A report out of the Wall Street Journal last week claimed that Google will potentially welcome in up to 5 “Nexus” or lead devices this winter to help launch Jelly Bean. Once launched, all of the devices will be sold directly to customers unlocked and off-contract (hopefully at reasonable prices too). It’s just a rumor at this point, but it makes a heck of a lot of sense for Google to go this route. They are sick of carriers interfering with updates, release schedules, etc. and this would give them ultimate control.

With that said, there has only be speculation at this point as to who will make what. Will we see 3 phones and 2 tablets? 4 phones and 1 tablet? All phones? Who will make them? Will HTC, Samsung, and Motorola produce the phones with Asus and Acer making the tablets? Maybe LG will get their first shot at a Nexus phone and Samsung on the tablet front?

In today’s poll, let’s discuss it and sell each other on what combination we think would be the best. Go!

This whole battle of tech intellectual property is getting, or has gotten, out of hand. It seems that every company that you know the name of is suing or is being sued for something that they have done. Most notably for readers of this site though, is the attack on Android from all sides. Visual.ly has massed together some of the numbers and has put their infographic spin on it, and the whole thing looks just as confusing as you would expect.

HTC posted a timeline for Ice Cream Sandwich rollouts some time over the last few days on their support pages and it includes more details than we have seen to date. The HTC Rezound and Rhyme will see Android 4.0 in either June or July, Thunderbolt in July or August, and the Incredible 2 is now up-in-the-air as to whether or not it will see it. Previously, the Incredible 2 was listed as a device on the upgrade list, so this is a new development. If you own one of HTC’s tablets, you are stuck on Honeycomb. 

The HTC EVO 4G LTE will ship to those that pre-ordered on May 24, according to Sprint. After being held up at customs by the ITC for patent reasons that involve Apple (of course), the device must have passed their tests and has been cleared for take off. Sprint is still not willing to give us an official launch date for the device in stores, but if pre-orders are shipping this Thursday, it shouldn’t be too far off from that.

If you haven’t kept up with this saga, be sure to read our EVO 4G LTE review.

Via:  Sprint

Cheers Sal!

As we found back in January, the HTC Rezound’s sneaky global radios were exposed by a user over at XDA. Now, a fully functional GSM ROM has been released for all HTC Rezound owners that want to take a leap to a different carrier. It’s called the Venasaur, most likely because the developers are all about the ‘evolution’ of the device. The ROM comes with a ton of tweaks and hacks, other than just being able to use a T-Mobile or AT&T SIM on it.

Download links and instructions are available if you follow the via link below. If this is the step you have thought about taking, do be careful while performing these advanced tasks.

Via: XDA 

Cheers Patlex!

When you look through your message inbox and come across a phone number, your smartphone automatically turns those digits into a shortcut to the dialer. It’s a feature that we know is there, yet we most likely take it for granted since it has become the norm for our devices. Well, maybe not anymore. Yesterday, shipments into the United States of HTC’s One X and EVO 4G LTE have been indefinitely held up by the International Trade Commission to undergo inspection. Last December, the ITC ruled that HTC was violating the aforementioned patent which is owned by Apple and issued a “limited exclusion order” which went in effect April 19, making the import of devices using the patent prohibited.

Due to this investigation, HTC has issued a delay in the US release of these devices on both Sprint and AT&T, who currently list the device as “Out of Stock.” Sprint is still taking pre-orders for a launch that was intended for this Friday. According to new reports from the WSJ, HTC has said to have worked around the patent, but the ITC will still need to carry out their inspections. Unfortunately, as far as the public knows, there is no time frame set for when that will be concluded.

Via: The Verge | WSJ

The HTC EVO 4G LTE is the latest in one of Android’s most iconic brands to emerge on Sprint. Coming this Friday (May 18) to a store near you, there probably won’t be another device this good on America’s third largest carrier for some time. With that said, how do we really feel about this phone? As a variation of HTC’s One X (unofficially), it has all of the internals to be the best in the business, but to us, internals are only half the battle. And in the case of the EVO 4G LTE, it may be losing that other battle – the battle of  design, feel, and network.