HTC DESIRE IS BEING LATE FOR ORANGE UK

Orange UK customers eager to get newly launched HTC Desire on the new device.

Even though the handset isn’t available to order online through the Orange UK website, it seems that the demand from Orange Shops, Telesales, and Upgrades alone is enough to start causing stock shortages.

Earlier today Orange UK’s PR Manager, Conor Maples, commented via Twitter that high demand for the HTC Desire is causing delays in getting stock to their outlet channels, and went on to reassure customers that they are working to fix this as a priority.

HTC Desire

Conor also confirmed that that HTC Desire Black Edition will be available from Orange at the end of the month.

[via twitter.com]

Orange Boston Budget Revealed with Android Phone

Orange Europe are set to launch their own Android handset with a rumored low price of just 1 euro (phone tariff dependent).

The Orange Boston handset is believed to have been built by Foxconn on behalf of the Orange network and will feature a 3.2 inch (480 x 320) display, 600MHz Qualcomm processor, 256MB RAM, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, GPS, a microSD card slot and a 5 mega-pixel camera.

Orange Boston Android phone

Judging from the leaked image along it seems likely the Boston will launch with Android 1.6, with updates possibly in the pipeline.

The has been rumors for some time now that certain European networks are working on launching their own branded handsets, and it now seems Orange will be the first.

[via eurodroid.com]

UK and Germany are getting instant Motorola Milestone Android 2.1 Update

Although the latest Android 2.1 updates have already begun to roll-out to Milestone users in France and Italy, it seems that users in the UK and Germany will have to wait a little longer.

Official Facebook page of Motorola, Motorola Europe revealed that they have encountered some issues when testing the 2.1 update on the UK (T-Mobile) and Germany (Vodafone) networks.

Motorola Milestone

For UK Milestone owners and those on Vodafone Germany, we apologise for the delay in the upcoming 2.1 upgrade. Issues occurred in testing on the networks and this has held up the process. We are now in final testing for the UK and assuming no further issues arise, this will be released next week. For Vodafone in Germany, we are looking to release later this week. As soon as dates are confirmed, we will let you know.

Just yesterday Motorola Europe announced that the Android 2.1 roll-out was underway, with users in France and Italy able to update their handsets after either receiving the OTA update prompt or by going to the menu in Settings -> About Phone -> Select System Updates.

[via facebook.com + softpedia.com]

Google Confirms Android 2.1 Downgrades Image Quality

Dr Raymond Soneira from the DisplayMate Technology Corporation (whose tools are used extensively to evaluate HDTV and monitor performance), noticed that the picture gallery on the Android 2.1 update offers lower image quality than that of the previous 2.0 update.

Dr Raymond Soneira compared the two updates on a Motorola Droid handset, noting that the picture application in Android 2.0.1 offered 24-bit color depth, whereas Android 2.1 downgraded images to 16-bit color depth.

From these findings, Google issued the following statement confirming Dr Raymond Soneira’s discovery:

The Gallery app in Android 2.0.1 is different from the Gallery app in Android 2.1. Google developed Gallery in Android 2.0.1, which uses 24-bit color rendered using 2D technology. On the other hand, Cooliris created Gallery in Android 2.1, which uses 16-bit textures rendered using 3D technology. We don’t have anything specific to share at this time regarding the Gallery app in future versions.

The full report and technical round-up can be found over on the DisplayMate website.

New Android 2.1 Tablet from Velocity Micro’s Cruz

Velocity Micro, a privately held computer manufacturer is entering the tablet business with a new selection of touchscreen computers known as the Cruz. Velocity Micro concentrate in custom high-end computers, and the Cruz will come in a 4 x 3 and 16 x 9 configurations sometime in the next few months (late summer). We can expect a 7-inch capacitive multitouch display with a processor clocking in around the 800MHz mark.

Velocity Micro’s Cruz

This device will include Android 2.1 and Flash 10.1 from the word go. What is more, despite the fact that Velocity Micro make these boutique computers, the price point is rather affordable. Think in the $300 range.

[Via Engadget]

iPhone with Android

Android is not being used by iPhone authority, but it is a great news that we will be able to run the android OS on your iPhone. iPhone hacker and Dev-Team member Planetbeing has been “working on this quietly in the background” but now he has Android successfully working on the iPhone (well, for the most part).

