HP on Thursday announced that its HP TouchPad tablet will become available on July 1st. The TouchPad, which was first unveiled at a media event this past February, is the first webOS-powered tablet offering from HP. It features a 9.7-inch XGA display, a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and NFC capability that facilitates unique interactions between the slate and HP phones. Two versions of the TouchPad will be available initially: a 16GB version for $499.99 and a 32GB version for $599.99. HP also said a 3G...

Moments ago, Google announced it will begin pushing out Android 2.3.4 in the “next few weeks.” The company notes that the software will contain bug fixes for the Nexus One and, more excitingly, video chat capabilities for the Nexus S. “You can now video or voice chat with your friends, family and colleagues right from your Android phone, whether they’re on their compatible Android tablet or phone, or using Gmail with Google Talk on their computer,” reads the press release. “You...

The first-quarter financial figures for Verizon Wireless were not all that surprising. The nation’s largest wireless carrier was widely expected to post strong quarterly results, and it did. Verizon Wireless saw its churn rate fall year-over-year to 1.01 for postpaid customers and 1.33 overall. The company’s data revenues were up 22.3% from the same period last year, fueled by 1.8 million net additions, 2.2 million new iPhone activations, 260,000 HTC ThunderBolt activations, and 32% of retail pos...

Via a press release today, AT&T announced that it will be offering two, Android-based LG handsets in both the prepaid and postpaid variety. The postpaid Phoenix and prepaid Thrive both sport a 600MHz processor, 3.2-inch touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, aGPS, 3.2 megapixel rear-facing camera, microSD card slot, and 7.2Mbps HSDPA radio. Both smartphones, which run Froyo (Android 2.2) will be available on April 17th with the Phoenix retailing for $49.99 with a signed two-year agreement and the Thr...

Good news for those of you reading this from across the pond. Samsung has let it be known that its new flagship handset, the Galaxy S II, will be available in the United Kingdom on May 1st. The company confirms that the S II — which will be knighted with the model number GT-I9100 — will indeed have its processor upgraded to 1.2GHz as rumored last week. Other specifications include a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, 21Mbps HSPA+ radio, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080...

Today, Samsung and Boost Mobile jointly introduced a new member of the Galaxy family, the Galaxy Prevail. Running a fairly-stock iteration of Android 2.2 (Froyo), the device sports a 3.2-inch touchscreen display, 2 megapixel rear-facing camera, Bluetooth, GPS, and microSD card slot (support for up to a 32GB card). The device is the first CDMA, Android-based device to be offered by the prepaid wireless carrier. The Galaxy Prevail will be available in “late April” for $179.99 contract free. Pair t...

The IEEE Standards Association has given its seal of approval to the next generation WiMAX standard, dubbed 802.16m. The new standard supports a “wide range of data rates in multiple user environments” and has a theoretical maximum throughput of around 300Mbps. “We are delighted that IEEE has recognized the completion of this comprehensive technical effort that has involved hundreds of creative and diligent professionals from over twenty countries during the last four years,” said Dr. Roger Ma...

Up until now, Roku devices have only been available online, but that changes today. Roku has just announced nationwide availability of their Roku XD model at all Best Buy locations. This is a pretty large move for the company, and with the success Roku has had online, there’s no question it will translate into retail sales. Press release after the break. (more…)

Apple has just announced that the company will, indeed, launch the iPad 2 in 25 more countries this week. Apple is coordinating an international launch time of 5:00 p.m. local time on Friday, though customers can order online at Apple’s website starting at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. Full countries include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal,...

Credit card giant Visa has announced a new payment service for U.S. consumers set to launch in the second half of 2011. The new offering closely mimics services offered by PayPal, allowing users with a Visa-branded credit, debit, or pre-paid account to transfer money amongst each other. “Consumers in the U.S. will soon be able to receive and send funds to any eligible Visa credit, debit or prepaid account, anywhere in the world,” reads the press release. “By simply entering the recipient’s...

In a press release today, Sprint announced the successor for its push-to-talk (PTT) iDEN network, Sprint Direct Connect. Running on the company’s nationwide CDMA network, Direct Connect will offer users a larger coverage footprint, improved in-building coverage, and increased voice and data capacity. The new protocol will also add several new features, including 200 participant Direct Connect sessions, Land Mobile Radio (LMR) interoperability, and availability notifications. The company expects the move...

At the company’s 2011 product lineup event today, Samsung announced the U.S. availability of the 4-inch and 5-inch Galaxy Player. First spotted at Mobile World Congress last month, the two devices closely resemble the European Galaxy S smartphone currently in market. The duo will look to capture both the mind and market share of those consumers who would otherwise be looking to purchase Apple’s iPod touch or Microsoft’s Zune. Both devices will run Google’s Froyo (Android 2.2) operati...

The day has finally come, Verizon Wireless has made the HTC ThunderBolt handset officially official. We’ve seen leak after leak — and even an authorized third-party provider announcement — but now, straight from the horse’s mouth, the handset has been anointed with a March 17th release date and $249.99 price tag. LTE data plans, which have been the topic of much discussion, will retail for the same price as their 3G counterparts — $29.99 per month for unlimited use. Verizon is also prov...

On the heels of today’s MacBook Pro unveiling, Apple announced that it would be making a preview of Mac OS X 10.7 — codenamed Lion — available to developers. The company writes that Lion “takes some of the best ideas from iPad and brings them back to the Mac.” Apple details several, previously disclosed, features — such as Mission Control, Launchpad, and multitouch gestures — along with a handful of new, unannounced feature additions:A new version of Mail, with an ele...