Gingerbread is lurking deep in the recesses of your Honeycomb, Android tablet. According to a report filed by mobile blog Pocketables, the interface you’re presented with on your Honeycomb tablet can be changed by adjusting your tablet’s perceived screen density. On a rooted Dell Streak 7 running Android 3.1, the default interface experience is the new Honeycomb UI — complete with updated widgets, homescreens, and controls. By changing a single line, thereby tricking that tablet into thinking its pixel density is 170 instead of 160, the Gingerbread layout is presented upon reboot. What does this mean for you? Nothing… but it is pretty cool to see in action. Hit the jump to see a video demo and let us know what you think.

[Via Engadget]

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An MSNBC investigative report, and related lawsuit, claims that AT&T has “systematically overstated” the data usage of iPhone and iPad customers. Lawyers for the plaintiffs, seeking class action status, hired an independent computer firm to compare the actual amount data used by iPhone and iPad customers with the amount that AT&T bills users for. “Did you find overcharges on every single transaction,” asked MSNBC’s Lisa Myers, speaking with the investigating firm’s representative. “Yes, every single one,” he responded. “Did you ever find an instance where the discrepancy worked to the benefit of the customer,” poses Myers as a follow-up question. “Never,” quipped the representative. ”Always an overcharge; never an undercharge.” The study alleges that AT&T overstates customer data usage by 7% to 14% and, in some rarer cases, by up to 300%. To illustrate its point, the firm bought a new AT&T iPhone and line of service, “disabled everything that might trigger data usage,” and let the phone sit untouched for ten days. During that time period, thirty-five different data charges appeared on the virgin phone’s bill. AT&T responded to the report saying that the claims are “without merit” and that applications may auto-update or refresh in the background without a consumer’s knowledge or consent. Whatever the reasoning is for the purported up-charging, we’re sure this isn’t the last you’re going to hear about this one. A video clip of MSNBC’s report is waiting for you after the break.

UPDATE: An official statement from an AT&T spokesperson is after the break.

An AT&T spokesperson has provided the following statement to BGR:

Accurate billing is clearly important and, unfortunately, there have been some incorrect claims about our data usage billing practices. We properly charge for all data that our customers send and receive, including data activity that runs in the background on smartphones and other powerful data devices. Data usage for emailing, downloading applications, browsing the web, downloading a video or streaming music is all applied to a customers’ data plan. So are real-time updates to applications, such as weather updates, sports scores, or stock tickers. Particularly for smartphones, tablets and other advanced mobile devices, applications are often constantly running in the background and engaged with our network. And, AT&T captures your data activity nightly to create a bill record in our systems. This will appear on your bill to be a late night “charge,” but in fact, the time stamp reflects the time that your device established a connection to the network, not the time that you sent or received data.

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AppleCare representatives can do a lot of things for Mac owners suffering software issues… except when it comes to malware. In an internal support article leaked to ZDNet, Apple instructs its call center representatives on how to handle calls from users reporting that they have a machine infected with the “Mac Defender” malware trojan. And, as you can see, Apple is definitely taking the hands-off approach. “AppleCare does not provide support for the removal of the malware,” reads the memo. “You should not confirm or deny whether the customer’s Mac is infected or not.” Apple certainly isn’t the first company to instruct its support representatives to shy away from virus/malware assistance, but it is notable as it is the first major Mac OS X virus that — thanks to some moderate social engineering — is propagating. Apple has yet to issue a public statement about the software’s existence or infection levels. The full memo is after the break.

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AT&T’s “4G” message may be a bit convoluted when its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network begins to bear fruit. The company has already branded its HSPA network as “4G”, although the coverage and real world speeds are less than impressive — especially when compared to other HSPA+ networks, like that of T-Mobile. But that hasn’t stopped the nation’s second largest carrier from working on a second 4G network and, thankfully, this one seems to be bringing the downlink goods. Recently, blog GigaOM was treated to a tour of AT&T’s Foundry laboratory in Texas. The site reports seeing “real world speeds” of 28.87Mbps on the downlink and 10.4Mbps on the uplink. Much better than the paltry 5Mbps down and 1Mbps up being pumped out by the company’s current 4G, HSPA network. AT&T plans to launch its LTE network in several markets by the end of this year and hopefully… these speeds hold up.

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Motorola has produced several iconic handsets during its storied existence. The DynaTAC, the Vader, the v60 and of course, the Motorola RAZR. What Nokia did for the candy bar-style mobile phone in the 1990′s, Motorola did for the flip phone in the early 21st century. Thin, sleek and stylish, the RAZR was initially brought to market in early 2005. The handset was light, easily fit in the pocket and packed a flat, backlit keypad that proved itself to be a formidable text messaging obstacle. The device was so popular, in fact, that just over 1-year ago we were still talking about the handset — the RAZR3 — before it was scrapped by Moto in favor of Android-based smartphones. During its four year reign of terror, where it retailed for nearly $200 on-contract, over 110 million RAZRs were sold by dozens of carriers the world over. We still have an AT&T V3 lying around BGR HQ for posterity sake, and although its utility is diminished, the handset’s mystique remains. How about it: how many of you cell phone junkies were proud RAZR owners?

