Hasta La Gadget!

If you had any doubts about HTC’s Incredible S making it to our shores, they’re probably dissipating as we speak — not only has the phone obtained Verizon’s shiny red checkmark, it’s now got the robotic eye of Sauron staring at us with ferocious intensity. PocketNow obtained these pictures of the likely Droid Incredible 2 without naming so much as an anonymous source, and we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Verizon’s way of reminding us that the handset is rapidly on its way to market. You’ll find two more pictures at our source link.

Update: Android Central got hold of some new shots of the actual phone itself, which shows off its model number ADR6350 and firmware 2.2.1. Thanks, Bla1ze.

HTC Droid Incredible 2 struts its stuff in leaked press shots? (Updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wondering which carrier you should buy your iPhone on? There’s a survey for that. ChangeWave Research has released the results of a poll that hit 4,068 users distributed across Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Among those four, VZW came out ahead when it comes to dropped calls, with 1.4 percent of respondents indicating they’d received one in the past three months. AT&T, meanwhile, came in last with 4.6 percent. If you look only at the iPhone 4 users the numbers change a little, 1.8 percent vs. 4.8, but the conclusion stays the same. No, this conclusion sadly will not get you around your ETF, but maybe making a pouty face at the AT&T store will help.

Update: AT&T let us know it has some doubts about these results. We’re not statisticians but we will, out of fairness, link over to this GWS survey from last year that showed 98.59 percent success rate for non-dropped calls. How do your numbers compare?

Survey says AT&T drops more calls than Verizon, these bar charts don’t lie originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though it won’t be the first Verizon LTE device to share its white-hot connection over WiFi (that honor goes to the recently-launched Thunderbolt), Samsung’s SCH-LC11 — announced back at CES — is shaping up to be the network’s first dedicated hotspot to hit retail. We’ve just been dropped the carrier’s internal equipment guide showing a launch date in all channels (stores, telesales, and online) this coming Thursday, March 31st; pricing is an open question, but carriers tend to price these modems pretty aggressively on contract since they know they’re going to eat you alive with the data plan for the next two years. Of course, in this case, we’re more than willing to get eaten alive if it means we’ve got a 20Mbps WiFi connection in our pocket at all times.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Verizon’s Samsung 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot launches March 31st originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, isn’t this just something. It only took Sprint a matter of hours (on a Sunday evening, no less) to push out a detailed list of gripes concerning the proposed AT&T / T-Mobile USA tie-up, but Verizon Wireless won’t even be wasting its time. According to an interview with Reuters ahead of CTIA, VZW CEO Daniel Mead confessed that his company wouldn’t be lobbying the FCC or any other entity to stop the inevitable, noting that “anything can go through if you make enough concessions.” That’s a pretty bold quote in and of itself, but of course, this is coming from the man who made an awful lot of those so-called concessions in order to pick up Alltel a few years ago. Continuing on, he blasted out this gem: “We’re not interested in Sprint. We don’t need them.” In other words, there’s nary a chance in Hades that America’s current largest wireless carrier will be making a bid to keep it that way by shelling out for The Now Network. Why? Quite simply, he’d rather focus on being the most profitable US carrier rather than the largest. Not exactly what you’d expect coming from Verizon Wireless’ CEO, but hey — if he’s down for the competition, we’re down with watching from the sidelines.

Verizon Wireless CEO ‘not interested’ in buying Sprint, won’t waste time opposing T-Mobile / AT&T merger originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though never confirmed by Verizon, it seems likely that battery life (or more accurately, the lack thereof) played a part in the series of delays preceding the Thunderbolt’s launch. To combat this problem, Big Red and HTC are offering a rather unsightly extended battery pack that nearly doubles the handset’s capacity from 1400mAh to 2750mAh. All that extra juice will certainly come in handy for folks leaning heavily on the phone’s LTE radio. However, the device costs $50 and adds an ounce of junk in the trunk — on a device that isn’t svelte to begin with — so why not buy another standard battery for ten bucks less instead? Then you can use the Qi-compatible back and induction charging station Verizon’s releasing in April. It’s just under $100 ($29 for the back and $69 for the pad) for those who want to cut the cord and don’t mind the expanded waistline we assume comes with the privilege.

Verizon and HTC offer Thunderbolt extended battery, give your phone dumps like a truck originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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