The LG Viper 4G LTE on Sprint is a mid-range Android device featuring 4G LTE connectivity that launched recently.  According to a leaked image uncovered by BriefMobile, LG could be preparing a sister device to the Viper that features a slider QWERTY keyboard.

The image you see above shows off a blurry Android device with a moderately large touch screen that slides to reveal a 5 row QWERTY keyboard.  It is said to be similar to the Motorola DROID 4, but one marked improvement will be the on-board presence of Android 4.0.  Other specs include a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and a 4 inch IPS touch screen.  Unfortunately, the internal RAM, storage space, and cameras are unknown.  For the roadmap junkies, the LG LS860 is known as the Cayenne, a name we have seen pop up, on the inside.

No word on pricing or availability at this time, but I imagine we will hear more about the Viper with a QWERTY Keyboard in the coming weeks if the rumor does pan out.

[BriefMobile]

The Amazon Kindle Fire is one of the better selling Android tablets as a result of its low entry price and deep integration with Amazon products and services.  The giant online retail company looks to keep the train rolling with a high-end 10.1 inch Kindle Fire tablet featuring a faster, quad-core processor.  The rumored 10.1 inch tablet is expected to launch in Q3 of 2012, according to a Digitimes report.

Amazon is gearing for a fight against Apple, and feels a 10.1 tablet up their sleeves will sell more than an 8.9 inch tablet.  Previously, Amazon planned to launch a 8.9 inch Kindle Fire, but that tablet has reportedly been suspended in production.

Of course, there is no official word from Amazon on the matter; and there likely won’t be until we get closer to the third quarter.  However, there is a strong chance we will see an upgraded Kindle Fire model in the form of a 10 inch device come to the market in the near future.

[Digitimes]

The Wall Street Journal reported an interesting story today — one that has serious ramifications for the mobile industry if it pans out.  Essentially, Google is said to be in discussions with five different partner OEMs to manufacture the next Nexus smartphone and tablet, which represents a pure Google device to launch the latest software launch.  Each OEM would create its own Nexus device with different hardware configurations, but the same deep software integration and pure Google experience.

The latest and greatest Nexus devices are expected to be available by Thanksgiving 2012 and will launch running Jelly Bean, the version expected to follow Ice Cream Sandwich.

There are a couple of reasons why Google is reportedly pursuing this line of action, but whether Google can actually pull this off remains to be seen.  Wireless carriers have such a strong influence over the launch of smartphones to the point where consumers in Asian and European countries sometimes receive devices months before Americans.  By Google exclusively selling these different OEM Nexus devices through the Google Play Store, American consumers will have to pay the full retail price, but can choose a GSM carrier of its choosing and simply sign a contract that isn’t tied to a smartphone.  Many consumers buy a smartphone overseas for full retail price and then buy service from a carrier.

Secondly, Google wants to take more control over the apps and features it can integrate on the Jelly Bean devices.  For example, Verizon blocked Google Wallet on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus simply because Verizon is involved with Isis, a competitor to Google Wallet.  The consumer shouldn’t be subjected to the whims and desires of the carriers.

On a more political level, by partnering with five OEMs, Google reaffirms its neutral stance when working with an OEM on the next Nexus.  Ever since it purchased Motorola, many believed Google would favor the manufacturing company in order to help it succeed.

Overall, by Google taking a more proactive approach in selling pure Google smartphones directly to the consumer, it can ensure the experience is safe from carrier tampering and slow OS upgrades.

Lastly, the WSJ report mentions that there are manufacturing companies reportedly working to produce the next tablet to help boost Android and take away from the Apple iPad.  Asus and Google are said to be working together, but that has yet to materialize into anything substantial.

The buzz surrounding Google’s potential move of producing multiple Nexus devices has generally been positive.  Of course, we would like to hear from our readers about the issue and whether you agree with Google’s potential course of action.

[WSJ]

HTC’s next flagship smartphone on Verizon Wireless is expected to be the HTC Incredible 4G based on numerous rumors in the past.  Today, several leaked images of the Incredible 4G have hit the web and new details surrounding the device have emerged.  AndroidPolice, whom received several leaked pictures, believes the Incredible 4G could launch for as little as $99 on a two year contract.

To begin, the Incredible 4G has a qHD screen between 4 and 4.3 inches, a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, 4G LTE, Android 4.0, HTC Sense 4.0, Beats Audio, and NFC.  In addition, it is said to feature a 8MP rear facing camera with zero shutter lag.  As most of our readers probably know, the One series are HTC’s flagship devices for the time being.  With this in mind, the Incredible 4G is similar to the One X/S in terms of aesthetic appearance and features.  HTC looks to continue the well-established Incredible Verizon brand instead of directly using a One X/S phone.

