Hasta La Gadget!

In the spirit of issuing software updates with the sole purpose of preparing for more software updates, Motorola says there’s about to be some brand new firmware for the Xoom, which will cross the Ts and dot the Is required to install the promised Adobe Flash Player 10.2. The company doesn’t say when, exactly, to expect Flash, only that it’s “coming soon,” but the update will also fix a bug with Daylight Savings Time, which — given recent history — should find itself richly welcomed. If you’re paying Verizon for 3G bandwidth, you can expect an OTA update in the days to come.

[Thanks, Bob, Jake and Oscar]

Motorola Xoom update rolling out starting tonight, brings ‘required enhancements’ for Flash 10.2 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No blockbusters here — nothing that’s going to give you much insight into an exact launch day for the Thunderbolt — but Verizon CTO Tony Melone made a few comments about its LTE handset launches at a financial conference yesterday that border on the interesting. Asked whether the company was facing any challenges in getting the phones solid and ready for commercial consumption, Melone responded by saying that they’re “facing is what you would expect, and that is a new technology, you are working through issues. And [they] anticipated that, and [they] are pleased at how [they] are working through issues.” In the same breath, he reminded the audience that Verizon had said the phones would be coming in the first half of ’11 all along and that hasn’t changed — so they’re not late by a long shot. Pressed on whether battery life specifically was a concern for the Thunderbolt, Melone said that he thinks the juice “will be acceptable to consumers.” Considering what we’ve been hearing about recent firmware revisions on the test units, we’re hopeful he’s right — Verizon has a reputation for testing the crap out of devices prior to release, after all.

Verizon CTO: ‘working through issues’ with LTE phones, still on track for first half launch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew good and well that both Verizon Wireless and AT&T would be getting their own 3G iPad 2, and while the latter is still trumpeting the original iPad on its site, VZW has gone ahead and put up a placeholder for what’s next. A scant four months after the first iPad hit Verizon airwaves (by way of a MiFi), the “thinner, lighter, faster and FaceTime-equipped” model is just around the bend — complete with an embedded CDMA 3G module. Hit the source link if you’d like to be notified of updates, or just make sure to wake up on March 11th. Whatever’s easier for you.

[Thanks, Aaron]

Verizon hosts its own iPad 2 notification portal, no last-minute mention of LTE to be found originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon’s made no secret of the fact that $30 unlimited smartphone data wouldn’t last forever, but CFO Fran Shammo just made things a little more interesting today at the same Morgan Stanley conference Sanjay Jha rocked yesterday: turns out they’re targeting “mid-summer” to rearrange the carrier’s data pricing. Interestingly, Shammo says they’re still working through the details and that they don’t yet know whether the tiers will be based on speed, bit buckets, or some combination of the two. Of course, Verizon’s already dipped its toes in the tiered game with a $15 / 150MB option that evaporated around the time that the CDMA iPhone launched. Speaking of the iPhone, Shammo notes that the unlimited data plan was kept around to draw users into the iPhone fold — iPhone users tend to consume a lot of data, after all — so it’d seem that they might comfortable with that one-time conquest before parting ways with unlimited for good.

Verizon targeting mid-summer for tiered data plans, doesn’t yet know what kinds of tiers they’ll be originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re hearing from… well, let’s call them “people familiar with the matter” that HTC’s Thunderbolt — a phone that’s supposed to be Verizon’s first with LTE — is experiencing positively miserable battery life that’s making it difficult for testers to avoid carrying a second phone around as a backup. How bad? Two to three hours from full to empty in some cases. Of course, we wouldn’t be surprised if battery life was really bad with the LTE radio left on — the EVO 4G wasn’t much different at launch with WiMAX lit up — but the word on the street is that the power situation is largely responsible for the delays we’ve been seeing. In fact, our source tells us the phone is currently working on its sixth retail delay at the moment. More on this situation as we get it.

Update: We’ve just heard from another trusted tipster that there’s definitely a new firmware in the works to address battery life and signal issues (which — you guessed it — are interrelated). Thanks, HTC Kid!

HTC Thunderbolt said to have terrible battery life, might explain delay? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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