Google Nexus One Final Specifications

With 20 devices on 59 operators in 48 countries using 19 languages, Android has made its mark on the smartphone market. Today Google made the Nexus One official and while we released specs for Google’s Nexus One last week, at Google’s Press Event today they made both the device and the spec chart a reality. If you’ve seen our previous coverage things remain the same with a few additional details on the battery life, display and confirmation that the device will be running Android 2.1 Eclair. Oh yea and we were off by $1 on the prices, it’s actually $179.00 with a 2-year contract on the T-mobile Even More individual 500 Plan and $529.00 without contract.

Here’s what Google had to say about the Nexus One:

Manufactured by HTC, the Nexus One features dynamic noise suppression from Audience, Inc., a large 3.7″ OLED display for deep contrast and brilliant colors and a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ chipset for blazing speeds. Running on Android 2.1, the newest version of Eclair, the software includes innovations like a voice-enabled keyboard so you can speak into any text field, fun Live Wallpapers, a 3D photo gallery for richer media experiences and lots more. Of course, it also comes with a host of popular Google applications, including Gmail, Google Voice and Google Maps Navigation.

Today, the web store allows you to purchase the Nexus One without operator service or with service from T-Mobile USA. We expect to add more operators, more devices and more countries in the future, including Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and Vodafone in Europe. To learn more about the Nexus One, and our new web store, we recommend checking it out for yourself by visiting www.google.com/phone. We look forward to seeing how our new program and the Nexus One contributes to accelerating innovation on mobile products for the benefit of users worldwide.

[via Google]

Samsung announces US edition of the i5700 Galaxy Spica

With the Nexus One and Motorola Droid already available in the US Market, Samsung could be facing quite a challenge with their latest announcement.  According to the manufacturer they will be releasing a US-edition of the Samsung Galaxy Spica, a 800MHz Android smartphone featuring a 3.2-inch touchscreen with HVGA resolution (480 x 320) and a 3-megapixel camera.  By comparison, the Nexus One and Motorola Droid offer superior resolution screens and cameras, but since there are only 20 Android handsets available worldwide, I’ll welcome a new competitor.  However, I can’t imagine too many of you opting for the Galaxy Spica when the Nexus One can be used on any carrier in the US except Sprint.

[View with PicLens]

[via Mobile Burn]

At&t finally embraces Android with Five Handset in 2010

At&t just broke the news that they have finally embraced Android and if their press release is any indication they’ve gone Full Throttle like Charlie’s Angels.  During the first half of 2010, At&t plans on releasing not one, but three exclusive Android devices from HTC, Motorola and Dell.  They will also release two additional devices which will not be At&t exclusives, bringing their total Android lineup to five handsets.  At the moment Verizon has the Droid Eris, Motorola Droid and by Spring the Nexus One.  T-mobile has the G1, myTouch 3G and the Nexus One.  Sprint has the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment.  I guess At&t’s last place finish to the Android party will finally pay off.  Stack that with the HSPA 7.2 network upgrade and the LTE two market trials in 2010 and this is an exciting year for the carrier.

[via Cellfanatic]

T-mobile G1 Android 2.0 Eclair Update is Coming

You were the first, the front runners who accepted Android in its infancy stages by purchasing the first commercial device to feature the Android OS, the T-mobile G1.  Those of you who have remained loyal and stayed true to your G1 roots will soon be rewarded with the latest version of Android, 2.0 or 2.01 known by many as Eclair.  According to various sources the problem with the G1 has always been the small system partition of 70MB which is used by 99% of capacity by Android 1.5 and Android 1.6.  Thankfully we have huge news today straight from the devs at Android and T-mobile that they’ve found a way around this limitation.

Early adopters will finally catch a break on the T-mobile G1’s very soon in early 2010 with an official Android 2.0 release.  You will not longer have to root your G1, your official release is on it’s way via an Over The Air update (OTA).

