Motorola Droid 2 Coming Packaged With Android 2.2

The Motorola Droid 2 is on it's way and more and more information is being leaked about it. Today there are a pair of independent leaks confirming that the second coming of Motorola's QWERTY keyboard smartphone will be running Android 2.2 (Froyo) right out of the box. Droid Life has a tipster that has apparently spent some time with the device describing its keyboard as "phenomenal" and pointing out that it feels notably snappier than the original Droid. The Froyo connection was reiterated by Phandroid's sources, which provide images of Verizon's device database indicating once again that Android 2.2 and Droid 2 will be matched and paired for when the launch codes get entered.

The device is rumored to be released earlier than expected and rumor has it that it might be dropping on August 12 which is 11 days sooner than previously mentioned. How many of you Android fans are excited hearing all this news now? Let us know by dropping us a comment below! And, stay tuned for more news and info by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Apple And AT&T’s Relationship Just A Meaningless Tie

Since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, we have heard several rumors about Apple working with Verizon to bring the iPhone to their network. It seems that some of the speculations may have actually had a grain of truth to them. Wired recently looked into the complexity of Apple's relationship with AT&T over the years and the reason the partnership continued thus far despite the many problems between the two.

Fred Vogelstein from Wired says that one of the earliest instances the relationship between Apple and AT&T fell short was with Cupertino's use of Infineon as the supplier for cellular communication hardware. Vogelstein pointed out that Infineon's technology is better suited to the European market where cellular towers are located closer to one another. Apple reported to have declined the request by AT&T insisting on working with Apple to make the hardware from Infineon work better on their network, saying things such as "No, you resolve them. They're not our problem. They're your problem."

The report further mentioned that officials from AT&T visited Apple a number of times to try and convince the company to make a trade-off between user experience and call-quality but Apple officials ended up firmly standing their ground on these requests. Vogelstein noted the following:

It(Apple) wasn’t interested in cooperating, especially if it meant hobbling what had quickly become its marquee product. For Apple, the idea of restricting the iPhone was akin to asking Steve Jobs to ditch the black turtleneck. “They tried to have that conversation with us a number of times,” says someone from Apple who was in the meetings. “We consistently said ‘No, we are not going to mess up the consumer experience on the iPhone to make your network tenable.’ They’d always end up saying, ‘We’re going to have to escalate this to senior AT&T executives,’ and we always said, ‘Fine, we’ll escalate it to Steve and see who wins.’ I think history has demonstrated how that turned out.

Wired also mentioned that Steve Jobs suggested several times that Apple must terminate its partnership with AT&T in favor of another carrier. The report pointed out that Apple engineers made several visits to Qualcomm headquarters to study the possibility of switching to Verizon's network and what doing so would entail. Vogelstein mentioned the following regarding this issue:

Apple also heavily considered switching to Verizon numerous times. Around the end of 2007, at Jobs' behest, Apple engineers (including Scott Forstall) visited the headquarters of Qualcomm - the primary supplier of the chips in Verizon's phones. It concluded that switching to Verizon would be too complicated and expensive because the chips were different sizes and would necessitate rebuilding the iPhone from scratch. Apple also wasn't convinced that Verizon's network would fare much better and let's not forget the nasty lawsuit that voiding its exclusive pact with AT&T would invite.

Mainly an extremely high cost of transition to the Verizon network has been the primary reason behind Apple's decision to stick with the AT&T network thus far as noted by Wired. However the company continued to work with Qualcomm on possible other solutions to the issue. Recent rumors have been suggesting that Qualcomm could be working on a hybrid chip that will allow the iPhone to run on both CDMA and UMTS networks and it turns out these rumors are true.

Verizon is currently making the transition to the LTE network that is expected to become available next year. Currently, AT&T has also hinted on the imminent end to carrier exclusivity by announced the revised Early Termination Fee (ETF) chargers and advancing the upgrade eligibility for many of their customers for the iPhone 4. Between these events and the fact that there is a court case regarding AT&T and Apple's partnership with the iPhone we believe that speculations that Apple would offer the iPhone to Verizon as early as next year may turn out to be true. What do you think of the whole ordeal? Do you prefer the iPhone be on a network such as Verizon instead of AT&T? Share your thoughts in the comments below. If you are interested in reading the Wired article, click here.

