Owners of a Sony Ericsson X10 Mini or a Mini Pro will be happy to know that the folks at xda-developers have been able to achieve root on these two Android devices. The root requires some familiarity with adb and terminal commands and apparently takes advantage of the same exploit used to root the DROID X, Devour, and other Android handsets. Hit the read link for the detailed instructions and head over toe xda-devs to link up with other SE owners. Happy Rooting!

[Via xda-developers]

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Popular online storage solution Dropbox has just launched its BlackBerry client as a limted beta. The app, compatible with OS 5.0 devices, already was gobbled up by the 500 user slots for testing. Those that snagged a copy are reporting that the application is similar to the Android and iPhone client, but is still missing some key features like the ability to upload non-picture files, the ability to delete/move files, and the ability to manage folders. BlackBerry owners that are interested in the beta should keep checking the beta site as additional slots are apparently being added to meet this initial demand. If you manage to get in on the beta, hit us up in the comments with your first impressions.

[Via CrackBerry]

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Google has introduced new location-aware advertising for iPhone and Android handsets. Advertisers will now have the ability to select a “location extension for display” option that will serve up their ads based upon a user’s GPS coordinates. Ads will appear within mobile applications and mobile browsers and will allow users to get mapping and contact information for businesses that are within the immediate area. This feature is pretty cool once you get over the creepiness of Google sending ads to you based upon your device, the context of your mobile usage, and now your location.

[Via Tech Crunch]

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On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was investigating the sluggish performance of iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G. While Apple is beginning an investigation, a reader over at Neowin was hands on with an iPhone and may have stumbled upon a quick fix. The problem is apparently remedied by turning off all the spotlight search options within Settings->General->Home Button->Spotlight Search. Though this may be a temporary band-aid, it may be enough to hold you over until Apple determines a root cause and issues a fix. If anyone gives it a try, let us know your results in the comments. Read

Add Samsung to the long list of hardware manufacturers that are confirmed to be jumping on the Android tablet bandwagon in 2010. Samsung was not forthcoming with details but did confirm on Friday that its upcoming Android-powered tablet will sport a 7-inch display, placing it squarely in the middle of the 5-inch Dell Streak and the almost 10-inch Apple iPad. Looking to snag early adopters, Samsung is getting into the game slightly ahead of its local rival LG by launching its tablet in the third quarter of 2010. Anyone interested in a super-sized Galaxy S?

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Samsung’s official UK arm confirmed via twitter that the mobile manufacturer is working on an Android 2.2 update for its Galaxy S handset. The update will hit the Galaxy S in September and will be deployed across all wireless networks in the UK. No word on when this highly anticipated update will hit the Captivate,Vibrant, and other Galaxy S variants outside of the UK. Fingers crossed that it lands sooner, rather than later as we all can’t wait to get Flash on our phones.

[Via Android Central]

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Nintendo confirmed on Thursday that it is holding an event to announce the details of a new product on September 29th. This centerpiece product for this upcoming event is most likely the Nintendo 3DS, a 3-D portable gaming device unveiled by Nintendo earlier this year. If this supposition pans out, then we can expect Nintendo to announce the official launch date,launch markets, and pricing for this novel gaming device. Folks trying to adjust their budget to accommodate a purchase of the 3DS would be wise to consider the words of James Honeywell, Nintendo’s marketing manager, who hinted to Electric Pig that the 3DS will fall somewhere within the current DS pricing architecture. With the DSi available for £129.99 ($203 USD) and the larger DSi XL for £159.99 ($249 USD), we would expect the 3DS to hit that sweet spot between $200 and $250. Anyone looking to score a 3DS when it becomes available later this year?

[Via Kotaku]

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LG announced earlier this month that it was launching an Android-powered tablet as part of its new Optimus brand. On Thursday, the Korean company confirmed that it will be launching this Android tablet in Q4 2010. Though Q4 2010 is still a broad window for launch, the timing suggests that LG is trying desperately to hit that ever important holiday shopping season. No word on whether this tablet will be a Korea-only exclusive, but if it does launch globally, is anyone interested?

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Amazon reduced the price on its popular eReader and the book reading device has flown off the shelves. So fast that anyone looking to snag a Kindle at this moment in time will be faced with an wait of unknown duration as the eReader is temporarily out of stock. The last time the Kindle went out of stock was late 2008 when Amazon was selling off the remaining supply of the Kindle 1 in advance of the launch of the Kindle 2. If history is repeating itself, then this shortage of the Kindle 2 could be an indication that Amazon is preparing to launch the Kindle 3. Though rather rumor-ish, this scenario does sound plausible, no?

