Android OS - 154/164 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Aug

[UPDATE: It's Coming Tomorrow!] HTC Droid Incredible FroYo ROM Floating Around, Still No Release Date

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in EVO 4G (Supersonic), Froyo 2.2, HTC, Incredible, News, Verizon Wireless

[Update @ 1:10 PM EST by Aaron] Looks like the update is rolling out starting tomorrow. Nice!

Despite the fact that FroYo for the Droid Incredible's big brother - Sprint's EVO 4G - was officially released a few weeks ago, the Incredible itself has yet to receive the update.

We still don't have an official release date (although there are countless rumors floating around), but we may now be one step closer: a new FroYo ROM for the Incredible has been released. It isn't clear whether this is a leaked version of the update that will (hopefully) be rolling out over the air soon, or if this is just something put together based on another device's update.

Aug

Froyo Root For HTC EVO 4G Released

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, EVO 4G (Supersonic), Froyo 2.2, News

Last Updated: December 15th, 2010

This method is majorly out of date. Generally, every update breaks the current root method, and a new one must be found. By now, this is 3-4 cycles old. Please check XDA-Developers forums or unrevoked for alternate (and current) methods.

This one is sure to make plenty of people happy: it looks like there's finally a root method for the latest EVO OTA. The method was discovered by XDA-Devs user Dan Wager and is based on Sebastian Krahmer's Droid 2 root - although this seems to achieve root by downgrading to Android 2.1 and flashing unrevoked. Just like the Droid 2 root, the method is new and thus still pretty complex:

Make sure your phone is unplugged from your computer until I tell you to plug it in!

Aug

Motorola Droid 2 Review: A Bit Of Makeup But Not A Complete Makeover

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Droid (Sholes), Droid 2, Droid X (Shadow), Froyo 2.2, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: October 22nd, 2011

General Overview

The original Droid was a revolutionary phone, not just because it saved Motorola from certain bankruptcy but also because it revealed the wonders of Android to the masses.

For the first time, an Android device was being marketed in a way that appealed to an average American. Not only that - the Droid was Google’s officially anointed Jesus phone, up until the Nexus One came along, meaning it was the first to get Android 2.0, the first to get Google Navigation, etc.

That sets a pretty high bar for the Droid 2, and if you read our review roundup, you already know that most other bloggers thought that, while it is certainly a worthy successor to the most popular Android phone ever, it doesn’t raise the bar or set a new standard for Droids going forward.

Aug

Dell Aero Now Available For $100 On Contract, Runs On Cupcakes

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Aero, AT&T, Cupcake 1.5, Dell, News

Last Updated: September 22nd, 2010

At this point, we'd consider it a joke to release a device with Android 1.5, but apparently, Dell thinks differently.

The 3.67-ounce Dell Aero goes on sale today (on Dell.com, at least; AT&T still lists it as "coming soon") for $99.99 on a new two-year contract with AT&T, and packs:

2GB of onboard storage
triband 3.6Mbps HSDPA and quadband EDGE
5 megapixel camera
3.5-inch 640x360 display

Oh, and the best part? It runs the latest and greatest in the world of Android operating systems: Android 1.5 Cupcake. Yes, seriously. Full press release after the break.

Source: Dell via Engadget

Dell Creates Freedom, Style and Performance to Explore Life's Biggest Moments on New 3.5-Inch Android Smartphone

Date: 8/24/2010

Round Rock, Texas

NEWS:

Dell's first U.S.

Aug

Motorola Droid 2 Gets Its First Update

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Droid 2, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

No product is perfect - especially when it launches. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that software updates are often pushed out shortly after release so as to eliminate bugs, incompatibilities, and increase speed.

It appears that's exactly what Verizon's doing today, for software version.2.2.20.A955.Verizon.en.US/BP: BP_C_01.09.05P for the Droid 2 is now rolling out, OTA style. It isn't a major revision, but it does include a number of enhancements, including:

Streamlined setup of Visual Voice Mail
Improved contact syncing with Corporate Exchange
More accurate contact pictures in the recent call log
Scrolling text and picture messages

As always, the comments section below is the place to let us know how the update works out for you.

