Verizon to Launch Samsung Droid Charge on April 28th

Verizon has announced that it will launch the Samsung Droid Charge next week on April 28th for $349.99 after new 2 year agreement before an additional $50 mail-in rebate, bringing the total to $299.99 and demonstrating Verizon’s intent to price LTE smartphones as premium devices. The Droid Charge was formally introduced by Samsung at CES this year as the LTE Smartphone before it was given the Droid Charge branding within the last few weeks.

The Samsung Droid Charge features a 4.3-inch super AMOLED display, 8.0 megapixel main camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls, 1GHz Hummingbird processor and runs Android 2.2 Froyo, with Bluetooth and a microSD slot. It can also share data access via Wi-Fi with up to 10 devices when using LTE service, and up to five devices when using EV-DO Rev. A via Mobile Hotspot, which will be included for no extra charge for a limited time at launch.

Samsung Droid Charge Release Date, Day Before Royal Wedding

For those that are awaiting the arrival of the new Samsung Droid Charge to hit the version network, you may like to know that the Big Red had now gone all officially and announced the Samsung Droid Charge release date.

According to an article over on Technobuffalo by way of the Boy Genius Report, Verizon has announced when the Samsung Droid Charge will release, the day before the royal wedding, which makes that release date the 28th of April.

The Samsung Droid Charge is a 4G LTE enabled smartphone running Android 2.2 Froyo and will command a price tag of $299.99 when signing on for a new 2-year agreement with the Big Red.

Other Samsung Droid Charge specs include, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus touch screen, 1GHz processor, 8 megapixel rear facing camera with LED flash, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, that 4G LTE capability including hotspot for up to ten devices on LTE or five devices on 3G.

So there you have it, so who’s going to snap up the Samsung Droid Charge from Verizon before sitting down to watch the wedding of the year between William and Kate?

SkyFire For Android’s Flash Video Playback Goes Premium

Hey friends! You know what time it is? IT’S GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS TIME!

The Good News: SkyFire has just released an update for the Android port of their web browser, jam-packed with brand new social features (more of the social features that I previously said — and continue to say — are silly). If you’re one of the three million people who have already been using SkyFire for Android, you can continue to use all of its features for free. You can find it in the Android Market right here.

The Bad News: If you’re just hopping on the SkyFire train, the browser’s biggest feature (its ability to convert Flash video content into something playable on non-Flash-friendly devices) is going to cost you. The base browser itself will continue to be free — only the optional Flash feature is going premium. Fortunately, the burn on your wallet shouldn’t be too bad: it’s just a one time fee of $2.99.

iPhone 5 Possibly a Global Smartphone

More speculation over the next generation iPhone has now hit the net waves, this time the rumour is that the iPhone 5 could possibly turn our to be a global smartphone capably with working on other carrier networks.

According to an article over on Macrumors and by way of Barrons, Fran Shammo, the CFO of Verizon may have outed the iPhone 5 as being a world phone during the company’s earnings conference call and Apple may deliver the next iPhone with both GSM and CDMA capability.

Here’s what Shammo had to say…” The fluctuation, I believe, will come when a new device from Apple is launched, whenever that may be, and that we will be, on the first time, on equal footing with our competitors on a new phone hitting the market, which will also be a global device.”

Now we already know that the Verizon iPhone has a world mode chip inside, but Apple made the handset CDMA only to make the antenna construction simpler and apparently the Apple iPad 2 has the same chip.

However, if Fran Shammo is correct, it appears that Apple has finally taken the plunge and could deliver the iPhone 5 as a global device.

So what do our readers thing the chances are of the iPhone 5 being released as a global phone?

Surf The Web Without A PC with Acer Web Surf Station Monitor

Acer has unveiled a new monitor this week named the Acer DX241H Web Surf Station, which has been designed to allow you to surf the web and view multimedia entertainment files without the need for a computer to be connected.
The new Acer DX241H is equipped with a 24 inch screen with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 with 16:9 aspect ratio and a contrast ratio up to 80,000:1, which is optimised using Acer’s Adaptive Contrast Management technology.
The DX241H offers a range of ports including CGS, HDMI, USB together with a built in card reader to allow playback of multimedia files and pre-loaded on the DX241H is Acer’s clear.fi media sharing system

The Acer clear.fi media sharing system allows you to share photos, music and videos with other devices in the home network, from Picasa or Flickr, or from an external storage device like a USB drive or media card.

The Acer DX241H can be connected by either Wi-fi or ethernet cable to your home network and will be available in May for around 299 or $495

Samsung Fascinate Android 2.2 Froyo Update: Download

We have some great news for anyone in possession of a Samsung Fascinate, Verizon have finally revealed that they will be sending out the 2.2 Froyo update for the device tomorrow.

Verizon have now finally gone public on the Android 2.2 Froyo update for the Samsung Fascinate, which will happen tomorrow, April 21, 2011. This update will bring the phone nearly up to the newest mobile operating system, that being the Android 2.3 Gingerbread. We would expect the update to start shooting out across the air tomorrow in some areas of the country.

However, if you just cannot wait that long, then there is always a manual download, which comes to us by way of AndroidCommunity. Rather than wait for the server to send you your update, you can get it yourself by following the simple steps below. Please note that you can also use these steps whenever you want to check and see if there is an update.

Step 1: From the main menu tap Menu Step 2: Select Settings Step 3: Select About phone Step 4: Select System updates Step 5: Select Check New. When it pops up on the screen to say you have got a download available, press OK. Then once your download has completed, select OK to install it and once your software is installed, press OK again – all done! If you receive this update as a notification from the server, you will essentially be doing the same thing except you will only need to press OK once!

If you want to find out what the benefits of doing this lovely update are, you can visit Verzion Wireless’ support site [here]. Whether you opt to download manually or via the server, please let us know what you think of the update.

Sprint and Clearwire Agree on Wholesale Wireless Services

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire announced an amendment to their long-term agreement that establishes new wholesale pricing terms and provides Clearwire a minimum of $1 billion from Sprint to be paid during 2011 and 2012 for 4G wholesale services comprised of minimum usage commitments of $300 million in 2011, $550 million in 2012 and $175 million in pre-payments for 4G wholesale services to be used in 2011, 2012 and beyond. The parties expect the agreement to continue to drive the growth and collaboration of both companies' strategic 4G initiatives.

"We are pleased to reach this wholesale pricing agreement with Clearwire," said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO. "We look forward to working with them under this new agreement to provide an expanded offering of 4G capabilities and solutions for Sprint customers."

Poor HTC Thunderbolt Battery: iSound Portable Backup 8000mAh Battery

So you purchased the new Android 2.2 Froyo packing HTC Thunderbolt on the Verizon network, and you are somewhat disappointed by the Thunderbolt’s poor battery life, but fear not as there is a way round that little annoyance.

If you are fed up with your HTC Thunderbolt battery draining away too quick you may need the iSound Portable Backup 8000mAh battery as this little juice giver is compatible with the HTC Thunderbolt, along with numerous other smartphones such as the HTC EVO 4G and the HTC Desire HD and more.

The iSound Portable Backup 8000mAh battery features a compact design and sports five USB ports enabling the user to charge any USB enabled device, whilst delivering up to 240 hours of handset playback time.

The iSound Portable Backup 8000mAh battery has LED indicators so you know when your device is fully charged and has a built-in flashlight so you can see in the dark and includes USB to mini and microUSB cable.

The iSound Portable Backup 8000mAh battery is usually price at $79.99, but HTCPedia is currently offering the accessory at a discounted price of $69.99.