Hasta La Gadget!

HTC and Sprint are moving fast to fix a storage card-related bug that left some early users of the Evo 4G smartphone frustrated.

As Wired reported Thursday, a problem with the 8-GB MicroSD card that ships with the HTC Evo returned error messages to some people when they tried using the phone’s camera app. The bug also prevented some people from saving files and documents to the card.

HTC has started pushing out a software fix to current and new Evo users, the same day the phone goes on sale at all Sprint stores.

HTC spokesman Keith Nowak confirmed that the updates started streaming out Friday morning so “anyone who currently has an HTC EVO 4G and people who are lining up to buy it today should not experience the issue.”

HTC and Google gave about 5,000 of the devices to attendees at Google’s developer conference two weeks ago, which is how many early users discovered the problem.

The Evo has been a much anticipated phone because of its position as the first 4G smartphone. HTC and Sprint unveiled the Evo in May. The feature-packed gadget has a huge 4.3-inch touchscreen, 1-GHz Snapdragon processor, a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video conferencing and a 8-megapixel camera for shooting photos and videos. (Evo’s MicroSD card has been manufactured by SanDisk.) Evo runs the 2.1 version of the Android operating system, and costs $200 with a two-year contract. Despite poor battery life, the phone has gathered positive reviews.

See Also:

• Wired Video: HTC Evo 4G Dissected
• HTC EVO 4G $200, on Sale June 4
• EVO 4G Hacked, Rooted Before Arriving in Stores
• Strapped to Android, HTC Takes a Dizzying Ride to the Top

Photo: (closari/Flickr)

Sometimes it’s good to be the chosen child, the special one, and in the eyes of Google the Nexus One is that special phone — at least for the moment. As such it seems to have been given a special treat: access to Froyo, earlier than expected. TechCrunch‘s MG Siegler is reporting that his handset received Android 2.2 overnight. So far we’re not hearing too many other reports of folks seeing this update, but that could be thanks to everyone sleeping off a week of exciting announcements. Sound off in comments if you’re waking up to this frosty, low-calorie snack.

Update: We’re not sure how this is being rolled out, as hardly anyone is seeing updates, but via Droidnytt we found a number of reports on Twitter that people are indeed seeing the update.

Update 2: Count us among the lucky few who just received the OTA Froyo update, to our original T-Mobile-based device.

Update 3: We’ve done some additional investigation, and as far as we can tell, Google is only updating review Nexus Ones that had been provided to the press — not off-the-shelf phones. We’ll stay on this and let you know more as soon as we do.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Android 2.2’s Froyo goodness hitting the Nexus One already? (update: just press so far) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 May 2010 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ouch. Just a few days ago, it seems like a certainty that Sprint would be pushing out Android 2.1 updates to the aging Samsung Moment and HTC Hero, but now a company admin has stepped in to assure us that things aren’t nearly that close to go. The full text is pasted in after the break, but the long and short of it is this: the long-awaited 2.1 update is now on track “to be available in Q2.” The carrier did confess to wanting this out sooner rather than later, but hey, at least your patience is really, really appreciated.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Sprint: Samsung Moment and HTC Hero Android 2.1 updates now coming ‘in Q2’

Sprint: Samsung Moment and HTC Hero Android 2.1 updates now coming ‘in Q2’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 May 2010 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the weeks since Microsoft’s MIX conference, the company has obviously done a little introspection and refined its message around Windows Phone 7 — there’s no greater example of that than the fact that they simplified the name at the public’s urging. Microsoft’s Charlie Kindel, who’s been leading up developer evangelism for the platform, has gone on record a few times recently with some interesting tidbits around their post-launch strategy, including the very good news that they want to “do the right thing” with copy / paste — not a meaty answer to the problem, obviously, but a heartening sign that they’ll end up adding a clipboard into the mix at one point or another. Managed multitasking — something similar to what Apple has announced in iPhone OS 4.0 — also appears to be on the docket, though it’s not something we can expect in the first volley later this year.

Speaking in more generic terms, Kindel says that the company is well aware that “some things are missing at the launch,” choosing to concentrate instead on getting a limited set of functionality perfectly polished for version 1.0 — a distinctly different philosophy than in versions past. Fortunately, both OTA and tethered updates will be possible, though it sounds like Microsoft will be using a mix of the two depending on the size and complexity of the update — you can’t pick your own poison, the way you can with BlackBerrys and Android devices today.

On a related note, we wanted to take this opportunity to spruce up our complete guide to Windows Phone 7, which you’ll be able to use over the course of the year to stay abreast of the latest and greatest information we have about the platform as we get close to launch. Check it out here!

Charlie Kindel on Windows Phone 7: some things will be missing at launch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No leaks or release date rumors this time, a mere 39MB download is all that separates your Sprint, O2 or Movistar connected Pre from video recording, Flash, enhanced message notifications and much-desired performance and battery life improvements. Verizon, Bell and Telcel customers are unfortunately still waiting for their day in the sun, only specified by the official Palm blog as “soon.” Check out Palm’s trailer for the new features and the full webOS 1.4 changelog after the break, after queueing up the download of course.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Palm’s webOS 1.4 update now available for Sprint, O2 and Movistar phones

Palm’s webOS 1.4 update now available for Sprint, O2 and Movistar phones originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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