It’s been another amazing week of tech news, and we’ll fill you in on anything you may have missed in this issue of Android Community Weekly! Monday, the LG THRILL 4G was officially reviewed by Chris Burns. We were also informed that the device would indeed be delayed until the end of August.
The HTC Desire finally received its very own update to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) this past Monday. Also expect an update very soon for the LG Revolution; it should include many bug fixes but still no Gingerbread upgrade. A couple applications saw new versions this week as well, Skype and Google+. Skype’s update in the Android Market included support for many more smartphones. As for Google+, you should definitely check out the improvements included into Huddles and Notifications. Those who unofficially update their devices will be pleased to know that the Sony XPERIA, Neo, PLAY, and Arc will officially be supported by CyanogenMod 7 very soon.
AT&T recently informed it’s customers that it will move those with unlimited data to a tiered plan if they continue to tether their devices. This execution is most likely in response to their upcoming improved LTE data network. On that same note, the next generation Motorola ATRIX HD may run on AT&T’s 4G LTE towers.
We’ve wondered who will be the SoC (System-on-a-chip) manufacturer for Google’s next flagship device for a long while now; and now it seems we have a winner! They seem to have chosen the Texas Instruments OMAP 4 CPU; nothing is set in stone, but this is the most information we’ve seen on the device.
Wednesday, Chris Burns ran a hands-on and unboxing for the HTC Wildfire S on T-Mobile. The device hit stores later that same day. A more thorough review of the Wildfire S took place the next day (when we actually found out how good this mid-ranged smartphone actually was!) It turns out that the Wildfire S performed surprisingly well in the benchmarks with its 600Mhz single-core processor. Also unboxed this week was the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with 4G LTE. This sleek tablet certainly won’t disappoint us in its upcoming in-depth review by Cory Gunther.
Some interesting gadgets and applications have emerged this week, and hopefully some will set a trend into the future of technology. It turns out Motorola may be working on a new “Smartwatch” that runs Android OS. I’m not the kind of guy that wears a watch, but if this product actually takes flight then that may very well change! The Seagate GoFlex Satellite HDD now supports the Android operating system for transferring data over a WiFi connection. To use this feature, you must download the official Android app from the market. Another application worth taking a look at if you are in the market for buying a used car is VIN Viper. Just take a picture of the VIN # to get a rough price of what the vehicle is actually worth. It syncs with your Carfax account to look up any damages and incorporate them into the price. Yet another auto-oriented application released was the Nissan LEAF official Android app. With this, the driver will be able to see detailed specs on the life of their battery, set climate control, and even start the car remotely from your smartphone.
We always try to end Android Community Weekly with any promotions/deals/savings to help bring you closer to owning anything Android! Currently, Verizon Wireless is offering $50 off a tablet when you purchase any cellphone, and with the fastest service around – it may be worth your while. Also, don’t forget to check back for the final winners of TABLETPALOOZA! They will be announced this coming Monday, August 8.
