Huawei’s Android 2.2 entry-level phone spied in China, coming in August

Froyo may already be out to the masses in one form or another, but it ain’t doing much good with just the one phone semi-officially supporting this Android release, while some other devices are only given a vague release window for the update. Luckily, it looks like Huawei’s taking a step further and may be pushing out a 2.2 device in August. According to Engadget Chinese’s tipster, this entry-level phone’s rocking a 2.8-inch QVGA capacitive touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera (possibly with dual-LED flash), and HSDPA 3G connectivity. Can’t say we’re all that stoked about the screen, but we’ll let our wallets do the talking in a month or two — assuming, of course, that August time frame applies to any region or carrier band we care about. One more pic after the break.

Continue reading Huawei’s Android 2.2 entry-level phone spied in China, coming in August

Huawei’s Android 2.2 entry-level phone spied in China, coming in August originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Charm coming to T-Mobile with ‘enhanced’ Android 2.1 Motoblur? Update promised for CLIQ and CLIQ XT?

Usual rules apply — we can’t independently confirm this at the moment — but a tipster has sent us what appears to be T-Mobile training materials for an upcoming Motoblur-infused candybar smartphone, the Motorola Charm. Only this Motoblur is allegedly powered by Android 2.1 and boasts the same scalable widgets as we saw on Droid X, in addition to improved Facebook / Twitter integration (hello, Like and Retweet) and the usual Eclair refinements.As far as the hardware is concerned, there isn’t much to glean from it at this point, aside from a textured QWERTY keyboard reminiscent of the CLIQ and a “camera” button denoting some form of memory-capturing capabilities. Speaking of which, the materials mention that the enhanced Motoblur is heading to CLIQ and CLIQ XT. Let us bookend this entire post with another reminder that none of this is confirmed, but we do know more than a few T-Mobile users who would love to get their mitts on a candybar Android.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Motorola Charm coming to T-Mobile with ‘enhanced’ Android 2.1 Motoblur? Update promised for CLIQ and CLIQ XT? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Jun 2010 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hacked N900 blazes through Froyo


While the various and sundry Android manufacturers are all scrambling (or casually strolling) toward official Android 2.2 updates for their manifold handsets, someone managed to get Google’s Froyo running on the Nokia N900. Turns out, the two are a pretty great pair, with some super speedy browsing (like, really fast) and decent hardware support outside of an unfortunate lack of memory card support. Hit up the video after the break to see it in action, the browser starts kicking around the 4:45 mark.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Hacked N900 blazes through Froyo

Hacked N900 blazes through Froyo originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Jun 2010 05:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Expansys becomes exclusive retailer for Huawei S7 Android tablet

Huawei’s Android-based, Snapdragon-powered S7 tablet certainly managed to impress at Computex earlier this month, and it looks like you’ll soon be able to get one yourself — UK retailer Expansys has announced that it’ll be the first to carry it and, for the time being at least, the only place to get one. Somewhat curiously, Expansys lists a 768MHz Snapdragon processor, not 1GHz as we had heard before, but the rest of the specs are right in line. That includes Android 2.1, a 7-inch WVGA display, 3G and WiFi connectivity, a 2-megapixel camera, and a microSD card slot for some additional storage, among other standard tablet fare. Sound like just the tablet you’ve been waiting for? It’ll set you back £299 (or about $450) and should ship within seven days.

Expansys becomes exclusive retailer for Huawei S7 Android tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android port for HTC HD2 overcomes big hurdle, finally getting close

The great thing about the HD2 is that it remains one of the most gorgeous pieces of smartphone hardware ever released — but as long as it’s saddled with the dead OS walking known as Windows Mobile 6.5, its stature in the power user community is perpetually stuck in first gear, no matter how pretty HTC has managed to make it. To that end, some of those very same power users have been working tirelessly to salvage the beast and shoehorn Android on there, but they’ve been tripped up by some errors involving the phone’s Snapdragon core and the so-called HaRET tool used to boot Linux from Windows CE-based devices that have made a proper port seem all but impossible. Those hurdles have been overcome in the past couple days, though, which means a marginally consumer-friendly Android build might finally be within reach — and considering that there’s no proper EVO 4G equivalent from HTC in Europe yet, this project could have an awful lot of value.

[Thanks, Aaron H.]

