T-Mobile Pulse hands-on (with video): Android meets 3.5-inch LCD, loves it

We couldn’t get a handle on what at first seemed so “bloated” about the T-Mobile Pulse until we held it up to the iPhone: this is the first production Android phone to get a “regular” 3.5-inch screen, instead of the rather narrow 3.2-inchers on HTC’s trio of Android devices. Sure, it’s the same resolution, but we really feel the breathing room. Overall we’d say the Pulse lacks a little something something up against the polished design of the HTC Hero hardware or the iPhone 3G, but it’s still plenty alluring — especially considering that this is being positioned as a pay-as-you-go device. The capacitive screen is quite responsive, and so is the Android UI underneath, which has been modded by T-Mobile to include an odd new home screen that you can pan up, down, left and right on, for a total grid of nine screenfuls of widgets and what have you. Interestingly, the phone merges the back button with the home button, which actually cuts down considerably on the madness of typical Android phone button layouts. Overall, we’d say the phone provides a quite alluring example of what manufacturers that aren’t HTC can pull off with Android: a cheap, sexy, powerful device running a “real” OS and the world’s best mobile Gmail app. Video hands-on is after the break.

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T-Mobile Pulse hands-on (with video): Android meets 3.5-inch LCD, loves it originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android 1.6 makes Market refresh official, apps get screenshots at last

Evidence suggests that the Android Market has a long way to go to be a profitable enterprise for would-be developers, but the good news is that Google seems to understand — and they’re doing something about it. Those in-the-wild shots of a totally rethought interface have turned out to be legit, being made official today by Android’s official dev site; the beautified UI itself isn’t really anything to write home about, but what makes it all worthwhile is the addition of screenshots and improvements to descriptions that should do a much better job of letting users know what they’re getting for their hard-earned cash. Otherwise, there are a few new app categories and Italian support, all of which should bow with the release of Android 1.6 Donut. Sholes, Morrison, you fellas can’t come soon enough. Follow the break for official video of the new Market in action.

[Via Phandroid]

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Android 1.6 makes Market refresh official, apps get screenshots at last originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint to Sell the HTC Hero Android Phone

htc-hero

HTC’s recently announced third Android phone, the HTC Hero, has found a telecom carrier in Sprint. The device will sell for $180 after a $100 mail-in rebate, and with a two-year contract, in Sprint stores starting Oct. 11.

It will be the first Android phone on the Sprint network. So far, only T-Mobile in the U.S. offered phones running the Google-designed Android mobile operating system.

HTC had introduced the Hero in June though at that time the company did not reveal the telecom carrier for the device. The Hero has a 3.2-inch touch screen display, GPS, digital compass, a 5-megapixel auto focus camera and expandable MicroSD memory. It also features an anti-fingerprint coating on the screen for smudge resistance and a Teflon coating on the exterior. The HTC Hero will be the first Android device to support Adobe’s Flash standard.

The phone has been given a minor face lift for its American debut. Instead of sporting a ‘chin’ that we have seen on recent HTC phones such as the T-Mobile G1, the Hero has a sleek, flat compact design that should please consumers.

The Hero’s user interface will be reminiscent of the Palm Pre webOS as it tries to organize the phone around contacts and other user information. The HTC Hero will also allow users to add widgets such as Twitter feeds, weather, email and calendar to the home screen in a bid to customize the phone.

The device is a coup for Sprint, which also has the Palm Pre exclusively available on its network. For mobile phone buyers who want an alternative to the iPhone, Sprint is fast emerging as the better choice in terms of the range of smartphones that it has, compared to Verizon or T-Mobile.

See Also:

Photo: HTC Hero/HTC


T-Mobile Pulse runs Android, headed for Europe

Not that our Stateside T-Mobile needs much help scoring Android handsets, but this phone looks strictly reserved for our European brethren. The T-Mobile Pulse is actually Huawei’s U8220, which looks a little drab compared to its U8230 sibling, and works in what seems to be standard smartphone specs these days: 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.5-inch 320 x 480 screen, HSDPA, Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS. The 2GB SD card and mere 3.5 hours of talk time leave a bit to be desired, and the 13.5mm thickness is almost as beastly as Nokia’s latest, but we’re sure the Pulse means well. No word on a straight price, but in Germany with a two year agreement prices start at 5 Euro a month.

[Via Engadget German]

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T-Mobile Pulse runs Android, headed for Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint developer site claims HTC Hero as network’s “first Android device”

These two have been eying each other from opposite ends of the room for quite some time now, but at long last, we’re seeing the first semi-official word that HTC’s Hero is indeed coming to the Now Network. Planted over in the Android section of Sprint’s own Developer site, we’re greeted with this statement:

“Announcing the HTC Hero, which will be the first Android device running on the Sprint network.”

