This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the upcoming HTC Ville make a cameo appearance on camera, and now we’re welcoming it back a second time. We’re of course always willing to see more and more of a as-of-yet unreleased device, though we do expect HTC to talk about the device at Mobile World Congress.

The newest Ville pictures show off its display and HTC Sense software thanks to Japanese blog Ameblo, and you’ll notice the images are running T-Mobile Croatia. Of course, that has no bearing on whether T-Mobile USA will receive this phone, but we’re already working on intel that the Ville will in fact lend of Magenta shelves in 2012.

The Ville’s spec sheet includes a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 chip, 4.3″ Super AMOLED qHD display, 1650mAh battery, 8 megapixel camera capable of 1080p recording and a super slim profile.

Anyone liking what they see?

DroidDog via Ameblo

Via tmonews

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Mobile devices now come in a plethora of different flavors and sizes, each with its own unique twist. Judging from the outside, however, a lot of devices are really starting to look the same. To an untrained eye, the latest Motorola phone might be confused with a Samsung device. Or a new LG phone might be mistaken for an HTC-made phone.

Mobile devices now come in a plethora of different flavors and sizes,

Just over a month ago while eating Christmas dinner, a few family members asked me what phone I was carrying. Reluctantly (you may recall I was trying to disconnect and not talk about phones for a change), I pulled out my phone and showed it to them without saying a word. “Is that one of those new RAZRs? Or is that an iPhone?” Neither. It was a Galaxy Nexus.

And that’s the point. To a lot of people, every phone looks identical and that’s why branding is so important. By plastering a “Samsung” logo across the face of the device, there is no mistaking it for an iPhone or DROID RAZR upon closer inspection. Likewise, if that phone appeals to you and you see an AT&T logo across the face, you know exactly where to go to get one for yourself.

Some don’t see it this way. Or they see it this way, but still find it atrocious and counterproductive. Bryce Daniel of our own iOS-specifc site, Today’s iPhone, wrote a piece titled The logo problem: why iPhone works. The idea originated on a blog called MinimallyMinimal, which serves as an online journal for Andrew Kim, a former Google intern (among other things).

Kim notes how the Lumia 900 is a beautiful device … or how it was before branding mucked it up. The face of the device now has three logos: a Nokia logo, an AT&T logo and a Windows Phone logo. The Nokia branding is located at the top left corner of the device, just above the display; the AT&T logo is on the right corner, directly beside the Nokia branding; and the Windows Phone logo is actually a capacitive home button. He goes on to compare this with several other Windows Phone devices, Android phones and BlackBerrys. And he used the iPhone, which has no branding on its face, as contrast, along with several other high-end products like a Mercedes, MacBook Pro and Nintendo DS – all of which have very minimal branding. Kim says:

“I think it’s a fairly good metric to count the logos on a product to see its value. If it isn’t yelling at you, there’s a pretty good chance that it’s confident that it’s a good product,” and, “If the product is iconic, friendly and innovative enough, it doesn’t need to tell the user what it is; the user already knows. You can see a DS from a mile away and you immediately know what it is.”

He calls the Lumia 900 an example of “inherent logo pollution” and says Microsoft’s decision to use a Windows logo “completely puts him off.”

He has a point, and I can see where he’s coming from. But I can only agree with some of his points. Branding is important. Some devices are easily recognizable; thus they don’t need to be plastered with logos. But just because a device has branding on it doesn’t mean that it’s a poor or low-quality product, or that the company is not confident in their product. Sure, it might take away from the beauty of a device, but it’s free marketing. A trade-off.

I’ve noticed that a lot of Apple fans are minimalists and eat the minimalist branding up. But there are millions upon millions of people there who never give logos – no matter where they’re located or how many – a second thought. Most will never pay attention to them at all.

Before the Galaxy Nexus, I never paid any attention to any branding. I’ve had countless BlackBerrys (which are known for their cluttered appearance), Android phones, Windows Phone devices and even iPhones. Not once did I ever stop to think, “I don’t want this phone because it has too many logos on the front.” But when you get a device like the Galaxy Nexus in your hands, which only has a display and a few camouflaged sensors and LEDs on the face, you realize just how cluttered and distasteful the typical device face is.

