Google’s Own Youtube Channel Confirms Ice Cream Sandwich’s Oct. 11th Debut

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If you had any lingering doubts that Samsung’s upcoming Unpacked event would serve as a launching pad for Ice Cream Sandwich (the next major build of Android), let them be cast away: Google has just gone and confirmed it themselves.

Early this morning, the Android Developer Youtube channel (which serves as the official video repository for Google’s Android Dev group) put up a placeholder page for the livestream of the October 11th event. Nothing too unusual there.

What is unusual, though, is the name of the placeholder. Rather than “Samsung Unpacked!”, or “A Special Event From Samsung And Google”, or anything else even somewhat vague, they just come right out and say it: it’s the Android ICS Launch.

Between Ice Cream Sandwich and the unveiling of the Galaxy Nexus (the device formerly known as the Nexus Prime), this event is absolutely shaping up to be one to watch. We’ll be there bringin’ back all the details as they break, so be sure to tune in next week.

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Android is a software platform for mobile devices based on the Linux operating system and developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. It allows developers to write managed code in Java that utilizes Google-developed software libraries, but does not support programs developed in native code. The unveiling of the Android platform on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 34 hardware, software and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards...

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Amazon Tacitly Confirms The “Kindle Fire” On Their Website

Chris Velazco is a mobile enthusiast and writer who studied English and Marketing at Rutgers University. Once upon a time, he was the news intern for MobileCrunch, and in between posts, he worked in wireless sales at Best Buy. After graduating, he returned to the new TechCrunch to as a full-time mobile writer. He counts advertising, running, musical theater,... ? Learn More

It won’t be long now before Amazon kicks off their big press conference, where the much-awaited Kindle tablet is rumored to make its first public appearance. We’ve learned recently that Amazon will be calling it the Kindle Fire, and the company seems to have quietly confirmed the name on their website.

Let’s try something here: punch “amazon.com/food” into your address bar, and you’ll be redirected to the company’s food and grocery selection. Likewise, “amazon.com/clothes” takes you to their virtual equivalent of a department store. Take a wild guess as to where “amazon.com/kindlefire” leads you.

Yep, the “kindlefire” subdomain redirects you to the Kindle store. Coincidence? I very much doubt it — normally, tacking anything onto the end of the amazon.com URL takes you straight to an error page, and other Amazon-owned Kindle names similarly lead to a dead end. Take for example KindleWave.com — Amazon registered the domain name in late August, but amazon.com/kindlewave leads to an error page.

The issue of the domain name also seems to have been squared away: Domain Name Wire reports that Amazon has recently purchased the KindleFire.com domain name from its original owner. At time of writing, the URL leads nowhere, but expect that to change shortly.

We’ll have more details when the press conference kicks off at 10 AM, but keep your eyes peeled on the Kindle Fire page: something interesting is likely to pop up before too long.

UPDATE: Our live blog of the event is getting ready to start, so feel free to mosey on over and see what Amazon is up to.

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T-Mobile Poster Reveals Nokia Drive For Windows Phone, Confirms Sabre?

Chris Velazco is a mobile enthusiast and writer who studied English and Marketing at Rutgers University. Once upon a time, he was the news intern for MobileCrunch, and in between posts, he worked in wireless sales at Best Buy. After graduating, he returned to the new TechCrunch to as a full-time mobile writer. He counts advertising, running, musical theater,... ? Learn More

Oops. A new promotional poster made an appearance in a store at T-Mobile’s German headquarters, where it confirmed the existence of a Nokia Windows Phone with a 3.7-inch display and Nokia’s Drive navigation service.

The poster was up only briefly, but a quick-thinking tipster snapped a few shots and fired them off to WinRumors. After running it through a quick and dirty Google translation, the poster’s copy mentions that Nokia Drive for WP includes a 3D navigation display like its MeeGo cousin, and support for voice control.

Thrilling, no? Of course, that’s not all the poster had in store for us. Further down in the description, it makes mention of a device packing a 3.7-inch curved AMOLED display.

Nokia’s fabled Searay handset reportedly bears quite a resemblance to the company’s N9, but whether or not it shares the device’s 3.9-inch display is still in the air. If it does though, then these marketing materials may refer to another Nokia device that was accidentally outed earlier this week.

If the terms and conditions of a Microsoft Canada contest are to be believed, then Nokia has at least one more Windows Phone in the pipeline. Rumors of a handset called the Sabre can be laid to rest, as the contest’s fine print seems to back up the device’s existence. Details are pretty much non-existent at this stage, but WPCentral ruminated that the Sabre would have a 3.7-inch display when they first caught wind of it last month.

The matching screen sizes could be a complete coincidence, but it’s also possible that Nokia’s Sabre is farther along then we thought. The fact that Microsoft has since pulled the offending wording from the contest rules only makes the Sabre look more official. With Nokia’s Windows Phones poised to launch before the year is out, they’ll hopefully come forward with details sooner rather than later.

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