Aug

Motorola Updates Timelines For Android Updates, Good News And Bad News For MOTOBLUR Phones

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Android OS, Backflip, CLIQ / DEXT (Morrison), CLIQ XT (Zeppelin), Devour, Droid (Sholes), Droid 2, Droid X (Shadow), Eclair 2.1, Froyo 2.2, Motorola

No phone manufacturer is as fast with software updates as customers would like them to be, but Motorola has been particularly bad, especially with some of their MOTOBLUR phones which are still stuck on Android 1.5. But they do seem to be taking a step forward with a new timeline that lists when each of their phones around the world will be receiving updates to a later version of Android.

USA

BACKFLIP (USA)
Upgrade to Android 2.1 planned for Q3

CLIQ (USA)
Upgrade to Android 2.1 - testing in process, planned for late Q3/early Q4

CLIQ XT (USA)
Upgrade to Android 2.1 - testing in process, planned for late Q3/early Q4

DEVOUR (USA)
Will not have a software upgrade to Android 2.1

DROID by Motorola (USA)
Upgrade to Android 2.2 currently rolling out in phases

DROID X by Motorola (USA)
Upgrade to Android 2.2 planned for late summer.

Aug

Coming Soon: Stock Android 2.1 For Samsung Galaxy S

Posted by David Ruddock in Development, Eclair 2.1, Galaxy S, News, Videos

It seems a few community developers (@barakinflorida) have been inching towards releasing a functional, bone stock version of Android 2.1 for the Samsung Galaxy S (That is, without Samsung's TouchWiz interface). Their efforts are paying off, as this video shows.

The only big issues remaining lie in getting the camera/camcorder to actually, well, work. A relatively minor inconvenience, and a problem many developers have struggled with when developing full-ROM releases for phones with UI overlays.

Android 2.1 is starting to seem a little dated to be utilizing for development of ROMs - maybe a stock FroYo update will follow? But now that members of the CyanogenMod team are working on a CM6 build for the Galaxy S, it's hard to say if there will be much demand for a stock Froyo.

Aug

[Updated With Mirror] Motorola Droid X Update Leaked - Requires Root & Stock Recovery

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, Droid X (Shadow), Froyo 2.2, News, Verizon Wireless

MyDroidWorld has scored a big one today: they’ve hosted the Droid X Froyo ROM, thanks to the hard work of P3Droid, Birdman, and rootzwiki. Installation seems relatively simple, and boy is it a popular download: their server was bombarded with 15,000 download requests shortly after posting it.

Installation seems rather simple, assuming you're rooted and are running stock recovery:

They’ve hosted the file with MediaFire since it seems to have crashed their servers.

Unfortunately, we don’t really have any details at this point since this just happened, but we’ll update as needed. If anyone takes the jump, be sure to let us know how it goes!

Aug

Vodafone Officially Rolling Out Froyo To HTC Desire On Monday, August 23

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Desire (Bravo/BravoC), Development, Froyo 2.2, Vodafone

This morning on Vodafone’s forums, a VF employee announced that the Froyo update for the HTC Desire would be rolling out on Monday. We knew it was coming soon - on August 12, we relayed that they expected it to roll out in 7-10 days - sans crapware. The update is rolling out a bit later than expected (August 23 would be 11 days) because they wanted to make sure they’d worked out all the kinks. Vodafone is hoping to roll out the update to all customers within a two-week timeframe.

In what seems to be an attempt to appease customers who are still pissed off over the Vodafone 360 crapware debacle, they’ve even provided instructions for how to remove it:

Instructions for users who downloaded and now want to remove the Vodafone 360 update (1.24.161.3)

If you have downloaded the Vodafone 360 update and want to remove it from your device, you will need to follow one of these two approaches, depending on whether or not you have accessed and updated the “360 Updates” or “Shop” apps pre-installed in the 1.24.161.3 update.

Aug

Acer And Motorola Waiting For Gingerbread To Release Android Tablets

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Acer, Gingerbread 2.3, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

If you can’t wait any longer for a quality Android tablet, this may come as a bit of bad news. Both Acer and Motorola are planning to delay the release of their respective Android tablets until the release of Android 3.0, which is expected to feature support for higher-resolution screens.

Acer’s tablet may be pushed back until the first quarter of 2011, which could put a damper on previous rumors that Gingerbread would be released some time before the end of the year. Motorola’s tablet, on the other hand, may see Gingerbread much earlier, as Google is working directly with Motorola to get Android 3.0 working on their 10.1” device (which could be the rumored “Stingray” tablet headed to Verizon).