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Droid Charge gets semi-unboxed behind the scenes at Best Buy
Still not convinced of the Droid Charge's inevitable release? Well here's some photographic evidence direct from a Best Buy backroom, you cynics! Our tipster was too excited about his triumph to tame Mr. Blurrycam or even finish unboxing Verizon's Froyo-packing handset, so the rest of us will have to wait until tomorrow for some clear shots of Samsung's 1GHz LTE beast from all angles. With luck, the unit above should be fully unboxed by then. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Samsung's Droid Charge spotted in leaked promo material, multimedia dock in tow
Like it or not, it's a Big Red kind of day. The latest VZW news to splash down in our inbox is the shot you see above -- the first hint of promotional material surrounding Samsung's Droid Charge. If you'll recall, this phone began its (public) life at CES 2011 sans a name, but as a source correctly predicted, the name shown above will be the one that sticks. Proving that the Atrix 4G setup was more than just a fluke, Sammy's also showcasing a must-have peripheral: the multimedia desktop dock. Said accessory ships with a built-in battery charger and spare cell, but with no apparent signs of a video output, we're having a hard time getting too hot and bothered.
Confirmed: Samsung SCH-i510 LTE phone to be named Droid Charge
Remember that Samsung LTE phone for Verizon we saw at CES -- you know, that nameless one? Well, according to the picture you see above sent by a trusted source, Verizon has decided to undertake the Droid naming scheme. The newly coined SCH-i510, if you recall, packs an 8 megapixel shooter on back, a front-facing cam and a Super AMOLED Plus display. At this point, we're uncertain which version of Android the Droid Charge will be running once it hits shelves, but last we saw it was running 2.2 with TouchWiz. No word on pricing or a release date as of yet, but you can rest assured that we'll be keeping you in the loop.
Droid Incredible comes with 'limited introductory offer' of 2GB microSD
All in all, we thought the Droid Incredible was a pretty nifty phone, but in our full review we still called out a couple ways Verizon and HTC could make it a little more... well, you know. It seems Verizon has taken one of our suggestions to heart, because we've just learned the company will ship new phones with a 2GB microSD card. No word on how long the promo offer will last or whether existing pre-orders are included, but we hear at least one early adopter got left out. We'll have to see if more speak up... like you, for instance. Let us know in comments if you get shortchanged. [Thanks, Shawn M.]
Verizon posts Droid Incredible video, has excellent taste in apps
Are we posting this HTC Incredible promo video even though we've already put up our full review just because the Engadget Android app makes cameo appearances at 1:05 and 3:23, much like we posted the EVO 4G video because it featured Engadget in the news widget? Yes, we are. Any other questions? Video after the break. P.S.- It's officially called the Droid Incredible, but Verizon's dude-man only ever calls it just "the Incredible." Odd, no? [Thanks, Lyndon]
Android 2.1 ported to Droid, no one feigns surprise
You had to know this was coming. That Android 2.1 OS that's been circulating inside the Google's ultra-exclusive Nexus One has hit the internet, and thanks to some clever hackery, you can now theoretically put the update on your Droid handset. We say theoretically, of course, because it's not quite a perfect rip. DIY instructions were briefly posted on Sholes.info but have since been replaced with a curt advisory to wait for a ROM that properly preserves file system permissions, else risking some serious breaking. The original image file is still available, but don't say we didn't warn you. Separately and perhaps unrelated, a video has surfaced of the Nexus One's boot animation running on Droid -- feel free to enjoy that instead, after the break.%Gallery-80327% [Thanks, Seth and Kyle]
Verizon confirms DROID tethering cost, will ask subscribers to double-down on their data plan
Just a few days ago Verizon made the less-than-shocking confirmation that DROID tethering was coming, but wouldn't say how much it would cost. Now that the hardest of hardcore fans are already waiting in line, disconnected from the world at large, the company is unleashing the bad news: it'll be $30. That doubles the cost of the required data plan that sits atop a subscriber's voice plan, meaning a total of $60 per month for "unlimited" data access on handset or laptop. Mind you, "unlimited" really means 5GB of data per, a total of 10 split between the two $30 plans. Glass ceilings: we hate them.
DROID tethering? It's coming early 2010, says Verizon
When the Motorola DROID debuts in Verizon Wireless stores bright and early this Friday, one nice little feature that won't be making an appearance yet is tethering, for computing with your laptop on-the-go when that Android 2.0 interface just won't cut it. We're pretty sure that missing functionality won't be lessening the early adopter crowds too much, but if you are so inclined, Gearlog's confirmed with VZW that its "Broadband Access Connect" tethering plan is indeed coming to the device, but not until sometime early 2010. Now, how about muscling Motorola and / or Google for some of that double-finger pointing our fine European friends get to indulge in?
Verizon's HTC Droid Eris to run Android 1.5 on a 528MHz CPU
We can certainly understand why Verizon wants to brand all of its Android devices under the "Droid" label, but at this point we can't say we understand why it's launching the HTC Droid Eris alongside the Motorola Droid at all -- BGR says it's going to run Android 1.5 on a 528MHz Qualcomm CPU, which means it'll be instantly obsoleted by Android 2.0 on the Moto's OMAP3 at launch. What's more, it sure seems like Verizon knows it's mismanaging this situation, as we haven't heard a single peep about the Eris in the runup to the Droid launch tomorrow, even though Eric Schmidt and Lowell McAdam were waving both devices around a few weeks ago. We'll see how this all plays out -- HTC certainly has Android 2.0 phones of its own in the works, so the Eris might not be long for this world.