Verizon Freezes Microsoft Kin Sales; Returns Remaining Stock

If you are still for some reason harboring a desire for a Microsoft KIN, you might want to act fast. According to sources speaking to WMExperts, Verizon is freezing sales and sending back all remaining stock, which they have started doing on July 18th. Having axed the feature-phone project - targeted at a "Generation Upload" teen market that didn't seem particularly inclined to either give up their regular "adult" smartphones. It looks like Microsoft is now gathering up the unwanted leftover products.

If you still see the KIN being something you would like to use or have a soft spot for the dinky form-factor of the KIN One - then you should probably head down to your nearest Verizon store first thing and catch them before the workers get busy with the packing tape. Checking Verizon's own site shows the listings for the two handsets as being "present" but clicking on them prompts that neither is "available at this time," so you may or may not be able to catch it in time.

HTC's Percentage Response To Apple's Antennagate Demo

Apple's Friday press conference, now dubbed Antennagate conference has definitely angered many, including several rival handset manufacturers. Some of the manufacturers such as Nokia and RIM have released an official response already towards Apple's statements but not all of the companies are taking Cupertino's words and opinions to heart. HTC's Droid Eris was arguably the most affected byt he grip of doom, its bars dropping to zero when held ,but the Taiwanese company's keeping any controversial opinions to itself for now. Instead it simply shared a simple percentage to clear the air.

Apple claimed over 0.55 percent of customers called AppleCare with reception-related complains, HTC's Eric Lin informed Pocket-lint the Droid Eris technical suport rate was only 0.016 percent, nearly thirty-four times lower - although with a seven-month head start, we have to wonder if the Eris sold close to three million by the time Verizon bought the axe down. HTC's approach is definitely different from that of the other companies brought into the mix.

Consumer Reports Still Does Not Recommend Apple's iPhone 4

Even after Apple tried to address the iPhone 4's atenna design issue with a press conference where they mentioned they would offer free cases for the phone to mitigate against signal loss, Consumer Reports still gives the iPhone 4 the thumbs down. In a press conference held on Friday July 16th, Jobs reiterated the company's earlier claim that all smarphones have similar problems, and that "no one has solved this problem." Apple's CEO did not hesitate to drag other phone companies into the mix such as RIM and Nokia. Job's also mentioned that Apple engineers have been "working our butts off so we can come up with real solutions" to the antenna issue and they are continuing to do so. While a real solution to the problem is being worked on, Apple will offer a free case to all customers who have purchased an iPhone 4 since it's introduction on June 24th. "We're going to send you a free case. We can't make enough Bumpers. So we're going to source some cases and give you a choice." Apple will also offer refunds to customers who have already bought the Bumper, Apple's only case for the iPhone 4. For those who have already bought third-party cases aren't assured of a refund, although Jobs did mention they can write to Apple if they want their money back and "we'll consider the request." The free cases would be available by the end of next week, to all customers who purchase iPHones prior to September 30th. After that date, Jobs mentioned the company would "reevaluate" the issue. "Maybe we'll have a better idea," he said.

In recent tests originally sparked by consumer complaints, Consumer Reports confirmed that the iPhone 4's signal-loss problem was in fact real. CR also determined that a Bumper, a case, or even something like a small piece of tape could alleviate the issue. Although some people think Consumer Reports handled their tests incorrectly, many consumers still follow the advice of the popular blog before making purchases. Consumer Reports believes that Apple's offer of free cases is a good first step, however Apple has indicated that this isn't a long-term solution, it has only guaranteed the offer through September 30th, and has not extended it unequivocally to customers who bought cases from third-party vendors. CR states they look forward to a long-term fix from Apple, as things currently stand, they still do not recommend the iPhone 4.