The HTC Incredible 4G is rumored to launch sometime later this month, and a price of $99 on contract, it could do very well with Verizon customers.  Hopefully Verizon issues an official announcement sometime soon confirming the rumored information we have here.

[AndroidPolice]

Imagine you bought something very expensive and then decided to sell it before you ever really had a chance to take it for a spin. That’s what Google is supposedly considering according to the Wall Street Journal. But unlike the product you and I are likely to buy and sell months later, which would be in the hundreds or thousands, Google’s purchase would be in the billions. Yes, billions.

Dennis Berman writes in the Wall Street Journal that Google is unsure of what step it will take with Motorola, the “once-great, now-faltering” company Google acquired last August for $12 billion. The deal was originally viewed as a patent grab in order to better protect Android smartphone makers, but it also raised issues about how the same manufacturers Google sought to protect would feel knowing that Android’s chief organizer now had its own horse in the race.

Berman suggests that Google doesn’t want to create problems with its Android partners and will look to offload the Motorola hardware division as a result. He says “From Asia, rumors have swirled around the handset business, suggesting that Google has already offered it to China’s Huawei at a high price.”

This is the first I’ve ever heard of such rumors, but the Wall Street Journal usually gets the benefit of the doubt because it has a mostly favorable track record. Perhaps the thinking is that Google could sell Motorola’s handset division – factories and day-to-day operations included – to Huawei, a deep-pocketed Chinese manufacturer, and retain Motorola’s patent portfolio. This would give Google a chance to recoup some of the acquisition costs, keep its patents, and get out of the phone making business that might be profitable in a few years.

However, I have a hard time subscribing to that line of thought. As big as Huawei may be, I’m not sure it might want to purchase Motorola’s massive infrastructure, especially when it already has more than enough power to create and produce phones on its own. It’s being doing that for a long time creating carrier-branded phones.

You probably didn’t know that, and that’s precisely the problem. Huawei wants consumers to know the name Huawei, and it has been working hard to introduce top of the line products to raise awareness in the western world. Look at the companies actions in the past year and it’s clear that Huawei no longer wishes to be just a manufacturer. It wants to be a brand with notoriety. Purchasing Motorola wouldn’t aid that process with consumers; it would just pass on the Motorola brand to a Chinese company. And with all due respect to Motorola, the company is not worth much in name alone. Any purchase by Huawei seems unlikely unless it includes those patents – especially when you consider that Huawei could be a target for litigation from Microsoft.

Nothing in tech surprises me anymore, so what if Google really has considered selling Motorola’s handset division to Huawei? Would it be a wise or foolish move?

In the short term, it would please investors who don’t like the idea of Google being in such a competitive industry dominated by Samsung and Apple.
It would also ease concerns about Google’s involvement in Motorola threatening its position as a software provider to many of today’s top phones.

But Google typically doesn’t do things for the short term, and Motorola could be a long-term safety net to maintain Android, says Berman. (Read his full thoughts why here.)

Motorola will continue operate independently according to all on-the-record statements from Google, but things could change in the future. I’m sure the folks at Google will be able to encourage certain moves once they do. Yes, it’s risky to remain in the business, but a hands-on approach with Motorola might prove valuable for furthering Android as intended, something not possible under the current ecosystem.

CEO Larry Page said last year that company is putting more wood behind fewer arrows, but couldn’t it stand to keep Motorola in the quiver for that reason?

When the HTC Rezound, Motorola DROID RAZR, and Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX each launched, the only real disappointment was the fact that it would run Android 2.3 out of the box, and not the highly anticipated Android 4.0.  At the time of launch, Verizon reminded consumers that an upgrade to Android Ice Cream Sandwich will take place soon.  Back on March 6th, Verizon Wireless revealed exactly which phones in its lineup would receive the upgrade but did not announce a possible roll-out date.  Needless to say, the DROID RAZR, DROID RAZR MAXX, and Rezound were all on the list earlier this month, and today, we now have possible dates courtesy of a Best Buy leak.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the possible time frames for a ICS roll-out to some of Verizon’s best smartphones in the market.  On April 4th, the Android 4.0 is slated  to be delivered Over-The-Air to the Motorola DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX.  Two days later on April 6th, the HTC Rezound is expected to receive the update.  Of course, this information is currently in the rumor stage since it is reported from a Best Buy leak and not Verizon.

However, we will definitely find out in the next several days whether or not this rumor turns out to be true.

[AndroidPolice]

Just a couple of hours after having been confirmed as hitting Europe next week, the HTC One S finally has a US release date attached to its name as well.

Even though it’s far from official, it’s nice to see rumors, leaks and speculations piling up on the One S’ American launch, because usually this means one thing and one thing only. The device is in fact closing in on its release and will be launched in no time.

