Verizon Wireless on Tuesday finally confirmed launch details for the latest addition to its popular DROID family of Android smartphones, the Motorola DROID 4. The sleek QWERTY slider will become available later this week on February 10th for $199.99 on contract.

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Verizon Wireless and Motorola unveiled the DROID 4 at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show, but the handset never formally received a release date. A new rumor from Droid-Life points to a launch next week on February 9th, however. The newest DROID will reportedly launch at $199.99 with a new two-year agreement — a price that matches a recently leaked MAP list and what we were told by a Verizon representative. The smartphone features a 4-inch qHD display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, an 8-megapixel camera, 4G LTE connectivity and a five-row QWERTY keyboard. Thanks to upcoming network enhancements, the DROID 4 will also be able to roam overseas, making it Verizon’s first 4G LTE device with global roaming capabilities.

UPDATE: According to leaked Verizon equipment guide obtained by Droid-Life, the device is now rumored to launch on February 10th. The date coincides with the release of Star Wars Episode One in 3D.

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In 2011, carriers and manufacturers were releasing smartphones at such short intervals that within weeks, your once new and high-end device would most likely already be outdated. Unfortunately, it looks like things won’t be slowing down in 2012. After a mere six months on the market, Verizon Wireless has issued an end-of-life discontinuation for the Motorola DROID 3, The Verge reports. The article also claims that Verizon has issued EOL’s for the Blackberry Curve 3G, Palm Pre 2, LG Revolution and all of their 4G LTE Mi-Fi Hotspots. The carrier will soon be left with not a single LTE hotspot and a hole in its smartphone line up, however, we expect to see an array of new devices at the Consumer Electronics Show which kicks off January 10th.

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Verizon Wireless still hasn’t officially announced the Motorola DROID 4, but it has been leaked several times during the past few months. Best Buy recently spilled the beans yet again in one of its Reward Zone advertisements. While it doesn’t specifically name the phone, the DROID 4 makes an appearance front and center in the ad. The Android 2.3.5-powered DROID 4 is expected to be very similar to a DROID RAZR, but with a full QWERTY keyboard. Rumored specs include a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, support for Verizon Wireless’s 4G LTE network and a 4-inch qHD display. Verizon might be saving an announcement for CES, which kicks off in less than two weeks.

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Verizon is well aware of the growth in the mobile industry and as such, they’re also aware that buinesses no longer rely on their workers to be in the office all the time. Fact is, we’re becoming a mobile society and being in an office all day is quite a thing of the past. Knowing this, they’ve now announced the Mobile Unified Communications Client.

This allows business owners to have both a landline and mobile number attached to their employee’s smartphones. Calls initiated from the mobile phone’s line are routed through the existing corporate IP PBX system and display the employee’s business number to callers.  This helps maintain the corporate identity while allowing employee’s to be wherever they need to be outside of the office.

The Mobile UC Client is available for a $7 monthly fee per user, and most Motorola Android devices such as the Droid X, Droid X2, Droid 2 & Global and Droid Pro are supported. Full press release is past the break for you all.

Verizon Wireless Redefines The Office Phone With Mobile Unified Communications Client

Fixed Mobile Convergence Solution Harnesses the Power of Wireless Technology and the Practicality of a Desk Phone

SAN DIEGO and BASKING RIDGE, NJ — As the workforce becomes increasingly mobile, enterprises are compelled to expend precious time, money and IT resources to manage employees’ mobile connectivity while away from the office. Today from CTIA Enterprise and Applications™ 2011 (booth #117), Verizon Wireless introduces a breakthrough business tool, Mobile Unified Communications Client (Mobile UC), which combines the processing power of Android™ smartphones and the nation’s most reliable wireless network with existing enterprise telephone systems to support employee mobility while maintaining corporate security and control.

Using the Mobile UC Client, an employee’s personal mobile number and business landline number are both instantly accessible from a user’s smartphone. Mobile employees can place calls and answer them from their work number even when away from the office. Calls initiated from the mobile phone’s business identity are routed through the existing corporate IP PBX system and display the employee’s business number to callers. The business identity mode allows companies to leverage the benefits of their PBX system by routing mobile calls through the existing IP PBX system to maximize Least Cost Routing for savings on international and intra-company calls, while also maintaining business credibility to customers and prospects who see the business number in their caller ID. Employees can access voicemail and other frequently used desk phone features, such as call hold, transfer and conference capabilities, from their smartphones, which helps increase productivity and support the mobile office experience.

