Hasta La Gadget!

Qualcomm’s souped-up Snapdragon S4 Liquid mobile development platform (MDP) tablet just got a major Android boost, in the form of a 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade. The maxed-out MDP tablet, which boasts such specs as an on-die LTE modem, dual 1080p cameras and more sensors than you can shake an accelerometer-powered wand at, is now running Google’s latest mobile OS. During an Engadget Show visit last month, Qualcomm reps told us that the device will support Android 4.0, but we weren’t expecting a port quite so soon, considering Liquid won’t ship until next spring. The company says it’s working “rigorously” to get ICS optimized not only for the S4, but for other Snapdragon processors as well. Click through the gallery below for an early look.

Qualcomm loads Ice Cream Sandwich on Snapdragon S4 tablet, fills our hearts with Liquid originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Initial rumors had the Verizon release of the Galaxy Nexus pegged for November 10th but, while the carrier has officially confirmed the flagship Android handset is coming, it’s refused to say when. Now several sources have told Droid Life not to expect our first taste of Ice Cream Sandwich until the week of Black Friday at the earliest. In fact, a leaked roadmap photo seems to suggest Big Red customers won’t be able to get their hands on one until after the busiest shopping day of the year, when it launches as part of Samsung’s “Holiday Portfolio.” If our disappointment was a flavor, we’d be Neapolitan — three shades of sad.

[Thanks, K]

Verizon Galaxy Nexus not landing til after Black Friday? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boo! No, that’s not your doorbell ringing again, that’s HTC popping out of nowhere in order to toss a Nah-nah-nah-boo-boo in the direction of Samsung and Apple. Just days after Strategy Analytics published a global smartphone shipment report for Q3 2011, Canalys — another formidable name in the sector — has pushed out a report of its own. Not surprisingly, the global figures line up almost precisely with what we’d already heard, with Samsung’s Q3 numbers rising above those from Apple, Nokia and the rest of the industry. The difference here, however, is the focal point on the US of A. Here in the States, Taiwan’s own HTC is pulling rank; the aforesaid handset maker edged out Apple and Samsung by shipping 5.7 million smartphones.

All told, it owned “around a quarter of the market,” with Samsung (4.9 million) claiming the second spot and Apple (4.6 million) pulling in for the bronze. Conspicuously absent from the leader board? RIM, which saw its volume decline 58 percent from a year ago and its US market share sink from 24 percent in Q3 2010 to just 9 percent this quarter. Our take? HTC (and Samsung, from a global perspective) best enjoy it while the quarter lasts — as soon as the iPhone 4S and Nokia’s spate of Windows Phone devices start figuring in, we’re guessing that the top spots will be completely up for grabs all over again.

Continue reading Canalys: HTC nips Apple, Samsung to become top smartphone vendor in US for Q3 2011

Canalys: HTC nips Apple, Samsung to become top smartphone vendor in US for Q3 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is Big Red gearing up for a tag team Moto tablet refresh? From the looks of this internal screen grab (and the oodles of pre-release leaks), that may very well be the case. Despite the lack of official confirmation from both parties, we’re pretty certain those two mystery model numbers shown above — MZ617 and MZ609 — belong to the oft in-the-wild spotted Xoom 2 and its 8.2-inch “Media Edition” sibling. Unfortunately, that listed October 23rd date has come and gone with nary a mention of the slates’ existence, so we’ll just have to content ourselves with evidence of their apparent 4G capabilities and storage configurations. Folks keen to snag the full-fledged 10.1-incher will purportedly be able to select from 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, whereas lil’ bro Fleming offers up 16GB and 32GB options. With Google’s Motorola acquisition looming overhead, these could be your go-to tabs for an unadulterated Ice Cream Sandwich experience. And, hey, at least they’ll ship with LTE this time.

Mystery Motorola devices headed for Verizon, could be the long-awaited Xoom 2s? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sadly, we weren’t able to replicate the screenshot above but, if it’s legit, it could mean that a Google Music store is right around the corner. Reports are coming in that visiting music.google.com on your Android phone brings up a page suggesting you, A, upload your personal music collection, and B, “shop millions of songs in the Android Market.” Clearly Google is tinkering away behind the scenes: the links on the earliest versions of the splash page were reported to be broken, then they led to the about page for Google Music Manager and the nonexistent market.android.com/music respectively. Now, all traces of it are gone. Add to this the familiar shopping bag-shaped music icon that popped up in the developer build of Chrome OS last week and it’s looking like we’re inching ever closer to a Google Music shop launch. Check out the full sized image after the break.

[Thanks, Tomer]

Continue reading Google Music mobile landing page hints tunes are coming to the Android Market

Google Music mobile landing page hints tunes are coming to the Android Market originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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