Android Community |
- HTC Flyer Hands-On and Unboxing
- New Details on Droid 3 Confirmed
- Samsung Execs Reveal Future Plans
- Dell Streak 7 has Gingerbread Launcher Buried Under Honeycomb
- NOOKcolor Update Leaves 1GB Free for Content
- TweetComb, Tablet Optimized Twitter App, Now Free in Market
- Droid X2 Hands-On and Unboxing [video]
- Sharp Aquos Hybrid 007sh Clamshell Official
- Google Maps Now on all Mobile Browsers
| HTC Flyer Hands-On and Unboxing Posted: 20 May 2011 06:09 PM PDT Hooray we finally got it! It’s the coolest little tablet this side of the sea – only it’s not just this side of the sea, it’s all over the place. The first place we saw this device, the HTC Flyer, was back at Mobile World Congress 2011 where we got but a tiny glance at what it truly held for us. Then we got a better look at its Sprint counterpart at CTIA 2011. Now we’ve got a full-fledged hands-on look of the device and we’re ready and rarin to go look at all of its insides. Pay special attention to the last question in the post as it’s for YOU!
Check back here for the first time yours truly ever got anywhere close to the Flyer in person at MWC, then head to this post for the original announcement before anyone else had it, and of course go forth to the original announcement of the HTC EVO View 4G (Sprint’s Flyer) and our very own hands-on at the Sprint event. Feel like you’re covered for back info yet? Time to pen on!
This device is what I remember thinking at first was the ultimate awesome Android tablet because at that time there was no such thing as an Android device larger than a handset worth it’s salt. Sure, there was a Galaxy Tab here or there, but that wasn’t Honeycomb. That wasn’t what this device ends up looking like: a giant EVO! It’s white in Europe, black in the USA, and here we’ve got this one, just right, just the best. It’s got a scribe pen too for yes, a totally amazing Android experience that includes circling, tapping, and instant screen-shotting like Android always should have. This device is a 7.7 x 4.8 x 0.52 inch Android tablet from HTC weighing in at 14.82oz and, depending on which country you buy it in, coming standard with the lovely scribe pen. On the back there’s a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with no flash, on the front there’s a 1.3-megapixel camera for video calls, and inside you’ll find WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, an ambient light sensor, g-sensor and a digital compass.
We’ll be putting this fabulous bucket of cute through some tests for you before the full review, making sure we’re going all directions but bad. Photo examples, video examples, and run-through of all the innards.
Meanwhile, what do you want to know? What DONT you want to know? If you plan on purchasing this device, what might you want to see it do beforehand? Let us know!                      )
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| New Details on Droid 3 Confirmed Posted: 20 May 2011 02:33 PM PDT With all the sequels coming out, one couldn’t be blamed for confusing a list of phones coming out this summer with a list of summer blockbusters. This particular upgrade happens to be the Motorola Droid 3 for Verizon. More exciting an upgrade from the Droid 2, then the 2 was from the original Droid. The third iteration is shaping up to bring the original Droid line back into the forefront of Android superphones when it is released this June.
A tipster has been able to confirm a few of the rumors that have been swirling about this phone as well as that the launch date will fall in June. First of all, as can be seen in the images of this phone that have been leaked, a full extra row is being added to the keyboard, to act as a dedicated number row. The biggest confirmation was that the screen will indeed be a qHD 4″ screen, presumably the same as the screen on the Motorola Atrix 4G, and while the phone is confirmed to have one of those new-fangled dual core processors, we still don’t know if it’s Tegra, or Texas Instrument’s latest OMAP processor (The original 2 Droids were both powered by single core TI OMAP processors). One upping it’s X2 cousin, this numbered Droid will be the first Motorola Droid phone to feature a front-facing camera. The phone will unfortunately be LTE-less though. While hardly a surprise given the issues we’ve been hearing about regarding the Droid Bionic, what was supposed to be Motorola’s first LTE phone, it’s a little disappointing when nearly everything that moves is having 4G slapped on the end of its name. Ignoring that phones don’t move, we continue on… While the lack of 4G is disappointing, the Droid 3 should be a great option for Verizon users who want extra power this summer, and it will be THE phone for Verizon users who need that physical keyboard. [via TechnoBuffalo] )
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| Samsung Execs Reveal Future Plans Posted: 20 May 2011 01:51 PM PDT A meeting last night held by Samsung executives held some gems in the form of potential new Android devices over the next year. The meeting, which was specifically to discuss ways that Samsung will be going after Apple’s market share, was not an explicitly Android event, so we can’t be absolutely sure that these will be Android devices, but the chances are good and there were some exciting things to be heard.
