Looking to see what AT&T has in store for us in the first part of 2012? Well here is a sneak peak:

It seems that the new 4G LTE-capable HTC Titan II is one its way soon, with AT&T planning to launch the device of $199.99 with a two year agreement. The carrier is also getting to launch a Sony tablet for $409.99 called the Crystal, though it will not feature 4G LTE, though it does have HSPA+.

In addition, we also have word that later in this first quarter we should also see the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD, the Samsung Exhilarate, and Sony Experia Ion. Pricing for these is still unknown.

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They haven’t announced which devices are coming, but we are pretty sure about the arrival of a few of these rumored handsets. And we are expecting the company to unveil their first quad-core handset (or handsets) too.

The Tegra 3 HTC Endeavor aka EDGE aka Supreme is expected to show up along with the LTE enabled HTC Ville and the Windows Phone-powered HTC Radiant.

The Endeavor is going to be a pretty good attraction at the MWC if it is coming with the rumored 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4.7-inch 720p display and an 8-megapixel shooter with 1080p video capture capability.

Meanwhile, according to a new report, the HTC Primo will also be making its debut at the show. The device is expected to be coming with Android 4.0, a 3.7-inch Super AMOLED display protected with Corning Gorilla Glass, a 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM and a 5 megapixel rear shooter capable of recording 720p video. It also boasts Beats Audio and is just 9mm thick.

Of course, more info on HTC’s plans will be available soon. And we will keep you updated as always.

As a quick refresher, the HTC Edge is going to be this super powerful smartphone with a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra3 processor under the hood. We’re hearing of a 4.7-inch AMOLED 720p display, 10mm profile, and an 8MP camera (with F/2.2). The design should be similar to the leaked image we have here, but it’s also quite possible that individual carriers and countries could find some slight variations.

In the meantime, the HTC Edge seems now to be carrying the codename of the HTC Endeavor. But that’s not enough. We’re also hearing that the final product name is more likely the HTC Supreme. And that’s not taking into account the various names that the different carriers will use in an attempt to differentiate themselves from one another. And this is all ahead of the official MWC unveiling in a few weeks. I’m just waiting for an HTC XXXtreme XL 4G Elite.

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AT&T is expanding their LTE wireless network and, as expected, has announced the addition of a number of devices into their LTE handset line-up at CES. The devices that will soon be released onto their high-speed network include five new Android handsets, an Android tablet and two Windows Phone smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy Note
First up is the much anticipated Samsung Galaxy Note (pictured above) smartphone/mini tablet which boasts a 5.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus display with a resolution of 1280×800, dual-core CPU, the S-pen stylus and it runs Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread.

The device will be available “in the coming weeks” and we are expecting the device to come with a price tag of $300 or more on contract. In Europe, the non-LTE unlocked version of the device costs around $700. That’s a bit too expensive considering the Android version its running.

Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket LTE
The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket LTE appears to be a capable phone with its 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display, and Android Gingerbread. The device also features HPSA+ compatibility which can be utilized when AT&T’s 4G LTE is not available.

It will be available sometime soon and we don’t think that there will be any change to that long model name. You can expect it to cost around $200 on contract.

Samsung Exhilarate
Samsung has taken the eco-conscious path with the Samsung Exhilarate which is made of 80% recycled materials. The device runs Android 2.3 and features a 4-inch AMOLED display. Other specs are not available at the moment which suggests that the device might not be a head turner.

The device will be available “in the coming months”, says AT&T, and we believe that it’ll be rather inexpensive. It might cost around $99 on a contract.

Pantech Element Android Tablet
The LTE-capable 8-inch Pantech Element tablet is now official and it features front and rear facing cameras, 16 GB of storage, Android 3.2 and weighs in at about one pound. The device can also survive under water up to a depth of one meter for 30 minutes.

The device will be launched on January 22 with a price tag of $299.99 with a two-year data contract.

Pantech Burst
And that’s not all from Pantech. The device that you see above is the Pantech Burst handset which will be taking advantage of AT&T’s network from Jan 22. The Android 2.3.5-powered device is coming with a 4-inch screen, 16 GB of memory and dual-core CPU.

Although it does not reach the level of the high end devices on the list, it appears to be a good option for all the budget-conscious customers out there as it will arrive with a price tag of $49.99 with a two-year contract.

Xperia Ion
And Sony is also joining in on the action with their Xperia Ion. Notable specs of the handset include a 4.6-inch HD (1280×720) screen, 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU, 720p front-facing camera, 12MP 1080p rear-facing shooter and Android 2.3.

According to the carrier, the handset will be the “first smartphone to be sold under the Sony brand in the US”. And since it’s a PlayStation-certified phone, you should get access to more than a few good games.

The device will hit the carrier in Q2 2012, with a price tag most probably around $200 on contract.

