Android Tablet Update

Thanks to an anonymous tipster, we now have the first look at the upcoming Verizon Pantech Star Q 4G LTE. This device is the successor to last year’s Pantech Breakout, and it appears to be aiming for the low price point of $99 on contract.

Highlights of the device include Android 4.0.4, 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 4 inch WVGA display, 3 MP rear camera, front-facing camera, 5-row QWERTY keyboard, and Bluetooth 4.0. It’s nice to see Android 4.x and the new Snapdragon S4 processor, but the low resolution display and camera are disappointing.

We don’t know exactly when the device will hit stores, but it’s already appearing in NenaMark benchmarks and a tester has upload some sample pics to Picassa. Verizon’s current low-end QWERTY slider phones, the LG Enlighten and Samsung Stratosphere, both came out last year, so we should see the Pantech Star Q enter the lineup soon.

The Pantech Q probably won’t win over any of the hardcore fans, but it will attract an audience with its low price point, fast 4G LTE, and speedy Snapdragon S4 chip.

Know Your Mobile (and, apparently, several other sites) has gotten their hands on an alleged image of the upcoming Galaxy S III superphone, which has shed its mystery casing for a brief close up. It looks a bit smaller than we’ve been expecting from the next flagship Galaxy S device, though it could just be the form factor, which looks similar to that in the leaked manual from yesterday. The edges of the device are a bit rounder than the Galaxy S II, or at least the Sprint variant sitting on my desk.

At best, if this actually is the Galaxy S III, I’m not quite sold on the final form factor. At worst (and, perhaps more likely), this is a Photoshop job and looks almost nothing like the final version.  The device will formally be unveiled in just under a week, so we should know all the real details soon. What do you guys think of the current leaked image? Do you like the look, or are you hoping for more?

(Click the image for a larger view).

UPDATE - Looks like the tipster for this story got around, as several sites claimed it came from their sources. Possibly just someone looking for attention, and perhaps a shop job. As with all of these rumors, we’ll just wait and see what the final Galaxy S III looks like. Only 6 more days.

The Samsung Galaxy S III is easily the hottest upcoming Android device, and the leaks continue to flow out at an amazing pace. Part of me thinks all these leaks are controlled to keep generating buzz, but we keep sharing them and y’all keep eating them up. This week we saw a trio of leaks that provide several conflicting specs.

Last night Samsung announced the 1.4 GHz Exynos 4 Quad, that is said to power the next Galaxy. We think there is a good chance that this will be the final processor found inside the Galaxy S III, but that could vary by region and carrier.

Yesterday we saw a leaked benchmark result that said the Galaxy S III was using the Exynos 4212 processor. This chip features dual Cortex-A9 CPU cores running at 1.5 GHz. Another leaked service manual for the GT-i9300 (that we believe to be the Galaxy S III) said the device would use a 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU.

The leaked benchmark said the device would feature a 4.7 inch display, while the leaked manual said it would be 4.8 inches, and other leaks have showed a 4.6 inch display. Camera specs have also been conflicted. One leak shows 8 megapixels and another shows 12 megapixels.

All these leaks have proven is that there are multiple versions of the device in testing and each one features slightly different specs. There’s even a good chance that all these leaks are wrong, and the final specs will be something completely different.

Samsung’s big unveil is scheduled for May 3rd, so hopefully all your questions will be answered soon.

In the early days of Android every handset maker had a different configuration for their physical buttons, which made it annoying any time you would switch from one phone to a new one. We thought that the introduction of on-screen buttons might resolve this issue, but that does not appear to be the case.

New pics from Chinese blog mobile01 reveal that Samsung has designed their own custom Menu button and reversed the layout from previous on-screen layouts. The on-screen button order for Samsung’s two devices is:

• Galaxy Nexus: Back, Home, Multitask, Menu
• Galaxy S III: Menu, Multitask, Home, Back

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The Samsung Galaxy Nexus has been the best phone on Verizon since it launched last year, but the run could be coming to an end next month. Both HTC and Motorola have new devices coming to Verizon as soon as next month, and more details are beginning to leak out as we approach the launch dates. Read on to see if either of these phones can top the Galaxy Nexus.

Motorola Droid Fighter

First up we have the Motorola Droid Fighter, which appears to be the replacement for the RAZR MAXX. We first heard about this phone last month, but this week the Chinese blog PhoneHK posted the first picture of the device.