Verizon Updates Online Inventory – Motorola Droid X Officially On Sale

The Motorola Droid X is now officially available on Verizon's website. So order yours and go to bed. Or at least go to bed so you can wake up early and get one in the morning at the store. And, if you are unable to make it into a Verizon store over the next few days? Then order your Droid X online. Not only will you bypass the $100 mail-in-rebate, but you’ll likely have your device by Friday after the free 2-day shipping which accompanies most phone orders.

With rumors of sporadic inventory, this might be a good option if you don’t need the device immediately on launch day. You can pick up this bad boy for $199...

 

Keep in mind because of the new Motorola bootloader lock, this device does not have root access. You can also download the user guide for Droid X here. And check out the below or go to Verizon's YouTube Channel

Motorola Locks Bootloader On Droid X To Keep Hackers Out

There's been a lot of hype about the new Motorola Droid X coming to Verizon. According to a blog post on MotoDev - just like the Motorola Milestone, it appears the upcoming Droid X and Droid 2 will have a digitally signed bootloader that will prevent users from flashing custom ROMs.

Motorola explained their position during the Milestone controversy:

 

The encrypted bootloader will be a major hurdle to overcome for the modders and hackers. In the mean time if you want to hack your Android phone and mod it ’til it won’t boot anymore, you might be better off going with other HTC models or even Samsung at this point which have all been rooted already.

Stay tuned for more news and updates from the hacking and development community by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

T-Mobile Announces HSPA+ Expansion In 19 Cities On July 21st

T-Mobile's HSPA+ service should get a major expansion in just ver a week, including a new netbook to match, if a tip this evening is accurate.

• Austin, TX
• Baltimore, MD
• Birmingham, AL
• Cincinnati, OH
• Cleveland, OH
• Columbus, OH
• El Paso, TX
• Ft. Worth, TX
• Hawaii, HI
• Indianapolis, IL
• Jacksonville, FL
• Kansas City, MO
• Louisville, TN
• Milwaukee, WI
• Minneapolis, MN
• Portland, OR
• San Antonio, TX
• Washington, D.C.
• Wichita, KS

In addition to the HSPA+ expansion on July 21st T-Mobile will be launching the new webConnect Rocket 2.0 USB data stick with an “enhanced design” that swivels, so you don’t accidentally snap the thing when it’s plugged in. T-Mobile will start offering a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook in select HSPA+ markets. However, it seems as if there isn’t 3G connectivity built-in, and you’ll need to use the webConnect Rocket to get your mobile data.

If you get to try the webConnect Rocket device for your mobile data fix, please share your experience with us in the comments below. And, stay tuned for more news and info by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Possible iPhone 4 Recall As Apple PR Disaster Grows

Now that the iPhone 4 has been out for a few weeks and many people have had it in their hands to test, the antenna / signal dropping situation has been demonstrated time and time again to be a very real issue. Holding the lower left hand corner of the iPhone causes a significant loss in signal strength. For those who are in low-signal areas to begin with, this often results in losing their connection entirely and not-surprisingly as soon as the corner of the phone is released, the connection is restored.

Apple issued a statement regarding the matter on July 2nd which essentially said that the iPhone is incorrectly reporting signal strength via the number of bars displayed. In an attempt to resolve the matter, Apple plans to release a patch to fix the discrepancy soon. In other words, a user whose phone says it has 3 bars in reality has less than that and after applying Apple's fix the phone would read the correct amount of bars for that person (1 or 2 bars). In reality it isn't a fix... touching the specific spot will continue to kill the signal since many believe that it is a hardware issue as opposed to a software one.The fix will just allow users to have an advanced warning of the results knowing when it will most likely drop their connection or lower their signal strength as opposed to it being a surprise.

This week, many people are discussing a hardware recall, which they feel is bound to happen. Professor Matthew Seeger of Wayne State University told Cult of Mac that there is an "inevitable" hardware recall. Meanwhile, Dr. Larry Barton doesn't understand Apple's slow response to the issue, stating that "There has to be a military-like response to this issue and we have not seen this kind of urgency."