BGR’s Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets, games, and software of yesterday and yesteryear.

In an interview with Reuters, Verizon Communications’ chief financial officer, Fran Shammo, reaffirmed several details about his company’s next iPhone offering. “Verizon’s [next iPhone] version will also work in as many countries as AT&T’s iPhone, which has global coverage,” writes Reuters, paraphrasing Mr. Shammo. The executive also noted that the inclusion of LTE in the next CDMA iDevice is not something Verizon has control over. “I think it’s a bigger issue for Apple than it is for us,” said Shammo speaking about the need for an LTE iPhone. “Depending on where Apple plays, that’s where we’ll sell.” The latest rumors have Apple releasing a refreshed version of its smartphone product later this fall. Most pundits agree that the update wil not include a Verizon-compatible LTE radio.

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In a report today, Reuters noted that Verizon Wireless’ cellular data offerings are in for a major overhaul. “Verizon Wireless plans to kick off pricing changes this summer by eliminating smartphone plans that allow unlimited Web access for a flat fee,” reads the article. “It will replace them with tiered pricing that forces heavy data users to pay more for mobile data.” The report goes on to paraphrase Verizon Communications’ CFO, Fran Shammo, who explained that “after this change, which forces heavy data users to pay more, the company will look to soften the blow by offering more options such as family plans for data services.” Currently, Verizon Wireless smartphone users with family plans are required to pay $29.99 per line for cellular data. Non-family-plan smartphone customers can purchase unlimited mobile data (with a 5GB allowance) for the same monthly price.

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Does the number 36 mean anything to you? If you’re an Android fan it should. A report from analytics firm Gartner indicates that 36.3 million Android handsets were sold during Q1 of 2011 giving the mobile operating system a 36% share of all smartphones sold during that same period. An impressive figure on its own, but even more-so when considering that Android saw sales of 5.2 million units and held a 9.6% share of sales in Q1 just one year prior. Nokia’s Symbian operating system sold 27.6 million units in Q1 and Apple’s iOS accounted for 16.9 million of the 100.8 million total smartphone units sold. Moral of the story: Android is killing it. The full report is after the break.

Gartner Says 428 Million Mobile Communication Devices Sold Worldwide in First Quarter 2011, a 19 Percent Increase Year-on-Year

Apple, Samsung and HTC Reported Strongest Results in an Increasingly Smartphone-Dominated Market

Egham, UK, May 19, 2011—

Worldwide mobile communication device sales to end users totaled 427.8 million units in the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 19 percent from the first quarter of 2010, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphones continued to outpace the rest of the market, and a newly competitive mid-tier smartphone market will drive smartphones into mass adoption and accelerate this trend.

“Smartphones accounted for 23.6 percent of overall sales in the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 85 percent year-on-year,” said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner. “This share could have been even higher, but manufacturers announced a number of high-profile devices during the first quarter of 2011 that would not ship until the second quarter of 2011. We believe some consumers delayed their purchases to wait for these models.”

Overall, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will have a smaller effect on the mobile communication devices market than initially anticipated. There is currently about six to seven weeks worth of inventory of finished products in the channel and about four weeks worth of inventory for components. Gartner estimates that manufacturers’ sales into the channel will drop in the second quarter of 2011, while sales through to consumers will be flat.

Nokia sold 107.6 million mobile devices in the first quarter of 2011 (see Table 1). Its market share declined 5.5 percentage points year-on-year, and its share has reached its lowest since 1997. Nokia will aggressively lower average selling prices (ASPs) in markets where communications service providers (CSPs) control the sales channels, in order to maintain shipments of Symbian devices while waiting for its first Windows Phone 7 devices to reach the market. However, Nokia will face challenges from Android competitors and from some Japan-induced supply constraints.