The brief post (copied in full after the break) goes on to inform readers that the Sprint developer program will deploy an Android development section by September’s close, and there’s even a direct link to begin downloading the Android 1.5 SDK immediately. Of course, this isn’t as good as a carefully worded press release from the bowels of Overland Park, but it’s certainly enough to whet our appetites. C’mon Sprint — out with the price and release date, pronto!

[Via Phandroid]

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Sprint developer site claims HTC Hero as network’s “first Android device” originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Hero Hits Sprint Oct. 11 With New Face, $180 Price Tag

That Sprint’s first Android phone’s going to be the HTC Hero is about as unsurprising as news gets, but you know what is surprising? They’ve given it some invasive plastic surgery, and priced it squarely below their own Palm Pre.

Sprint’s Hero is a bit blobbier than HTC’s original, but it also looks less chinny—an HTC design quirk that’s starting to get on some people’s nerves—and at any rate, there isn’t a whole lot of the Hero that isn’t the screen, so aside from the shuffled hard buttons, this redesign shouldn’t change too much in terms of usability.

Wisely, Sprint left the Hero’s guts—hardware and software—intact. That’s the same 3.2-inch multitouch capacitive screen, the same 5-megapixel camera, the same microSD slot (Sprint throws in a 2GB card for free), the same 3.5mm headphone jack, the same multitouch browser (no mention of Flash support though) and the same Sense UI, which converts Android into something unexpectedly beautiful, but tragically sluggish. And since this thing obviously supports EV-DO, we’ll finally get to play with it on proper 3G.

Whether or not they’ll be able to load HTC’s latest Sense update—the one that fixes basically every complaint we had with the original Hero, including slowdown—before the handsets ship is still up in the air, but in any case, it’s coming eventually.

The $180 price assumes a 2-year agreement at a minimum of $70 a month, and that you’ve got the initiative to mail in a rebate form, though just like with the Pre, there’s a good chance retailers like Best Buy’ll just take care of this for you. Like the Pre, the Hero is eligible for the $100 Everything plan, which is just about the best deal going for obnoxiously talky/texty types.

So, uh, Sprint’s kind of killing it these days, no? They’ve got their iron grip on the only two smartphone underdogs anyone really cares about: the first of which made all the other carriers’ Palm phones look pathetically lame; and the second of which looks like it’ll sucker-punch a complacent T-Mobile right off its Android throne—especially considering the fact that Sprint’s priced this thing a few bucks below T-Mo’s categorically less good MyTouch 3G. It may have taken a year, but this whole Android thing is finally getting interesting.

The best bits of press release below. [Sprint]

The Innovation and Openness of a True Mobile Internet Experience Coming Soon to America’s Most Dependable 3G Network from Sprint on HTC Hero with Google

Sprint’s first device with the Android™ platform available Oct. 11;
Pre-register for HTC Hero today at www.sprint.com/hero

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., and BELLEVUE, Wash. – Sept. 3, 2009 – Sprint (NYSE: S) and HTC Corporation today announced the upcoming arrival of the first wireless device offering the combination of the open and innovative Android platform with the high-speed connectivity of America’s most dependable 3G network1 (EVDO Rev. A), HTC Hero™ with Google™. Offering a rich mobile Internet experience, the much-anticipated HTC Hero offers synchronization for built-in Google mobile services, including Google Search™, Google Maps™, Gmail™, and YouTube™ as well as access to thousands of applications built on the Android platform.

Beginning on Oct. 11, customers will be able to purchase HTC Hero through all Sprint retail channels including Web (www.sprint.com), Telesales (1-800-SPRINT1) and our national retail partner Best Buy for $179.99 (excluding taxes) after a $50 instant savings and a $100 mail-in rebate with a two-year service agreement. Pre-registration begins today at www.sprint.com/hero.

Access to countless applications
As a charter member of the Open Handset Alliance™, Sprint is actively engaged with the Android community. Through Android Market™, HTC Hero users have access to more than 8,000 useful applications, widgets and fun games to download and install on their phone, with many more to come. Thousands of developers are working to introduce new Android applications every day.

Intuitive, user-focused and fun
HTC Hero is the first U.S. device to feature HTC Sense, an intuitive experience that was built with a guiding philosophy to put people at the center and allows the device to be completely customized to the wants and needs of the user. The device’s seven-panel wide home screen can be populated with customizable widgets that bring information to the surface.

HTC Hero users can easily create and switch between Scenes to reflect different moments or roles in their lives, such as work, social, travel and play. For example, a work Scene can be easily set up to include stock updates, work email and calendar, a play Scene could have music, weather, and a Twitter feed or a travel Scene could offer instant access to the local time, weather and maps.

Industry-leading features
HTC Hero features an integrated 5.0 MP camera and camcorder. It also offers easy access to personal and business e-mail, instant messaging and text messaging through POP, IMAP, and Exchange Active Sync accounts.

