HTC has taken to Facebook to detail its plans for Android 4.0 parent in terms of updates on its recent lineup, with the Rezound, Vivid, Amaze 4G, EVO 3D, EVO Design 4G, Incredible S, Desire S, and Desire HD receiving updates to the new operating system during the year.

While HTC has been the most transparent in terms of timetables regarding future updates for its slate of Android devices, the manufacturer has been more reticent than usual owing to the sheer scale necessary to update its latest lineup as Android 4.0 is the most resource intensive version of Android in terms of memory and processor power necessary to handle its transitions and rendering requirements.

HTC has also pledged to reduce the total numbers of models it releases this year after it missed its 4th quarter projections following the announcement of its earnings earlier this week. HTC typically makes its profit by selling multiple versions of hardware around the world and modified to suit carriers, though it did cite the lower than expected sales of phones such as the Thunderbolt as a reason for the change in direction.

The change in release strategy may be a boon to the manufacturer, as less models means less money necessary to spend on marketing and promotion and less money spent on support, including R&D on future updates. While HTC did report a loss for the 4th quarter, the company expects to continue its growth targets while amending its projections based on the lower than expected earnings.

More details on Android ICS updates will be released for each phone that was confirmed earlier today in the coming months.

Today, Monorprice is offering a Micro High-definition Link (MHL) adapter cable, for compatible smartphones.

The cable enables MHL-enabled smartphones, tablets, and other devices to provide HDMI output, as well as charge the device directly, via the power supplied from the HDMI cable. It also facilitates CEC communications, so that a Television can directly control the host device.

There aren’t too many devices currently that support MHL, but they are rather popular devices. Here’s a list of most of them today: Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Samsung Galaxy S II, Samsung Infuse 4G, HTC EVO 3D, HTC Flyer, HTC EVO View 4G, and HTC Sensation. It is expected most devices from Samsung and HTC in the future will utilize MHL, so it may be a good idea to snatch one at this low price for your next smartphone or tablet.

If you have one of these devices, this cable is practically essential at the sub-$10 price-point. Typically, these cables sell from the manufacturer for between $40 and $60. Monoprice is notorious in the tech sector for providing devastating price-cuts on adapter cables. The store was one of the first to source mini-DisplayLink cables for Apple’s MacBook products, with much more affordable adapters, as well as one of the first cheap HDMI adapters for their products.

California residents should take note that Monoprice does charge sales tax, however, even with sales tax the price is still the lowest we’ve ever seen for such an adapter. Shipping is not free, but at around two dollars, not a major impact.

Micro High-definition Link (MHL) Adapter – Monoprice.com

Tired of all the CES news? We’re here to deliver some deals and non-CES news as well.

Sprint is selling the HTC Scribe pen for $39.99. For those that don’t know, the Scribe is HTC’s capacitive stylus for their tablet line. This includes the HTC Flyer, EVO View 4G on Sprint, and Jetstream on AT&T.

Sprint apparently is selling them off due to an over supply. The EVO View 4G, like most Flyer Wi-Fi units sold in the United States, lacked the Scribe. The Scribe was bundled with Jetstream and Flyer versions sold overseas.

The Scribe uses a single AAA battery, and offers buttons that allow for toggling different types of input. By being designed to communicate with HTC tablet displays, the Scribe has superior accuracy to third-party capacitive pens, such as ones used on other tablets.

Some report getting free shipping by calling in to Sprint, but shipping is $6.50 online. Even with shipping, it’s still cheaper than the standard retail prices, ranging from $50 to $60 for the pen. Sprint Retail Stores that we checked with are also varying in their willingness to price match. If Sprint.com won’t offer you free shipping when calling in, you may want to call your local Sprint Store and ask if they will price-match the pen.

You can also try in-store pickup with Best Buy, and price-matching to Sprint.com since that is national pricing, your mileage may vary there as well though.

Bottom line, the pricing for Scribes is now cheap enough that if you have taken advantage of near-$200 EVO View 4G no-contract pricing… you should get this pen. HTC gave us one, and it certainly makes for a better tablet experience.

Sprint Accessory Store Online

Editor’s Note: It is worth noting that HTC has listed the Scribe as discontinued. It appears HTC may be moving away from Scribe, or to a different stylus technology, for its next generation of tablets.

