Archive for May, 2010

One of the most popular Russian rock bands is called “Aria”. It is known and listened in post Soviet countries by millions of people. And now HTC has plans to launch its brand new mobile device under the name HTC Aria. What is the connection between these two Areas? Well, everything that has a word “Aria” in the name is doomed to be successful and popular. HTC Aria is based on Android 2.1 operating system with the upcoming update to Froyo version very soon. In its wide world of features we can point out 7 panels to customize on the home-screen, strong integration into social networks, multi-touch functionality, pinch-and-zoom navigation, preinstalled 2GB microSD card. HTC Aria also has an optical track-pad below the screen for navigation without using the touch-screen that, sometimes, might be very comfortable and useful. This device supports fast 3G networks with the speed up to 7.2Mbps, Wi-Fi and free access to over 20 000 of AT&T hotspots. Yes, Aria will be offered by AT&T with a 2-year contract for $129.99 after $100 mail-in-rebate starting the 20th of June.

Today a new Android device has been announced, the Acer Stream. The stream will be hitting the market with Android 2.1 Eclair installed. From what we have heard, other specifications include a 1GHz Snapdragon Processor, 512 MB of RAM, a 3.7″ WVGA AMOLED touchscreen display, a 5-Megapixel camera with 720p video recording, an HDMI Out port, 7.2 Mbps HSPA, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth capabilities. Just looking at these specs, we can see that this device will be held up on the same pedestal where other top-notch devices sit upon, such as the Nexus One and Droid Incredible.

On the software side of the Acer Stream, it seems that Acer has done some work in including a custom multimedia homescreen widget which they have called ‘Nemo’, a lock screen widget, Spinlets streaming music application, and a history pane on the homescreen which allows you to quickly access recently used applications. Twidroid and Facebook both come preloaded on the device for social networking purposes. As of this time, we have heard nothing about release dates or pricing, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled and let you know when something develops. [IntoMobile]

Samsung Captivate Galaxy S is another smart-phone in Galaxy’s family. It actually is a real something when we saw its features, possibilities and parameters. One may say that the Captivate looks a lot like a regular Galaxy S. Yes, it actually, has a lot of features taken from his little brother. But only the best! Everything else is its own. So, let us get back to Samsung Captivate Galaxy S smart-phone’s features. It is equipped with a 4-inch super AMOLED display, a 5 megapixel camera that supports video recording in HD formats, a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird application processor, 16GB of on-board storage with the possibility to double this number, Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity, a 3D graphics engine and six-axis motion sensor. And that is not everything! All the other interesting and striking features are hidden inside and you are the one to try them out. It also is running Android 2.1 operating system with the upcoming Android 2.2 Froyo update and will be brought for us by American popular AT&T carrier and for $200 on a 2-year contract bases somewhere at the beginning of summer (June or July).

In the upcoming build of Android, version 2.2 Froyo, there will be support for Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1. The social Flash-gaming site Kongregate has just announced a partnership with Adobe which will allow Kongregate to port it’s entire library of Flash games over to Flash Player 10.1 in order to make them playable on Android Froyo.

This is all part of an agreement which includes the mobile-compatible site which Kongregate has just set up featuring 100 of it’s Flash games optimized and ready to be played on Flash Player 10.1. The total number of games featured on Kongragate’s network is over 30,000 coded by over 8000 developers. Although not all 30k games are Flash-based, the majority of them are. IT took only ten days to port over 100 games, meaning it shouldn’t take too long to port over Kongregate’s entire library. [WorldsInMotion]

Another Android powered that is already wondering all over the mobile market is the LG Ally. This device is running Android operating system and its 2.1 version. Unfortunately, nothing was yet mentioned about the possible Froyo update and I have some doubt about this update coming at all. Never the less, LG Ally is equipped with a full 4-row QWERTY keyboard, a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, a large 3.2-inch tempered glass touch-screen display, a microSD card slot for up to 16GB of storage, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n connectivity, Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, S-GPS for turn-by-turn directions using Google Maps and Google Navigation, a host of fun camera modes. As far as we know for now this pretty interesting and functional device is offered by the Verizon carrier for $99.99 only after a $100 mail-in-rebate. I have to admit that for a price like this it is really almost the maximum what you are able to get from a smart-phone like this.

The Dell Streak was announced today – a handheld tablet device which will feature the Android OS. Dell has confirmed that although the Streak will be shipping with Android 1.6 Donut, later this year it will be receiving the 2.2 Froyo update OTA. Through a series of statements and various leaks to engadget, here is what we can tell you about the Dell Streak so far:

The Dell Streak will feature a 5-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, a Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 2GB internal storage, 32GB expandable storage via SDCard, a 5-Megapixel camera with LED flash and a front-facing camera for video chat, 3G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity.

