Spotify launches in the US today – music streaming for all

Spotify has landed on US soil from Europe, bringing 15 million + songs to subscribers for streaming anywhere on your smartphone or desktop computer. They have a $5 Unlimited service as well as a $10 Premium service to get you streaming now, and a free beta service as well, but that is currently invite only.

HTC EVO 3D and LG Optimus 3D launching with Rogers this summer

Canada will be seeing two new smartphones at Rogers this summer, which will be the first 3D smartphones to hit the Canadian border. The HTC EVO 3D and the LG Optimus 3D, both 3D capable Android devices.
The HTC EVO 3D has a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4.3inch qHD display and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It also has dual 5 megapixel rear cameras for 3D video. The LG Optimus 3D runs Android 2.2 Froyo (upgraded soon to Gingerbread), also has a 4.3inch display and dual 5 megapixel cameras on the back. Neither pricing nor a release date has been given, but pre-orders open up next week on Rogers site. We’ll keep you posted.

HP gives Pre3 1.2GHz dual-core processor – dumps 1.4GHz single core

HP has made some changes to the new Pre3 which has yet to be officially launched. The spec sheet originally had the Pre3 with a 1.4GHz single-core processor, but HP has dumped that to make way for a 1.2GHz dual-core processor going forward. A bold move by HP so close to its launch date. The Pre3 was supposed to launch on July 8th, but clearly that has passed. No date has been given for future launch, but I would think it’ll be out by the end of July after the TouchPad has had its’ couple of weeks in the sun.

Sony releases episode 3 video or Two Will series – beginning to look like amateur show

We don’t know exactly what Sony is trying to do with these ‘artistic’ approaches to shooting a teaser video, because the Tablets have already been in promotional images and hands on material all over the web. It seems to be somewhat of an amateur hour for these videos, and too late to keep them going. The suspense is lost, we know what the Sony S1 and S2 tablets look like along with all their specs. Here’s another just to see this through.

Rogers Pre-order page is live for the HTC EVO 3D and LG Optimus 3D – read how

Rogers announced last week that they would be carrying the new HTC EVO 3D and the LG Optimus 3D soon, and that a pre-order would be available to Rogers customers soon. That page is now live where you can visit and reserve either Android 3D smartphone for delivery when they arrive in stores, ensuring you get one before they sell out.
The HTC EVO 3D will cost $149.99 on a 3 year contract with minimum combined monthly fee of $45, for new customers, where you get entered to win a $2,500 gift card from Mastercard as well.
The LG Optimus 3D will cost $99.99 with a new 3 year contract, again with a minimum monthly fee of $45. There you will be prompted to enter to win a 5inch LG Cinema 3D HDTV upon reservation of the Optimus 3D.

Verizon ditching iPhone 4 accessories to make way for iPhone 5 launch

It looks like people are gearing up for the highly anticipated launch of the iPhone 5, (or as some believe it may be the iPhone 4G/4S). Rumor is that Verizon is one of those awaiting its’ arrival, by clearing out iPhone 4 accessories to make way for shelf space consumed by iPhone 5 accessories when it launches. A sort of ‘Summer’ cleaning if you will. That launch of course is expected to be in September, where Steve Jobs will make his usual speech and amaze us all at how truly revolutionary the next iPhone will be over its formerly great and not too old iPhone 4.

The clearance will be more likely to a sale on iPhone 4 accessories as opposed to a removal of them at stores, since the iPhone 4 is still hugely popular for Verizon, I mean, why would they want to get rid of sales right? We’ll soon see.

Samsung Galaxy Skin concept device may make it’s way to store shelves as Samsung “Flexy”

It looks as though Samsung may actually be doing something with the technology we saw at CES 2011 earlier this year with their flexible AMOLED display screens, as Yanko Designs seems to have put a good effort to create a concept design for a device currently known as the Android ‘Flexy’, which utilizes the Samsung Galaxy Skin AMOLED screen. The technology running the display is Electro Activity Polymer (EAP) that sends electronic signals to the display to perform a physical action. Crazy!
The concept shows off a 4inch Super AMOLED flexible display, capable of transforming into a ‘smart watch’ for your wrist, a ‘smart projector’ and obviously, a smartphone running Android OS. It details an 8 megapixel camera and shoots 720p video as well. The size of the device is 221x67x8mm. Thats a long slender, but very thin device. The Samsung Galaxy S II, thinnest smartphone around, is only 8.9mm thick for comparison.

