JFAN

If you fancy yourself a music aficionado but the current crop of music players for Android just aren’t doin’ it for ya, a new challenger has entered the ring. UberMusic was just released today onto the Android Market and comes to you from the creative force behind Launcher Pro, Federico Carnales. Obviously, Mr. Carnales knows a little something about customizing and this is where UberMusic receives arguably, its biggest feature: themes. Yup, it’s possible to get 3rd party skins from the Market that will allow you to completely transform the whole UI of UberMusic, even adding custom themed widgets and an “uber” nice live wallpaper. So if you have always been into the look of say, the Zune music player (guilty!), you can finally have your cake and eat it too.

UberMusic is available right now in the Android Market for $3.50 and if you’re one of “those types” that doesn’t like paying for their apps or simply can’t because of your region, Mr. Carnales mentioned today via Twitter that a free version of the app could be in the works.

[Via Engadget and Twitter]

Looks like the LG Thrill may be delayed before an official release date was ever announced. My good friend Jerry, from AndroidCentral, posted a leaked internal memo from The Shack showing the LG Thrill has been pushed back to August 21st. Originally, it was rumored that the Thrill would launch on August 7th but doesn’t look like that’s going to be happening.

As usual with authorized retailers, this could be a Radio Shack only delay but judging by the wording in the memo, sounds more like an overall AT&T thing. Could the delay have something to do with the Samsung Attain that passed through the FCC yesterday? Guess we’ll find out soon enough!

[Via AndroidCentral]

Thanks to the folks behind Unrevoked and AlphaRev the HTC Sensation and EVO 3D now have permanent S-Off and NAND write access, a feat some felt might never be accomplished due to a locked bootloader. The tool called Revolutionary will do the same for most modern HTC handsets including the Desire, Desire S, Incredible S (and Droid Incredible 2), and Flyer tablet. Support is in the works for the HTC Thunderbolt

Revolutionary is currently in developer preview, so it isn’t 100 percent ready for deployment (you may experience some bugs), but for those Sensation and EVO 3D owners tired of waiting it just might be worth it.

[via Revolutionary | Thanks, Micah!]

Earlier today we reported that AT&T may begin throttling data usage for the 5 percent of users consuming the most bandwidth, and as the business day begins winding down we now have confirmation straight from the horse’s mouth. Starting October 1st, those using the most bandwidth within any given billing cycle will see their data speeds throttled back, with normal speeds restored once a new billing period begins. AT&T says the new policy is necessary in the face of a “serious wireless spectrum crunch.” The move will provide minimal relief in the short term. AT&T’s proposed long-term solution? The completion of their merger with T-Mobile.

An Update for Our Smartphone Customers With Unlimited Data Plans

Like other wireless companies, we’re taking steps to manage exploding demand for mobile data. Many experts agree the country is facing a serious wireless spectrum crunch. We’re responding on many levels, including investing billions in our wireless network this year and working to acquire additional network capacity. We’re also taking additional, more immediate measures to help address network congestion.

One new measure is a step that may reduce the data throughput speed experienced by a very small minority of smartphone customers who are on unlimited plans – those whose extraordinary level of data usage puts them in the top 5 percent of our heaviest data users in a billing period. In fact, these customers on average use 12 times more data than the average of all other smartphone data customers. This step will not apply to our 15 million smartphone customers on a tiered data plan or the vast majority of smartphone customers who still have unlimited data plans.

Starting October 1, smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the top 5 percent of heaviest data users. These customers can still use unlimited data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing cycle. Before you are affected, we will provide multiple notices, including a grace period.

This change will never impact the vast majority of our customers, and is designed to create a better service experience for all.

The amount of data usage of our top 5 percent of heaviest users varies from month to month, based on the usage of others and the ever-increasing demand for mobile broadband services. To rank among the top 5 percent, you have to use an extraordinary amount of data in a single billing period.

There will be no changes for the vast majority of customers. It’s not how much time you spend using your device, it’s what you do with it. You can send or receive thousands of emails, surf thousands of Web pages and watch hours of streaming video every month and not be in the top 5 percent of data users.

Typically what puts someone in the top 5 percent is streaming very large amounts of video and music daily over the wireless network, not Wi-Fi. Streaming video apps, remote web camera apps, sending large data files (like video) and some online gaming are examples of applications that can use data quickly. Using Wi-Fi doesn’t create wireless network congestion or count toward your wireless data usage. AT&T smartphone customers have unlimited access to our entire Wi-Fi network, with more than 26,000 hotspots, at no additional cost. They can also use Wi-Fi at home and in the office.

The bottom line is our customers have options. They can choose to stay on their unlimited plans and use unlimited amounts of data, but may experience reduced speeds at some point if they are an extraordinarily heavy data user. If speed is more important, they may wish to switch to a tiered usage plan, where customers can pay for more data if they need it and will not see reduced speeds.

But even as we pursue this additional measure, it will not solve our spectrum shortage and network capacity issues. Nothing short of completing the T-Mobile merger will provide additional spectrum capacity to address these near term challenges.

After a false start earlier in the week, the Gingerbread update for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is now rolling out. The announcement comes via a post on the official Sony Ericsson blog, which states that the update is being made available to non-carrier handsets first with 10 percent of devices already receiving their update notifications. The rest should be seeing the update within the next week. Not all is good news, however, as it was also made clear that some operator customized versions of the X10 won’t be receiving the Gingerbread update.

[via Sony Ericsson | Thanks, Vlad!]

Not so fast! Looks like that upcoming Samsung QWERTY slider headed for AT&T isn’t the Galaxy S II, after all. BGR, who broke the story initially, has received a correction from one of their sources and is now reporting that the sexy slider is a different handset altogether. The confusion arose from the recycling of an old model number initially associated with the Galaxy S II. So AT&T subscribers will be getting the same slim, keyboard-free Galaxy S II headed to other carriers (though it may be slightly retooled), but now we must question where this QWERTY handset fits in. Will it still be partially based on the Galaxy S II spec sheet? Or will it be something a bit more mid-range? We wouldn’t mind AT&T offering this slider as an additional alternate to the S II if the hardware is right.

[via BGR]

A couple weeks back we learned the Samsung Fascinate would be added to the stable of devices supporting CyanogenMod 7. Nightly builds are now live for the device, offering users of the handset an alternative to its current Android 2.2 build and the bugs that have in some cases rendered it a frustrating mess. Download links to the latest builds can be found via the CyanogenMod source link below.

[CyanogenMod via AndroidCentral]

The HTC Wildfire S is headed to T-Mobile August 3rd, and though it’s mid-range specs are unlikely to make a big splash it offers an affordable option priced at $79.99. Sure enough, dummy and display units are already arriving ahead of next week’s launch showing off the handset’s 3.2-inch display, 5MP camera, and Android 2.3.3 build. More pics can be found at the source link below.

[via TMoNews]