background images on the custom message pop up box. You can now select any background you’d like, so long as it fits right.

It really is an excellent option for texts on Android if you’re not a fan of the stock app. Get it from the link below and let us know what you think.

Handcent SMS Link

The list is mostly made of up phones released in the past 6-8 months, other than the Thunderbolt and the Incredible 2, and many have already been updated to 4.0. HTC has issued similar statements in the past but none of those had actual release dates. Today’s new is still pretty vague, basically saying June-July for almost all devices, at least we know they’ll be here soon.

The DROID Incredible 2 is the only device that is up-in-the-air and is still questionable for the upgrade. Other phones like the EVO 3D, ThunderBolt, HTC Rhyme, and even the EVO Design 4G will all see the update soon. It looks like the Thunderbolt will be last on the list, being one of the few listed as July/August along with the Desire HD. Sadly no mention of any tablets like the HTC Jetstream though. Check out the full list from the via link below courtesy of HTC themselves.

[via HTC Blog]

Thanks to a lucky member of Reddit advertisements for the phone were spotted stating “available now” at a small retail shop inside a Dubai mall and he was lucky enough to walk away with the brand new phone. According to the reports others have also purchased the phone in parts of Dubai, and that particular shop has a good amount of inventory of the highly anticipated superphone from Samsung.

We are hearing the phone was purchased for around $667, a price that is much cheaper than any of the current pre-orders we’ve been seeing appear online these past few weeks. Even though the phone has seen huge numbers of pre-orders, this shop is selling early. The Samsung Galaxy S III isn’t slated to officially be released until May 29th, then the 30th in the UK, so about a week from now. For those of us here in the US the wait will be a little longer. If you must have this phone asap, you should probably start checking eBay right about now.

Most likely this is a mistake by a few retail shops in Dubai but until we hear further details it should still be available for purchase if you’re located in those parts. Let us know if you’re able to buy one in the comments below.

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 PhoneArena]