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With the Captivate and the Vibrant barely a month old, and the Fascinate and Epic 4G just around the corner, selling one million phones is a pretty impressive feat for Samsung with only half of the available models being out. In other words, this is just the beginning. Of course these numbers don’t include international sales. Samsung is really trying to dominate the worldwide Android hardware market and they’re making quite a dent in HTC.

SAMSUNG MOBILE SHIPS ONE MILLION GALAXY S DEVICES IN THE U.S. MARKET

Android 2.1-powered smart phones available at AT&T and T-Mobile and coming soon to Sprint, Verizon, U.S. Cellular and Cellular South

DALLAS, August 30, 2010 —Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile)¹, the  No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S., today announced that it has shipped one million of its Android™ 2.1-powered Galaxy S devices in the U.S. market. Samsung Mobile began shipping the Galaxy S portfolio² on July 15, which are currently available with AT&T and T-Mobile.  Galaxy S devices will also be available with Sprint on August 31 and will be available with Verizon Wireless, U.S. Cellular and Cellular South this fall.

Samsung Mobile has packed cutting-edge technology into its Galaxy S portfolio, including features such as a stunning 4-inch Super AMOLED display screen, 1GHz Hummingbird Application Processor and a multitude of entertainment, messaging and social networking capabilities. In addition, all Samsung Galaxy S devices will be upgradable to Android 2.2 in the future.

“Bringing Galaxy S devices to multiple carriers has given Samsung Mobile the opportunity to reach millions of consumers,” said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Mobile. “I am proud of the instant success of the Galaxy S line up and I am very pleased to announce that because of the support of our carrier partners and loyal customers, we have shipped one million Galaxy S devices in the U.S. market. Samsung Mobile looks forward to sharing additional Galaxy S milestones in the future.”

The roll out of Samsung’s Galaxy S portfolio has been supported by a multi-tiered print, online, cinema and television advertising campaign, including major networks such as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN and MTV and in cinemas such as AMC, Cinemark and Regal. Samsung Galaxy S was also a sponsor of X Games 16, which was held in downtown Los Angeles from July 29 to August 1. From September 30 to October 3, the Samsung Galaxy S lineup will be showcased at the World Cyber Games Grand Final in Los Angeles.

In addition, Samsung Mobile has executed a comprehensive Galaxy S social media campaign, which included a Facebook promotion and daily content sharing on Samsung Mobile’s social media channels, which include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube™. As additional Galaxy S devices become available, Samsung Mobile will continue to distribute key digital and video assets to sustain awareness of the Galaxy S.

We knew it was coming, and now it’s official. Today AT&T and Sony Ericsson officially announced the Xperia X10. Available now for pre-order and out on August 15th. Running you only $149 from AT&T or $129 from Sony. Still packing features that compete against the top Android phones of today, a 1Ghz SnapDragon processor, 8MP camera and a 4 inch touchscreen. Android 1.6 being the only downside of the latest offering in AT&T’s Android stable. But 2.1 is being promised by the end of the year.

AT&T and Sony Ericsson Announce the Xperia™ X10

Smart meets entertaining – Sony Ericsson’s flagship Android smartphone offers an open and integrated world of communication, entertainment and social media

DALLAS and ATLANTA, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — AT&T* and Sony Ericsson today announced a dynamic multimedia experience with the Android™ based Xperia™ X10, available August 15. The Xperia™ X10 introduces Sony Ericsson’s unique and entertainment-driven Xperia™ platform to U.S. customers in a cutting-edge, beautiful and fun package.

The Xperia™ X10 comes fully loaded with a 4-inch crystal clear touch display, superfast 1GHz Snapdragon processor and a GPS. The smartphone also features an 8.1 megapixel camera with smile detection, face recognition, autofocus and LED flash. The device comes with 8 GB of on-board memory and a 2 GB in-box memory card, with expandable memory up to 32 GB.

Sony Ericsson’s custom user experience is great for the intersection of communications and entertainment. Two signature applications, Mediascape and Timescape™, build on the Android platform to enhance the experience for users.