HTC Hero is a full-featured smartphone with Wi-Fi capability, a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with pinch-to-zoom capability and a fingerprint resistant coating, integrated GPS navigation, and trackball navigation. Additional features include:
Stereo Bluetooth® 2.0 Wireless technology
accelerometer, light sensor and home screen widgets for improved usability
multimedia capable with microSD slot (32GB capable, 2GB included)
Sprint TV® with live and on-demand programming
NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup MobileSM
easy access to social networking sites, including Facebook®, Flickr® and Twitter
visual voice mail for quick and easy access to specific voice mail messages

HTC Hero requires activation on a pricing plan offering unlimited data. Sprint’s Simply EverythingSM plan provides unlimited nationwide calling, texting, e-mail, social networking, Web browsing, GPS navigation, Sprint TV, streaming music, NFL Mobile Live, NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile and much more for only $99.99 per month. That’s a savings of $1,200 over two years vs. a comparable AT&T iPhone® plan2. Sprint Everything Data plans with unlimited messaging and data start at just $69.99 for 450 minutes with unlimited night and weekend calling starting at 7 p.m. (All price plans exclude Sprint surcharges and taxes.)

Samsung’s Galaxy Lite in the wild, looks ready for low-end Android battle with HTC Click

We’ve been following the saga of the i5700 Galaxy Lite since early this month when it took the Wi-Fi Alliance’s certification program by storm, and now it seems that French site FrAndroid may very well have exposed Samsung’s second Google-ified handset to the harsh light of the real world for the first time. As its name implies, this would likely be a cheap entry to slot in beneath the Galaxy — and the current rumor has it signed up for 3G, WiFi, possible “Google Experience” certification, and an honest-to-goodness trackball, a feature sorely missed on the Galaxy by some. Strangely, there doesn’t seem to be a Home button which we thought was an Android requirement, but it’s possible that Samsung’s concealed it along the side or made it a long-press function for another button. The site claims that this’ll be hitting French streets next month, so we may not have long to wait before the epic Click / Galaxy Lite smackdown makes things surprisingly interesting on the low end of the smartphone market — and with Nokia looking to play in the same space with the 5230, this segment could end up hosting some of the most interesting mobile action over the coming year.

[Via MobileCrunch and Samsung Hub]

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Samsung’s Galaxy Lite in the wild, looks ready for low-end Android battle with HTC Click originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android-based Archos gets pictured, briefly priced by B&H

We still gotta wait until September 15th for the whole scoop, but B&H has gone ahead and spoiled some of the mystery of Archos’ Android-based Archos 5, giving the internet tablet its own listing in a number of different storage capacity options, pictures in tow, as well as a $130 DVR station. Prices are currently listed as TBA, but fortunately it looks like the fine fellows at ArchosFans managed to capture the page when there were more concrete dollar signs on each model, to the tune of $294 for 16GB SSD, $370 for 32GB SSD, $320 for 160GB HDD, and $420 for a 500GB HDD. In the DVR station pic we spotted “HD” listed in the video names, which gives us hope that even more of those February leaks are coming to fruition. Screenshot of the with-price listings after the break.

[Via ArchosFans; thanks, Steve and Axel]

Read – 500GB HDD listing
Read – 16GB SSD listing
Read – 32GB SSD listing
Read – DVR Station

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Android-based Archos gets pictured, briefly priced by B&H originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leaked Verizon docs point to October launch for Storm 2, Motorola Sholes, LG VX8575

This is all still firmly in the realm of rumors and speculation for the time being, but some purportedly legit internal Verizon documents obtained by BlackberryOS.com are offering a bit more fodder suggesting that the BlackBerry Storm 2 could be launching in October — or October 14th, specifically. The same documents also point to an October launch for Motorola’s Android-based Sholes smartphone, as well as a “mid-October” launch for LG’s vx8575 “Chocolate Touch” (which we assume is the same or a variant of the BL40 Chocolate Touch). All in all a pretty big month for Verizon — assuming everything actually pans out as rumored, of course.

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Leaked Verizon docs point to October launch for Storm 2, Motorola Sholes, LG VX8575 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Move over, Sholes: Verizon getting Android-powered ‘Desire’ from HTC?

A good, hard look at Verizon’s WinMo strategy tells you that the company isn’t loyal to a single brand when it comes to mobile platforms (and why should it be?), so we can’t say we’re terribly surprised to see a leaked inventory doc suggesting HTC wants in on Big Red’s Android action. All of the Verizon-focused Android talk as of late has focused on Motorola’s Sholes — but as Android goes, HTC’s still the Goliath to Moto’s David, so it would make a lot of sense that we’re seeing some action out of Taiwan here, especially in light of the fact that we’ve got the CDMA-flavored Hero coming up for Sprint. The screenshot leads us to believe that the model will be called “Desire” (now that we hear it, we’re surprised Samsung hasn’t snapped that up already) with a model number of 6200, sourced through the shadowy industry middlemen over at PCD. Beyond that, though, your guess is as good as ours.

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Move over, Sholes: Verizon getting Android-powered ‘Desire’ from HTC? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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