Chris Dehghanpoor - 4/8 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Chris is an Android devotee based out of Houston, TX. He enjoys indie rock, general geekery and long walks on the beach. If you can't find him online, he's probably playing Plants VS Zombies.

May

Doomed To Eat Donuts Forever – The Behold II Won’t Be Upgraded Past 1.6

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Behold II, Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, News, Samsung, T-Mobile

Fragmentation is often brought up as one of Android’s bigger flaws, and despite Google’s promises, it doesn’t look like it will be going away any time soon. Google has said that Froyo is supposed to help bridge the gap between OS versions, and help stem fragmentation, but I haven’t been able to track down exactly how that’s supposed to happen.

Not that any of that matters for owners of the Samsung Behold II – it doesn’t look like they’ll be seeing anything past 1.6, let alone version 2.2. Much to the chagrin of Behold II owners everywhere, Samsung has officially stated their position regarding the upgrade path…and it’s not pretty:

To All:
Samsung Mobile and T-Mobile USA are planning to update the Behold II to Android 1.6 which provides access to Google Maps Navigation, Google Voice Search capability and quick search box for Android.

May

UPDATE: It Will Be Free - Rumorama: EVO 4G’s Qik Powered Video Chat To Cost An Extra $5/Month?

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Applications, Apps/Games, Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, EVO 4G (Supersonic), HTC, News, Sprint

Update, May 29th, 7PM CST: Qik have updated their company blog and have cleared up the situation. Basically, the core Qik experience, meaning streaming from your EVO 4G to Qik, and the 2-way video chat will be FREE. Apparently, the subscription charge will be for “some advanced premium features” that they are working on. They’ll have an announcement on June 4th with additional details on these features.

The fees just keep on coming. On top of the $10 per month “you own an EVO fee” and the somewhat more reasonable $29.99 per month fee to tether your devices to the EVO, Android Guys are reporting that if you’re looking forward to the face to face video chat feature on the phone, you should expect to shell out an extra $5 a month.

May

Lenovo Ditches Skylight OS, Joins Team Android

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Devices By Manufacturer, News

OK, so I have some good news and bad news. First, the bad news: if, like me, you were looking forward to some hot notebook/tablet hybrid action with Lenovo’s U1, well, you might as well keep watching that YouTube video, because it doesn’t look like it’s going to hit store shelves anytime soon. And by ‘anytime soon’, I mean ever.

That’s right, Lenovo canned their Skylight operating system, which is what the notebook was to run when it was in tablet mode. So, because of that decision, it looks like they’ve shelved the U1 as well.

Now, onto the good news: Lenovo ditched Skylight OS because they’re now planning on using Android for their ‘mobile internet devices’ – in other words, tablets and smartphones.

May

SlingPlayer Mobile Demoed On EVO 4G – Sexiness Ensues

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Applications, Apps/Games, Devices By Manufacturer, EVO 4G (Supersonic), HTC, News, Videos

You can tell Android’s definitely starting to gain momentum as more and more developers are now bringing their popular applications over to the platform. Slingbox have been working on an Android app for a while, and they’ve just posted a video preview over on their Facebook page.

If you’re not familiar with a Slingbox, it’s a device that integrates with your home media center, and allows you to stream and control content from your DVR, TV, or digital cable box to software that runs on a PC or mobile device. Their device doesn’t just stream the actual media though – when using their software, you actually use it just as you would your normal DVR – program guide, DVR menu, all of that can be controlled from the app, giving your full TV experience on the go.

May

Rumorama: HTC To Boost AT&T’s Android Line-Up With The Aria?

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Aria (Liberty), AT&T, Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, HTC, News

Skeptic hats on for this one, folks. The gents over at Phonedog are reporting that they have inside information on an upcoming HTC Android phone slated to hit AT&T, dubbed the Aria.

Details are sparse, but the phone will supposedly be running HTC’s SenseUI skin and be powered by Android 2.1 which is a bit of a bummer, though HTC has previously announced that all phones launched this year should receive an update to 2.2, so that’s promising.

It’s been speculated that the phone is the HTC PC70110, which passed through the FCC in late April with AT&T 3G bands.

May

UPDATED: Navigate Your Way To A Garminfone On June 9th

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, Garmin, Garminfone, News, T-Mobile

Update 05/26/2010: Well, as legit as the picture that Engadget posted looked, it seems that it was incorrect. I recieved an email this afternoon from T-Mobile announcing the availability of the Garminfone for $199.99 after a 2 year contract on June 9th. Seems all other details remain the same. You can view more information on the Garminfone here.

Sorry for the punny title – that actually hurt a bit to write. So, it seems that Engadgets received a fairly credible picture announcing that the Garminfone (did they really have to call it the ‘Garminfone’? I keep typing ‘phone’) should be available on June 2nd for the rumored $199 price point – as long as you’re OK with a 2 year contract.

May

Where You At: Boost Mobile To Get Its First Android Handset

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Boost Mobile, Carriers, i1, Motorola, News

Have a craving for a push-to-talk Android handset and hefty price tag? Well, then look no further because it seems that Motorola and pre-paid MVNO Boost Mobile have you covered.

That’s right, if you head over to Best Buy’s site, you can find the product page for the Motorola i1, the first Android iDEN handset to hit the market. I’d imagine you’d have to be pretty crazy for the push-to-talk capabilities that the phone offers though, because you’ll have to pay $349.99 to pick one up once it hits Best Buy’s shelf. On second thought, you’d have to be crazy in general to want to pay $350 for a mid-range Android handset – you can nearly buy 2 EVO 4G’s for that price.

May

UPDATE: Confirmed, The Leaked Froyo Build Is Just A Test Build

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in News

Updated 05/25/2010, 6:06PM CST: An anonymous tipster from inside Google let us know that this is actually a release candidate and not a test build. The distinction is important, because a release candidate may end up being the final release unless bugs are found that require attention.

Updated 05/25/2010, 4:50PM CST: Our contributor Nate Kimmey pointed me to this update by Google employee Ry Guy on the Nexus One support forums:

Hi all,

Thanks for the responses!

Just wanted to give a heads up that the build floating around is not the official Froyo release. You will get an automatic notification when we OTA the build, no need to manually download it.

May

Dell Streak Officially Announced For The UK, Available In The US Later This Summer

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in AT&T, Carriers, Dell, Devices By Manufacturer, News, O2, Streak

Last Updated: August 15th, 2010

One of Dell’s worst kept secrets, the Dell Streak, has finally been officially unveiled by Dell. The phone/tablet hybrid is slated to launch in early June and will be available exclusively on the O2 mobile carrier in the UK.

I haven’t had the chance to play with one yet, but the Dell Streak seems like it will be a bit of an awkward phone, primarily due to its massive screen. With a 5 inch screen the phone attempts to fill in the gap between full blown tablets and cellphones…a gap that I’m not sure necessarily needed to be filled. From what I’ve read, the phone looks a bit goofy when held up to the face and used for calls.

May

Rumorama: Anyone Lose A Motorola Shadow?

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, Droid X (Shadow), Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: June 12th, 2010

Time for another game of ‘Shop job or Shadow: Gizmodo’s received a picture from someone claiming that they found the upcoming Motorola Shadow on the floor at a Verizon corporate gym.

According to the tipster they had enough time to confirm most of the rumored specs of the phone before it was remotely locked down, though suspiciously, they only had enough time to snap one picture.

Engadget notes that the angle of the picture is uncannily similar to that of the leaked ‘Getting Started’ manual that we’ve covered earlier.

The tipster ‘confirmed’ the following specs: