eclair - 3/6 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Oct

FroYo's Share Grows to 33.4%, Eclair Still Dominates In Latest Android Platform Versions Chart

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Cupcake 1.5, Devices By Manufacturer, Donut 1.6, Eclair 2.1, Froyo 2.2, Gingerbread 2.3, News

The latest Android platform numbers are out, and thanks to carrier support of updates (Verizon and Sprint, anyway) FroYo has made an impressive boost to capture 33.4% of Android devices. This isn't enough to upset Android 2.1, which remains on top with 40.4%, but it's a good sign of diminishing Android fragmentation nonetheless.

When Gingerbread hits this fall/winter, however, this chart is bound to get pretty ugly - while Donut and Cupcake continued their decline, together they still make up a decent portion of Android devices, at 26.1% combined. Fortunately, while phones running these outdated operating systems will probably not be updated in the near future, they will be discontinued by carriers and replaced with newer models running newer versions of Android (for example, T-Mobile is discontinuing the original myTouch, Motorola CLIQ, and CLIQ XT today, and has already done it to the G1).

Oct

Verizon's Samsung Fascinate Video Review

Posted by Brad Ganley in Fascinate, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Verizon Wireless, Videos

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Recently, I got ahold of Verizon's Samsung Fascinate and shot the following video review (and yes, I have a capacitive stylus - start getting jealous):

For a quick refresher, here, once again, are the specs of the Fascinate:

1GHz Hummingbird processor
Android 2.1 (Eclair)
5MP camera wih LED flash
4" Super Amoled capacitive multitouch (5 point) screen
2GB internal memory
Bluetooth 3.0 (with stereo output)
3.5mm Headphone Jack
Supports HD (720p) video recording

Here are those pictures I promised. They look pretty good:

One other thing I didn't really get to touch on in the video that I really wish I had shown you is the media playing on this phone.

Sep

Motorola CLIQ, CLIQ XT, And Backflip Now To Receive 2.1 Upgrade In Early Q4; Those Who Still Care Are Not Amused

Posted by Brad Ganley in Android OS, Backflip, CLIQ / DEXT (Morrison), CLIQ XT (Zeppelin), Eclair 2.1, Motorola

Motorola has, once again, updated its timeline for device upgrades and has changed the expected Android 2.1 update time for the CLIQ, CLIQ XT, and the Backflip to be late Q3 to early Q4 of this year.

This is supposedly good news, but haven't CLIQ/CLIQ XT/Backflip users already waited long enough? Motorola seems to be throwing salt in customers' wounds by pushing this upgrade back. Not only do the owners of these devices now have to wait longer for an update, but the update they are waiting for has already become antiquated.

While Motorola's flagship devices have been receiving updates all over the place to the CURRENT (2.2) version of Android, and the CLIQ, Backflip, and CLIQ XT aren't really what we would call "flaghship", their users seem to have been abandoned from day one with only hope keeping them warm.

Sep

Motorola Unveils The Defy: Dust And Water-Resistance Included

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Motorola, News

Leave it to Motorola to come up with a bizarrely compelling new device that they can slip MotoBlur onto.

We’ve recently seen the Charm and Flipout with Android 2.1 and MotoBlur, and now the Defy is joining them. However, this is a touchscreen only device, and it has something else special: an IP67 water and dust resistance rating. That rating qualifies it as fully protected from dust, and immune to the effects of immersion between 15 cm and 1 m for up to 30 minutes.

Like the aforementioned Charm and Flipout, it also has the now-famous Gorilla Glass, making this one nicely durable package.

Aug

Xperia X10’s Android 2.1 Upgrade Due By “The End Of September” According To Sony Ericsson UK

Posted by John Thompson in Eclair 2.1, News, Xperia X10 (es209ra)

With the US release of Sony’s Xperia X10, we were given taglines such as “smarter is coming”, but with Android 1.6 running the show, smarter may be a little bit of a loose term for now. Those of us on the other side of the pond may be in luck pretty soon, however, as Sony Ericcson’s UK Twitter account posted a reply to a user stating that Android 2.1 is due for release in the UK “before the end of September this year.”

If this information is indeed accurate (and we sure hope that it is), then X10s all over the UK may finally get the upgrade to Android 2.1 from Android 1.6, which has plagued the device since its release.

Aug

Velocity Micro Cruz Tablet Now Available For Preorder For $299.99

Posted by John Thompson in Cruz Tablet, News, Velocity Micro

Velocity Micro’s Android tablet called Cruz is now available for pre-order from Borders.com and CruzReader.com at a bargain price of $299.99.

