Verizon Wireless customers can start (unofficially) counting down the days that an Android Phone – and a seemingly awesome one at that – lands on their carriers shelves. A leaked Verizon roadmap has unveiled a whole swarm of Verizon Wireless goodness and amongst it all is a late October release of the upcoming Motorola Sholes.

First we see a little “evolutionary” image showing which 2009 devices are taking over the presence of currently existing models:

See that little “Upcoming Device Opportunities” at the bottom of the image? Perhaps we should pan down a bit and see what the future holds?

I spy Android! The cost is still TBD but I bet a lot of Verizon customers will be willing to spend whatever it takes to call the Sholes their own. If you’re in the group, make sure to visit our Motorola Sholes guide and our Motorola Morrison guide and sign up for the newsletters – we’ll Email you as SOON as they’re available for purchase!

Great news for Android which will (hopefully) be available on America’s largest carrier in two months and even better news for Verizon customers who are craving the Droid. What a great start to a week for Android lovers!

[via Phandroid]

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You know those confidentiality agreements companies sign with the FCC to keep our prying eyes away? Well, Archos didn’t sign one. The result is a treasure trove of information about its new A5S (model 7501) Internet Media Tablet and a whisper of the A5H (model 7502) to come. The A5S looks very much like the 4.8-inch Archos 5 we already know and uh, know. However, there is a slight redesign resulting in a new location for the speaker and headphone jack as well as the inclusion of a microSD slot and what looks to be microUSB. Given the emergence of this new model so close to Archos’ Android launch event and the repeated mention of the 5-inch “Archos 5 Internet Tablet” in Archos’ own Android AppsLib store, we’re guessing this is the new Android device set for a September 15th announce. True, the single UI shot (pictured after the break) isn’t vanilla Android (it’s likely skinned a la HTC’s SenseUI) but it marks a radical departure from Archos’ current offering. The FCC tested 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and an FM transmitter and receiver on the A5S while a user manual briefly mentions 3G data, although the FCC didn’t test it. Perhaps that’s the secret sauce inside of the A5H model 7502?

The upcoming Archos devices are Internet Media Tablets A5S and A5H.

[Via Engadget]

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Mobile phones are becoming very competent and popular mobile gaming platforms. According to the largest third party application store, mobile games were 25% of all apps sold for the first half of 2009. That is a 6% increase from 2008.

According to Handango’s report, Android was one of the most popular gaming platforms for mobile devices. Games in the Android catalog accounted for a larger percentage of sales than they did in other smartphone catalogs.

Android isn’t alone in being a popular gaming platform. Handango also said that RIM’s Blackberry line was popular with mobile gamers, 36% of all apps sold for the device were games. The growth of mobile gaming is no surprise to me. We always have our phones on us for the most part and games are a great way to kill some time.

[via InformationWeek]

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Check Out The New T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Commercial With Whoopi Goldberg, Phil Jackson & Jesse James

[youtube JLU2_w91QEU nolink]

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Someone has been busy! In a Press Release published yesterday, mobile app developer Mobilizy killed two apps with one code, announcing the launch of Wikitude 3 and Wikitude.Me. The application fits into the wonderful world of Augmented Reality (AR) we keep hearing so much about. It is essentially a “World Browser” that allows location-based information to be overlayed atop your phone’s display when viewing the actual world around you.

The huge news here is the combination of Augmented Reality and active contribution through geo-tagging points of interest. Even more awesome is that Wikitude supports logging in using third party accounts such as Yahoo!, Google, Twitter, Facebook and other OpenID partners.

The Augmented Reality space is heating up in regards to AR Browsers… but I’d love to see AR implementations in more uniquely targeted opportunities for example applying it to an App like SkyMap or Augmented Reality games. Self-serving interests aside, the folks at WikiTude have done a great job and the app is worth checking out. Here is the full Press Release launched yesterday:

Mobilizy releases WIKITUDE 3 and an enhanced version of Wikitude.me

SALZBURG, Austria: AUGUST 26TH 2009. Mobilizy GmbH introduces WIKITUDE 3 for the Android OS and relaunches a completely new Wikitude.me geo-tagging platform. WIKITUDE 3 is the latest release of the Wikitude World Browser, the premiere mobile AR application for Android, which displays location-based, geo-specific content in a real-time augmented reality camera view on a smart-phone using GPS & gravimetric (compass) sensors.

[via Phandroid]

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Archos’ Android-based Internet Tablet has been prematurely revealed, courtesy of the company’s FCC report.  The device – which resembles their existing Archos 5 PMP, but uses Google’s mobile OS – has been confirmed as the Archos A5S (7501), as well as having an untested sibling device, the A5H (7501).

The Archos A5S has WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and both an FM receiver and transmitter, together with a touchscreen and – going by the single image of the device powered on, which you can see in the gallery below – a custom UI on top of the standard Android interface.  While the FCC did not test any integrated 3G connectivity option, the (incomplete) user manual does suggest that at least one model will have it; it’s been speculated that this could be the differentiating factor of the Archos A5H.

There’s also a microSD card slot and microUSB ports.  We’re expecting the Archos Android MID to be officially announced on September 15th, hopefully with a price that puts it firmly in the “affordable companion device” category.

[via SlashGear]

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One of the new buzzwords in applications for mobile phones floating around is augmented reality. This type of app takes an image seen live form the phones camera and overlays it with directions or other data as an example.

A slick new augmented reality app for the Android platform has surfaced called Augmented Traffic Views. The app overlays data on top of live camera view including images from traffic cams and other data. The app will even pop images up from other cameras along the route you are driving.

The only city covered by the app right now is Toronto and we don’t know when the app will be offered to the public. What we do know is that the app is very cool and looks like one of the more useful augmented reality apps out there.

[youtube AqlwZK9e5UI nolink]

[via BGR]

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Namco announced today that they are committed to the Android platform as a major gaming platform with the release of four classic titles on the Android Market.  You can now purchase full versions of their best selling games, Inspector Gadget, Rolling with Katamari, Brain Coach with Kawashima and More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima. These games follow the success of Pacman which was release for free to support the launch of the G1 back in September 2008.

“Less than a year after the launch of the first Android-powered handset, the platform has already established itself as the leading open platform within the mobile industry and its potential for mass market adoption is clear,” said Scott Rubin, vice president of sales and marketing for Namco Networks. “Android has fast become an important sales and development platform for Namco and we will continue to bring a broad range of exciting titles to users through the Android Market.”

You can read the whole press release via Business Wire

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First of all, the obligatory bucket of salt should get a few extra helpings with this post. The Xperia X1 is a great device, the X2 is rumored to be its WinMo wielding successor and if we’re lucky enough, the Android-based Xperia X3 rumor will pan out too. But a Phandroid reader (Thanks Jeff!) has spotted mention of another Android Xperia – the Xperia X5, codenamed Nadine:

Let’s get all the misguided hope out of the way first. These are merely “concept” pictures… and pretty poor ones I might add. Looking at these images SCREAMS fake, not to mention the X2 and X3 haven’t been announced and the rumor mill would have seemingly skipped over the X4.

[Read Full Article]

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