We’ve known for quite some time now that the Galaxy Nexus is coming to Verizon, but it has been difficult to tie down the exact release date. The most popular rumored launch had been around November 17, but others had suggested the US might not see the device until after Black Friday. [...]]]>

We’ve known for quite some time now that the Galaxy Nexus is coming to Verizon, but it has been difficult to tie down the exact release date. The most popular rumored launch had been around November 17, but others had suggested the US might not see the device until after Black Friday. Now it appears Verizon might launch the Galaxy Nexus on November 21 for $299 with a two-year contract, thanks to a pair of leaks over the weekend.

The latest date comes from Kellen of Droid-Life who posted a list of upcoming product launches for Verizon. The document he shared reveals that the Galaxy Nexus will see a web-only launch on November 21. Verizon might not initially sell the device in stores, but it should be available from big-box retailers, similar to what we saw for the Nexus S launch.

I expect Best Buy will play a role in the Galaxy Nexus launch, and Android Central posted a leak that shows Costco should be selling the device as well for $289 on contact. We don’t know if that price is for the 16GB or 32GB version of the Galaxy Nexus, but it’s in line with the other high-end LTE devices that Verizon has been selling for $299.

We’re still unsure if the US will see a GSM version of the Galaxy Nexus that would operate on AT&T and T-Mobile, but we’re only 10 days away from the UK launch. Hopefully more details are on the way. How many out there would be willing to switch carriers (to Verizon) in order to be the first wave of people with the Galaxy Nexus?

The curtain has finally been pulled back to reveal the HTC Rezound – the first device for the US market to feature a 720p HD display and Beats Audio. HTC’s CEO Peter Chou and Jimmy Iovine from Beats took the stage this afternoon in New York City to show off the handset for the very [...]]]>

The curtain has finally been pulled back to reveal the HTC Rezound – the first device for the US market to feature a 720p HD display and Beats Audio. HTC’s CEO Peter Chou and Jimmy Iovine from Beats took the stage this afternoon in New York City to show off the handset for the very first time. The official spec list on the HTC Rezound matches up very closely with the rumors we’ve reported on, including a 1.5 GHz S3 processor from Qualcomm, 4.3-inch 1280×720 720p HD display, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, an 8 megapixel rear camera, Android 2.3.4, HTC Sense 3.5, support for Verizon’s 4G LTE network and a custom pair of Beats headphones.

The design of the HTC Rezound is a cross between the HTC EVO 3D and the DROID Incredible 2, featuring a textured soft-touch back cover with a Beats and Verizon 4G LTE logo near the bottom and a red accent ring around the camera lens. The red accents are also carried over to the front of the HTC Rezound and can be found in the speaker grill and the capacitive buttons below the screen.

The Rezound features an 8 megapixel back-lit imaging sensor and an f2.2 lens, which allow the phone to capture some pretty decent pictures even in low light situations. The camera software and setup are nearly identical to what we’ve already seen on the HTC Amaze 4G.

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Verizon will start selling the HTC Rezound on November 14 for $299 with a new two-year contract and qualifying data plan. While the phone will be shipping with Gingerbread, HTC’s made it clear that the HTC Rezound is Ice Cream Sandwich ready and will be updated to the latest version of Android in early 2012.

It looks like the HTC Rezound and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be battling things out for the attention of Verizon’s customers.  We know most of you probably have your eyes set on the Nexus phone, but HTC may have an upper hand with the general public. Not to mention the fact that the phone will include Beats headphones right in the box.  Which camp are you in?

HTC Rezound Specs

• Mobile Hotspot capability: Share 4G connection with up to ten Wi-Fi-enabled devices
• Operating System: Android 2.3™ (Gingerbread) with latest HTC Sense – An upgrade to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will available in early 2012
• Internal Memory: 16 GB on-board memory, 1 GB DDR2 RAM
• Memory Card: 16 GB MicroSD™ pre-installed
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth®: 3.0 – Support for headset, hands-free, stereo, phonebook access and object push for vCard and vCalendar
• GPS: GPS/AGPS
• Battery: 1,620 mAh
• Special Features: HDMI (through MHL), G-sensor, Light sensor, Compass, Proximity sensor, MicroUSB, USIM/CSIM/ISIM, audio jack and Wireless Charging capable
• Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM8660 1.5GHz, Qualcomm® MDM9600
• Dimensions: 129 x 65.5 x 13.65 mm

With all the excitement about the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0, we’d like to remind you that other manufacturers are still working hard to roll out their latest handsets as well. Sprint and HTC announced this morning that the HTC EVO Design 4G will hit store shelves on October 23 for just $99.99 (after [...]]]>

With all the excitement about the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0, we’d like to remind you that other manufacturers are still working hard to roll out their latest handsets as well. Sprint and HTC announced this morning that the HTC EVO Design 4G will hit store shelves on October 23 for just $99.99 (after $50 mail-in rebate) with a new two-year service agreement or eligible upgrade. While the EVO Design 4G may sound like just another WiMax enabled phone, it’s the first EVO device to feature global roaming capabilities with its CDMA dual-band EVDO, WiMAX, HSPA/UMTS and GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity options.

The EVO Design 4G’s 1.2 GHz processor, 4-inch qHD display, 5MP and 1.3MP rear and front-facing cameras and Android 2.3 with HTC Sense may not be considered cutting edge these days, but you’ll be hard pressed to find any other phone with those specs for less than $200 on any carrier. The HTC EVO Design 4G won’t be giving the HTC EVO 3D a run for its money, but we suspect the price of the phone will make it a very attractive addition to Sprint’s current Android lineup.

