In seven days, Microsoft launches Windows Phone 8 in San Francisco. But you need not wait that long. Some retailers are already taking pre-orders (and even postponing them). HTC Windows Phone 8X is available for $99.99 on AT&T, while Nokia Lumia 920 is $149.99. Best Buy offered both today, but the Lumia since disappeared, presumably sold out. It's available elsewhere, unlocked and contract-free, for considerably more.

The Nokia handset will be available in the United States exclusively from AT&T -- that is subsidized. Mobile City Online is among the retailers carrying the international version, there for $699.99. Note that international model is unlocked but has HSPA+ instead of LTE. T-Mobile and Verizon will also carry the HTC phone. None of the retailers I checked this afternoon list arrival times, which, based on earlier manufacturer product announcements, will be November.

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Almost a week ago Sprint announced that it will carry the LG Optimus G for $199 starting in November, and ahead of its release a developer already posted a method to gain elevated rights (also known as "root" among modders) for the quad-core powerhouse coming Sprint's way.

According to the developer rooting the Optimus G for Sprint is done in the same way as for the South Korean version, and only requires to install the LG Android drivers and download the necessary file that performs the process itself. Gaining elevated rights is fairly simple judging by the involved steps that need to be performed, but using this method users will receive a number of prompts in Vietnamese that have to be accepted in order for the process to complete.

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Three weeks have passed since the Android Open Kang Project team released a new build, and after a long wait AOKP Jelly Bean Build 5 is now available, bringing along the latest version of Android with it. Also released is a new app named Kangerator for following and downloading new AOKP releases.

The latest build is based on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, build number JZO54K and apart from introducing support for the AT&T variants of the Samsung Galaxy S III (d2att) and Galaxy Note (quincyatt) and removing support for the HTC One XL/X (evita), it also brings a number of features from the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich builds, such as NavBar widgets.

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According to the results of a worldwide, multi-year study conducted by industry body GSMA, the total number of global mobile connections will reach 6.8 billion by Q4 2012.

However, the number of actual unique mobile subscribers is much less. By stripping out machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and inactive SIM cards, and factoring in that consumers apparently use an average of 1.85 SIM cards each, GSMA was able to arrive at a figure of 3.2 billion mobile subscribers, or around 45.7 percent of the world’s population.

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What happens if you're interested in getting one of the latest Sony smartphones, but you want Android 4.1 Jelly Bean instead of the slightly older Ice Cream Sandwich build? According to Sony, you'll have to wait until the first quarter of 2013 (that's right) to run the operating system that Google announced back in June on devices such as the Sony Xperia T.

The Sony Xperia T and TX are shipping today in a number of "global markets," with the little brother, the Xperia V, on its way as well. For its newly released smartphones, the Japanese consumer electronics maker will release the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgrade in the middle of the first quarter of 2013. Sony confirmed that the global version of the Xperia Go, Xperia Ion, Xperia J, Xperia P, Xperia S and Xperia Acro S will also receive the upgrade, but did not yet announce when, only "in due course," which might be less than reassuring to owners.

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Motorola announced the new Droid Razr family of smartphones more than a month ago, and today the 4G LTE-ready Droid Razr HD, Droid Razr Maxx HD, and Droid Razr M are available for purchase at Verizon Wireless.

The cheapest of the bunch is the entry-level 4.3-inch Droid Razr M that comes in two colors, white and black, and will set back customers of the big red $99 on a two-year contract. The 4.7-inch Droid Razr HD is also available in the same palette, and runs for $100 more at $199. The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD is also the most expensive of the three, but comes with the biggest battery, costing a whopping $299 on a two-year contract and is only available in black.

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Could the end of October be any more jam-packed? October 29, same day Microsoft launches Windows Phone 8 in San Francisco, Google will hold an event in New York for Android -- presumably for the next Nexus device(s), just about the worst kept tech secret(s) of the month. Microsoft just can't catch a break. This week, Apple sent out media invites for an October 23 shindig, possibly for iPad mini, coming three days before Microsoft launches Windows 8 and Surface tablets.

Yeah, it's a tough month to be Microsoft -- what, with the company's future hanging on the three products and post-PC, connected-device era stumpers Apple and Google looking to dampen Windows' big days. But what a month for gadget geeks -- and the October 26 and 29 events coming on my three sisters' birthdays (twins, in case three on two days puzzles you): Android devices, iPad mini, Surface, Windows 8, RT and Phone. And, hey, what about some of those new smartphones, like LG Optimus G?

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The Motorola Atrix HD is not the most modder-friendly smartphone available as it comes with a locked bootloader. Now though, there is a root exploit available that might turn things around and help it receive custom Android distributions.