Table 1
Worldwide Mobile Terminal Sales to End Users in 1Q11 (Thousands of Units)

Company	1Q11 Units	1Q11 Market Share (%)	1Q10 Units	1Q10 Market Share (%)
Nokia	107,556.1	25.1	110,105.4	30.6
Samsung	68,782.0	16.1	64,897.1	18.0
LG	23,997.2	5.6	27,190.1	7.6
Apple	16,883.2	3.9	8,270.1	2.3
RIM	13,004.0	3.0	10,752.5	3.0
ZTE	9,826.8	2.3	6,104.3	1.7
HTC	9,313.5	2.2	3,378.4	0.9
Motorola	8,789.7	2.1	9,574.5	2.7
Sony Ericsson	7,919.4	1.9	9,865.7	2.7
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.	7,002.9	1.6	5,236.1	1.5
Others	154,770.9	36.2	104,230.3	29.0
Total	427,846	100.0	359,605	100.0

Source: Gartner (May 2011)

Samsung experienced its strongest first quarter ever. The shift to higher end smartphones, such as the Galaxy line, led to an increase in ASPs. This helped to offset an increase in materials costs. Samsung made numerous product announcements during the first quarter of 2011. These included numerous Galaxy smartphone announcements (such as the Galaxy S II), a bada device (Wave 578), and new models of the Galaxy Tab tablets (10.1 and 8.9). These new devices, along with the effects of seasonality and expansion into emerging markets with touch and dual-SIM devices, should help improve Samsung’s performance in the second quarter of 2011.

Apple sold 16.9 million units to end users worldwide, more than doubling its sales of iPhones year-on-year. This market-beating growth came from all regions: the iPhone is now available in 90 countries from 186 CSPs. “This strong performance helped Apple consolidate its position as the fourth largest brand in the mobile communication market overall,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. “Considering the higher than average price of the iPhone this is a remarkable result and highlights the impact that a strong aspirational brand can have on a product.” Inventory levels at the end of the first quarter of 2011 were slightly higher than usual, as Apple not only continues to expand in markets such as China, where distribution is more fragmented, but also extends its reach with new CSPs.

HTC recorded a very strong first quarter with 9.3 million mobile communication devices sold and moved to the No. 7 position. Strong high-end products helped HTC perform well with all major US CSPs, and in the first quarter of 2011 it became the No. 2 smartphone manufacturer in the region, overtaking Research In Motion.

Although in mature markets the shift from feature phones to smartphones is accelerating, smartphones overall moved down-market in the first quarter of 2011. Several manufacturers, including HTC, Sony Ericsson, Alcatel and ZTE, announced a broader portfolio of mid-tier devices, mainly based on Android, which will reach the market in the second quarter of 2011.

Android and Apple’s iOS continued to dominate the smartphone operating system (OS) wars (see Table 2). However, the big news in the first quarter of 2011 was Nokia’s strategic alliance with Microsoft on Windows Phone 7, and the retirement of Symbian. “This will precipitate a competitors’ rush to capture Symbian’s market share in the midtier,” said Ms. Cozza.

Table 2
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 1Q11 (Thousands of Units)

Company	1Q11 Units	1Q11 Market Share (%)	1Q10 Units	1Q10 Market Share (%)
Android	36,267.8	36.0	5,226.6	9.6
Symbian	27,598.5	27.4	24,067.7	44.2
iOS	16,883.2	16.8	8,359.7	15.3
Research In Motion	13,004.0	12.9	10,752.5	19.7
Microsoft	3,658.7	3.6	3,696.2	6.8
Other OS	3,357.2	3.3	2,402.9	4.4
Total	100,769.3	100.0	54,505.5	100.0

Source: Gartner (May 2011)

In the first quarter of 2011, RIM announced that it would transition its BlackBerry portfolio to the QNX platform in 2012. This should make its smartphones more competitive in graphics, performance and touch, and unify RIM’s tablet and smartphone user experience.

Windows Phone saw only modest sales that reached 1.6 million units in the first quarter of 2011, as devices launched at the end of 2010 failed to grow in consumer preference and CSPs continued to focus on Android. In the long term, Nokia’s support will accelerate Windows Phone’s momentum.

Gartner analysts said that the shift toward an ecosystem focus, application and services is the critical success factor for device manufacturers. “Every time a user downloads a native app to their smartphone or puts their data into a platform’s cloud service, they are committing to a particular ecosystem and reducing the chances of switching to a new platform. This is a clear advantage for the current stronger ecosystem owners Apple and Google,” said Ms. Cozza. “As well as putting their devices in the context of a broader ecosystem, manufacturers must start to see their smartphones as part of a computing continuum.”

“The 13.3 million-unit growth in channel inventory, along with some softness in demand from users in emerging markets registered at the start of the second quarter of 2011, is leading us to be cautious about sales in the reminder of the year,” said Ms. Milanesi. “We are currently revising down our 2011 sales estimate as a result of these trends, and expect it will likely drop to between 1.790 billion and 1.795 billion units.”

Additional information is in the Gartner report “Market Share Analysis: Mobile Devices, Worldwide, 1Q11″ The report is available on Gartner’s website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1688625.

