Jake Smith

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Motorola has announced a successor to its earlier Droid Pro, the Pro+. The Pro+ features a full QWERTY keyboard on the front of the device, Android 2.3, 1 GHz processor, 3.1-inch screen, and hotspot capabilities. Sadly, the device will not be making its way to the U.S. — rather, hitting Europe and Asia in October.

Motorola is filling a gap that Apple hasn’t yet attacked. Users who are tired of BlackBerry, but still need the business feel, now have a more viable option. We look forward to this hitting the states hopefully by the end of the year.

Full press release and gallery after the break:

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The Lapdock that sells alongside the Motorola Atrix hasn’t seen much success — due to high pricing. With the upcoming release of the Droid Bionic, we were wondering if the new LTE device would be seeing any of these accessories. In a new report from Droid Life today, the Droid Bionic will be seeing the Lapdock and HD Station that the Atrix saw, but will feature a new accessory called the Webtop.

The Webtop is a cheaper version to the Lapdock, allowing you to plug the adapter into the Bionic’s HDMI and micro USB port, and then run a HDMI cable from it to a TV or monitor. It will also charge while on the adapter.The similarities to Lapdock will definitely make it easy for users to transition to the new peripheral.There’s also no word on pricing.We look forward to this new accessory, but first we’d like the phone — Motorola!

PocketNow has published an exclusive picture of the Sprint Galaxy S II variant, dubbed the Epic 4G Touch, before its official unveiling tomorrow evening. The device was leaked earlier this month by This is my next, and was shown along side the AT&T and T-mobile versions last week.

Sadly, Verizon will not be on the carrier list for the Galaxy S II. The Galaxy S II will be unveiled officially in the U.S. tomorrow evening.

But with the announcement of the Galaxy S II LTE yesterday, we aren’t quite as pumped as we were a few days ago. At any rate we know what’s coming, so get those debit cards ready for preordering. We’ll be covering the event tomorrow evening.

Check out the trio of devices after the break:

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Over the weekend, many outlets reported that the Droid Bionic Twitter account tweeted the official Droid Bionic release date was September 8th. Sadly, PC Mag has confirmed with both Motorola and Verizon that the account is a hoax. That’s not to say the Bionic launch date still couldn’t be September 8th, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Motorola has also taken down the official Store listing that they made Saturday. The store listing didn’t provide anymore details on the device specifically. The listing did however give us a glimpse at a few more press shots — which you can find after the break.

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[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c20yOVKm5UM”]

With the price drop of the HP TouchPad to $99 came many developers who began working on porting Android to the device. A stable release hasn’t made its way to the internet quite yet, but as shown above by someone on the CyanogenMod team, it’s getting there. The $1500 or more bounty is surely pushing developers to getting there first. But, did Qualcomm beat everybody to the punch? (via RootzWiki)

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Samsung has just announced in a Korean press release that the Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE versions will be announced at Berlin’s IFA, September 2nd. The Galaxy S II LTE packs a 4.5 inch Super AMOLED Plus display, dual-core 1.5 GHz processor, higher capacity 1850 mAh battery, and support for NFC. Boy, are these specs impressive.

Tuesday, the Galaxy S II will be announced on U.S. shores on the carriers Sprint, AT&T, and T-mobile. Verizon confirmed to us last week that they wouldn’t be carrying the Galaxy S II, but they never said no to the LTE version. Could this Galaxy S II LTE be making its way to Verizon?

You bet we’ll be covering IFA, but in the meantime, check out a few more beautiful shots after the break:

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An.droid Life has exclusively leaked the first images of the new Galaxy Tab 7.7, which is expected to be announced at IFA next week. There aren’t many details on the new device, except the fact it uses a 30-pin connector to charge like the Galaxy Tab 1o.1. How can we tell the difference between this and the 10.1? The 7.7 is charging on the side/small panel, while the 10.1 is on the bottom. Also, the device is rumored to be packing a Super AMOLED screen. Only time will tell, so stick with us next week as we cover IFA. Yeah, we’ll be there!