The exploit gives Motorola Atrix HD users the ability to run applications using elevated, or root, rights. The installation is pretty straight forward, and first requires downloading and extracting a zip archive. The newest ADB drivers from Motorola are required before connecting the smartphone to the computer and running the .bat file. Just a button combination more, and the Motorola Atrix HD is rooted, according to the developer.

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HTC recently introduced the One X+, a quad-core powerhouse that took the flagship role in the company's smartphone lineup. Today, the Taiwanese phone maker announced the J butterfly (codename "htl21"), a 5-inch device with a whopping 1080p display.

The HTC J butterfly comes with impressive specifications, the first of which is a 5-inch SuperLCD 3 display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution and a density of 440ppi. Power comes from a 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064 Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, that is identical to the one found in the LG Optimus G, and 2GB of RAM. On top of the rather modest 16GB of onboard storage, HTC included a microSDHC card slot which is a change of heart from the previously released One S, One X and EVO 4G LTE smartphones that had no expandable storage.

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Yesterday my colleague Joe Wilcox wrote "AT&T starts LG Optimus G preorders Oct. 16, sales Nov. 2," but today Sprint announced that the LG-made quad-core power-house is coming its way, just like the controversial Samsung Galaxy Note II "phablet".

Unlike the AT&T variant the LG Optimus G will come with a 13MP camera, instead of the 8MP shooter announced yesterday, and it will be available for pre-order from November 1, with sales to start on November 11. On a two-year contract the Qualcomm-powered smartphone will cost $199. Also announced is the Samsung Galaxy Note II, that will be available for purchase on October 25 for $299.99 with a two-year contract.

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AT&T's hottest smartphone of the season (well, so far) arrives in 18 days, and it's not iPhone 5. America's second-largest carrier has queued up the LG Optimus G, which will be available for $199.99 on contract -- that means two-year commitment. Optimus G specs impress, particularly that quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor, but the software somewhat disappoints. The device ships with Android 4.0.7, not successor Jelly Bean unveiled in June. Upgrade may be months away.

Older software mars what otherwise is a beauty: 4.7-inch TrueHD IPS+ display, 1280 x 768 resolution, 15:9 aspect ratio; 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor; 2GB RAM; 32GB storage (internal and card, expandable to 80GB); 8-megapixel rear-facing and 1.3MP front-facing cameras, zero-lag shutter; 4G LTE; Wi-Fi; A-GPS; MHL; DLNA; near-field communication; Bluetooth 4.0; and 2,100 mAh battery. Measures 131.9mm x 68.9mm x 8.45mm and weighs 145 grams.

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Jelly Bean is an elusive update for most high-end Android smartphones today, even though introduced at Google I/O four months ago. Today, LG revealed which devices will receive Android 4.1 in the upcoming months, undoubtedly in a move to catch up to the likes of HTC and Samsung that already have announced smartphones running the software.

The list of smartphones is not extensive, and includes more recent devices, such as the LG Optimus Vu and Optimus G; the latter model comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and made waves in the smartphone market for its incredibly powerful hardware. The South Korean manufacturer's flagship, Qualcomm-powered, device will be updated to Jelly Bean in December.

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Little more than a month ago Motorola announced its new Droid Razr smartphone lineup, among which is the 4.3-inch Droid Razr M. The phone ships with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but, just like with the HTC One X, someone decided that it could use some jelly beans...

On Twitter P3Droid provides a download link for the Razr M Android 4.1 Jelly Bean ROM, with the standard warning regarding the voided warranty if flashed. Named "Blur_Version.77.111.10.XT907.Verizon.en.US.zip", the leaked file comes in at 255MB, and judging by the included files it updates the Verizon Wireless variant to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean and not the latest available.

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Looking for a way to better manage the contents of your Android phone or tablet? SnapPea is a free tool, currently in beta, that could meet your needs. Regardless of whether your device was provided with its own management software, which is found wanting in the vast majority of cases, you can use the program to connect to your device to perform backups, transfer data and browse through images and other files.

You’ve probably found that keeping on top of your contacts on your phone can be a pain – with SnapPea you can take advantage of your computer’s mouse and keyboard to make changes, additions and backup more quickly and easily than ever before. Similarly, the program can also be used to browse through your text messages in a simple yet sleek interface, but more importantly it gives you the ability to send text messages from within Windows.

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Yesterday Google updated factory images for the Nexus 7 and Galaxy Nexus; today Android 4.1.2 is available for the almost two-year old Nexus S smartphone and Ice Cream Sandwich for the US-made Nexus Q.

Nexus Q launched alongside the latest mobile operating system during Google I/O in June, but today marks the first time it makes an appearance on Nexus Factory Images, still available with the Android 4.0 it originally shipped with. In late July, Google suddenly suspended sales and delayed the entertainment device's launch. Release of factory images could foreshadow closer release. If nothing else, developers with the device have more options to experiment.

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