I know, I know, we shouldn’t be surprised at the fact that someone is porting Android 2.3 to the Droid Eris, but since it’s actually at an almost working state, it needs to be talked about.  XDA member punk.kaos is leading a charge to bring a stable version of the newest Android OS to a phone long past its prime, a task that HTC seems incapable of completing.  They missed Froyo (Android 2.2) and will likely not even consider Gingerbread, but who needs them to when you have a developer community willing to do the dirty work.  The current build is up to version 6, has Google apps, working wi-fi/bluetooth, OpenGL, audio and is seriously inching closer to a prime time release.  Nuts, right?

Follow all of pk’s progress at this dedicated XDA thread.

How does the Motorola DROID XOOM sound?  According to our sources, that’s exactly what we can expect Motorola’s Honeycomb tablet to be called when it’s announced next week at CES.  We’ve seen the word “XOOM” through a batch of global trademarks, but we have confirmation that this will indeed be the name, it will definitely be running Honeycomb and for now, won’t be 4G LTE.  We’re hoping that it’ll have a USB slot to allow for a 4G LTE modem, but from what we’ve been told, it won’t have a 4G LTE radio built into it.  That’s no big deal though, right?  

Last week we launched a pre-X-mas NDrive license contest and it’s time to finally announce our 5 winners!  The contest was simple and in order to enter only asked that you follow us and @NDrive on Twitter, retweet a simple message and sit back and wait.  Four USA map licenses ($26 value each) and one North America map license ($52 value) were up for grabs, so let’s see who the lucky 5 were!

Congratulations go out to…

@CapitalistChaos
@dj_justincase
@gsynyc
@badwolf_456
@zoobcool12

You will all be contacted on Twitter within the next hour, so be sure to check those DM inboxes to find out your next steps and to see which license you get to take home.  Congrats again!

And a big thanks to NDrive for putting up some great prizes!

More contests around the corner…

After what feels like forever, we now have some beautiful Crystal Clear ROMs on our phones again! And this isn’t a baby update either. This is the official release for 5 devices: the OG Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Droid Incredible, and even the HTC EVO. Talk about a lot of work from such a small team. I’ve had the privilege to be running Sapphire 2.0 for about 48 hours now and I am incredibly happy with this high performer.

Just a few months ago, Sapphire for the OG DROID was thee go to ROM of choice for most users. The reason being you can tell that a lot of time and energy was thrown into it and that is why it has most likely taken so long for the release. But alas, it’s great to have a developer stand by his work. If you’re new to the name, then just know that you can expect a few things when flashing their ROMs. Speed, stability, optimized performance, above par battery life, and a truly wonderful user support system based in their IRC channel #(cvpcs). You can find me in there trolling daily.

So take the time to flash one of these ROMs and I know if you love Vanilla Android at its finest, you will definitely find yourself smiling. And to the theme enthusiasts, don’t worry, themes are coming!

All releases can be found here: http://wiki.ccroms.net/ |  Change Log

Make sure to read and all the Wikis and info on each ROM before flashing.

http://www.ccroms.net/drupal/

A huge Droid-Life “You Rock” goes out to cvpcs and the all knowing Sniffle.

-Tim-o-tato

Verizon announced that it will be holding a 4G LTE event at CES a couple of weeks ago, and this week, made it Android-specific which means no i*hone for those of you holding out for a device from that other company.  Surprised by that?  We’re not.  We’ve heard all along that if the i*hone 4 comes to Verizon that it won’t be an LTE device, so that leaves it without a slot at CES.  Sure, they may launch the i*hone 5 this summer as an LTE device, but CES more than likely won’t be the place.  Plus, Apple likes to have their own spotlight, and dropping their next device at a giant tech conference just doesn’t seem like their style, does it?  And moving on to Android again…

We heard that the HTC Thunderbolt made an appearance yesterday?  [insert sheepish grin]  Just know that Big Red isn’t stopping there.  After next Thursday’s press event, we should have a chance to see (possibly handle) 4G LTE devices from Motorola, Samsung and LG which are all Android devices.  It’s going to be a big CES for the good side of mobile operating systems.

Via:  Android Community, Information Week

Take a look at that beauty.  Say hello to the HTC Thunderbolt, which will be the first 4G LTE device to land on Verizon after its unveiling next week at CES.  As you can see, it really just looks exactly like the Desire HD, but has Verizon branding and will be 4G capable which means it’ll be amazing.  We’re assuming it won’t have  a dual-core processor which most of you decided was critically important, but after seeing it, have you changed your mind?

We should point out that there is a surprise behind the kickstand and Google branding which we’re hoping means no Bing.  Hello Droid Thunderbolt?  Maybe.

11 more shots after the break.  

Almost 2 months ago to the day, the Android team announced that the market had officially hit 100,000 apps and according to AndroLib, we have now doubled that.  Obviously these numbers are unofficial and likely a little bloated, but you have to like the sounds of it.  Anything to give the platform some good press right?

They’ve also released a report for new applications submissions that shows a continued increase month-over-month.  While we saw a little drop off for new apps in the summer months, we’re back to record numbers during the winter.  Over 25,000 new fart apps were released last month alone…we’re kidding of course, but how many of those 25,000 do any of us know or care about?  We’ve had a ton of incredible games come out, but what the heck are the rest of them?