The Samsung SCH-R900 made an appearance at CTIA this year, and today the device passed through the FCC.  The SCH-R900 will be the first LTE phone to launch in the United States, and surprisingly it will be launched by discount wireless carrier MetroPCS.

The SCH-R900 offers Bluetooth, and 802.11 b/g WiFi, but other than that, we don’t know much about the device.  The device supports 850 and 1900 CDMA/EVDO frequencies, as well as MetroPCS’s 1700 AWS frequency.

MetroPCS plans to launch the SCH-R900 in the Q2 2010, and today’s FCC approval suggests that we will see the device any day now.

We spotted the LG M17 USB LTE modem, pictured above, back in January when the device passed through the FCC.  Recently, external photos of the device were made public, revealing a rather large form factor – we estimate the device is about 6 inches long and 4 inches wide.

The M17 has an internal, 2400 mAh rechargeable battery, so technically the device is portable.  It also comes with a portable travel charger.

According to test reports, the M17 operates on the 700MHz LTE frequency, which will be used by Verizon.  You can also see a SIM card slot on the M17 – a new feature on Verizon devices.

No word on pricing or availability, but Verizon is rolling out its LTE network later this year so we wouldn’t be surprised to see the M17 within the next few months.

The PEEL portable 3G 802.11 b/g WiFi hotspot passed through the FCC today.  As you can see the device bears Sprint branding, and it’s designed to work on the company’s CDMA/EVDO network.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer support for 4G.

Interestingly, the PEEL is designed to attach to the back of an iPod Touch – all you need to do is connect to the PEEL’s WiFi signal with your iPod Touch, and you have anywhere access to the Internet.  Yup, that means you can even place calls with your iPod Touch when logged on to the net via WiFi.  The PEEL supports up to five devices simultaneously.

The PEEL is manufactured by ZTE and has the model number U3200.  We don’t have any info on pricing or a release date, but today’s FCC filing suggests that the device should be available soon.

Note:  In our earlier post, we completely overlooked the fact that the PEEL is designed to fit on the back of the iPod Touch.  Sorry!

This device from HTC made its way through the FCC today.  Known as the PC49120, the device sports WCDMA bands II and V, GSM/EDGE 850 and 1900, 802.11 b/g WiFi and Bluetooth.

At this point, we don’t know much else about the PC49120.  However, support for WCDMA bands II and V suggest that the device will be coming to AT&T.

Here’s some good news for Incredible, Droid and Droid X users:  WareGround.com is reporting that a “Verizon tipster” has confirmed that these three smartphones will be bumped up to Froyo, aka Android 2.2, starting on August 6th, with all devices expected to be updated by August 15th.  Who knows how reliable WareGround’s “Verizon tipster” is, but this evening Engadget reported that at least one Droid X user received an over-the-air update to Froyo.

We’re not particularly fond of the waiting-for-OTA-update-game, but it appears that this will be the case for many Android smartphone owners over the next two to three weeks.  Be honest, how many times have you checked “Systems updates” so far?

Rooting an Android device can be an intimidating proposition for some users.  But thanks to AllDroid.org member Sil3ntKi113, the rooting process just got a whole lot easier.  In a forum post yesterday, Sil3ntKi113 offered up a GUI rooting program for the Droid X that makes rooting the device as easy as pushing a single button, above.  Want to unroot your X?  That just takes a single button press as well.

And to think that just a couple weeks ago we were afraid we wouldn’t be able to root our Droid X at all.  Pick up the rooting app here.

And we thought news of a Motorola tablet was surprising.  Earlier today, a Kmart circular revealed that the discount retailer will begin selling the GENTOUCH78, a 7” (800 x 480) touch screen Android tablet later this week.  The tablet will feature an 800MHz processor, 2GB of storage, 256MB of RAM, SD/MMC expandability up to 16GB and WiFi, all for just $150.

The tablet is manufactured by Augen, a Florida-based developer of eBook readers, netbooks and tablets.  We don’t know much about Augen either, but the company does appear to be an up-and-coming manufacturer of portable devices.

Source:  Engadget

The tablet rumor mill is buzzing once again with news that Motorola may be developing an Android tablet.  According to The Street, “people familiar with the project" claim that Motorola is planning to launch a 10” Android-powered tablet in November.  And this won’t be any Android tablet – this tablet will run Gingerbread, the next version of Google’s Android OS.

At this point, these rumors aren’t backed by much substance.  However, Android tablets are springing up at an increasing rate, and it would be nice to see a mainstream phone manufacturer launch a competitor to the iPad.

The iPad has performed well – iPad sales were only slightly less than Mac sales in Apple’s latest quarter.  It’s not clear if there is enough consumer demand for an Android tablet, however.  There are also few Android apps tailored for tablet, and it will take some time before the quality of Android tablet apps is on par with iPad apps.

The Samsung Epic 4G is one of the more compelling incarnations of the Samsung Galaxy S.  With a slide out QWERTY keypad and WiMAX, the device promises to be a hot seller for Sprint.

So when can we get our hands on the Epic 4G?  The Android Police have a few data points that suggest the device will be on sale by August 20th.  They base this timeframe on the release date of a Samsung TV video featuring the Epic 4G.  Previously, Samsung TV videos for mobile phones have come between one and four days after the device was released.  The Samsung TV video for the Epic 4G is scheduled to be released on August 20th, so if the timing of this video is anything like previous Samsung TV videos, then the Epic 4G should be released before August 20th.

Sure, the Android Police’s theory isn’t solid proof, but the August 20th timeframe does jive with Samsung’s announcement that the Epic 4G will be available by “mid-summer.”  We’ll keep you up to date as we learn more.

Sure, the HP Slate may be relegated to the enterprise market, buy why not consider the UMPC891 tablet from Shenzhen Sinchun Electronic Co., Ltd. instead?

This tablet has an 8.9” TFT LCD touch screen with a 1024 x 600 resolution, and it’s powered by an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor.  Other specs include up to 2GB of RAM, Intel GMA950 graphics, up to a 250GB SSD, 802.11 b/g WiFi, 10/100 Ethernet, 1.3MP camera, 3 USB ports, VGA out, SD/MMC multicard slot, and Bluetooth.

The UMPC891’s user manual shows the device running Windows XP, but we’d guess that the device can be upgraded to the slightly more tablet friendly Windows 7.  The device measures 9.8” x 6.6” x 0.84” and weighs 2.2 pounds – not bad for a tablet.

Sure, Shenzhen Sinchun Electronic Co doesn’t exactly have the brand recognition of HP, but hey, at this point you don’t have many other options.  It’s not a bad looking device either – it actually reminds us a bit of a large iPhone 1G.

No word on pricing or a release date, but the device did pass through the FCC today, so an appearance in some form in the United States isn’t out of the question.