The “biggest” announcement was that Samsung is planning on squeezing that ridiculously high-res tablet screen they recently revealed, which squeezes 2560×1600 pixels into the same 10.1″ screen that is featured on tablets like the Galaxy Tab 10.1. As we’ve seen in the past though that many pixels can put a big strain on a CPU. To accomodate this Samsung has been in talks with companies looking for a chip with enough power. Another interesting topic discussed was dual screen phones. It’s not unheard of, with the Kyocera Echo being just that, but whether or not it will catch on is a little unsure. The Echo for one, made little splash for being as unorthodox as it is. Then again the Nintendo DS was a gigantic succes. There was also a demo of a Galaxy S II incorporating either RFID, and mention of a potential cloud phone. With all this in the further future, and plenty of great stuff just in the pipeline (get that Galaxy S II over to America already!!!) Samsung is gearing up for an intense year ahead. Let the Korean Android goodness flow! [via SlashGear] )
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| Dell Streak 7 has Gingerbread Launcher Buried Under Honeycomb Posted: 20 May 2011 01:20 PM PDT While Ice Cream Sandwich may be the hero to unite the tablet and phone branches of Android that exist right now, it turns out there may have already been a less elegant fix in place. Owners of the Dell Streak 7 have confirmed that if they change certain what the screen’s pixel density is listed as in the build.prop file, they are greeted not by Honeycomb’s familiar holo theme, but a giant Gingerbread UI after a reboot.
Now don’t ask me why people were changing the listed LCD density in their build.prop, but the fact stands its a weird “Easter egg.” It’s unconfirmed why Google included this in Honeycomb, but my personal guess is this is a relic of attempts to make Honeycomb portable to phones. Obviously this was never implemented, but maybe it was left in as a backup in case anyone tried porting Honeycomb to a phone against Google’s wishes. Click here to view the embedded video. As you can see in the video above, the UI is actually an unholy combination of Honeycomb, Gingerbread, and FroYo. The unlock screen seems to be Gingerbread, and the system app icons are the familiar green ones from phones running stock 2.3, but the launcher itself, as well as the status bar and notification tray are definitely FroYo, featuring the rounded corners and gray theme of 2.2. Even more confusing is that, at least when powering down, a Honeycomb style menu is presented to choose airplane mode or shut down. A neat trick, but far from the fix that we all await anxiously for Ice Cream Sandwich to bring. Good to know Google has been working on a solution unifying tablets and phones already though. [via XDA] )
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| NOOKcolor Update Leaves 1GB Free for Content Posted: 20 May 2011 12:56 PM PDT For those of you that don’t know, NOOKcolor is an Android-run reader-centric tablet from Barnes & Noble, one that recently hit the news again due to it’s 1,000,000 downloads of apps in it’s first week of allowing such downloads. New purchasers of NOOKcolor might not be running through the daisies so lightly, as just 1GB of the 5GB of storage the tablet is supposed to have will be partitioned off for side-loaded content. No more Speed Racer keeping for me!
All new boxes of NOOKcolor with a blue dot on them (really, not making this up,) are supposedly containing the versions of the tablet with only a single GB of space left for music, movies, and etcetera. Sure you can still load up the rest with books, but who wants to do that? This may put a big scar in the plans of hackers who’ve been purchasing the device since its inception to unlock and repurpose the hardware for more Androidy awesome uses. That said, this device will certainly STILL remain a heavy seller because of its tiny price ($249) and ability to be hacked. Certainly the e-reading has something to do with it too. Furthermore, intelligent takers apart of devices with their brains members of the hacking community will almost certainly find a quick way to get past the block noted here. What about you? Do you have a NOOKcolor yet? Have you broken in? Or do you just use it for the books? Also remember to check out your humble narrators massive week-long look at this device over at SlashGear. [via SlashGear] )
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| TweetComb, Tablet Optimized Twitter App, Now Free in Market Posted: 20 May 2011 12:50 PM PDT We gave you a quick look at TweetComb, the first, Twitter client, optimized for tablets not too long ago. The app was definitely pretty, if not a little less intuitive than we’d have liked for it’s $2.99 price tag. Starting today though, the apps creator, Chris Stewart has made it, and another of his apps, Newsr, free to download on the Android Market.
