AT&T To Announce PlayBook Release Tomorrow?

Carrier support in favor of RIM’s PlayBook tablet hasn’t exactly been “stellar” thus far. Even worse, the general consumer audience has passed on it in favor of several other Android tablets as well as Apple’s iPad 1 and 2. But even after the onslaught of negative news surrounding RIM over the last couple of weeks, it might just start getting better.

A tweet by RIM employee (gina71314) claims that AT&T will be making a PlayBook announcement tomorrow. It could pertain to AT&T selling the PlayBook itself. Other topics of importance include the duo finally making the BlackBerry Bridge app available to AT&T customers.

We won’t go into how ridiculous it is for both AT&T to block it and RIM to allow AT&T to block it this long into the game. It just goes to show how screwed up RIM’s marketing and methodology is. With that said, what do you think AT&T/RIM will announce tomorrow?

2 New Gmail Themes Mimic Google+ Style: Preview And Preview (Dense)

After a solid 24 hours with Google+ we’ll admit we’re in love. Not only is the service a fresh twist on Facebook’s tried and true ecosystem, but the minimalistic white/grey/black/red UI is downright awesome. Now if only Gmail featured the same type of look…wait a minute.

Thinking that very same thing tonight we took a stroll on by the Gmail themes page and lo and behold, two new themes “Preview” and “Preview (Dense)” were waiting for us. The look is built to follow Google+’s UI finally bringing a feeling of completion to Google’s overall ecosystem.

Until today, Gmail was the odd man out as the dark header bar was not carried over into the inbox. That changes now, however.

As for the differences between the two themes — Preview (Dense) simply features less line vertical line spacing than the regular Preview theme.

According to the Gmail Blog, the new Preview theme is a small glimpse at what Gmail, and Google’s web services overall, will soon look like. We like it. What about you?

Pool Party To Take On Instagram On iOS, Conquer Android?

Google is laying it on thick this week. Google+ was already a big enough venture, but now it has emerged that they’re not content with only taking on Facebook. A currently private beta-only app called “Pool Party” being developed by the old Slide team looks to take on all photo sharing apps on Android, and even Instagram on iOS — the latter of which as continuously grown in popularity in recent weeks.

The whole concept behind Pool Party is that users can upload photos into various real-time albums/”pools”. What’s odd, however, is that since Slide is now part of Google, it’s competing directly with several of Google’s own services including the newly launched Google+ which just so happens to feature it’s own photos sharing section.

As of writing, Pool Party is available in both the Android Market and iOS App Store. Though as stated before, it’s a closed beta.

We’re pretty hardcore Instagram users here at GS, so Google would really have to impress if they’re looking to win us over. What about you?

DROID 3 Specs Confirmed: 4″ qHD Display, Dual-Core 1 GHz CPU In Route.

The often leaked Motorola DROID 3 is a bit more official tonight as the device’s full spec sheet has been revealed. As was previously rumored, a 4″ qHD (540 x 960) display, dual-core TI OMAP 4430 1GHz processor, 8-megapixel camera w/ LED flash and 16 GB of internal storage top the list of must haves. Compared to the DROID X2 and DROID 2 in the same sheet puts things in perspective — if it’s a keyboard packing VZW Android device you seek, there’s really only one answer.

Full sheet after the break…

RIM Responds To Exec’s “Open Letter”.

Based off of earlier reports of a claimed high-level RIM executive that blasted the company’s co-CEO’s for running the company into the ground, RIM has published their official response. Unsurprisingly, it goes on denying the claims of the open letter saying a high-level RIM exec is unlikely to publicly address internal problems such as this so-called exel did while also stating RIM is “in a solid business” and listing off sales specs such as one that claims the company sells 100 phones per minute every day around the world.

While a nice response for sure, it sounds to PR-ish to us. For example, the claim RIM is in “good standing” is laughable. RIM has nothing in their immediate portfolio that can actively compete with anything on the market. Until their QNX phones begin arriving they’re a sitting duck.

The original source of the open letter, BGR, assures the authenticity of the letter “has been vetted” and re-checked. Somebody is lying. Is it RIM or BGR? Given RIM’s track record in blatantly denying reality and the pathetic state of their internal management and overall future, we’d point the finger at them.

Moving on — full response after the jump…

Google+ Code Spills The Beans. Games And “Questions” Coming To New Social Service.

Well, damn. Everything we said about Google+ being better than Facebook for leaving the stupid games/apps portion to Facebook’s cluttered ecosystem were a bit premature. Two unannounced Google+ features — Games and “Questions” — were unearthed today signaling a potential new direction for Google’s infant social network service. Granted, just because something is mentioned in a particular piece of code hardly means anything will turn up anytime soon.

With that said, if all this extra stuff must be added our only request is that Google not make games and apps so damn annoying, obtrusive, and bloated. If they can manage that, Google+ will definitely have even more of a chance in taking on Facebook. It’s one thing to get the tech world addicted to your product. The global population of mainstream users is an entirely different beast.

Sprint Issuing Galaxy Tab Gingerbread Update Starting July 5th.

The good old 7″ Galaxy Tab may not be the high and mighty device it once was, but that hasn’t stopped Sprint from showing it a bit of upgrade love. In a world of Android 3.x tablets, the Galaxy Tab will get a fresh coat of digital paint via an upcoming Android 2.3 Gingerbread update that also brings HID Bluetooth support too!

The update is slated to begin rolling out next week on July 5th.

In other news: Sprint is also pushing out an update for the Samsung Transform that fixes PRL/data profile updates.