Samsung GALAXY Tab 8.9 Review

Introduction:

When we think about Samsung, one of the first things that tend to come to mind is the fanatical rate on how quickly they’re able to develop, produce, and bring devices to market – and it shows just by looking at their smartphone portfolio. Concurrently, we’re beginning to see the same thing happening over in the tablet world as they quickly established themselves with the original 7-inch Samsung GALAXY Tab.

Early in the year, they abruptly rocked the boat by introducing the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1, which then received a huge overhaul recently with its design so that they wouldn’t be outdone by another rival. However, things don’t end there as they’re able to fill in the gap between the two models with the Samsung GALAXY Tab 8.9. Employing the same design characteristics and hardware under the hood, it’s going to be intriguing to see how this $469 priced tablet will be able to secure its own identity.

The package contains:

• Samsung GALAXY Tab 8.9
• Wall Charger
• USB cable
• Stereo Headphone
• 4 ear bud replacements
• Quick Start Guide
• Health & Safety and Warranty Guide

Samsung Wave M Preview

Introduction:

On our own count, the Samsung Wave M is not supposed to replace the Wave 723, which was a midrange bada alternative with some clever design tricks to make it stand out. It is introducing a lower- midrange category in the bada lineup, as it sports a 5MP camera and a larger screen than the entry level Wave Y, but keeps the same resolution and processor.

With this filing issue out of the way, let's examine what will make the Samsung Wave M stand out in comparison with its low-ranked Wave Y brethren and the plethora of Android handsets with similar specs out there.

Verizon to offer Madden NFL 12 for free from October 1st to the 3rd

Verizon last year gave its Android users the NFL Mobile app which included a free year of the Red Zone. Now, Big Red is giving away some more football software. It was just about a month ago when EA announced that Madden NFL 12 was being offered on the Android Market for $6.95. Perhaps to show its loyalty, the carrier has a present for its customers using Android phones. Starting Saturday, October 1st through October 3rd, one of the most popular sports games in the Android Market will be offered for free! From Saturday through Monday, dialing **MADDEN (**623336) from any Verizon phone powered by Android will give you Madden NFL 12 for free.

And remember, Madden Football is more than just stick figures, even on a smaller phone screen. The graphics have been optimized for Android and the animations make you feel like you are in the game, absorbing every bone-crushing tackle. And all 32 teams with real life rosters are represented in the game. Be the "General Manager" by making trades, or be the coach and put together a winning playbook (no, not the BlackBerry PlayBook). The game allows you to track stats and see how effective your players are.

During the game, you can control both sides of the ball. Total Defense Control (TDC) lets you pause the game and move your defensive players in position to make that hard hit to jar the football loose, or make a pick and stop a long drive. Action Control Time (ACT) lets you do the same thing with your offense and allows the ball handler to jive, spin, and juke. Draw up your own routes for passing, running and defense. You can even call an audible at the line.

Finally, Madden NFL 12 allows you to play exhibition games, or replay the 2010-2011 NFL season in season mode. If a 16 game schedule is too long, you can reply just the playoffs if you want. Regardless, it all becomes available to you at no cost starting Saturday, thanks to Verizon. By the way, Verizon's online ad for the game mentions VCAST which means you might need to download the VCAST app store before loading up the game. Remember, this freebie is for Verizon's Android customers only.

source: PhandroidAndroidForum

Starting tomorrow until October 3rd, Verizon will give Android users Madden NFL 12

* Verizon's big trio appears on Cellebrite system, HTC Vigor, Google Nexus Prime and Motorola DROID HD

As the week draws to a close,we have some very good news for Verizon customers who have been eagerly awaiting one of the carrier's upcoming trio of high-end Android phones. The HTC Vigor, the Google Nexus Prime and the Motorola DROID HD (aka DROID RAZR) all now appear on the Cellebrite system. That is the machine that the carriers have in their stores, used to transfer over your contacts and other information from your old handset to your new one. While appearing on the Cellebrite system doesn't indicate that a launch is imminent, it still is a good sign that a launch could be happening soon.

The Samsung Galaxy Note has passed through the FCC with AT&T bands

The massive Samsung Galaxy Note with its 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display has just passed through the FCC with support for AT&T 3G bands suggesting its release is just around the corner.

The Samsung Galaxy Note is somewhat of a hybrid device. It is a cross between a smartphone and a tablet which is similar to what Dell tried to accomplish with the original Streak. Not only does the Galaxy Note pack a whopping 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display (with an equally impressive 1280x800 resolution), it is powered by a dual-core 1.4GHz processor and 1GB of RAM.

Android 2.3 Gingerbread is the operating system of choice with Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface riding on top of it. Samsung included two cameras on this monster-sized smartphone; an 8 megapixel camera on the back that is capable of recording video in 1080p HD and a front-facing 2 megapixel shooter. The Galaxy Note is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy SII just on a larger scale.

Not only does the Galaxy Note sport support for AT&T’s 3G bands, it should also be able to access “4G” speeds thanks to HSPA+. Now that it has passed through the FCC, it should only be a matter of time until this supersized device hits the states. Is anybody considering picking up the Samsung Galaxy Note once it becomes available?

source: Electronista 

T-Mobile HTC HD7 owners running Mango can select their search engine preference in IE9

Some might see it as a healthy gesture, while others might simply be irked by it, but it appears that T-Mobile HTC HD7 owners running Mango have the option of selecting which search engine they want to use with Internet Explorer 9.

