Motorola Droid RAZR HD leaked with 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 and 720p display

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  • June 10, 2012 at 2:29 pm

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Motorola DROID RAZR HD back and side

The upcoming Motorola Droid RAZR HD hasn’t really been kept a secret. The Verizon-bound handset has received several earlier leaks but this latest one is the most comprehensive yet.

The successor to the extremely popular Droid RAZR and Droid RAZR MAXX maintains some of its siblings’ looks, as you can see from the leaked photos above. The back cover has the familiar Kevlar pattern, though it now extends across the back of the device. Gone is the hump of the previous generation and the rear camera is now centered at the top of the device.

Motorola had touted the thinness of the original Droid RAZR when it was released, though later traded some of it for an extended 3,300 mAh in the RAZR MAXX. We loved the full day battery and so did many of you. Well, as you can see from the images, Motorola isn’t making the same mistake again, and the Droid RAZR HD seems to slide between the RAZR and the RAZR MAXX in terms of thinness. Thus we can assume that inside we still might find a beefy battery.
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Android 4.0.4 IMM30B update for LTE Verizon Galaxy Nexus leaks early, brings fixes

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  • February 5, 2012 at 3:24 am

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus back close-up

A lucky Verizon Galaxy Nexus (check out our in-depth review here) owner got an over-the-air (OTA) update notification for a brand new Android Ice Cream Sandwich build, version 4.0.4 IMM30B. We will some help from the forums over at Android Central he was able to pull the update from his device and then share it with the entire Android community.

As there is no official changelog, obviously, you’ll have to rely on users’ comment on what has been fixed/improved in this latest Android release. Discounting for any ‘placebo effects’, those who’ve updated are reporting UI responsiveness and speed improvements, better 4G/3G switching and improved signal strength among others.
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PSA: Yes the Droid Razr Maxx is still confirmed for January 26th and $299 on Verizon

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  • January 24, 2012 at 1:04 pm

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Motorola Droid Razr Maxx Android smartphone

We first saw the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx during this year’s CES in Las Vegas. The updated version of the skinny Droid Rarz has a bumped up the battery of 3,300mAh battery from 1,780mAh, while staying just 8.9mm thick from the original’s 7.1mm.

You can check out our initial coverage here and here. To recap, it’s a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD (960 x 540) screened device with a 1.2Ghz dual-core processor, 8-megapixel rear and 1.3-megapixel front cameras. It has some rugged credentials, bearing to a Kevlar back and splashproof coating.
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Rumor: Samsung Galaxy Note could be heading to Verizon and Sprint as the Galaxy Journal

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  • January 16, 2012 at 3:36 pm

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Samsung Galaxy Note, taking notes

Take this with a grain of salt: an LA industry analyst is claiming that Samsung’s oversized smartphone will be heading to Verizon and Sprint, probably under the name Galaxy Journal. The 5.3-inch stylus-friendly Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet finally made it to North American shores last week with a big appearance at CES. The device is now confirmed to be released soon on AT&T, though no information was given on availability on other carriers.

The Galaxy Note is currently GSM only, so an initial AT&T release makes sense, but a CDMA/LTE version could be in the works so that the device can be launched on both Verizon and Sprint. Despite being the largest smartphone to date, Samsung had shipped over one million Galaxy Note units last year.

The Galaxy Note has 5.3-inch Super AMOLED 720p HD screen with a dual-core 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos processor powered by a decently sized 2,500mAh battery. The device does indeed challenge anyone’s perception of a phone, it is a really big device weighing 178g (6.3 oz). To convert people to believers, Samsung has included a Wacom-designed pressure sensitive S Pen stylus, an 8-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front and other nice features like GLONASS support.
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Motorola Droid Razr Maxx brings 3,300mAh battery and slim design

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  • January 10, 2012 at 3:43 pm

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Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX

The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx (that’s a mouthful) is an updated version of the skinny Droid Razr but with an immensely bumped up battery.

The Razr Maxx variant carries a 3,300mAh battery which is almost double the 1,780mAh capacity found in the Droid Razr. With such a large battery, our dream for all day continuous use will become true. The company estimates the Maxx’s talk time at 21 hours compared to 12.5 hours of the original Razr. Surprisingly the new battery doesn’t add too much girth to the device, which is still just 8.9 mm thick against the original’s 7.1mm.
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Unannounced Motorola Driod 4 makes a cameo appearance on Best Buy website

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  • December 29, 2011 at 4:31 am

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Motorola Droid 4 on Best Buy marketing material

Verizon is mum about the Motorola Droid 4, nevertheless the still unannounced handset has made an informal appearance on Best Buy’s website. The Android smartphone will launch, hopefully sometime soon, on Verizon’s 4G LTE network and as far as we know it will run Gingerbread on launch, though Ice Cream Sandwich is a possibility.

