Up for pre-order at Amazon since last month, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus now available and start shipping. Priced at $399.99 for the 16GB version and $499.99 for the 32GB, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus packs a 7-inch PLS touchscreen display with 1024 x 600 pixels resolution. The tablet arrive with HoneyComb 3.2 and TouchWiz. It is powered by a 1.2GHz Dual core processor. Its features including WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0 port, a 3MP rear facing camera and a 2MP front camera.
[LAM]

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Well folks, the day has finally come as Motorola has officially unveiled their next generation tablet appropriately dubbed the XOOM 2. This tablet first and foremost comes equipped with Android ‘Honeycomb’ 3.2 and not the new and improved Ice Cream Sandwich. When exactly this will happen we’re not sure but we’ll keep you posted – on to the specs.

The XOOM 2 features a 10.1-inch display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 5 megapixel rear facing camera, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera and a price tag of around $625. The XOOM 2 Media Edition, on the other hand, features specs almost identical to the XOOM 2 but comes with a smaller 8.9-inch display and a slightly smaller battery. But where the tablet skimps on specs it also skimps on dollars as it will be priced slightly lower at $575. No word on when exactly these tablets will be made available in the United States but we have been told that they will be hitting the UK and Ireland before the end of the month.

Will either of these tablets have a chance against Apple’s iPad? We aren’t sure but considering tablets priced so high haven’t done well in the past we aren’t holding our breath.
[MW]

That Motorola EX225 Facebook phone that we’ve been telling you about since September has been made official by the company, under the rather odd name of MotoKey Social.

According to the phone’s official product page, “If your Founding Fathers are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Gmail, MotoKey is your smartphone.” But don’t get fooled by the inclusion of Gmail here: the MotoKey is not an Android handset.

The new device obviously features a dedicated Facebook button, full QWERTY keyboard, 2.4 inch QVGA touchscreen display, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, 3.5mm headset jack, 3MP camera, and MicroSD card support.

For the moment, the MotoKey Social shows up only at Motorola Canada, so I guess that’s the country where it will be released first (apparently via Telus). We don’t know when exactly, though, and neither for what price (it should be a low one).
[UWV]

Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is scheduled to release on November 13 in United States but it seems Amazon has started shipping the original Galaxy Tab’s follow-up model. Users can buy the 16GB Wi-Fi-only version from the online store for $399.99 but will have to wait for the 32GB to be released which is priced at $499.99.

The new Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is just 9.96mm thin, runs Honeycomb OS and comes with a 1.2GHz processor, 7-inch WSVGA display (1024×600), 3MP back-facing and 2MP front-facing camera, full HD video playback, 720p HD video recording, Infrared connectivity, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and microSD card slot.

HTC and Verizon Wireless have officially announced the HTC Rezound at the HTC event in New York City. Powered by the Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, the smartphone comes jam packed with a 4.3-inch 720p HD display, a fast 1.5GHz Qualcomm MSM8660 dual-core processor, a 1GB of RAM, a 16GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS and a 1,620mAh battery. The HTC Rezound features an 8-megapixel rear-facing AutoFocus camera to capture special moments and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls. The HTC Rezound is also known as the first smartphone in the US with Beats Audio integration. Other specs include Verizon 4G LTE and 4G hotspot capability for up to 10 devices. The HTC Rezound will be released on November 14th, 2011 for $299.99 with a 2-year contract. Each purchase comes equipped with a 16GB microSD card.
[CP]

HTC has been one of Google’s biggest partners when it comes to pushing their Android mobile platform. In fact, ever since they originally released the T-Mobile G1 years ago HTC has constantly pushed out high quality devices powered by Android and that doesn’t look to be stopping anytime soon.

One of their more recent devices is none other than the HTC Amaze 4G. This device features a 4.3-inch display with qhD resolution, dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 8 megapixel rear facing camera with 1080p video capture, 2 megapixel front facing camera, a 1730 mAh battery and Google’s Android ‘Gingerbread’ 2.3.4.

While the device has already been made available in the United States our friends to the North haven’t been so lucky. Thankfully a new leak today has let us know that the HTC Amaze 4G will be coming to Canadian carrier Telus on November 4th for as low as $99.99 with 3-year contract.

To be believed? We aren’t sure but as always we suggest you don’t get too excited until someone officially involved with the matter comes forth to speak.
[MW]

The HTC Radar hast actually been available since Monday on T-Mobile’s website for $99 on a new two year contract, but today was the day that the device became available in retails stores nationwide. If you are looking for a better deal, Wirefly is offering the device for $49.99.

Specs wise, the HTC Radar spots a 3.8-inch Super LCD touchscreen with 480 x 800 resolution, Windows Phone Mango, a 5 megapixel camera, a .3 megapixel front-facing camera, 512 MB of RAM, and a 1 GHz single core processor.

