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T-Mobile Kills Off the Sidekick 4G Posted: 12 Mar 2012 03:12 PM PDT Some of you may be dissapointed to read this, but it looks like T-Mobile is putting an end to the Sidekick era as they recently put down the good ol’ Sidekick 4G. That’s right, the trusty QWERTY device favored by many has unfortunately reached EOL (end of life) status. According to a leaked T-Mo system screenshot obtained by TmoNews, Magenta discontinued the Sidekick 4G as of last Tuesday, March 6th. Since we haven’t seen anything along the lines of a replacement slide out QWERTY from T-Mobile, it leads one to believe that the Sidekick series of devices may actually be discontinued forever. Let’s hope they really do have something new in the works because it would be a shame to see such a loyal following go to waste. source: TmoNews Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Samsung outselling Apple by three to one in China Posted: 12 Mar 2012 02:57 PM PDT Here at TalkAndroid we’d be lying if we said we didn’t enjoy seeing Apple taking a spanking every once in a while and that’s exactly what’s happening in the Far East right now. Where Android remains the most popular Operating System across the world, the iPhone is generally the top selling individual smartphone in most countries. Most countries except for China, which just happens to be one of the biggest smartphone markets in the world. A recent report from Bloomberg shows Apple holding a 7.5% share of Chinese smartphone sales which actually places it as the fifth most popular manufacturer. Samsung is sitting pretty at number one with a healthy 24.3% share. All gloating aside, much of the success is down to the backing of the major Chinese mobile carriers. Samsung has used all three of the major networks for the past 4 years including China Mobile (655 million subscribers), China Unicom (200 million subscribers) and China Telecom (129 million subscribers). Apple initially only sold the iPhone through China Unicom and only recently added China Telecom, China Mobile is likely to remain a huge omission due to Apple’s unwillingness to adopt the 3G standard that the network operates on. It will be interesting to see if Samsung can hold on to such a big percentage of the market share. The launches of both the Galaxy SIII and the iPhone 5 (New iPhone, iPhone 4.5s?) will certainly shake up the market worldwide. source : phoneArena Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

9.7-Inch IdeaTab S2109 Passes FCC, Could Launch This Month Posted: 12 Mar 2012 02:46 PM PDT During CES 2012 back in January we brought to you a hands on video with the Lenovo IdeaPad S2110 that was announced at the event. While we are still waiting to hear on if this device will make it’s U.S. debut it appears that its cousin the S2109A-F has passed through the FCC and could possibly arrive sometime this month. This tablet will have Ice Cream Sandwich onboard as I assume most, if not all, tablets will have until the release of Jelly Bean. Besides that it will have a 9.7-inch, 4:3 IPS display, a TI OMAP processor and four SRS-ready speakers. If the above diagram is any indication the tablet will have a microSD slot and will require a beefy 2.5A input at 5 volts. This suggests that the tablet will come with a 12.5W adapter and is a lot higher than the normal maximum of 10 watts. Could it mean that charging time won’t take as long? Here’s hoping. When the time comes it will be sold in Canada, Chile, China, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, Turkmenistan and the U.S. Does a 4:3 aspect Android tablet excite you? Let us know in the comment section below. source: FCC via: engadget  Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

[Deal] Amazon Offers All Eight Sprint 4G Phones for Only $0.01 Each Posted: 12 Mar 2012 02:26 PM PDT Right now, Amazon is quite possibly offering one of the best smartphones sales of this year. From now until March 26th, all Sprint’s 4G smartphones are on sale for only.. wait for it… one lousy penny! That’s right, for one cent (and the usual contract obligations) you can get any one of the following 4G phones to use on the Now Network: Samsung Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G (white and black versions) HTC EVO Design 4G HTC EVO Shift 4G Samsung Nexus S 4G Samsung Epic 4G HTC EVO 3D 4G (black and plum versions) Motorola Photon 4G Samsung Conquer 4G That’s a total of eight 4G phones to choose from, all of which would make for a great new addition. The only catch? This deal only applies to new contracts unfortunately, so if you are in need of a new wireless carrier and have been eyeballing a new Galaxy S II then this is probably the time to get on board with the most successful Android device to date. Plus, the SGSII is scheduled to receive the illustrious ICS update sometime in the near future, too. Hit up the source link below for further details and to place you order. source: Amazon Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

HTC Shows Off One X Deluxe, Limited Edition in Taiwan Posted: 12 Mar 2012 01:34 PM PDT While everyone around the world is still waiting for the release of the HTC One X that hasn’t stopped HTC from announcing a deluxe, limited edition version of the flagship device. The Taiwanese company took some time to show off the device that’s packed with the Solo Beats by Dre headphones valued at $179.95. The device will be available in Taiwan for pre-order starting March 20th and it will be sold for 24,900 Taiwan dollars or roughly $842 American.  HTC hasn’t voiced any plans in regards to the device coming to other areas and markets. It will have the same specs as the first announced One X which include Android 4.0 with Sense 4 UI, a 4.7-inch Super IPS HD display, and a 1.5 GHz Tegra 3 processor to highlight just a few of the amazing specs. While the AT&T version rocks a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor I’m hoping that maybe the limited edition makes its way stateside with the Tegra 3 processor intact especially considering the possible S4 shortage. While the price may be the Achilles’ heel for this version of the One X, it does come with the Beats Solo headphones.While this may not be something that entices you the fancy packaging might. Scroll on down a bit further to check it out. Enjoy! source: ePrice via: unwiredview  Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