Android port for HTC HD2 overcomes big hurdle, finally getting close originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Test Notes: iPhone 4 Camera [Test Notes]

The best camera is the one you have with you, so I carry a very nice point-and-shoot everywhere. Nothing else has been good enough. But the iPhone 4 is. More »

iPhone 4 or EVO 4G: which one should you get?

Hoo boy. This is a tough one, isn’t it? In our years at Engadget, we’ve rarely seen such deafening debate and adulation for a pair of devices. In one corner we have the iPhone 4, coming off a few relatively easy rounds atop the smartphone mind share heap. However, the Droid and its ilk have weakened Apple’s spot, and here comes the HTC EVO 4G in for the kill, sporting a larger screen, 4G data, and all manner of HTC sexy. If the devices themselves weren’t enough, the debate has turned into something larger and metaphorical, with Apple representing tight restrictions and a singular top down vision, while Google’s Android stands for something perhaps a bit more haphazard but democratizing. The gloves come off after the break.

Continue reading iPhone 4 or EVO 4G: which one should you get?

iPhone 4 or EVO 4G: which one should you get? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Droid X Gets Dissected

Motorola’s Droid X is not out in retail stores yet but one phone enthusiast had taken a screwdriver to the device already.

Max Lee tore down the Droid X to expose its innards and show what’s inside the smartphone. It took Lee about 10 hours to figure out how to take the back cover off but he says it was well-worth the effort.

“You can easily disassemble and assemble the Droid X once you figure it out,” he says. “This should be good for consumers to replace parts if they happen to drop the phone.”

And you can see in the video, overall it’s a pretty easy process for those who may be inclined to do it. Just one tip from Lee: “It’s good to grow your fingernails before you do this. Makes it easy to take the things out.”

It’s also fascinating to watch the camera module pop off and all the components come apart like they are just pieces in an elaborate electronic jigsaw puzzle.

The $200 Droid X (after a $100 rebate and with a two-year Verizon contract) will be available starting July 15 on Verizon Wireless network. The phone has a 1 GHz processor, a  4.3-inch touchscreen and a 8-megapixel camera.

Lee says once he took the phone apart, he found the bottom of the Droid X “has a lot of room to play.”

“Motorola could have made the phone a bit shorter but there would be something sticking out,” he says. “They probably did that for the overall design of the phone.”

Check out Lee’s teardown of the Droid X through step-by-step photos on his blog.

See Also:

Photo: Droidx.net


Sprint: EVO 4G users getting Android 2.2 ‘in the near future’ (Update: No upgrade for Moment, Hero)

It looks like EVO 4G users will soon have one more thing to smile about, as Sprint has just announced that an Android 2.2 (aka Froyo) upgrade will indeed be coming to the “superphone.”

With the Android 2.2 upgrade, customers can expect improvements to include the following benefits: updates to user interface, improved EAS Support, improved browser performance, including Flash 10x Support, voice dialing over Bluetooth and application storage on external memory.

No word on a timeframe yet, but you’ll know as soon as we do — promise.

Update: According to this tweet from the carrier: “HTC EVO will be updated to Android 2.2; Samsung Moment & HTC Hero will not. Future devices launching w/ 2.1 will be also be updated to 2.2.”

Sprint: EVO 4G users getting Android 2.2 ‘in the near future’ (Update: No upgrade for Moment, Hero) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola’s Droid X up for pre-order today at Best Buy: $200, no pesky mail-in rebates

Sweatin’ those iPhone 4 reception issues? Got a thing for beastlier phones? Still perturbed that your white iPhone 4 pre-order didn’t exactly “work out” as expected? If you’ve found yourself nodding that noggin’ up and down upon reading any of the above questions, you should know that Best Buy’s offering pre-sales of Motorola’s forthcoming Droid X starting today. The benefit, naturally, is that you can avoid Verizon’s pesky $100 mail-in rebate, paying just $199.99 (plus all applicable taxes and bribes) to BB while grabbing a coveting spot in line for the next giant Android phone. Not like you needed an excuse to take a half-day today, but hey — at least you’ve now got a legitimate one.

Continue reading Motorola’s Droid X up for pre-order today at Best Buy: $200, no pesky mail-in rebates

Motorola’s Droid X up for pre-order today at Best Buy: $200, no pesky mail-in rebates originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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