Something like a hardware recall would be a huge disaster, considering the damage that has already been done to Apple's PR. Many sources that people look towards for opinions and information such as Consumer Reports (CR) have already suggested that people should not buy the iPhone 4. Many of you can say what you want but CR is a pretty definitive guide for a huge number of consumers who look to research before making a purchase.

Furthermore, rumor has it that Apple is holding out to release the software fix since they want to patch the jailbreak exploit as well. Many in the jailbreak community, such as the iPhone Dev Team, have already figured out and released images of a jailbroken iPhone 4 and are waiting for Apple to release the next OS update before they release their jailbreak utility. How long is Apple willing to hold out to try and patch the exploit? Time is ticking and the frustration and anger of many just continues to rise. Apple has to act fast, let's see their next move.

Talks of Sprint and T-Mobile Merger In The Air

Recently, Sprint's CEO, Dan Hesse sat down with the Financial Times and re-confirmed the company's option to pursue LTE if and when the time is right. Sprint and Clearwire are said to be in the enviable position of having access ample 4G spectrum that is able to support LTE on the top of the current WiMAX network. The abundance in the 4G spectrum the company has and the possibility of deploying LTE has analysts reconsidering the potential for a merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. Rumors of a merger between Sprint and T-Mobile are floating the air and they first emerged in 2008 but the talks reportedly stalled between the two companies since they used two very different and incompatible wireless technologies. If Sprint and T-Mobile both adopt LTE technology, a merger is more likely as Sprint would receive a boost from T-Mobile's 33 million subscribers and T-Mobile would gain access to the 4G spectrum which will help them as well. During his talk with Financial Times, Hesse did acknowledge that there was logic to the merger but failed to comment on the possibility that the two wireless providers were in the middle of discussions.

Stay up to date with any news and info by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

AT&T Giving Away Free MicroCell Service To “Valuable Customers”

Recently, Engadget received news from a reader that AT&T is giving their "most valuable customers" free range-boosting femtocells by giving them a free no-strings-attached 3G MicoCell. The AT&T customer received an old-fashioned paper letter in the mail offering his family a the 3G MicroCell. All the customer had to do was drive down to a local AT&T store where he was given a 3G MicroCell with no explanation from the dumbfounded reps at the retail store. The customer did mention that his calls did frequently drop at home but he did not complain much about it and paid his $180 per month for his family plan. According to him, the only reason he feels he might be one to qualify for the free 3G MicroCell is because his contract was set to expire in the near future. We are currently waiting to hear news from AT&T about the whole issue but you can check out the letter and device below:

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Stay tuned for more info on the topic by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Samsung Captivate (Galaxy S) Coming To AT&T On July 18th For $199

AT&T has just announced that the Samsung Captivate - the AT&T version of the Galaxy S - will be available for purchase on July 18th (only 10 days away). The Captivate sports a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor, 4" WVGA Super AMOLED display, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, 5 megapixel camera with 720p recording, and Android 2.1. The device itself will be priced at $199 on contract (no mail-in-rebate necessary). Are any of you interested in picking up the first serious AT&T Android offering? The device will also shortly be ready on all four national US phone carriers so for those of you waiting for this device on your other network, the wait shouldn't be much longer.

Samsung Captivate featuers:

• Super AMOLED 4” touchscreen display – improved off-axis viewing and better outdoor visibility
• Entertainment galore with six-axis motion sensor and 3D graphics engine and surround-sound audio
• 5 MP camera with HD video recording
• Choose from thousands of apps on the Android Market™
• Integrated social networking tools – one place for status updates
• 16 GB on-board memory for photos, videos, and music – expandable memory up to 32 GB

Is AT&T Capping iPhone Data Upload Speeds?

