In this post-PC world we’re living in, tablets and phones rule the landscape. But could they match the power, robustness and level of customization a personal computer can offer? This question seems to have been in the core of the strategic disagreement between Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci and the company’s board, which led to the former stepping down and leaving the company in the hands of chairman JT Wang, who’ll take the role of acting chief executive. The computing landscape has changed and the slow adaptation to that seismic shift has lead Acer into a second consecutive chapter of missing initial financial expectations.

“The personal computer remains the core of our business,” said Wang. “We have built up a strong foundation and will continue to expand within, especially in the commercial PC segment. In addition, we are stepping into the new mobile device market, where we will invest cautiously and aim to become one of the leading players.”

Acer has certainly stepped up their game with the ICONIA tablets announced back at CES, but it remains underrepresented in the segment, while this statement seems to stress the importance of their mobile business even more.

“In this new ICT industry Acer needs a period of time for adjustment. With the spirit of entrepreneurship, we will face new challenges and look to the future with confidence,” added Wang. This marks a departure from the mass-volume approach the company has been employing in recent years to a more balanced stance.

source: Reuters and Hexus

Prior to CTIA 2011 it was widely anticipated that the HTC Pyramid is scheduled to make an appearance during the mobile event, but for some reason this prospect didn’t materialize. That was a bit disappointing – we were quite eager to see this upcoming smartphone heavyweight in flesh – but since that didn’t happen, we were left with no other choice but to listen to the rumors and the leaks.

The good news is that the HTC Pyramid is not a shy beast – we hear of rumors and reports about this handset quite often, and now we have a massive leak to share with you.

The guys at XDA-Developers have received some pics that show the HTC Pyramid in all its glory, as well as its (probable) specs. These specs pretty much reiterate what we have heard from previous rumors – this handset is set to arrive with a 4.3-inch qHD resolution display, 1.2GHz processor, two cameras (the rear one may be able to record full HD videos) and 768MB of RAM.

It’s anticipated that Android 2.3.2 will run the software side of things, while it’s likely that the upcoming version of HTC’s custom UI – HTC Sense – will also be on board.

With all these great phones that are on the horizon – like the Motorola DROID BIONIC, the HTC EVO 3D and the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY just to name a few – do you believe this phone will be able to hold its ground against the competitors?

source: XDA-Developers via Engadget

psx4droid, a popular PlayStation emulator for Android, was pulled out from the Market because of “Content Policy violation”.

This app may very well be the first casualty of the upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY, although a few other emulators – among them FPSe, which also provides emulation of PlayStation games – are still available in the Android Market.

One suggested reason for psx4droid’s removal is that this emulator is using the source code of another app called PCSX without having its GPL license.

It’s reported that current users of psx4droid won’t face any problems using the emulator, even though it’s no longer available in Google’s app store. Also, it is claimed that the developer of the app is hoping to find a way to return it to the Android Market.

source: Twitter and mobiputing via Electronista

The HTC Flyer might not have caught your eye, but that could be partly because of the eventual lack of Honeycomb and the stylus reminding you of times not so long past. But while other companies have gone in the way of mimicking the market leader, HTC has taken their time to give a smooth polish to its own HTC Sense interface and make a truly unique product.

The 7-inch Flyer has a neatly looking carousel allowing you to quickly access info on your homepage, but what seems truly exciting is the stylus input. You can only appreciate it if your work involves some drawing – a challenging task for every keyboard out there. While finger input might do the job, we haven’t really seen many applications supporting it to the extent we are tosee in the Flyer. Coupled with the tablet’s powerful 1.5GHz single-core chipset, this could bring a lot of new ideas. Check out the video below for some of them.

source: HTC

Typical of any major device release, the rumor mill was abuzz with potential bugs with the HTC ThunderBolt. But now HTC has confirmed, to Android Central, that there is in fact a problem with the camcorder’s audio recording.

Users have reported that sometimes the sound works fine, and other times the sound is muffled or nonexistent. Some users say that a temporary fix can be found by covering the noise canceling microphone. Others have suggested using a third-party video recording app.

And while HTC hasn’t specifically identified the source of the problem, we can infer that it has something to do with the noise canceling, in that the ThunderBolt is canceling the desired audio source as if it were ambient noise.

HTC is confident that a fix will be out soon, but we won’t be surprised if it’s merely packaged with the ThunderBolt’s Android 2.3 update, along with the Bluetooth fix, coming within the next few months.

source: Android Central

While global sales of smartphones will continue to increase, they will do so at a much slower pace this year, according to International Data Corp. (IDC). They predict that in 2011, smartphones will grow by 49%, which is far less than the 74% growth in 2010.

IDC explains that the recession is responsible for the shift in growth rates: “Last year’s high market growth was due in part to pent-up demand from a challenging 2009, when many buyers held off on mobile phone purchases.” So now that those reluctant consumers felt comfortable enough to buy smartphones in 2010, they will be less likely to do so in 2011.