According to research firm Gartner, although Microsoft shipped 2 million Windows Phone units during Q4 of 2010, it sold 1.6 million units during Q1 of 2011.”Windows Phone saw only modest sales that reached 1.6 million units in the first quarter of 2011,” wrote Gartner. “Devices launched at the end of 2010 failed to grow in consumer preference and CSPs continued to focus on Android.” Gartner is, however, predicting big things for Microsoft’s smartphone operating system. By 2015, the analytics company predicts that Windows Phone will see shipments in excess of 215 million units — thanks in large part to its partnership with Nokia. This would put Microsoft in second place in global market share — behind the open-source smartphone-overlord Android and ahead of the not-so-open-source iOS.

[Via WinRumors]

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Apple has completed a cloud-music streaming deal with record label EMI, according to a report filed by CNET. Citing multiple industry sources, the publication notes that Apple, Sony Music Entertainment and the Universal Music Group are working on agreements as well; a previous report claims that Warner Music Group and Apple already signed a cloud service agreement sometime last month. “Apple will finish behind Google and Amazon in the race to the cloud, but Apple now has the freedom to offer a range of features that rivals are prevented from rolling out because of the licensing restrictions,” continues the article. Rumors state that Apple will use a technology acquired from Lala called “scan and match.” Instead of uploading a subscribers music library to Apple’s cloud-music service, the company would scan a music collection and provide access to the master track it has a license to. Apple and the music labels in question declined to comment on the report when contacted by CNET.

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A new report published by Millennial Media paints a picture of the global smartphone landscape in April of 2011. The company found that Android continued its domination in pure market share, holding a 53% of impressions on the company’s network. Apple’s iOS came in second with 28% and RIM’s BlackBerry OS came in third with 16%; Symbian, Windows, and “other” totalled under 4% of impressions. While Google continues to maim and destroy in terms of handset numbers, Apple continues to hold the crown when it comes to application revenues. “Revenue generated from applications on the iOS platform grew 6% month-over-month and represented 50% of the Application Platform Mix on our network, ranked by revenue, in April,” reads the report. Android is in a close second with 39% of app revenues and RIM ranked third with 9%. What are users downloading? The report states that games, mobile social networking, and music/entertainment applications are the top application categories. Millennial Media sees over 142 million unique mobile impressions on its network each month from over 5,500 different devices.

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Asustek Computer is promising to increase monthly production runs of its versatile Eee Pad Transformer tablet. Citing strong demand in the U.S., UK, Taiwan and China, the company will extend production totals from 8,000 units per month to 10,000 units per month. The company also has the lofty goal of manufacturing 300,000 Transformer tablets in the second quarter; with aspirations of shipping 2 million tablets in 2011. The Transformer, which connects to a dockable keyboard, retails for $399 and comes with 16GB of on-board storage.

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Listen up gaming fanatics. It looks like Nintendo’s Project Café, otherwise known as the Wii 2, has been caught on video thanks to a sneaky developer and their utter disregard of non-disclosure agreements. Aside from slides that showcase the “Screen Stream“ controllers, we see the Wii 2 console projected and lurking in the background as well. There appears to be a docking accessory — most likely for controller recharging — shown on the screen towards the end of the clip, although it is hard to tell as an audience member’s head obfuscates our view. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is scheduled for next month from June 7th to 9th; don’t be surprised if the Wii 2 gets a lengthy preview from the folks at Nintendo. The video is waiting for you after the break.

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Well that didn’t take long. Yesterday, we told you about an Android vulnerability found in ClientLogin that could have serious security ramifications. Using a dummy open access-point, a nefarious third party could passively — via Wi-Fi — collect authentication tokens to password protected services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google Calendar stored on affected Android devices. Speaking with Mobilized’s Ina Fried, the Android-maker has stated that it is taking action, and fast. “Today we’re starting to roll out a fix which addresses a potential security flaw that could, under certain circumstances, allow a third party access to data available in calendar and contacts,” Google told the publication. “This fix requires no action from users and will roll out globally over the next few days.” The vulnerability will still be present in the company’s Picasa online photo offering, but Google stated that it is working to patch that service as well.

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Looking to scoop up one of Apple’s ultra-light notebook offerings? You may want to hold on to your wallet for a few more weeks. According to the latest report, Apple is preparing to update the notebook line in the not-too-distant future. “The Taiwan-based supply chain for Apple products will begin shipments of new 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch MacBook Air models featuring Sandy Bridge platform and Thunderbolt interface in late May for launch in June or July,” reads a report filed by DigiTimes. The article goes on to note that the updated Air will be assembled by Quanta Computer, with Catcher Technology, Auras Technology, Shin Zu Shing, Simplo Technology, and Dynapack all supplying components. The report echos earlier prognostications made by Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The current iterations of the MacBook Air were first revealed in October of 2010, just 7-months ago.

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