Recently, many users from The MacRumors forums are comparing their recent upload speeds from their iPhone's and are complaining about what appears to be capped uploads at 100 kbps rather than the 1.6mbps norm. The users have been comparing rates captured with tools such as Speedtest.net's Speed Test to put numbers on the perceived performance drops, which is considerably large compared to the way things were just a week or two ago. According to the thread, affected cities include: NYC, Central Jersey, Boston, Orlando, Seattle, South Jersey/Philly, Columbus, Cleveland, West Houston, Phoenix, Northern Colorado, St. Paul/Minnesota, Suffolk County/Long Island, Quad Cities, South Jersey, Denver, Detroit Metro, and Cincinnati.

Upload speeds affect the ability to do things such as sending pictures and video-email over the 3G network, as well as to upload any kind of bandwidth-hungry data using your 3G connection. The folks over at TUAW gave the test a spin in Denver using SpeedTest.net's application as well as FCC Mobile Broadband Test and INetQCheck. They said they experienced as the ones reported by the Macrumors forumgoers. Comparing both runs on INetQCheck tests with those of SpeedTest.Net, many users didn't even crack 100kbps using 3G.

The question that arises is why the sudden change? AT&T has been contacted by several different people but everyone has yet to hear back from them due to the holiday. Our guess is that this comes in line due to AT&T's recent data plan changes, probably in an attempt to enforce data austerity and guard AT&T's business from high bandwidth demands. Some people suggest that the hypothetical upload caps are a consequence of holiday weekend infrastructure work and that speeds will return to normal tomorrow.

We will check and you can stay tuned for more info regarding the topic by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Sprint Releases HTC Evo 4G OTA Update

Earlier today, Sprint released an over-the-air Android software update to the HTC Evo 4G. The update is labeled as version 1.47.651.1 and is 21.43MB. It is mainly a few bug fixes and improvements upon existing features. Many users have reported to have "enhanced" WiFi that works better and notice faster load times and more responsiveness on the phone's home screen. Others seemed to notice nothing different and and reported having certain customized settings being reset, such as wallpapers. If you own an HTC Evo 4G and have upgraded, let us know your experience post-update as opposed to before by dropping us comment below!

AT&T Announces Expanded 3G Capacity In NYC

Those of you who live in New York City and use AT&T should finally be seeing some relief according to the carrier. An announcement made earlier indicates that the company has seen a 47% improvement in Manhattan due to an 850 MHz spectrum layer. The wireless phone company has been no doubt making an effort to keep up with the demand but most of the improvements are so incremental that they are hard to notice for individual users. The announcement made today also touts the company's 7.2 HSPA rollout which seems to promise more to come and at a faster rate as well. It's hard to say on day one whether there is any noticeable difference but keep an ear and an eye out for improved service. If you are a San Francisco user, tough luck, AT&T has revealed no news of any overhaul for San Francisco customers as of yet.

You can check out the press release for the announcement below:

AT&T Expands Wireless Capacity for 3G Mobile Broadband Network in Manhattan and Throughout NYC

Additional Spectrum Allocated for 3G Voice and Data Applications

NEW YORK, June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — AT&T* today announced the completion of a local initiative to increase the wireless capacity of its third generation (3G) mobile broadband network in Manhattan as well as the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. As a result of this upgrade, customers in these areas are expected to experience improved 3G wireless voice and data connectivity and performance, especially during peak hours.

The network enhancement includes the addition of new layers of frequency, also known as "carriers," to more efficiently manage available spectrum and increase 3G capacity. The additions have been applied to nearly all cell sites in Manhattan and in other areas as needed throughout the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. The result is an increased allocation of network resources for AT&T's 3G network to support ever-growing demand for mobile broadband services.

"Our goal is pretty simple: in the city that never sleeps, we're working 24/7 to make sure our customers have a great experience every time they make a call, check e-mail, download a song or video, or surf the Internet on their AT&T device," said Tom DeVito, vice president and general manager for AT&T in NY and NJ. "Adding more capacity to cell sites is just one way we are doing that."

AT&T recently deployed a WiFi hot zone in Times Square to help AT&T customers stay connected in "America's Crossroads," one of the busiest locations in the world.

