Rumor: Two Motorola Android Handsets Get Detailed

Details are arriving about two new Android handsets arriving from the Motorola camp for this holiday season. The Sholes and Morrison phones (both sound a bit like codenames) are reportedly set for Verizon and T-Mobile, respectively. In both cases the information was obtained by a site called “Android and Me” from leaks, predictions, and tipsters, so one may be advised to take the whole thing with a grain or two of salt.

The Verizon Sholes, according “predictions” from the site, features an OMAP3430 processor, a 5.0MP camera with autofocus and a video recorder, a microSD slot, and GPS navigation.

The T-Mobile Morrison, which is rumored for an October 21st release, features a Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 MHz processor, 256MB RAM, a microSDHC slot, and a 5MP camera, with 5.4x digital zoom.

If the specs are to be believed, Motorola’s not messing around with its new found devotion to Google’s operating system.

Motorola Morrison specs purportedly leak out

Hopefully Motorola’s cooking up a super-special custom UI for the Android-powered Morrison, because the purported spec list that just leaked out is looking pretty average — Moto’s newest slider will apparently sport a 528MHz Qualcomm processor with 256MB of RAM, or basically the same setup as the HTC G1, myTouch, and Hero. Yeah, we know this is supposed to be a lower-end set, but isn’t it high time we saw some fundamentally different Android hardware?

[Via I4U, image from Phandroid]

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Motorola Morrison specs purportedly leak out originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Fiesta: definitely Android, headed for AT&T

Months and months after the telltale signs appeared over at the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, we’ve now got further confirmation that HTC’s as-yet-unpeeped “Fiesta” will indeed be an Android handset. The good folks over at Cell Passion “stumbled upon” the UA Profile for this bad boy, also known as the HTC T5252, and here’s what we know: the phone will boast a QVGA display, and a numeric keypad (read: non-QWERTY). Did we mention that internal HTC linking indicates this puppy is headed to AT&T? Yeah, we’re definitely getting one — to go with our super stylish, tricked-out Ford of the same name.

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HTC Fiesta: definitely Android, headed for AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo’s Android-powered O1 ‘OPhone’ due next month

Good news, kids! It looks like Lenovo’s O1 “OPhone” handset is finally ready to hit the shelves over on the Mainland sometime next month. Truth be told, the story arc of this Android-powered 3G (TD-SCDMA) handset has been quite the emotional roller coaster: Some were riveted by the sleek, sexy physical design of the thing, while others were repelled by its intensely KIRFish UI. China Mobile is obviously hoping for big things from the little guy — and getting it into stores before Unicom gets the iPhone sorted can’t hurt. Either way, it looks like someone’s just taken a bite out of iOrgane’s market share!

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Lenovo’s Android-powered O1 ‘OPhone’ due next month originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Review

See Google Ion Review.

Done? Good. This phone is exactly the same, except that the myTouch has a slightly different finish, and T-Mobile released an App Pack filled with two handfuls of essential apps on the Android Marketplace for it. That’s what we’re going to review today. Also, keep in mind that this is running on T-Mobile’s 3G network, which isn’t quite as good as if you imported the device and used it on, say, AT&T’s 3G network, which has more coverage.

FreshFace: A theming app for your Android. It has the ability to add small widgets like an RSS reader and a notepad onto your desktop. The FreshFace desktop pretty much takes over your real desktop, which is good, because FreshFace offers five pages of apps instead of three, but bad, because it’s buggy.

Adds a little bit more functionality and theming, including new icons


Themes are mediocre


Occasionally buggy

imeem Mobile: Free streaming internet radio.

Decent enough for a free app, but not outstanding, considering Pandora and LastFM do this kind of thing much better.

T-Mobile Mobile Backup: A free contact list backup service from T-Mobile. Kind of unnecessary, since your phone already syncs with your Google account.

Not really sure what this app does that your Google account syncing doesn’t already do. Maybe if you want to switch to another phone that’s not an Android phone?

Movies by Flixter: A movie showtimes app that also lets you watch trailers, read reviews and browse DVD catalogs.

