T-Mobile bandwagon has launched a 3G Slide sans slide Android phone resembling HTC’s MyTouch. The latest addition of T-Mobile’s “myTouch” has increased the shopping options for a Smart Phone buyer. So let’s see what the phone offers.

The consumer-centric T-Mobile myTouch features 3.8-inch WVGA display, 5 megapixel “primary” camera with 720p capture, and a next-gen MSM8255 Snapdragon core running at 1GHz.

Did you notice, we said “primary camera”? It’s unbelievable but true, myTouch features a second, front-facing camera as well, becoming the second phone from T-Mobile offering video calling. We assume it will operate on both Wi-Fi and 3G networks using Qik and Yahoo Messenger, hence you’ll be able to watch the beautiful faces of your EVO-sporting friends from across the globe.It’s well-equipped for supporting upcoming HSPA+ along with 802.11n and Android 2.2 right out of the box.

We are told the phone will be available “in time for the holidays” in four scintillating colours: white, black, plum, and red.

Interested? Read the full Press Release.

[via Engadget]

Here we are again to brighten your weekend! Android Central joined hands with Verizon, and the result HTC Merge/ Lexikon – a dual-mode CDMA / GSM worldphone. Built on Android 2.2 and saddled with HTC Sense and Bing for search, the hardware is fantastic!

With well-spaced slide-out QWERTY keyboard and clicky response, the phone has a solid feel. Wait until you watch the 720p video clicked with 5-megapixel camera. Store images and videos on a 2GB of on-board storage and 5^th 12MB of RAM  

The 800MHz processor is dynamite! See it derail the megahertz myth and pull a superb benchmark score.

[via Engadget]

Motorola’s recently launched Android handset – Droid X gets a facelift. The company has finally updated the OS to Android 2.2 (Froyo), and this means feature additions and plenty of improvements. However, Droid X is currently available in USA with Verizon partnership.

Droid X users have been receiving notifications in the status bar regarding the availability of the update. If you haven’t received any notification yet, you might check manually.

So what are the fixes and new features? Droid X gets an improved visual voicemail, enhanced connectivity when moving from a 3G to Wi-Fi networks. Additionally, Froyo introduces support for Flash in the browser, Microsoft Exchange support and superior JavaScript support.

[via Techtree]

Techradar got some good tips on Froyo. This 20 Android 2.2 how tos will definitely maximize your phone.

1. Edit your Android Search button settings

Google’s Search box will, by default, search the internet and your phone for any text you enter. If you’d rather it just searched your phone, press the ‘G’ icon and change where Google looks for stuff. Also, under Menu > Settings > Search you’re able to add or remove items and search locations from this list. Makes searching for apps by name much, much faster.

Froyo Search button settings

2. Stick a load of search widgets on a screen

If you’re stuck for ideas on what to put on all your Home screens, why not build your own search super screen? One search bar for web, one for apps, one for contacts – easy.

3. Pull up for numeric Android keypad

If you’re using the generic, unskinned Android 2.2, the keyboard now lets users swipe up to select numeric characters and apostrophes, rather than having to navigate to a separate screen. Not quite as intuitive as HTC’s custom keyboard as found on the Sense-enabled HTC Desire version of Android 2.2, but a big improvement on the stock keyboard of old.

4. Power button ends calls

Under Settings > Accessibility there’s a tiny new change – the option to use the power button to end a phone call. Very handy – if your phone doesn’t already support that.

Power button ends calls

5. Enable Flash in your Android browser

The big selling point of Android 2.2 is it compatibility with Adobe’s Flash 10.1 player. HTC has built the app into its Android 2.2 update, while the “vanilla” Nexus One FroYo requires Flash to be installed as a separate download from the Android Market. Just remember it’ll need to be activated in the browser settings – if you want Flash, that is.

6. …then turn Flash off again

Once the novelty has worn off, you may find Flash 10.1 to be a bit of a burden, what with the way it can slow down page scrolling on even the most modern of Android phones. The toggle option is found in the browser settings, where you can choose to have Flash plug-in content only activate “On Demand” when you click on it.