[via Gizmodo, AndroidSpin, AndroidandMe]

Conspiracy Theory: Verizon Wireless, Motorola Droid and Android 2.0

In 2007 when the world was first introduced to the Open Handset Alliance and their goal of developing open standards for mobile devices we were thrilled.  Quickly thereafter the OHA’s first product was unveiled, Android, a mobile device platform with the goal of reinventing the smartphone landscape.  Now that Google has been able to develop Android into arguably one of the best mobile platforms on the market we begin to wonder whether they’ll be able to quickly deliver software updates to so many devices across the world.

The worries of Google delaying software updates stems from the release of a single device, the Motorola Droid.  Being the first device to ship with Google’s Android 2.0 OS, existing owners of Android devices immediately wanted to know when their device would see such an update.  Up until Android 2.0, all builds of the mobile platform had been open source and under an Apache License.  At this point Android 2.0 remains a closed source OS and there has been no official word on whether this will change.

Up until this point in the U.S., T-mobile has been the front runner in the Android campaign since they were one of the first members of the OHA in 2007.  Google has done a good job pushing software updates to both devices over the air albeit with a few hiccups.  The reason for this success is that both devices are ‘Google Experience’ phones which basically means Google controls all aspects of the software resulting in a default Android build.  Theoretically this means that ‘Google Experience’ devices will be the first to receive updates and all other Android-powered devices will require customization from their respective manufacturers.

As it stands today, HTC is focused on driving their Sense User Interface into the Android platform.  Motorola has also realized the power of a fresh UI on Android with MOTOBLUR.  This method of unique branding which results in what we consider a superior Android experience comes at the cost of delayed OS updates.   You can see this first hand with the mysterious Android 1.6 update that never hit the HTC Hero which is now reported to receive the Android 2.0 update in the the near future.  Does this mean that non-Google Experience devices will miss smaller Android updates and instead only be updated to major versions?  If Google needs to release and updated build of Android to address security concerns will we really have to wait until Sense UI can be compatible?

These questions are being echoed throughout the Android community, but an even bigger question is on my mind.  Is Google looking to power play Android 2.0 so wireless carriers can lure customers through exclusive devices and first access to OS builds?  Congress is working on eliminating exclusivity deals between manufacturers and wireless carriers so exclusive access to mobile platforms seems to be the likely evolution.  When the Motorola Droid for Verizon Wireless was released last week and it became the first and only Android 2.0 device on the market I began to seriously doubt whether Google would be able to deliver timely updates of Android to so many devices.

There are not many reasons to want an iPhone once you have the Motorola Droid, but if there is anything that Google and the OHA can take away from Apple’s strategy it is the consistency and availability of software updates.  All devices receive their updates on the same day world wide and no device is left behind.  The current position of Android is becoming very similar to Windows Mobile where certain devices receive updates and it all ultimately relies on the carrier for your device to deliver that update.  This is not the Android I signed up for two years ago and I hope that this is not the Android of the future.

What you need to know about the XPERIA X10, Android and OpenGL

As we prepare for the release of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 many questions are lurking on the minds of fellow Android fanatics.  Today we have confirmed many rumors and speculations regarding the X10 so let’s get straight to nuts and bolts of our findings.  The XPERIA X10 is running Android 1.6 Donut which means OpenGL ES 1.1 APIs (native and Java).  The X10 hardware (GPU) supports OpenGL ES 2.0, but the limiting factor is the version of Android running on the device.  The X10 SEMC applications such as Timescape rely on a UI framework which is Qualcomm proprietary and indirectly use OpenGL ES 2.0 hardware and functionality.  The bottom line is that with the X10 running Android 1.06, OpenGL ES 2.0 APIs are not accessible to all developers despite the hardware being there.

