Press Photo of HTC DROID DNA

Rumors on the upcoming HTC Android flagship smarpthone, the DROID DNA are starting to heat up. Several renders of the device have already been leaked online and Verizon Wireless and HTC announced they will host a launch event on November 13.

Although the companies did not offer any additional details on the product that could see the light of day on November 13, all evidence points to HTC DROID DNA. We expect the smartphone to be officially introduced next week, though we're not yet sure when exactly Verizon will start selling the device and for what price. According to the latest hearsay, DROID DNA should hit shelves at the Big Red on December 6, or around sometime around this date, for as low as $200/€155. DROID DNA by HTC recently appeared on Verizon's support site and it was also spotted at FCC (Federal Communication Commission). This would be HTC's most advanced smartphone, so we expect it to be launched globally at some point. As a matter fact the DROID DNA has already been announced in Japan as HTC J Butterfly and will soon be released in China as well.

The device's main selling point would be the stunning 5.0-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution. Some of the phone's specs have been leaked, though these are only rumors, so take it with a grain of salt until official word confirms it. HTC DROID DNA is said to be powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, which will be complemented by 2GB of RAM. On the back, the phone is expected to pack an enhanced 8-megapixel photo snapper with autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording.

The DROID DNA ships with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, integrated with HTC Sense UI 4+. Beats Audio technology, along with ImageSense will be included as well. Stay tuned for more updates on the matter.

HTC DROID DNA
Image credits to EVleaks

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Motorola ATRIX HD Developer Edition Now Official

Motorola Mobility launched the ATRIX HD back in July with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system out of the box.

The smartphone was released in the US via AT&T, but also made it to Canada several weeks later. Today, Motorola announced the upcoming availability of ATRIX HD Developer Edition. Check it out here. Although the Developer Edition has the same features and specs as the regular version, it comes with an unlockable bootloader, allowing for deep ROM customization. However, as Motorola states, “you should only unlock the bootloader if you’re comfortable with the process and know exactly what you’re doing, since you will be voiding the warranty and risking data and functionality loss.” Keep in mind that unlocking the Motorola ATRIX Developer Edition might cause the device to stop working, disable some features and functions, or even make the phone unstable.

The bad news is that once you get the unlock code the smartphone is no longer covered by the Motorola warranty. The good news is that you'll be able to customize the ATRIX HD Developer Edition infinitely. Once the bootloader is unclocked owners might lose all media and content stored on the smartphone, so they will need to reinstall all apps downloaded via Google Play store. Encription support and some important features function, such as telephone, radio, and audio playback might be lost too. And the worse you could do is cause permanent/physical damage to the Motorola ATRIX HD Developer Edition.

For the time being, the following Motorola devices can be unlocked: Photon Q 4G LTE, DROID RAZR M(Developer Edition), DROID RAZR HD (Developer Edition CDMA-LTE), Motorola RAZR HD (Rest of World - UMTS/LTE), Motorola RAZR HD (Rogers Canada - UMTS/LTE) and Motorola RAZR i. We strongly recommend Android users to grab this Motorola ATRIX HD Developer Edition only if they need it badly and know what they're doing as the phone's warranty will be void.

Motorola ATRIX HD Developer Edition
Image credits to Motorola Mobility

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Galaxy Nexus With Android 4.2 Core Apps

Ever since Google has made the new Android 4.2 operating system and Nexus 4 official last week, users have been wondering when the new OS and its pack of goodies would arrive on other devices as well.

For Galaxy Nexus owners, that day has come, though not through the official channels. Courtesy of a leaked Nexus 4 system dump, various applications have been extracted and made available for the older device. At the moment, all Android 4.2 core applications are available for last year’s Google phone, including Gmail, Maps, Calendar and the like, as well as the latest Google Wallet release.

Those who would like to take them for a spin will be able to find the needed .apk files up for download on the web, courtesy of @KillDroidHack who extracted them and XDA-Developers forum members who repackaged them.

Galaxy Nexus
image credits to Google

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Nokia Lumia 920 Running on T-Mobile’s Network

Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 flagship device, the Lumia 920, will be available for purchase only on shelves at AT&T, which might leave a lot of users out of the deal, that’s for sure.

However, it seems that this is not the case for T-Mobile’s subscribers, who will be able to take advantage of the handset’s capabilities on their wireless carrier’s network. According to TmoNews, both the developer Lumia 920 units and the international flavor of the device (including the devices sold in Canada) will arrive on shelves with support for T-Mobile’s 1700MHz AWS band right out of the box.

