We recently mentioned an update for the Samsung Moment that was to require you to bring your handset to a Sprint repair center. Well, Sprint has decided to offer the update via your own PC. While the carrier’s other Android device, the HTC Hero, has received a few OTA updates for light housekeeping, it seems that Samsung is just not there yet in regards to sending out the upgraded software.

After the update is through, the Moment will still be running Android 1.5. There should be a firmware upgrade to Android 2.1 early in the next quarter. For those who don’t keep up to date on these matters, Sprint will send out an SMS that will alert the user to the CL 14 update. Among the changes will be updates to certain third party apps like Visual Voicemail, NFL, NASCAR and Sprint TV. The Emergency Dial on the lock screen will be changed as will the hard reset which will now be available in recovery mode. This update should also improve battery life. For more info and instructions, visit the source link.
source: Sprint via Twitter, AndroidandMe

Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha told the WSJ that his company is testing TV set-top boxes with the addition of the MOTOBLUR UI. The UI is a socially-centric piece of software that is designed to push to your cellphone homescreen, all of the relevant info from social network sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. By adding it to the box that connects your TV to cable or satellite feeds, Motorola is seeking to connect your television with your phone. Jha talked about sharing “media and features” which would require a common platform and brings up talk of a possible Android powered Set-top box. Motorola has a tentative release date for later this year, but lately the company has not been too careful about meeting self imposed deadlines.
source: WSJ via Engadget

What can you say about the Dell Mini 5? The Android powered device is a tablet and a cellphone. Prototype units out now are powered by Android 1.6 which might change by the time production starts on the model. The touchscreen is a whopping 5 inches with resolution of 480 x 800 pixels on the capacitive display. Under the hood is the now obligatory 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. There is 405MB of RAM and 1.63GB of storage that can be increased through the microSD slot next to the battery. Speaking of the battery, the cell ran all day using 3G services. As for the skimpy amount of native memory, that can be beefed up for retail production. There is a WCDMA radio on board and the video below does show a dial pad for the device, so it would appear that cellphone service will be supported. Some of the ports will be proprietary which means that Dell will probably be offering some peripherals for the Mini 5. No launch date for the Mini 5 was mentioned, and our previous report on it mentioned a pre-subsidized price of $1,098 USD.

One interesting accessory is the docking station which is the subject of the strange video below. There appears to be an HDMI output jack and a USB port and a see through back support for the Mini 5. Oh yes, there is a joke that repeats over and over. It’s a play on the manufacturer’s name, really, and gets old after the first time it is done. Anyway, enjoy the video as it also shows a bit of the device in action and you can gauge the size of it better. Guys, with the Dell Mini 5 stuffed in the right pocket, you might find the women swarming all over you.
source: T3 (translated) via Engadget

When we reported that the Motorola CLIQ was to get a minor, housekeeping update by the end if the week, with tongue in cheek we alluded to the failure of Motorola to roll out the Android 2.1 upgrade to the DROID last week as it originally said it would. But there is a big difference between upgrading an OS and sending out light changes like improvements to battery life, the touchscreen and the GPS, and support for .wma and .wav videos among other things. We said that we would believe Motorola when we saw the update hit the CLIQ. Well, believe it or not, the manufacturer failed again because the majority of  users of the device did not receive the changes. Now, the update is scheduled for the week of February 22nd. The news here is that once again, Motorola sent out a tweet promising a change to a handset within a specific date and then could not meet their own deadline. It makes you wonder what is going on. Apparently, some of the handsets owners have indeed received the upgrade automatically, and some are reporting via tweets and on various forums that the update for the CLIQ can be found by doing a manual search for updates. The bottom line is that for most CLIQers, the software was not improved and while it might only be a difference of a few days, why should Motorola send out the tweet in the first place if it isn’t planning on living up to its own words? If you were one of the lucky ones who received the upgrade, let us know if there are any visible changes to your experiences with the phone. If you had to manually find the update, let us know that, too. After all, with all of these problems for a minor change, what will happen with a 2.1 upgrade? Oh wait, we already know the answer to that one.
source: TmoNews

If you are a Verizon user and have longed for a Motorola device with the social networking-centric MOTOBLUR UI, then the DEVOUR is for you. The Android flavored device is the first Big Red phone to offer the push capabilities of MOTORBLUR to keep you updated on your social networking sites. Just as BlackBerry phones are known for pushing email to the handset, the Motorola UI does the same with your pals on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. But the DEVOUR is more than just a phone for the Facebook crowd. Running on Android 1.6, it will be the first to have the 600MHz Qualcomm MSM 7627 processor under the hood. Also, the phone can be connected to your PC using WiFi which allows you to check out the content of your phone from your desktop browser. It is called Moto Phone Portal and you’ll see it on the video below. The Motorola DEVOUR will launch next week for $149.99 after a 2 year contract from Verizon. As we reported earlier Friday, it looks like Best Buy will be offering the phone for $50 less than Verizon!
source: MotoDevBlog via AndroidandMe