Over the past month, Verizon has been discounting LTE batteries. However, it was at times hard, and impossible to lock in the deal.

We initially reported the half-off battery pricing with the HTC Rezound in a previous article, but the discounts were giving users errors. Namely, if a user was logged into VerizonWireless.com, they often were charged the full price for the battery at checkout. Now, it appears all issues are fixed, and the discounts are showing up for all users.

It appears Verizon is discounting the cost of batteries on LTE smartphones as a tactic acknowledgement of the significant battery drain users are encountering. The discount also applies to extended batteries on phones that support them, such as the LG Revolution, Droid Bionic, and HTC Thunderbolt.

Customers have complained about the power drain from Verizon’s LTE network. The error is not on the part of Verizon, who was pressured by partner Vodafone to embrace LTE over rival standards. LTE is inherently going to drain more power as all other 4G standards do. Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA, or OFDM), the technology and practices that are shared nearly by all 4G standards in some form, demand high power consumption currently. Older standards such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) are able to achieve high speeds with higher latency, and slower real-world bandwidth rates.

At around $20 for an extended battery, the offer is something we have taken advantage of already in the office. LTE power consumption is a major issue, especially with features like Mobile Hotspot. I personally use a Droid Bionic and now have three batteries; two standard and one extended, with a desktop Motorola battery charger. The $45 cost for two additional batteries costs almost as much as the $39 battery charger (which oddly, Verizon does not sell on their online store).

Batteries alone however cannot help one phone; the Droid RAZR, which lacks a removable battery. Motorola is reportedly preparing an alternative Droid RAZR maxx model, continuing the RAZR maxx nameplate with a faster processor (matching Droid Bionic) and extended battery, with possibly an improved camera.

Just in time for the holidays, Sprint has rolled out the Android 3.2 Honeycomb upgrade that we first confirmed was on its way for the HTC EVO View 4G.

The upgrade is is well over a hundred megabytes, those on a capped 3G/4G data plan are urged to download this update over Wi-Fi. The update took around a half hour to install completely on our in-lab EVO View 4G.

Of note, the update will disable the menu, home, and back keys that were prominent along both sides of the EVO View. This is in stark contrast to devices like the Dell Streak 7, which maintain the keys after being upgraded. HTC confirmed to us that this was due to Google-certified devices requiring that they keys be disabled in Honeycomb. While the Streak 7 has Google’s suite of Android apps, it is not a “with Google” device, hence Dell was able to keep the soft keys enabled.

Nevertheless, the loss of soft keys is not something that we would suggest holding up from updating. The EVO View is a vastly better device post-upgrade, and we think it has changed the outlook for the device entirely. What was an overpowered Android 2.3 tablet is now a potent Honeycomb tablet, bearing a no-contract price point below $250.

In addition, Sprint’s release notes also note that the upgrade adds enhanced security protocols: Sprint Data Link and 3LM are now supported. In addition, bug fixes to Google Video Chat are included, and the upgrade also fixes a bug that prevented Bluetooth from functioning with Airplane Mode enabled.

If you were on the fence about a Sprint-powered tablet, the EVO View is now worthy of the title of flagship Sprint tablet. While it is unclear if the device will get Android 4, at this price point we consider it a worthy device, even if this is the last generational firmware upgrade the device receives.

Still, we wouldn’t count out an Android 4 upgrade. While HTC and Google are planning flagship tablets for 2012, the Flyer generation of tablets appears to have all the underpinnings needed to run Ice Cream Sandwich, and we certainly can see HTC green lighting an update to show its commitment to its first major tablet offering.

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled on ten claims of patent infringement by Apple. The patent claims center largely around HTC’s use of touch-based user interaction, stretching back to the release of the original HTC Touch, which rivaled the original iPhone.

Of the ten patent claims, HTC only was ruled to be found infringing on a single patent, centering around the use of actions after someone has touched and held on a specific piece of information. For example, selecting a person from a call list, touching and holding that, and getting options to then call the user.

For the HTC Sense-savvy, this is believed to be the Sense popups that appear after holding down on user fields or text boxes. For example, when holding down on a text box, options (cut, copy, paste, etc) appear in bubbles. This mimics iOS’s clipboard behavior. On the standard Android platform, the user interface instead draws a menu that requires further user interaction.