[via SE Blog]

Sprint HTC Hero rooted, Custom ROMs to follow

XDA-Developers have once again come to save the day for smartphone users as the Sprint HTC Hero has now been rooted.  If the term ‘rooted’ is not clicking in your minds right now, just know that when a device is ‘rooted’ you are now able to install custom ROMs.  In even simpler terms this means that you will soon be able to load a variety of version of Android onto your Sprint HTC, namely Android 2.0 with Google Navigation.  Since we know HTC is currently working on incorporating their Sense UI into the latest version of Android, may of us will opt to skip the wait and run a vanilla Android 2.0 build so that we can enjoy the latest OS build immediately.  One additional newsworthy piece of information coming from the XDA-Developers is that apps2sd, the ability to run apps from your sd card, is already working.

[via Leakdroid]

Verizon adds 100,000 Motorola Droid users and counting

The massive marketing blitz by Verizon Wireless over the past couple weeks has finally paid off for Motorola and the wireless carrier.  Early reports indicate that over 100,000 Motorola Droids were sold over the opening weekend.  Despite the higher upfront cost of $299 before $100 mail-in rebate, the Droid was able to sell a large volume of units amid rumors that Apple would be releasing a low-cost 8GB iPhone 3GS for $99.  One thing is for certain at this point, Motorola and Verizon have put together an excellent device thanks to Google’s Android OS and it should not be long before we reach the 1 million unit mark.  Viva la droid my friends, Android is here to stay.

[Via Bloomberg]

Motorola Milestone is coming to Canada in 2010 via Telus

Android lovers to our north get ready for your chance at the Motorola Milestone in early 2010.  According to a Press Release this morning, Telus will begin selling the Motorola Milestone in early 2010 to compliment their growing 3G+ network.  The Milestone will feature the highly coveted Android 2.0 OS along with the beautiful 3.7-inch WVGA resolution touchscreen that even has a few iPhone users starting to feel jealous.  To sweeten the deal, Telus and Motorola have decided to include a 16GB memory card like the European launch and the device is capable of supporting up to 32GB cards.

For more information on the Motorola Milestone coming to Canada you can visit http://www.motorola.ca

DROID ERIS by HTC Specs: Everything You Need to Know

The DROID ERIS by HTC debuts tomorrow on Verizon Wireless (November 6) for $99.99 on a 2-year service agreement.  The device features HTC’s Sense user interface which is currently available on the HTC Hero for Sprint.  Essentially the devices are identical in specs, but have slightly different designs.

The DROID Eris features a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with trackball interface, 5-megapixel camera with autofocus (no flash) and comes bundled with a pre-installed 8GB microSD card (up to 16GB cards supported).  Bluetooth, WiFi b/g and a 3.5mm headphone jack are also included along with integrated GPS and a digital compass with a sensor that enables the phone to know what direction you are facing.  A Full HTML browser with Flash lite capabilities is also pre-installed and of course like all Android devices the DROID Eris by HTC features seamless compatibility with Google services like Google Maps, Gmail and Google Search.

Now the most popular question that has been asked surrounding the device is who should buy the DROID ERIS by HTC?  The Motorola DROID is leading the marketing blitz and it features a faster processor and arguably better performance along with the newer Android 2.0 OS.  On the other hand the DROID ERIS is half the price and based on early reviews, the keyboard on the Motorola DROID should not be a major advantage due to typing speed and size.  Without having the DROID ERIS to test, I can only assume that the performance will be on par with the Sprint HTC Hero, a device I thoroughly enjoyed despite many reviews claiming the phone to be laggy.  The real advantage to the DROID ERIS over the Motorola DROID really revolves around the Sense UI which brings a new twist on the simple and rather boring standard Android UI we’ve seen on the T-mobile G1 and myTouhc 3G.  The ideal consumer I see wanting the DROID ERIS instead of the Motorola DROID will be someone looking to save some money, not looking for a physical keyboard, enjoys the Sense UI and prefers a trackball over a direction pad.

DROID ERIS by HTC will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com on Friday, Nov. 6, for $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement on a voice plan with an e-mail feature or e-mail plan. Customers will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.