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Though Samsung has already promised the first Android “superphone” with a physical keyboard in the Samsung Epic 4G, some people may still be waiting on HTC – after all, they’ve produced some great keyboard touting Windows Mobile handsets, but as far as high powered Android handsets go, their selection has been a bit anemic. However, it appears that is about to change with some leaked shots and specs of the upcoming HTC Vision.
Just like with any rumor, you should take this with a grain of salt… however, unlike some other recent rumors, this one seems fairly plausible. Droid Life is reporting that, according to “reliable sources”, the Android 2.2 update rollout for the Motorola Droid will begin on July 13, just two days before the launch of the Droid X.
So, by now, you’ve probably already heard that the Samsung Galaxy S is a beast at gaming – it can produce a staggering 90 million triangles per second compared to the Nexus One’s 22 million. But that is just one spec, and real world tests are what most people care about. Quake 3 has now been ported to both devices, and it acts as a great test of each device's gaming capabilities.
If you’re already planning to pick up T-Mobile’s first high-end Android offering, the Samsung Vibrant, then you’ll probably want to think about getting your pre-order at RadioShack instead of from T-Mobile directly.
Today we're having a look at AdMob's latest monthly mobile metrics report which includes some information that may be of interest to the Android community, especially developers.
Though it took a little while, Yahoo has just launched Android apps for their Mail and Messenger services, and most interestingly, their Search service.
Samsung’s plan for world smartphone domination seems to be going smoothly. After the news that their Galaxy S would be launching on all major US carriers (as well as US Cellular), it has just been announced that the phone will also be launching on Bell, Canada’s second-largest cell phone carrier, as the Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant (just Samsung Vibrant wasn't enough, eh buddies?).
Though yesterday’s OTA update for the HTC EVO ended abruptly when it was reported that some EVOs were being bricked, it seems that it is now being rolled out once more. The update is a little larger than yesterday’s (30MB vs 23MB), but it seems nothing else has been changed (with the exception of phones not being bricked.)
It was reported some time ago that the Samsung Galaxy S would hit every major carrier in the US – and it seems like the prediction was dead on. First announced for AT&T as the Samsung Captivate, the Galaxy S has already been confirmed for T-Mobile as the Samsung Vibrant, and was just announced as the Samsung Epic 4G for Sprint, the Samsung Fascinate for Verizon, and an unnamed version of the device for US Cellular.
It seems a new Android phone is on its way to T-Mobile stores, but it might not be the superphone you’re looking for. The Motorola Charm, revealed in leaked training materials sent to Engadget, is running an enhanced version of Motoblur on top of Android 2.1.
Can’t wait to get your hands on the next Android superphone - Motorola Droid X? Then you’ll be probably be interested to learn that Best Buy has already begun their pre-orders for the newest addition to the Droid family, which will be arriving in stores on July 15th.
** Thanks to AndroidGuys podcast host Scott Brown for this leak. **
There have been plenty of leaks and rumors about the Droid X for the past few weeks, but now that it has been officially revealed, it looks even better. Here are all the official specs:
It seems the battle between HTC and Apple isn’t going to end anytime soon. Apple has filed a new lawsuit against HTC which includes four patents – however, only two of them are new. The other two were also included in the previous lawsuit, but needed minor corrections and were instead included in the new suit. The two new patents are actually very closely related, with the newer one being a continuation of the other.
Android may be used almost entirely on smartphones, but that hasn’t stopped companies from trying to use it on other devices. While Android hasn’t made a big impression on netbooks yet, the term “smartbook” has been used to describe devices with an emphasis on a strong battery life and being constantly connected, usually through 3G. And while smartbooks in the past have failed to materialize, Toshiba’s latest Android offering looks like the sweet spot between smartphones and laptops (and it is sweet indeed).
Ever since they promised to help developers and slow the growing problem of Android fragmentation, Google has been quite consistent in updating their platform version chart, which shows how many phones are running each version of Android. Just over a month ago, the chart was used in the argument that fragmentation is a major problem for Android, as Android 2.1 was running on a much smaller percentage of phones than previous versions Android 1.6 and 1.5. However, last month, Eclair finally took over, becoming the most used single version of Android (1.5 and 1.6 still accounted for a larger total share).
Just like most Verizon Android phones, the LG Ally garnered plenty of hype with its advertising campaign – in this case, it was used as a promotional tie-in with Iron Man 2. With only a 600 MHz CPU and 3.2MP camera, it’s a pretty mid-range phone, but you’re also getting Android 2.1 and hardware keyboard, so at $99 it’s not an awful phone.
HTC's Sense UI (user interface) includes plenty of features that could make those with vanilla Android jealous, most of which involve the home screen. Phones running the custom UI have their own set of high quality widgets, which includes a "flip clock" that plenty of Android users seem to clamor over. The widget itself is four icons wide and two icons in height, and includes a clock that flips between numbers, the temperature, and icons to denote the current weather. The Flip Clock widget is so popular that alternatives for those without the Sense UI have begun to make their way into the Market, one of the most popular being Beautiful Widgets by LevelUp Studios, the makers of popular Twitter app Touiteur.