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T-Mobile And HTC Haven't Forgotten myTouch 3G Slide And G2, Minor Updates Available For Both
These updates might not amount to much, but it's always nice to see official updates to older devices. I'm talking really old, like the myTouch 3G Slide
These updates might not amount to much, but it's always nice to see official updates to older devices. I'm talking really old, like the myTouch 3G Slide and the G2, both released all the way back in 2010. If you're in possession of said devices and are not yet running a custom ROM with something more fresh than Android 2.2 and 2.3.4 respectively (why not?), here's what's coming:
The work to bring touch-enabled recoveries to all supported ClockworkMod devices continues, and since the last update a couple of days ago, the following devices now have ClockworkMod Touch available:
If you didn't know, HTC has promised to provide bootloader unlock support for all devices released after September of 2011 as well as many others released before, and they have been keeping good on that promise with added support for many devices over the last few months.
About a week ago, a seemingly official build of Gingerbread for the T-Mobile G2 found its way to T-Mo's support forums, suggesting an update was fast approaching. That suggestion was dead-on, as the official over-the-air update process started today, according to the Pinkest Carrier's G2 update page.
The T-Mobile G2 has seen its fair share of ups and downs, teases, and leaks of Gingerbread, but it appears the time of release is nearly upon us. A user over at the T-Mobile support forums has dropped a leaked version of the official Gingerbread build for the G2 for all to download and install. The post puts strong emphasis on the fact that this is the exact same version that ended up on some refurbished handsets - so I assume that it's the real deal.
Netflix this evening appears to have quietly unleashed the Android app on 16 more previously unsupported devices, all without updating the application at all.
Hulu's initial rollout of the Plus app for Android probably didn't wow too many subscribers - after all, it was only available for six devices (the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and Motorola Atrix). Now, four new devices are joining the fray, bringing the total number of supported devices to ten:
The newest version of Sense UI has been somewhat of a hot topic among HTC owners, as HTC itself said that certain aspects of it has been reserved for newer devices only. Naturally, the dev community over at XDA was not about to stand for that, and shortly after the Sensation ROM leak, got to work on spreading the Sense 3.0 love.
Good news for G2 users: it looks like the Android update fairy may be smiling upon you! According to TMoNews, a Gingerbread update for the G2 is in the works and it should be ready "soon."
That's right folks - CyanogenMod7 RC3 is up for grabs, and we'll be posting the devices it's available for as they come in. Here's the links we have so far:
SlashGear has confirmed with HTC today that the Desire HD, Desire Z, and Incredible S (along with the standard Desire) will be receiving the bump to Gingerbread some time in the second quarter of this year. But, there's a potential caveat: US phones might not be included.
Take a look at the top tier of Android phones right now and you might notice something. They all kind of look the same. Black front fascia, large touchscreen, minimal waistline. Boring, right? Well that's just the way things are going. Alternatives to the slate way of living are becoming increasingly rare, which puts the HTC Desire Z with its hardware keyboard in an intriguing light. With its metallic accents and suave grey pallet, the Desire Z cuts a different path. So how do I mean rare? If you want a top-level QWERTY Android phone in the USA you have a fairly limited selection to choose from: Sprint has the Samsung Epic 4G, Verizon the Motorola Droid 2 and T-Mobile the HTC G2. The first two there are CDMA which leaves only the T-Mobile handset in contention for GSM customers, unless your carrier happens to stock the Motorola Milestone as well. On either side of the Atlantic, QWERTY sliders appears to be a dying breed whichever way you look at it, so I was curious to see whether or not the added bulk and complexity of a hardware keyboard was worth it. Having had the phone for a couple of months, let's take a look at this device from a hardware perspective, pertaining to both the HTC Desire Z and T-Mobile G2.
It isn't often that a US carrier offers one of its flagship handsets for free, but it would appear that that's exactly what T-Mobile is doing with the G2. Starting today and ending January 20th, new or add-a-line T-Mobile customers can snag a G2 from the carrier's online store for $0.00 (that's right, completely free!) with a new two-year contract. Party on!
If you're a member of the T-Mobile Loyalty Program (like me), you're going to want to listen up. As of right now (and I’m willing to bet this won’t last long), T-Mobile is offering members of the T-Mobile Loyalty Program a G2 for free on any qualifying upgrade. If you're a member of the loyalty program or just want to find out if you qualify to be in the program and have a qualified upgrade, call T-Mobile customer service and say “contract” to the automated system. With this, you should reach the loyalty department. Get on it people, this deal won't last!
The T-Mobile G2 is a great phone that would, no doubt, make a fantastic Christmas gift. But up until now, we haven't been treated to many deals on the device (with the exception of Amazon Wireless' Black Friday sale) - obviously not something holiday shoppers are enthusiastic about. That ends today, however, as T-Mobile itself has just trimmed the G2's price tag by $150, making the final price $49.99 on a new two-year contract. Note that since this is a web exclusive, in-store buyers will still have to cough up $199.99. Nonetheless, if it's shipping you're worried about, fear not, for transportation fees will be nonexistent until December 20th. Oh, the holidays!
It's always nice when a manufacturer is nice enough to allow the community to see the source code used to keep device kernels ticking, particularly as this source code can help with troubleshooting and ROM development. They are, to a certain extent, required to do this by the GPLv2 license, but it's still pretty great for all you XDA junkies. Well, if you guys were lusting after the latest source code for the kernels of the T-Mobile G2, the myTouch 4G, or Verizon's Droid Incredible, you can finally stop lurking around, for HTC has, at long last, made the code for these handsets available. Try and contain your excitement.
Exactly a week after getting rooted and only a few days after getting its very first CyanogenMod nightly release, HTC Desire Z and T-Mobile G2 owners can now upgrade to RC1 (release candidate 1), bringing it up to speed with the rest of the devices supported by the CM team. Apparently, these guys move at light speed.
Who says the G2's processor is slow, eh? While its stock 800 MHz clockspeed didn't break any benchmark records, it's showing itself to be nicely capable of overclocking. Unlike the QSD8250 in the original Snapdragon, which gets rather unstable anywhere past the 1.13GHz (+15%) mark, the MSM7230 in the Scorpion of the G2 sails right on past +100% with apparent stability. The kernel was posted on XDA-Developers by member Flippy125, with the usual "NOT MY FAULT IF-" disclaimers, but also noting that the kernel runs stably for him.
After getting rooted four days ago, the T-Mobile G2 and its European counterpart, the Desire Z, finally joined the ranks of fully unlocked Android phones, which give us the freedom to replace the ROMs on these devices with something better and more custom.
Carriers' official tethering plans never cease to amaze us - $15 to $30 per month for something that users with rooted phones can enjoy for free via Wireless Tether or Tether for Android (not to mention the free tethering app that comes built right into stock Froyo). Nevertheless, T-Mobile's gone ahead and announced that starting this Sunday, November 14th, its users will be charged $14.99 per month for the feature. This will buy you unlimited data for your laptop/netbook to choke down, although there will also be a $10 monthly plan, which will get you just 200MB of data.