Turn Flash off again

7. Enter a numeric pin

FroYo lets you specify a pin number to lock and unlock the phone, if you’re not won over by the previous version’s shape-based locking system. Stick in your choice of digits under Settings > Security > Set up screen lock.

8. Update your apps

Another of FroYo’s big new additions is the option to save your apps to SD card. But remember this option is not universal – it requires the app developer to specifically add the option to their app. Don’t blame yourself when you can’t save something to SD card, it’s the developer’s fault.

9. Shuffle apps to SD card

Also, don’t panic when you’re not asked where to save an app when downloading it from the Android Market. That’s not how it works. You can only install apps to your phone initially – then move them to SD card separately. Do this by going to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications and clicking on the app. If the developer has enabled it, now you can shuffle it to your memory card.

How to save apps to SD card

10. Install SDMove

SDMove is a tiny Android app that fills the above gap. It lists your apps, letting you see at a glance which ones can be moved to SD card and which can’t. If you’ve got a heavily loaded phone, it could save many seconds of annoyed fiddling.

11. Don’t install your most-used apps to SD card

Also worth remembering is that your SD card is not available to your phone while it’s plugged in via USB – so any apps on your SD card won’t be accessible while your phone’s charging. So don’t put anything too important on there, else you’ll end up having to copy it back to use it while charging via USB.

12. Tether, don’t hotspot

As cool as it may well be to use Android 2.2′s network-hammering wireless hotspot facilities to share your 3G connection with your laptop, it’ll guzzle the power out of your battery like a dog sucking the jelly out of a pork pie. So use the alternative Tethering option – and connect your laptop via USB. Not as futuristic, but works better – and means you don’t have to mess about with WPA2 encryption settings on both devices.

13. Film something that happens at night

Android 2.2 lets you completely ruin your battery by keeping the camera’s flash running constantly. HTC utilises this to provide a flashlight app, but it also means you’re able to use your phone to record hedgehogs eating slugs at dusk.

14. Activate swearing recognition

You’re now able to swear at your phone, and it’ll know about it. Google’s allowed rude words to be interpreted by its voice-to-text tools in Android 2.2. Go to Settings > Voice input & output, then deactivate the ‘Block offensive words’ checkbox. Handy if your late night web browsing requires explicit terminology and hands-free operation, for whatever reason.

Activate swearing recognition

15. Uninstall your Task Killers

There’s no point bothering with a task killer of any sort on Android 2.2, as Google has changed its code to stop apps killing other apps. There’s a manual override hidden in Settings > Applications > Manage Applications, where you’re able to Force Stop a running app if you must. But it’ll be easier and less stressful to simply surrender control and learn to trust Google.

16. Use Exchange ActiveSync

Android 2.2 now has enhanced auto-discovery options, making it possible to activate Exchange-based email systems by simply keying in your username and password – plus there’s a remote wipe option for binning everything when you leave your phone and all your sensitive emails in a taxi or East End lapdancing club.

17. Enable Android auto app updates

Another milestone FroYo feature is the chance to have your downloaded apps update themselves. But the default option is to ask the user to update manually, for some odd reason. So no, your phone isn’t broken – activate auto-updates by opening the Android Market and pressing Menu, Downloads, then opening up each installed app and ticking Allow Automatic Updating. It’s a pain you have to do this for every app – but still easier than updating everything manually.

Enable Android auto app updates

18. Turn off app update Notifications altogether

If you’re happy with what you’ve got and would rather not be woken up at 4.35am to be told there’s a minor incremental update to the Foursquare app now available, switch off app update notifications completely. From the Android Market home page, press Menu > Downloads > Menu and hit the Notifications toggle.

19. Manually update the stragglers

There’s one quirk to this new auto-update feature that may appear like it’s a bug – but it’s not. Android 2.2 will refuse to automatically update any apps that have changed their permission settings, so you’ll have to do those yourself. It’s a security feature, so that the innocent wallpaper you installed can’t suddenly request access to your location and web history without you first clicking the appropriate disclaimer.