To work this application you need OpeniBoot on your iPhone, which enables you to boot linux. This too is created by Planetbeing. It goes without saying that this is a great achievement, but given the iPhone’s hardware, the only real thing it had going for it was the Apple iPhone OS. Now this is gone, there really isn’t a good reason why one wouldn’t just buy a cheaper device that already has Android running on it. It is likely that this cheaper device will still offer better hardware specifications.

Sprint contest to win HTC Evo 4G smartphones

Just do slow run to get one of the hot new HTC Evo 4G Android smartphones for Sprint? Do I really have to ask that question?

Then you should head to this page and enter Sprint’s contest.  You’ll need to write a 150 word (max) essay on something you can do really fast (such as enter a contest, perhaps) and then fill in a few other details to enter.  Entries must be in by May 9th.

The winner gets the phone and a free year of service, as well as the opportunity to blog about your experiences with the phone and 4G service.

Official Android Twitter App

Twitter’s Evan Williams has recently revealed that the company plan to shortly offer an official Android application for the microblogging network.

The announcement was made at the Twitter Chirp conference, but it isn’t yet clear whether Twitter are planning to acquire an existing Android app (like they recently did with the iPhone Tweetie app), or whether they’d prefer to partner with a developer or mobile device maker  and create the app from scratch.

Twitdroid and Seesmic’s Android application are currently among the most popular Twitter clients for Android phones.

[via techcrunch.com]



Android march to Version 3.0

I am excited to hear that there may be huge leaps and developments going on with the android platform, I’m also happy to hear that the android team is keeping busy on its platform.

It was not long back when AndroidAndMe.com spotted Android 2.2 on their analytics reports data. Now it is not a rumor that many servers have pick-up an Android version 3.0. Read more

Upcoming Cool Dell Aero

The Dell Aero is going to be the second Android powered handset of AT&T company and this is not actually Dell’s first Android phone, it is very alike to the Dell Mini 3i which was the first Android phone of manufacturer and it was launched in China. Now Dell is going to make public their Android wares to America, and they’ve appreciably customized the UI on what AT&T is calling “the lightest Android Phone” upon launch.

In terms of features, Dell aero consists of 3.5-inch screen, a 624 MHz Marvell processor, 5MP camera, Flash Lite and simplistically enjoyable design; the Dell Aero stands to be an attractive option for AT&T customers. Dell seems to be adding a lot of cool features to the phone software wise out of the box, including QuickOffice, an enhanced media experience, an aggregated social networking experience, and a lot more.

It is also noticed in some blogs that the software keyboard was one of the worst ever and his analysis continued down that slippery path. AT&T bloat ware, lack of Google applications, weird home/back button, medium speed UI.

Actually, AT&T or Dell wanted to hear from the Aero that this is the first American Android. Both parties concluded to state the device might not be pre-loaded with Google apps but the phone does have Android Market. Not to mention, the version tested probably was a beta and doesn’t represent a final product. Fair enough, but it is not sure how much or if the device will actually improve before launch day.

Now that AT&T seems to be going full speed ahead on Android, it looks like there is no turning back. And for Dell, will they finally get the exposure and success in the Smartphone market they’ve been hoping for with the help of Android.  Yet there are still a number of questions about the device, but the presently rumored launch window is June 2010.

Dell shows three Android powered handsets

Recently dell has shown three Android powered handsets, with the “THUNDER” being an almost alike copy to the Lightning except running Android 2.1. Dell claims that the device runs Flash 10.1 and is being used to push mobile Hulu, a sort of Iplayer for the US.

Two other devices, called Smoke and Flash, go for the mainstream market and while lacking in innovative features still look very good. Both run the Android OS but neither will be available until late this year.

Acer exposed with Android phone with 1GHz processor

Acer’s first Android phone, it’s one of the first to dispatch with Android 1.6  but is also the first Android phone to ship with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Using the 1GHz chip makes it faster than the 800MHz Samsung Moment  and helps drive the 800×480 touchscreen as well as speed up 3D and Android’s already accurate web browser.

