Sony's latest mid-ranger to sell​ for $489.99 unlocked

Hot on the heels of the Xperia Z, Sony's new mid-range offering, the Xperia SP, has also appeared for pre-order on the company's U.S.-based online store. The Xperia SP packs a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU with Adreno 320 GPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal storage and an 8-megapixel Exmor RS rear camera. On the front is a 720p Sony 'HD Reality Display.' Like its high-end siblings, the SP's internal storage is expandable via microSD card.

The Xperia SP also sports a unique aluminum-frames design and a large, illuminated transparent element under the screen.

Bizarrely, Sony's spec listing for the North American Xperia SP shows support for HSPA+ on 850, 900, 1900 and 2100MHz bands, as well as LTE bands I, II, IV and V. If those specs are accurate, they'd point to an incomplete set of frequencies for both AT&T and T-Mobile. On AT&T you'll get full HSPA+ coverage but no LTE; on T-Mo you're looking at LTE, but no 1700MHz HSPA+ support.

The unlocked U.S. Xperia SP variant (C5306) is due to begin shipping from May 20, priced at a not insubstantial $489.99.

Source: Sony Store; via: XperiaBlog

More: Hands-on with the Xperia SP

Top threads for first impressions of Samsung's new handset

Depending on where you live, you'll have been able to pick up Samsung's latest handset, the Galaxy S4, for up to two weeks now. As such, the Android Central forums are buzzing with discussion about what's sure to be one of the biggest-selling phones of the year. Whether you're just getting started with your S4, or you're looking to pick one up in the future, here's a selection of the top forum threads to check out --

• The Galaxy S4 screenshot thread - If you've got a cool wallpaper or widget setup, be sure to show it off in this thread.
• The Galaxy S4 bug thread - It's impossible to ship completely bug-free software, and so if you've noticed any software glitches on your S4, this is the place to discuss them.
• Galaxy S4 photography thread - The S4's 13-megapixel camera is among the best we've seen on a smartphone. Check out some awesome photos from forum members, and post your own!
• Galaxy S4 cases and covers thread - The place to discuss current and upcoming cases for the Galaxy S4 (also be sure to check out GS4 cases on ShopAndroid.com.)
• Galaxy S4 better than the HTC One? - This question isn't going to be resolved anytime soon, but the GS4 forum denizens are offering their thoughts in this thread.
• Verizon Galaxy S4 pre-order/waiting thread - The GS4 isn't available on Big Red just yet, but there's a thread full of Verizon pre-order discussion here to see you through to launch.

More: Galaxy S4 forums

AOL and Verizon bringing a new Internet portal to Verizon customers' phones and tablets this summer

America OnLine has announced that a new partnership with Verizon Wireless will allow them to bring the complete AOL.com portal to Android, Windows, and BlackBerry smart phones and tablets. They say they will be the "exclusive provider of the VZW Home mobile web portal." We're not exactly sure what that means, but they go on to say:

Beginning this summer, existing and new Verizon Wireless customers will have the AOL portal bookmarked on their smart phones and tablets’ web browsers. The multi-device experience will feature the recently refreshed AOL homepage -- with breaking news, weather and maps -- as well as live streaming events and popular videos. Personalization features will allow users to customize news sources, categories and other tools to their needs.

So it appears that a bookmark will be added to the device's default browser, leading users to an AOL page that provides curated news and events for Verizon subscribers. We're pretty sure you'll just be able to delete the bookmark should you feel the need, so we can't rail on them too hard. Look for your new portal to the Internet this summer.

At least it's not Bing.

Source: Business Wire

Track your exercise, set goals and monitor your sleep schedule with one device

Fitbit's latest health and fitness product, the Flex, is finally shipping following its debut at CES back in January of this year. The Flex makes an important improvement over previous products by including Bluetooth 4.0, which lets the device stay constantly connected to your smart phone without drastically draining its battery. The Bluetooth 4.0 functionality is compatible with "select" devices -- Fitbit calls out the Galaxy S3 and Note 2 -- but in reality should work with any modern phone that has the standard implemented. The Flex also implements NFC, so you can simply tap your phone to it to launch the Fitbit app and read your stats right away.