Check out the other shot after the break:

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Due to weather conditions, Samsung is pushing back their Galaxy S II event from Monday, to Tuesday. Currently, Hurricane Irene is barreling its way to New York, where the event is going to take place. Thanks Samsung for making a good decision, to keep all of us bloggers safe. You bet we’ll have full coverage Tuesday, but in the mean time stay dry — will ya?

Reuters is reporting that during the Edinburgh television festival, Eric Schmidt said Google is bringing on more partners to help expand their Google TV platform. Schmidt explained the company’s commitment to the platform, and that bring on more manufacturers would solve problems.

Schmidt sourced the scant availability of a set-top box version to be the reason why Google TV isn’t selling well. He said at the moment, Google TV is designed into televisions, which consumers replace around every 5 years. What about the Logitech Revue, Mr. Schmidt?

Along with new partners, Schmidt said Friday that Google TV would make its way to Europe in the next six months. It looks like Schmidt, and company, are committed to improving Google TV for the long haul.

The Droid Bionic you have all been waiting for has just made its official debut on the Motorola Store. The Store posting doesn’t say much. In fact, there aren’t any specs or details, but we’re assuming those are coming shortly. And of course, you can’t purchase the device quite yet.

Luckily, a few more press shots were provided with the official posting. Upon our first look we’ve noticed the device is still looking pretty thick. We can’t make any official judgements quite yet, but look out for early September. (via Android Central)

Check out a few more press shots after the break:

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The front and back of the HTC Holiday shown on the left, and the back of the HTC Vigor shown on the right

Engadget has leaked exclusive images of the HTC Holiday, a device reportedly heading to AT&T this fall with 4G bands. The device looks to pack a beautiful 4.5-inch qHD display, 1.2 GHz processor, 8-megapixel shooter, 1.3-megapixel front facing camera, and yes, 4G LTE.

DroidLife has also leaked the first pictures of the HTC Vigor, a device that packs a 1.5 GHz processor heading to Verizon this fall with 4G bands. Overall specs for the device are impressive: a front facing camera, shooter on the back, 4.3-inch HD screen, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal space.

These devices paired with the Galaxy S II and Droid Bionic, and what ever else carriers have down their sleeve, will make Android to have a sure shot against the iPhone 5 — which is slated for a mid-October launch.
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Pocketnow has leaked an exclusive shot of all of Samsung’s Galaxy S II variants on Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. You’ll notice both the T-mobile and Sprint versions are rounded, while the AT&T version is square. Besides the shape we don’t see any noticeable differences between the devices (besides the branding of course). You might be thinking, where’s the Verizon version? This week we reported that Verizon wouldn’t be carrying a Galaxy S II variant for the time being, and it was later confirmed by the WSJ.

The Galaxy S II is going to be announced next Monday, maybe along with a few more devices. At any rate you bet we’ll be there to cover the event.. if the weather doesn’t stop us.

AllThingsD is reporting this evening that Google will shutdown Slide, a company they acquired for $200 million last year. All of Slide’s products will be shutdown — except Prizes.org (via TechCrunch). While the rest of the Slide team will continue to work at Google, Slide’s found Max Levchin is leaving. A Google spokesperson told AllThingsD:

“Max has decided to leave Slide and Google to pursue other opportunities, and we wish him the best. Most of the team from Slide will remain at Google to work on other opportunities.”

Before being shutdown by Google, the Slide team was hard at work on Photovine, a photo sharing app that was released by Google just one week ago. The app was focused on sharing photos specific to a certain category, or vine, with the community. Sadly, Photovine will receiving the axe over the next few months — along with Slide’s other products like Disco and Pool Party. So why would Google kill off a part of their company that released something just a week ago.. and paid $200 million for?

Updated: Slide’s official blog post has gone up. Continue after the break..

