Samsung Galaxy Xcover Review

Introduction:

Although we've heard more than a few stories of smartphones surviving all kinds of abuse – being dropped from a plane, baked in an oven, or ran over by a car, to name a few examples, they are pretty vulnerable devices in general. The Samsung Galaxy Xcover, however, does not want to obey this unwritten rule and stands out with its rugged design and IP67 certification. In plain words, the phone is allegedly resistant to shock, dust, dirt, and submersion in water at up to 1 meter for 30 minutes.

AT&T closes on deal to buy spectrum from Qualcomm for $1.9 billion

Originally, the FCC was reviewing both the $39.9 billion proposed purchase of T-Mobile by AT&T and the latter's $1.9 billion bid for spectrum from Qualcomm together. But when AT&T made the final decision to back out of the T-Mobile purchase, it asked the FCC to make a quick decision on the purchase of the spectrum. Perhaps feeling sorry for the ordeal that AT&T went through, the agency decided to let AT&T make the purchase from Qualcomm.

Motorola DROID 4 appears on Best Buy Mobile's Reward Zone website

Earlier on Wednesday we told you about some audio clips that appeared to be for the Motorola DROID 4 display on the DROIDDOES web site. Of course, the phone is unannounced although speculation is centered around a February 2nd launch at Verizon. Still, the evidence seems to show that if Verizon wanted to, it could launch the phone today. While it doesn't necessarily confirm that the handset is ready for launch, a photo found on the Reward Zone web site for Best Buy Mobile shows the Motorola DROID 4 proudly displaying its 5 row QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode with a bevy of Android models behind it.

HTC adds Verizon and AT&T devices to bootloader unlock tool

HTC is continuing the push forward in its promise to allow bootloaders on all its devices to be unlocked. Yesterday, it added the EVO 4G and myTouch 4G Slide to its bootloader unlocking tool, and today HTCDev posted a note saying that all devices released after September 2011 are now supported by the unlocking tool.

Crazy rumor suggests Samsung Galaxy S III will have a 3D screen

We know how much you all love ridiculous rumors, especially those that suggest a phone that is destined to be mega-popular will be getting an absurdly gimmicky feature, but there are rumors going around now that the Samsung Galaxy S III may have a 3D screen. Don't get us wrong, when 3D is done well, it can be amazing. But, in all of the 3D craze that we've seen over the past couple years, we've seen it done right twice: Avatar and Super Mario 3D Land. Everything else has been nothing more than a gimmick, and with the high number of people who either don't see the 3D effect or are made ill by it, it seems highly unlikely that it will ever catch on as the (price boosting) standard that media companies would like.

EXIF data on photo links it to Samsung GT-I9500, possibly the Samsung Galaxy S III

The EXIF data from a sample photograph indicates that the snapshot could be from the unannounced Samsung Galaxy S III. Yesterday, some specs about the device were printed in  the Korean publication ETNews, including word that the phone will sport a quad-core processor. Samsung recently produced a short teaser video to whet everyone's appetite.

Expert: Apple could get $10 for each Android device sold

Talking with Bloomberg, Kevin Rivette, the managing partner at intellectual property firm 3LP Advisors LLC, says that Apple stands to profit greatly if it were to license its patents to Android manufacturers. Rivette says that if Apple were to license its patents to those producing Android devices instead of suing them, the Cupertino based firm could be in line to receive $10 for each device sold that is powered by Google's open source OS. Unlike Apple, Microsoft has deals worked out with HTC, Samsung, ACER and Viewtronics. Currently, Microsoft receives $5 in licensing payments for each HTC produced Android device that is sold.

Pentagon approves one Android device, still testing iOS

It's just one more sign that BlackBerry is falling fast. Now, the US Pentagon has approved a modified Android device for use in the Department of Defense and is testing iOS devices for use as well. BlackBerry had always been the top choice for all government departments because of security concerns on other platforms, but those days are over. 

Nokia apps section rolling out to Marketplace on Nokia Windows Phones

It seemed inevitable given that many other carriers/manufacturers have pulled together their own app store sections on various platforms, the most notorious example is likely the Verizon section added to the Android Market, and it looks like Nokia is the latest to get a featured section, this time in the Windows Phone Marketplace.

HP tried to sell Palm for $1.2 billion before open sourcing WebOS

One last addendum to the sad tale of what happened to Palm after HP acquired it. According to a source speaking to Venture Beat, HP tried to sell Palm to Facebook for the same $1.2 billion it originally purchased Palm for.

Samsung isn't planning to release the Focus S, or a variant of it, outside of the US?

Call it a rarity, or something else, but it’s not that often that the US is left claiming a top-notch device to itself – especially when there are plenty of devices overseas that never get released stateside. And boy does it feel good to be AT&T customer right now seeing that they have the option of picking up the snazzy Samsung Focus S, which is one of our favorite Windows Phone Mango devices to date.