BGR is hearing that Verizon might spur an Android phone buying frenzy with one of their infamous Buy One Get One Free promotions (aka BOGO). The Motorola DROID & HTC DROID Eris will both be available under the promotion and if true, should help Verizon move even more units. The fun all supposedly starts on December 4th so we'll continue to keep a lookout and see if it happens.
Will you buy a Motorola DROID or HTC DROID Eris if it's buy one get one free?
Behold, the mythical (or not, we guess) Motorola Sholes. Our Mandarin Chinese is pretty darn bad, but the picture about speaks a thousand words: That's an HDMI port looking back at us. Tack on the 3.7-inch touchscreen (at WGVA resolution), a 3.5mm headphone jack, and 8MP camera with xenon flash, Android 2.0, TI OMAP 3430 (Cortex A8) processor, and so on and so forth. Any reason why we should spend our holidays pining for this one? [Mobile 1 via BGR]
If you have a HTC Hero, and have been insanely jealous about Android 2.0 not being available for said HTC Hero, and can't wait for HTC to update said HTC Hero with said Android 2.0, fear not, you can get Android 2.1 on your HTC Hero today. Yeah, who needs Android 2.0 when you can get 2.1, right?
The good folks of xda-developers (who else!) have leaked the Android 2.1 ROM and anyone with a HTC Hero can download and explore the beauty that is Android 2.x. The installation process seems manageable but of course, the risk your HTC Hero ends up as an expensive paperweight always exists, so backing up everything would be a smart idea. The Android 2.1 ROM isn't an official release but it does come complete with HTC Sense UI.
Be sure to let us know how it works out for you in the comments!
We honestly don't know how to feel towards the Dell Mini 3i Android Phone aka the Dellphone. On one hand, we feel like it's an exciting device considering the hardware looks great in most angles, it has a friendly UI, and is made by one of the biggest PC manufacturers around. On the other, we feel like the Mini 3i (and 3iX) is destined to fail--Dell seems to be purposely stacking the odds against the Mini 3i.
How so? Well, it looks like the Brazilian bound Dell Mini 3iX won't come pre-loaded with Android Market, instead users will have to scrounge for apps and download directly from the source themselves. In this day and age of App Markets and App Stores, that just sounds so...troublesome. Maybe the carrier wants to load their own app store? Either way, it's backwards and we don't like it.
So though we still want a Dellphone to hit the states, we'd much rather prefer one with Android Market. What do you guys think? Anyone understand the move?
We're getting reports that the Motorola CLIQ is receiving an OTA software update as we speak. It's still stuck on Android 1.5 (not 1.6, 2.0, or 2.1) but it looks to solve a lot of problems that have plagued CLIQ owners. The firmware fix will address battery life, improve touchscreen response, improve bluetooth pairing, and much more. The whole update weighs in at 8 MB so if you get the update, you should probably do it.
Check your System Update on your CLIQ to see if you have the update! And be sure to tell us how your CLIQ is working after!
It looks like that Google Phone that was real and coming early next year has now become a certainty. According to Gizmodo, a trusted source has tipped them off that is adding even more intrigue to the perpetual Google Phone rumor and of course, brings more questions. The Google Phone will differ from your run-of-the-mill Android Handsets (which even the DROID will be grouped with) because it runs a different version of Android that has yet to be seen on Google-branded hardware.
Prototypes of the Google Phone is expected to hit Google's Headquarters in the next few weeks. The prototypes will run the new version of Android, Flan or maybe even a version beyond that. And the juiciest tidbit of all? That the Android we know and love may not be the 'real' Android. We're assuming that means the 'real' Android will be available on the Google Phone.
If you want to wear your phone allegiance on your sleeve, it looks like you literally can. Verizon is reportedly sending out the shirt above to some customers who have purchased the DROID. We were completely unaware that Verizon was giving out shirts to turn folks into walking advertisements but hey, a $100 million dollar ad campaign is so much more than just commercials and print ads.
If anyone has details on how to get one of these Droid Does T-Shirts, please let us know in the comments. Is it really from Verizon? Or is it some fanatic DROID lover screen printing his affection? In any case, how do we get one?
In the mean time we have to ask, would you wear one?
Google has just announced the winners of the Android Developer Challenge 2 (or ADC2) that'll surely bring a lot of great applications to the limelight. They've announced three winners in each of the ten categories and three overall winners. Cash prizes were given out to the winners and we're hoping that developer challenges like these will continue to spur Android app development.
The three overall winners were SweetDreams, What the Doodle!?, and WaveSecure. SweetDreams is an app that allows you to change phone settings to avoid late night calls. You can also conserve battery by having SweetDreams automatically shut off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. What the Doodle!? is a real time online multiplayer game where one player draws out a given phrase and others try to guess it. And finally, WaveSecure is a security solution that protects your device, data and privacy.
The full list of winners is available after the break and more information on all the winning applications can be found here.
We know that the Motorola DROID is fully capable of multitouch gestures but because of reasons beyond our control, it's no where to be found in the apps. Luckily, if you're thirsting to multitouch your DROID, you can hit Android Market and download the Dolphin Browser which has been recently updated to support multitouch gestures.
We used the Dolphin Browser for a moment and found that it doesn't really do itself any justice on the DROID's high resolution screen (it looks fuzzy) and has a icon similar to Firefox. Other than those quips though, the multitouch implementation is promising and the power beneath the browser looks to be great. There's cool features that allow users to easily share links to social networks, follow daily trends, subscribe the page to Google Reader, save a link to read later, and much, much more.
We suggest you download the Dolphin Browser on Android Market to see if it can replace the regular Android Browser in your daily use.
The Archos 5 Android Tablet is powered by Android but lacks the Google Apps that 'with Google' devices come with. You know, the apps that make Android even better. Luckily, the hacking community has found a way to make those apps--Android Market, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Talk, and all the other Google Apps on Android--available for download. Given the larger screen size of the Archos 5, you may run into some wonkiness but it looks to have everything in working order.
If you're interested in downloading the Android Market and the Google Apps onto your own Archos 5 Android Tablet feel free to head here for the instructions.
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