Europe - 4/6 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Aug

Eric Schmidt: Google TV Launching In Europe 'Early Next Year'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Google TV, News

Last Updated: September 1st, 2012

Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt delivered the MacTaggart keynote lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival last Friday - the first time a non-TV exec has been invited to do so. In his address, Schmidt indicated the UK as being "among the top priorities" in Google TV's European launch next year.

Google TV experienced a rough beginning, facing suspicion - and blocking - from some of the top broadcasting networks in the US. The platform initially faced criticism because some broadcasters felt that Google was "stealing their advertising revenues without contributing to the cost of making programs," Reuters reports.

Schmidt looked to dispel suspicions in his address, pointing out that Google seeks to "support the content industry by providing an open platform for the next generation of television to evolve, the same way Android is an open platform for the next generation of mobile."

There is no word yet on who will manufacture Google TV boxes for the European market, but Reuters speculates that Google's recent purchase of Motorola may or may not point to a future interest in manufacturing the boxes.

Aug

HTC Bootloader Unlock Portal Open - European Sensation Now Unlockable

Posted by David Ruddock in HTC, News

It seems HTC has made good on its commitment to begin unlocking the bootloaders of its recently released handsets, starting with the European version of the HTC Sensation. You can find the instructions at HTC's developer portal, here. (You may need to log in). Also, here are the scary things you'll have to disclaim before beginning:

So, as long as you realize that your warranty will/might be voided all or in part, get cracking. HTC's instructions are several pages long, and pretty in-depth. You'll have to get the Android Device Bridge (ADB) up and running, as well as HTC Sync (for Windows users) and the latest version of Java.

Aug

Android 3.1 Finally Rolling Out To European Motorola XOOMs

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, XOOM

While the US variant of the Motorola XOOM recently received Android 3.2, the European version has been patiently waiting to leave version 3.0.1. That wait is finally coming to its end, as the official Android 3.1 OTA has started rolling out in Europe, according to Motorola EU's Facebook page. Of course, this is a staged rollout, so it may be days - or even weeks - before some users actually see it hit their device.

[Facebook]

Jul

Google Maps Adds Live Traffic Coverage For 13 European Countries

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Google Maps continues the march of progress, officially adding traffic support for 13 European countries today. Aside from the obvious benefit of being able to see traffic in Maps, Navigation will now re-route you based on traffic conditions.

The countries:

Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Germany
Ireland
Israel
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Poland
Slovakia
Spain
Switzerland

The new functionality is live on Android, iOS, and in the mobile browser.

[Source: Google Mobile Blog]

Jun

European Motorola XOOM Android 3.1 Update Rolling Out - And It Includes SD Card Support

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, XOOM

According to the Motorola Europe Facebook page, the Android 3.1 update has started rolling out to the European variant of the XOOM. This update brings a several new features and improvements, including one feature that the US XOOM didn't get: SD card slot activation. This is, of course, due to the fact that the US XOOM is considered a "pure Google experience" device, so it's up to Google to push updates in the States - not Motorola.

Once this update hits your device, you'll also get the other assorted goodies that come along with Android 3.1: resizable widgets, USB host support, as well as improved performance and stability.

May

Fly To Europe Today And Pick Up An HTC Flyer With 3G For £599.99 Or WiFi For £479.99

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Flyer, News

The HTC Dream, launched in 2008 by a then little-known Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer, took the world by storm as the first "Google-phone".

Now HTC is back delivering its tablet which is available today from the HTC Flyer Store in Europe. The 32GB 3G + WiFi version costs £599.99 ($975.88) and the 16GB WiFi-only version costs £479.99 ($781.38). These prices seem to be a lot higher than Best Buy's $499, but this is hardly surprising considering almost all electronics (notably Apple products) are much steeper in Europe.

The 7" tablet will also be available in-store in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.

May

Samsung Galaxy S II Review Roundup: Slim, Speedy, And Smart

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Galaxy S II, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Samsung

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

To say the Galaxy S II has a lot to live up to would be a drastic understatement. Its predecessor, the Galaxy S, was one of the most popular Android phones of its day, though it certainly wasn't without its shortcomings (*cough* TouchWiz *cough*). But with an even better display, a slimmer profile, a better camera, and - gasp - a new version of Samsung's custom UI, the Galaxy S II aims to patch over its antecedent's few flaws in addition to mixing in some new magic. So how does it fare? Pretty well, the great tech-heads of Europe declare.

Apr

Samsung Delivers Gingerbread-y Goodness To European Galaxy S Owners

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Android OS, Devices By Manufacturer, Galaxy S, Gingerbread 2.3, News, Samsung

When it comes to timely Android updates, Samsung's reputation has been less than spectacular, so I was fairly surprised to see that a Gingerbread rollout was taking place for select European Galaxy S owners right on schedule.

That's right, according to users on the revered XDA-Developers forum, the update began rolling out late last night (late for the US at least) via Samsung's Kies software - provided you live in Holland or Germany. Forum user 'downunder30' was nice enough to post some information about the update:

http://i56.tinypic.com/5kpmyp.png
PDA JVB Phone JVK CSC JV3
Baseband is I9000XXJVK
Kernel version 2.6.35.7-I9000XWJVB-CL118186
root@DELL102 #2
Build number GINGERBREAD.XWJVB
Firmware Version 2.3.3
File System RFS
Build date is Fri APR 8 16:39:27 KST 2011
http://i53.tinypic.com/149wdhw.jpg
Lights are always on for me

It seems that they're staggering the release for the rest of Europe, so try not to wear your mouse button out while constantly checking for updates, ok?

Apr

Dual-Core HTC Sensation Official, Coming To T-Mobile USA As Sensation 4G This Summer

Posted by David Ruddock in HTC, News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid), T-Mobile, Vodafone

HTC just announced via Twitter that the Sensation is a go - posting pictures on its Facebook page of the device at various seductive angles, as well as this video:

Did we mention it's coming to T-Mobile? And it'll be sporting an HSPA+ radio to take advantage of T-Mobile's 4G network. Unfortunately, it won't be available until this summer.

Earlier, Mobile Bulgaria (which, as of this writing, is down) stumbled upon a Vodafone product page for HTC's upcoming dual-core Android handset, the Sensation (aka the Pyramid). Availability for Europe and Asia will be throughout Q2 - no exact dates have been announced.

Mar

European EVO 3D Confirmed Via HTC France's Twitter

Posted by Nate Kimmey in EVO 3D (Shooter), HTC, News

It appears that the HTC EVO 3D, the CDMA version of which Sprint revealed to the world last week, will be coming in a GSM flavor after all - the HTC France Twitter account has confirmed that the device will be launching in Europe at some point, although the date is not confirmed. For those who can't remember their high school French, the tweet roughly translates to: