Congratulations, iPad 2, you’re official!

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)

Phew! We picked a good week to pick up our semiweekly blogs on the happenings at the Federal Communications Commission. The agency certified a hefty load of big-name devices this week, including the iPad 2 and the HTC Merge. The feds also gave the thumbs up to many of the gadgets we saw last month at Mobile World Congress, including the HTC Desire S, LG Optimus Pad (as well as its G-Slate cousin), and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play.

Because the FCC has to certify every phone sold in the United States, not to mention test its SAR rating, the agency’s online database offers a lot of sneak peeks to those who dig. And to save you the trouble, Crave has combed through the database for you. Here are a selection of filings from the past week on new and upcoming cell phones. Click through to read the full report.

Apple iPad 2

HTC Incredible S

HTC Merge

Huawei C2831

Huawei Ideos X2

LG Cosmos Touch

LG G Slate

LG Optimus 3D Pad

Nokia 5530 Xpress Music

Nokia X7

Samsung SCH-i510

Samsung SGH-T499

Samsung SPH-M380

Sony Ericsson G11

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

ViewSonic ViewPad

ZTE E821

ZTE S1001

ZTE Z221

ZTE Z331

As shown by this chart on Motorola’s support page, the list of phones getting left behind with older versions of Android grows by two with the Charm and Flipout.

(Credit:
Motorola)

Motorola has decided to pull back on plans to update its Charm (T-Mobile) and Flipout (ATT) handsets with Android 2.2 Froyo.

Of course, that means that the smartphones, which were released with Android 2.1 back in the fall, will remain on Eclair indefinitely. The handsets join a growing list of Motorola phones being left behind on older versions of Android. Most recently, the company decided that the Cliq XT would stay on Android 1.5 and never see features such as Google Maps Navigation or live wallpapers.

Looking at the list of devices represented on Motorola’s support page (see above chart), it’s apparent that the company doesn’t intend to spend much time or development on older devices. Let’s hope that new handsets such as the Atrix 4G or Droid X get more than one update.

As to why these handsets aren’t going to see much beyond Android 2.1 could be anyone’s guess. Motorola talks of wanting to provide an “optimal customer experience,” but that may be interpreted many ways. Perhaps the problems stem from having to work with so many form factors and hardware configurations.

On the other hand, the issues could stem from the Motoblur interface, which overlays Android. Perhaps Moto integrated the custom UI too heavily, which prevents it from acting quickly to roll out updates. Another likely scenario might be that these phones aren’t selling as well as anticipated and that it would be a waste of time and resources to work on updates for such a limited quantity of devices.

(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)

The Samsung Suede is attuned to music, that we know. In fact, its bundling with Cricket Wireless’ Muve Music service is what made us nominate it as a Best of
CES contender, and makes the Suede one of the best music phones around.

In terms of offering all-inclusive music for a great monthly deal, the Suede and Muve Music deliver. Yet the combination falls short on the finer points of speed, usability, and general luster. Check out our full review of Muve Music and the Samsung Suede–with video!–to see why.

In case you haven’t heard, tonight is the start of the second annual “National Day of Unplugging”–a grassroots effort to get people to shut off our precious mobile devices, if only for a day. The 2-year-old project encourages all of us
iPhone addicts and CrackBerry enthusiasts to turn off our cell phones for 24 hours in an effort to reconnect with the world.

And yes, for those who need it, there’s an app for that. In a new twist this year, the backers of the event have created iPhone, Android, and Web apps that can both remind users to shut off their device as well as alert social media connections of why they will be offline. The apps were created by a team from Washington, D.C.-based Revolution Messaging. The Web app can even be sent to a device via text message by texting REBOOT to 738674.

Among those backing the project this year is Courtney Holt, who until recently was head of MySpace Music.

“You can’t always do it, but I think it is something worth trying,” Holt told Mobilized. Holt said he would have liked to take part last year but that the event conflicted with duties related to South By Southwest conference, which was taking place at the same time.

I teased him that perhaps it was easier for him to unplug this year since he is between gigs. He assured me that he is still plenty busy, but said he couldn’t really talk about what he is up to. That said, he said he is looking forward to taking part this year and hopes others in his social circle will do the same.

Holt also said he was aware of the irony of the fact that the company is using a mobile app to promote taking a break from mobile apps.

“As ironic as it is that we created an app to do it, sometimes you need a tap on the shoulder,” Holt said.

For National Day of Unplugging, people are being encouraged to turn off their devices from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. The backers have also partnered with San Francisco Bay Area-based Volunteer Match to give people options of what to do with their hands when they aren’t texting or catapulting red birds into a pile of bricks.

It grew out of a larger effort, known as Reboot, which is pushing for more frequent downtime, encouraging weekly breaks as part of a “Sabbath Manifesto” designed to allow people to redefine the notion of a day of rest. Among the creators of the Sabbath Manifesto is Dan Rollman, who founded the Universal World Record Database, an online database that aims to do to the “Guinness Book of World Records” what Wikipedia has done to the encyclopedia.

Although the Sabbath Manifesto project has Jewish origins, Holt said tech addicts of all faiths (or no faith at all) can get something out of the act of unplugging.

“It came out of a Jewish conversation, but I don’t think there’s anything inherently Jewish,” Holt said.

Mobilized is strongly considering turning off the phone (well, all the phones) but not sure how that will go over with the BoomTown boss. Holt did say he’d write me a permission slip.

Story Copyright (c) 2010 AllThingsD. All rights reserved.