It will be sporting a 4.0-inch qHD (960×540) display, a Droid RAZR styled front body with tapered edges and a QWERTY slide-out keyboard. This will be Motorola’s first LTE slider. A 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM will help the Droid 4 to chuck along.
Expect a rumored 1785mAh battery and 8MP camera to complete the package.
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How to: easily install Google Wallet on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus LTE with an APK file

Guides

  • December 18, 2011 at 3:30 am

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Google Wallet

Verizon’s version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was finally released last friday missing one key feature, the ability to make payments using NFC and Google Wallet. Over the weekend, a number of methods came in to go around this, and install Google Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus LTE, which involved some level of hackery. Today, you can install Google Wallet on your Verizon Galaxy Nexus without having to root your device or resort to any hackery.

Simply go here to download the application APK file. You can do this either directly on your device, or from you computer and then transfer the APK file to your smartphone. Make sure that under ‘Settings’ > ‘Security’ you have ‘Unknown sources’ checked. Now open the APK on your device using a file manager like ASTRO.
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Verizon Galaxy Nexus offered a 2100mAh extended battery

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  • December 7, 2011 at 12:57 pm

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Verizon Galaxy Nexus 2,100mAh extended battery and cover

We’ve been reviewing the Galaxy Nexus and we’ve found battery life to be quite decent for an Android device. However, if you want to squeeze every last minute possible out of your new favorite gadget, then Verizon is offering an extended battery for the LTE version of the smartphone. The Verizon-bound 4G LTE Galaxy Nexus comes with a 1,850mAh battery as standard but for $49.99 you can get the 2,100mAh extended battery, which you see above. That’s only a 13.5% increase in capacity but that could mean the difference between getting through a whole day with one charge or not, depending on your usage.

During our tests with the GSM HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus, we could consistently get by for around 15 hours and 30 minutes until battery went below 15%, and that was with the screen on for 2h 30m, not bad at all. A 13.5% increase in capacity could mean around 2 more hours of usage. The GSM Galaxy Nexus only comes with a 1,750mAh battery as standard but the LTE version, because of its radio, presumably consumes more battery.
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Verizon 4G LTE Samsung Galaxy Nexus to be priced at $199.99

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  • November 25, 2011 at 9:22 am

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Verizon 4G LTE Galaxy Nexus price ad

Although the actual release date of the Galaxy Nexus in the US has yet to be confirmed, the above holiday-themed ad has surfaced. The Verizon advertisement has the 4.65-inch Super AMOLED and Android 4.0 carrying Samsung Galaxy Nexus going for $199.99 with a two year contract on the company’s 4G LTE network.

The Galaxy Nexus has already been released in the UK, though a strange ‘volume bug‘ meant that the launch didn’t go as smoothly as Google and Samsung would have wanted. The UK HSPA+ version of the Galaxy Nexus has 16GB of built-in storage, whereas the Verizon LTE Nexus would have 32GB. More storage is always welcome, especially since the Galaxy Nexus doesn’t have a mircoSD slot.
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HTC Rezound 2,750mAh extended battery, worth it if you can live with the thickness

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  • November 16, 2011 at 3:57 am

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HTC Rezound extended battery and back cover

We’ve covered all these before, you get a brand new shiny smartphone with a large gorgeous display, like the HTC Rezound’s 4.3-inch 1280×720 retina display, and of course you don’t want to put it down. You browse the net and your social networks, you play a quick game, and by mid-day you realize that the battery is down. You then have to choose between being tethered to a wall outlet all the time, stop using your device as much, or get an extended or external battery.

