Category Archives: Android

Motorola DEFY Hands-On And Unboxing (video!)

November 4, 2010 1:22 PM ⋅

A short day after release the Motorola DEFY is ready to be put through some intense and very serious testing here from LaptopMemo. Main testing may or may not include plane flights, swimming in 6 feet deep water, dropping on tables, heavy app downloading, Angry Birds, multitasking, and plenty of phone calls and social networking. And to start off, an unboxing. So technically, we are going to torture (but not break, hopefully) Motorola’s DEFY test unit. There’s a video unboxing after the “more” link and a gallery below! Update: Sorry about that! Video is ready to go.

Motorola DEFY Hands-On


Read More →

Posted in: Android, Mobile, Motorola, T-Mobile ⋅ Tagged: , ,

Twitter for Android Gets And Looks Fresh In New Update

November 3, 2010 8:05 PM ⋅

In the shadow of today’s Facebook mobile platform announcement, Twitter decided to have a go at making the Twitter for Android app give Tweetdeck a run for its money, and polish the refreshed app at the same time. New features in the faster loading and swiping app include:

• Pull to Refresh: This popular feature, which was first available through our iPhone app, functions just as it sounds – when you’re at the top of your timeline, simply pull down to load new Tweets.
• Swipe to Reveal: Swipe across a Tweet to get quick access to several options, such as viewing a user’s profile, sharing a tweet, or replying.
• Quote a Tweet: Clicking the retweet icon now gives you the option to quote a Tweet. Of course, you can still retweet as you normally would.
• Hi-res avatar photos

The new app is available for all Android 2.1 phones and higher, and is available for free as I’m typing this and looking at our Twitter feed at the same time.

Posted in: Android, Apps ⋅ Tagged: , ,

Samsung Continuum Sits On Verizon Wireless Holiday Page

November 2, 2010 4:55 PM ⋅

Is that the Samsung Continuum? Yes it is! The little sucker has a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED and the “ticker” notification screen making it a dual-screen phone. It also uses Bing as the default search option, but it being (purportedly) Android 2.2, you can make a trip to the Android Market to get the Google Search widget and app. The announcement seems to be on the 8th (or the Nexus S?), so by then we’ll have a price and release date.

Hopefully. Via: Verizon

Posted in: Android, Mobile, Samsung, Verizon ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,

Motorola DROID 2 Global Final Details Surface, Some Details Missing

November 2, 2010 9:54 AM ⋅

A handy chart whipped up in Photoshop by Motorola and leaked by Droid-Life compares the DROID 2 Global to the iPhone 4 and the two other big Androids on Verizon: the Samsung Fascinate and DROID Incredible. First off, the Droid 2 Global contains that meaty 1.2 GHz processor, comes in “Dark Sapphire” or “Winter White” and still has the same 3.7-inch, 854 x 480-pixel touchscreen display. Other features include Android 2.2, Dual Band CDMA, Quad Band GSM and Tri Band UMTS for usage almost anywhere in the world with the right SIM card.

And here’s some more specs:

• Remote wipe of device and SD card
• Document editing with QuickOffice
• Inbox filtering
• Invite attendees to meetings using GAL
• Free/busy lookups for meeting participants
• 5-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash
• Dual-band CDMA and quad-band GSM
• Physical keyboard and virtual Swype keyboard
• 8GB internal memory plus 8GB pre-installed SD card
• Android 2.2
• 3 UI profiles
• 3G mobile hotspot capability
• Flash 10.1

And still we’ll need a release date and price; those details are missing Verizon and we all want them soon.

Posted in: Android, Mobile, Motorola, Verizon ⋅ Tagged: ,

Remember The Notion Ink Adam? Good, It’s Got Some Improvements

November 2, 2010 8:51 AM ⋅

If you’re one of the few that still think the Notion Ink Adam isn’t vaporware and is in fact getting released, then continue reading. This time the Adam is due to ship this month, and comes in two screen options: an LCD model and a Pixel Qi trans-reflective LCD variant; both of which contain a CPU/GPU team of 1GHz dual-core Arm Cortex-A9 processor and Nvidia Tegra 2 graphics. Connectivity will be addressed, so it’ll feature 2 USB ports, a micro USB port, an HDMI-out port, a microSD card slot, and SIM card slot. Not bad.