Acer Iconia A100 Android tablet launch in August – only $300 for Honeycomb

The Acer Iconia A100 tablet, running Android 3.0 Honeycomb, will be available finally in August (next month) according to an email sent out to Acer retail stores, saying it will be ready ‘early August’ with a price tag of around $300 US. We saw this tablet in Mid-February, where there was to be a May launch, which was held back due to problems with Honeycomb running on this tablet in particular.
Now, fast forward to today, the Acer Iconia A100 is the 7 inch version of the bigger Iconia A500 tablet also running Honeycomb, which has been out for a couple months, and doing very well in sales. The Iconia A100 also runs Nvidia Tegra 2 processors, and shows that it will be upgradable to Android 3.2 in September.
Other specs;

• 470g
• 600×1024 pixels (7 inches)
• Acer UI over Honeycomb
• 8GB internal storage, expandable to 32GB MicroSD
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot capable
• Bluetooth 2.1, EDR
• 5 megapixel camera on back with autofocus and LED flash
• 2 megapixel camera on the front for video chat
• 1530 mAh battery
• HDMI out, Micro USB out

Acer Iconia A100 Android tablet launch in August – only $300 for Honeycomb

The Acer Iconia A100 tablet, running Android 3.0 Honeycomb, will be available finally in August (next month) according to an email sent out to Acer retail stores, saying it will be ready ‘early August’ with a price tag of around $300 US. We saw this tablet in Mid-February, where there was to be a May launch, which was held back due to problems with Honeycomb running on this tablet in particular.
Now, fast forward to today, the Acer Iconia A100 is the 7 inch version of the bigger Iconia A500 tablet also running Honeycomb, which has been out for a couple months, and doing very well in sales. The Iconia A100 also runs Nvidia Tegra 2 processors, and shows that it will be upgradable to Android 3.2 in September.
Other specs;

• 470g
• 600×1024 pixels (7 inches)
• Acer UI over Honeycomb
• 8GB internal storage, expandable to 32GB MicroSD
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot capable
• Bluetooth 2.1, EDR
• 5 megapixel camera on back with autofocus and LED flash
• 2 megapixel camera on the front for video chat
• 1530 mAh battery
• HDMI out, Micro USB out

Rogers launches Canada’s first LTE network – true 4G, not 3G+ renamed

True 4G/LTE has finally launched in Canada via Rogers. We had first heard of this back in February this year, and were very excited to see that Canada wasn’t going to be left in the dust for wireless technology. Although it is only in Ottawa right now, Rogers has plans to launch in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal this year, as well as 21 more markets across Canada in 2012.
Rogers will first launch with the Sierra LTE enabled USB Rocketstick, followed by HTC and Samsung LTE smartphones later this year. Sweet! Would this mean that we get the HTC Thunderbolt? Or even the Samsung Nexus 4G, or even the HTC EVO 4G

Android Still first in OS usage, iPhone top device, Windows Phone 7 largest impressions gain – report

So not surprisingly, Android is still the top dog when it comes to overall mobile OS market Share with for the 7th straight month now at 54%, with Apple’s iOS behind it at 26%. Of special not however is that although Nokia and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 didn’t have a strong presence in the mobile OS mix, WP7 has the largest impressions quarter over quarter at 31%, RIM is second with 29%, where Android grew by 18% and iOS by 11%. That growth shows that WP7 and RIM still have share potential, and could make a comeback, but it would be a long one.
The Apple iPhone is still the most used device at 16.19%, followed second by RIM’s BlackBerry Curve at 5.57%, then the Motorola Droid at 2.95%. Out of the top 20 devices as seen below, Android devices total 22.6% over the iPhone, but this does not take into account tablet devices where the Apple iPad rules the roost substantially.

Fujitsu Toshiba launches first Windows Phone 7 Mango smartphone – au IS12T

Enter a new dawn of  technologically advanced smartphones and hardware, the Fujitsu Toshiba au IS12T Windows Phone 7.5 Mango device. It’s the first of its kind in more ways than just being the first to run WP7 Mango, it’s also the first to pair massive hardware specs into a smartphone. The au IS12T has 32GB onboard storage (HUGE!), along with a 13.2 megapixel rear camera with autofocus, and it’s waterproof! Has Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n. This device is a monster! I can’t wait for this to get to North America, alas, we don’t know exactly when that’s going to be just yet, or how much it’ll cost. But we’ll find out soon enough!