Phones
Gingerbread? Yes, Please.
Jun 30th
Shortly after FroYo became available to Nexus One users via the OTA release, rumors are starting to pop up about the release of Android’s next update – Gingerbread (3.0). Many reports are indicating the upgrade will be made public in October of 2010 (6th update in the past 1.5 years for Android). The only two rumored upgrades will be that the phone will have a user interface overhaul to reduce the need for 3rd-party user interface configurations, and the picture gallery will be very similar to that on the Nexus One. But… apparently there will be some hardware requirements in order to run Gingerbread: 1GHz CPU, 512 MB of RAM and a display of at least 3.5″.
The phones that are currently available on the market (or will be soon) are:
- Nexus One
- EVO 4G
- Droid Incredible
- Droid X
- Galaxy S, Captivate, Fascinate, Vibrant, Epic 4G
- Desire
Once again, Nexus One owners can rejoice!
What features do you want Android to include in Gingerbread?
FroYo 2.2 Heading to all Nexus One Phones
Jun 29th
According to a recent blog post from Google, all Nexus Ones should receive the Froyo update by the week’s end. This is good news for many Nexus One users that have been waiting patiently for the OTA update since Froyo debuted in May 2010.
Here is the blog post from Google:
Monday, June 28, 2010
New Android 2.2 Software Update for Nexus One phones
Starting today, Nexus One users will begin to receive the Android 2.2 (codenamed Froyo) over-the-air software update on their phones. This update provides some great new features including support for making your handset a portable hotspot and support for Adobe Flash within the browser. For a complete list of everything we’ve included in Android 2.2, please see the Android 2.2 Platform Highlights.
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 will receive the notification by the end of the week . We hope you enjoy these new features.
Come back to GadgetMe.net for a full review and highlights of Froyo 2.2 on the Nexus One. Please leave comments regarding the update and what you think of it!
HTC goes after Conflipper – http://shipped-roms.com/
Jun 19th
Android has been praised time and time again because of how open it is. It is “open” because it is open-sourced. Long have I not understood the business model of open-sourced software. How do you make money on something that is essentially free? That is until of course Android 2.0 was released. This was a defining moment in my eyes because for the first time Android moved from a geek pipe dream, much like linux is, to a true contender of the big boys like Apple, RIM, and in distant 3rd Microsoft.
HTC as we all know has risked a lot of time, money, and effort into Android. They were the first ones to take a chance with the brand new Mobile OS with their HTC G1 back in 2007. Since then they have released some of the best phones out on the market such as the incredible and EVO. One of the reasons they have such a great phone is because of their software they put on top of Android. Some may not like the idea of having a third party “overlay”. Most of these people I think fit into two categories.
1. They have an android phone made by someone else that is either underpowered or the manufacture screwed the skin up making their phone run like crap.
2. They are remembering the days of Winmob X.X and all the crappy Skins manufactures always insisted putting on them.
However, HTC’s Sense is a great overlay. From the phones that I have played with, it doesn’t slow Android down or impede any function of android. The Incredible and the EVO both are as quick and responsive as my Nexus One. For business users you don’t need to go out and buy any third party software in order to effectively connect to exchange. (Yes I know that plain-jane Android 2.1 can connect to exchange but anyone that has actually used it on a regular basis knows that it sucks the big one and you need to purchase touchdown.) Finally it looks great too. For example: They used the multi-touch “pinch” with perfect finesse in order to allow a user to “shrink” all the home screens and choose the home screen they are looking for quickly and easily.
Since HTC has put so much time and effort into their software that they wrote themselves. I agree with their view point. Their Cease and Desist letter in my eyes is completely legit and justified. They are only protecting their work. Everyone including nerds and geeks, need to realize these three points:
1. Companies are in business to make money.
2. Companies can only employ people when they are making money.
3. When someone disregards all copyright laws and ethical boundaries for personal gain, companies should and will bite.
By taking HTC’s software and offering it to the public for free, Conflipper has effectively disregarded all three of these points. I guess my point of this is that just because something is open source does not mean whatever is built on top of it is as well.
Apple iPhone 4 Pre-order: Hot Mess!
Jun 15th
As you may have heard or tried for yourself, Apple is having issues with pre-orders for the latest iPhone 4. Steve Jobs announced the phone’s release at the WWDC on June 7. The issues people are running into are slowness, site time-outs with an error message to follow.
Apple has not released what is causing the issue, but it is believed that Apple is “checking” with AT&T regarding upgrade eligibility and that is slowing the process down dramatically.
Did you have issues when you tried to pre-order the phone?
Dropbox
Jun 12th
Dropbox offers people a free way to store 2GBs of information and up to 100GBs to paying customers. Users have the ability to sync files across multiple platforms and they will automatically update.
All of the features can be found here. You will also get an email similar to this:
There are also apps for Android, iPhone, and iPad. According to the site, there will be a Blackberry app soon.
Dropbox is another way for us to get to the clouds.
Nexus One: Unboxing
Jun 12th
It was April 12, 2010, when I picked up my Nexus One from FedEx (approx 2 days after I ordered it). The anticipation of the phone was so great that I sped down 28th street so I could get home and take it out of the box. Once home, I opened the brown box, and unveiled the prettiest white box I have ever seen. There it was, on my kitchen table, my Nexus One.
As I unwrapped the contents of the box, I was fascinated by the detail of the packaging. And there it was, my N1. The phone appeared to be so much thinner than my Apple iPhone 3G and the weight seemed considerably less. Gorgeous piece of hardware. I made sure to read the directions before turning it on (I didn’t want to mess it up). Once I put my AT&T sim card in the phone, I booted it up. I was blown away by the quality of the screen. The AMOLED screen was bright, crisp and a billion times better than my iPhone’s screen.
As I waited for the phone to charge, I couldn’t help admire my new toy.
My iPhone replacement.
Hello Android, welcome to my world.
Evolution of Android
Jun 10th
By now there is a good chance you have heard of Android. The mobile operating system that is pushing Apple to the brink of insanity. But that’s a good thing, right?
Android will be found on almost 100 phones by the end of 2010. It was created by the Open Handset Alliance led by Google with the goal of keeping mobile devices open for development. The software has been available as open source since October of 2008.
The first phone to run Android was the HTC Dream and ran version 1.0. The phone is also known as the Google Phone or G1.
The first official software release was made available in May of 2009 and it’s name was Cupcake (1.5). Cupcake’s Platform Highlights include various user interface refinements and key feature updates. After 1.5 came, you guessed it, 1.6 – Donut. In October 2009, only five months after a major Android update, Donut was released. The update was minor, but still brought some key enhancements to the mobile operating system. In January of 2010, Android released 2.0/2.1 (Eclair) which added some additional features. Again, this upgrade was minor, but needed to fix bugs and upgrade the API. Are you noticing a pattern here? Android puts out updates fast and they name them after food.
The latest Android SDK release was 2.2 (Froyo). The SDK was made available to developers in May of 2010. Although Google is calling the software release minor, few people see it as such. Some of the key features that I am looking forward to: tethering, mobile hot spots, the Davik Performance boost, and many others.
From what I can tell Android is going to continue to put out updates at least once per year. And if you were following along, Android released four updates in the past year. That’s pretty incredible.