Marchello from Htcpedia chose the latter for his HTC Rezound, and we would too. The Rezound comes with a ridiculously small 1,620mAh battery for such a large device. Thankfully HTC offers a 2,750mAh extended battery, but that comes with two caveats. First, you have to shell out around $50 for the extended battery and second, it’s so large that the battery comes with an extended cover to accommodate the larger battery. The extended battery makes the Rezound quite thick, at around 3/4 of an inch, but also lets you go through a whole day of use without having to worry about recharging your phone.
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Android heroes: Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. HTC Rezound vs. Motorola Droid RAZR

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  • November 3, 2011 at 6:10 pm

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Android heroes: Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. HTC Rezound vs. Motorola Droid RAZR

Three major Android manufacturers, Samsung, HTC and Motorola, have all recently announced their big-screened flagship handsets, just in time for the holiday season. Now that everybody’s cards are on the table, we take another look, comparing the 4.65-inch Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich bearing Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the rugged and super-slim 4.3-inch Motorola Droid RAZR and the Beats Audio sporting and retina busting 720p 4.3-inch HTC Rezound. If you are an Android fan, it’s never been harder to choose a new smartphone, hopefully our handy comparison, which is after the break, will help you make up your mind.
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HTC Rezound 4.3-inch 720p HD screen Android smartphone announced for Verizon Wireless 4G LTE (pictures, specs, video)

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  • November 3, 2011 at 3:12 pm

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HTC Rezound 4.3-inch 720p HD screen Android smartphone with Beats by Dr. Dre

The HTC Rezound (a.k.a. HTC Vigor) is finally official. HTC has announced its new flagship Android smartphone, heading to Verizon Wireless’ speedy 4G LTE network, at a press event in New York. As it was previously rumored, the Rezound sports a 4.3-inch screen at a 1280×720 HD resolution, that’s a retina display worthy pixel density. It will run on a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660 processor with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It’s a Beats branded device, and comes with a matching set of Beats by Dr. Dre earbuds and a Beats sound profile that will make you music sound oh-so sweet.

The device will obviously come with Android 2.3 Gingerbread and HTC’s Sense 3.5 at launch, with an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update coming early next year. The HTC Rezound will be offered coming Novermber 14th for $299.99 on a two-year commitment.

The Rezound comes with an 8-megapixel f/2.2 28mm wide-angle lens back camera with dual LED flash and a 2-megapixel front camera and will be capable of shooting 1080p video. You will also be able to charge the 1620mAh battery (oh why doesn’t HTC include bigger batteries) wirelessly on the optional dock. The HTC Rezound measures 129 x 65.5 x 13.65 mm.

You might want to check out how the Rezound holds up to the rest of the Android heroes, the Motorola RAZR and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, in our concise comparison.

More pictures and full specs after the break.
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Verizon bound HTC Rezound (a.k.a. Vigor) pre-production model shown-off in hands-on video

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  • October 31, 2011 at 1:43 pm

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HTC Rezound hands-on

We’re expecting HTC and Verizon to announce the HTC Rezound (a.k.a. HTC Vigor) any day now. A lucky tester, has made a video of a pre-production model of the Rezound and has, of-course, posted it for all of us to see. The 4.3-inch, red-themed, Android smartphone shown-off here, carries both the Verzion and 4G LTE logos. The tester confirms all the specs that we originally reported. That is, that the HTC Rezound will run on a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, feature a retina busting 1280×720 HD resolution, have 1GB of RAM with an 8MP back and 2MP front cameras. It’s running Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread and HTC’s Sense 3.5.

The Rezound is going head-to-head with some pretty heavy competition from Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus and Motorola’s RAZR, all of which are also expected to appear on Verizon. You might wanna check our nifty comparison of the three handsets, if you are on the fence on a new Android smartphone. Oh and the video is after the break.
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HTC Vigor a.k.a. Rezound a.k.a. DROID Incredible HD could be announced November 3rd

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  • October 26, 2011 at 8:05 am

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HTC Vigor / Rezound front and back

HTC has been sitting on the bench watching while both Samsung and Motorola announced their big contenders for the Android crown, the Galaxy Nexus and the RAZR. It’s now time for HTC to strike back; the company has sent out invites for a New York event on Thursday November 3rd. Now all bets are on an announcement of the company’s long rumored HTC Vigor (a.k.a. Rezound a.k.a. DROID Incredible HD).

The Vigor is expected to be a 4.3-inch 720p and 1.5GHz dual-core processor beast. You can check out our comparison with the other two competing handsets here. Based on earlier rumors, the HTC Vigor (or DROID Incredible HD) should be available on Verizon starting November 10, joining the iPhone 4S, Droid RAZR and Galaxy Nexus in the carrier’s holiday lineup. The full rumored specs are after the break.
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