You wil also be getting free Standard shipping via FedEx as well as 2GB of Wirefly’s Mobile Backup Service for free when you purchase the device. If you are interested in the Radar with no contract commitment, it will cost you $439.99. If you happen to be looking for a good deal on a new Mango phone, go ahead and take advantage of Wirefly’s deal.
[UWV]

At the Galaxy Note launch event yesterday, Samsung spilled some details about the release of Galaxy Nexus, the first Ice Cream Sandwich phone. During the Q&A session, Samsung India’s Ranjit Yadav said that the Galaxy Nexus’s “tentative launch will be this year and not next.”

Galaxy Nexus runs Android 4.0 OS and comes with a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED display (1280×720) and features HSPA+ or 4G LTE connectivity, a 5MP camera with full HD video recording support, 1.3MP front-facing camera, dual-band (2.4GHz/5GHz) Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, full HD playback support, 16 or 32GB internal memory, NFC and 1750mAh battery.
[SH]

Samsung’s first Android tablet, which was also THE first tablet ever from a big brand, did not succeed as well as Google and Samsung would have wanted, but that is understandable seeing as Apple’s iPad sells only because of the great marketing and amazing fans – it was the first tablet to be released, so everyone is going with it. Of course, it wouldn’t be the most popular device if it didn’t have a good OS and a lot of advantages, and iOS certainly has those factors.

But the Android tablets market is still pretty successful and it’s growing every day. There are now almost a dozen different tablets from reputable companies (and about two dozen models from unknown Chinese factories ), and with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on the way, things look better than ever for them.

Samsung has released several new tablets already, all of which look like winners, especially the Galaxy Tab 7.7 with it’s gorgeous Super AMOLED Plus display, but there’s only niche that they seemingly forgot about – the compact 7 inch tablets niche. And now, after more than a year after the release of the Galaxy Tab, they finally released its 7 inch successor – the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus.

The new tablet looks and feels pretty good, with a nice 7 inch PLS LCD on the front with the usual 1024×600 pixels resolution (too bad it’s not Super AMOLED, but PLS looks a lot better than IPS), and a brushed aluminum back that looks like it can take a beating (the metal frame only reinforces the feeling). There are no hardware navigation buttons on the outside, as the tablet now runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb instead of older versions (the Galaxy Tab never got the upgrade, by the way), and an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is highly likely, though I don’t know the criteria for the upgrade anymore – the G2X won’t be updated, for example (but XDA developers and modders will take care of that, for sure).

The housing has grown just a bit longer and wider, but only by 2mm, while the thickness went down for the same 2mm – in the end, it makes the tablet feel better in your hand and look better on a desk. On the inside, you’ll find the same 4000 mAh Li-Pol battery that should last even more than on the previous model, thanks to the new power saving features of the processor.

The processor, by the way, is Samsung’s new dual core Exynos, running at 1.2 GHz per core and aided by a full gigabyte of RAM – more than enough to run all your apps with ease, at the same time. There are 32 GB of internal memory AND a micro SD card slot that officially supports 64 GB micro SDXC cards – it seems Samsung got the memo about the ever increasing need for space on mobile devices, and especially tablets.

Among other hardware specs you’ve got your usual Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS combo, as well as HSPA+ support (up to 21 Mbps download), a 3 megapixels camera on the back with support for 720p HD video recording (the megapixel count isn’t everything, by the way, and the quality should be comparable to older 5 megapixels cameras) and a 2 megapixels camera on the front for video calls and other stuff.

Android 3.0 Honeycomb will come pre-installed, as always with Samsung’s own Touch Wiz 4.0 interface, which looks pretty nice. There are enough apps for the new tablet API on the Android market to satisfy nearly everyone now, so you won’t be missing your older Android or iPad apps if you’re switching to the new tablet.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is a great successor to the first Galaxy Tab, and it brings just enough new features to the table to be desirable. The price will be lower than the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and 8.9, which is understandable and makes the 7.0 Plus a perfect choice for an inexpensive tablet for any purpose (even for enterprise users when the Ice Cream Sandwich update is released).
[GM]

The beauty of Android that is an open source platform allowing manufacturers to install the software on pretty much whatever device they like. From this we’ve gotten a wide ranger of different high-powered smartphones along with many that are more friendly to those on a budget.

If you fall into the second category and are on the market for a cheap Android powered phone listen up. T-Mobile has just made it known that they will be bringing both the myTouch and myTouch Q to market on November 2nd. Both smartphones come complete with a 1GHz single-core Qualcomm processor, 5 megapixel rear facing camera, front facing camera and 4G connectivity with the carrier’s HSPA+ network. They both come pre-installed with Google’s Android ‘Gingerbread’ 2.3.4.

Best of all, both devices will be available at just $79.99 with 2-year contract. However, if you’re one who is partial to texting you may want to go with the Q as while it features only a 3.5-inch display (as opposed to the myTouch’s 3.8-inch display, it also feature a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
[MW]