April 2010 Archives

Apr

Verizon Posts An Official Detailed HTC Droid Incredible Product Video + Wirefly Demonstrates Incredible's TV-Out Capabilities

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Droid Incredible, HTC, News, Verizon Wireless, Videos

After a barrage of preorder news, a bunch of previews, and lots of excitement, we bring you two more videos showcasing HTC Droid Incredible's capabilities.

The first one, posted by Verizon's official Youtube account, is an official and professionally shot product review going into all aspects of the Incredible:

The second video, shot by Wirefly, shows what happens when you hook up the Incredible to the TV with the included TV-out port. Playing videos and slideshows on the big screen has never been easier with a mobile phone:

...

Apr

Google's New Ploy To Recruit iPhone App Developers For Android

Posted by John Thompson in Apps/Games, News

Last Updated: April 2nd, 2011

With the number of applications in the Android Market continuing to rise, Google is apparently adopting new tactics in their bid to outnumber applications in the iPhone’s App Store. David Pogue, a New York Times blogger, reported yesterday that he was contacted by an iPhone app developer who made him aware of Google’s latest attempt to get developers writing their apps for Android.

The developer, who is behind the Texts From Last Night app for the iPhone, told David Pogue how he received an email from a developer advocate at Google. He was asked if he wanted to port the ...

Apr

XPERIA X10 Coming To AT&T This Summer - Will AT&T Cripple It Like The Backflip?

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in AT&T, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia X10 (es209ra)

A supposedly trusted source told Engadget that Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X10 Android phone, which already got released in Canada on April 15th, would be coming to America under AT&T's wing this July or August.

The device, which is currently running Android 1.6, has a 4" screen, an 8MP camera, a beefy 1GHz Snapdragon processor, and Sony's own "Rachael" UI.

AT&T has the worst track record for crippling the only Android device that dared enter its network so far - the Motorola Backflip, most likely due to pressure from Apple. The Backflip cannot install non-market apps, has Yahoo as its ...

Apr

Update: Adobe Says “LOL JK” – Flash Will Be Released Before End Of 1H 2010

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Applications, Apps/Games, Devices By Manufacturer, Games, News

Queue the sad trombone.

Remember that big stink about Flash not being out on Android (and other mobile platforms) until the second half of 2010? Well, it turns out it was much ado about nothing.

Apparently, when Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said:

We have a number of excited partners who are working aggressively with us to bring Flash to their devices whether they be smartphones, as well as handsets, and so companies like Google and RIM and Palm are going to be releasing Flash on smartphones and tablets in the second half of the year.

he was referring to ...

Apr

HTC Droid Incredible Review Roundup. Consensus: It's The Best Android Phone On The Market, Hands Down

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Droid Incredible, HTC, News, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Verizon Wireless, Videos

Last Updated: October 11th, 2011

The Incredible review units have been arriving to some of the big sites in the past week, and the embargo is now off. Here I've assembled a collection of the best available review posts and videos, so that you can get the full Incredible experience before committing to a pre-order.

The general consensus is: it's an amazing device, better than anything available in the US right now (Motorola Droid, Nexus One, etc) and yes, you should go get it. And yes, we should stop calling it incredible (as an adjective) in every review, but no, everyone will be still ...

Apr

HTC Droid Incredible Now Available For Preorder From VZW.com For $199 And No Mail-In Rebates, To Be Delivered on 4/29

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Droid Incredible, HTC, News, Verizon Wireless

Today Verizon finally made their newest superhero Android phone - the HTC Droid Incredible, available for preorder from VZW.com, a day after Best Buy opened up its own preorder site.

So why should you order online instead of buying it in a store where you can pick it up right away on the release date of April 29th?

Well, first of all, this monster of a phone which sports a blazing 1GHz Snapdragon processor and an 8MP camera, will cost you $299 and come with a $100 mail-in (this mail-in crap should die already - this is 2010 ...

Apr

Re: Re: FWD: Re: Sprint HTC Hero Android 2.1 Final Update Schedule Confirmed!!!11One

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Hero, Hero (Sprint, HeroC), HTC, Sprint

We are all tired of waiting for Android 2.1 to finally officially land on the HTC Hero, or even get a definite day announced by anyone official.

Speculations after speculations that started back in November kept predicting new dates after dates for an upgrade, starting from January to pretty much every week of April, and now May.

In light of these "rumors", we found a new rumor of that we wanted to share, with smiles on our faces.

This was drawn by a 4 year old kid of VoXPCS on Sprint.com forums:

I am writing this from the ...

Apr

Flash Beta To Hit Android Devices In May, Require Froyo? We Have The Beta Sign-Up Links!

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Applications, Apps/Games, Devices By Manufacturer, Games, News

If Twitter and a few online forum posts are to be believed, Adobe had some interesting things to say about Flash hitting Android yesterday at FlashCamp, a mini-conference for developers held at Adobe's San Francisco offices.

