New Mophie Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 4 is available only at Apple Stores for $80

Not everyone needs it, but Mophie’s Juice Pack Air is available to iPhone 4 owners out there who are insatiable when it comes to battery consumption with the handset. We’ve checked out this model before and even reviewed the Juice Pack Plus for the iPhone 4, but this new version of the Juice Pack Air has a slight redesign.

Available only through Apple Stores for $79.95, the Mophie Juice Pack Air doubles as a case and battery charger, but what separates this new version from the one before it, is the fact that it now offers a cutout below the case for easy access to its dock connector. On the previous model, it was totally closed off and you needed to rely on a built-in microUSB port on the case to charge or connect the handset to a computer. Moreover, the top edge is almost completely exposed to accommodate even larger headphones.

At the same time, the Mophie Juice Pack Air features a condensed 1,500 mAh lithium polymer battery, which should offer about 6 hours of talk time on 3G or 36 hours of audio playback. Unfortunately, as we mentioned already, you can only pick up this new model through an Apple Store – you can’t even order it through Mophie’s own web site! So if you really want one, you’ll need to track down the closest Apple Store to your location.

source: Mophie via Intomobile

T-Mobile having Tuesday Twitter Trivia contest to give away 3 free HTC Sensation 4G units

On the heels of its Father's Day contest for which it gave away 10 HTC Sensation 4G to 5 winners and their dads, T-Mobile has another contest lined up for Tuesday evening. On June 21st, the nation's fourth largest carrier will be hosting a Twitter trivia contest and giving away 3 more HTC Sensation 4Gs.

The format of the contest is unknown as is the subject of the questions that will be asked. T-Mobile, announcing the trivia contest in a tweet, says more details will be coming. As soon as we know how the contest will work, we will pass the information on to you. In the meantime, you can spend the rest of the weekend boning up on your trivia. It will be worth it if you end up with a free HTC Sensation 4G, considered one of the top Android models currently available.

Just in case you are interested, the winners of T-Mobile's Father's Day contest were announced in a separate tweet from the carrier. T-Mobile selected from its Facebook wall the 5 best photos of an entrant with his/her dad. The winners are Justin Sterling, Jennifer Gaertman Tolman, Troy Bauman, Noah Furgerson and Ja'Quan Baker. Each won their own HTC Sensation 4G and one for their pop.

source: TmoNews

T-Mobile tweeted to announce a Tuesday Trivia contest and will give away three HTC Sensation 4G units

Apple revises lawsuit against Samsung, doubling the number of offending devices

Apple has amended its lawsuit against Samsung that alleged that the Korean based tech giant had copied numerous Apple designs with its Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets. Apple doubled from 14 to 28 the number of devices that the Cupertino based firm says are 'copycats'. The added devices include the Samsung DROID Charge, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Prevail, Galaxy S, Gravity, Infuse 4G, Nexus S 4G, Replenish, Sidekick, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy S II.

In addition to adding new offending devices, Apple also increased the number of its utility patents that were allegedly infringed upon by Samsung to 8 from 5 and the number of allegedly infringed upon design patents has been increased to 5 from the original 3. Apple also turned up the heat in the amended complaint by using stronger language. In the revised copy of the suit, Apple now says that Samsung produced "products that blatantly imitate the appearance of Apple's products to capitalize on Apple's success."

On Friday, Samsung was scheduled to turn over to Apple's outside legal team some of the devices in question including the Samsung Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Infuse 4G and the DROID Charge. Besides the actual device, the outside legal team for Apple will also receive promotional material and packaging relating to each phone or tablet. A judge is scheduled to make a decision whether or not Samsung's legal team is entitled to see unannounced devices from Apple. Samsung claims that some of Apple's products copy its designs. As we reported, Apple is fighting this, saying that Samsung is harassing them over this request. After all, the Samsung products that Apple's legal team has asked to see are already available to the public in one place or another. The Apple products that Samsung is demanding to see have not yet been made public or even officially announced.

source: Phonescoop

Nielsen report shows a 155% increase in smartphone data usage by the heaviest data hounds

The latest Nielsen report on smartphone usage reveals some interesting statistics about data consumption. Smartphone data usage has increased 89% year over year. The top 1% of  data users increased their consumption by 155%. That means if on average the heaviest users of the mobile web and other forms of data were using 1.8GB a month in last year's Q1, this year that figure would be 4.6GB.

So which platform spawns the biggest consumers of data? The Android OS is the answer with the average user burning up 582MB per month. The report from Nielsen almost confirms that the carriers are on target by offering 5GB of data before throttling down the speed of data downloads. And after all, like the carrier's have been saying, we are talking about only the top 1% of users.

