LG has announced its collaboration with the Keith Haring Foundation, which is to say we will see artwork from the legendary pop artist featured on the LG Optimus Black.

This is not the first time Keith Haring is working with LG – they previously collaborated on the LG KF600 and LG KF700 phones. The Korean manufacturer says it is making this move “with the goal of bringing more art into people’s lives.”

This version of the LG Optimus Black will be demonstrated during MWC, and the pic below surely gives you a good idea what to expect.

Sadly, the release date of this handset is not mentioned, but it’s rumoured that the LG Optimus Black will be launched sometime in the first half of 2011.

source: LG

Sprint, the nations’s third largest carrier, posted one of its best quarterly results in the past five years and for the first time since the second quarter of 2007, actually added to its postpaid subscriber base. The net additions amounted to 58,000 postpaid subscribers in the last quarter of the year.

The carrier also managed to keep its existing subscribers with 1.86% churn rate, its best Q4 result ever. Wireless subscriber additions were also one of the highest for the last five years. Sprint beat estimates for free cash flow by a significant margin ending the quarter with $913 million. All this instantly translated into 5% increase in pre-market trading.

The outlook for the next quarter and year is positive, but depends on a number of factors. First one that comes to our mind is the $10 premium Sprint now charges its customers for data. The reception of this increase along with the launch of the Kyocera Echo, which struck with its unordinary dual-screen set-up would be decisive for the carrier. Sprint still hasn’t announced a dual-core handset like the rest of the carriers in the top 4, which of course doesn’t mean much. Full press release and all the figures in the source below.

source: Sprint

A rather minimalistic concept user interface for Android, called Sentio, is in the works, but it might be a few months before we see the first beta version. Still, we thought we would share the project with you, and probe what you think of it.

Sentio UI is quite the unobtrusive interface, and is a far cry from the current Android skinning efforts, as exemplified by Samsung’s TouchWiz, or HTC Sense. It looks much less cluttered, and way more elegant than what we have now, and we’d dare to say it reminds of the Metro UI concept, that is behind the Windows Phone 7 interface.

It is being developed by Ethan, mostly known as REALigion from the DarkEdge UI themes on the original Motorola DROID, and the guy wants some feedback how potential users feel about Sentio UI, before they snowplough ahead. The project will be available for stock phones too, not only for rooted devices, so we might see it being officially on Android Market at some point this year.

Ultimately Sentio UI can also be had for tablets, and the authors plan “several wonderful features“. Pricing of the new user interface for Android will most likely be tiered, with a limited free version available in a try-before-you-buy manner. So does anyone like what they’re seeing so far?

via Droid-Life

Sentio UI for Android! from sentio on Vimeo.

We recently reported that speculation that a Facebook designed smartphone was heading for the market had been quashed by the company. But while there might not be a Facebook phone on the horizon, the INQ Cloud Touh is a new Android phone optimized for the social network.

The handset uses widgets as shortcuts to your favorite Facebook features like People, Events, Notifications, and Places. Your main Facebook feed is displayed right in the center of the screen with a shortcut to a Facebook Chat application at the bottom. INQ Mobile CEO Frank Meehan said, “We want to do for the Facebook generation what BlackBerry did for the enterprise market. For someone under 30 this is the stuff you want to see all the time.”

The INQ Cloud Touch is expected to launch first in Europe during May. That should be followed up with a U.S. release assuming a carrier is found willing to subsidize the device. A version with a QWERTY keyboard called the INQ Cloud Q is also in the works.

source: TechCrunch

In yet another move to slowly indicate that it’s coming, T-Mobile’s site now has a “Coming Soon” page up and running for the Samsung Galaxy S 4G.

Similar to what we see with other handsets, the arrival of a “Coming Soon” page clearly indicates that an eventual launch isn’t too far off in the distance. With MWC right around the corner, you know that this one will undoubtedly get the full unveiling treatment – with a release close at hand. So far, all eyes point to February 23rd as being the day when we’ll all see this next-generation Android powered smartphone.

Upon checking out the site, some might be thrilled to see the “add to cart” button, but it’s greyed out for now. So in the mean time though, we can do nothing more than stare and drool over the page as we wait for its inevitable release.

source: T-Mobile via TmoNews

Vodafone customers are eagerly waiting to finally fetch themselves the Android 2.3 Gingerbread powered Google Nexus S – and they’re only getting closer to that reality.

Today, the carrier announced that they’ll be offering the profound handsets on contract in 24 countries – though, they didn’t quite let out any information regarding its pricing. However, it is known that customers will be able to choose from either the original all black version or the new white one. In any event, Vodafone is actually the first carrier to carry the handset and offer subsidized pricing on it.

