Many of you probably already know how to tether your phone to your brand new Motorola XOOM, but we wanted to make sure that the whole community was covered and whipped up this quick guide.  It doesn’t get much easier than this, folks.     

You knew it was coming.  It has finally arrived.  Say “Hello!” to the Honeycomb statue.  

Some of you may remember a little product that was introduced back in December called SPB Mobile Shell 5.0?  If not, just think of it as a home replacement on UI-enhanced beautification-steroids whose beta testing period finally went live.  And with sneaky apks flying around the forum-sphere, we were able to get a hold of it for just enough time to do a quick walk-through.

So what do we think about it?  It’s got potential.  You can’t deny the fact that they’ve put a ton of effort into making the UI super smooth, but also very eye appealing.  Once you get into “wheel” mode you really get to see the beauty, like how each panel has it’s own custom animation.  While it didn’t like any of my Blur’d phones, it ran just fine on my original DROID because of the stock Android and I’m sure it would just fly on phones with a much more powerful processor.  They also allow you to quickly create folders, extend out apps to show more options, and even hide certain things in the bottom tray.  It’s a unique experience that really can’t be described.

The one problem I did have with it though, was the fact that it removed the application drawer and instead placed all of my apps into their own separate panels.  This just reminded me way too much of iOS, so if they can find a way to include an app drawer, they might really be on to something here.

Note:  About the beta program…it’s closed and we aren’t allowed to post up the apk.

Video and gallery after the break.  

Just after informing the world that the DROID BIONIC would be receiving the web-top application currently only seen on the Atrix, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha started talking about software upgrades for current devices.  He talked about the learning curve that the industry went through last year, but feels confident in their ability to upgrade devices much more quickly now.  In fact, he pinpointed June 2010 as the time when they really started to get control of the process and feels like they are one of the best at it now.  They were “one of the first to get to Froyo” and “will be one of the first to get to Gingerbread.”

No timeline was given, but we know that Motorola is currently testing Android 2.3 after seeing the leaked pictures of it running on the DROID X a few weeks back.  +1 again for Motorola and their good news today.

Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha is currently speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference and just dropped some news about the Atrix 4G’s web-top application that should make future DROID BIONIC owners happy.  He made mention of the web-top application not being an exclusive product to the Atrix and will come to all of their “high-end” devices, hopefully in the 2nd half of 2011.  The BIONIC was not announced with web-top accessories at CES due to “timing.”  Jha pointed out that it wasn’t possible to focus on developing web-top for both devices initially and chose the Atrix as the device to launch with it.

He also talked about the performance of the web-top accessories that seem to be getting below-average reviews on the Atrix.  They are aware that the experience is currently below that of a real desktop, but they feel that it can be brought up to speed in the near future.

+1.

The HTC Merge was re-introduced last week as a 3G CDMA world phone, but after disappearing just as it was supposed to launch in late 2010, rumors popped up that it had been delayed while they dropped a 4G radio into it.  But without a mention in the press release on Friday our hopes were a little crushed.  That was until we looked a little closer at the screenshots of the phone from Verizon’s internal system that snuck out over the weekend.  We’re now starting to think that there is a chance it and the Incredible 2 might be 4G LTE after all.

If you  check out the mini-description for the listings of the Merge and Dinc2 in the screen shot above, you can clearly see that there are two versions listed of each phone.  There is the standard ADR6325VW/ADR6350VW, but there is also another listing which includes the letters “EHRPD” which just so happens to be the technology used by networks to transition from CDMA to LTE.  You’ll notice that one of the descriptions also mentions “TRIA” which could easily be taken as “TRIAL”, leading us to believe that VZW is at least testing a 4G LTE Merge and Incredible 2.

While I am by no means an LTE technology expert, I’m almost 100% positive that eHRPD only has to do with handovers between CDMA and LTE networks and nothing else.  So if Verizon is testing the 4G versions of these phones, we have no idea if they’ll ever come close to a store shelf, but we can at least cross our fingers for a couple of weeks.

To learn all there is to know about  eHRPD, check out this and this.

Thoughts?  Maybe we can convince our LTE Panda friend to stop by and give his opinion on eHRPD.

Cheers VZW Tipster!

In approximately 90 days (according to our information), the 4G LTE upgrade for the Motorola XOOM will be ready and that means you’ll need to send your device in.  In order to make sure that process goes as smoothly as possible, Verizon has posted up instructions to help you get ready and we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss them.

Step 1:  Backup your XOOM

This step is simple, but requires you to connect your XOOM to a computer.  All you need to know here, is how to access your internal storage from a computer, copy all of the files on it, and move them into a safe spot on your computer’s hard drive.  This is the same process you would follow if you were backing up your phone’s SD card, only the XOOM just has internal storage for now.

Step 2:  Encrypt and reset your XOOM (optional)

Verizon is recommending that you encrypt and also factory reset your device in case it gets lost or something happens to it throughout the upgrade process. Encrypting will take up to an hour, but performing a factory reset to remove all personal info from your device should take no time at all.

Step 3:  Pack and ship your XOOM to Motorola

We received word back at CES that you would have to ship your XOOM back to Motorola in order to be upgraded to 4G, but apparently this was still a surprise to everyone last week.  The good news is, that Verizon or Moto will send you a FedEx package to drop your device in for its return.  This entire process is 100% free.

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Cheers Jared!