As you can see from the picture above, this device is almost identical to the RAZR MAXX. About the only difference that we can spot is the subtraction of the capacitive buttons below the display. PhoneHK says the device will feature a 4.6 inch HD display (vs. 4.3 inch on the RAZR), so it will feature on-screen buttons like the Galaxy Nexus. It was also mentioned that the Droid Fighter features the same 3300 mAh battery as the RAZR MAXX.

The RAZR MAXX just went on sale a couple months ago, so it’s a little weird for Verizon to replace it already. However, the RAZR MAXX was available just months after the RAZR, so who knows what their strategy is.

Hopefully the Droid Fighter will see a boost in CPU performance as well. Motorola has been sticking with Texas Instruments processors lately, so there’s a chance this could be one of the first phones with the new dual-core 1.8 GHz OMAP4470 that features the faster PowerVR SGX544 GPU.

Recent leaks suggest the Droid Fighter could debut around April 12, but we all know how Verizon likes to push back launch dates.

HTC Droid Incredible 4G

Next up we have the HTC Droid Incredible 4G. This device has been around since last year under the names HTC Fireball and Incredible 3.

Rumored specs of the Droid Incredible 4G include a 1.2 GHz processor Snapdragon S4, qHD AMOLED display, 1 GB of RAM, 8 megapixel camera with LED flash, front-facing VGA camera, 4G LTE, and Beats Audio. It will also run Android 4.0 and should feature the latest version of HTC’s Sense UI.

This week the device appeared on the benchmark site Nenamark, which confirmed the Snapdragon S4 processor with Adreno 225 GPU.

According to a leak from Droid-Life, we expect the Droid Incredible 4G to be available sometime around April 26th.

Any Takers?

Even though details are scarce, I’m thinking the Droid Fighter could be the better of the two. I like that Motorola is sticking with the huge 3300 mAh battery, and this should be their first new device to launch with Android 4.0. If you are on Verizon and looking for a new phone, let us know which device you prefer.

If this is another fake, it’s a damn good one. Today a reddit user uploaded a supposed press image of the Galaxy S III which hints at an unveiling on May 22nd at a Samsung Unpacked event in London.

Samsung previously said the successor to the Galaxy S II would be unveiled at “separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product.” The latest rumored release date is sometime in June, so this leak falls into those plans.

On the leaked image we can see the name of a PR firm called Weber Shandwick. A quick search through my Gmail archives shows they have done work for Samsung in the past, including their press conference at CES 2010.

Other details revealed in the photo include a dedicated camera button (yes!), the return of the single home button, a front speaker grill, and an edge-to-edge screen.

Rumors had suggested that Samsung might announce the Galaxy S III in the United States, but they did hold the Galaxy Nexus unveiling in Hong Kong, so I guess anything is possible, including London.

I’m not sure about the significance of the May 22nd date, but it does fall between the CTIA Wireless show in early May and Google IO in late June. We are expecting a lot of new smartphone announcements at CTIA, so I think it would be kind of genius for Samsung to skip another big trade show and overshadow everyone a couple weeks later.

As of right now the Samsung Unpacked site is offline, but keep an eye on it because we could see the first teaser soon.

Maybe we are all getting trolled again, but this leak looks pretty genuine to me. What do you think?

The render you see above is the only known image of the HTC Edge, which we now believe will launch as the HTC One X. Most of the specs have already been confirmed from a leaked ROM update utility file, but new details are still coming out every other day.

Tonight Paul O’Brien of MoDaCo provided some additional details of the HTC One X, which is quickly shaping up as one of the most anticipated Android smartphones this year.

New rumored details of the HTC One X include:

• On-screen software buttons, just like the Galaxy Nexus
• Green / amber notification LED only
• 5-pogo-pin setup for a speaker dock, likely for the rumored Beats audio dock
• No microSD slot
• MicroSIM slot
• 1800 mAh battery
• Super LCD display type
• FM radio
• Sterio microphones for noise reduction
• Current test units run Android 4.0.3, should be upgrade to 4.0.5 by launch

Previous rumored specs of the HTC One X include:

• Quad-core 1.5 GHz Tegra 3 processor
• Android 4.0 with Sense UI 4.0
• 4.7-inch display with 720p resolution
• 1 GB RAM
• 32 GB internal storage
• Backlit 8 MP rear camera with 28-millimeter, f/2.2 lens
• 1.3 MP front-camera
• Beats Audio
• HSPA+ 21 Mbps support (bands 850, 900,1800,1900,)
• WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
• Slightly over 10 mm thick

Overall, it looks like HTC has packed in most of the high-end features that any Android fan would want. Some may complain about the lack of microSD slot, but at least this device has 32 GB of internal storage and we have Google Drive launching any week now.