20. Install Chrome to Phone

Google’s new Android 2.2 exclusive feature is a clever, if slightly pointless, demo of Google’s mobile powers. Install the app, install the Chrome extension, then hit the phone icon to ping URLs to your phone. Not sure what the point of it is when Android can do maps and internet perfectly well by itself, but it sure is impressive.

Froyo review on Nexus One

From CNET

Android Era

Google’s Android operating system for mobile phones has been characterized by such rapid change, it’s hard to believe that Google has released no fewer than five notable iterations since the T-Mobile G1 kicked off the Android era in late October 2008.

Compare this figure to the four major iPhone operating system (or iOS) versions since June 2007, and you’ll see just how intently Google has been pouring resources into creating Android. The result? A competitive mobile OS that has achieved for market penetration in a very short time.

Google’s breakneck development speed has certainly paid off since it acquired the incipient Android start-up in 2005. Android now accounts for 13 percent of the smartphone market and 27 percent of smartphone sales in the last six months, according to a Nielsen Company report.

The pace, however, is unsustainable. We expect the rate of Android updates to slow down from about twice per year to a once-a-year update that hews closer to Apple’s iOS release schedule. Otherwise, says Google Vice President of Engineering, Andy Rubin–the original Android’s co-founder and CEO, no less–”it’s hard for developers to keep up.”

With carriers slowly but surely updating Android 2.2 (code-named Froyo) for Android handsets, we take a retrospective look at how we got here from the G1, and where we expect Android to head next.

Froyo highlights
Of the significant changes in Froyo, the new Bluetooth an app-saving capabilities stand out. Drivers using any version of the operating system prior to Android 2.2 are unable to initiate phone calls through their Bluetooth headsets, a vast inconvenience for those who strive to go hands-free. In our tests, pairing and voice dialing were on point.

Saving apps to the SD card is also a crucial addition that Froyo serves up. Being able to move application storage to the external memory frees up room on the internal memory for other items, especially space-taking multimedia. Unfortunately, you still have to download apps to the phone before transferring files to SD card, but it was a fairly hassle-free experience overall.

Gingerbread
Even while Android users are scooping up Froyo, many are already looking to the next OS iteration, Gingerbread. There has been much rumor and speculation, but apart from slipping the code-name once, Google has remained tight-lipped.

We do, however, know a few features that Google demoed this past May at its I/O conference, so there’s a good chance these could show up in Gingerbread. One is video playback using the WebM video format that Google has developed. Another is a refurbished, account-based online Android Market with the capability to load apps over-the-air. In other words, clicking the installation button on your computer screen will kick off a physical download–not just the download link–directly onto your phone.

Google’s crew also discussed an Android Market music store to rival iTunes. Google’s acquisition of Simplify Media bolsters the plan for Android to facilitate streaming selections from your PC music library onto your smartphone. We know that Google has a keen eye on Apple’s iAds push, and is further developing its mobile advertising strategy.

According to rumors, Gingerbread will include copy/paste improvements and will require certain hardware specssuch as a 1GHz processor, 512MB memory, and 3.5-inch or larger display. Rumors suggest we could see Gingerbread as soon as autumn. However, in light of Froyo ongoing release coupled with Andy Rubin’s statement regarding a slower release schedule, that seems too soon.

As always, we’ve got our ears pricked for Gingerbread news.

One of the most important features on Android 2.2 is the flash 10.x support. It means more videos, Youtube, and Hulu in particular. Am a big fan of Hulu, that is how I catch up with most TV shows.  If you’ve updated your Android phone to Android 2.2 or still waiting on Sprint to update your HTC Evo, here is how to watch Hulu on Android 2.2…

Open the web browser on your Android device, type “about:debug” into the address bar and press Go. Go to settings, scroll to the bottom and select “UAString”; then change the setting to “Desktop,” and enjoy Hulu on your Android device.

This trick has been tested on Google’s Nexus One phone. Unfortunately, it comes with certain drawbacks; you get the desktop edition of Hulu instead of the version optimized for mobile devices; furthermore, it will likely get blocked by Hulu very soon.

[via Mashable]

How to watch Hulu on Android 2.2 (Froyo)