And if you were wondering which version of Android it would use, 2.2 FroYo is the answer. That’s some almighty good looking non-vaporware, if I do say so myself. Via: Notion Ink

Posted in: Android, Tablets ⋅ Tagged: ,

NPD: Apple Overtakes RIM, Android Pummels Both

November 1, 2010 11:11 AM ⋅

While the iPhone is the most popular smartphone in the U.S, Android is now the most dominating platform. RIM, creator of the Blackberry line saw its share go down by 6 points leaving it at 22 percent, while Apple saw a rise by about 1 point, to make it 23 percent. In the above chart, RIM on a year to-year basis is seen to have dropped dramatically, while Apple much less so. Android as a platform on the other hand, saw a surge to have 44% of handsets using Google’s operating system.

This proves that Android is moving faster at the pace of quarters than anyone might have perceived, and as for RIM, let’s just say they don’t look to well. Via: NPD

Posted in: Android, Apple, BlackBerry, News ⋅ Tagged: ,

Samsung Official Busts And Crushes Nexus S Rumor

November 1, 2010 9:26 AM ⋅

If you remember the saga that is the Samsung Continuum on November 8th then a rumor turning it into the Nexus S or Nexus Two, a Korean site by the name of danawa.com quotes a Samsung official stating that the entire rumor is a false alarm, especially when Giz created the mockup above representing what was seen in person. This begs to be argued with, because Google did deny they were in the process of making the Nexus One — when they were making the Nexus One. In the same way Facebook denies a Facebook Phone, but they’re holding a mobile event in a few days (although it really doesn’t look like they’re making one).

But now, the only way to figure this all out is to follow LaptopMemo from the November 8th press event and see what happens, right?

Posted in: Android, Rumors, Samsung ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

Samsung Continuum Just Passed By The FCC’s Desk?

October 31, 2010 12:01 PM ⋅

While it is a boring Sunday for tech news and Halloween for some, that doesn’t stop me looking for the best stuff to put out for you guys to read, does it? The Samsung Continuum, recognized by me in its unusually long-profile, is seen above and the label insides the battery compartment is after the break. This recent filing, along with others using the same model number, possibly variants, made on the 28th shows proof that the Samsung Continuum is in fact the device we’ll be seeing on the 8th of November. Now I just have to be there to figure that out, which I will.

Via: FCC

Read More →

Posted in: Android, Leaks, Samsung ⋅ Tagged:

Proving They Can Do Battle, U.S Cellular Announces Their Own Galaxy Tab

October 28, 2010 11:37 PM ⋅

Interesting. A regional carrier is now the fifth to offer the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Loaded with Android 2.2 and TouchWiz 3.0, that mess of shiny and colorful albeit sometimes very pleasing user interface is coming this holiday season for an undisclosed price. On the flip-side of all of this, it’ll be 1 out of 6 possibilities to review the Galaxy Tab from Samsung (one for each carrier, and one from Samsung).

Read More →

Posted in: Android, Samsung, Tablets ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

New Rumor: Samsung To Launch Coveted Nexus Two On November 8th?

October 28, 2010 9:32 AM ⋅

I don’t know how plausible the rumors swirling around the webs are, but as I know it, Samsung is launching a new Android device on the 8th of November and has begun inviting members of the press, me included, and I can report that I’ll be there for the launch. Originally I planned to be there for CES Preview a day later, but hey, the plans changed.

Now back to the “rumor”, the possibility of a Nexus Two is heavily disputed, as Google CEO Eric Schmidt dissed the idea after the web sales-only Nexus One, which ultimately succeeded in showing the new face of Android to the world, but failed in sales. At the moment there are conflicting reports that the Samsung Continuum would be launched on the 8th, although inviting all the major press to a critical event for something very mid-range like the Continuum may not be what Samsung has in mind; for one thing, all their recent product launches for Android have been big, and only big, although that doesn’t mean there isn’t any room left for one last, smaller event.

As for the idea that Google would only reside to HTC for the building of a new Nexus Two, that can be debunked due to the fact that insider info points to Sony Ericsson earlier this year for being put in charge of building the original N1, but then refused.

Even though we don’t know the entirety of what Samsung has in mind, you can bet that I’ll be at the conference, live-blogging, hands-on reporting, and blasting away on all our gadgets to bring you everything from the event in NYC.

Posted in: Android, Rumors, Samsung ⋅ Tagged: ,