Wireless data traffic on the AT&T network has grown more than 5,000 percent from 2007 to 2009, largely attributed to the increasing popularity of advanced smartphones and the performance of AT&T's 3G network, the nation's fastest. Our network teams are enhancing network capacity, capabilities and performance to keep up with unprecedented demand for mobile services.

In New York City, we've added a layer of high-performing 850 MHz spectrum to deploy more radio capacity and enhance in-building coverage throughout the city. As of the first quarter of 2010, we've seen two consecutive quarters of strong voice quality improvements in New York according to internal measurements. In Manhattan, quality improved 47 percent quarter over quarter.

Additionally, as of the first quarter of 2010 our national 3G average data download speeds are up 25 percent versus a year ago based on internal data.

Earlier this year, AT&T completed a software upgrade at 3G cell sites nationwide that prepares the nation's fastest 3G network for even faster speeds. The deployment of High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 technology is the first of multiple initiatives in AT&T's network enhancement strategy designed to provide customers with an enhanced mobile broadband experience, both today and well into the future. Faster 3G speeds are scheduled to become available this year and in 2011 on a market by market basis as AT&T combines the new technology with the increased deployment of high-speed backhaul connections to cell sites, primarily with fiber-optic technology. Late this year, we plan to upgrade our network to HSPA+, the latest generation of our 3G platform.

AT&T's 3G mobile broadband network is based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) family of technologies that includes GSM and UMTS, the most widely used wireless network platforms in the world. AT&T has the best international coverage of any U.S. wireless provider, delivering voice service in over 220 countries and data service in more than 195 countries. AT&T also offers voice and data roaming coverage on 130 major cruise ships, as well as 3G services in 115 countries.

Verizon’s New Motorola Droid X User Guide Leaked

Are you planning on picking up the latest Android offering from Verizon Wireless and Motorola on July 15th, and, want a bit more information about the smartphone before you pre-order and buy it? Well, you are in luck - there has been a 68 page user guide for Droid X that's leaked from the labs and made it to the internet. The guide may be useless to all the Android fanatics and for people who like to figure things out on their own, but just in case you want to peak over it, it's here. The manual contains details and screen shots of the new device allowing you to get a good impression of what's included when you pick up the phone.

Download the PDF file here.

Full Press Release:

JULY 2010: DROID X BY MOTOROLA LANDS ON THE NATION’S LARGEST & MOST RELIABLE 3G NETWORK

DROID X Delivers More Browsing, More Connectivity, Personal HD Video and Enterprise Features – All on a 4.3″ Widescreen

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless 3G network, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), a pioneer in the mobile industry, today unveiled DROID X by Motorola. DROID X does more with ultra high-speed Web browsing; a fast 1GHz processor; 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities; loads of memory; intuitive social messaging; Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 ready; and access to Android Market™, which has more than 65,000 applications, along with a host of unique Verizon Wireless applications such as NFL Mobile, Skype mobile™, V CAST Video, EA Need for Speed Shift™ and more.

“Nine months ago, we made a commitment to our customers to bring the openness of Android to the Verizon Wireless network,” said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “Since then, we have introduced the top-selling Android phone in the marketplace today – the DROID by Motorola. DROID X takes that commitment to another level with exclusive content, faster processing speeds, and, of course, the reliability of our network.”

Sanjay Jha, co-chief executive officer of Motorola and chief executive officer of Motorola Mobile Devices and Home business added, “Motorola designed DROID X to push the extreme limits of Android innovation, and enable you to do even more with your mobile device. We are breaking down barriers so that you can experience the Web the way it was meant to be and create, share and view content like never before, either in your hand or in your home. Enterprise users will also find DROID X appealing with features including push e-mail and live widgets for e-mail and calendar updates.”