• Mediascape on the Xperia ™ X10 gathers music, photos, videos and content from your phone’s memory card and online, letting you browse, search, listen and share your media from one unified view. For example, view photos taken on the device as well as your Facebook® and Picasa™ web albums. Or, when listening to a favorite song on your phone, press Sony Ericsson’s infinite button to access related content about the artist pulled from the phone’s memory as well as albums, songs and video content from YouTube™ and search results from Google.
• Timescape™ is a unique communication application that automatically organizes social interactions in chronological order, leaving users free to concentrate on keeping in touch on-the-go. From Facebook® and Twitter® updates to photos, emails and text messages, a scrolling menu offers easy viewing and organization of all communications. Additionally, tap the Timescape™ infinite button to bring up and view all communications from a single person in a single place.
  “Sony Ericsson has created a unique choice for our smartphone customers looking for a fun and smart device,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, Mobile Phone Portfolio, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.

“Sony Ericsson is raising the bar for entertainment-rich phones with the launch of the Xperia ™ X10,” said Paul Hamnett, senior vice president, Sony Ericsson North America. “With the convergence of our user experience platform and the Android OS, we are bringing consumers a smartphone experience that is not only exciting, but also very refined. Following the successful global launch of the Xperia™ X10, we are pleased to partner with AT&T to launch this phone in the U.S. market.”

Pricing and Availability

The Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 smartphone will be available in black at AT&T stores, authorized retailers and www.wireless.att.com on August 15 for $149.99 after a two-year service agreement and minimum smartphone data plan.

TweetDeck just announced they have been developing TweetDeck for Android and are nearing completion. A Beta program should be available as soon as this week. The best part about it, is that it’s not just a simple port from the iPhone or iPad version. They completely rebuilt it from the ground up, and that the Android version is what the iPhone and iPad versions will soon turn into.

So if you came from an iPhone, or you love the desktop version, or maybe just shopping for a new Twitter client for your Android, be sure to check out the Beta when it comes out.

[TweetDeck via Android Community]

According to a recent report by NPD Group, Android is outselling both Apple and RIM in terms of handsets sold. Clocking in at 33%, Android has toppled RIM’s top spot, which they’ve held for the past 3 years. And the top five phones, all from Verizon and Sprint: Motorola DROID, HTC DROID Incredible, HTC EVO 4G, HTC Hero, and HTC DROID Eris. I’m surprised there’s no T-Mobile phones in there considering their long history with Android. But still the point is clear, Android is here to stay, and it won’t stop growing any time soon.

[via BGR]

If you haven’t been under a rock for the past 24 hours, you may have noticed there’s a new version of Facebook for Android available. And it’s gotten a little better. Adding a few features that were sorely missing, such as Events and Friend Requests, as well as a few tweaks, such as moving notifications to a draw on the bottom. And the addition of a rather odd “photo reel” feature. While it’s still not the same experience as the full website, it should be enough to keep you in touch and get your social media fix, right?

If you haven’t already, open the Market and upgrade from your phone, or scan the QR code below. Let us know how you like the update in the comments, and heck even shout out what you really want to see in the Facebook for Android application.

[via like every other mobile phone blog]

You may have noticed a text message from T-Mobile in the past couple of days about an OTA update coming to you soon. A few of us got excited that it might be Android 2.2 love, but alas, it’s just a minor update with a couple of improvements. All MyTouch Slide users should receive a notification on their phone to download and install the update soon. If you don’t get the update by August 19th, you may want to call customer service.

Improvements include:

1.  Battery Life:

• Updates to the T-Mobile online contact backup connection, which will improve battery life.

2.  Wi-Fi:

• Ability to send MMS messages when connected to Wi-Fi.

3.  Genius Button improvements:

• Ability to turn GPS on and off using your voice, such as “Turn GPS on.”
• Will announce Caller ID for incoming voice calls and allow you to “Answer” or “Ignore” using your voice.
• Will announce incoming text messages and allow you to “reply” with dictation.

4.  Faves Gallery improvements:

• The Faves icon will be displayed beside notifications that appear while the device is locked to indicate that the communication is coming from one of your Faves.
• Fave photo display speed will be enhanced.