In line with most analysts’ predictions, IDC sees Android grabbing a vast lead by 2015 with 45.4% (from 39.5%). But somewhat surprisingly, they predict that Apple’s iOS will slip to 15.3% (from 15.7%). Of course, they also see BlackBerry losing some ground, and Symbian obviously vanishing after it’s no longer part of Nokia’s lineup.

Their most interesting prediction, which mirrored that of one Ovum analyst, regarded Windows Phone 7. They see the combined Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile market share rising from 5.5% to 20.9% by 2015, making it the second largest smartphone OS. And they attribute this growth to Nokia’s vast production capacity.

source: IDC via Bloomberg

Why, it was just yesterday when we told you that an ad-supported version of  Angry Birds Rio was coming later this week to the Android Market. Rovio wasted no time in making all of the last second adjustments necessary to launch the game, which is now available for free at the Android Market.

If you are looking to play the game without paying a dime, than the Android Market version-supported by ads-is for you. On the other hand, if you have had enough commercialization whether it’s YouTube or Angry Birds, the Amazon app store has the exclusive rights to offer an ads-free version of the game. Of course, you would normally have to pay for that privilege, although it is currently free for a limited time as a promotion.

It’s not as easy a decision as paper or plastic, but either way, you get the pleasure of playing the highly addictive game. Rio brings 60 new levels of Angry Birds action which means you will be zoning out, holding your smartphone in front of you for quite a few hours.

source: AndroidCentral

The ad-supported version of the Angry Birds Rio is now available at the Android Market

Verizon’s ultra-fast 4G LTE network might be up and running, but there is only one handset making full use of those speeds. This, however, will change very soon as the 4G LTE-capable Samsung Droid Charge was leaked with an April 7th launch date. The LG Revolution will further revolutionalize the 4G experience when it arrives on May 5th and will be followed by the Motorola Droid Bionic, the Motorola Droid X 2 and the SamsungGalaxy S II later in May, all supporting the amazing LTE speeds, according to a leak on Phandroid.

The gaming-centered Sony EricssonXperia PLAY will hit shelves with the Verizon logo in mere two weeks, but in the meantime feel free to check out our in-depth coverage of all of its gaming prowess.

In addition, the CDMA HTC Trophy will also arrive on Big Red on April 15, equipped with Windows Phone 7. Finally, the HTC Incredible S, rebranded as the HTC Incredible 2, is expected to bring joy to your senses with HTC Sense as soon as April 28th. With so many announcements, it looks like we’re going to have a hot spring, doesn’t it?

source: Phandroid

A Verizon document that was leaked last year had revealed a 3/31 “End of Life” (EOL) date for the HTC Droid Incredible. Now that this date is almost upon us, it is time to reflect on a handset that was at one time, Big Red’s flagship device.

When launched, its 3.7 inch AMOLED screen was still considered big in size. The 1GHz Snapdragon processor was among the fastest available at the time and the 8MP camera captured 720p HD video. Right from the get go, the huge demand for the device forced Verizon to put the phone on back order. The demand was led by the nearly unanimous positive reviews from the cellphone media which created a huge buzz around the device.

Another reason why the device was so hard to find last year was a shortage in AMOLED screens. Samsung didn’t produce enough of the display, not realizing what a success it would have with its own Galaxy S handset and its variants which included a different named version of the phone for each of the top 4 major U.S. carriers. The shortage of screens led to such a long delay in Droid Incredible production that many who ordered the phone were allowed by Verizon to change their order to the Motorola DROID X at no charge. When the phone returned, the AMOLED display was replaced by a Sony Super LCD screen as we reported.

Now, as Verizon prepares to bury the Droid Incredible, the HTC Droid Incredible 2 appears ready to take over. Spotted on the carrier’s inventory system as we told you, the Droid Incredible 2 will be the Stateside version of the  Droid Incredible S. A 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655-the same chip seen on the HTC ThunderBolt-is under the hood and the display is bumped up in size to a 4 inch WVGA, TFT screen. 768MB of RAM is on board along with an 8MP camera with dual Xenon flash. That is an improvement over the dual LCD flash seen on the original model.

So as we say goodbye to the HTC Droid Incredible, we find ourselves wishing that we could have known this phone much better than we did, but the combination of strong demand and a parts shortage prevented the handset from getting the accolades it should have received. Now it is up to the HTC Droid Incredible 2 to keep the tradition alive.

source: GottaBeMobile

Last year, a leaked Verizon document showed that the HTC Droid Incredible would reach its EOL on March 31st 2011

We originally told you that the new Angry Birds Rio game was to be an exclusive available for Android only through Amazon’s new application store. But a look at the Angry Birds Facebook page revealed a caption that made it clear that Angry Birds Rio will be available in the Android Market later this week.

There is a major difference between the version of the game on Amazon and the one in the Android Market. It would appear that the caption is telling us that Amazon will retain the exclusive rights to the ad free version of Angry Birds Rio while the Android Market version will be supported by ads.

The caption notes that the Amazon version of the game is free for a limited time, so you can download the game for free from both markets. But once that limited time expires, those who want an ad-free version of the game will have to pay Amazon while those who would rather sit through an advertisement instead of paying for the game can do so through the Android Market.

source: Facebook via AndroidGuys