HTC has not said if they will appeal the decision, but has said they will remove the feature regardless before the deadline, set four months from now. Since Android allows for the same user interactions with pauses that appear to satisfy the ITC in this regard, it appears HTC has cleared the ITC complaint process relatively unscathed.

This does not, however, come close to ending the legal wars between Apple and HTC. The two are still locked in patent infringement claims in federal court, and Apple is continuing to pursue Android manufacturers globally for patent infringement.

The dogged pursuit of Apple’s patents was a mandate set forth by the late Steve Jobs, who gave public cues at the original iPhone’s introduction stating “… and boy have we patented it!” Jobs believes that pursuing Apple’s patents aggressively will help Apple avoid becoming the next Palm, who chose to keep a large patent portfolio, but rarely exercised it for claims of patent infringement.

In an odd twist of fate, Palm’s patent portfolio, now owned by HP, could be of use to Android device manufacturers in staving off Apple’s complaints. While HP has re-committed to webOS in a multi-year open source reinvestment, the company also has been rebuilding much of its resources to model itself after IBM; a corporate solutions parter for large companies.

HP could sell licenses to its treasure trove of Palm patents, which Apple has not licensed, for Android device manufacturers to leverage them as a deterrent against Apple and Microsoft. Microsoft is also pursuing Android manufacturers, convincing giants such as HTC and Samsung to sign patent royalty deals to prevent claims of patent infringement from the world’s largest operating system developer.

Many in the consumer world though cite these ongoing battles as a failure of the patent system in nearly every country; large companies will inevitably sign large patent settlements, and license patents for billions of dollars. Meanwhile, small innovative companies face two choices; risk being bankrupted by corporate giants over (baseless) patent infringement claims, or be acquired for pennies on the dollar by large corporations, preventing their own innovations from actually bearing fruit for the startups and inventors that built them.

Verizon has begun to roll out the latest update for the HTC Thunderbolt. The new update features several new bugfixes and small additions along with other changes as seen below:

• Resolved issue with contact ringtones.
• Improvements to notification volume.
• Updated local streaming playback mechanism when network connection is not available.

• Updated Twitter API for Peep/FriendStream.
• Clock app included in All App list.
• Improvements in Exchange ActiveSync.

Following up on our previous post regarding the EVO View 4G, the Android tablet is now available for $20 less than the previous lowest price for the tablet found last weekend during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales stretch.

While the tablet has yet to receive the long-awaited Android Honeycomb update that the Wi-Fi version began to receive earlier this week, the existence of the update for the Wi-Fi version leads to the possibility of an update for the Sprint version, though no immediate timeframe is available for such an update at this time.

The EVO View 4G is Sprint’s version of the HTC Flyer tablet with a 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, WiMax support and Android 2.3 with support for the optional HTC Scribe stylus as well as a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, 5.0 megapixel rear camera, Wi-Fi radio and microSD slot. The EVO View 4G can be used as a Wi-Fi only device, Sprint service is not required for activating the tablet.

HTC has finally confirmed and announced that it will begin releasing an Android 3.2 upgrade for the HTC Flyer, a long suspected upgrade that gave many users frustration.

The Flyer sits alongside the Dell Streak 7 as being powerful seven-inch tablets, which emerged alongside 10-inch tablets that ran on Android 3.0, aka Honeycomb. Unfortunately, Google confirmed after Android 3.0′s release that the platform lacked support for smaller-screens than a 10-inch, 1024×600 pixel display could allow for. Worse, Google violated open source licenses and outright refused to release the source code; preventing others from patching Android 3.0 to run properly on seven-inch tablets.

As we saw with the Dell Streak 7, upon the release of Android 3.2, support for these small-yet-powerful tablets finally came to fruition. However, while Dell committed early to the upgrade, HTC stayed relatively quiet. Today, HTC began pushing the Flyer upgrade to European 3G variants of the Flyer, and promised to release updates for the Wi-Fi variants globally. The update will be pushed over-the-air, and will not wipe user memory.