General stability will be improved, including more seamless scrolling and consistent display of photos.

[via T-Mobile Forums]

When the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 came out, about 6 months ago, it was one of the highest spec’d Android phones available. With it’s 8.1MP camera, and 1Ghz SnapDragon processor as well as a 4 inch touchscreen, it still can hold its own with the flagship phones of today (Droid X and HTC EVO 4G). But there’s one little thing holding it back, and that’s the fact that it STILL runs Android 1.6 and that’s not suppose to change till later this year. But the good news for AT&T users, is that you should soon have yet another option in Android. Just passing AT&T’s technical review, it’s said to be available “in the coming weeks”, which could be sometime next month. We don’t want to know what AT&T is going to do to the phone meanwhile, but let’s hope they don’t chain it up too much. No other immediate info is available, but look for it around $200 on a new two year contract.

Is anyone still excited about this phone like they were at the beginning of 2010?

Good news for both Android developers and downstream users as well. Motorola has released the source code for the Verizon Droid X, and Samsung goes open source with the Captivate (AT&T’s Galaxy S).

And once programmers get a bite into the source code, look for hacks, fixes, customization and ROMs to come flooding out. Bravo to Motorola and Samsung for sticking with the Android spirit. (Despite Moto’s earlier comments about hacking your phone)

Developers, head over to here for the Captivate, and here for the Droid X.

[via BGR]

Announced via a blog post here, Sprint is patting themselves on the back for being the first wireless carrier to bring 2.2 to its customers. But of course that comes with a little footnote: “Users of Google’s Nexus One may currently use Android 2.2. Sprint is the first carrier to offer Android 2.2 to its customers.” Yeah, ok. Regardless, a big bravo to Sprint for getting this out with the quickness. Let’s hope all the updates go off without a hitch. Evo users, let us know when you start getting those updates!

The award-winning HTC EVO 4G just got that much better. We are excited to announce that beginning the week of Aug. 1; Sprint will begin rolling out the Android 2.2 upgrade to its HTC EVO 4G customers.

Sprint will be the first wireless carrier to bring the latest version of Android to its customers. The Android 2.2 software release provides a significant number of feature enhancements, including:

• Voice Dialing Over Bluetooth.
• Application Storage on External Memory, giving users more storage room for all their apps.
• Camera 4-way rotation allows the camera icons to rotate with the camera.
• Improved Browser Performance including a faster JavaScript engine and Flash 10x Support improving the user’s ability to view videos and available content associated with web pages.

“Sprint is thrilled with our customers’ response to HTC EVO 4G and the innovative and exciting experience it offers,” said Fared Adib, vice president – Product Development for Sprint. “It is exciting for us to lead the industry in bringing the Android 2.2 update to these customers and improve on the amazing experience they receive with America’s first 4G capable phone.”

Easy Downloading

Sprint will begin sending update notifications to users in waves beginning Tuesday, Aug. 3 and the upgrade should be available for all HTC EVO 4G users by the middle of August.

The notification will let the users know that the update is available and it will provide the simple two-step over-the-air download process.

1. Users will receive a notification that Android 2.2 is available for download.
2. Once the user has downloaded the update, they will be prompted to install the update. The user will be notified that their device will be disabled during the installation process. The phone will be ready to use once the process completes.

For those who just can’t wait to get Android 2.2, there will be an easy user initiated option to download the upgrade. Customers can access the software update through their HTC EVO 4G under the Settings Menu > System Updates > HTC Software Update. This will initiate the three-step process also.

What would seem like a case of vaporware on the scale of something like Duke Nukem Forever, the Android 2.1 Eclair update for the GSM version of the HTC Hero has suffered endless delays, empty promises and rumors. Orange just issued a statement saying they hope to begin rolling it out next week:

“We apologise for the delay in Orange Hero customers receiving their Éclair update. Testing the update across European markets took longer than anticipated. However, we hope to receive final approval by the end of the week and Orange handsets should start updating from next week.”

Does that mean we should still keep our fingers crossed? Let’s hope not.

[Orange via Phandroid]