Cell Bytes

Best Buy’s getting even more white phones and the Dell Streak soon, it seems. A new leak from AC shows that the Samsung Fascinate on Verizon and the Xperia X10 on AT&T will be getting makeovers for a re-release exclusively for Best Buy. For the Fascinate, the entire back of the phone will be white, while the front bezel of the Xperia X10 will be white as well (I can’t imagine that the back wouldn’t match up.) The Dell Streak isn’t getting that same makeover, but this will mark the first time it’s been available at a third-party retailer here in the states.

All of these phones will be available October 24th and Best Buy has already begun taking pre-orders for the devices. Throw $50 down and your name will be on the list for one of these in a week and a half.

Samsung’s been working around the clock trying to get the upgrade to Android 2.2 ready for their flagship line – the Samsung Galaxy S series of phones – and it looks like a release may be impending. Today, they’ve released the source code for the Samsung Galaxy S GT-i9000 (also known as the international Galaxy S.) This doesn’t mean an update is right around the corner – especially for those of us here in the states – but it does mean we’re damn close. I imagine the source for all of the other versions of the phone won’t be too far behind as they’re as similar as similar can be. We’re sure XDA and SDX folks have already gotten their hands on this so if you’re the rooting and ROM flashing type of user, then I’d keep close eye on those scenes from here on out.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Considered a Verizon response to AT&T’s HTC Aria, HTC Bee will come to Verizon, as it was recently confirmed by a leaked ROM. The picture below shows a press render of the smartphone, looking just like the blurry pictured published on a Russian blog recently. Pocketnow claims that this phone will rely on a QVGA display and it’ll run Android 2.2 Froyo.

A 528MHz CPU is also added in the mix, together with 384MB of RAM and a 5 megapixel camera with flash. Back to the leaked ROM, it actually mentioned that HTC Bee will be heading to Alltel Wireless, but since Alltel is part of Verizon, this pretty much explains the direction where the device is heading.

Amazon is continuing its streak of offering devices for the extremely low price of a single US cent, this time putting the Motorola Droid 2 up for sale at the price. For a measly 1/100 of a dollar and a new two-year contract the phone can be all yours. You will need to add the item to your cart to see the price, and it looks like you will also qualify for free shipping. That’s a savings of $199.98 from what you would pay through Verizon.

It kind of makes you want to hold off an initial smartphone purchase at launch knowing it may very well go up for a cent through Amazon. No clue how long the deal will last, so if you are thinking about it you may want to jump in quick.

Looks like we’re moving closer and closer toward a release of Android 2.2 for those of you Milestone owners in Europe. It’s been a lengthy, drawn out process, but Motorola’s finally making progress and it seems you guys will be getting a nice gift heading into the holiday seasons.

Hello. From next week we start user trials of the European Milestone upgrade to Froyo. Once these are complete, we will know what further work is required to optimise, before going into final testing and approval stage. As previously we plan to start rolling the update at the end of this year, but wanted to keep you updated. Thanks

This was after Motorola was unsure if they would even issue an upgrade to Android 2.2 for the device. I’m not so sure they would’ve received as much backlash as they did if they hadn’t quickly issued that same upgrade for the American counterpart – the Motorola Droid on Verizon.

Everything’s well for at least one group of you now, though. We’re still awaiting their decision on the Latin American Milestone, and we’re still waiting for users on their 1.5 devices to be stepped up to Android 2.1. Let’s get this ball rolling sooner rather than later, Moto.

[via Motorola Europe Facebook] [Thanks, Richy!]

We’re just hours away from Sony’s big Google TV unveiling where we expect they’ll announce four initial models with the platform embedded (ranging from 24 to 46-inch models.) Sony’s getting a little head start with developer sign-ups, however, as we’ve just learned that they’re accepting registrations for the developer portal now. There’s nothing to actually be had there at the time of this posting, but we suspect that’ll change before the day is over. If you’re a developer, go ahead and sign up now.

I’m sure our regulars have already heard by now: there was a porn button on the Galaxy Tab. The button’s label was actually a shortened version of the word “Pornire” which we understand is another way to say “Start” in Romanian, but the unfortunate truncation that led to our ridiculous report has been fixed up by Samsung. It’s now labeled “Acasa,” the proper term for “Home” in Romanian. What a short-lived story, but it was fun while it lasted. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[via Samsung Hub]

The Samsung Galaxy Tab just got rumored for a November 1st launch on Verizon, and now the user guide is in town to further get us thinking this thing isn’t far from release. The user guide doesn’t give us much new info on specific functionality of the device (though it seems to suggest more telephony capabilities than the Tab really carries), but it does give us an idea of what Verizon is loading into the device.

Despite some evidence to suggest Verizon might be going all-out Bing, Google Search is mentioned in the guide. Expect apps pre-loaded to include NFL Mobile, Slacker, Kindle, ThinkFree Office, VCast, and VZ Navigator. Head to the source link to see the full thing.

[via DroidLife]