“The Mobile Unified Communications Client from Verizon Wireless revolutionizes the concept of the office phone,” said Bill Versen, director, Advanced Mobile Communications, Verizon Wireless. “Convenience is key, especially when a professional spends time both in their traditional office as well as going on the road. The Verizon Wireless Mobile Unified Communications Client makes it a seamless, easy-to-use experience that satisfies the customer needs for simplification and lower cost solutions. In addition to being backed by the nation’s most reliable network, the whole package is easy to deploy and to manage, so enterprises can reap the benefits of fixed mobile convergence without the need for additional hardware or sacrificing information security.”

To maximize the full experience of the Mobile UC Client, Verizon Wireless developed the enterprise-class Mobile UC Docking Station (sold as a complementary accessory) to connect Android smartphones to a business’ Ethernet. Similar to a traditional office phone with standard functions, such as enterprise directory access, “do not disturb,” speakerphone and voicemail, the docking station leverages Android smartphones to power the office phone experience. When the mobile phone is docked, it doesn’t use wireless minutes for calls. The accessory requires minimal IT services to deploy and manage, while the cost is significantly less than traditional IP desk phones.

“Employees’ work habits and technology have evolved dramatically over the past few years and it’s time for the office phone to evolve with it,” said Mike Sapien, principal analyst, Enterprise Practice, Ovum. “Enterprises need to deploy smart solutions to adapt to the new mobile enterprise model while leveraging the best of the wireless and wireline worlds. Corporate IT will need solutions that satisfy the employee habits and take advantage of the corporate ICT resources. Integrated mobile UC solutions, like this one offered by Verizon Wireless, will be necessary to meet this requirement.”

Set-Up, Compatibility and Pricing

Deployment for the Mobile UC Client is easy and does not require any additional hardware purchases. The enterprise’s IT department is provided with a configuration tool that allows them to establish profiles for end users specific to their PBX identities. The Mobile UC Client is deployed by download from V CAST Apps store. All existing parameters for smartphone usage, existing PBX calling restrictions and policies, and security settings are maintained with the client.

Verizon Wireless’ Mobile UC Client is compatible with leading IP PBX manufacturers, including Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.1.4 and above and Avaya Communication Manager 5.2 and above.

Verizon Wireless’ Mobile UC Client currently supports the following Android smartphones by Motorola: DROID X, DROID X2, DROID™ 2, DROID 2 GLOBAL and DROID PRO, with other devices and manufacturers to follow.

The Mobile UC Client is available for a $7 monthly fee per user. The docking station is available for a one-time purchase price of $125 per station.

For more information about Verizon Wireless’ Mobile Unified Communications Client, visit www.verizonwireless.com/unifiedcommunications or contact a Business Sales Representative at 1-800-VZW-4BIZ.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 106.3 million total wireless connections, including 89.7 million retail customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 83,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Verizon Wireless is passing on the Galaxy S II smartphone according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. BGR has confirmed with multiple trusted sources that this is accurate — Samsung will not unveil a Verizon-branded GALAXY S II smartphone next week at its New York City launch event on August 29th. Instead, Samsung will take the wraps off of GALAXY S II handsets that will soon launch on T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T. We’re told two of those carriers will maintain the “GALAXY S II” branding but one may offer a unique name for the handset. BGR has also confirmed, however, that Verizon Wireless will soon launch a Samsung device with very similar specifications — as in, nearly identical specifications — but it just won’t be a “GALAXY S II” phone. Perhaps it will be a new DROID device, a possible successor to the Samsung DROID Charge, or perhaps it will be something else entirely. In either case, Verizon Wireless subscribers certainly should not be worried when they don’t see an S II announced for the nation’s No. 1 carrier on Monday.