Getting back to the supposed release date leaked just now by the guys at tmonews, that looks a bit suspicious, to say the least. According to what looks like an internal image, the smartphone might hit T-Mobile’s shelves on April 22^nd, which for me personally is pretty hard to believe.

Why is that? Well, first of all, April 22^nd is almost three weeks away from the handheld’s official European release date. It’s true that it isn’t unusual for smartphones to be launched in Europe first and a while later in the US, but in this particular case we are talking about HTC’s flagship device (at least for the time being), so three weeks seems like a lot.

Secondly, April 22^nd is a Monday and T-Mobile doesn’t usually release devices on Mondays. Heck, pretty much nobody in this business does anything on Mondays, because, let’s face it, everybody hates beginning of the weeks.

So, we have two solid reasons (or at least I guess they’re solid) to think that the HTC One S will not be coming our way at the date revealed by tmonews. Which is why many of you might ask why did I bother reporting the rumor in the first place.

Well, it’s pretty simple and I said it before. When rumors and speculations pile up like they do in this case and when the European release has already been officially announced, it’s pretty clear that the device in question will be hitting America very, very soon. Should it be April 10^th, 15^th, 22^nd or 29^th, I think it’s less important. What’s important is that it’s coming and you should prepare yourselves accordingly.

Digitimes is one of the most trustworthy online source of rumors, which is why we here at Androinica find ourselves complied to talk about a speculation about the Samsung Galaxy S III for the first time in almost two weeks.

After reporting that Samsung’s future flagship might be powered by a quad-core Exynos processor, today we have some juicy details about the smartphone’s screen. According to exclusive Digitimes sources in ‘’the supply chain’’, the Galaxy S III could sport a 4.6-inch Super AMOLED Plus HD display with a 319 ppi pixel density.

What could that mean in reality is pretty hard to tell, considering that display quality differs from one device to another, but it’s clear enough that, if this rumor proves to be accurate, the Galaxy S III’s screen will be spectacular.

The Galaxy S II, for example, which has been praised by many technology enthusiasts, only sports a 4.3-inch display with 480 x 800 pixels resolution and 217 ppi pixel density, so what we have here is a huge progress. The pixel density increase should of course be noticed with one’s bare eye when watching video clips or playing games, but it should also make a difference in the screen’s response time, power consumption, weight and thickness.

Furthermore, it seems that the Galaxy S III might be Samsung’s first device to sport an HD Super AMOLED screen with true RGB matrix, so if your expectations for the gadget were high before, you’ll have to seriously increase them once again.

Digitimes’ sources don’t give out any other details about the Galaxy S III, so for the time being we have nowhere to know if the smartphone will in fact be unveiled by May and released by July, as most of the rumors have been stating for a while.

Also, there has to be said that, even though usually these kinds of rumors from trusted sources prove to be accurate, in this particular case you shouldn’t get overly excited until finding out a couple of official details. Stay tuned on our website, because those details are bound to come our way soon enough!

The guys at Huawei have been the talk of the Android ”town” these past couple of months, as the Chinese are preparing quite a few launches set to rock the US and European technology markets.

No less than three smartphones from Huawei have gained some kind of certification yesterday and all three gadgets are set to hit global markets in the near future. However, neither of the three is the Ascend D Quad unveiled a while back, advertised as ”the world’s fastest smartphone” and awaited by pretty much all technology geeks worldwide.

The Huawei Ascend Y 100 U8185 is the first device we are going to talk about today and is probably the closest one of the trio to its release. Having passed through the FCC already, the gadget might be launched as soon as next month (April that is).

According to rumors, this is going to be an entry-level budget smartphone powered by a 600 MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 processor and sporting a 2.8-inch screen with a 240 x 320 pixels resolution. The 2.8-incher will of course run Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box and will most likely feature a 3.1 MP camera.

Second up, the Huawei M921 (or M920) has gained Wi-Fi certification and will most likely come to MetroPCS with on-board LTE connectivity. Aside from that, we don’t know much about the smartphone’s tech specs, but it will probably come with a couple nicer features than the U8185 and will target mid-range gadget lovers.

Last, but not least, we have the most interesting product of the trio, the Huawei Ascend D1 U9500. Having been Wi-Fi certified, the smartphone is certainly gearing towards a release, but we will probably not see the gadget officially launched before May or June.

Even though it won’t come with a quad-core processor under its hood, the Ascend D1 should be considered a very high-end device, as it is set to sport a 4.5-inch 720p HD display and feature a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor. The U9500 will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box and will also come with a state of the art 8 MP rear-facing camera.

That’s pretty much all we have to report today about Huawei’s upcoming smartphones, but keep in touch with our website because we should see these devices, as well as a couple more, officially launched during the following weeks.

Via Ameblo 1, 2 & 3