Hasta La Gadget!

We have no idea why Samsung’s having such a hard time delivering its overdue promised Froyo upgrades worldwide for the Galaxy S series, but it’s not looking any easier for them this weekend: the only Canadian Galaxy S to get upgraded so far, Bell’s Vibrant, has just had its update pulled. Seems a healthy number of users attempting the upgrade using Sammy’s Kies desktop software ended up with inaccessible internal storage, which sucks for a variety of obvious reasons — and that would be the apparent reason for the removal of the update. Here’s the official statement:

“There have been intermittent issues reported during the firmware upgrade process with Kies for the Samsung Galaxy S i9000M series of phones. Samsung’s development team is currently aware of this issue and working towards a solution. Accordingly, The firmware update feature, which affects the ability to upgrade to Android 2.2, is temporarily disabled until a solution is released. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

Maybe we can just go straight to Gingerbread or Honeycomb at this point?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Samsung pulls Froyo update for Bell’s Vibrant after reports of fried internal storage originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Dec 2010 19:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know this isn’t exactly the news you wanted to hear, AT&T customers, but it’s comforting to know that the diminutive Aria has been upgraded to Froyo somewhere, isn’t it? HTC’s support page for Southeast Asia now reports availability of an over-the-air update to build 2.37.708.5 for the phone, which brings it up to Android 2.2 — topped off with Sense, of course — presumably along with all the normal benefits of Froyo like tethering, improved enterprise support, and some serious performance boosts. It’s unclear when this update will take a flight across the Pacific to AT&T’s version — but if nothing else, it’s good to know that HTC’s officially gotten the Aria working with something newer than Eclair. Remember, the glass is half full.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

HTC Aria gets Android 2.2 update… but not on AT&T yet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know what they say about a trip to the FCC‘s database, right? Why, it’s much like the step just prior to achieving manhood — one more leap from here, and you’ll be ripe for the pickin’. Just a few months after Hannspree teased us with a formal introduction of its (then unnamed) 10.1-inch multitouch Froyo tablet, it looks as if that very device has now found a moniker. The 1.6-pound HSG1164 will eventually bring a fairly impressive build of materials to light, offering a 1GHz Tegra 2 chip, 16GB of internal storage, 512MB of NAND Flash, a microSD slot, Android 2.2, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, mini USB / HDMI connector, an inbuilt light sensor, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a Li-ion battery of unspecified size. There’s obviously no direct mention of a ship date in the documentation here, but we’re putting our money on an early 2011 release. Care to wager, too?

Hannspree’s HSG1164 10.1-inch Froyo tablet drops by the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 10:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That’s right, it’s official. Needless to say, that LG Star we recently got our paws on is very real, though it won’t go by that name at retail — just as LG’s own release materials had suggested, this monster has picked up the Optimus 2X name as it morphs from a prototype into brutally fast, overpowered reality. At the phone’s heart beats a dual-core Tegra 2 processor running at 1GHz, the first such configuration to be officially announced by any smartphone manufacturer (though we’re expecting others any day now). In case you’re wondering how such power might be used, well, for starters, you’ve got both full 1080p TV-out via HDMI and video capture through an 8 megapixel primary camera paired with a 1.3 megapixel cam up front for face-to-face calling.

A 4-inch WVGA display is along for the ride along with 8GB of on-board storage (expandable with up to 32GB of microSD) and a 1,500mAh battery — no larger than most single-core smartphones these days, so it’ll be interesting to see if the final retail units hold up through a day of typical use. Unfortunately, the Optimus 2X is launching out of the gate with Android 2.2, but LG’s already committing to releasing Gingerbread updates “in due course.” It hits first in LG’s home market of Korea next month, followed by Europe and other Asian locales in the coming weeks; we’re sure you can hardly wait, so why don’t you check out some eye candy from our preview while you pass the time? Follow the break for the press release.

Continue reading LG Optimus 2X: first dual-core smartphone launches with Android, 4-inch display, 1080p video recording

LG Optimus 2X: first dual-core smartphone launches with Android, 4-inch display, 1080p video recording originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pretty self-explanatory really: the T-Mobile G2 is now available to buy for a measly 50 greenbacks from its carrier’s online store. It’s a web-only deal, but it’s sweetened by free overnight delivery for anyone ordering before the 20th of December. So, $50 and two years of your wireless freedom in exchange for a phone capable of exploiting T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network and offering an almost stock Android experience? Decisions, decisions.

T-Mobile drops the G2 to $50 on contract, really wants you to buy one originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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