Well, not completely axed.  If you stop by Motorola.com, you can see the image we featured above, but clicking through just takes you to a generic mobile phone page with no mention of the DROID Bionic.  You can even try using Google to find a cached version of the old Bionic spot, but you’ll likely come up empty unless you do some serious digging.  Here is the link to the previous page for it.  It’s gone, right?

It looks like we are officially in “enhancement” mode then.  And as we pointed out last week, the device was originally scheduled for a May 12 release, but after rumors of it being cancelled in favor of the much beastlier Targa surfaced, we knew this day was coming.  So wave goodbye to the Bionic you are seeing above, as you will be introduced to a much different version by this summer.  Something semi-similar to this, but hopefully with some of that original Bionic look.

Cheers Dave!

Screenshot ER has been floating around the back alleys of the Android developer community for a month or two now, and to my knowledge is still the only screenshot app that has full support for Honeycomb and the Motorola XOOM.  What makes this app really great though, is the fact that it gives you a quick preview of the screenshot you just took and allows you to share it, save it, or discard it.  Most of (or all of) the other screencappers simply take your shots and drop them in a folder that has to be found through your gallery or file manager before sharing or approving.  Seems like such a simple step removed, but man does it make a difference.  Screenshot ER also allows you to specify a save location and picture type.  

An update for the official Twitter app on Android just went live and includes a bunch of enhancements like tabbed search results, font size settings, message deleting, and improved data clearing.  Nothing uber-exciting, especially since we were hoping that it would provide real support for Honeycomb and bigger screened devices.  I guess we’ll just continue crossing our fingers that TweetDeck or Hootsuite are working on something.

Full change list:

Displays search results in a tabbed view

Add and remove saved searches from universal search suggestions

SSL used for network requests

Font size setting

Tapping on a map in detail view searches nearby Tweets

Launch links directly from a message

Ability to delete messages

Added Tweet count to user profile

Improved avatar loading

Improved the way data is cleared to conserve more space

Fixed a bug where music skips when refreshing, etc.

Many other improvements and bug fixes

Market Link

Cheers @kaufkin!

All the talk of locked bootloaders over the last few months has been a little depressing, but today’s word out of Motorola may finally mean that all of our persistent attention to the matter is paying off.  Everyone remember the Motorola bootloader petition that made its rounds almost a month ago?  Well, the man behind it (Irwin Proud) has made several attempts to contact Moto over the issue and finally received a response that I’m sure you’ll enjoy…  

Previously, Qik was only available as a video chatting option to those that purchased a device with it pre-installed, but as of today, everyone with a front-facing camera can enjoy the service.  Video chats from everywhere and with everyone are supported, including those with your random friend that owns an iPhone.

One thing I’d like to note is that Skype actually owns Qik.  Yep, the same Skype that was supposed to release a video chatting app of their own on Verizon almost a month ago when the Thunderbolt was released.  Odd, but whatever.  Grab Qik for free in the market!

Market Link

Via:  Qik

Android phones have now become the cool thing to have according to the latest 2011 numbers out of Nielsen.  After surveying a number of people from January-March of this year, the numbers show that 31% of future smartphone owners plan to buy one running Android, which slips past the iPhone (30%) for the first time.  They also found that 50% of recent smartphone acquirers purchased Android phones, with iOS devices coming in at only 25% and in second.  And of course, Android maintained its grasp on the overall market share, controlling 37% of it.

Not that we need to point this out, but this includes almost 2 full months of Verizon iPhone 4 data.  So much for it killing off Android.     

Amazon and their MP3 cloud player are still truckin’ along even with the music industry showing their displeasure over the service’s surprise arrival.  They pushed out an update last night that includes lock-screen controls (a must-have for music players), playback enhancements, and fixes for the XOOM.  At this point, I’m just wondering why you would need to use any other music player?  Oh, and to make things even more legit on the developer front, they tossed out a CM7 reference in the latest “What’s New” list.  +1

Market Link

Cheers Kwasi!