Leaked T-Mobile Doc Shows Samsung Android Price Bumps Tomorrow

Some leaked T-Mobile screenshots shows that new smartphone prices are coming to the carrier tomorrow, with both higher and lower price points in store for its users. 

Motorola's Defy has a web-only discount bringing its price down to $50, but you'll pay $150 without that deal; after tomorrow, that brick-and-mortar price will itself go down to $100; we're not sure what effect that will have on the online promotion. Oddly, this figure isn't marked in bold to indicate a new price in these images, but reflects a change from what's currently advertised on T-Mobile's site. 

Samsung's Galaxy S 4G will see a price increase, going from $130 to $150. The Sidekick 4G is also becoming more expensive, ending up at $130 from the $100 at which T-Mobile currently sells the smartphone. If you were planning on picking up either of these two Samsung models in the immediate future, you might want to hustle out and snag one before the new rates go into effect; either that, or make your purchase through a T-Mobile retail partner like Amazon, which currently has the Sidekick 4G for as good as free on-contract. 

Adobe Releases Android Flash Player 10.3 Security Fix

Adobe has published a new build of Flash Player to the Android Market, closing a security hole it recently became aware of. 

Flash Player 10.3.185.23 for Android includes code to correct a cross-site scripting vulnerability that has the potential to be used to interact with websites on your behalf but without your permission. The chance of such an attack being targeted against smartphone users is remote, but there's no sense in exposing yourself further when a fix is already available. 

In addition to the scripting fix, this release also includes the fix from the recent 10.3.185.21 build, which could be used to crash Flash Player but hasn't been identified as being used in any successful attacks upon users. Again, installing the fix is more of a better-safe-than-sorry move; don't be too concerned if you forget for a bit. 

Sadly, there's still no progress on some of the existing, known bugs with specific Android devices in Flash Player 10.3. Maybe we'll just end up having to wait for Flash Player 10.4. 

AT&T LG Thrill 4G Finally Shows Up At FCC

The Thrill 4G on AT&T will be the first one of the first opportunities for smartphone users in the States to check out a handset with a no-glasses-required 3D screen. While Sharp's 3D models and the LG Optimus3D - the Thrill 4G without carrier branding - are already available, this AT&T launch will finally help (along with the HTC EVO 3D) get one of these devices out into the hands of smartphone users and give us an indication if the 3D screen fad will take off in the US. 

We've been keeping our eyes on FCC filings, to get an idea on the progress being made towards the Thrill's release, and first saw it appear in March as the original Optimus 3D. Then, in April, a similar model showed up, now with support for AT&T's 3G bands. Today, yet another variant on the smartphone saw its paperwork published, finally sporting the model number that identifies it as the Thrill 4G on AT&T. 

The first time the Optimus 3D was identified as LG model number P920. For its return in April, it became the LG P920H. While that model certainly could pass as the Thrill 4G on AT&T, it may instead be anOptimus 3D poised for release on the Canadian carriers. Today's smartphone is the LG P925, which we're able to confirm through AT&T's developer site as the number reserved for the Thrill 4G. 

Other than the model number change, this looks to be the same device we saw go through the FCC in April. Now that the Thrill 4G is done with this FCC formality, hopefully we'll be learning of a release date soon. We'd certainly expect to see the phone launch sometime before fall. 

HTC Sensation vs Samsung Galaxy S 2

We've been getting a lot of requests for a comparison between the Galaxy S 2 (review) and the HTC Sensation, and here it is! Both of these devices represent the cutting edge for smartphones: they have plenty of RAM, dual-core CPUs, special screens, and custom interfaces that are well designed. In terms of pricing and availability, the Sensation is coming to the US as the T-Mobile Sensation 4G and will sell for around $199, but right now you can import one for about $750. The Galaxy S 2 has yet to be announced for the US, but we think it's coming to AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon later this year; for now, you can buy one unlocked for $700 and it will work on AT&T.



Build quality on both is fantastic, but the Sensation feels higher quality thanks to its added weight. The Galaxy S 2 is significantly thinner than the Sensation, and the screen also seems better despite being lower resolution thanks to the insane contrast of Super AMOLED Plus. Both have front-facing cameras, but the Galaxy S 2 bumps the resolution to 2.0MP, while the Sensation comes in at just VGA resolution.

Both devices are quite powerful with 1.2GHz dual-core CPUs. In our benchmark tests, and in our web browser speeds tests, the Galaxy S 2 reigns superior.



In terms of specs, the Sensation is very similar to the Galaxy S 2, except that it has less RAM, a smaller battery, has a higher resolution screen, and is heavier.

HD Video Recording, 1080p, HTC Sensation Outdoors




HD Video Recording, 1080p, Samsung Galaxy S 2 Outdoors

T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide Cases Prove Revealing (Images)

We're expecting T-Mobile and HTC to launch the myTouch 4G Slide at an event tomorrow, but we have yet to get a good look at the device itself, save for some blurry partial shots. Well MT4GS still hasn't been fully exposed, but the pair of dummy unit-filled cases above finally give us a pretty good idea of how the entire handset will look -- minus the all-important keyboard, of course. 

Codenamed Doubleshot, this dual-core companion to last year's myTouch 4G (recently released in Canada as the HTC Panache) is expected to feature a 3.7-inch WVGA display, 768MB of RAM, and as its name implies, category 10 HSPA+ cellular broadband. The camera is supposedly an eight-megapixel job, and besides offering up dual flashes, the case photos almost make it look as if it's endowed with an optical zoom. Thoughts? All should be revealed tomorrow.