For those of you who managed to wrangle up a Motorola Droid 3 from telesales, when it arrives and your fire it up for the first time you’ll find that Citrix GoToMeeting and Citrix Receiver are both pre-loaded on the device out of the box. If you’re familiar with the web conferencing solution then you’ll no doubt know that the Citrix GoToMeeting application is not yet available in the Android Market making the Droid 3 one of the first devices to have readily available access to it. You can jump on past the break for the full press release if you’re interested in learning more.

Citrix® GoToMeeting® and Citrix Receiver™ Pre-Loaded on DROID 3 by Motorola, Now Available Through Verizon Wireless

Free Apps Provide Mobile Workforce Instant Access to Anywhere, Anytime Collaboration, Applications and Desktops

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – July 7, 2011 – Citrix Systems today announced that Citrix® GoToMeeting® and Citrix Receiver™ will be pre-loaded on the DROID 3 by Motorola, the latest Android-powered device from Motorola now available through Verizon Wireless. DROID 3 by Motorola smartphone users now have the ease and convenience of mobile collaboration with the ability to attend online meetings anytime, anywhere, and they can access their applications, desktop and data while on the go.

The availability of the pre-loaded apps brings the popular, market-leading web conferencing solution GoToMeeting and the universal software client Citrix Receiver to a Motorola device completely designed for work productivity. In line with its vision of providing new ways to move work to a more optimal place – a concept Citrix calls ‘workshifting’ – Citrix continues to help businesses increase productivity, reduce costs and attract and retain top talent by enabling more flexible work arrangements.

Citrix plans to make GoToMeeting for Android available in the Android Market™ later this summer.

What Is New:

• GoToMeeting Pre-loaded on DROID 3 by Motorola
• Pre-loaded for convenience:  Android users can access the pre-loaded GoToMeeting app directly from the DROID 3 by Motorola.
• Quick session entry: Join meetings in seconds by tapping a link in an email or tapping  the GoToMeeting icon and entering the meeting ID.
• VoIP and integrated audio: Quickly connect to audio through the Internet using the built-in mic and speakers.
• Audio controls: Mute yourself to eliminate background noise while on the go.
• Zoom in on meeting content:  Zoom meeting content up to 200% by pinching the screen.
• Portrait or landscape view:  Flip your DROID 3 by Motorola to adjust your view of meeting content.
• See who’s attending: View a list of meeting attendees.

Why It Matters

The world of work is no longer confined to the office and collaboration solutions like GoToMeeting and mobile devices powered by Android are helping people get work done from anywhere, fueling the workshifting trend.
Citrix ‘GoTo’ mobile services, including the GoToMeeting and GoToMyPC®  apps for iPad® and now GoToMeeting for Android pre-loaded on DROID 3 by Motorola, ensure secure, reliable and high-performing support for the growing mobile workforce.
Citrix is making collaboration possible on the go, transforming the way people work and enabling them to work wherever, whenever and however they choose.

Supporting Quotes and Statistics                                                                                                                               
“Our mission is to enable today’s workforce access to the best and easiest-to-use tools to work from anywhere, anytime.  With our market-leading GoToMeeting and Citrix Receiver pre-loaded on DROID 3 by Motorola, the mobile workforce gains a very powerful package: instant access to critical work apps and data, collaboration on demand and a no-compromise killer personal smartphone.” Bernardo de Albergaria, VP and GM, Collaboration, Online Services Division, Citrix Systems

“Businesses now have easy one-click access to online meetings, applications, desktops and business services directly from our faster, thinner and more powerful DROID 3 by Motorola. Adding Citrix GoToMeeting and Citrix Receiver to this innovative device extends our commitment to delivering Ready for Business experiences. We share Citrix’s vision of empowering today’s mobile workforce with the optimal tools for flexible, productive and engaging work.” Christy Wyatt, Corporate Vice President, Software and Services Product Management, Motorola Mobility

“We’ve been using GoToMeeting for the past six years and now we’ve added GoToMeeting to our mobile devices. It’s super easy to use and doesn’t take much time to learn. Our sales and technical support teams are constantly on the go working from various locations, and they depend on easy access to meetings. The convenience of joining a meeting from any location ensures that our teams can respond to client needs anytime, anywhere. GoToMeeting continues to be an extremely very valuable solution for us.” Peter Sternkopf, PMP, Chief Technology Officer, TERIS

