Here's a quick look at Opera Mobile on Android. And it looks, well, like you'd expect Opera Mobile to on Android. It's nice and fast, thanks to the major compression going on, and it'll make a nice addition to Android's browser arsenal. Problem is, you can't get it. We've mentioned before that Opera Mobile's only available to manufacturers and carriers: Basically it has to be cooked...
The HTC Desire received its official blessing today, addressing two things that had been gnawing at us regarding the current king of the hill, the Nexus One: What would it have been like if it had HTC's Sense UI? And is there a more elegant solution than a trackball?The Desire answers both of those things -- and then some -- with the introduction of an all-new version of Sense running...
With HTC's announcement of the Legend and Desire comes a new and improved version of its Sense user interface.The biggest change is the addition of "Friendstream," HTC's new answer to social networking, aggregating your Flicker, Twitter and Facebook friends in an elegant and easy-to-use widget. The Peep Twitter client is on board, and you can upload video directly to YouTube, par...
The Motorola Motoroi's been intriguing ever since it first leaked out of the depths of wherever such leaks come from. But in getting your hands (and watching the hands of a lovely Motorola representative) on the device, you really get a sense that despite a few obvious cues taken from the Motorola Droid, the Motoroi really isn't a keyboardless Droid. For one, it lacks the hard lines of...
Here it is, folks. The Motorola Motoroi, aka the XT720, aka the first Android 2.0 device released for the Korean market. At first blush you get the feel that it's a kindler, gentler Droid without a keyboard. But get the XT720 in your hand and you find that they don't have the same feeling in the slightest. No sharp angles, and the bump on the side is hardly noticeable. The XT720 sports...
The Motorola Cliq XT (Android 1.5 and MotoBLUR) won't be released for another month, but we've already gotten our hands on it at Mobile World Congress. Here we go. It's the first incarnation of MotoBLUR to not have a physical keyboard. But that doesn't slow it down any, especially because it is one of the first phones to take advantage of T-Mobile's new deal to pre-install the Swype...
You read that right, folks. If our live coverage of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini and mini pro didn't tip you off, we're on the ground in Barcelona, Spain, at Mobile World Congress. And to officially kick things off, we're bringing you a special podcast with myself, Dieter Bohn from PreCentral.net and CrackBerry's Kevin Michaluk. It was a long haul over here, and it's going to be a...
The second smallest big surprise at Sony Ericsson's press conference tonight at the Opium Mar bar on the eve of Mobile World Congress has the same size as the Xperia X10 mini -- and it brings along a four-row keyboard to boot. Adding just 2 mm thickness, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini pro (yeah, now Android's getting into the "Pro" line) features the exact same specs as its little...
One of the biggest Android marketing pushes we've seen this side of the Motorola Droid has been from T-Mobile and the myTouch 3G line. And it's a testament to the popularity of the device that we now have a Fender Limited Edition (see our video hands-on), modeled after the famed guitars. And this has truly been a limited edition, as it's already sold out. After the break, we go in-depth...
Anybody in the mood for 10.1 inches of Android? 'Cause that's what HP just announced in the Compaq AirLife 100.And it's not lacking for specs. It sports the aforementioned 10.1-inch screen, Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon processor, a 92 percent full-size keyboard, a 16-gigabyte solid-state drive, SD card reader, WiFi and 3G wireless, GPS, a VGA web cam and up to 12 hours of battery life....
File this under "unofficial" for now, but we're getting word on dates for Sprint to update the Samsung Moment, which at current is still running Android 1.5. And even better is that the update reportedly may be Android 2.1, and not merely 2.0 as Sprint told us earlier. The first wave is said to begin Feb. 22, and you'll have to visit a Sprint store to actually get the upgrade. A pain,...
In a bit of an Android browser shake-up, Skyfire -- best known for its Windows Mobile browser -- has purchased kolbysoft, which produces the popular Webkit-based Steel browser. For the time being, Steel will remain in production until Skyfire tools up its own Android product. The main difference in the current Skyfire browser is that all of the heavy lifting -- as in the actual...
Sure, everybody and their mother is getting pinch-to-zoom these days. But here's one you probably haven't seen yet: It's Android 2.1 and HTC's Sense interface on a Hero, and you can pinch-to-zoom within Sense itself. That lets you see all of your home panels at the same time, and it's pretty darn cool, if you ask us. Check out the video after the break, and skip to about 6 minutes in,...
We kind of knew this day would come. Google has just announced that it's building and testing a 1-gigabit-per-second network in "a small number of locations across the United States." They're talking straight fiber to the home (hello, FiOS) for at least 50,000 people up front, and building up to as many as 500,000. We'll let Google tell its story: We're planning to build and test ultra...
We mentioned it in the Google Buzz launch post, but it bears repeating: Google Maps has been updated to Version 4.0. With it you get support for the Buzz layers, along with the previously mentioned night mode and synchronized starred items. Update Google Maps here. More pics after the break.
For Motorola Droid and Nexus One: If you're looking for a quick way to figure out what's for dinner, there's Urbanspoon. Now in Version 1.0 (and free!) for Android, it's a simple dial-a-meal that lets you choose location, ethnicity and price. Or you can choose "shake" for a random selection. Vote on your favorites, read and write reviews, find addresses and telephone numbers, all in one...
It seems like it's a bit early to start hearing rumblings of the "H" nickname for Android. After all, it was just a few short weeks ago that we learned "F" was for Froyo -- frozen yougurt -- which follows Eclair, Donut and Cupcake.But that didn't stop Google's Brian Swetland, who works on the Linux kernel for the Big G, from just dropping the following on the LWN.net boards:We maintain...
We learned this morning what we'll likely see once the Motorola Droid gets the update to Android 2.1. Now we have have a time frame. Motorola, on its official Facebook page, dropped the following (emphasis ours):Hi all-- we know you are frustrated with the lack of details regarding Android software upgrades and we sincerely apologize for not being able to share info sooner. We're happy...
Here's a little bit of "good" news for anybody who bought a Nexus One on contract with T-Mobile and is thinking of getting out early. Remember how Google was charging a $350 "Equipment recovery fee" in addition to T-Mobile's $200 early termination fee? The Big G's just lowered that to $150 if you cancel in the first 120 days.According to the Wall Street Journal:A Google representative...
The fifth part in Google's YouTube series chronicling the birth (and now life) of the Nexus One is now available. In it we get a look at the Nexus One being used throughout the day (and a guy whose apartment is badly in need of a non-Google decorator). But we also get another brief look at the car dock. At about 1:08 in we see our hero place his Nexus One in the car dock, which has...