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HTC EVO Design 4G spec highlights

• Qualcomm MSM8655, 1.2 GHz + SQN 1210
• Android Gingerbread w/HTC Sense 3.0
• 768MB RAM, 8 GB card included
• 4.8” x 2.4” x .47” (LxWxT)
• 5.2 ounces (with battery)
• 4.0” (diagonal) WVGA (960×540)
• 1520mAh LiIo
• Capacitive touch screen with multi-touch capability
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Digital compass, G-Sensor, Proximity sensor, Ambient Light sensor
• CDMA dual-band EVDO + WiMAX +
• HSPA/UMTS and GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Bluetooth 3.0
• WiFi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
• 5.0 megapixel camera with auto focus support
• 1.3 megapixels front camera for Qik HD video chatting

The HTC EVO Design 4G isn’t the next Nexus device, of course, and probably won’t be getting Android 4.0 until late in Q1 of 2012. That being said, HTC has put together a pretty decent device that will sell for nearly $200 less than certain handsets on Verizon and T-Mobile’s networks. Is it really all about specs? Or do any of you still think a phone is worthy of your affection simply based on price?

Anyone interested in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus may want to head over to J&R, where you can pre-order Samsung’s latest Android Honeycomb tablet. The price of the GT-P6210 Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus starts at $399 for the 16 GB model and goes up to $499, if you simply can’t live without

Anyone interested in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus may want to head over to J&R, where you can pre-order Samsung’s latest Android Honeycomb tablet. The price of the GT-P6210 Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus starts at $399 for the 16 GB model and goes up to $499, if you simply can’t live without 32 GB of internal storage. We’re still waiting on an official release date for the US market, but we already know a few countries in Europe and Asia will be able to purchase the Tab 7.0 Plus before the end of the month.

Finding the right tablet to fit your needs is getting a lot easier. Samsung now has three different sizes available (10.1, 8.9 and 7.0) with quite a few different price options. We would have liked the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus to debut for around $350, but it looks like Samsung feels their smallest tablet can directly compete with the other $400 tablets currently on the market.

Do any of you plan to purchase Samsung’s new 7-inch Honeycomb tablet? Or is the $399 price point simply outrageous for a 7-inch device when there are some decent $199 options available?

After some confusion last week, AT&T has confirmed via Twitter that their version of the Samsung Galaxy S II will launch on October 2 for $199 with new 2-year contract. AT&T’s version stays true to the international design, with the addition of NFC, a faster 1.2 GHz dual-core Exynos CPU and support for 4G [...]]]>

After some confusion last week, AT&T has confirmed via Twitter that their version of the Samsung Galaxy S II will launch on October 2 for $199 with new 2-year contract. AT&T’s version stays true to the international design, with the addition of NFC, a faster 1.2 GHz dual-core Exynos CPU and support for 4G HSPA+.

For an idea of what to expect, check out our hands-on with the Sprint Samsung Galaxy S II, Epic 4G Touch. AT&T’s version has a slightly smaller display (4.3 vs 4.5 inch) and battery (1650 vs 1800 mAh), which allows it to be the thinnest US-bound Galaxy, measuring 8.89mm.

AT&T customers have some exciting phones coming out soon with the HTC Holiday and Motorola Atrix 2, so they face a tough decision. If you’re on AT&T and looking for a new Android phone, which one are you going with?

If you were hoping to pick up AT&T’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S II today, then you might be disappointed. A launch date of September 18 had been reported by quite a few sites, but the device is still listed as coming soon on AT&T’s site. And it’s [...]]]>

If you were hoping to pick up AT&T’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S II today, then you might be disappointed. A launch date of September 18 had been reported by quite a few sites, but the device is still listed as coming soon on AT&T’s site. And it’s not available in stores.

AT&T’s official press release did not mention a release date. I tried calling several local stores but came up empty. Most locations told me there was no release date in their system and they had no idea when it was coming out.

Did anyone else go out searching for the AT&T Galaxy S II today? Let us know if you heard anyone talking about a potential release date.

The date for the launch — at Best Buy anyway — is February 17th which is in keeping with the Valentine’s Day launch [...]]]> The saga of the Motorola Xoom launch continues; today we have a new date and price courtesy of a leaked internal Best Buy screenshot posted by Droid Attic.

The date for the launch — at Best Buy anyway — is February 17th which is in keeping with the Valentine’s Day launch that we have been hearing since the Xoom launch event.

The retail price of $699 is probably at least $100 north of what any of you were hoping to see, but if you look at it as compared to the Galaxy Tab launch price it matches up exactly with that strategy at $30 less than the comparable 3G-enabled iPad. This is showing as off-contract pricing, but if they follow the same model as the Galaxy Tab at Best Buy you will need to at least activate one month of 3G service with Verizon to buy the Xoom.

We’ve known for quite some time that the Xoom will be the hero device for Honeycomb, so Motorola will have at least some period of exclusivity as the only manufacturer with a Honeycomb tablet. Is that going to be enough to get you to crack open that “saving for tablet” piggy bank or will you wait until the market populates with some competition?

Update: Apparently there are some wires crossed over at Best Buy as we’ve got dueling price reports coming in now with the at least arguably justifiable $699 price now joined (according to a Droid Life tipster) by that ugly $799 we heard whispers of previously. If we have any Best Buy staffers in the audience that think they have a handle on what sort of shenanigans the Best Buy internal system is up to we would certainly be interested in hearing it.