Demand for the GoToMeeting app for Android is expected to grow with the burgeoning market for Android-based smartphones. According to IDC, Android will ascend to the leadership position in 2011 among operating systems and remain there throughout our forecast period. Android has quickly established itself as the cornerstone of many companies’ smartphone strategies. Other vendors are expected to follow. IDC believes that by the end of 2010, total Android-powered shipments reached a total of 69.9 million units, representing 23.0% of all smartphone shipments for the year. IDC believes that vendors will ship a total of 178.9 million Android-powered smartphones by the end of 2011 and reach 420.0 million units by 2015.1

Pricing and Availability                                                                                                         

Citrix GoToMeeting for Android and Citrix Receiver for Android are pre-loaded on the Motorola DROID 3 smartphone device through Verizon and available free of charge. For more information about GoToMeeting, visit www.gotomeeting.com.  For more information about Citrix Receiver, visit www.citrix.com/receiver. DROID 3 by Motorola is now available online at www.verizonwireless.com and will be in Verizon Wireless Communication Stores by July 14 for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.

Related Links

The DROID 3:  Ready for Business with Citrix Receiver and GoToMeeting: http://blogs.citrix.com/tag/motorola/

Follow Us Online

Citrix GoToMeeting on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GoToMeeting
Citrix GoToMeeting on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/gotomeeting
Citrix Receiver Cloud Demo Environment: http://citrixcloud.net  
Workshifting blog: http://workshifting.com
 
About Citrix Systems, Inc

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is a leading provider of virtual computing solutions that help companies deliver IT as an on-demand service. Founded in 1989, Citrix combines virtualization, networking, and cloud computing technologies into a full portfolio of products that enable virtual workstyles for users and virtual datacenters for IT. More than 230,000 organizations worldwide rely on Citrix to help them build simpler and more cost-effective IT environments. Citrix partners with over 10,000 companies in more than 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2010 was $1.87 billion.

The Online Services Division of Citrix provides secure, easy-to-use cloud-based solutions that enable people to work from anywhere with anyone. Whether using GoToMeeting® to hold online meetings, GoToWebinar® to conduct larger web events, GoToTraining® to train customers or employees, GoToMyPC® to access and work on a remote Mac® or PC, GoToAssist® to support customers or GoToManage® for IT support and management, businesses and individuals are increasing productivity, decreasing travel costs and improving sales, training and service on a global basis. For more information, visit www.citrixonline.com.

We’ve already seen plenty of leaks and even a how-to video on Verizon’s upcoming Motorola DROID 3, but n0w full 360-degree images of the phone have been leaked. The images confirm what we’ve seen before: the DROID 3 will offer a similar design to the two DROID phones that came before it, including a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It will, however, get a hardware spec boost. We’ve heard the device will pack a 4-inch 960 x 540 qHD display, a dual-core processor, support for HDMI-out, and an 8-megapixel camera capable of recording HD video. The latest rumors suggest that the phone could be announced as soon as July 7th, but unfortunately it doesn’t look like support for Verizon’s 4G LTE network will be included.

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We’ve seen plenty of leaked shots of the DROID 3 (also known as the Milestone 3 in Europe), but now you can get a glimpse of the clearest one yet. The phone first surfaced in March, again in April, and then the specs were leaked in May. The bad news is that it’s becoming more and more clear that the phone will be nearly identical in looks to the DROID 2. The good news is there’s decent spec boost. The DROID 3 should sport a 4-inch display with 960 x 540 qHD resolution, a dual-core processor, HDMI-out, and an 8-megapixel camera that’s presumably capable of recording HD video. Early rumors suggested a June launch on Verizon Wireless, so hopefully we’ll hear more in the coming weeks.

Via Engadget

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Just waiting for Motorola’s update to the extremely popular DROID lineup? The Motorola DROID 3, which we’ve seen leaked in bits here and there, has now been shown off in a pretty detailed way. Enthusiast blog PhonePads has posted 3 how-to videos featuring the Motorola DROID 3 and they look like corporate-produced videos. We’re sure we’ll see the Motorola DROID 3 get official sooner than later, but the question is, are you interested? Videos are after the break!

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