Starting today, Nexus One users will begin to receive an over-the-air software update on their phones. This update provides some great new features, and fixes a few problems that some users might have experienced, including:
Google Goggles: this mobile application will now be available directly on your device by launching it from your All Apps menu. Just use your Nexus One camera to start searching the web
Google Maps: the Maps application with be updated to a new version, Google Maps 3.4, which will include:
Starred items synchronized with maps.google.com – access your favorite places from your phone or computer
Search suggestions from your personal maps.google.com history – makes it easy to search for places you’ve searched for before
Night mode in Google Maps Navigation – automatically changes your screen at night for easier viewing and driving
Pinch-to-zoom functionality: devices will now include a new pinch-to-zoom mechanism in the phone’s Browser, Gallery and Maps applications
3G connectivity: we will provide a general fix to help improve 3G connectivity on some Nexus One phones
In order to access the update, you will receive a message on your phone’s notification bar. Just download the update, wait for it to install, and you should be all set. This update will be rolled out gradually to phones – and most users might not receive the notification until the end of the week. We hope you enjoy these new features and look forward to your feedback.
Let the rumors stop and the truth be told!!! A trusted and anonymous source dropped this in my Inbox today. Behold the Espresso aka The Mytouch2 aka The Mytouch Slide. Wow that’s a lot of aka’s. Mr Blurrycam took the night off when it came time to getting these pics. The above shot is purported to be the MyTouch Slide phone, sent over by my super ninja. The keyboard looks like quite spacious and noticeably drops the trackball for a Blackberry-like trackpad that doubles as a push button.
Here is a list of confirmed Specs:
1300mAHr Battery
MicroSD memory cardslot is accessible without battery removal. It is a push to insert and push to remove design.
Optical trackpad with an integrated push button.
Camera with LED flash.
3.5 mm Headset Jack
Slide-out 4 row QWERTY keyboard
320×48o screen resolution.
ARM11 processor.
Chime in and let us know what you think about the device… Are you going to get one?
Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg said the handset maker has no plans to delay the launch of its first Android smartphone in China. The announcement comes days after Google postponed indefinitely the launch of two Android handsets in the country following a dispute with China over cyber security.
“We don’t expect any delay based on that situation,” Nordberg said at a Tokyo news conference. “We expect to launch simultaneously in the whole world including China.”
The phone, the Xperia X10, will go on sale first in Japan through NTT DoCoMo in April, and in China shortly thereafter.
Google’s two stalled Android phones, one by Motorola and another by Samsung, were scheduled to launch Wednesday with China Unicom. The delay was the first sign that Google’s wireless efforts might be impacted by what the company has described as cyber security attacks originating in China and possibly directed by the government there. Google has threatened to withdraw from the country over the issue.
Sony Ericsson has much riding on the success of the X10, and has described the device as the flagship for a family of phones the struggling handset maker will release in the first half of this year. The device features a new user interface called UX, which appears to build on many of the advances HTC and Motorola have made with their own custom Android user interfaces. Sony Ericsson has not said if it will partner with a U.S. carrier for the X10.
We’re hearing the Motoroi is headed to US shelves this March. Moto Korea head honcho Rick Wolochatiuk was on hand at the Korean launch to confirm that the new handset “will be launched in other markets around the world,” with the US specifically confirmed for a March release.
Looks as though Android has been postponed in China. The launch of two Android-powered phones (one from Motorola and another from Samsung) both scheduled for this week have been delayed.
Google Inc wanted customers to have a “positive experience” with the product, but felt that would be difficult considering the publicity surrounding the company in China at present.
Google said last week that it and other companies were targets of sophisticated cyber-spying from China that also went after Chinese dissidents, and threatened to pull out of the country.
It also said it no longer wants to censor its Chinese Google.cn search site and wants talks with Beijing about offering a legal, unfiltered Chinese site.
I recently had the pleasure of some hands on time with the device. I only had a few moments with the Incredible in a dark room during a meeting, but here are some unreleased details. Unfortunately we were asked not to take pictures (device had watermarked OS).
The Hardware:
The phone was solid. Not light, but not really heavy, it was comfortable.
