October 2010 Archives

Oct

Froyo Leak Available For Samsung Captivate Along With Numerous High-Fives

Posted by Brad Ganley in Captivate, Froyo 2.2, News

Over at XDA, user designgears got this leak from an anonymous source and, while we were initially skeptical of its authenticity, it does appear legit, according to the users who have flashed it. The instructions to install it are fairly simple for even inexperienced users:

Download the leaked file I897UCJI6-OCD-REV02-Low-designgears.exe (hit the source link at the end of this post).
Turn off your Captivate.
Launch the I897UCJI6-OCD-REV02-Low-designgears.exe file you just downloaded.
Hold down the volume buttons and plug in your Captivate.
Hit "Start" on the Odin program. Sit back and relax.

After that, you should be greeted by this in your "About Phone" menu:

The usual "not my bad if you break it" lingo comes in at this point but you were expecting that.

Oct

Samsung Pulls Update For Epic 4G, Community Begs To Differ

Posted by Brad Ganley in Epic 4G, News

Aw, snap! That update Sprint was supposed to deliver to the Epic 4g yesterday didn't happen due to "administrative issues" per this announcement from Sprint:

We learned this evening that there were administrative issues getting this software loaded to Google's servers. We don't yet have an expected time when this will be available but will update you as soon as possible. Please see the statement below that was sent by the Sprint Product Management team:
We were planning to release an update for your Samsung Epic 4G on 9/30. The file was delivered and on track for distribution but late this afternoon, we learned that an administrative issue prevented Google from releasing the update as we had planned. We are working to resolve the issue and will provide an update as soon as we understand the new delivery schedule.

Oct

T-Mobile G2 Units Shipping With Partial Internal Storage, Loose Hinges

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in G2 (Vision), HTC, News, T-Mobile

Nothing's perfect, and it looks like the T-Mobile G2 is no exception - according to the latest batch of complaints coming from users who received their devices ahead of the scheduled release date, units are shipping with only 2GB of internal storage, whereas HTC's G2 website lists it at 4GB. Since this just so happens to be the same amount of internal storage offered by the G2's international cousin, the Desire Z, Engadget speculates that a mix-up may have occurred somewhere along the line, a theory which, I am sure, is not far off. Hopefully T-Mobile will be able to replace these phones or provide larger microSD cards to make up for it, because if there's one thing us Android fans do well, it's causing a riot.

Oct

Swedish Carrier Telenor Offering Samsung Galaxy Tab Free On New Two-Year Contract, We Hope US Carriers Will Be As Kind

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Galaxy Tab, News, Samsung

Lest you were under the impression that the only way to get your hands on one of Samsung's hot new 7-inch Android tablets would involve letting around $1,025 trickle out of your wallet, Telenor Sweden has just unveiled its pre-order page for the Galaxy Tab, which prices the device at the magical price of FREE!

Of course, there are some complications, such as the fact that this deal requires you to sign up for a new two-year contract and that you'll be coughing up 369 SEK (about $55) every month thanks to Telenor's Surfa Bas plan. That may be quite a bit more than AT&T's $25 plan for the iPad, but then again, it's not like AT&T's offering Apple's tablet for free (quite the contrary, the versions with 3G radios are the more expensive ones), and besides, AT&T's offering is capped at 2GB.

Oct

Microsoft Files A Patent Suit Against Motorola Over Android

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Motorola, News

First it was Apple vs. HTC, then it was Motorola vs. us power users, and now it's Microsoft facing off against the third of those three companies.

That's right - Microsoft has just filed an ITC complaint against Motorola over infringements of nine patents allegedly violated in Motorola's Android-related devices. Although Microsoft did not specify the exact patents violated in their press release (which you can read in its entirety below), the company did say that they are related to "synchronizing email, calendars and contacts, scheduling meetings, and notifying applications of changes in signal strength and battery power." I do not see how Motorola has violated any of these; what’s more, all of the violations mentioned are most likely built into the Android OS and therefore not Motorola's responsibility, but then again, sometimes companies make as little sense as the devices they push past the FCC.