Hasta La Gadget!

Is there room for yet another name in the already fairly crowded world of smartphone manufacturers? Sure–the more, the merrier. Rumor has it that Dell is following in Acer’s footsteps by becoming the next PC manufacturer to throw its hat into the cellphone ring.

The company’s fittingly code-named iPhone killer, the MePhone, is apparently set to be released in both Google Android and Windows Mobile flavors. According to speculation on the part of The Wall Street Journal, the company will use the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to announce the device(s).

The upcoming e-mail-enabled phones are rumored for a September 9th release.

This is the Android-based, 3-inch Sharp touchscreen, General Mobile DSTL1. And it is everything the T-Mobile isn’t: A stunning design and features combination that may convince regular consumers to choose the Android platform over iPhone.

Seriously, while the T-Mobile G1 leaves me completely in a blah state of mind, DSTL1 actually makes me horny in a “I wish this thing vibrates really hard” kind of way.

Look at it. It’s like the Battlestar Galactica designers took the iPhone design and passed it through their Colony-Design-a-thon, adding angled corners to it but keeping the same black glass, chrome accents, black plastic, circular home button, ear speaker grill, and volume controls. The result is a design which looks extremely familiar to the public, yet adds enough changes to appeal to people who want something cool looking, but different. And with better specs too:

Technology
Double SIM, Linux 2.6 Kernel
Platform
Marvell PXA 310 (624MHz)+NXP 5209
Bands
900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
Screen
TFT/ WQVGA/ 260K Colors/ 3.0″ Sharp Brand Touchscreen Display/ 240 x 400 pixels
Wi-fi
802.11 b/g
GPRS
Yes
EDGE
Yes
WAP
Yes, HTTP/WAP2.0 support
MMS
Yes
E-mail
Yes
Bluetooth
Yes / BT 2.0 + EDR, SPP, A2DP, AVRCP, OPP, HFP
FM Radio
Yes
TV
Java
Yes ( MIDP 2.0, CLDC 1.1 )
MP3/MPEG4
Yes/Yes
Face to Face videoconferencing
Yes

Weight
135gr
Dimensions
112 x 54 x 16 mm
Memory
4GB internal memory, 256MB flash + 128MB SDRAM ,”Up to 8GB T-flash Card Support”
Camera
5MP Auto Focus with Flash Sharp Brand Camera
Voice Recorder
Yes

Talk Time
240 minutes
Standby Time
150 hours
Battery
1200 mAh
Accessories
Extra Battery, USB Cable, Earphone, AC Charge Adaptor

Others
Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF document view MP3/ WAV/ MIDI/ AMR support 3GP, MPEG4, AVI (DIVX),QVGA recording 30fps, decoding 30 fps JPG/GIF/BMP/PNG Business card reader support Anti theft support Video chat support

Impressive. Apparently the DSTL1 it will be at Barcelona’s 3GSM in February and I will be there to see if all these features are the real thing and how much this beast will cost. But on paper and renderings, it may be the first phone that would make me drop my iPhone. The only “but” for me: It’s 0.63 inches thick (16mm). Too much of a brick after being used to the ultra-thin iPhone. [General Mobil via Android Authority]

Eagerly awaiting your opportunity to try out Cupcake on your G1 or other Android-powered device? Sadly we still don’t know exactly when you’ll get your chance, but we can at least give you an opportunity to check it out emu-style. Nullwire has the links, files, and instructions you’ll need to get the current revision Android emulator up and running on your home computer, plus the freshly-frosted binaries you’ll want to get a taste of some Cupcake action. We verified everything does work, so hit the read link if you want to take a bite yourself, or, if you’re just looking for a guilt-free glimpse, take a look in the gallery. It has freshly baked screens of the new notepad app, the global time globe, and of course the delectable virtual keyboard.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

More screens of Android Cupcake, and a chance to taste it yourself originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We’ve been hearing for months now that both Android and the T-Mobile G1 hardware have some magical, top secret low-level support for multi-touch, but unless we can… you know, do something with it, it really isn’t doing anyone any favors. That’s where the lovely people in the ever-industrious dev community come into play, throwing together demos on their way to a full release that you — yes, you — can finally install on a G1 of your very own. It’s still in the proof-of-concept phase, but the load does include a multi-touch version of Android’s excellent browser, probably the single app that could use two fingertips more than any other. Needless to say, you should be installing this jazz at your own risk — but considering the number of hoops you need to jump through to get it up and running (hint: you need to start by gaining root access), the whole process should be enough of a deterrent for the casual types who can’t take a hiccup here and there. Video of the included multi-touch map browser app (among others) in action after the break.

[Thanks, Ryan G.]

Continue reading Get your hack on: unofficial multi-touch support released for Android

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Get your hack on: unofficial multi-touch support released for Android originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

It’s anybody’s guess when we’re going to get this stuff in the G1, so we may as well torture ourselves in the meanwhile with some visuals, right? IntoMobile has posted a handful of Cupcake screen grabs, showing scintillating features like a task manager (minus the “manager” part since you can only see what’s running, not kill processes), a work-in-progress world clock, new controls for transition effects and visuals, and — of course — the all-important virtual keyboard. It’s good stuff all around, and realistically, it’s stuff that should’ve found its way into the shipping build.

On a related note, we got an official statement from T-Mobile regarding Cupcake’s release on the G1 today, and it’s every bit as vague and unhelpful as we’d expect it to be: “According to the Android team, ‘Cupcake,’ which is the code name for an Android software build, is still a work in progress that is considered to be a development branch and not for general availability. We will update you as T-Mobile G1 software updates are made available to T-Mobile customers.” In other words, this could be out tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year, but considering the totally varied completeness of different Cupcake features, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it doled out in bite-sized increments over multiple over-the-air updates.

[Via Talk Android]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Android Cupcake in all its keyboard-having glory, T-Mobile plays dumb originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments