Test build of Android 2.3.4 leaks for ThunderBolt

Anyone with their RSS reader pointed toward Taiwan should know by now that today an Android 2.3.4 test

HTC Lead headed to AT&T, system dump leaked

We’re still taking in all of the leaks that have popped up in the past day or two but one that stands out currently is the system dump for the upcoming HTC Lead. According to the information that can be stripped out of the dump, this device is starting to sound similar to the HTC Inspire 4G with some more horsepower:

Gingerbread Test Build for ThunderBolt Leaked

A buggy test build of Android 2.3 Gingerbread appears to have been leaked from our favorite source for all things HTC oddity: 911HTC! They’ve got a big fat build by the name of Mecha GINGERBREAD S Verizon WWE 2.01.605.0_ Radio_0.01.69.0501r_ _NV_8K_1.41_ 9K_1.64_test_190987.zip – all that make sense to you? It doesn’t have to! All you need to know is that Gingerbread is more than likely on its way to Verizon’s HTC ThunderBolt, and by the looks of it, it’s coming soon!

Before we continue I’ve of course got to warn you that ROMs in test stages such as this are often beyond buggy to the point where should you use them you really ought to prepare yourself for something rather broken. Be sure to back up your current build if you plan on working with this one,

Samsung Exhibit 4G hits T-Mobile June 8

We first heard about the Samsung Exhibit 4G a few weeks ago and it looks like we’ll be seeing the mid-range offering hitting T-Mobile shelves on June 8. Dealer price is set at $325, but you’ll be paying less (and note the $50 rebate).

The Exhibit 4G features a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, 3MP rear camera, VGA front-facing camera and is also HSPA+ capable; it will be able to reach speeds exceeding 21mbps.

Xperia PLAY game sales have been unimpressive

According to a report by CVG, Android Market downloads of games specifically designed to run on Sony Ericsson’s Xperia PLAY handset have been extremely low. As evidence in its case, the report hones in on five Play titles that all have under 1,000 total Market downloads: Cool Boarders 2, 100–500; Destruction Derby, 500–1,000; Jumping Flash, 50–100; MediEvil, 100–500; and Syphon Filter, 100–500. Despite this, the handset’s creator is undeterred. “There’s no concerns, it’s a revolutionary device, it’s shaking up the market, we’re very pleased with it,” said Dominic Heil-

HTC Merge available from third-party retailers, not Verizon Wireless

A Verizon Wireless spokesperson has shed some light on the fate of the HTC Merge — an Android 2.2 handset first discovered last September. The device, which was officially announced by HTC in February, has fallen in and out of obscurity for months. Now, according to the latest report, users may finally get a chance to purchase the handset.

DROID3 packs qHD display and TI dual-core tip benchmarks

Details of Motorola’s upcoming DROID3 smartphone have been leaked, courtesy of some premature benchmarking of what’s assumed to be a prototype device. According to the stats at Nenamark, spotted by Blog of Mobile, the Verizon Android smartphone will have a qHD 960 x 540 display, just like the Motorola ATRIX, as well as use Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR SGX 540 GPU.

That clears up one lingering question about the DROID3, namely which chipset it would use. Unlike the ATRIX, which is based on NVIDIA’s Tegra 2, it seems Motorola has used the 1GHz Texas Instruments OMAP4430, an alternative dual-core processor.

OS is Gingerbread, at least at time of testing, and the phone scored 45.7 (though, since we’re guessing the firmware isn’t final at this stage, that should probably be taken with a pinch of salt). Other expected specs include a 4-inch display and a front-facing camera for video calls; still unclear is when, exactly, Motorola and Verizon will announce the new QWERTY slider.

[via DROID-Life; via Android Community]

What’s Google TV’s Key Selling Point?

At the I/O Conference this week, Google said that it will be bringing Android 3.1 to Google TV later this year. In addition, the company said that developers will finally have the SDK they need to start deliveringGoogle TV-based applications.

For those who currently own Google TV-based devices, like the Logitech Revue, that’s good news. Right now, those folks are using a platform that, by and large, has done little to justify its price. Worst of all, for months, it seemed that Google had turned its back on the platform, allowing it to languish on store shelves.

Google I/O 2011 T-shirt puzzle solved, reveals the droid you’ve been looking for

Google always has some fun with its I/O t-shirts and this year is no exception. There was a hidden message in the shirts, which appeared to have some sort of binary or Morse Code on the back. You can take a look at the shirt below and see if you can decipher it before continuing after the cut for the answer.

Putting the dots and dashes in line and considering the line breaks to be spaces, it turns out to indeed be Morse Code. After plugging it into a Morse Code translator you will find that the message is actually HTTP://GOO.GL/A4C639. An interesting note about the URL is that the “A4C639” is actually the HEX value for the Android green color.

Plugging in the URL in your browser, you will find that it forwards you to a page that invites you to Androidify yourself with the limited edition Google I/O 2011 t-shirt. Google sure knows how to have some fun. You should check out the ‘Android Eats Apple’ wallpaper that was displayed on the big screen during the first day’s keynote.

[via MobileCrunch]

HTC bringing a Sensation successor with NFC in Q3 2011?

Rumors are always just rumors, but a current one flying around the Internet has an unnamed HTC sales manager outing a 4.3-inch successor to the HTC Sensation, with NFC capabilities, to hit in the third quarter of 2011.  Yes, a new phone will be better than an old phone — shocker — even though this particular old phone hasn’t even hit the shelves yet.

So far the only Android phone to have NFC on-board is the Nexus S, and that’s because Google wanted it available for developers.  NFC technology is something Nokia’s been doing forever, yet still hasn’t caught on for most of the world.  Maybe a bigger push from Google will have the same result that putting a front facing camera on the HTC Evo 4G did, and bring it mainstream.  Or maybe not — consumers, especially us American ones, are pretty fickle.

Finally, there’s been a bit of speculation that this will be the next Nexus phone.  While that’s possible, and the time frame fits, I think it’s way to early for anyone to be jumping to those conclusions.  But if it is, and has a similar curvaceous unibody design, tell me who to throw my money at now please.