HTC Sensation 4G for T-Mobile Unboxing

Across the big pond, our friends are getting situated with the HTC Sensation 4G as we speak, but T-Mobile customers will soon have the chance to check out what all the ruckus is all about with this refreshingly new handset. Expected to launch June 15th for the customary 2-year contract price of $199.99, it’s seemingly going to make some waves thanks to its intriguing design and updated HTC Sense experience.

Much like most of the previous 5 or so high-end Android smartphones for T-Mobile, like the T-Mobile G2x and Sidekick 4G, the retail packaging with the HTC Sensation 4G follows in the same path. Naturally, an image of the handset prominently graces the box with the T-Mobile and HTC Sensation 4G names all present throughout its sides. Moreover, we’re presented with some noteworthy specifications in the rear to get people drooling about this high-caliber smartphone. Inside though, there isn’t anything particularly exciting since it’s packed along with the usual set of items – like the micro USB cable, wall charger, stereo headphones with clip & ear buds, and an appropriate quick start guide.

Not deviating from the wonderful design and construction that we saw with the European model, T-Mobile’s version is absolutely identical except for the distinguishable T-Mobile branding found near its earpiece. Aside from that, everything else remains absolutely the same, which isn’t a bad thing at all considering it’s top-notch in many ways. With the 4G moniker on board for the ride, it’s enabled to work with Big Magenta’s acceptably fast HSPA+ network – so expect web surfing to be fun and swift.

Undeniably at the top of the ladder amongst the current crop, the HTC Sensation 4G features a 4.3” qHD Super LCD display, 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8260 processor, 768MB RAM, 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with dual-LED flash, full 1080p video recording, VGA front-facing camera, 8GB microSD card, Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, aGPS. In terms of software, it’s running the latest version of HTC’s popular Sense UI running on top of Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread. Of course, we’ll be checking it out extensively to see how it handles, but in the meantime, you can watch our unboxing video below. In addition, if you’re curious about the European model, please check out our review – but expect our in-depth review of T-Mobile’s version soon!

Amazon offers great deals on handsets for new Verizon customers

From now until June 8th, Amazon is offering special prices on handsets to new Verizon customers. Imagine paying just 1 cent for the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY. Of course, you will have to sign a 2-year contract and you cannot be a current Big Red customer.

The handsets on sale from Amazon are not the aging phones of yesteryear, but include some of the most recent devices that have been launched by the carrier. For example, the Samsung DROID Charge is just $149.99 for new Verizon customers from the online retailer. Verizon offers the model for $299.99 with a 2 year contract and Amazon's regular price for the model is $199.99. The dual-core powered Motorola DROID X2 and the LTE enabled HTC ThunderBolt are both just $99.99 through Amazon while the HTC DROID Incredible 2, normally $79.99 through Amazon, is just $49.99 for new Verizon account holders, as is the HTC Trophy. Finally, the LG Revolution has a $149.99 price tag at Amazon for those just signing up with the carrier..

If you have been thinking of leaving your current carrier for Verizon, why pay more for a new phone? With deals like these from Amazon, we would imagine that Verizon will be opening more than just a few new accounts until Wednesday is over and the prices revert back to their higher level.

source: IntoMobile

Until June 8th, new Verizon customers can pick up a Motorola DROID X2 for just $99.99 with a 2 year contract from Amazon

Samsung Exhibit 4G and Samsung Gravity SMART to launch from T-Mobile on June 22nd

Just the other day, we reported that sometime this month, T-Mobile would be launching two new Android models,the Samsung Exhibit 4G and the Samsung Gravity SMART, for the budget conscious smartphone buyer. Today. both T-Mobile and Samsung announced that the pair will be launched on June 22nd across all of the carrier's sales channels.

For a price of $79.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate and a signed 2-year contract on a qualifying plan, the Samsung Exhibit 4G offers many features that you would see on a much more expensive phone. With a 1GHz processor, single-core of course, and a 3.7 inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, the Exhibit 4G is a perfect handset for the first-time smartphone owner. And while many higher priced models are launching with Android 2.2 aboard, the Exhibit 4G will have Android 2.3.3 under the hood.