Although details have been revealed by Dell, there has been no word on pricing or carrier availability in the US. We’ll keep you posted on any updates on the Dell Streak and other Android cell phone news. [cellphonetrek]

Droid-Life has reported the 2 phones to be on the lookout for, both being CDMA and Headed for the Verizon Network – The Motorola Droid 2 and The Motorola Shadow. The Motorola Droid 2 (A955) is likely to be released sometime before the holiday season 2010, so we’ve got about a half-year before we will likely be seing it on the shelves.

The Motorola Shadow (MB810) is rumored to be the next ‘iPhone Attacker’. Some leaked specs include:

-4.1-inch touchscreen w/ FWVGA 854 x 480 pixel resolution
-Android 2.1 with MotoBLUR
-720 MHz TI OMAP 3630 Processor with PowerVR SGX530 GPU
-8-Megapixel camera with Dual-LED flash and 720p video recording
-HDMI Port
-512 MB RAM

Although not confirmed, what we’ve heard is to possibly expect a June 2010 release of the Shadow. We’ll keep you posted on any details if and when they change. [infosync]

Good news for Android Users, but bad news for the Amazon Kindle – Amazon is releasing a Kindle Application for Google’s Android OS. It seems that Amazon is finally realizing that most people are not going to be buying an extra device in addition to their smartphone, so Amazon has gotten a little ‘smarter’ themselves and created an application in which users can purchase for download e-books and read them whenever they please via their Android device.

The Kindle app will be available on the Android Market for all users to download. We’re not quite sure of an exact date that you will be able to have access to this application, but from what we’ve heard so far, Amazon will be releasing it this Summer, 2010. So happy reading Android Users! For all our readers, we’ll always keep you updated on all the latest Android cell phone news! [abcnews]

Have you never used an Android Device, you don’t know anyone who has one that will let you try theirs out, but you’re hearing so much hype about them and just want a basic idea of how they work. It may not exemplify the top-line devices out there, but I have stumbled upon a G1 Emulator on a T-Mobile website that allows you to perform some basic functions on the phone and see simulated interactions. You can cause events such as an incoming phonecall, incoming sms message, incoming MMS message, incoming e-mail, or an incoming instant message, and you can also use menu buttons, call buttons, and lock buttons.

This is a great way to use a basic Android-based phone without having to try someone else’s out or try demo store-models. Like I said earlier, this isn’t exactly the creme-de-la-creme when it comes to Android devices, but at least you can gain a basic insight as to how these devices operate. The website is located here. Go ahead and test it out and have fun.

Anyone who is now attending the Google I/O Conference received a surprise from Google before they hit the conference. Google sent all of the paid attendees of it’s conference either a Motorola Droid or a Google Nexus One. I very much wanted to attend this conference, and now I’m even more jealous – I want a Nexus One! Google’s reasoning for giving these phones to their attendees was so the people can:

“Get to know the Android SDK
Use the device to get started on your first (or next!) Android app using the latest SDK. You’ll find a ton of helpful info atdeveloper.android.com, including the Developer’s Guide. We hope you have new apps or working prototypes by the time of I/O. That way, you’ll be able to get feedback on your app from other developers, including members of the Android team who’ll be leading in-depth sessions and answering attendees’ technical questions during Office Hours (the schedule will be published oncode.google.com/io in April).

Put your device to work at I/O
To encourage active use of your device, we’re amplifying cellular and wireless coverage inside Moscone West, and charging stations will be available for anyone to use. We hope you’ll:
Get I/O info on your device: Before May 19th, we’ll send out details on how to download a conference app that we’re building now. During I/O, you can use the app to instantly access I/O session details and more.
Download apps: Over 40 companies will be demoing the latest and greatest apps available in the Android Market. Check out their demos in the Developer Sandbox, download new apps, and take them for a test drive.
Participate in SCVNGR: We’re collaborating with SCVNGR to produce a location-based mobile game for Google I/O that’ll have you hunting for QR codes hidden throughout the events.”

That was straight from an E-Mail sent to the recipients themselves about the phones and the conference. Well, I may not be expaning my programming knowledge for the Android Platform via the Word of Google, nor have I received a new Android phone, but at least I get to keep all of our viewers up to date on the latest in Android Cell Phone News, only at AndroidTrek.com. [intomobile]