Verizon bonanza: Droid X2, Revolution, Trophy, and Xperia Play hit Big Red today

Last Updated on Thursday, 26 May 2011 08:31 Written by admin Thursday, 26 May 2011 08:31

Verizon is seriously diversifying its portfolio today with the official in-store launch of four new smartphones. Three of them roll up in Android gear, though they all have major selling points beyond Google’s software.

LG’s Revolution is the sole LTE-capable handset of the bunch, bringing with it a 4.3-inch screen and pre-installed Netflix for $250. The Droid X2 undercuts it on price, at $200, but doubles the core count with its Tegra 2 processor and ramps up resolution to qHD (960 x 540).

Gaming aficionados can spend the same amount on the Xperia Play from Sony Ericsson, which offers a slideout gamepad and unique PlayStation Certified status. Bringing up the rear is HTC’s well-traveled Trophy, a 3.8-inch Windows Phone that accepts it’s a little late to the party and therefore slices $50 off its asking price, with a $150 levy before the obligatory two-year contract. What say you — buy, try, or keep waiting?

HTC Thunderbolt issues abound, but a fix is on the way

Last Updated on Thursday, 26 May 2011 08:24 Written by admin Thursday, 26 May 2011 08:24

As if the one-call-wonder’s battery life wasn’t enough, the update pushed out to HTC Thunderbolt owners a couple weeks back has some devices randomly rebooting.

Verizon and HTC have said they’re working on the issue, but that’s of little comfort to customers whose phones are spontaneously restarting several times a day.

If you were hoping to solve the issue by installing the leaked version of Gingerbread, we’ve got bad news — there have been a number of reports at the XDA Developers Forums that the Sensed-up version of Android 2.3 is bricking phones and sending them into an endless bootloop. But don’t despair, a fix could be arriving soon.

A source at Verizon told Droid Life that Thunderbolt-owning employees “may be entitled” to a software update before it gets rolled out to the general public — presumably a final test run for that reboot repressing patch.

If you’re too impatient to wait for yet another firmware update, you can apparently stroll down to your local VZW store and simply trade in your troublesome T-Bolt for a new one. Just make sure it’s running the older software before you take it home.

HTC Sensation up for pre-order at Vodafone UK

Last Updated on Thursday, 5 May 2011 04:36 Written by admin Thursday, 5 May 2011 04:36

HTC couldn’t let Samsung and Motorola have all the dual-core fun in the UK and it’s now let Vodafone detail the earliest known availability of its mighty Sensation.

That 1.2GHz, aluminum-clad handset has gone up for pre-order today, with Vodafone aiming to deliver “by the 19th of May.” Not exactly the firmest of promises here, but it’s good to know that in a couple of weeks we’ll have yet another contender in the dual-core Android wars.

We suspect other European markets will be joining the UK at about the same time, and T-Mobile in the US shouldn’t be too far behind either.