Pretty decent movie catalog app that does as much as you’d expect

T-Mobile My Account: Quick and easy access to all your phone’s account info, including your activity billing, your plan and any alerts you may have. For some reason this only works over your cellular connection, so you’ll have to shut off Wi-Fi.

Easier than loading up the T-Mobile site

Phonebook by Voxmobili: A replacement phonebook that sorts your contacts into a more usable manner. Plus, it’s colorful.

Better, in many ways, than the official Android dialer. Definitely replace your contact list with this

Sherpa: A fancy Yelp-like app that can help you find local shops (eateries, theaters, cafes, grocery stores) using your phone’s GPS.

It’s just like Yelp, and quite useful if you’re trying to find stuff within walking distance

Visual Voicemail: It’s visual voicemail.

It’s visual voicemail.

WorldTour: Periodically sets your wallpaper to live webcams around the world, like Paris

A little bit goofy. Would be better if the wallpapers were higher quality

Motorola Morrison engineering sketches emerge, has Android written all over it

Okay, so maybe there’s not literally any text penciled in on these drawings, but if you’ve been looking for multiple angles of Motorola’s sure-to-be-forthcoming Morrison, these are about as good as it gets. Not surprisingly, the design here seems pretty conventional; for all intents and purposes, it’s just a QWERTY-packin’, full touchscreen slider smartphone with all the makings of a sub-$100 (on contract) Android offering. Hit the read link if you’re eager for more, and go on grab another handful of patience while you’re at it.

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Motorola Morrison engineering sketches emerge, has Android written all over it originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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High-end Samsung AMOLED phone coming Q4 to Sprint, sub-$100 Android phone due out next year

Ûber-green Reclaim might be taking center stage today, having found itself a home with Sprint, but Samsung had a couple other forward-thinking comments that we think are worth highlighting. For starters, the Now Network should expect to carry a high-end, AMOLED device from the phone maker in the fourth quarter of this year. That description, however, fits the bill for any number of Sammy phones currently in the works — if we had to take a shot in the dark, we’d be anxious to know what screen technology is inside the oft-rumored InstinctQ. Looking ahead to 2010, Reclaim product manager mentioned to NY Times that it’ll be launching an Android device “for well under $100” next year — looks like the HTC Click is gonna have itself some competition, after all. Hey Sammy, you know what’d be great? A smartphone that was Android, AMOLED, and under $100 — we can dream, can’t we?

Read – High-end AMOLED phone
Read – Sub-$100 Android phone

[Via OLED-info]

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High-end Samsung AMOLED phone coming Q4 to Sprint, sub-$100 Android phone due out next year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Wave dev preview hands-on and impressions

After an impressive debut at Google I/O, the company’s newest experiment and collaborative chat client has been making its way into the hands of developers in the lead-up to a torrent of new testers on September 30th. We had a chance to stop by Google’s San Francisco office last week for a guided tour of the latest build of Wave with creators Lars and Jens Rasmussen, and have since then spent the better part of our free time working through the ins and outs of the new communication platform. Does it live up to the hype, even in this bug-infested interim build? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Google Wave dev preview hands-on and impressions

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Google Wave dev preview hands-on and impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Creative Zii EGG gutted for expanded FCC report

Now that the cat’s out of the bag on Creative’s Android-powered Zii EGG, the FCC has gone ahead and released its full report on the touchscreen handheld, after giving us a teaser early last month. Now online are external and internal photos, for the gadget fiend who likes to see products gutted, and a user guide that conspicuously fails to mention its “Android” or “Plaszma” platforms at any point in the guide. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but we’ve got hope someone can cram a 3G chipset in that array of circuitry. Hop on through the read link to peruse the expanded report for yourself.

[Via epiZENter]

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Creative Zii EGG gutted for expanded FCC report originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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White Samsung Galaxy spotted in the wild

We just caught a glimpse of a white / silver Samsung Galaxy yesterday, but it looks like any doubts about its realness have now been put to rest, as the very same Android-based phone has now been spotted in the wild. As you might expect, however, there’s apparently no other differences compared to the standard black Galaxy we’ve been seeing all along and, just like the black model, this one will reportedly be available first on O2 Germany before rolling out to other carriers in Europe. And, no, there’s still no word of a release ’round here.

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White Samsung Galaxy spotted in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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