Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Sprint’s flagship devices of 2010 hitting end of life soon



    Posted: 26 Jul 2011 04:34 PM PDT
    With so many Android devices being released these days, there comes a time to let go of the old ones. A handful of Sprint devices are about to hit end of life, but that’s not to say they won’t be supported anymore. It’ll just be a little harder to find them on store shelves.




    The official list of Android devices being killed of is as follows:
    • Motorola i1 – Late July/Early August
    • HTC EVO 4G (White) – September
    • Samsung Transform – October
    • HTC EVO 4G (Black) – October
    • Samsung EPIC 4G – October
    The HTC EVO 4G is over a year old now and it being replaced by newer dual-core devices such as the HTC EVO 3D. Samsung’s mid-range Transform and once-flagship EPIC 4G will clear out and make way for Sprint’s version of the Galaxy S II, said to be coming as soon as next month. And the Motorola i1 (did anyone actually buy that phone) is getting replaced by other PTT devices such as the Motorola Titanium.

    If you own one of the above devices, you will still get support from Sprint. And if you have insurance and happen to need a replacement, Sprint will try to replace it with the same device. But if that device is no longer available in the coming months, it may be replaced with the next closest thing. Such as how Verizon has started replacing damaged Droid X’s with X2′s. But that doesn’t mean go breaking your Android phone on purpose just to try and get the latest new device.

    Anyone else feel a little bittersweet when once iconic phones are put out to pasture?

    [Source: SprintFeed]
    Posted: 26 Jul 2011 04:02 PM PDT
    We saw a render yesterday of an unnamed Samsung QWERTY slider phone that was headed to AT&T, but not many details were known about it. Today, we can see clear pictures and have a few more important details about it. It is said to be AT&T’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S II, model number SGH-I927.


    It’s unclear right now if AT&T will give it their own branding, or stick with Galaxy S II. The name Samsung Attain has been thrown around before. We also don’t know if this keyboard toting version is the only one coming to AT&T.


    This particular example is running Android 2.3.4 which it is expected to launch with. There’s an 8MP camera on the textured plastic back with LED flash. And the device still appears to be rather slim despite the inclusion of a hardware keyboard. And based on the impressive Linpack and Quadrant scores, it’s most likely packing the same dual-core 1.2Ghz processor found in the international Galaxy S II.


    Some are suggesting the SGS2 may come with support for AT&T’s upcoming 4G LTE network, but it’s very unlikely. So far AT&T has only planned to launch LTE in 5 cities at first and expand to 15 cities by the end of the year. You can’t launch a flagship device such as the Galaxy S II with LTE support and only have the network available to a small percentage of users. Recent reports suggest the Galaxy S II will be on sale in the US by early August, but there is conflicting information on which carrier will get it first.
    Posted: 26 Jul 2011 03:41 PM PDT
    It’s been a long time coming, but the day is finally here. Sony Ericsson originally said they would not update the X10 past Android 2.1, but then they changed their mind and earlier this year promised an upgrade to Android 2.3.3 would be coming. The update is now officially available, but it does come with a few drawbacks.

    Some caveats of on that update though:
    • User data, such as contacts, messages and more, saved in your phone memory will be overwritten. User data saved on the phone's memory card is not affected.
    • DRM content will be overwritten.
    • The Backup and Restore app will be overwritten and cannot be used to restore data. Check out Android Market for alternative apps to back up and restore your data, such as MyBackup.
    • The Creatouch, Neoreader and Quadrapop apps will be removed.
    • Mediascape, homescreen operator customization and app tray operator customization will no longer be supported.
    • Moxier Exchange will be replaced by Android 2.3 Gingerbread Exchange support.
    You will need Sony Ericsson’s PC Companion to perform the update [Download] or head on over to Sony Ericsson’s update page for more details and to grab the update.
    Some users are reporting the update may be region or carrier specific, and the software says the phone is up to date with Android 2.1. Let us know about problems or success in the comments. And we’ll let you know once the developers get their hands on the update and release it into custom ROMs.
    Posted: 26 Jul 2011 03:12 PM PDT
    HTC’s first 10 inch tablet is starting to break cover and see the light of day. We recently saw it pass through the FCC with AT&T 3G bands, as well as LTE on board. It’s said to be running a 1.5Ghz processor and Honeycomb 3.x with HTC’s Sense for tablets. As pictured above, there will be stylus input just like the 7 inch HTC Flyer. On the back there’s stereo speakers and an 8MP camera with dual-LED flash, which is a big jump from the 3-5MP units normally found on modern Android tablets. When this finally hits AT&T, it will be a flagship tablet mainly because it’s likely to be one of their first LTE devices for sale.
     [via BGR]
    Posted: 26 Jul 2011 02:36 PM PDT
    Last week we showed you how you could manually update the T-Mobile G2X to official Gingerbread using the LG Updater app. This week T-Mobile is pushing out the update over-the-air to all users. The update started late last night, so a few of you may already have woken up to a notification to download and update.

    The update brings Android 2.3 Gingerbread as well as a couple of other fixes:
    • Improved battery life
    • Improved front-facing camera operation when using Qik record and share
    • Improved disabling Car Home
    • Helps address unexpected reboots
    Hopefully that should correct most of the issues users were having with their G2X devices and cut back on some of those returns we heard about. Additionally, once all the G2X’s in T-Mobile’s inventory have been updated, we should start seeing the device back on shelves and online. As you may remember the G2X mysteriously disappeared with nary an explanation from T-Mobile other than “it was sold out”.
    Let us know when you get your update and if it fixes everything!
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