By Brad Molen 
posted Aug 25th 2011 2:46PM 
Many of us were holding out hopes that the Function, Verizon's rumored variant of the Samsung Galaxy S II, would be the latest addition to its LTE lineup, but now we're hearing that it may not be coming to the carrier at all. According to the Wall Street Journal, it appears quite likely that Big Red won't be involved in Samsung's anticipated launch event this coming Monday. The publication cites people familiar with the plans, who also mentioned that we should still expect to see the Galaxy S II make its way to Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T at the very least. Now here's some possible relief to the sting you may have just felt: BGR is now reporting that while this is all true, Verizon has a Samsung phone in the works that will have "nearly identical specs" to that of the GSII. We're still awaiting official confirmation from Verizon on the matter and will update when we receive word. Update: We just heard from a Verizon spokesperson who confirmed the carrier will not be carrying the device, and offered the following quote: "We have a robust portfolio of devices that offer customers exciting options including the Droid Charge by Samsung which runs on Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network."
In an extraordinarily convenient turn of events, one buyer of a firesale-priced HP TouchPad at Best Buy a couple of days ago claims his came out of the box with an extra special treat -- it's running Android, 2.2 to be exact. A possible explanation for the existence of this unicorn tablet can be seen in the two YouTube videos posted of the device so far, where it flashes a Qualcomm Innovation Center (Quic) logo which suggests it could be some kind of development project that slipped into retail. We queried Qualcomm about this TouchPad's provenance ourselves and received only a "We have no comment on the video" in return, so the decision to believe that it's real or a particularly well executed hoax is yours. Now, you can be the first to solve this riddle since the owner has put it up for sale on eBay. Need another potential perk? How about the ability to snag a TouchPad-running-Android bounty posted by HacknMod that's up to $2,150 as of this posting. Relevant links are below, including the initial Reddit post, both videos and the auction, so while our credit cards will remain securely in our wallets those who are more trusting -- or just can't believe that anyone would would be dumb enough to try and sell a fake -- can put a bid in if they so choose. 
Well, that must be embarrassing: Nokia gets a fancy countdown clock set up on its Facebook page as a teaser for something new on Symbian, and the file it set up still says "belle_fb_TeaserMain" in it. It doesn't anymore, but the cat's already out of the bag; on Wednesday morning Espoo will most likely unveil Belle, its forthcoming bump up from Symbian Anna. We're unsure of the exact details that'll be shared, though we've already seen enough of the new update to know what to expect: with a couple lengthy videos, multitudes of screenshots and a leaked version of Belle floating around somewhere, there isn't much of a mystery left to shed light on. That said, we're still hoping we'll see some device announcements as well as dates and device compatibility. Perhaps Mr. Elop just wants us to to think it's Belle, in which case this would be the best teaser of all. 
You've probably already read about the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that affected the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, and now we're hearing reports that the quake brought down some landline and cell phone service in New York, along with other cities on the East Coast. We've been unable to place calls in New York City using AT&T and Sprint smartphones, as well as office landlines. Are you experiencing issues as well? Let us know in the comments. 
Heads up, card swipers, because Square has just issued an update to its iOS credit card app. Version 2.1 brings enhanced transaction speeds and a streamlined tipping interface to iPhone and iPad users, along with added support for $0.00 price points. Plus, any purchases below $25 will no longer require a signature, meaning you can safely buy that latte while keeping human interaction to a bare minimum. If you're interested in making the jump, hit up the source link below.