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Jul

It's Official: Android 2.2 FroYo Rolling Out To HTC EVO 4G Starting August 3rd, Possibly Earlier If You Ask Nicely

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in EVO 4G (Supersonic), Froyo 2.2, News, Sprint

EVO 4G owners, we have some great news for you today. According to the official Sprint press release that just came out, the Froyo update will be pushed out in waves to your devices starting August 3rd and continuing through the middle of the month.

Sprint will allow *any* EVO to receive the update without waiting for a notification by initiating the update request manually (Settings > System updates).

It's interesting to note that earlier today, Engadget spotted what looked like a slide from the Sprint's internal system, shining some light on the upcoming rollout process. The leak, which promised a press release tomorrow, probably prompted Sprint to release the PR early in an effort to clear up any potential confusion.

Jul

Motorola Droid 2 User Guide Leaked

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Droid 2, News, Verizon Wireless

As usual, Droid-Life has come through with another leak – this time, it’s the Droid 2 user guide, available for your download and viewing pleasure here. We already know most of the details about it, including the launch date (soft launch on August 12), and the specs:

5 MP Camera
3G Mobile Hotspot
1 GHz CPU
8 GB onboard memory
8 GB mSD card installed, support for up to 16 GB
Dark chrome color (rather than black)
Roughly the same size as the original

Turns out that the Droid 2 will rock the same custom UI as the Droid X; as it doesn’t really have an official name, and it’s not MOTOBLUR, we’ll just call it NotBLUR.

Jul

Meet Andy: Android’s History In A Nutshell

Posted by Ron Hamelin in Android OS, Carriers, Cupcake 1.5, Devices By Manufacturer, Donut 1.6, Eclair 2.1, Editorials, Froyo 2.2, Gingerbread 2.3, News

Last Updated: November 5th, 2010

Before Apple's iPhone and Google’s Android OS burst onto the mobile device scene in 2007, there were few significant advances in mobile technology. Frankly, "smartphones" (if we could even call them that at the time) were boring: they did little more than email, general messaging, picture taking, some basic apps and games, rudimentary internet browsing, and enterprise integration.

The biggest players at the time were Microsoft Windows Mobile, RIM's Blackberry, Palm, Symbian, and Linux. They all had their respective place in the mobile world (see chart below).

The Status Of Mobile Operating Systems In Late 2006

EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) was clearly led by Symbian.

Jul

Review: Samsung Intercept (Sprint) – Android Hits The Mainstream

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Intercept, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Sprint

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

A few weeks ago, Samsung was kind enough to send us an Intercept for review. While it may not be of Galaxy S caliber, it’s not intended to be. Rather, it’s more so aimed at the feature phone crowd – those who want something more powerful than a feature phone, but maybe not all the bells and whistles of a high-end smartphone. We spoke (unofficially) with Samsung about what other phones they think people will cross-shop the Intercept to, and they agreed its target is something like the enV Touch.

There are two compelling things about this phone. First, the hardware for mid-level phones has improved tremendously.

Jul

T-Mobile’s First HSPA+ Phone May Be The myTouch 3G HD

Posted by Nate Kimmey in G2 (Vision), News, T-Mobile

Last Updated: August 27th, 2010

T-Mobile certainly dropped a big hint when the word “Vanguard,” believed to be the codename for the HTC Vision, was discovered all over the source code of their HSPA+ phone teaser page. But, according to a leak from Android Central, this phone might not be the slider we’ve seen before – it could be the next model in the myTouch line.

Called the myTouch 3G HD, the phone appears to have the same button layout as the myTouch 3G Slide, including the Genius Button and trackpad. The screen size can’t be determined, but certainly looks like more than T-Mobile’s previous myTouch offerings.

Jul

Nexus One Never Coming To A T-Mobile Store Near You, Good Luck on Craigslist and eBay

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Nexus One (Passion), T-Mobile

Tmonews has leaked a T-Mobile retail partner sales FAQ in which it is explicitly states that T-Mobile will never again stock the Nexus One in their retail stores.

This would seem to be the last nail in the coffin for the Nexus One’s US tour, though it is still sold abroad in the UK and South Korea. While the document doesn’t explicitly preclude the possibility of online sales, “The Nexus One was sold and marketed by Google” is pretty damning.

Also, this document is addressed towards brick-and-mortar retailers, and thus it wouldn’t be relevant to mention T-Mobile’s online sales policy. I think it is safe to assume, though, that you won’t be seeing the Nexus One on T-Mobile’s web store anytime soon.

Jul

Easily Root Your Motorola Droid X With 1-Click Root

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

Last Updated: July 28th, 2010

A few enterprising hackers over at AllDroid have come up with a simpler method for rooting the Droid. Similar to SimpleRoot, it’s a small program that provides a GUI with 2 buttons – “Root Me :)” and “Unroot Me :(,” and bundles in all necessary drivers and bits of code – thus removing the need to download and install the Android SDK.

Once the zip file has been downloaded (you can get it from MediaFire here, or if you’re an AllDroid forum member, you can hit up the read link and login and download it), the instructions are pretty short and sweet:

Update: here is a mirror hosted by our friends at DroidXForums.

Jul

[Deals] T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Now FREE ($0.00) With Upgrade Or New 2-Year Contract

Posted by David Ruddock in myTouch 3G (Magic), T-Mobile, Tips & Tutorials

This doesn’t need much explaining. If you start a new T-Mobile 2 year contract or upgrade and extend your current service contract, you can get the MyTouch 3G for nothing, nada, zilch. Got a frugal friend or family member looking for a cheap smartphone? Look no further. Just check out T-Mobile’s online store page.

Jul

HTC Vision Spotted Again – T-Mobile Branding, HSPA+, Could Be Called The G1 Blaze

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in G2 (Vision), News, T-Mobile

Last Updated: August 27th, 2010

Details are scarce on this one, but a new shot of the HTC Vision has been leaked. With the shot came a few new details: it’s likely headed for T-Mobile (either in the US, overseas, or both), and will be named the G1 Blaze.

As we’ve stated before, the device packs what has quickly become standard fare for high-end phones:

1 GHz CPU
3.7” Screen
Eclair (Android 2.1) + Sense
HSPA+ (rumored)
Launching in September
Slide-out four row QWERTY keyboard

If it’s true that this phone is going to be packing HSPA+, it could be a big winner – so far, T-Mobile has no phones that support it, and it’s pretty speedy.

Jul

Sprint's Samsung Epic 4G Galaxy S Series Phone To Be Released By August 20th?

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Epic 4G, News, Samsung, Sprint

Last Updated: April 2nd, 2011

If the past is any indication of the future, it looks like we may now have the latest release date for the Epic 4G on Sprint. Let me explain.

You see, Samsung has so far posted 2 SPS TV (Samsung TV) videos of their hosts showcasing the Captivate and the Vibrant, with video post dates coinciding with the official phone release dates:

the Captivate video was posted on Monday, July 19th, which happens to be the first business day after the official launch date that fell on a Sunday (July 18th)
the Vibrant video was posted on Wednesday, July 21st, which seems late, as the phone was released on the 15th.