The HTC Thunderbolt has had a rough patch when it comes to Gingerbread.  Combine lots of rumors, even more leaks, and a pretty poor OTA that ended up getting yanked back and you'll have a mix that's bound to have Android power users up in arms.  We're not going to judge anyone here, heck we can't judge  -- releasing software isn't easy.  Verizon and HTC want you to be happy, because they want you to be a return customer.  To quote a great philosopher, "Shit Happens".

Hopefully, the happenings have finished, and according to the official @HTC Twitter account, the powers that be "anticipate the update being available soon."  By most accounts, the previous build of Gingerbread was about 90 percent, and the few bugs remaining have hopefully been squashed.  We've got Phil's battle-scarred Thunderbolt primed and ready, and as soon as we catch wind of any updates you'll be the first to know.

Source: @HTC; More: HTC Thunderbolt forums

Thanks, Ryan!

Samsung has released the kernel (and other GPL software) sources for the SGH-T989, otherwise known as the T-Mobile Galaxy S II.  As usual, this one's not for the layman or even the average Android hacker to fool with, but to developers it's like gold.  Having the kernel source will allow the Galaxy S II to get rooted, and then all sorts of goodness can happen -- and we can hardly wait.  Nice to see Samsung keeping on track and being quick with their code releases.  Hopefully, other OEM's can take a page from their book.  If you're the type who needs a bit of T989 kernel source, hit the link and grab it.

Source: Samsung

Samsung has announced that it's sold 30 million Galaxy S phones worldwide since the series launched last April. At least a third of that number consists of sales of Samsung's latest and greatest dual-core smartphone, the Galaxy S II. As we reported last month, sales of that device now top 10 million worldwide.

With the Galaxy S II now available on three of the four major US carriers, that number's only going to increase in the months ahead. Samsung notes that the current figures show one Galaxy S II being sold every second since the device's international launch this Spring, which is pretty crazy.

More big numbers and superlatives can be found in today's full press release, after the jump.

In short order, Googlers will be on stage announcing Ice Cream Sandwich.  The next version of Android, it's been touted as "the one" that will merge the tablet operating system (Honeycomb) with the phone operating system (Gingerbread), as well as bring "incredible" things according to Larry Page.  We figure a lot of these incredible things will be under the hood, and they should be -- Android still needs some work in key areas, but as users, we're excited about one thing -- the new user interface.

Honeycomb does a lot of things right, and we would love to see some of those things kept and ported over to phones.  Everyone has their own list, but we're going to share ours.  Read on past the break!

Ice Cream Sandwich forums | Nexus Prime forums | rumored device forums

It's a story we're hearing all too often these days. An update comes down for a phone, and the phone starts acting up. Such is the case, apparently, for a number of Sprint Motorola Photon 4G users, who are reporting such problems as overheating to failed updates. It's not everybody, of course, but it's enough to raise eyebrows.

So what's the word? Yay or nay on update issues?

Source: Sprint forums; Photon 4G forums

And in this corner of the LG U.S. National Texting Championship we have the brand-new LG DoublePlay on T-Mobile. Just announced, the Android 2.3 device features a 3.5-inch main display and 2-inch sub-display that splits the four-row QWERTY keyboard. While secondary screens have yet to really take off (hi, Kyrocera Echo and Samsung Continuum), this one's different as it's got a layer of functionality the others lacked with the keyboard.

The DoublePlay, which is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, also has a 5MP camera and is the phone contestants will use at the National Texting Championship on Oct. 26 in New York. No word yet on when us mere mortals can pick one up.

Source: T-Mobile

We've seen some inspiring Lego stands people have made for their smartphones.  Legos are affordable, accessible, and fun as hell to play with (admit it) so they are the perfect building materials for all sorts of projects.  This one, for the Sprint Epic 4G Touch, from AC member mlsanders83 takes the cake though.  It's simple. unobtrusive, and looks like a little tiny Android geek working on a giant sized Super AMOLED plus screen.  When asked what Lego kit was used ('cause who wouldn't want to make one of these) mlsanders83 said it was "some combination of a boat and a plane mostly. I'm sure there were some other parts thrown in there too though."  Hit the break to see a couple more pics, and if you'll excuse me, I have some Legos to go buy.

Source: Android Central forums

Thanks, mlsanders83!

A bit of new kit from Motorola is available today in the United States. First up is the Motorola Atrix 2. That's the obvious ssequel to the original Atrix 4G (read our full review). It's been nipped, it's been tucked, it's a bit faster, and it's probably got Atrix fans who bought the first version in February a bit riled up. Oh, and it's available for $99 on contract.

Then there's the Motorola Xoom Family Edition. It's a lot (if not exactly) like the original Xoom. Same 10.1-inch display, NVIDIA Tegra 2 internals, 5MP camera. And it's got a slew of apps preloaded, included, including the kid-friendly Zoodles, Quickoffice, Asphalt 6 and SIM City Deluxe. It's going for an entirely reasonable $379 at Best Buy.

More: Atrix 2 at AT&T; Xoom Family Edition at Best Buy

Two of Sony Ericsson's more interesting devices have just made their way onto Three UK at subsidized prices. The Xperia Arc S and SE Live with Walkman are now available for free on any of Three's standard 24-month contracts.

The Arc S, SE's new flagship device, can be yours for £28 per month, while the Live with Walkman is offered for a more frugal £18 per month. With its shiny new 1.4 GHz CPU, the Arc S gives a modest boost from the original Arc's 1 GHz chip, and boasts new functionality like 3D panoramic recording. The SE Live with Walkman, which represents the manufacturer's current budget offering, is offered free on contracts of £18 or more per month.

We'll have a review of the Arc S appearing in the next week or so, so keep wathcing. In the meantime you can check out our first impressions of the Arc S and Live with Walkman from last month's Xperia Party.

Source: Three UK