One device remains unconfirmed however, and that is the HTC EVO View 4G, the Sprint-exclusive WiMAX-and-CDMA relative of the Flyer 3G and Flyer Wi-Fi. As we saw with Dell, the T-Mobile HSPA+ variant of the Dell Streak 7 did not get upgraded to Android 3.2, and is stuck for life at Android 2.2, Froyo. Many are concerned that the HTC EVO View 4G may suffer a similar fate. Both the Sprint EVO View 4G and T-Mobile Dell Streak 7 suffer from somewhat lackluster sales, sparked by similar constraints; high device pricing.

While T-Mobile and Dell maintained strict pricing controls on the Dell Streak 7, Sprint and HTC have been a bit more forgiving, allowing wholesalers to dump overstock of the EVO View 4G onto the market for nearly at-cost pricing, as low as $239 in fire sales, and $289 in sustained sales pricing. Sprint has also rolled out a 1 GB Tablet Data Plan which we covered and took advantage of recently.

Google recently released the source code to all versions of Honeycomb, alongside the release of source code for Android 4, Ice Cream Sandwich. Honeycomb is significantly more in-line with Android 4 than Android 2 versions, as Android 4/ICS is built off of Honeycomb. For tablet owners, Honeycomb is a major improvement over Android 2.0, which was designed strictly for cell phones, and Android 3.0 was designed strictly for tablets. Android 4 unifies this experience, with one platform designed for both smartphone and tablet. Android 4 however does this as the cost of lower-end device support; Android 4 requires much of the hardware that tablets, and powerful smartphones share, and generally will not perform properly on low-end devices without both custom designs, and major reengineering.

We walk through a loophole in Sprint’s current system, and tap into some of their commitments that they’ve conveyed to the FCC. The result? We whittle Sprint’s $20/month plan down to a little under $8/month.

If you’re in the market for an Android tablet, this is the article for you. We’ll show you how to get a Sprint tablet for the same price as Wi-Fi tablets, and net a 1 GB/month plan for around $8/month.

Essentially, the loophole is that Sprint allows users to swap between phone and tablet. By maximizing the subsidy on a high-profile device (say, an iPhone 4S), you can then use that subsidy to cover the cost of service on a tablet plan. With tablet prices on Sprint at same-as-Wi-Fi device pricing, sometimes even less, you can get a backup data plan for as low as around $8/month.

Without further ado, here are the steps.

Step 1: Buy a Sprint Tablet without contract. Reagan Wireless is still selling HTC EVO 4G units for $329 without contract, and Galaxy Tab units can be found on eBay for around $200. For maximum effect, wait for the tablet to arrive before going to the next step.

Step 2: Waltz (or just walk) into a Sprint Store, and buy an iPhone 4S (or any other highly-subsidized smartphone). Optionally, sign up in a Sprint Store with a credit union or a AAA membership to waive activation, plus save 10% per month. You can even ask the Sprint Store to not open the device… they’ll typically be happy not to spend the time setting it up.

Step 3: Call customer service (888-211-4727) from another phone. Tell them you want to change devices. Give them the MEID/ESN off the tablet. You can do this within hours of activating your smartphone.

Step 4: Be prepared for customer service to say “Hey, this isn’t a phone!”

Step 5: Tell them you understand, and the you want to change to a tablet. This is allowed, as Sprint tablets are non-voice phones. Sprint has said they will be releasing tablets that support CDMA voice calling in the near future.

In case you’re thinking we are exploiting a loophole that Sprint will close immediately, we doubt it. Sprint’s Right Plan Promise, backed by their testimony to the FCC, states that they allow people to change to the plan that is right for them. Since Sprint believes tablets are cell phones, we would think it would be quite hypocritical, and possibly backtracking on their testimony, to stop phone-to-tablet conversions.

Step 6: Select the $19.99/month plan (or any tablet plan, but you get the most savings from that plan), and finish activating the device.

Step 7: Sell the (now-deactivated) iPhone 4S on eBay or Craigslist. Put the profit in a savings account.

What we’re doing here is arbitraging Sprint, taking the subsidy from the iPhone and using that to pay for the cheap $19.99/month data plan. With Sprint iPhone 4S still selling for near the same price as unlocked iPhone 4S devices, you can cash out enough money to clobber that $20/month data plan well below $10/month.

At that price-point, we think many will want to opt for a Sprint tablet as opposed to a Wi-Fi-only tablet. We’ve certainly been in a few situations where we wished our tablets had shipped with a free 3G/4G radio…

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