Photos that TmoNews brought online show the handset paired with Magenta’s wireless service, which should sound like great news for those who were looking to grab one but didn’t want to switch to AT&T. The supported average speeds of around 10Mbps should prove one more reason to like the phone.

Lumia 920 on T-Mobile's network
Images credits to TmoNews

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RIM to Bring New PlayBook-Like Icons to BlackBerry 10

Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion is still hard at work with getting its BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system ready for launch, including applying new visual touches to it.

Among them, we can count the availability of new icons for applications installed on devices, bringing them in line with those available on the PlayBook tablet PC. Initially showcased with app icons that looked very much like simple rectangles, the platform is expected to arrive on shelves with a new set of icons, better looking. According to some of the reports on the matter, RIM has decided to replace the original 150 x 150 icons that featured square backgrounds with 114×114 ones, with transparent backgrounds similar to those available for the tablet PC. The company has already updated all the necessary developer documentation to reflect the change, and those interested in learning more on the matter can head over to this page on its website for that.

“Designing an icon for your BlackBerry smartphone application gives you the opportunity to showcase your application to BlackBerry users. In the BlackBerry World storefront, an icon is the first introduction that users have to your application,” RIM explains. “The icon also appears on the home screen as the way for users to open your application. Your icon is placed on a transparent tile automatically with the application name label underneath the icon.” The company also notes that icons should be 114 x 114 pixel square, and that developers should create them as a single iconic metaphor that would successfully represent the application. App icons can also be created with shadows next to them, in which case they should be a bit smaller, at 106 x 106. Lighting can also be included, top-down at a 90 degree angle, the handset vendor says.

Specific instructions on the color palette that developers should use, as well as on boundaries, perspective and lighting and the like are available on the aforementioned web page on the company’s website.

BlackBerry 10 with new icons - concept
Image credits to UrbanGlowCam via berryreview

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Motorola DROID RAZR HD Developer Edition Tastes CyanogenMod 10 ROM

Motorola is nowhere near the release of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for the Motorola DROID RAZR HD smartphone, but the owners of the Developer Edition flavor of the device can already get a taste of the platform, though from unofficial sources.

To be more precise, an alpha build of CyanogenMod 10 (CM10) for the DROID RAZR HD Developer Edition (XT926) is now available for download, though with some caveats. First of them is the fact that the ROM will work only on the Developer Edition. Any attempt to load it on the stock device might end up in harming the phone.

Secondly, there’s the alpha tag that the ROM sports attached to it, which means that users might bump into all sorts of problems with it, including crashes and the like. Those who are still interested in giving it a try should head to this thread on XDA-Developers.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Image credits to Google

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HTC DROID DNA Spotted in Leaked Verizon Document

Verizon Wireless has been long rumored to plan the release of a new HTC handset in its popular DROID lineup, and some more solid confirmation on the matter is now available.

Supposedly dubbed HTC DROID DNA, the handset is said to land at Verizon by mid-December, and the carrier’s employees have been already announced on the matter, rumor has it. The above image (available courtesy of TalkAndroid) is said to have been showed to them, confirming some of the already leaked specs of the handset, such as its 5-inch full HD display (1080p), or the 8-megapixel photo snapper on the back.

Furthermore, the upcoming mobile phone is said to sport a 2MP camera on the front, Beats Audio, and HTC’s Sense UI loaded on top of Android. Moreover, the new device is expected to sport a price tag of $199 when released.

HTC DROID DNA
Image credits to TalkAndroid

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Foxconn AT-5570, AMD Brazos-Powered Mini PC

Foxconn usually makes products for others, but every once in a while it launches own-brand devices, like the AT-5570.

This is a mini PC, a nettop as it were, powered by the AMD C-70 accelerated processing unit, a Brazos 2.0 chip of 1 GHz / 1.3 GHz Turbo frequency featuring the Radeon HD 7290 integrated graphics. Since there are two DDR3 memory slots inside the case, up to 8 GB of Ram can back the chip up, though even 4 GB would be overkill.

Other than that, Foxconn decided to include a pair of USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0/1.1 ports, a multi-card reader, a 2.5-inch SATA 6.0 Gbps storage device, HD audio, Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet and, of course, video outputs (HDMI and D-Sub / VGA). No price information is available as of yet, unfortunately.

Foxconn AT-5570
Image credits to Foxconn

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