The back was plastic metallic red.
The screen was bright and with a nearby Samsung Behold II it was obvious the Incredible had the same 3.7″ AM-OLED screen just like the Nexus One.
The camera was 5 mega-pixels with 2 small circles next to the lens (believed to belong to a led flash and light sensor).
The processor was said to be 850 MHz
The Software:
Sence UI with Android 2.1
Native Multi touch (we were told this device would also launch with Multi-touch)
11 possible home screens with a way to bring them up all at once in a cool iris style view
I went through the normal home screen and app drawer scrolling. I was very impressed by the responsiveness in my few moments with the device. I did however notice that while scrolling though the settings on the device that it currently only had 71mb available internal space left this may be a sign of limited internal storage.
The Incredible from HTC/Verizon seems like a great device, from my brief time with it I am afraid users expecting an Incredible device will be left wanting more. Any device named ”INCREDIBLE” should be the best on the market, with the Nexus one just being released with a more powerful processor this one completely falls short of its name.
Since getting my Behold2 I have wanted to kill Touchwiz!!!! Well tonight my dream came true below you will find step by step instructions on how to push a Galaxy system image onto your device. So far all tests have passed with the exception of speaker phone (fix incoming soon). Special thanks go to Kam187, My420time, and Mobileband
Since the Android Revolution began over a year ago there has always been a major pitfall when it came to syncing your music to your Android device. While in the process of looking for an alternative to iTunes I happened to stumble upon a great discovery. Songbird now supports media synchronization with Android devices. I have to say I was skeptical at first so I quickly downloaded and began testing. To my surprise all 3 android devices that I connected to the computer synced flawlessly!!! My test devices included the Samsung Behold2, Samsung Moment, and my trusty G1.
Songbird is visually stunning and has as many if not more features than its Apple counterpart. Songbird is also another great project from our friends that made Firefox. Try it out and let us know how it works for you.
Also for those of you that like to wear gear to support development of new and great things, Songbird sells some nice stuff.
I can definitely say that I am totally pumped to see that Android will soon make it way into our homes. MIPS is working on doing just that.
“MIPS Technologies is bringing the power of the Android™ platform to the vast MIPS® development community across the world. MIPS developers can use this revolutionary platform for consumer devices such as set-top boxes, digital TVs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), mobile handsets, home media players and VoIP systems.”
MIPS has made the Source code publicly available on their website.
Here is an excerpt from their website
Driving Android into the Digital Home
MIPS Technologies has a broad ecosystem around its processor cores and architecture. The MIPS ecosystem around Android enables OEMs to quickly optimize for their specific platforms. MIPS’ own tools, as well as those from Viosoft and Mentor Graphics, are available to support Android development and porting.
Since Android was originally targeted for mobile handsets, functionality doesn’t exactly match the requirements of other consumer electronic devices such as DTVs and set-top boxes. Much of the functionality must be extended to handle different feature sets and usage models. Leveraging its leadership position in the digital home, MIPS Technologies is spearheading efforts to make Android a reality for a broad range of consumer electronic devices.
Together with our partners and working groups of the Open Embedded Software Foundation (OESF), an organization focused on driving Android beyond mobile handsets, MIPS Technologies is working to define standardized Android-based platforms for consumer devices.
Developers check out MIPSAndroid.org, developers can join the growing community developing around Android on MIPS.
Chime in and let us know what you are looking for when it comes to Android in your home.
Alright AT&T users, Android phones are on the way to save the day! AT&T has finally come to their senses and is joining the rest of the world in Android goodness. AT&T promises to launch FIVE Android phones in the first half of 2010 alone. Those devices will include:
A Motorola smartphone, powered by MOTOBLUR, with a unique form factor and an AT&T exclusive
Dell’s first smartphone, based on the Android platform and an AT&T exclusive
A HTC smartphone, based on the Android platform, and an AT&T exclusive
The AT&T Dell Android phone is purportedly the Dell Mini 3i we’ve seen launch in China and Brazil. The other devices are unknown at the moment but we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this.
Android is now on all big 4 carriers in the US. Congratulations are definitely in order!