The only place where the manufacturer skimped a bit is on the 3MP camera, but then again, there is a VGA front-facing camera on the model. And the phone does have HSPA+ connectivity with theoretical peak download speeds of up to 21Mbps which explains the "4G" next to its name. The device is available in violet or black and comes with T-Mobile T.V. and the Samsung Media Hub which offers downloads of movies and television shows.

If you are looking for a messaging device or a phone with specs a little lower down the scale, you can save $10 by purchasing the Samsung Gravity SMART. Available at T-Mobile stores in Berry Red and Sapphire Blue for $69.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate and a signed 2-year pact on a qualifying plan, you will get an Android phone loaded with Froyo and equipped with a 3.2 inch screen. Heavy texters will have a choice of using the slideout landscape QWERTY keyboard, the stock Android keyboard that comes with Android 2.2, or the pre-installed swipe to type application Swype. Group text is also featured. If you don't mind owning the phone in Lunar Gray, you can purchase the Gravity SMART for just $29.99 online after rebate and with your John Hancock on a 2 year contract. Again, you must agree to a qualifying voice and data plan.

Who says that you have to spend a ton of money to get a loaded phone? The Samsung Exhibit 4G offers many of the same features that you will find on handsets costing 2 or 3 times its price. And the Samsung Gravity SMART features three different ways to type accurate texts and emails for a price as low as $29.99.

source: TmoNews

T-Mobile will launch the Samsung Exhibit 4G and the Samsung Gravity SMART on June 22nd

Google ad gives away BlackBerry Bold 9930's launch on Verizon

Just the other day, we reported that the BlackBerry Bold 9930 and Torch 9850 would be coming to Sprint. Verizon customers could be excused for being a bit jealous about the former device, which is seen as perhaps RIM's last chance to come close to Apple and Android. To understand why, you need to go back in time to the Summer of 2008 when RIM launched the BlackBerry Bold 9000.

Back then, as hard as it to believe now, Android wasn't even a tiny speck of dust in the smartphone ecosystem and the Apple iPhone had very few challengers except for a few featurephones like the LG Voyager on Verizon. When the Bold 9000 was launched, the squarish form factor made the device feel great in hand and allowed RIM to feature a QWERTY keyboard that was large enough to be considered one of the best physical keyboards on a handset-a distinction that it might still own to this day. But with one eye squarely on the iPhone, Bold 9000 owners could only wish for a touchscreen and a Safari-type browser on the handset.

Back to present day, RIM has not been able to come up with a device to challenge Apple. Even worse for the company, thanks to the Motorola DROID invasion in late 2009, Android has grown to become the monolith it now is and is just as much a challenger to RIM as Apple is-if not more. RIM's attempt to capture some of the touchscreen market with the BlackBerry Storm was a flop and the BlackBerry Torch did not have the specs to compete (although the Torch 2 will apparently have the chops, as we just reported). So RIM took the body and QWERTY of the BlackBerry Bold 9000 and added a 2.8 inch touchscreen, a new OS and what the manufacturer calls "the industry's best browser" and has come up with the BlackBerry Bold 9930 (the Bold 9900 is the GSM variant). All of the specs are in place to make this a major challenger to the Double A pair of Apple and Android.

This Google ad reveals that the BlackBerry Bold 9930 is coming to Verizon

And that brings us to Verizon customers who might have felt a pang of jealousy when they read that Sprint would get the BlackBerry Bold 9930. But those using Big Red as their mobile carrier have nothing to fear because recently an ad popped up on Google that says, "Bold Touchscreen-Verizon's BlackBerry Bold is ready to run. Online orders ship free". Sounds like someone might have jumped the gun. But at least, Verizon customers can relax, knowing that this honest-to-goodness beast from RIM is coming their way.

source: Crackberry

Apple hires the developer of MobileNotifier app; future versions of iOS could benefit

MobileNotifier is an app for the Apple iPhone that offers, "iOS notifications done right". It is similar to the notifications bar on the BlackBerry 6 OS. The lead developer of the app, Peter Hajas, has seemingly been hired by Apple. Obviously, the guys in Cupertino are planning to incorporate a similar style of notification system in an upcoming iOS build.