[Via Information Week]Read

The ZTE Peel 3200, a Sprint-branded sleeve with mobile hotspot functionality and EV-DO connectivity, was spotted at the FCC. The curious device sports a sleeve-style form factor that appears to be ideally suited for the iPod Touch. Details are sparse on the device but it is clearly a mobile hotspot with integrated GPS and support for up to 5 Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Any Sprint users out there who would consider using this with VoIP as an alternative to an AT&T iPhone?

Thanks IGOD!

[Via Phone scoop]

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T-Mobile launched a teaser web page for a mystery HSPA+ handset yesterday, but conveniently failed to remove some clues that point to the identity of the handset. A quick scan of the source code for the webpage reveals references to the Vanguard, an alternative name for the G1 Blaze which is also known as the HTC Vision. The Vanguard/G1 Blaze/Vision is rumored to have a 3.7 inch display, 1GHz processor, HSPA+, side-sliding QWERTY keyboard, optical trackpad, and Android 2.1 or later. With up to a theoretical 21Mbps, does anyone find the HSPA+ G1 Blaze more compelling than the WiMAX-enabled Epic 4G?

[Via TmoNews]Read

Want to root your DROID X? Find yourself confused by all these references to this mysterious adb program and its cryptic commands? If you are nodding your head in agreement, then you need to point your browser to the forums at Alldroid where member Sil3ntKi113 has packaged up a simple and easy rooting tool for Windows users. The application installs all the files and drivers necessary for rooting the DROID X, and launches with two simple buttons — “root me” and “unroot me”. Initial feedback suggests that the program roots the DROID X as well as the manual method of typing terminal commands. Purists may turn up their noses at the ease of rooting that is provided by this application, but for those who are new to Android, this application is a life saver.

[Via Droid Life]

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Wireless billing vendor Validas analyzed the billing records of 20,000 wireless customers from January to May 2010 and discovered that Verizon Wireless customers top the charts in smartphone data usage. According to the compiled data, Verizon Wireless smartphone users consume 421MB per month, a figure that surprisingly tops iPhone users on AT&T who consume an average of 338MB of data per month. Despite the popularity of the iPhone — and its perception as a data-hungry device — Verizon Wireless also saw the largest increase in data usage per user, jumping from 48.2MB to 147.2MB per month. Verizon Wireless customers also topped AT&T amongst heavy data users with 4% of customers using 2GB or more per month as compared to 1.6% on AT&T. Not surprisingly, only 1/5th of 1% of Verizon and AT&T customers consumed more than 5GB per month, presumably due to usage caps imposed on some data plans. Wonder how those tiered data plans already in effect on AT&T (and rumored to be coming to VZW) will effect these numbers in the second half of the year? 

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Sprint is slated to announce its Q2 2010 earnings on Wednesday and analysts are weighing in on the expected performance of the nation’s #3 wireless carrier. Though it is still losing customers to its competition, Sprint is expected to show improvement year over year in the important postpaid category, with the carrier losing approximately 425,000 customers in Q2 2010 as compared to the 991,000 loss reported in the same quarter last year. Analyst Brett Feldman of Deutsche Bank notes that part of this improved performance can be attributed to sales of the HTC EVO 4G, which lowered subscriber loss by 100,000 and potentially kept this important financial figure under the half million mark. These numbers would have been better had Sprint been able to meet customer demand for the EVO 4G, but constant shortages have plagued this 4G handset. With the Samsung EPIC 4G slated to drop later this year and, hopefully, the EVO 4G back on the shelves, Sprint’s upcoming performance in the growing 4G postpaid market looks promising. Do you agree?

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Market research company GfK RT released a report on Monday that revealed this simple fact: the British love smartphones. According to GfK’s June figures, smartphones are growing steadily in the UK and now make up 73.5% of the contract market; up from 55% in Q1 2010. Android is also exploding in the UK growing over 350% from 3% of the contract market share in Q1 2010 to 13.5% market share in Q2 2010. With the iPhone 4 and the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S now available in the UK, look for these numbers to steadily increase throughout the rest of the year.

[Via Unwired View]

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