Titan 2
If Android is not the thing for you, you can choose one (or both, if you are rich) of the latest Windows phones that will be available soon on AT&T. The Titan 2, previously known as the Radiant, is the first LTE-capable Windows Phone from HTC.

The handset features a 4.7-inch 480×800 screen, a 16 megapixel camera to attract all the shutterbugs, a 1.5 GHz single-core CPU and Windows Phone Mango 7.5. You can expect a price tag close to $200 on contract.

Nokia Lumia 900
And last but definitely not the least, the Nokia Lumia 900 will be available in the coming months exclusively from the carrier. The high-speed Windows Phone runs Windows Phone Mango 7.5 and boasts a 4.3-inch 800×480 display, 1.4 GHz single-core processor, and front and rear facing cameras.

The device appears to be similar to the Lumia 800 as both the handsets have the same single injectable polyurethane matte plastic build. The difference is that the Lumia 800 has a smaller 3.7-inch screen, and it comes with a slower 3G chip. We are expecting the Lumia 900 to cost around $200 on contract.

So, which phone are you interested in?

We have heard your voice and starting now, we will allow our bootloader to be unlocked for 2011 models going forward. We plan on releasing the updates that will allow you to unlock your bootloader in the coming months, please keep an eye on this website for more details on which devices will be adding this feature. We are extremely pleased to see the energy and enthusiasm from our fans and loyal customers, and we are excited to see what you are capable of. HTC eagerly anticipates your innovations.

The not so good news is that this step undertaken by HTC is followed by a flurry of caveats and disclaimers of any HTC responsibility for the customers unlocking actions. Even if that brave customer uses an official unlocking tool designed by HTC themselves. Then, the unlocker will work first for the HTC Wildfire S, Wildfire, Salsa, Merge, and Desire brands that account for 22 models. Now, by PDADB data base reports, HTC has more than 500 phones, and it remains to be seen how many of them locked and how many will be presented with an unlocker tool in good time.

Then, the FOTA option for deploying unlocker tool is quite dubious at best: if its designed as FOTA with unlocker, it certainly much safer to have a FOTA upgrade option with factory unlocked bootloader.

Even if the HTC unlocker tool is already available as a separate download, there are some problems with deploying it over what hackers did to their HTC devices already, that is, without HTC help.

But don’t get me wrong, the movement to unlock their devices’ bootloaders widens across manufacturers, and it’s a very good thing. We need to shout this news out to Motorola for the RAZR and Barnes & Noble for the NOOK Tablet.

Hopefully this is just the first update for the Flyer this year.  It hasn’t been announced, but we can always hope the Flyer will receive an additional update to Ice Cream Sandwich later this year. Sure, after the first official Ice Cream Sandwich tablet Ainol Novo Basic was released in China last December, there can be little doubt that WiFi only HTC Flyer with its quite powerful hardware won’t be capable to run Ice Cream Sandwich.

The fine folks at XDA-Developers report that ASUS has chosen to lock a bootloader on its flagship tablet, the Eee Pad Transformer Prime. This is extremely sad news for all the tinkerers who were hoping to get Ice Cream Sandwich on this powerful tablet currently running a lightly customized stock ASUS Android 3.2 (Honeycomb). First reports of this discovery looks like this:

Asus has Encrypted the bootloader on the prime with a 128 bit Encryption (basically impossible to crack!) like HTC did awhile back…. This makes it impossible to flash ROMs and kernels which can really unlock the devices full potential, that is overclocking, flashing Linux distros, customizing, undervolting, denying installation of Windows 8, etc. The sky is the limit but it depends on YOU!

After weeks of demanding they allowed us to do what we want with the devices we purchased from HTC, and HTC finally caved and unlocked it!

Protests to this ASUS decision multiply in social networks, at the ASUS official Facebook and Twitter pages, even all around the globe. It’s worth to mention that the original ASUS Eee Pad Transformer (not Prime) was launched with a locked bootloader, too, but XDA member named 9600pro87 found a secure key to unlock the bootloader for this previous ASUS Transformer tablet. Now, there’s no obstacles in developing alternative firmwares for it.

All in all, purchases of Transformer Primes may dwindle if the decision to unlock its bootloader, or a leak of the key won’t be made  soon enough. A good example of such a reaction is the Nook Tablet with its bootloader also locked: if it could be launched and unlocked it might fare a better situation than its direct competition, the Kindle Fire.

Earlier, it was widely reported that Microsoft gets about $5 from sales of HTC Android phones. This sort of unexpected revenue stems from licensing deals that were offered to HTC from Microsoft’s IP protection departments. HTC wasn’t commenting much on this deal back in the day, but the deal is here.

The alternative approach to it, you guessed it right: no licensing deals and a continuing patent war. As Appleinsider points out,  Steve Jobs indicated before he died to biographer Walter Isaacson that he had no interest in licensing Apple’s patented technology to Android manufacturers. Jobs said he believed Android was a “stolen product,” and indicated he was “willing to go thermonuclear war” to stop it. Well, it remains to be seen how much “thermonuclear” this war has seen so far. But it’s global and it’s very expensive, that’s for sure.