DROID X gives customers a 4.3-inch high-resolution screen for viewing the latest movies and video from BLOCKBUSTER On Demand® presented by V CAST Video, the newest addition to the Verizon Wireless V CAST application, which also includes access to favorite TV shows. The DROID X video capabilities let customers capture spontaneous fun, combining a dual-flash, 8-megapixel camera, HD camcorder, as well as DLNA and HDMI connectivity to download, stream and share personal HD content.

DROID X customers will also receive Android 2.2 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1 with an over-the-air update in the latter half of the summer. With the update, the Flash Player will allow mobile users to experience hundreds of sites with rich applications and content inside the browser, including games, animations, rich Internet applications (RIAs), data presentations and visualizations, ecommerce, music, video, audio and more.

“It has been an exciting time for Android momentum and global consumer adoption since the announcement of DROID by Motorola nine months ago,” said Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering for Google. “There are 160,000 new Android-powered devices activated daily and Android Market has grown to over 65,000 applications. Plus later this summer, Verizon Wireless and Motorola will update all the DROID by Motorola phones to the latest 2.2 software. For customers, this means great new features and improved browser performance. For developers, this will provide new tools such as cloud-to-device messaging and enhanced enterprise functionality.”

“We are excited about full Flash support coming to the DROID X and other devices from Motorola,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer of Adobe. “Flash Player 10.1, which is one of Adobe’s most anticipated releases ever, has been redesigned from the ground up to deliver the kind of highly engaging experiences that consumers now expect from their mobile devices.”

Once updated to Android 2.2, business customers will find DROID X offers the features that turn the device into a workhorse with support for both Exchange and Gmail™ for business. Corporate users can enjoy push delivery of e-mail; live widgets that stream messages to the home screen; filter widgets to differentiate work and home e-mail; corporate directory and Global look-up along with a unified calendar for Enterprise and sync with Google Calendar™. Security protocols allow remote password control and wipe via Exchange server.

Pricing and Availability
DROID X by Motorola will be available at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores beginning July 15 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. In addition to subscribing to a Nationwide Talk plan or a Nationwide Talk & Text plan, customers will also need to subscribe to an Email and Web for Smartphone plan. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access. Email and Web for Smartphone plans start at $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.

Customers can add the optional 3G Mobile Hotspot service to their DROID X for $20 per month. The 3G Mobile Hotspot allows customers to turn the phone into a wireless modem for up to five compatible Wi-Fi devices. In addition, current Verizon Wireless customers who have contracts ending by December 31, 2010, can upgrade to any smartphone, including DROID X, without penalty.

AT&T Rumored To Get 2 iPhone Shipments On June 29th

The folks over at ModMyI got word from an insider at AT&T about Tuesday's iPhone 4 shipment to retail stores. There are supposed to be two shipments coming in, one early Monday night that is expected to sell out quickly and then another "stealth" second shipment Tuesday between 10:30am and 12:00pm. The store managers said they won't wait until all the iPhone 4s are gone before telling the people in line that there is a second shipment coming. Reservations from the people still in line will be taken so they are suggesting that those of you who are or will be in line stay in it because some people might not get to buy it because they don't have upgrade eligibility or they are over their credit card limit. 2% of the said iPhones being shipped are going to be set aside (half of them being 16GBs and half being 32GBs, for "customer escalations", meaning phones that customers bring back and want replaced. Below is the official leak quote:

An inventory report will be available Monday afternoon to the store mangers that will indicate exactly how many iPhone 4 (16GB and 32GB) they will receive in their Monday and Tuesday shipments. The manager is to subtract 2% with a 50/50 split of 16GB and 32GB. This will provide some inventory for customer escalations.

Supposedly this is all being done "to ensure an extraordinary customer experience." So are any of you people who haven't gotten their iPhone 4 planning on trying their luck with this? Let us know by dropping a comment below.

iPhone 4’s New Antenna System To Offer Less Dropped Calls

One of the many things that Apple is known for is the design of its products. However, in the new iPhone 4 you may have noticed tiny black seams across the rim of the device, all of which seem to not go along with the company's regular persistance in design. This is exactly one of the reasons why people questioned the authenticity of the iPhone 4 prototype first revealed by Gizmodo. Steve Jobs had revealed during his keynote address at WWDC that the stainless steel bands on the new iPhone 4 are actually a part of the "primary structural element" of the device that house the iPhone's antenna system. As seen from the video below the seams cater to the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS functions while the other part is dedicated to UMTS and GSM functions.

