Archive for July, 2009

If you were disappointed with the Motorola Morrison, you weren’t alone. We thought that Motorola’s purported first Android effort was targeted more for the messaging heavy customer base (read: teenage girls) than the traditional smartphone user (read: us). And coming from a company like Motorola, whose hardware design is typically top-notch, we couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed. Luckily, that’s not Motorola’s only Android device. Meet the Motorola Sholes.

According to multiple reports, the Motorola Sholes has a 3.7” (480 x 854) touchscreen, 512 MB storage, 256 MB RAM, microSD/SDHC support up to 16 gig (with 8gb sd card shipping with the phone), 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, GPS, WiFi, and support for CDMA and EVDO Rev A. Oh yeah, it runs Android and is supposed to launch in October of this year.

The product photos point towards the Motorola Sholes being a Verizon phone but it’s still fairly early in the game to confirm. The design can definitely be likened to the Morrison but it looks loads more polished and light years more ‘grown up’. Though we’re good with the design, we’re a little confused about the Bottom Edge of the phone which feels incomplete, the slider front doesn’t cover the end—weird.

What do you guys think? [Android Central]

Android 2.0 Donut has been made available to developers and it’s an oh so lovely update—we can expect full multitouch, universal search, automatic backups, text-to-speech, a new camera application and even better performance. All these new features make Android all the more appetizing and certainly puts it on par with the newer features of iPhone 3.0 and the Palm webOS.

What’s perhaps most interesting is that Android 2.0 has added CDMA support, which means carriers such as Sprint and Verizon will be able to get in on the Android action. May we see a Sprint HTC Hero like earlier reports suggested? We know T-Mobile isn’t getting it.

Hopefully we can get a working build of Donut onto a T-Mobile G1, we might be even more excited for Donut than we were for Cupcake. What about you guys? [AndroidCentral]

HTC has long been Android’s biggest supporter–they’re the only phone maker that offer two (soon to be three) dynamically different Android phones. With the T-Mobile G1 being the Android device best fit for keyboard enthusiasts, the T-Mobile myTouch 3G being the touchscreen experience device, and the upcoming HTC Hero being the most advanced in the bunch, the logical space left would be for a low-end, entry-level device.

There are some rumors floating around that point the HTC Click as the entry-level Android phone. We’re simply postulating, but could the HTC Click be a non-touchscreen Android option? Is that even possible? Better yet, is it even desirable?

Either way, the reports show that HTC is preparing a slew of devices for release, details and specifications are predictably hard to come by–the only thing we hope for is that the launch date will be sooner rather than later!

It looks like Best Buy is joining the ranks of retailers offering the T-Mobile myTouch 3G aka the HTC Magic. Obviously, T-Mobile is looking to push out a ton of myTouch’s and having Best Buy on their side certainly won’t hurt their cause.

Reports from TmoNews show that you’ll need to put a $50 deposit down in order to reserve your myTouch (it’ll go toward the final price) and that for the time being, it looks like Best Buy will only offer the Ice (white) or Merlot option. If you’re interested in the Black myTouch, you’re better served buying through T-Mobile.

So who’s buying their myTouch 3G from Best Buy?

This shouldn’t come as a surprise for anyone but T-Mobile expects the myTouch 3G to outsell the T-Mobile G1. Talk about going on a limb *sarcasm*. T-Mobile CTO, Cole Brodman, expects the myTouch to be successful because of broader appeal, saying that “a vast majority of customers will be new to Android and new to smartphones”.

We’re definitely going to agree with T-Mobile here, the myTouch is the same Android goodness in a sexier package, a solid recipe for success. However, with so many heavyweight Android phones on the horizon, it’s still kind of saying something with T-Mobile being so confident. An easier way to guarantee success for the myTouch? Price it at $99. [AndroidCentral]

The lack of a 3.5 mm headphone jack on both the T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G has drawn the ire of many Android users. It has been an indefensible decision on HTC’s part for including that ‘one-plug-to-rule-them-all’ ExtUSB junk on their phones. It forced users to buy dongles (which is available in our store, btw =) ) and adapters that seemed senseless and was always annoying. Thankfully, HTC has realized their error and will now put out phones with the 3.5 mm standard, starting with the Hero. To quote HTC:

The vast majority of devices we launch after Hero will have a 3.5mm jack. Devices that we have already announced but that still come out after Hero will not necessarily be a part of this change.

So ExtUSB isn’t done yet, but it sure is close. And for that, we can all celebrate! The tech world is a better place when manufacturers follow industry standards. [AndroidCentral]

Adobe just announced that they’ve set a timetable to bring Flash to Android (and other smartphone platforms) and that it’ll likely happen before the end of the year. Adobe smartly realizes that the game is changing with mobile devices becoming the new PCs. And with mobile devices being used more and more, the cry for real Flash has only grown louder.

Adobe has been “reengineering its software so that Flash-based games and videos can run on different handsets without being modified.” Adobe has even gone as far to strike alliances with chip designers and phone makers and have “offered millions of dollars to developers willing to write programs for mobile devices that use its software”.

We’ve yet to personally experience true flash on our mobile devices so we’re definitely excited to see what Adobe can bring to the Android platform. What about you guys? [AndroidCentral]