Kevin Rivette, managing partner at intellectual property firm 3LP Advisors LLC, believes this all-out war approach could be detrimental to Apple shareholders, because it is prompting device makers to modify their infringing products and work around Apple’s intellectual property. Examples of such strategies deployed multiply recently: earlier this month, the U.S. International Trade Commission found that HTC was in violation of an Apple patent related to so called “Data Detectors”, but only a day later HTC said it was testing new devices that work around the Apple’s patent in question. As a result, the ITC’s ruling is not expected to have an immediate impact on either HTC or Apple. Problem could be solved, even if for the moment, or for just this particular case. Now, Samsung released a revised Galaxy Tab 10.1N that the German court recognized as significantly different than the original, but hotly disputed by Apple’s patent warriors.

Then, with this patent war being global, it means there are many different battlefield decisions which are not so clear-cut as Apple would like them to see. Think of Germany, Australia recently. Rivette thinks Apple should reach settlements in cases where it can’t win import restrictions against competing devices.

Today’s estimate of what Apple can gain from such settlement deals is about $10 of royalties per Android device. What will happen with this revenue tomorrow, when manufacturers will be actively cleaning their devices from last signs of disputed technologies is anybody’s guess.

On the other hand, Microsoft in its wars with Android is showing a more “balanced” approach:  it has agreements in place with Samsung, HTC, Acer and Viewsonic, while lawsuits against Motorola Mobility, Barnes & Noble and others continue. Should Apple take the Microsoft Way?

XDA-Developers have released their HTC Super Tool, a Windows-based utility that universal roots and unlocks the bootloader of many HTC smartphones. This third-party tool has surpassed even HTC’s bootloader unlocking tool, which is limited to just a few devices. Devices for which this tool has been reported working for include the Evo Design 4G, Evo 4G, Evo 3D, Evo Shift, G2, MT3Gs, MT4G, MT4Gs, Inspire, Sensation, Incredible, Wildfire S, and the Amaze 4G.

In this universality, the HTC Super Tool surpasses HTS’s own unlocking utility that works only on several HTC models.

List of HTC devices that can be rooted and unlocked by the HTC Super Tool is made up out of the phones, for which the success was confirmed. That is, if your HTC phone model is not found as currently listed, chances are Super Tool may work just fine for it, too. For those who follow the HTC Super Tool development, its version history looks like this:

For v2

Added Unroot option

For v1.5

Updated zergRush exploit!
Updated SU files
Cleaned up script
moved market update to it’s own option.

NEW TOOL v1.0

Changes in SS

For v2.1

Minor fix from root and reboot triggers

For v2

De Sense works (Disables HTC Sense for a more vanilla android/keeps the Sense lockscreen though
Re Sense works (Re-Enables HTC Sense)
Virtous OC daemon (I ported to Design to Overclock to 1.4 ghz on stock kernel)
Fixed Wifi Tether again thanks to psyv01 at XDA
Cleaned the script a little bit

For v1.5
removed market updater option (Now updates market via root option
s-off is still just a placeholder (sorry guys)
De Sense option added (Freezes all HTC Sense apps to make a more vanilla android feel – Will be functioning on v2)
Re Sense option added (Want it back? here you go – Will function on v2)
reboot option added (No longer reboots after root option. remember to use this before exiting script)
wireless tether app updated (hopefully fixes the issues some people were having)

HTC Super Tool is quite a complex utility, so even if it looks simple to click here and there, errors and mistakes may happen, and usual disclaimers apply.

One of the most handy features on my LG Android smartphone is the ability to look up numbers through the browser, tap them, and have them launch into the phone dialer. While this certainly isn’t the most impressive feature on my phone, I still am glad to have it.

Of course I may not have this option on my next Android phone purchase, thanks to Apple.

Apple has won a patent case against HTC in the US that deals with this “text scan for phone numbers” technology.

HTC has suggested they plan on removing the technology altogether from their phones in order to prevent the infringement. Although this case was only won against HTC, many other Android phone makers might follow suite to avoid an Apple lawsuit in the future.

Does winning this lawsuit against HTC really help Apple sell more phones? Not really. I highly doubt that users will abandon HTC based solely on the lack of this one feature. In the end it really just effects us end-users who are losing features simply because of very minor patent laws.

I understand the importance of protecting patents, but in such a small scenario it is hardly a big deal in my opinion. With Apple setting up lawsuits everywhere regarding its competing smartphones, I would expect us to lose even more features on Android (and even WP7) in the future.

Do I hate Apple for it? No, I like Apple and its products, I just wish they would take less aggressive measures when going after patents that largely won’t help them sell any more iPhones than they did before.