Just like previous Fitbits, the Flex tracks your activity throughout the day, including your steps, distance traveled, calories burned and now "active minutes" of moderate-intensity cardio as well. Because of its improved battery life, Fitbit notes it is also a great companion for tracking your sleep. The Flex is available directly from Fitbit for $99.95 in either black or "slate" (which is actually more of a turqoise color) at the second source link below.

Source: Fitbit (BusinessWire); (2)

One of the biggest names in processors and radios adds a legend in the mobile industry to the board

After a relatively quiet period following his departure from HP in early 2012, Jon Rubinstein is back in the news as he joins the board of directors at mobile chip maker Qualcomm. Rubinstein is well regarded as one of the few people that drove the creation of modern mobile devices, likely being most famous for his years at Palm as an executive chairman and later chief executive. He also saw Palm make the difficult turn downwards and eventual sale to HP, which he ended up staying at for a short amount of time as lead of the "Personal Systems" division. Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm, had this to say:

"His experience in creating revolutionary consumer electronics and mobile products will provide added insight to Qualcomm's board as we continue to expand the scope and impact of wireless products and technology, improving and enhancing people's lives around the world."

Any company in this industry would be ecstatic to have a mind like Rubinstein at the table, and it will be interesting to see how he can possibly give insight into Qualcomm's business going forward. While Rubinstein may not be known for development of processors and radios, it's hard to overstate the amount of knowledge he has of mobile as a whole.

4.2 million of those devices added in Q1 2013 alone

BlueStacks, which makes software that lets users run Android apps on their desktops, laptops and Windows tablets, has reached the 10 million user mark in just over a year. Possibly even more impressive is that 4.2 million of those users started using the software in just Q1 of this year. CEO of BlueStacks Rosen Sharma also notes that active usage has increased exponentially, which in many ways is a more important metric to determining success of a product. BlueStacks is now being used in over 100 countries, due in part to the fact that it is now pre-installed on many manufacturer's devices.

Sharma went on to give much of the credit for the recent increase in users to the explosion in mobile gaming development, which is one of the most popular area of downloads. Many of the popular mobile titles transfer well to larger screens, and BlueStacks is hoping to capitalize on the increased demand for cross-platform app support.

Source: BlueStacks (PRWeb)

I have, on occasion, been accused of being somewhat of a pack rat. Seeing as how it's springtime, perhaps a little cleaning is in order. So each day this week we're going to give away something that I've got laying around. Today, we'll start with four Nexus 4 bumpers. 

To win, just drop a comment here on this post. We'll shut it down at midnight Eastern tonight and announce the winners later this week. Good luck!

There's a fine line between a quality, low-cost tablet and an underpowered, low-resolution tablet that happens to run Android and also doesn't cost all that much money. And that line, we've discovered, is about $50.

It's not often that we pick up a new device -- and quickly want to put it down again. A phone or tablet might not be the cream of the crop, but we try to find some good in it. Some reason to buy. But with the top-of-the-line hardware hitting a bit of a plateau over the last year or so, and with prices continuing to drop, we've raised our minimums. There's less room for low end these days, plain and simple.

That brings us to the 7-inch ASUS MeMO Pad Android tablet.

AT&T has announced that will sell the 32-gigabyte version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 starting May 10. It'll run $249 on contract, compared to the $199 currently charged for the 16GB model.

On-board storage has been a hot-button issue for the Galaxy S4, which until now has only been available in a 16GB configuration -- with only about 9 gigabytes of storage actually available to the user. The 32GB model should ease GS4 buyers' storage concerns, and of course it's also expandable via microSD card, just like the 16GB version.

AT&T is the first outlet we're aware of to launch a 32GB Galaxy S4. No other U.S. carriers are offering the more capacious variant, and right now the only international models available ship with 16GB of storage. Have you been waiting on the 32GB Galaxy S4, or have you already dropped some cash on a 16GB model? Shout out in the comments and let us know.

More: Galaxy S4 review, Galaxy S4 forums