If data consumption continues at the current pace, the big problem will start to occur next year when the top 1% of data users averages more than 5GB of monthly data use. You average users will still have nothing to worry about for some time yet.

source: Nielsen via AndroidGuys

The average smartphone user increased his data usage by 89% year over year in Q1 of 2011

Leaked notice shows June 30th OTA update for HTC ThunderBolt bringing Gingerbread and more

A source called a "Verizon Insider" by Android and Me has provided two screenshots of a release notice for the HTC ThunderBolt. According to the notice, the LTE enabled handset is expected to receive an OTA update on June 30th that...get ready...will load up the phone with Android 2.3.4, which means gTalk support. Also included with the update is Skype video capabilities and a pre-installed Amazon AppStore.

This sounds like a dream come true for HTC ThunderBolt owners who have been watching and waiting as other handsets have been receiving Gingerbread. With the latest and greatest Android OS release soon to be under the hood, if the screenshot is for real, this could change the mind-set of the typical T-Bolt owner who had been wondering if they made the right decision to jump onboard Verizon's first 4G enabled handset.

Start the countdown. While the source did say that there could be some changes to the download, the June 30th date is allegedly firm. Of course, regardless of which Android phone you own, you have heard that song before. Hopefully, there will be no glitches.

source: AndroidandMe

This release notice says that the HTC ThunderBolt will be receiving a major update on June 30th

New Apple iPad 2 ad is out; Foxconn to move some iPad production to Brazil by September

According to Globo, Brazil's Minister of Science and Technology, Aloízio Mercadante, says that Foxconn will be starting production of the Apple iPad 2 in his country starting in September. Originally, production of the tablet was to have begun in July, but the date has been pushed back because of problems with construction of a facility and a lack of skilled labor. Foxconn sent 175 enginners to China for training, but needs to hire more than 200 before starting production of the device in Brazil.

Foxconn is also waiting for approval from the city of city of Jundiaí, where the plant is located. The city said it is accelerating the process to get the green light to start the factory humming. Minister Mercadante says that a locally produced Apple iPad 2will cost 40% less than the imported version for Brazilians, thanks to a onerous import tax in the country. By the time the factory is running at full capacity in 3 or 4 years, it will be producing 6 million iPads annually and bring 4,000 to 5,000 new jobs to Brazil.

In other news featuring Apple's tablet, the company's latest commercial for the device is now up on YouTube. Called "Now", the ad shows off a little word play. "Now, we can watch a newspaper... hold an entire bookstore...touch the stars, watch a phone call," says the voice over announcer. Besides appearing on the video sharing site, the ad is also up on Apple's own web site and should soon be seen on your television screen.

source: Globo (Translated), AppleInsider

Snap, Crackle pops right back into the Android Market

Last October, we reported that Crackle had debuted in the Android Market, offering streaming video at a price of $4.99 for premium titles. After some time, the app disappeared from the Android Market only to recently reappear as a totally free service.

You can download the app for free from the Android Market for phones running Android 2.2 or higher with Flash enabled. Note that we said phones as tablets are not yet supported on this app. Full-length movies and television shows are streamed to your handset, putting the app in competition with Netflicks, Jetflicks and others.

According to Crackle, 20 new movies and television shows are added monthly. The app works only in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia. For a complete list of Android handsets that support Crackle, click on the sourcelink. Crackle is also available at the App Store for the Apple iPhone.

source: AndroidMarket via AndroidCentral

LightSquared and Sprint reach 15 year deal to provide LTE service to the carrier

According to a letter obtained by Bloomberg, LightSquared has entered into an agreement to supply Sprint with LTE 4G service for 15 years. The letter, from Philip Falcone, who is one of the mobile broadband provider's major financial backers, was written to other investors in the company and says that, "LightSquared and Sprint will jointly develop, deploy and operate LightSquared’s 4G LTE network. Sprint will become a significant customer of LightSquared's 4G LTE network." The deal is said to be valued at $20 billion and the two firms will share network expansion and equipment costs. This is not a total surprise as just the other day we told you that this deal was being talked about by both firms.

As we reported, LightSquared has been under fire for the interference that its LTE towers have been creating with GPS signals. A report is due at the FCC on July 1st about steps being taken to eliminate this problem. Other government agencies like the DoD and the FAA have stated LightSquared's technology will not work. The pressure is on for Falcone whose Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund has invested more than 60% of its capital in the project. For Sprint, this deal gives them extra capacity to lessen the load on its network. According to Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, his company has been negotiating a similar deal with Clearwire, the company that currently provides 4G connectivity for the nation's third largest carrier. It is estimated that this deal could save Sprint a total of $240 million.

Chris Larsen, a Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst, says that before Sprint can take advantage of the extra network capacity offered by LightSquared, the latter will have to resolve its issues with the GPS interference. LightSquared also said that it will seek bids as soon as next week to sell service from its satellite to government agencies and other buyers. The satellite service would act as a back up to terrestrial based pipelines in case of emergencies that would prevent ground based networks from working.

source: Bloomberg/BusinessWeek via Phonescoop