In this issue of Android Community Weekly, you’ll find more devices upgraded to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), some great unboxings and reviews, and much more!
Monday, AT&T confirmed that all Android phones released on their network during 2011 are guaranteed an update to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Also headed to AT&T will be a Samsung flagship keyboard phone; later on this was confirmed to be the Samsung Galaxy S II Slide. Over on T-Mobile the G2X resurfaces to their website. The device is now in stock and will be running Gingerbread from a recently pushed OTA.
Tuesday we found out Verizon will officially be the first US carrier to launch the Galaxy S II. Also, those waiting for the device will be pleased to know it will be 4G LTE capable. Benchmarks of the Verizon HTC Vigor were released Wednesday; the device is said to sport a 1.5 Ghz dual-core processor and 720p HD display. It is not yet known whether this device is a phone or tablet.
We had heard Gingerbread would hit the Droid X2 Tuesday, and surely enough it did two days later. Many new features were included in this update: Motorola’s new user interface, a new manager application, and many bug fixes. Another upgrade we’ve all been eagerly awaiting is for our XOOM 4G LTE upgrade. We had heard it would be here in “no time flat” on their official sign up page, but unfortunately the upgrade will not be available until September. Also not appearing until September will be the Droid Bionic according to Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha. We had all hoped for an August 4th release, but unfortunately we must wait even longer.
We had many reviews this week on some amazing devices! The first for the week included the Toshiba Thrive tablet. Unique to this device was a more rugged exterior compared to today’s standard tablet. Next up was a review of the Motorola XPRT by Chris Burns. This little smartphone packs a whopping 1860 mAh lithium-ion battery… so don’t expect it to run out juice during your lunchbreak. Also reviewed by Chris Burns was the Motorola Photon 4G. This device was simply a powerhouse in the benchmarks conducted. Expect to see an amazing new camera interface on both of these new Motorola devices as well. After given some hands-on time last week, the HTC Status has finally been thoroughly reviewed – so don’t forget to check it out!
The Lenovo Ideapad K1 tablet was unboxed Thursday; expect a full review of it within the next few days. Another hands-on/unboxing was conducted for the LG Thrill 4G. This device is essentially the Optimus 3D rebranded for T-Mobile’s network. Finally, don’t forget to participate in both the Archos 70 internet tablet giveaway, and Week 3 of TABLETPALOOZA! Both winners will be announced Monday August 1st.