It will be interesting to see how the final design differs from the rendered image above. Our sources tell us it looks like the HTC Amaze 4G, but thinner. I’m hoping that HTC went with their aluminum unibody design that appeared in some of their other devices last year.

Obviously, no launch parters have been announced but the HTC One X is rumored to be on order from over 20 carriers. The HSPA+ modem would be a nice fit for AT&T and T-Mobile in the states, but it’s possible we could see a slightly different model with LTE included for other carriers.

It’s going to be really tough to give up my beloved Samsung Galaxy Nexus, but I want this phone. Do you?

Last week the Wall St. Journal reported that Google would be launching a cloud storage service in the coming weeks. It now appears that the launch could be imminent as a reader of GeekWire discovered that the Google Drive service had already been enabled on his account.

Google Drive is expected to be free for most consumers and businesses and allow them to upload photos, documents, and videos to the cloud for easy access from any connected device. We don’t know the exact amount of storage space that users will get for free, but it is assumed that Google will allow customers to purchase extra space.

Leaked Google Drive logo.

The leaked screen shot of Google Drive also hints at a desktop client with a link that says “Install Google Drive.” There was also a favicon leaked that gives us a preview of the Google Drive logo.

I know a lot of Android fans already use Dropbox or Box, but it will be nice to have another cloud storage option that could be deeply integrated into Android devices and Google’s other services. Be on the lookout for an official announcement in the coming days.

Thinking of getting something for that special someone, this Valentine’s day? How about a 4G smartphone from T-Mobile? According to these screen shots (and past rumors), T-Mobile will be holding a one-day sale on February 11th, dedicated to all the love birds out there. But this is not just any sale – customers will be able to purchase any 4G device for free after mail-in rebate.

This is after signing a 2-year contract, of course. This deal is applicable to both Classic and Value plan subscribers, which happens to be a first for these “All Hands Day” sales. Such sales were only applicable to Value plan subscribers before, making this a much more enticing offer.

According to TmoNews‘ sources, those that pick the Classic rate plans will have to pay for the device’s usual subsidized price and receive the full amount via a mail-in rebate card. Value plan subscribers will get the same treatment after paying the down payment. (Upgrade rules and migration fees apply).

If you have been looking to get a new 4G smartphone from T-Mobile, we suggest you circle February 11th in your calendar. The offer applies to all 4G devices, including tablets like the LG G-Slate and the Huawei Springboard. There is a small catch for some devices, though. It seems like top-tier smartphones, such as the HTC Amaze and Samsung Galaxy S II might require a subscription to a 5 GB data plan.

All T-Mobile retail stores, customer service and authorized dealers will be participating on this offer. If interested, you might want to wait for the official announcement for more details, which is rumored to be as soon as this afternoon (according to the sources).

Let’s sit tight and wait to hear official details. Is anyone taking advantage of this sale? And just out of curiosity – will anyone actually purchase a phone for a Valentine’s day gift?

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Update: T-Mobile announcement

As expected, T-Mobile has just gone ahead and released information about their Valentine’s one-day sale. The information goes along with most of what we already knew. Among the most important details, though, the press release includes information about the minimum requirements for data plans:

• Voice Phones: 200 MB data plan
• Most smartphones: 2 GB data plan
• 42 Mbps devices: 5 GB data plan

For more information, check out the press release or go to T-Mobile’s official site.

There you go, guys! It is official, so start making your plans!

If you own the Sprint Nexus S 4G and are waiting on the official update to Android 4.0, then we have some good news for you. A new internal testing ROM was just spotted on Google’s servers that updates the Nexus S 4G to Android version 4.0.4, build number IMM26.

The file was quickly pulled after it was spotted, but if you are adventurous you can head over to xda-developers and grab a mirrored copy. I’d normally post a guide with instructions for the manual update, but since the official file has been removed from Google’s servers we just suggest the average user wait it out.

Reports suggest that this version was signed with release keys, which likely means it’s we will see the official update in the coming weeks. I’ve been using Android 4.0 on my T-Mobile Nexus S that I gave to a family member and its been running great so far. If you try out this leaked software on your Sprint Nexus S 4G, let us know how it performed in the comments below.