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Google has pushed an update this afternoon for Google+ for Android. The update is pretty minor featuring a few bug fixes, but the update now gives users the ability to reshare posts made by the people they follow. The update also adds the support for up to 38 languages. Check out the full change log after the break: (via PhanDroid)

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Earlier this week we reported the beloved Galaxy S II wouldn’t be launching on Verizon, after it is announced next Monday. A new report from the Wall Street Journal backs up or claim stating the Galaxy S II will launch on Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T — but not Verizon. Verizon confirmed WSJ’s report to TechCrunch, saying the Galaxy S II won’t be available for the time being.

At an event Monday at New York’s Time Warner Center, Samsung will announce it is selling the device starting in September on AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA’s networks, according to people familiar with the plans, but Verizon Wireless said it won’t offer the device.

The Galaxy S II has seen much success in Europe, and it should certainly do well in the U.S. Do well enough in fact that it might be the best contendor to the rumored launch of Apple’s iPhone 5 this October. We look forward to covering the event Monday, so check back to hear more.

This morning we reported Samsung is going to expand their Galaxy S line by adding “R”, “W”, “M”, and “Y” to the line-up. Tonight we have more details on these four phones (via This is my next), which will all launch with Gingerbread. Sadly, we don’t know the pricing or carriers quite yet.

The one we are most thrilled about is the Galaxy Y (pictured above), which packs a nice 3-inch display. If Samsung can sell this phone for $100 we think they will open up a totally new market. While the specs aren’t the greatest, you’re getting your money’s worth for $100.

• HSDPA 7.2/ HSUPA 5.76 900/2100, EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
• 832MHz Processor
• 3.0-inch QVGA(320×240) TFT LCD display
• Camera: 2-megapixel
• 3.5mm Ear Jack, Stereo FM Radio with RDS
• Bluetooth 3.0
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Accelerometer, Digital compass, Proximity
• 160MB Internal memory + 2GB inbox + microSD (up to 32GB)
• Size & weight: 104 x 58 x 11.5mm, 97.5 g
• Battery: 1,200 mAh, 300-minute talk time

Check out the other 3 after the break:

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Google engineer Ido Green just made comment on This week in Google that offline mode for Gmail and Calendar are on their way by the end of the summer. There was talk of these features at this year’s Google I/O, but it’s nice to know offline mode is still on track. Besides Gmail and Calendar, Green also said there are a few more offline features coming.

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As the launch of the Motorola Droid Bionic comes closer, more and more information regarding the device is leaking — almost daily. Today’s leak is the Droid Bionic’s teaser, and boy is this quite a production. Besides the great theatrical entertainment, it confirms a September drop. Boy this must have been expensive — enjoy! For those of you who didn’t see, check out the Bionic’s boot sequence after the break. (via Droid Life)

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When you think about a $199 tablet, there aren’t many good options out there. However, the X10 AirPad might just be the solution for you.The retailer X10 is promising the AirPad to be the “best tablet on the market for under $200.”

The AirPad is sporting Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 7-inch display (unfortunately 800×480 resolution), 1.2 GHz Rockchip 2918 processor, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage. The device also packs HDMI out capable of 1080p playback, a full-size USB port, mini USB port, 3.5mm headphone jack, and microSD card slot. The device’s 4000 mAh battery supports up to 6 hours with Wi-Fi off, and 4 hours on. The X10 also has a 2-megapixel shooter and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera.

With that Barnes and Noble’s Nook heading below $200 in refurbished form, this may be an option for those who want some low spec cameras or a more open, updated OS. Check out another image after the break. (via Android Central)

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For those of you who are big fans of Hulu Plus, you’ll be happy to know that the streaming service has landed on the Vizio 8. Currently, Hulu Plus is available on a total of ten Android phones– making the Vizio 8 the first Android tablet.

As This is my next points out, the Vizio 8 is available for $299 making it a nice cheap option to view Hulu Plus.

Google purchased g.co with the mindset of using it as a short URL for their services. The goog.gl short URL remains with users, but today Google has put their g.co URL to work. In Maps, users can now generate a short link when they go to share a location. The link generated will follow the lines of: g.co/maps/xxxx. Expect this to be rolled out to more Google products. (via RCR Unplugged)