Early Ice Cream Sandwich Build for the HTC Rezound Leaked

What sounds like a very early Ice Cream Sandwich build for the HTC Rezound has been leaked this morning. I say “early” because from the what we have read, the build is a mix of HTC Sense 3.5 and some stock ICS icons and images. While we no longer have a Rezound in house to try and flash this, all signs point to it being unusable on a daily basis. This isn’t all that surprising though, since we weren’t actually expecting a release of this to the phone so soon, but at least we can see HTC is puttin’ in work on it. Flash at your own risk, folks.

And is it just me, or is the Rezound becoming more and more attractive by the day? A new $ 199 price, unlockable bootloader, one of the most beautiful screens we have ever seen on a mobile device, and the best camera of any Verizon phone, are making this phone worth another look.

Via:  RootzWiki


Droid Life

DROID RAZR MAXX Will Be Available January 26 According to Motorola Website

When Verizon and Motorola announced the DROID RAZR MAXX earlier in the week, they refused to get specific when it came to a release date and instead went with a “coming weeks” time frame. Maybe they should have read their own Motorola landing page for the phone as it lists January 26 as being the day. The price on contract will be $ 299.

And don’t forget to check out our hands-on video with the device from CES.

Via:  Motorola

Cheers Mike C.!


Droid Life

Eric Schmidt: Android Is All About Differentiation, Not Fragmentation

Google’s Eric Schmidt stopped by CES and offered another classic comment that is sure to spark up some interesting conversations for the next couple of days. When asked for the billionth time if Android has a fragmentation problem, Schmidt used the word “differentiation” to describe the platform instead:

“Differentiation is positive, fragmentation is negative,” Schmidt said during an appearance here at the Consumer Electronics Show. “Differentiation means that you have a choice and the people who are making the phones, they’re going to compete on their view of innovation, and they’re going to try and convince you that theirs is better than somebody else.”

He continued:

“We absolutely allow [manufacturers] to add or change the user interface as long as they don’t break the apps. We see this as a plus; [it] gives you far more choices.”

The fragmentation argument is beyond played out, so I’ll admit that I actually like this take on Android. While most of us are not interested in skins or custom UIs, they do make one phone different from another. And since so many manufacturers produce Android handsets these days, skins are by no means going away any time soon. We just need to see OEMs spend more time putting in polish and adding useful features that would make them somewhat desirable.

Your thoughts? Buying Schmidt’s “differentiation” argument?

Via:  PCMag


Droid Life

Motorola Teases CES with “Stay Unplugged” Video

YouTube Preview Image

Our friends from Motorola sent over their CES teaser this morning, a video recommending that you “stay unplugged.” What we see is a stylish house, followed by a close-up shot of a charging cable. That charging cable then begins to weep (yes, it’s apparently alive) as Motorola potentially intends to unveil something at the show which removes your need to use a wall charger, ever again. Or does this have nothing to do with charging and simply means that they will make all of your devices sync even better throughout your home? Maybe with some new app? An app doesn’t sound CES-worthy does it? New hardware then? But what?

Guesses?


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Looking for a WiFi Tether App that Doesn’t Require Root Access? Here You Go

 

We understand that not everyone is interested in rooting their Android device. While doing so usually introduces you to a whole new world of phone fun, some just do not have the time or simply do not care. One thing is clear though, they still want a wireless tethering solution that doesn’t include calling up Verizon and forking out another $ 30 a month. That’s where “Wifi Hotspot and USB Tether” comes into play. There are both free and full versions of the app that according to our readers, both work with the Galaxy Nexus. It even has a snazzy little toggle widget to get you up and tethering in seconds. Oh, and the developer offers a 5-day warranty of sorts to get you a refund if you can’t seem to get the app working correctly.

Worth a shot, I’d say.

Market Links:  Free | Full ($ 9.99)

Cheers Scott and everyone else that sent this in!


Droid Life

Koush Releases ClockworkMod USB Tethering Application For Mac, Linux, and PC Users – No Root Required

Have our rooted users been taking advantage of the WiFi tether ability that our phones are capable of?  Are you non-rooted and wishing you could have 4G LTE speeds on your PC without having to go through the trouble of rooting and the risks associated with that? Well our good friend Koush has released ClockworkMod Tether Alpha, which is a USB tether application that you can install on your PC, Mac, or Linux machine which requires no root permissions from your phone.

Once you install the program, you simply install the adb drivers for your select device.  Then just hook up your phone and hit, “Start.”  At first, I was having troubles with the program ‘seeing’ my device, but after closing the program and reopening, everything was great.  USB tethered 4G LTE is boss.  The program is programmed to stop working on January 7th, so stay updated on the latest versions by following Koush on Google+.  Go grab this now and let us know if you have any issues down below.  For downloads and tech support, head over to Koush’s Google+ page listing for all the info.

Via: Google+


Droid Life

DROID 4 Accessories Arrive at Indirect Verizon Retailers

While we think we know just about every single DROID 4 (full recap) detail, a release date has continued to avoid us. An early target date showed December 22 (clearly that didn’t happen) with the most recent showing some time in February. We have seen it in Best Buy ads, on droiddoes.com, as a dummy unit, in training materials, in official press shots, and even the accessory lineup that will accompany it at launch. Any normal person would guess that it could launch any day now.

Well, you can add “accessories in stores” to the list of D4 details that suggest an imminent release. Except, we don’t really believe that the release is imminent, do we? Are we expecting this to be Motorola’s CES device since nothing else has leaked? Surely they couldn’t hang out in a giant booth at the year’s biggest electronics show with nothing new to show but a couple of XYBOARDs, could they?  

Cheers ___ and ___!


Droid Life