In recent memory, the only device that I can recall that bothered me with its branding was the Motorola XOOM on Verizon. The Motorola logo on the face (along with the aspect ratio) of the device made it feel awkward to hold it in any other orientation but landscape with the logo in the top left corner. Even then it didn’t bother me enough to sell the device or avoid it from the start.

That said, there should be some sort of unwritten law on how much branding is too much. Kim believes that three logos on the face of the device is three logos too many. I, on the other hand, don’t mind the occasional logo but feel that three may be a tad excessive. There is plenty of unused space on the back that’s screaming for more attention. But nobody stares at the back of a phone for any amount of time, so branding on the battery door is more or less second-rate placement.

Within reason, no amount of logos on the face of a smartphone will keep me from buying it. So long as the display is nice, the rest of the specs check out and it isn’t absolutely atrocious to look at, I really couldn’t care less about branding. I know many of you will disagree – it seems most either hate it or are indifferent. Tell me, readers. Do you dislike branding on the face of your devices? How many logos are too many? One? Two? Three?

via phonedog

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Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone and let’s give a big thank you to Best Buy for offering up a T-Mobile Sensation 4G as their Sunday deal of the day. The Sensation 4G is free with a new, two-year contract and just $99.99 for qualifying upgrades on a two-year contract. The deal ends in 13 hours, 47 minutes and 11…10….9 seconds so take advantage now!

Best Buy

Via TMOnews

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We knew it wouldn’t take long before we got word of another “All Hands Sale” for T-Mobile and if our most recent ninja tip is true, February 11th is the day. Here’s the good news if our ninja tipsters are hearing this info correctly, this offer is good for both Classic and Value plan subscribers as well as new and existing customers. We’re told that the Galaxy S II and Amaze 4G need a 5GB data plan which is not unlike the requirements for those devices during the previous sales T-Mobile has held. We’re told this February 11th sale is one day only and all handsets are free after mail-in rebate. Of course, we’re a little skeptical considering we’ve heard the “free after mail-in rebate” rumors before and the sales turned out to be Value Plan only. That’s not the case this time we’re assured, but until we can get our hands on some more intel, we’re urging a little patience while we confirm the details.

On a side note, we haven’t heard any “titles” for this sale, however we’re safely assuming it’ll be Valentine’s Day related if you need an excuse to buy that special someone a new phone.

via tmonews

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Web-based file storage titan Dropbox has released a new beta upgrade of it’s Dropbox Android app, offering the ability to earn a whopping 5 extra GB of storage for your uploading pleasure. Among the awesome new features being implemented, automatic uploading of your photos and videos (in the background, yum!) as well as the demise of the 180MB limit, are the most enticing.

Interested in swallowing up the offered 5GB? You’ll have to get your photo journalism swag on, as subsequent to the first 500MB earned by your first automatic upload, you’ll recieve 500MB of storage for every 500MB of your photos and videos you automatically upload. Keep in mind however, that both the desktop and mobile earnings contribute to the same pot. Release notes after the break.

• Automatically uploads photos and videos in the background using Wi-Fi or data plan
• 500MB of free space on first photo uploaded automatically
• Upload files of any size (no more 180 MB limit!)
• Support for resuming file uploads when there are network issues
• Various performance improvements & bug fixes

Source: Dropbox

via talkandroid

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T-Mobile is celebrating their recent milestone of 500,000 fans on Facebook with a special coupon offer for 30% off any one accessory at your local T-Mobile store. “We’ve reached a huge milestone because of you. To celebrate, enjoy 30% off any accessory in our stores. Here’s to another half million!” The offer expires on June 30th so you’ve got plenty of time to take advantage. Just print the coupon and head on down to your nearest T-Mobile location.

via tmonews

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It seems that HTC is always in the news for one security scare or another. Well you can add this to the pile as HTC has acknowledged that a bug/exploit can expose security credentials on wifi networks when their devices handle specific Android requests.

It was found that applications on affected HTC devices with theandroid.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE permission would be able to exploit the.toString() command via the WifiConfiguration class to view all of a wifi network’s credentials. Combine this with the android.permission.INTERNET permission and hackers could have a field day in harvesting these details and sending them off to a remote server. These exploits happened to be found by researchers Chris Hessing and Bret Jordan.