Hajas recently announced that he was taking a break from MobileNotifier for awhile. When pressed for a reason, he simply retorted that it would be worth it for him to leave, saying that, "if you look around hard enough, you'll probably figure it out." He then signed the post, "Until then, stay hungry and stay foolish", which is a comment made by Apple CEO Steve Jobs during his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford.

Perhaps the best clue was a tweet written by Hajas that was discovered by Redmond Pie. It says, "@brittaahh I’m glad you like it! I’ll see what I can do :) I will be back for a few weeks, then I’m off to work in CA at a “fruit” company." Unless there are some new tech companies named Grapes or Banana in California, it is safe to assume that Hajas will be toiling for Apple. On a list of employers, he names Apple as his place of employment as an intern from May of 2011 to present. Why an intern position? It is said to be how things work at Cupertino with new hires given that title until it is seen how they mesh with current employees before given the key to the bathroom.

source: MobileCrunch

Intel's Oak Trail chipset scores disappointing benchmark results

Friday at Computex, Intel displayed a prototype tablet made by Compal that had Intel Inside. The Intel 1.5GHz Atom Z670 Oak Trail processor with 1GB of RAM, was combined with a GPU based on the PowerVR SGX535. While it all sounds potent, the tablet's score on several benchmark tests was disappointing.

The guys at Tweakers.net put the tablet prototype through several benchmark tests such as CaffeineMark, Linpack, and Quadrant. In those tests, the tablet with Intel Inside finished behind other Android flavored tablets like the  Acer A500 Iconia Tab, and the Samsung Galaxy 10.1. For example, on the Linpack test,Tegra 2 packing tablets scored about 36 MFLOPS compared to the 9.4 MFLOPS tally produced by the Intel powered prototype. On the other hand, the results of the SunSpider benchmark had the Intel powered prototype tablet in first place, ahead of the Asus Eee Transformer Pad, showing that at least, the Intel chips can process JavaScript quickly.

Overall, the test scores were not great news for a company trying to break into a market that already has two proven brands with Nvidia's Tegra 2 and Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors. And there is also TI's OMAP4 series to contend with. Intel has to make up a lot of ground for the Oak Trail to be a player in this market.

source: Tweakers.net (Translated) via AndroidandMe

Latest comScore survey shows further progress for Android over the last 3 months

According to the latest survey from comScore, Android continues to add to its leading marketshare in the U.S. smartphone market. Google's open source OS added 5.2% from the last survey to have a 36.4% share of the market. Apple's iOS gained 1.2% over the same period to finish with 26% of the U.S. market. The survey counted smartphone users 13 years old and higher living in the United States.

The quarter's biggest loser was the BlackBerry platform. For the latest period, RIM lost 4.7% which dropped the company to third in the survey from the last report's second place figure. As of April, the firm had a 25.6% share of U.S. smartphone platforms, down from January's 30.4%. Rounding out the top 5, Microsoft dropped 1.3% to control 6.7% of the market and webOS dropped 6% to own a 2.6% share.

The top cellphone OEM in the U.S. (for owners 13 years old or higher) during the three month period ending in April was Samsung. The Korean based company had 24.5% of the U.S handset market, a small .4% drop from January. Countrymate LG was second with a 20.9% share, basically flat from the prior survey. Despite a .9% decline over the three months of the report, Motorola finished in third with 15.6% of the pie. Fourth place Apple controlled 8.3% of the U.S. handset market, up from 7% in the January survey while RIM dropped .4% to finish fifth with an 8.2% share, right behind Apple.

The report from comScore also shows that text messaging was used by a whopping 68.8% of U.S. cellphone owners age 13 and higher. 39 out of every 100 cellphone owners used the browser while 37.8% used downloaded apps. Somewhat surprising, only 28% visited a social networking site or a blog, while 26.2% played games on their phone. Just 18% used their handset to listen to music.

source: comScore via AndroidGuys