Samsung Galaxy M Pro Available For Pre-Order In The UK

Samsung's latest Android smartphone ‘Galaxy M Pro' is now available for pre-order in the UK via TheOrder. The handset retails for 339.49 GBP (about $529) unlocked/SIM-free. Coming in a candybar form factor, the Galaxy M Pro sports a 2.66-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen display, a 1GHz processor, a microSD card slot, a full QWERTY keyboard, a VGA front-facing camera, a 5MP rear-facing camera, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, 5.76 Mbps HSUPA, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, a 1350mAh battery and runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS. [Product Page]

AT&T and Verizon testing 4G LTE Nokia Lumia 800

Word on the street is that AT&T and Verizon are both testing out a 4G LTE version of the Nokia Lumia 800 for their  future respective roster. We first saw this device back at Nokia World in London and it is already available throughout Europe. The device is expected to hit the US early 2012, most likely at CES 2012 in early Janurary.

We still aren't quite sure exactly when Windows Phone devices will be ready to handle dual-core processors and LTE since there is no release date on Tango, the next update for Windows Phones. Verizon lacks a Windows Phone device in its lineup since it is waiting for an LTE  WP7 device indefinitely. AT&T has a nice selection of Windows Phone 7 currently available, but the Nokia Lumia 800 will likely be the flagship device for either carrier.

Nokia N900 modified to be control pad

The Nokia N900 – hate it or love it, the phone has proved to be a great servant for user Andrzej, who decidedly loved his Nokia N900 to bits and pieces, where it has resulted being a great portable gaming device for him. After all, this smartphone device does support a wide range of emulators, making it more than ideal for him to indulge in a little bit of gaming nostalgia wherever he is. According to Andrzej, one of the major downsides to the N900 would be the fact that the keyboard is not exactly ideal for gaming purposes, so like the adage goes, if you want something done, you've got to do it yourself – and hence, Andrzej decided to build an add-on gamepad for his beloved N900, where it will fit perfectly over the phone's keyboard.

It will be connected to the smartphone via USB, boasting 8 push buttons alongside a PSP joystick. An ATmega8A will function as the brains of the controller, helping it “talk” to the handset as a USB keyboard. This configuration makes it a snap to perform custom button mapping on a per-game basis, or at least that is what he claims.

Motorola DROID Bionic Maintenance Upgrade Now Rolling Out

The Motorola DROID BIONIC was revealed to be getting a pretty massive maintenance upgrade but at the time we didn’t know when we’d be getting it. We knew what we’d be getting (check below) and expected an update within the next couple of weeks but we didn’t expect to get it this soon. The soak tests are now over and the upgrade is confirmed to be rolling out to users everywhere. Be sure to check your phone if you haven’t already automatically pulled it down over-the-air. Head to Verizon for more details and instructions on upgrading. [AC, AndroidForums.com]

E-mail, messaging and data

Improved stability of data on 3G and 4G

Fixed lockup that could occur while browing during the handoff from Wifi to 4G

“Data roaming” pop-up message will display once when roaming in CDMA internationally

Jump to the most recent message after changing the device orientation while in message list view

Device features

Mobile hotspot now supports up to eight devices

Black screen of death fixed

Improved stability to avoid power cycles

Fix lock up and power cycles when connected to Bluetooth headset or HDMI cable

Improved cold SIM card activation speed

“Low memory” warnings when using the Laptop have been reduced

Improved camera autofocus for better shutter response time and better imagery

Location privacy message will display when using location based service setup

Fixed issue where device would power back up after being powered down

Lapdock Improved stability

Display will not turn off after use

Calling screen will no longer be recreated

Reduced frequence fo the “Low memory” warning messages

HTC Wildfire S gets to Android 2.3.5 as well, no Sense 3.0 though

HTC continues its series of Android 2.3.5 for its lineup of smartphones with the entry-level Wildfire S. The Taiwanese company is now seeding the new Gingerbread release to the most affordable of the trio of smartphones that it announced back at the MWC in February.

Much like the HTC ChaCha, though, the Wildfire S won't be getting to taste Sense UI 3.0. We suspect this has something to do with the hardware of these not being unable to handle the latest version of the HTC home-brewed UI.

Early user reports suggest that the update fixes the Wildfire S bugs with unlocking and call answering, but there's no detailed changelog provided just yet. We also don't know if it's already available globally or if it's only available to some markets for now, so if you happen to own a Wildfire S, feel free to drop us a line in the comments mentioning if you got the update and your country.

Details about further updates for the HTC lineup are also scarce for now, but we guess we will know more in the following weeks.