HTC - 20/55 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jun

Well, That Was Fast - HTC Is Testing A Gingerbread Build For The Desire

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Desire (Bravo/BravoC), News

A couple of weeks ago, HTC said that, after months of hard work and failed attempts from its engineers, Gingerbread would not be coming to the Desire. Naturally, this brought on an onslaught of negative feedback from Desire owners, and HTC quickly backpedaled, stating that Gingerbread would be coming to the Desire, albeit a bit stripped down. It appears that this update was easier to put together than originally thought, as the build has now reached the testing phase, according to HTC's official Facebook page.

This means the official OTA should be just around the corner, but as always, we'll keep you posted as more information arises.

Jun

HTC Announces The Facebook-centric Status, Coming to AT&T This Summer

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Status

We've known of this phone and all of its different monikers - everything from the "Facebook phone" to the ChaCha - for a while, but now it's finally official, and bearing the name Status. Honestly, I can't think of a name more appropriate for a phone that's entire existence is defined by Facebook.

From a spec standpoint, the Status is nothing to brag about:

2.6 inch 480x320 display
800MHz Qualcomm processor
512MB RAM
Full Blackberry-style keyboard
Android 2.3 with Sense

What does make this phone special, however, is its social integration and the inclusion of a Facebook button. This allows for one-touch sharing of status updates, photos, news, and currently playing track.

Jun

HTC Is "Diligently Working" On That EVO 3D Bootloader Unlock, In Case You Were Wondering

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, EVO 3D (Shooter), HTC, News

EVO 3D owners across the US have been patiently waiting a whole 3 days (I know, it's an eternity) for HTC to make good on its promise to unlock the phone's bootloader. HTC has now issued a statement on the matter in response to a wall post on its Facebook page, which is overrun with complaints from EVO 3D owners (or people who just like to whine) criticizing what they perceive to be the slowness of the company's efforts to issue a bootloader unlock solution.

While HTC never made promises about a time frame, there's still no shortage of angry EVO 3D customers to be found on the company's Facebook wall.

Jun

[Tip] [Updated] Don't Want Bloatware On Your HTC EVO 3D? It Can Be Uninstalled Just Like Any Other App

Posted by Cameron Summerson in EVO 3D (Shooter), News, Tips

Update: It turns out that this may not be as encompassing as we originally thought. According to Reddit member apantek, only a very limited amount of bloatware can be removed, leaving the bulk of it untouchable (this has been confirmed by our own Jaroslav Stekl). The unremovable files include:

Facebook for HTC Sense
Flickr
Footprints
HTC Hub
Peep
Picasa web albums
Polaris Office
Ringtone Trimmer
Spider-Man
Sprint Zone
The Green Hornet 3D
TrimIt

So, while Sprint may be making steps in the right direction, it's not completely there yet.

---Original post:

One of the biggest pet peeves that most users have with their Android phone is the insane amounts of crap that carriers put on the device.

Jun

HTC EVO 4G vs. EVO Shift vs. EVO 3D: Battle Of The Specs

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in EVO 3D (Shooter), EVO 4G (Supersonic), EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), HTC, News, Sprint

It's June 24th, and you know what that means: the heir to the throne of the EVO 4G, one of Sprint's most successful Android devices ever, has officially gone on sale. But considering that reviews have been mixed and that purchasing the EVO 3D will lock you into a two-year contract, the buying decision is understandably difficult.

To help you find out whether Sprint's latest flagship phone is right for you, we've put together a handy-dandy table comparing the specs of all three members of the EVO family:

