A leaked version of 2.2 for the Droid X emerged recently, and a good many of us have given it a shot. (You can watch our own hands-on here.) But, understandably, a good many of you are waiting for the official update from Verizon and Motorola.
But if you want the improved look of the lock screen and don't want to run the risk of upgrading to a possibly unstable version of Froyo, Android Central Forums member chaluxedeluxe has us covered, packaging it into an easy-to-install .apk file. Get it all at the source link. [Android Central Forums] Thanks Ryne!
Anyone who browses the Android Market from their phone knows one universal truth: it's a mess. Outside of search, there really is no easy way to find great apps that might be floating just under the surface. No longer content with simply making installing apps to your phone directly from your browser insanely easy, AppBrain is looking to change all that nonsense by adding some major new features to their site.
The new sorting bar at the top allows quick access to popular and top rated apps. Clicking on any of these links will then allow you to further sort the list by category (games, social, etc) as well as free or paid apps. You can even sort the list to only turn up newly released apps to make sure you stay on top of the latest great apps. There are tons of more options, so click past the link and check it out. While you are there, check out my apps here. [AppBrain]
Looks like a good many of us had problems with the Android Market overnight, either seeing limited connectivity or just flat-out not being able to do anything. Lots of variables get thrown into the mix here -- carriers, phones, ROMs -- so share your experience in the comments, and let us know if things are back up for you this morning.
A worthy successor to the phone that launched 1,000 Androids
Without question, the the Motorola Droid -- and Verizon's marketing blitz behind it -- is what really put the Android smartphone on the map. It's safe to say millions have been sold, and you've been hard pressed to watch an hour of television without hearing the unmistakeable call of "DROOIIIID" announcing the arrival of yet another commercial.
And now we have the Droid 2. Launched with little fanfare compared to its older brother and its cousins in the Droid line -- the HTC Droid Eris, HTC Droid Incredible and the Motorola Droid X -- the Droid 2 keeps with the look and feel of the original while adding some needed improvements.
So join us after the break as we take a closer look at the Droid 2 its place in Verizon's Droid line.
You guys and gals have been kicking so much arse in our forums lately, we decided it was time to clean up our act a bit to keep up. And so, we did. Now, when you visit forum.androidcentral.com, you'll find it's easier than ever to find what you're looking for, be it the latest discussions regarding your phone, apps, hacks, rumors, you name it.
The Sanyno Zio from Kyocera is the first Android phone available to Cricket Wireless customers. The Zio features a 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen, 3G web browsing, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a 3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder, MP3 capabilities with a MicroSD slot, and 512MB internal memory. The Zio will launch with Android 1.6 with 2.1 not too far down the road. The phone retails for $249.99 and gets its own $55 Android service plan which includes nationwide talk, text, email, web, mms, Android Market access and international capabilities that come with a fee. You can see the Zio in our hands-on from CTIA here. [Cricket]
Sony Ericsson has announced earlier this month that the X10 Mini, and the X10 Mini Pro will soon be available in new colors. The Mini, (right) will be available with a gold shell, while the Mini Pro (left) will feature a pink sliding case. I'll tell anyone within earshot that I'm not 100 percent sure I like the trend to giant phones, and these sure do look nice. Too bad they only updated the case colors -- both the Mini and Mini Pro still run Android 1.6.
For what it's worth, the new colors should be available next month, and an update to Android 2.1 sometime before hell freezes over in Q4 of this year. SE -- we love your phones. They feel great, and have excellent call quality. Please realize that we Android fans need the OS updates more than we need food, and make phones that look this hot run a current version of the software! [SEMC blog]
Note: The picture shows some options specific to HTC's Sense UI
We have already discussed the functions of the four main buttons featured on most Android phones. One vital button was omitted: the on/off button. This button is more commonly used to boot up your phone, or cause the screen to goto sleep to save battery power if clicked once. Holding this button causes a menu to appear, with different options depending on what phone you have.
Most phones will have silent mode, airplane mode, and power off options. Phones with HTC's Sense UI (Droid Incredible, Evo 4G, Desire, etc) will have a couple extra: toggle vibrate mode and toggle mobile network. The former turns on vibrate and turns off sound for all notifications (email, phone calles, etc) while the latter will toggle your 3G or 4G data connection. This is really useful if you want to save battery when using a WiFi network.
You know we couldn't help ourselves. When a leaked build of Android 2.2 for the Motorola Droid Xwas outed by My Droid World, we had to take it for a spin. You're not going to find too many UI changes over what you're used to on the X. (The lock screen's been changed, for what that's worth.) But there are a number of under-the-hood improvements (many of which we've covered in our Froyo Features series), and Adobe Flash 10.1 is on the ROM, which a lot of you have a hankering for. Let's take a look, after the break.
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