TweetComb is a great example of a tablet app, especially when such optimized apps have been a bit scarce as the Honeycomb platform is only just starting to spread to other apps. If you don’t have it yet, and are in to the whole Twitter thing, go ahead and grab it. It blows top apps for phones, such as TweetDeck and the official app out of the water on a tablet. If you do already have it, don’t worry! The developer has promised a refund to those who paid for the app, with details on his twitter. Check out our review of TweetComb on Honeycomb here! Stewart’s other tabler Optimized app is Newsr, a Google Reader client. It may not be quite as pretty as Pulse News Reader, but with automatic Google Reader integration and use, once again, of the UI fragments, it is definitely plenty easy to navigate. The other plus Newsr has over Pulse is that it automatically maintains any organization you have for existing subscriptions in Google Reader, rather than making you add them to a page manually. These apps are both great examples of what people can do with the extra screen real estate of a tablet, and offer some pretty unique features over their competitors. Give em a try for free, now in the Android Market. )
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| Droid X2 Hands-On and Unboxing [video] Posted: 20 May 2011 12:14 PM PDT The war is on! It’s time for the qHD battle to begin, and it’s begun this morning with no less than a HTC Sensation taking on the DROID X2, and wouldn’t you know it, we’ve got both. Let me introduce you to the newest member of the DROID side – DROID X2! This is a Motorola device that appears at first to be ever so slightly different from the DROID X it replaces – will it be too much for those who love new specs to bear? And what about other phone comparisons? Would you like a couple of pics of the DROID X2 next to the G2x? Sure!
The dimensions on this mother are exactly the same as the first DROID X at 5.02 x 2.58 x 0.39 inches. Next you’ve got to notice the weight, right? Not especially – they appear to be basically exactly the same there too. What about the display? Oh here we go, a new item! This newest version of the DROID X is a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 qHD display, rather than the 854 x 480 resolution screen in the older version. Of course this new version has a whole extra core as well: NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 dual-core revvs this engine up.
Inside you’ll also find Android 2.2 Froyo, an 8-megapixel camera on the back with the ability to grab 1080p video, Wifi b/g/n and CDMA radio. You’ll be using this device on Verizon’s network, but only on 3G – no LTE for you! Have a peek at a SunSpider Javascript benchmark here for an additional piece of improvement candy (lower is better):
Next, in Quadrant Advanced: Droid X2: total = 2743 (CPU 7241 / IO 2846) / Droid X: total=1353 (CPU 1266 / IO 3044) IO actually dropped on Droid X2! Finally in SmartBench 2011: Droid X2: 2775/2423 / Droid X: 844/1499 vs. Galaxy S II (powered by Samsung 1.2Ghz dual-core): 3830/2249
Then prepare yourself for the greatest unboxing and hands-on video you’ve probably ever seen in your life, courtesy of the best camera and most stolen tripod in history. Steven Spielberg, you thief! Then take a peek at this gallery of pics below. Included are several shots from our good friends at SlashGear (you’ll notice the difference by the bright white heaven setup that Vince has going on) comparing the DROID X to the DROID X2. Finally get ready for the full review because before you know it it’ll be comin at ya!             BONUS NOTE most importantly (aside from the dual-core improvement of course) the display difference between the X and X2. Looks like a thumbs up!
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| Sharp Aquos Hybrid 007sh Clamshell Official Posted: 20 May 2011 11:26 AM PDT What in the weird is going on here? It’s true Android can be run on basically any device you’ve got prepared for it to run on, but a clamshell phone? Sort of like back to the future, yes? This device is Sharp’s effort to bring something “new” to the Android world with some surprisingly impressive specs for such a retro looking phone. Behold a 1GHz second-gen Snapdragon processor, 16-megapixel rear camera, and Dropbox and Qik apps pre-installed for your pleasure!
This little ditty they say will be coming out in Japan first but given a good response will be spread over the whole toasty earth like a jam. Will it beat the Galaxy S II? Hardly. Will it sell a few thousand units? One would hope. This device also has a… what?! A 3D ready display with a 3D TV tuner! On there’s a front-facing camera with an unnamed resolution on it as well. Probably VGA like everyone else, tuckers. What an odd little combination of elements! Would you purchase such a device if it were put in front of you? Looks like it’s running Android 1.x doesn’t it? Turns out it’s running Android 2.3 Gingerbread from what we’ve been told. Also that flippable screen weighs in at 3.4-inches. Nice? Seems kinda sorta nice. [via Android Guys] )
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| Google Maps Now on all Mobile Browsers Posted: 20 May 2011 11:09 AM PDT So you’ve tried to access Google Maps from your web browser on your handheld device before and you’ve been miffed. They’ve told you that you’d have to access such a thing via an app that you’ve have to download, yes? Well no more, ladies and gentlemen, no more indeed. Google’s looked at their statistics (as they certainly do every single hour of every single day) and they’ve found that 40% of Google Maps usage is done from mobile devices. Because they want everyone to have a consistent Google Maps experience wherever they go and having an app compared to the browser version just wasn’t good enough, they’ve made the mobile version work with flying colors.
Behold above and below some lovely screenshots then go check it out yourself by looking up Google Maps in your mobile browser. You’ll find a whole slew of working elements, basically exactly the same thing you’ve been loving since the beginning of time from your desktop machine. The laundry list of elements that will be featured for you are thus: • See your current location This update makes Google Maps platform independent, allowing you to access it from any device that has a web browser. Take a peek at how it’s working for you now over at http://maps.google.com/     )
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