In an announcement easily lost in all the CES news, Google has announced that Android 2.2 Froyo has found its way to more than half of all active Android devices. That number was at just over 40 percent a month ago and has likely been driven up by updates pushed out by manufacturers and sales of newer devices with Froyo on board. Overall, Android 2.x is on a whopping 87 percent of...
Nvidia got on the stage today at CES to talk about a number of things, but number one on their list was the Tegra 2 processor. They demoed the LG Optimus 2X and showcased how powerful the Tegra 2 would be for gaming. One of the coolest features was watching the online multiplayer dungeon-crawler Dungeon Defenders being played by players on a desktop PC, a PlayStation 3, and the 2X. Not...
Hot on their announcement of the Optimus Black, LG has announced that the device will be one of the first consumer devices to feature WiFi Direct. What is WiFi Direct you ask? Well, it's a system to connect two different WiFi-enabled devices directly for sharing data -- think Bluetooth on steroids. The technology allows people to skip using a traditional WiFi hotspot or router to...
In a test that should really surprise nobody, the dual-core Tegra 2 powered LG Optimus 2X got caught on video demolishing an iPhone 4 in browser speed tests over WiFi. What is most impressive is that the 2X apparently had Flash 10.1 fully enabled at the time, so those who visit Flash-enabled websites on a regular basis should be especially excited for the phone. It seems LG has...
Since the announcement of Google TV, we've been promised Android apps, and devs have been promised the tools to build them. In a recent post over at The Official Google TV Blog, it was announced that those tools will be coming sometime in 2011 and that they are working on getting the Android Market onto Google TV devices as well. Considering the year just started, "2011" is about as...
OpenFeint has announced that more than 5 million OpenFeint-enabled games were downloaded between iOS and Android over the four-day Christmas weekend. The service, a unified social gaming network, is added on top of games by developers looking to tap into the benefits of social gaming without having to launch and support their own platform. Of particular interest to us is the fact that...
The Desire HD, which is more or less a 4G-less Evo 4G for Europe, may be making its way across the pond sometime soon, if FCC filings give any indication. Most likely it is being approved for a launch on Canadian carriers like Bell, Rogers, and Telus, but it would also work just fine on AT&T (wouldn't it be nice to have a high-end Android phone other than the Captivate?). T-Mobile...
A great feature of Android is the ability to override many of the default applications for core features of the phones. You are free to pick Skyfire for browsing, DoubleTwist for music playing, and Handcent for text message sending. You can even use completely new launchers like LauncherPro or ADWLauncher. Doing this can leave you puzzled if you want to go back to using the "stock"...
A update for the Motorola Droid Pro is now available for all users, but does not seem to be pushing quite yet. Good news is you can install it yourself. The changelog for version 2.26.60 is as follows: Improved audio on voice calls. Improved stability and performance. User interface display now refreshes when user switches from GSM/UMTS communication to Global Mode....
The launch of the Google TV couldn't exactly be considered the smoothest. And The New York Times is now reporting that Google is taking the criticism very seriously and has told partners like LG and Toshiba to delay the launch of devices using the software. Samsung, which was rumored to be preparing to integrate Google TV heavily, seems to be determined to launch its devices anyways.The...
Owners of the Epic 4G and the Evo 4G in both Denver and Bridgeport, Conn., will finally be able to find out what they can do with 4G now that Sprint has officially flipped the 4G switch in both cities. With Verizon launching its LTE network earlier this month, Sprint might be feeling some pressure to speed up its expansion of its own WiMax network, which is now available in 70 cities....
College football bowl season is almost upon us, and Sprint and ESPN have teamed up to give subscribers access to 30 different bowl games -- including all five BCS bowls. To get in on the goodness, you will need to head over to Sprint's football website and download the Sprint Football Live app unless you already have it. In addition, the games can be watched from the ESPN Mobile TV...
Well, what do we have here? After hearing bits and pieces about the Sprint-bound HTC EVO Shift 4G from various sources -- including seeing the ROM, a case and the phone in Sprint's inventory system -- we finally have a picture of the device formerly known as the "HTC Knight" with its keyboard open. By all indications the device is pretty much a Sprint 4G version of the G2/Desire Z/...
The LG Star is a device we have seen pop up a few times in recent weeks, but Engadget has gotten their hands on a prototype unit and put up a preview. Here are a couple highlights:The style of the phone reminded them of the Droid IncredibleThe 4-inch 800x480 panel is "gorgeous" Running Froyo but expected to launch with GinerbreadTegra 2 processor. And speaking of CPU power...Benchmarks...
It is pretty obvious by now that the creators of Fox's Fringe have a promo deal with Sprint because the Evo 4G just keeps popping up on the sci-fi show. The most recent episode featured Peter Bishop getting intel from team analyst Astrid Farnsworth using the Evo's video calling by Qik. Luckily for Peter, his choice of the Evo and Sprint let him take the video call without needing to...
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is uber-popular MMO World of Warcraft being played by real human hands on a HTC Desire. Now, we could get into semantics and say "Well, the game is being streamed online and isn't really 'running' on the phone" but that really isn't the point here, is it? No, the point is that simply leaving your house is no longer enough to escape the...
Do you travel internationally but have a CDMA (think Sprint or Verizon) non-"world" phone? Android Central Forums user jdbower has written up a great guide just for you. He details a trip to Tiawan in which he was mostly able to get by using his Droid X on open WiFi networks (he did have a world BlackBerry for email) but ran into a couple interesting issues along the way. In particular...
Verizon has pretty much pulled all the stops for people looking to get an Android smartphone on their network, as you can now get a "buy one, get on" free offer on the the entire lineup of Droids except the Droid Pro, which is probably feeling left out. That means if you buy a Droid X, Droid 2 Global, or Droid Incredible you can get another one for free on 2-year contract. This is in...
The Dell Streak hasn't exactly been a resounding success, but the PC manufacturer is looking to climb back into the race by offering the Streak directly from their website with numerous options. There are a couple different price points, so lets walk through them:$550 - 16GB, locked to AT&T or $300 with 2-year contract$580 - 16GB, unlocked$649 - 32GB, locked to AT&T or $400 with...
Verizon has featured the NFL Mobile app for some time, which allows users to view live streams of NFL games from the NFL Network. The service will run you $10 per month (on top of data), which is probably a barrier to entry for many. As such, Verizon will be allowing smartphone users to try the app for this weekend. Starting Monday, Nov. 22, you will have to pony up that $10 to...