AT&T isn't waiting for daylight to start announcing new Android phones, they have busted out a handful, one of which is the Motorola Atrix 2.  It looks like a decent refresh of the original Atrix, with a new body design, faster HSPA+ modem (it supports speeds up to 21Mbps), and ships with  Android 2.3.  We don't have the full specs or parts list, so we don't know if other internals have been changed or not -- though rumors abound as always. 

Specs are as follows:

• UMTS 850/1900/2100
• GSM 850/900/1800/1900
• 4G HSPA+ 21 Mbps (Category 14)
• 1GHz dual-core processor
• Internal memory: 8GB ROM, 1GB RAM, 2GB microSD card (expandable to 32GB)
• Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
• 4.3-inch qHD screen 960x540 TFT, with more than  500,000 pixels for sharper, clearer display
• 8MP camera and LED flash with faster viewfinder start-up and shutter speeds than a digital camera
• Front-facing camera
• 1080p HD video capture, 30 frames per second playback
• On Device Encryption (ODE) and Enhanced Exchange ActiveSync® (EAS)
• IPsec VPN
• Lapdock 100 Accessory

We've got the full press release after the break.

Here we have it, folks, the HTC Amaze 4G on T-Mobile. Maybe it's amazing because of the gorgeous qHD Super LCD display. Maybe it's amazing because it just feels good in your hand. Maybe it's amazing because of T-Mobile's 42 Mbps network. Maybe it's amazing for the 1.5GHz dual-core processor pushing the latest version of HTC Sense. Or maybe it's amazing because HTC finally has begun paying attention to camera quality.

These all are things we'll be testing out over the coming days and weeks. But our initial impressions are pretty good. It's fast. It's sleek. It's not the most svelte phone available today, but we're betting all those superlatives above will make up for it.

Hit the break for our initial hands-on video and some more pics.

Amaze 4G Specs | Amaze 4G Forums

If you are on T-Mobile and have been anxiously awaiting the day to arrive for you to be able to place your order for the Samsung Galaxy S II, you're in luck. The Samsung Galaxy S II is now available for your pre-ordering pleasure, and if you are on the fence be sure to check out this hands-on to help steer you in the right direction. For those with an upgrade, or signing a new two year deal the device will be $279 out the door and a $50 mail in rebate, or if you have to go the full retail route it will run you $529. 

Source: T-Mobile

Another day, another Xperia Play exclusive. This time it's the popular iOS game Sleepy Jack that's coming to Sony Ericsson's PlayStation-certified device before any other Androids. Sleepy Jack is a 3D flying game where players must guide Jack through a series of dream worlds, collecting Zs as they go. We had a chance to try out a pre-release version of the game on Xperia Play last month and were really impressed with the level of polish and overall smoothness of the game.

Xperia Play owners can also get Sleepy Jack at a reduced price -- just £0.99 (~$1.55) -- for a "very limited" time. There's no word on how long it'll be before other Android devices are able to play Sleepy Jack, but in the meantime Xperia Play owners can find the Market link and QR code after the jump.

Verizon this morning announced its first 4G LTE-capable smartphone with a slide-out keyboard -- the Samsung Stratosphere. It'll be available Oct. 13 for $149 after two-year contract and a $50 rebate.

It's got a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, powered by a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor. It's all running Android 2.3, with a wealth of business features, including Exchange Active Sync, Cisco AnyConnect, encryption services and Sybase Afaria for IT device management.

It's got a 5MP camera on the back, capable of shooting video up to 720p, and a 1.3MP shooter up front. And it'll serve as a mobile hotspot for as many as eight devices over 4G, and five over 3G.

Full presser's after the break.

Samsung Stratosphere forum | Samsung Stratosphere specs | Stratosphere gallery

We teased the Breaksclusive™ last week from the CyanogenMod panel at the Big Android BBQ (check out the video if you haven't already), and today CyangenMod 7.1 has been released. The changelog is pretty massive, of course, with fixes and tweaks galore. But chief among them is that you'll be first on your block to be rockin' Android 2.3.7.