Details are still somewhat sparse, as we're piecing them together from various sources around the web, but it appears that Adobe not only raffled off a Nexus One and demoed a few flash games on Android, but they also announced that Flash would run exclusively on Froyo builds and higher, and that both Froyo and Flash would be released in May.

Seeing as ...

Apr

Flash Delayed Until 2H 2010, Android Tablet Makers Weep

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Devices By Manufacturer, News, Videos

Last Updated: April 19th, 2010

Another day, another delay. Recently, Fox Business News sat down with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to talk about their new Creative Suite 5 and the controversy regarding Apple excluding Flash from their recent software updates when he let slip that a mobile version of Flash on a variety of platforms, including Android, will be available in the second half of the year.

You can find full video here, but I've excerpted the juicy bits below:

We have a number of excited partners who are working aggressively with us to bring Flash to their devices whether they be smartphones, as

...

Apr

HTC Droid Incredible Now Available For Preorder From Best Buy Retail Stores A Day Early For $199 And No Rebates

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Droid Incredible, HTC, News, Verizon Wireless

It is official - as of today you can guarantee that a brand new shiny HTC Incredible will find a new home in your pocket on launch date - April 29th.

Incredible is regularly priced at $299 with a $100 mail-in rebate but if you head over to your local Best Buy store and preorder it, you will only have to pay $199 (+tax) out of pocket, $50 of which is due at the time of your visit.

There are no mail-in rebates to worry about when you deal with Best Buy, however, which is exactly why I got my ...

Apr

Devour Gets A Minor Update, 2.1 Still Nowhere To Be Found

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, Devour, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

While it’s still unknown when we’ll see a 2.1 update on the Devour, it looks like Verizon has dropped a minor update that should keep you busy in the meantime.

It’s the usual bug fixes and minor application enhancements that we’ve seen carriers drop from time to time, so nothing to write home about, but it’s always nice to know that carriers and manufacturers are paying attention to your device. I haven’t had the opportunity to play with a Devour just yet (I’ll be happy to provide you with my address, Moto!), so I’m not able to give any first ...

Apr

Detailed Mega Review Of Android 2.1 On Our HTC Hero - Discover All The New Features (With Lots Of Screenshots)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Hero, Hero (Sprint, HeroC), HTC, Mods, Sprint

Last Updated: April 21st, 2010

Introduction

Us, Hero owners, have been waiting for an OS upgrade for a loooooong time, since the phone got released last October with Android 1.5.

At first, we were hoping for 1.6, then 2.0, and finally 2.1 was promised ("Totally for real this time, yo" - said Sprint and HTC but we saw nothing).

Other phones kept getting 2.1 upgrades but our favorite Hero saw only promises after promises with release dates pushed further and further back.

Android 2.1 On HTC Hero

Therefore, when a Hero Android 2.1 build got [inadvertently - oh, the drama with these leaks!] leaked online...

Apr

Sony Ericsson To Keep X10 Relevant With Multi-touch And 2.1

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Devices By Manufacturer, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia X10 (es209ra)

Last Updated: April 18th, 2010

Sony Ericsson generated plenty of hype with the leaked screenshots and videos of its 'Rachel' UI on top of the Android operating system, but managed to stem the excitement a bit when it was revealed that it would be based on top of Android 1.6.

X10 fans can rejoice though, because according to the blog mobiles.co.uk, a Sony Ericsson rep told them that users can expect a 'very big update' in the second half of 2010.

Mobiles.co.uk has taken that to mean that yes, the phone will receive 2.1 with multi-touch enabled. I, as usual, remain a bit skeptical, ...

Apr

HTC Hero And Samsung Moment Android 2.1 Updates Coming In Early May

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Hero (Sprint, HeroC), HTC, Moment, Samsung, Sprint

Last Updated: July 31st, 2011

An internal Sprint memo has surfaced showing a new early May release date for both HTC Hero and Samsung Moment Android phones, jonathan76888 on AndroidForums found out.

The memo looks quite legitimate and this time actually lists 2.1 as the update target, compared to the one from 3 weeks ago that referenced a "maintenance release" and promised an April 9th date (followed by rumors of April 16th, all false).

The wait is almost over, guys. In the meantime, I have flashed my Hero with the 2.1 firmware leaked recently and have a very detailed post with all new features and ...

Apr

Dell Streak 7" and 10" Tablets Leaked, Aero Promised By June

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Aero, AT&T, Dell, Streak

Dell Streak 7 and 10

In addition to the already announced Dell Streak Mini-5 - a 5" tablet device, Engadget found out from a leaked memo today that the 7" and 10" versions are going to be coming as well. Dell seems to have dropped the "Mini" part of the title for these larger versions of the Streak.

Dell Streak 7 and 10

Looks like Dell has some sense after all - launching just a tiny 5" tablet would have left most consumers unsatisfied, prompting them to look for other options, such as an iPad or ICD Gemini.

The 5" version is said to ...