The CruzReader.com order page is currently citing a late September release date, while Borders.com is expected to ship October 15th, so you may have to wait for a number of weeks before you can get your hands on one yourself.

After seeing the specs and the price, we think this tablet could very well be a genuine competitor in the market.

Specs

What exactly are you getting for your $300? The Cruz sports:

Full color TFT display
7” diagonal 16:9 800x480 screen
Capacitive touch screen
a rumored 800MHz CPU
802.11n wifi
512MB RAM
4GB internal storage
8GB bundled SD card
Android 2.1
Supports ePub, PDF, TXT, PDB, HTML reader files
MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV audio support
MPEG-4, H.264, H.263, MOV, AVI video support
JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP image support
Built in speakers
Mic and headphone jacks
Mini USB
User replaceable Li-Ion battery - up to 10+ hours of life, 24+ standby
Built-in Dictionary, Notepad, Calendar, Alarm Clock, Contacts, Games, and other useful apps
Access to over 2 Million ebooks via included Borders E-book library portal application (Kobo)
Access to the Cruz Market

The battery in the Cruz is reportedly good for 10 hours of usage, which is great for anyone hoping to use a tablet on the go.

Aug

Eclair Hops The Pond - Unofficial Android 2.1 Update Now Works On The AT&T Dell Streak In The US

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Dell, Donut 1.6, Eclair 2.1, News, Streak

Owners of Dell’s 5” tablet in the UK were lucky to get their hands on a leaked pre-release version of Android 2.1 earlier this week. The hack, however, was only compatible with the O2 version of the device in the UK, so owners of the US counterpart released only 2 days ago on AT&T have been stuck with their new giant babies wearing an ancient 1.6 Donut diaper. To make matters worse, it looks like Dell decided to skip the 2.1 update altogether and go straight for 2.2, delaying the upgrade even longer.

Not to worry - the Android community has now come up with a way to flash 2.1 on the US version of the Streak.

Aug

Dell Streak 2.1 Pre-Release Build Leaked–Get It Now, For O2 UK Devices Only

Posted by Brian O'Toole in O2, Streak

Last Updated: August 15th, 2010

This file could make your phone permanently unusable (“bricked”). This update is ONLY for UK Dell Streak phones with the version _21 baseband (O2 phones). Do NOT flash this on a US Streak. As with all unofficial updates, flashing this is done at your own risk.

So you’ve read all about what features are coming in the Streak’s Eclair update, and the planned September release window. Well, some enterprising members over at the MoDaCo Android forum have managed to catch a pre-release version of the 2.1 update, purportedly a newer version than that tested in the original Engadget post. There’s also an XDA thread on the update

DOWNLOAD: Dell Streak 2.1 Pre-Release For UK Streaks ONLY with version _21 baseband

The leak seems to only work on O2 UK models (serial XXX_21), so those with the factory unlocked SKU are currently out of luck.

Aug

Android 2.1 Update Gets Previewed On Dell Streak : 720P, Pinch-To-Zoom, New Keyboard

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Eclair 2.1, Streak

That Richard Lai fella sure gets all the luck, eh? Not only was Engadget’s London-based editor amongst the first to get to play with a Streak (aka Mini 5), Dell’s impressive 5” Android slate device, he’s now gotten an exclusive look at an early build of Eclair 2.1 running on the “tablet-phone”. While the previously unexpected 1.6 to 2.1 update is intended as a stop-gap measure to reduce the pain of waiting for Froyo, Engadget encountered several new features in their time with the new OS. While nothing has changed drastically, Eclair on the Streak has brought a few improvements and niggles of note:

The Good

One of the major complaints against the Streak was that its enormous screen space was wasted in landscape mode due to the inclusion of a number pad on the right side of its soft keyboard.

Aug

Motorola Sage, AT&T-Bound QWERTY Slider, Leaks Out In Surprising Clarity

Posted by Brian O'Toole in AT&T, Motorola

Someone at Motorola’s marketing department is clearly convinced that letting out photos of forthcoming devices is the very best way of gathering hype.

The latest in the series is the Motorola Sage MB508 (or should that be SAGE?), a MOTOBLUR-running mid-range device with a landscape QWERTY keyboard and Android 2.1. Expected to land on AT&T as the replacement for the Backflip, Engadget's tipster says he has had his for over a month now, so it would seem that the phone is in the final stages of testing.

Click on the source link below for some more photos, for once lacking Mr Blurrycam’s trademark touch.