Granted that we’re not surprised with Bing being the default one in use by the platform, you can actually change it to Google under the IE9 settings menu. For long time user of the platform, this might be seen as a foreign concept – especially when Bing is ingrained deeply with the mobile platform. Nevertheless, it’s still nice giving users the opportunity of which one to choose.

So far, there’s no exact reasoning as to why this option is only available on the Mango flavored HTC HD7 for T-Mobile only. Still, the rest of us sporting Mango will have to make due with Bing as the primary and mandatory option for now.

source: WP Central

Best Buy cuts the price of the HTC Flyer by $200 to $299.99 starting October 1st

Best Buy announced today that it is cutting the price of the HTC Flyer 7 inch tablet by $200 to $299.99 starting on October 1st. Tablet prices have been coming down  as seen by Amazon's announcement that it will launch its 7 inch Kindle Fire on November 15th for $199.99. In addition, Best Buy itself has chopped $200 off the price of the slow selling BlackBerry PlayBook, taking that price down to $299.99 for the 16GB model and $499.99 for the 64GB variant..

Best Buy will be cutting the price of the HTC Flyer by $200 on October 1st

The HTC Flyer offers 16GB of storage, running on Android 2.3.3. A single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.5GHz processor is under the hood. A 5MP camera on back captures video at 720p while a 1.3MP camera is on the front of the tablet. A microSD card will expand storage by as much as 32GB. And of course, HTC's Scribe Technology lets you use a stylus to write all over the screen.

While the HTC Flyer, the Kindle Fire and the BlackBerry PlayBook are all 7 inch tablets, Amazon is expected to expand the price wars to 10 inch tablets with the launch of its 10.1 inch device code named the "Coyote" perhaps before the end of this year. Pricing for this tablet is expected to be $249.99 which will undercut the competition like the Apple iPad 2. Amazon doesn't mind taking a loss on its tablets as they expect to more than make up the difference from selling apps, content and cloud based services.

source: BestBuy

Sony Ericsson Xperia ray is available as an unlocked model through Newegg for $424.99

Even though it’s unclear if a domestic carrier will indeed take hold of the Sony Ericsson Xperia ray, the Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone is going to traverse a path taken by other European specific devices in an attempt to gain some recognition in the US.

Specifically, it’s going to be available through Newegg and some other online retailers for the asking price of $429.99 outright. On top of that, it’s worth noting that this photo-taking centric handset is being sold as an unlocked model with support for AT&T’s 3G bands. For the price, that’s not too shabby at all considering that you’re not required to sign a contract or pay a huge amount to buy one.

Some of its features include a 3.3” Reality Display with Mobile Bravia Engine, 8.1-megapixel rear camera with an Exmor CMOS sensor, front-facing VGA camera, 1GHz single-core Snapdragon MSM8255 processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi, aGPS, 1,500 mAh battery, and a microSD card slot.

Interestingly enough, Newegg has the handset priced lower right now than some of the online retailers that are expected to offer the handset as well – it’s only $379.99! At that point, it’s easily a solid buy considering that it’s unlocked, has support for AT&T 3G, and doesn’t require a contract.

source: Sony Ericsson & Newegg via Phonescoop

DROID 3 update brings Google Talk video and more

Good news for DROID 3 users, you will soon be part of an exclusive Android club. A new update is rolling out right now which brings a number of bug fixes, but also adds a rare feature that Google showed off months ago: Google Talk video chat. 

The update is out now and will bring your phone to build 5.6.890. Obviously, the biggest news of this is that it adds video chat support to Google Talk, which is a feature that Google introduced first in the Nexus S with Android 2.3.4. The trouble is that many Gingerbread updates for other phones have only been 2.3.3, so Google Talk video chat still hasn't made the rounds as far as it should. 

In addition to that, the update brings about 30 bug fixes, including some fixes to make Blur more stable. Unfortunately, you'll still have Blur, so it's not the best fix available.

source: Droid Life

Leaked Nexus Prime app list shows no bloat but FaceLock

Any new information on the upcoming Nexus Prime is always interesting, and this new batch of info is especially fun to think about. Someone over at MyDroidWorld posted a list of apps installed on the Nexus Prime, or in this case what is likely the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, because the list does include a couple Verizon specific apps. What the list doesn't contain is bloatware, which is a huge relief. And, there are some other very interesting listings installed. 

The most interesting is probably an app labeled FaceLock.apk. Google mentioned a long time ago that Ice Cream Sandwich would feature facial recognition, but we didn't know exactly how it would be used. This seems to point to one use as a way to protect your phone by using your face rather than a password or gesture to lock your device. 

Another interesting listing is that the Books app is actually labeled BooksTablet.apk, which would lead us to believe that the Honeycomb version of Books is going to become the default for ICS devices. There is also a ChromeBookmarksSyncAdapter.apk, which seems fairly self-explanatory. There is also a mysterious PlusOne.apk, which could be part of the +1 integration with the Android Market, or could point to an expansion of +1 features throughout the Android system. 

For the full list, just jump over to MyDroidWorld, and let us know if we missed anything interesting.

source: MyDroidLife via Android Police