The CM team also notes that it's added support for more than two dozen more devices since CM 7.1. And currently in beta status are builds for the HTC Pyramid (Sensation), Doubleshot (myTouch 4G Slide), HTC Shooter (EVO 3D), HP TouchPad and the LG Optimus 3D. So if you've yet to give CM a whirl, you're running out of excuses.

Source: CyangenMod blog

Send me a picture of a fan's render of an unannounced phone, and you're likely to get a snide reply that, no, it's not news, not official, and we should all take a breath. What you see above is but one reason why. The news of the postponement of Samsung and Google's Nexus/Ice Cream Sandwich announcement this week at CTIA in San Diego (we're here, by the way, and the weather's marvelous) apparently has become mainstream news, garnering mention on CBS on Sunday night.

That's not a bad good thing, actually. It's nice to see a little mainstream attention. But what we really don't want to see is a fan render being used as if it's real, on national TV. And make no mistake, that's what you see above, and we should expect better from CBS News. The side view is extrapolated -- as in partially real, partially Photoshopped -- from Samsung's teaser video. And the front view is imagined from the ICS leaks. It's likely accurate enough because we're all expecting a big black slab, after all, but it's not "real," nor is it official.

And fan renders can be fun -- and they can be done really well. But they're just that. Renders. That a mainstream news organization ran one like it's official ... well, that just shouldn't happen. Like we said. This'll happen soon enough, and in due time, and we'll blow it out of the water when it does. But running fake images isn't helping matters any.

Source: Nexus Prime forums; Thanks, sushiglobster!

The Samsung Captivate has a new Gingerbread build in the works, and as evidence the UCKJ1 build has been leaked for your flashing delight.  While everyone is extolling the virtues of  AT&T's Galaxy S II, this is great news for folks who are still on that two-year contract they signed about 16 months ago and want to get everything they can out of the OG Galaxy S.  Of course, with a new build comes new custom ROMs as well, so hackers can be happy as well.  The original Galaxy S phones are no slouch with the right software, so this is welcome news!

More in the Captivate forums

Qualcomm has released the whitepaper for their upcoming S4 SoC (system on a chip), and it's features look great.  The new 28nm process technology promises "inherent advantages in frequency scaling, power consumption and size reduction", and the Krait CPU and Adreno 225 GPU should offer some serious performance, clocked between 1.5Ghz and 2.5Ghz, with a 50 percent graphics boost over the current Adreno 220 GPU.  The new 28nm manufacturing process means that not only will the be faster, but they will be smaller and run cooler as well -- allowing things to get thinner and thinner in our smartphones.  The new S4 is still an asynchronous design, which carries it's own benefits in the battery use department.

To go with the bump in performance, Qualcomm also tells us that the new SoC will have embedded support for just about every radio we want and need in our phones -- GSM, CDMA, LTE, GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, FM and NFC.  Having support for everything on one chip means two things -- cheaper production costs, and less room needed to pack all the features into your smartphone.  Both are something we all can appreciate.  The only real question left to answer, is when we will see these make their way into our devices.  Hit the source link for the whitepaper download.

Source: Qualcomm

We know that the Motorola Admiral isn't going to appeal to everyone.  People who want a 4-inch plus screen or a razor thin slab (or both) probably won't look twice at it.  But hey -- there are plenty of those out and more are coming.  This one is for people who need a business oriented device that's tough as nails, and built for communication.  The mil-spec Admiral delivers in the specs department with Android 2.3, a 3.1-inch display, QWERTY keyboard, an 1860mAh battery, 5MP camera and a 1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor.  And it chirps -- it's the first full CDMA device featuring Sprint's CDMA direct connect, which may just bring a tear of joy to more than a few eyes.  May IDEN rest in peace.  Besides what we already knew from video that Sprint accidentally posted a while ago, we also get to see a great shot of the profile and it's wedge shaped design.  One more pic is after the break.

Source: Engadget