Spec type	EVO 4G	EVO Shift 4G	EVO 3D
CPU	1GHz Qualcomm QSD8650 single-core Snapdragon	800MHz Qualcomm MSM7630 2nd-gen single-core Snapdragon	1.2GHz Qualcomm MSM8660 dual-core Snapdragon
Display	4.3" WVGA (800x480) TFT	3.6" WVGA (800x480) TFT	4.3" qHD (960x540) SLCD with stereoscopic 3D capabilities
OS	Android 2.3	Android 2.3	Android 2.3
Front camera	1.3MP	N/A	1.3MP
Rear camera	8MP	5MP	Two 5MP shooters
RAM	512MB	512MB	1GB
Internal storage	1GB	2GB	4GB (note that the OS takes up a lot of that)
Included SD card	8GB	2GB	8GB
microHDMI	Yes	No	Kind of (via MHL adapter)
DLNA support	No	Yes	Yes
Keyboard	Virtual	Physical	Virtual
Buttons	Capacitive	Capacitive	Capacitive
Size	4.8 x 2.6 x 0.5 inches	4.61 x 2.32 x 0.59 inches	5 x 2.6 x 0.47 inches
Weight	6 ounces	5.85 ounces	6 ounces
Battery capacity	1500mAh	1500mAh	1730mAh
Price on contract	$99.99	$99.99	$199.99

Of course, a phone cannot live on horsepower alone, so rest assured that we're already testing the EVO 3D to see if its formidable specs amount to a good user experience (and yes, our review will be up soon - stay tuned!).

Jun

[Unconfirmed] Telstra: Who Cares About Sense UI? We'll Put Stock Gingerbread On Your HTC Desire

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Desire (Bravo/BravoC), News

Last week, HTC dropped the bomb: "due to memory constraints," Gingerbread would not be coming to the Desire. Then, less than 24 hours later, it flipped the script and said that Gingerbread will hit the Desire, minus a few apps. It appears that Australian carrier Telstra doesn't want to deal with the flip-flop, according to a statement on the software updates page of its site:

Due to the increased memory requirements of the ‘Gingerbread’ update, new software that does not include HTC’s Sense UI is being prepared.

Pretty bold, right? Now, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but I'm slightly skeptical of this statement.

Jun

Nightly Build Of CyanogenMod 7 Now Officially Available For HTC Incredible S

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, Incredible S (Vivo), Mods, News

The recent unlocking of the HTC Incredible S' bootloader made possible some astonishing feats, not the least of which is the possibility for custom ROMs. Cyanogen and his team have already gotten to work on that last part, and the fruits of their labor are nothing to scoff at: a nightly build of CyanogenMod 7 is now available for the Incredible S.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

Jun

HTC Has A "Sense" Of Humor - Friend Stream Widget References Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in EVO 3D (Shooter), HTC, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid)

Complaints about HTC's Sense UI becoming increasingly bloated are nothing new, but there's no denying that the skin has its upsides - and Reddit user TheEntireUniverse just unearthed another such boon. Behold, the preview image for Sense 3.0's "Friend Stream" widget:

For those not familiar with the reference, Jill Valentine is one of the main characters in the popular Resident Evil franchise, and the Nemesis-destroys-a-helicopter story was taken right out of the third game in the series.

So how does it all end? To find out, you'll have to wait for HTC Sense 4.0, which will introduce the revolutionary new "Nemesis Stream" widget.

Jun

[Updated] Sprint Premier Customers, Get Your HTC EVO 3D Now For $199 With A Two-Year Agreement

Posted by Cameron Summerson in EVO 3D (Shooter), News

So, you're a Sprint Premier customer patiently (or not-so-patiently) waiting for June 24th to get here so you can score your brand new HTC EVO 3D? Well - wait no more, because you can get it right now directly from Sprint for $199 with a two-year agreement. If you're not eligible for upgrade, but you just can't resist the 3D goodness of this handset, then you'll have to muster up the guts to give away 550 big ones to get it in your hands.

Judging by the flyer, we're assuming that it will ship today (if you order it today, of course), but we have no verification at the moment.

Jun

[Video] DROID Incredible 2 Bootloader Unlocked [S-OFF] By AlphaRev Team

Posted by David Ruddock in HTC, Incredible 2 (Vivow), Mods, News, Videos

Well, that was pretty fast, actually. The DROID Incredible 2 has successfully been unlocked by AlphaRev - that means 100% rooted and (soon) ROM-ready. Instructions and a download will follow soon - so hold tight, we'll keep you updated on this one.