This week in tech news, we see some long awaited teasers to some amazing devices, the iconic CEO Steve Jobs resigns, and a bundle of Android OS software updates.
Just three days after the HP Touchpad went on sale for $99, we saw evidence of an Android 2.3 port already put into production. Development within the community of this device suggests the port will be available very soon.
Monday, Verizon Wireless announced their expansion of 4G LTE to more cities coming September 15th. US states included with this addition are North Dakota, Iowa, Ohio, and many areas within Illinois. Soon after, Verizon released a rebranded version of their V Cast Video app in the Android Market. Now labeled Verizon Video, this application has had its interface updated and a substantial increase in available content. Two subscription preferences are available; $10 a month or a 24hr $3 option.
The Acer Iconia Tab A500 received an update to Android 3.2 Honeycomb this past Tuesday. Previously at Android 3.0, this update will include improved speed performance, application size scaling, and the ability to sync media from the SD card. A maintenance update for the HTC EVO 4G also rolled out this week in hopes to fix some bugs with SMS, voice recognition, and Picasa.
The Samsung Galaxy S II was banned in Europe due to the Apple injunction previously filed. The device is currently banned from sale across the entire European Union. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is still banned from sale throughout Germany until September 9th. Samsung released their Galaxy smartphone naming scheme Wednesday. The way devices are named will directly correlate with what tier they belong to. Unilke other manufacturers, Samsung has done this to help public know precisely what type of device they are buying – whether it be flagship or entry level device. Soon after, the Galaxy M Pro, Galaxy W, Galaxy Y, and Galaxy Y Pro were revealed.
A Motorola DROID Bionic teaser video hit the net Wednesday showing off how much better the device claims to be than the ones currently on the market. We’ll just have to wait and see, but it’s hard to dodge Verizon’s exceptional advertising of the device.
Finally, don’t forget to head over to the Tegrazone for their Acer Iconia A500 giveaway! NVIDIA will be randomly giving away a total of 5 devices to those who sign up.