Right now, their register page for the handset is live which will allow potential buyers the opportunity to receive the latest news surrounding the handset.

source: Vodafone via Android Central

It surely must be great being a German consumer because everywhere you turn, it seems that the country is being treated to some new devices before anyone else in Europe.

With that in mind, we’re seeing Samsung’s upcoming trio of Galaxy branded devices making waves in the very near future. Both the Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 and Mini S5570 will become ready for sale before the month is over with the Mini garnering a €299 ($409) price and €299 ($547) for the Ace. In addition, yet another member of the Galaxy family will be launching later in March – the Samsung Galaxy Gio S5660. This one plops itself right in the middle between the other two with a price point of €329 ($450).

Granted that they’re simply entry to mid-level Android powered handsets, the trio will actually roll out with Android 2.2 Froyo on board. However, it’s worth noting that Samsung has yet to mention anything in regards to software updates for Android 2.3 Gingerbread. So cross your fingers on that one!

source: Samsung (translated) via Unwired View

Speculation is flying again around Android build 2.4. Once thought to be a major new release code named Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest story making the rounds is that Android 2.4 will be nothing more than a minor upgrade to the Gingerbread release. And it appears that Android 2.4 will be launched much earlier than anticipated. Pocket-Lint, in an interview with a ViewSonic executive, was told that the upcoming ViewPad 4-set for an April launch-would have Android 2.4 on board.

It seems that to make sure that dual-core apps made for Honeycomb devices would work on single-core handsets, Android 2.4 had to be launched earlier than expected because Android 2.3 will not be able to handle that job. So Android 2.4 will remain a “Gingerbread” release with the only change being the latter’s ability to run dual-core apps on a single-core device. Keeping the same name for a minor update has been seen before with Android as something similar happened when Android 2.0 became 2.1, but kept the Eclair name.

So what will happen to Ice Cream Sandwich? Phandroid last week reported that Google is working on a code called GRI17 which is supposed to be a post-Honeycomb version of Ice Cream Sandwich and is supposed to bring to Android handsets some of the new features designed for Honeycomb flavored tablets. But the ViewSonic executive who was speaking to Pocket-Lint says that Ice Cream Sandwich will be Android 3.1 as Google splits Android into 2.x for handsets and 3.x for tablets.

source: Pocket-lint via Phandroid

As we reported yesterday, Motorola has announced that for the CLIQ XT, it is the end of the line as far as upgrades go. In fact, the handset never did get upgraded past the Android 1.5 build that was installed on the phone at the time it was launched.

T-Mobile is supposedly now working with the carrier’s “Customer Loyalty” team to see what can be done to prevent torch bearing T-Mobile customers from marching on the stores. Some possible solutions include an early upgrade or a free upgrade.

Well, Motorola CLIQ XT owners, would an early or free upgrade be enough to keep you from bolting? Let us know by adding your comment in the box below.

source: TmoNews

T-Mobile's Customer Loyalty teams are working on a way to keep angry Motorola CLIQ XT owners from leaving for another carrier

We were wondering when the popular wireless chipset maker Broadcom will wake up to the dual-core madness, and today is the day. The company already announced a dual-core ARM-based chipset with NFC chip, but it is for budget Android phones, clocked at 600MHz. Broadcom just lifted the veil from its own dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 monster, called enigmatically BCM28150.

Despite the uninspiring name, this chipset has some neat tricks up its sleeve – two cores ticking at 1.1Ghz, VideoCore IV GPU with a Vector Processing Unit, and integrated GPS, which also supports the Russian satellite system GLONASS for better positioning.

Broadcom’s dual-core 1.1GHz chipset rings in the usual niceties like Full HD 1080p video recording at 30fps, and 3D stereoscopic video, but it also brings 1080p video output simultaneously on the phone screen and on a TV up to 1080p at 60fps, including 3D graphics at 1Gpx/s. Yes, that means you can use the integrated HDMI support, and play 3D games at 1080p resolutions on your TV with 60fps via your cell phone.

There is a reference platform for the chipset that Broadcom will be demonstrating February 17th at the MWC Expo in Barcelona. It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread on a 4.3″ LCD display, and has a 12MP camera (the chipset supports up to 20MP shooters).

The cherry on the top – similar only to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon family, Broadcom BCM28150 integrates the baseband modem in the system-on-a-chip, an HSPA+ version that allows for 21Mbps download speeds, should your carrier’s network support it.

We’ll keep an eye on Broadcom’s reference platform presentation via our people on the ground at the MWC Expo next week.

source: Broadcom