We’ll never forget how Motorola led the pack for Microsoft’s mobile platform with the release of the Motorola Q – it was sought to be the start of a long journey for the two. Even after what’s considered by many to be the golden years of Motorola, their relationship seemed to be strained as Motorola slowly lost its grasp in the industry. Now after sitting down and talking to the Wall Street Journal, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha provided some interesting personal thoughts about recent events that have unfolded in the industry. For example, it looked like the partnership with Android seemingly brought them back into the spotlight with the Motorola DROID being such a big hit for them. Looking back when Windows Mobile ran into some delays, Jha severed the product development with the operating system to keep the company from going under during that time – at that point, they were open to aggressively focus on Android. Now that things are starting to look pretty green over at Motorola land, Jha has a lot of ideas such as using the Motoblur interface with some of their set-top boxes. Jha goes on to say, “If I had more money for R&D, I’d be developing an operating platform.” If they had the capital of what other companies like Samsung has, they too would be developing their own platform; much like what Samsung is doing with Bada. When it comes to Microsoft’s announcement about Windows Phone 7 Series platform, he goes on further to say, “I’m open to it…I think I need diversity in our portfolio.” So there you have it, Motorola’s recent successes have really made them open to ideas that they couldn’t execute back then – we’ll see how things pan out for them.
source: The Wall Street Journal via Gizmodo

From the looks of it so far, Android phones tend to be your usual slate form factor or ones that feature a landscape QWERTY keyboard. Aside from that, it’s rare to see some ingenious new spin that can perfectly say that it is something truly original. It looks like ZTE took the Palm Pre’s design and crafted a handset going by the name Smooth  – it does raise an eye because of its less than popular form factor. What you get with the Smooth is of course that sliding portrait QWERTY design that’s intended to be an entry-level handset running Android 1.6 and features all your usual amenities – such as a 2.8” QVGA display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. We mean it when we say entry-level because it should retail under 1000 Yuan, which is approximately $146, and become available sometime in August. It’s not to say that the ZTE Smooth is a complete knock off of the Palm Pre, but you can definitely spot some similarities – let’s just look forward to some more original looking handsets sporting this form factor in the future.
source: Cloned In China via Engadget

As we’ve reported yesterday, the Motorola DEVOUR will be going for a hefty $149.99 on contract throughout Best Buy stores nationwide. Some may argue how that may not be enough to attract customers from just jumping up to its bigger sibling; the Motorola DROID. Now one of our tipsters has managed to shed some light on a potential new pricing structure for the DEVOUR that may raise some eyebrows and getting the attention it deserves. It looks like the big box retailer is planning on giving the Android powered smartphone a much need price chop before it’s even made available. Previously going for $149.99, it now points to a much more respective lower cost at $99.99 – and that’s for both new and existing customers. If having to sign away your life for another 2 years isn’t your kind of thing, then you’ll really be impressed with it new no-contract price of $299.99 – a big decrease from the previous announced $549.99 cost. Let’s hope that Best Buy does consider keeping this new attractive pricing structure – it’ll definitely make it a worthwhile investment.
Thanks to our anonymous tipster!

Since the first announcements about the Motorola BACKFLIP were made, there are probably many AT&T customers waiting off from buying or upgrading their current phone. When it’s finally made available starting on March 7, there’s going to be no telling what kind of demand it’ll garner as it finally makes itself ready for sale. If you really are intent of snatching up the Android powered handset, you may want to check out your local Best Buy Mobile location – they’re at it again with their usual pre-order offering. Dishing out $50 to them, which in turns gets placed onto a gift card, will guarantee yourself a unit on day one of launch. If having to wait on long lines isn’t your kind of thing, we’d suggesting following this alternative route to make the whole buying process less strenuous on yourself – we know you’ll be saving up more energy on getting acquainted with your new smartphone anyways.

Thanks to our anonymous tipster!!

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has told Forbes that his company is about to drop something bigger than a pin on the cellphone industry. According to Hesse, a HTC manufactured WiMax Android phone will be offered by the carrier this Summer. The handset will run on the 4G network being built out by Sprint with Clearwire Corp. that currently reaches 27 markets or 30 million people. Those figures will rise by the end of the year to 120 million people and include such major cities as New York, Boston, San Francisco and Washington. Sprint’s President of Business Markets, Paget Alves says that 4G is a multi-billion dollar business opportunity. The carrier says that 4G is up to 10 times faster than 3G which certainly helps to keep those pipelines running with streaming video and data. During a recent conference call with analysts on February 10th, CEO Hesse said that 2010 is “The Year of 4G” and that the company is working with “several equipment manufacturers that will embed 4G capability into dozens of devices.”

The HTC phone appears to be the previously discussed Supersonic which Sprint execs say will have a dual Ev-Do/WiMax radio and will be targeted to business and governmental workers besides consumers.
source: Forbes via PhoneNews