Within the last day, Amazon dropped their price for the HTC DROID DNA significantly, making this one of the better steals for a smartphone you’ll find. If you want to add a line to your family account or are a new customer to Big Red, you can grab the DNA and its 1080p display for $49.99. If you are a current customer with an upgrade, you can snag HTC’s latest and greatest for $99.99.

We reviewed the DNA when it first came out and came away mostly impressed. The display is the best in the business (for now), it has an above average camera depending on who you talk to, surprisingly excellent battery life, and a simple design that can still “wow” your friends.

Verizon is still selling it for $199.99 on contract.

Amazon Link

Cheers Faisal and Scott!

The HTC DROID DNA is set to receive its first update since launch to build 2.04.605.2. The update appears to be more of a bug fixer than anything, as it most definitely is not something major like Android 4.2. In the update, you’ll find improvements across the board for things like WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, Hotspot, audio quality with headsets, zooming in the browser, and recent apps functionality.

We don’t have a specific date for rollout of the update, but it usually happens within a week once Verizon has posted these support documents.

The update is 103.5MB in size.

More info.

The DROID DNA has S-OFF! Throw a party! Pull out your $45 for it! Wait, what? That’s right, there is a method to get S-OFF on your HTC DROID DNA, but it’ll cost you. You also can’t do it yourself and will need to part ways with your phone for a number of days. Phone repair shop MobileTechVideos has the solution, which appears to be nothing short of scary to watch. 

Developer and HTC insider @LlabTooFeR appears to have leaked the specs to a new version of HTC’s DROID DNA on Verizon. Remember the codename of “dlx” that clung to that phone as it approached launch? That same codename has appeared in a new device but with an addition, making it the “DLXPLUS.” Are we going to see a revamped DNA already or is this Verizon’s version of the HTC M7? 

In case you weren’t paying attention, we thought we should point out that Blackberry tried to reinvent itself this morning in more ways than one. First, they are actually called Blackberry now, rather than RIM. That’s right, it’s a global name change that goes into effect immediately. Second, they announced Blackberry 10 (their newest OS) and two devices – the Blackberry Z10 and some random QWERTY thing that no one will want (it may be called the Q10).

The Z10, however, is their flagship and one that is aiming directly at Android and iOS. And since this device has a full touchscreen, is nothing like the failure that was the Storm, and might make some of you peek out the corner of your eye to see what it can do, we thought a spec battle was in store. If that seems weird, it’s not – we do this with all the big competitors.

Ready? 

Been craving to try a new ROM on that DROID DNA of yours? Well, we have one that might deserve a look from you. Super Charged Hatka from developer MustafaHadaKing over on XDA brings your DNA up to Android 4.1.1, while also delivering one of Android 4.2′s most popular features, Photo Sphere. On top of that, there is also a working stock “vanilla” theme to make sure you aren’t having to deal with HTC’s Sense software. This, in and of itself, is a #win for some people. 

After seeing the picture of Sense 5.0 up and running on a DROID DNA, XDA member mdeejay brought up the fact that the phone is actually running a ported build from a Sprint M7 which has the new Sense on it. He claims to have it working nicely, but can’t release it at this time. Thankfully, he was able to at least share some screenshots from it, so that we can see some of the changes in store in this latest version of HTC’s Sense. 

Over the weekend, we caught our first glimpse of HTC’s new custom skin for Android, Sense 5.0. The two appearances lead us to believe that HTC is going with a more minimal approach to Sense, but also one with an interesting take on home screen sections that look similar to what Microsoft has done with Windows Phone. It has pretty moments, like with the icons, but the rest seems like a step in the wrong direction – but that’s coming from a minimalist like myself.