HTC Media Link Makes Its Rounds At The FCC, Indicates It’s On Its Way Very Soon Posted: 12 Mar 2012 01:26 PM PDT Didn’t believe the hype surrounding HTC’s Media link at MWC this year did you? Well those who were skeptics will now be believers as the sweet wireless HD accessory has made its rounds at the FCC and looks primed for a release sometime within the next month or so. That means we’ll be able to experience a DLNA alternative that will display photos, video, games, etc. very soon. Let’s just hope the price is right and doesn’t scare too many folks off into buying this cool accessory. source: FCC via: Engadget Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

No 4G licenses in China for another few years, according to official Posted: 12 Mar 2012 12:48 PM PDT While cell phone carriers in the U.S. are hurrying to implement 4G across the country, China is doing the opposite. On Chinese state-owned TV, an official has stated that China will not grant licenses required to deploy 4G LTE for two to three years. Miao Wei, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said carriers need to expand the current equipment for 3G, while also waiting for more vendor support for a variant of LTE called LTE TDD (also known as TD-LTE). This will also give vendors more time to create devices that will use the faster networks. Right now, there are 220,000 TD-SCDMA (a variant of 3G) base stations in the country, and it needs to increase to 400,000 before China feels comfortable moving to 4G. Also, the ministry is doing trials for LTE TDD, which is one of two LTE variants. In the U.S., cell phone companies have been using the other variant, LTE FDD. Miao noted the need for manufacturers to create LTE TDD phones, stating: “We need their active participation, to speed up development of the commercial trials.” China Mobile, the largest mobile carrier in the country, is encouraging the expansion of LTE TDD. They unveiled the ZTE MT73 to run on LTE TDD. They have also sought out international business partnerships with companies such as Vodafone, Softbank Mobile, Clearwire, E-Plus and Bharti Airtel to push LTE TDD as the global standard. There are almost 1 billion mobile phone users in China, but only 135 million of them are using the 3G networks that went live in 2009. China is ensuring that all the puzzle pieces are in place before they take the leap to LTE. source: PC World Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Sony’s MT27i “Pepper” Spotted Briefly on the Web Posted: 12 Mar 2012 12:46 PM PDT Back in January when we saw the leaked Sony smartphone roadmap, we thought for sure a couple of the devices on the list would make an appearance at this years MWC. One of the devices we were curious to see was the Sony MT27i (Pepper). Well MWC came and went and still no sign of this mysterious Pepper handset. Until now. Lucky for us some stealthy ninja captured a screenshot of the device as it appeared on Sony Mobile China’s website for just a brief moment, then was taken down. Looking at the outed image, the MT27i somewhat represents the Xperia NXT line of handsets, save for the transparent nav bar. A few other things noted by the folks at Xperia blog are the capacitive buttons and the presence of a dedicated shutter button. The MT27i is believed to have a 3.7-inch 480 x 854 display, a 1GHz dual-core ST-Ericsson U8500 NovaThor processor, 8GB of on-board storage, 512MB RAM and a 5MP camera. Also since we can see the included Xperia Tags in the image, it’s safe to say the device has NFC capabilities and could possibly come with a set of the tags when released. We should be seeing more of this device in the near future. source: IT168.com via: Xperia blog Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Marvel And Aurasma Announce Collaboration For Comics Featuring Augmented Reality Posted: 12 Mar 2012 12:38 PM PDT You may have heard of a little something called Augmented Reality. Since we previewed it at CES this year, we’ve seen various applications and uses for it and heck— even we’ll see it even in sweet HUD glasses among other things. Over at SXSW, Marvel is hooking up with Aurasma to bring some pizzazz to the various comics out there. This collaboration will allow users watch video trailers of comics they see, 3D animation, recaps and other exclusive goodies just by holding their phones up to comics. Yup, this means we’ll be seeing our favorite action heroes spring to life, similar to what a certain toy making giant is already planning too. To commemorate this partnership, Marvel the free Marvel IR app which will power its augmented reality. Check out the video below to see none other than Iron Man strutting his stuff during an impressive demo of the technology. Anyone else excited yet? Click here to view the embedded video. source: Tech Crunch Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G launching in select T-Mobile stores on March 21, Everywhere else on March 28 Posted: 12 Mar 2012 10:17 AM PDT Who’s ready for another phone to be released without Ice Cream Sandwich? T-Mobile just contacted us to tell us the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G will be available in select T-Mobile stores starting Mach 21, and eventually in all stores on March 28. This is no Galaxy S II successor, but more like a followup to the Galaxy S. It’s priced at $149 after a $50 mail-in-rebate and has the following features: 3.97-inch (800 x 480) Super AMOLED Screen 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor 5MP camera capable of shooting 720p video 1.3MP front-facing camera Support for HSPA+ at 42/Mbps Android 2.3.6 No mention of RAM, but I think it’s safe to assume 1GB. Either way, I have to say disappointment is an understatement when it comes to the fact that this phone is being released 5 months after the Ice Cream Sandwich SDK was released, but is going to rock Gingerbread.