Cell Bytes

Virgin Mobile in Canada’s just let a huge one leak out. Most of the phones in this particular leak aren’t Android based – and the one that we can see isn’t one of Samsung’s prettier offerings – but it looks like Virgin will be getting the Samsung Galaxy 5. It was originally said that the device would be coming November 12th, and this roadmap keeps it right on track. Remember the specs on this one? If not, listen up: a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen, Android 2.1, TouchWiz, a 600MHz processor, a two-megapixel camera with video recording, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, and more.

[via Mobile Syrup]

If the recent controversy surrounding the T-Mobile G2’s hackability (mainly due to T-Mobile’s questionable handling of the root-related situation) hasn’t already turned you away, then jump on this deal being offered by Amazon. If you’re a new customer with T-Mobile signing a two-year contract, you can grab the G2 for $99 including two-day shipping.

We normally see eligibility open up for those adding a line to their T-Mobile plans through Amazon, but that doesn’t seem to be the case this time around. Ah well, this is the best deal you’re going to get on the phone if you’ve been shopping around for a new carrier. Head on over there now to begin.

Virgin was quiet on the pricing and availability of their Samsung Intercept – which isn’t a Galaxy S phone, mind you – when they announced it, but today it’s enjoying a quiet release for the no-contract carrier. You can grab the device up for $249.99 exclusively at Target today, and at key retailers (Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc.) and Virgin Mobile’s website later on this month.

The Samsung Intercept has a 3.2-inch touchscreen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and all of the goods that come with Android 2.1. Head on over to our forums – AndroidForums.com – where some fans of the phone and the carrier are already discussing it at the Samsung Intercept section.

[Update]: And now for the press release.

Virgin Mobile Energizes Mobile Marketplace by Introducing Android Handset on a Nationwide, No-Contract Plan

Samsung Intercept Delivers Smartphone Luxuries
with Monthly Unlimited Plans

WARREN, N.J. – Oct. 4, 2010 – The line between prepaid and postpaid mobile offerings has become even more blurred as Virgin Mobile USA enters the Android™ smartphone market. Beginning today at Target stores nationwide, Virgin Mobile adds the Samsung Intercept™, running on the Android mobile operating system, to its affordable, no-contract lineup of handset and service offerings. The Intercept will roll out to other major retailers throughout the month and will be available for purchase at virginmobileusa.com by mid-October for $249.99.

“As smartphone users come up for contract renewal and examine their monthly costs, they will start to wonder why they are paying more each month when they can get similar services from Virgin Mobile at a fraction of the price,” said Bob Stohrer, vice president-Marketing, Virgin Mobile USA. “With the Samsung Intercept on Android, Virgin Mobile is leading its customers into new, eagerly awaited territory while expanding our potential customer base.”

The Android device gives Virgin Mobile customers full integration of social networking apps, Microsoft Outlook Exchange e-mail and advanced messaging capabilities. Users of the Samsung Intercept also have access to more than 80,000 applications currently available on the Android Market™, and can sign up for one of Virgin Mobile’s Beyond Talk™ plans which include e-mail, data and Web along with 300, 1200 or unlimited voices minutes per month and are perfect for the person always on the go.

In addition to a 3.2-inch touch-screen display, a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a 3.2 MP camera and video, the Samsung Intercept also comes preloaded with multiple applications, including such favorite social apps such as You Tube®, Facebook® and Google Talk™ as well as the Virgin Mobile Live app used to access Virgin Mobile’s branded music stream. Additional features include:

· Contact and calendar sync via ActiveSync

· Android Web browser

· Access to the Amazon® MP3 store

· Full integration of Google Apps™, such as Google Maps™, Google Talk, Gmail™ and Google Navigation™

· Document file viewer

· Portrait and landscape screen orientation

· Dedicated keys for quick access to social networking

· Numerous video and music file types supported

· Built-in music player

The Samsung Intercept, paired with Virgin Mobile’s no contract Beyond Talk service options at $25, $40 and $60 a month, offers one of the best smartphone values in the industry.

About Virgin Mobile USA
Virgin Mobile USA, one of Sprint’s prepaid brands, offers millions of customers control, flexibility and connectivity through Virgin Mobile’s Beyond Talk™ plans for mobile phone service and prepaid Broadband2Go high-speed Web access. Virgin Mobile branded handsets are available at more than 40,000 retail stores, including Best Buy, Radio Shack, Target and Walmart. Top-Up cards are available at approximately 150,000 locations nationwide and can be used for Broadband2Go services. Purchase and experience Virgin Mobile on the Web and at Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and www.virginmobileusa.com

LauncherPro is moving right along as Federico promised, and the most recent update (versioned 0.8.0.0) brings with it a host of bugfixes and a cool new feature for those who’ve purchased the Plus version. Federico’s calling it Dock Popups and it looks really cool just from looking at a screenshot of it. You can set up certain dock icons to present you with a popup window whenever you swipe up on it. For now, he’s only included two popups – unread SMS and missed calls (both of which will show the obvious information and allow you to act upon it there) – but has promised to deliver more soon (and we know he’s a man of his word.) Take a look below for the full list of changes before heading on to the Android market (or his website) to update.

For all users:

• Fixed force close issues when setting the homescreen grid rows/columns to 1.
• Fixed the problem where increasing grid size with auto-fit would make it hard to move items to the bottom right area of the grid.
• Changed folders to always open full-screen regardless of the grid size.

For Plus users only:

• Fixed a force close issue with the Friends widget.
• Fixed the Friends widget not being able to post comments to Facebook.
• Added an option for the Calendar widget to set the week to start on Monday instead of Sunday (after releasing the update, I found a glitch where busy days are marked wrong with this setting on, will be fixed later today in 0.8.0.1).
• New Feature: Dock Popups! A perfect complement for dock notifications and dock swipe actions, the new dock popups give you quick access to information without leaving LauncherPro. In this release I’ve included two popups: Missed Calls, and Unread SMS. More popups will come in future updates. To enable them, long-press on the desired dock icon, choose “Swipe gesture action”, then “Show Popup…” and choose the popup. Now when you swipe that icon up, you’ll get a popup showing you the selected information. Both of these popups mark all items as read/viewed when you open them, so they’ll automatically clear the dock notification bubble. You can click on an item (SMS or call) to open it in their respective apps.

The Samsung Intercept originally found its home with regional carrier US Cellular, but Virgin Mobile’s looking to get in on the action as well as they’ve just announced the Intercept to be their first Android handset. It’ll come with Android 2.1 on board being powered by an 800MHz processor, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, a full QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, and all of the other usuals. They don’t have any pricing or availability information to announce at this time, but you’ll know as soon as we know.

[via Virgin Facebook]

Here’s a funny story! Some time ago, Virgin Mobile snatched up a little wireless company called Helio, with hopes of using it to start a postpaid (on contract) cell service to complement its prepaid business. Then, Sprint, one of the largest postpaid carriers in the country, bought Virgin Mobile, effectively rendering Helio (subsumed into Virgin) pointless. And now, according to Virgin, Helio has an execution date: May 25th. Official statement, as passed to Crunchgear:

No customer will be automatically migrated to Sprint’s postpaid service. However, Sprint has created a special offer for our customers.

Current postpaid customers are being given $50 towards the purchase of a Sprint postpaid handset with a new two-year agreement. This credit is in addition to any applicable rebates that may apply. Postpaid customers moving from Virgin Mobile to Sprint will also receive $150 off of handsets as part of Sprint’s standing new customer offer. Activation fees will also be waived.