We first saw a new LG Revolution-esque model pop up when we reported on a device by the model number LG-VS920 that had appeared in a MAP (minimum advertised price) listing back in early August.  That device, we started assuming, was called the Revolution 2 as it appeared in a massive leaked roadmap for Verizon just a day or so later with a 10/20 release date attached to it.

Well, that same VS920 phone made its way through the FCC today sporting LTE radios and a similar build to the original Revo.  You can see in the picture above that the camera has possibly been moved up the back of the device, but is still centered in the middle along with a housing for a flash.

A Thunderbolt (Vigor) and a Revolution (Revo2) revamping all within the same year?  And you wonder why we kept hammering on these phones for having last year’s specs with this year’s buzz word (4G LTE).

Via:  FCC

We still have no reason to believe that Verizon will get the Samsung Galaxy S II after their head spokesperson Brenda Raney, denied that they would carry a variant of it to the Wall Street Journal.  And after seeing the Verizon version missing from a promo picture that was outed last week which featured versions from T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint, things are looking more grim then ever.  But what about this new LTE version?

Many of you saw the announcement over the weekend from Samsung that they have a newly revamped version of the Galaxy S II to unveil at IFA, one that will include a bigger 4.5″ Super AMOLED Plus screen, upgraded 1.5GHz dual-core processor and, wait for it, LTE support.  There is a chance that the rumored next Nexus device will be very similar to this phone.  It doesn’t have an HD screen though, but neither does the GT-i9250 that was the rumored model number.  Other specs definitely seem to match up pretty closely to what we have been hearing behind the scenes.

With Big Red saying “no” to the SGS2, that could also just mean they will re-brand it on their own network.  A story this morning mentioned that the next Nexus will head exclusively to VZW with the “DROID” brand attached, but our sources aren’t so sure of that happening.  We wouldn’t be surprised though if we saw some form of this phone on Verizon, just without the Galaxy tag – although, we aren’t sure what the heck they would do with it.  Nexus certainly seems like the next option if they don’t go Galaxy or DROID, but that would also mean it wouldn’t be exclusive.  (Confused?)

It’s all a mystery still at this point, folks.  Samsung is pumping out so many new devices and variants of current devices that it has become almost impossible to keep up with them.  One thing we do know, is that they figured out a way to pack in an LTE chip without adding extra girth.

Full specs at Android Life.

Not that anyone is surprised by this, but the @DroidBionic Twitter account is a fake according to both Verizon and Motorola PR.  Over the weekend, the account awoke after a few weeks of silence to announce that the Bionic would be in stores on September 8 (a date that has been rumored a number of times).  The few tweets to follow were riddled with grammatical errors and an odd tone, which most of us quickly noticed and called out as being a fake.

The only official word we currently have is “September.”

Via:  PCMag, PhoneScoop

An email showed up in my inbox on Friday night from Verizon that seemed ultra-odd and wanted to share to see if anyone else was in the same boat.  The email let me know that I had been “rewarded” with an early upgrade on my main line, the same line that should not have been eligible until April 26 of 2012 (pictured above).  Now, normally with VZW 2-year contracts, you have to wait 20 months to upgrade, which I am clearly no where near.  So I’m not exactly sure what I have been “rewarded” for (maybe that I’ve been a long term customer?), but the timing seems nice knowing that the Bionic is potentially less than two weeks from becoming available, as well as the HTC Vigor.

Anyone else?

A first look of HTC’s new Sense 3.5 that is expected to come loaded on both the Vigor and Bliss, made the rounds last week thanks to XDA.cn.  Today, we have a full 5-minute video walk-through of it thanks to that same brave Bliss tester.

So what’s new in version 3.5?  A lot.  We have a ton of fancy new animations, lock screen tweaks and enhancements, a new dock bar that includes shortcuts to just apps and phone, ability to add and remove home screens, more interactive widgets, and a sweet way to adjust the volume.

While Sense is clearly one of, if not the most polished skins of all, it can be a little overwhelming.  It really transforms Android for the most part, but after looking at HTC’s record profits each year, you can tell that people are interested in something like that.  

Samsung has decided to enter the mobile messaging arena with a new app called ChatON, that will surely be introduced at this week’s IFA conference in Berlin.  ChatON will be a multi-platform app, which means it will not be a Samsung-only chatting tool, but will also be available to other Android handsets as well as Blackberries and iDevices.  Similar to BBM, users will be able to share images, videos, and perform group chats in 62 languages.  

If you were infuriated by the report last week that the Samsung Galaxy S II would not find its way onto Verizon, then maybe this news will cheer you up a bit.   Everyone familiar with the Nexus Prime?  Well, a report this morning out of BGR’s camp suggests that it will actually be branded as the DROID Prime (SCH-i515) and will be an exclusive to Big Red as the first Ice Cream Sandwich device.  I know, you are as speechless as I am right now, but it gets better (assuming this is accurate).  Their report also includes a time line, suggesting that the device will be out in October to compete directly with the launch of the iPhone 5.

Update:  We reached out to our sources and they are highly skeptical of this being “DROID” branded.  The Bionic is the big “DROID” device for this year, so if the Prime does come to Verizon, I would expect it to be a Nexus instead.  While there is a chance that a Verizon version could be released before the other carriers, I’m not at this time willing to put money on it joining our favorite family of phones.

Update 2:  Some of our favorite Android Twitter personalities have weighed in as well:  TeamAndIRC, black_man_x and P3droid.  We all basically agree that a DROID Prime would be highly unlikely.

Update 3:  As I sat here all day trying to figure out a way for this to happen, I’ve come to this – Verizon could release a phone after the Bionic with DROID branding instead of Nexus that is made by Samsung as the first to run Ice Cream Sandwich.  They did it with the original DROID and Android 2.0 as well as the XOOM and Android 3.0.  So it’s not out of the question that they could do this for “4.0″, let’s just not expect it to be like a Nexus would be.  Expect bloatware, a semi-locked bootloader, but still stock (no skin).  With that said though, there is nothing on the “DROID” calendar that I have seen other than the DROID HD which is made my Motorola, not Samsung.  Does Verizon change their schedule constantly?  Most definitely, so changes could happen in the next two months.  Look at the Charge which was nameless until a month or so before it was released.

Thoughts that immediately come to mind:  Why release the Bionic on September 8, the HTC Vigor on October 6 and then the Prime shortly thereafter?  Seems like overkill to me and would almost expect the Prime to be pushed to November.  However, if the iPhone 5 does come out at the end of September or early October, I’m not sure either the Bionic or Vigor have enough appeal to compete with it.  The Android world would need something massive, like the first device running Android 4.0.

And, your thoughts?

Via:  BGR