The following devices have been affected by this flaw:

• Desire HD (both “ace” and “spade” board revisions) – Versions FRG83D, GRI40,
• Glacier – Version FRG83,
• Droid Incredible – Version FRF91,
• Thunderbolt 4G – Version FRG83D,
• Sensation Z710e – Version GRI40,
• Sensation 4G – Version GRI40,
• Desire S – Version GRI40,
• EVO 3D – Version GRI40,
• EVO 4G – Version GRI40.

Both the MyTouch 3G and the Nexus One aren’t affected however and for those affected HTC had this to say on their support site:

“HTC has developed a fix for a small WiFi issue affecting some HTC phones. Most phones have received this fix already through regular updates and upgrades.However, some phones will need to have the fix manually loaded. Please check back next week for more information about this fix and a manual download if you need to update your phone.”

Now before you get all riled up know that most HTC handsets have received an update that automatically patches the issue, but a few of them will require a manual update to fix. According to HTC, you should check out the site next week for more details pertaining to performing this update.

While the exploit would require the user to install apps that are specifically designed to harvest these details the impact is probably minimal given that most phishing and malware related apps are snaked out well before becoming popular. That is not to say that a security risk doesn’t exist however.

If you are the weary owner of one of these affected devices chances are you’ve received the exploit fix in an OTA within the past few months. If you’re not sure you can scroll down just a bit further to check where your device sits on the HTC support site. Here’s hoping that we won’t see HTC in the news anymore regarding issues with device security!

source: HTC Support
via: TNW

via talkandroid

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Are you ready for some football!?! As most of you know, Super Bowl XLVI is this weekend and some of you may even be lucky enough to be heading to the Lucas Oil Stadium for some first person action. If so, Verizon has got you covered and has sponsored a Super Bowl XLVI app that will give you plenty of relevant info and even a little social media integration as well.

From 3D maps and guides to where to go for ecxiting nightlife, this app has everything a stadium attendee would need. Actually this can even be usefull for those who are just watching the big game from the comfort of their own couch! The social media within the app will allow you to get updates from NFL huddle and on-scene spectators.

Although this app is sponsored by Verizon it isn’t limited to just Verizon phones, anyone can download the app and it’s free. To get your free download hit the market link below, and for those of you who will be in Indy this weekend, shout out on the comments below!

Android Market

Via androidandme

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You all reading this are likely Android aficionados, and being such many of you likely own both an Android phone & Android tablet; I do, and I’m always looking for ways to make them a dynamic duo. Incidentally that’s how I came across this app, Tablet Remote. The goal of tablet remote is to allow you to send commands to your tablet from your phone, although it can really go both ways. You can send common input like “Back”, “Home”, “Menu” or “Search” as well as more special commands like “Play”, “Next” or “Previous.”  It also has a special input that I’ll get to in a moment.

I’ve been using this app to control my docked tablet playing music through my stereo speakers. It’s superb for that. I can see it being great for video playback as well when your tablet is tethered to the back of a TV through HDMI. It’s also great for Super Nintendo, which incidentally brings me to that special input. Turning your phone to landscape mode changes the controls to either an Xperia control layout or Super Nintendo layout. What’s more, a friend can pair with the tablet at the same time and play Nintendo with you as player two.

It’s a cinch to set up. Just install the app on all the devices you want to interact. On the receiver, simply check all the boxes in Setup. Then on all devices go to Connections and start pairing up over Bluetooth or WiFi. I just have to say I really love the dynamic UI in this app as well, you’ll see. Once you’re paired, go back to the main menu on your controlling device and hit Remote. That’s it, *hopefully.

*It seems not all Androids are created equal. Some of you may experience a “SDP” error. If you do, the app will likely still work, but may continue to toast, or momentarily print to screen, the error message. The only way to stop it is to force close the app. This should currently be under investigation by the developer, but hey you don’t need root and you don’t need money, so its worth a shot.

Now if you’ll excuse me, my friend and I are going to play some vintage video games, co-op style.

Screen Shots

FREE on Android Market

Via androidandme

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Congratulations to K. Zubek from Burbank on becoming the first winner of a brand new Samsung Galaxy S2 . ”This Site is unbelievably great.  I won the Samsung Galaxy S2 on my first try to become a  NeptuneMobile fan thinking it was going to be like any other day but it turned out I won! I was so happy I was jumping up and down screaming and my husband thought I was crazy. I’m so gonna keep playing this whenever I can. Thank you so much NeptuneMobile.”

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