[ad#MGN_SinglePost-Video 336x280]

This could be very good news for iPhone users, especially to those who are in the New York and San Francisco areas who regularly suffer from high dropped call rates. AT&T is usually the one typically blamed for not bilding sufficient infrastructure that caters to high network usage, there have also been reports in the past that suggest that Apple is equally to blame for the poor network coverage on the iPhone. Senior vice president for telecommunications research at Nielsen, Roger Entner, wrote that a flawed design of the iPhone's "air interface" was a primary cause for the high dropped call rates on the device. The air interface connects the phone to the cell towers and is responsible for both voice and data transmission. It is suspected that the new antenna system should fix the network connectivity issues, which should result in fewer dropped calls (at least for AT&T's iPhone customers). Never the less, Apple's engineers should be praised and given credit for this new design, which, as Jobs noted, has never been done before in a phone. A round of applause for Apple who continues to keep innovating. What do you think of the iPhone 4's new antenna system? Drop your comments below!

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AT&T Improves NYC Metro Area Coverage - Will It Help?

We recently heard about AT&T offering free Wi-Fi access in the NYC area to lower the network congestion on their network. Since then, AT&T has been expanding their services and offering 3G Microcell services to home users and putting free Wi-Fi boosters in prime locations.

AT&T is committed to providing the best possible wireless service to our customers. We are very proud of our Network and the advantages it offers our customers, such as the Nation's fastest 3G service and the ability to talk & surf at the same time.

From 2007 through 2009, our total capital investment in our New York wireless and wire line networks was more than $1 billion. We're also an industry leader in Wi-Fi with the nation's largest Wi-Fi network, which complements our wired broadband and wireless 3G networks. There are currently 20,000 hotspots offering Wi-Fi connectivity across the U.S. and over 1,000 in New York, giving you access in retail stores and restaurants locally and from coast-to-coast. To see a full list of all our Wi-Fi locations, visit us at http://www.att.com/go

AT&T recently sent out an email to NYC and New Jersey Metro customers about having applied updates for better coverage. here is what the company informed the customers:

From October 2009 through March 2010, we have added and enhanced cell sites to expand coverage across Metro New York and New Jersey.

New Jersey improvement areas:

• Jersey Shore — Lavallette to Normandy Beach
• Livingston — St. Barnabas Hospital
• Newark — Bears Stadium
• Teaneck — Route 4 at Queen Anne Road
• Jersey City — 10th & Monmouth Street

New York improvement areas:
• NYC — 5th Avenue & Union Square
• NYC — Sickles Street
• NYC — 5th Avenue & 39th Street
• Brentwood — Southern State Parkway
• Croton-On-Hudson — Train station

The real question that comes in to play is whether or not all these upgrades will actually be able to handle the bandwidth and the service thats about to be used up upon the release of Apple's iPhone 4. The wireless phone company insists they have been working hard and improving their network but as seen on iPhone 4 pre-order day, the company couldn't keep up and had several issues. Once the phone is released, many suspect the company's network will have further technical problems but only time will tell. What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

BestBuy Exclusive – “White” HTC EVO 4G

If you are a fan of HTC phones, and are into the EVO 4G but aren't too crazy about the Black color, well cheer up. BestBuy have locked an exclusive deal to offer a White version of the popular android smartphone. According to sources, the white model is now available for pre-orders and is set to go on sale as of July 11th.

The new handset is expected to cost the same $200 with a two-year contract as the current Black Evo 4G. HTC Evo 4G is the first US handset compatible with a WiMAX network, which is available in some markets across the US, and has a 1GHz processor, 4.3-inch screen and a front-facing camera.

For more information about the HTC EVO 4G, check out our posts here.