Despite being new to Android, Acer claims a fully customized interface with better shortcuts to media and web links, a much more advanced camera interface that supports ISO sensitivity changes and geotagging, and a custom Spinlets app for streaming music and video. Like Palm’s Synergy, social networking is directly integrated with the contact list and merges not just Facebook and Twitter but also media sharing services like Flickr, Picasa and YouTube.

Cool Garminfone, T-Mobile’s Android Phone

The new Garminfone, like its predecessor A50, would run Google’s Android operating system. Layered on top of the OS is Garmin’s navigation user interface.

The newest phone would offer voice-guided and on-screen directions with automatic rerouting. The device, which has a 3.5-inch display, can be mounted on a dashboard to provide directions to motorists. In addition, Garmin also offers maps and navigation to people on foot.

Some other features offered through Garminfone’s UI include real-time traffic, weather, and gas prices. The Garminfone also has a 3-megapixel camera, built-in support for 3G and Wi-Fi networks, and some internal storage, although Garmin has not said how much.

T-Mobile will bring this phone as quick as possible for their valuable customer. Pricing of this mobile has not been disclosed.

Sprint updated to Android phones

A Sprint executive told the plans to release software updates for its smartphones and other news via a web chat. David Owens revealed the Android-powered HTC Hero and Samsung Moment will get an update to the OS, though hasn’t specified whether it will be  version 1.6 or 2.0. Android phones are expected to also go down in price thanks to higher volumes, and Sprint is considering adding an Android handset with an integrated WiFi-style router.

In other Android news at Sprint, devices with both CDMA and GSM network support are being considered for 2010. Sprint will also bring many more HTC handsets to market in 2010, most runningAndroid

Lenovo Android phone identical iPhone style

Lenovo is planning to enter the touchscreen smartphone arena by using Google’s Android and with a close iPhone-like appearance, a leak from modmyGphone shows. The anonymous device has a full touchscreen flush with the main body, like its Apple rival, and will have just a minimum of extra buttons for calling, answering and stepping through menus. No keyboard is immediately visible and suggests instead that the phone may use a planned virtual keyboard for Android rather than the hardware keys required on HTC’s G1.

Android 2.0 platforms and its advancement to Android 2.2 FroYo

Android 2.0 platform release was a breakthrough to Android-powered handsets starting in November 2009. Many new features and technologies were introduces for users and developers along with Android framework API.

New features includes quick contact for android, multiple accounts, messaging search, email combined inbox and camera modes. New platform technologies are media framework, Bluetooth 2.1 andk new framework APIs’.

The system image included in the downloadable platform provides a variety of built-in locales. Some cases, region-specific strings are available for the locales. In other cases, a default version of the language is used.

Followed by Android 2.1 is a minor platform release utilizable to Android-powered handsets starting in January 2010. This release includes new API changes and bug fixes. Android 2.1 platforms was released with following built in features-

• Alarm Clock

• Browser

• Calculator

• Camera

• Contacts

• Custom Locale (developer app)

• Dev Tools (developer app)

• Email

• Gallery
• IMEs for Japanese, Chinese, and Latin text input

• Messaging

• Music

• Phone

• Settings

• Spare Parts (developer app)

Final version of Android is still in under shadow.  Recently, news has spread out all over world that Google is going to release its latest Android 2.2 or Android 2.2 FroYo in May. Some websites and blogs also spotted that Android is being tested on the web.

Very recently it is also observed that the newest operating system from Google has been installed on at least a few handsets and is being tested on the mobile web. It is known from some n blogs that Android 2.2 will focus more on enhancing the overall performance of the system rather than introduce more features.

There is a possibility to see a code in Android 2.2 comes from the JIT Compiler for Android’s Dalvik VM. The implementation of the code into Android, it streamlines the performance of the operating system and provides up to a 250% increase in performance.

In terms of features, the update promises mostly background tweaks and bug fixes, but does include the ability to flash the trackball on the Nexus One different colours and support for Flash Player 10.1. M radio, freed up RAM for use by customers, and OpenGL ES 2.0 to boost graphics performance will be included in new Android 2.2. There are still plenty of secrets” plenty of secrets” stated by Google. So it is better to wait for more expected and unexpected surprise.