Motorola Android Update Schedule Updated

Motorola is attempting to update all of it’s Android smartphones to Android 2.1 as quickly as possible. The Motorola DROID has finished this cycle and all devices (other than rooted) should be running the latest version of the Android OS (latest if you don’t count Android 2.2 which isn’t officially out just yet).

The new roadmap shows a few more specific dates for a few of the Android handsets. Currently on the top of the list is the Motorola MILESTONE which is the DROID out of the US. These updates are still in progress with Europe, Asia-Pacific and Canada all in progress and Latin America beginning any time this month. [Read more…]

AT&T Stores Being Prepped for Apple iPhone 4G Launch

BGR is reporting that AT&T [T] is sending out engineers to corporate store locations to plan and set up new kinds of display in preparation for the next generation Apple iPhone that we are expecting to hear details about next week.

Not much is known about the new displays other than they are a “new kind of display” which we suspect is for the launch of the new handset. [Read more…]

Samsung Galaxy S to launch in 110 Countries Simultaneously

The Samsung Galaxy S is set to launch in 110 countries around the globe on the same day. The exact date isn’t known but is believed to be sometime this month (ie, June).

We already have seen Vodafone in the UK put up a page about the Samsung Galaxy S heading to it’s network. We also saw Amazon in Germany recently setup a pre-order page for the smartphone.

The Samsung Galaxy S is an impressive device. It has a super crisp display known as the Samsung Super AMOLED that uses a new technique to work. The Galaxy S is also fast, perhaps three times faster at rendering triangles than the Google Nexus One. This is thanks to the Hummingbird Chip that it uses inside. [Read more…]

HTC Aria Leaked

Android Guys managed to get hold of some pictures of what is believed to be the HTC Aria smartphone.

The HTC Aria runs the Android 2.1 operating system and also has the usual HTC Sense UI coded in to the Android OS. On the back is a 5 megapixel camera. The tipster who contacted Android Guys with the images also commented saying it’s the smallest Android device they have seen yet.

It appears that the HTC Aria has either a 2.5 inch or 2.8 inch LCD screen, we assume capacitive as this is an Android device. [Read more…]

HTC EVO 4G Teardown

We literally just mentioned that the HTC EVO 4G was available off-contract for $549 direct from the HTC online store. We then come across iFixit who have done a complete teardown of the HTC EVO 4G to see exactly what’s inside and what makes it function the way it does.

iFixit are well known in the Gadget world for taking apart high end gadgets, often Apple [AAPL] products, but anything with a high price tag. The latest teardown was made possible because of Google [GOOG] handing out free HTC EVO 4G’s at the Google I/O event that was held recently. The iFixit team managed to get one of the EVO’s and take it home to carve it apart.

iFixit say that the EVO 4G was an easy phone to take apart. All that was required was removing the back cover and then unfastening 6 Torx screws to reveal the insides. [Read more…]

HTC EVO 4G Available off Contract for $549

HTC is selling the HTC EVO 4G direct from their website with a price tag of $549.99. The handset has no contract allowing you to get a cheaper plan due to not having a subsidised device to support.

As well as being able to buy the handset off contract, there is also an option to buy the phone with a Sprint contract which brings the price down to $199.99 although you’ll be locked in for two years on that contract.

The HTC EVO 4G is a high-end smartphone that has a lot of advanced features. The device has a large 4.3 inch TFT display that can display 480 x 800 pixels. The device is powered by a 1GHz snapdragon processor provided by Qualcomm. For storage it has 1GB of memory built in along with 512MB of RAM. [Read more…]

LG Town GT350 Unveiled

The LG Town GT530 has been designed for those who like to keep in contact either via text messages or via social networks. The device has a slide out QWERTY keyboard and includes social networking services such as Twitter and Facebook to let users easily keep in touch.

The LG Town uses a live social network feed that brings the contents of Facebook and Twitter together in to a single stream that can be easily viewed and interacted with when needed.

The LG Town has a 3 inch wide touchscreen display that allows for a single tap on the screens refresh button to update the social feed. [Read more…]

Apple iPhone 4G Parts Surface Again

After several leaks regarding the next generation iPhone 4G, we again see another leak has surfaced. This time it’s for a spare part which we haven’t seen before. The spare part is a sub-frame assembly that is basically the centre part of the iPhone 4G that holds the thing together.

The site, iPhone Portugal, managed to purchase the sub-frame from China and have the part(s) delivered to them. Confirmation of them being genuine will be hard to achieve. ZDNet point out that no Apple [AAPL] logo can be found on the subframe and that it potentially could be just a knock off although the quality does look to be of a premium product standard. [Read more…]

Qualcomm 1.2GHz Dual-Core Snapdragon Chipsets Coming Soon

There’s a new Snapdragon processor launching soon. It’s actually starting to ship now and is called the Qualcomm Dual-Core Snapdragon. It runs at 1.2GHz and is designed for high-end smartphones.

The MSM8260 has HSPA+ and the MSM8660 has support for multi-mode HSPA+ and 1xEV-Do Rev. B. GPS is integrated on both and 2D/3D is supported by the GPU with Open GL ES 2.0 and Open VG 1.1. Both will do 1080p video encoding and decoding and can support up to 1280 x 800 pixels at 24-Bit.

We also hear that another Snapdragon will be launching later this year that will be designed for larger screen devices such as tablet PC’s and the likes. [Read more…]

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 on 30 Million Handsets by end of 2011

Microsoft [MSFT] has put out a prediction which says that Windows Phone 7 will be on 30 million handsets by the end of 2011. The information comes from a slide presentation shown at ReMIX in Paris France recently.

The sales of 30 million handsets with Windows Phone 7 installed comes from a couple of areas. First is a prediction that the smartphone industry will rise from 14% this year to 40% by next year along with a mix of what Microsoft believes it can sell in the next 18 months (or however short that duration is based on when it launches).

Challenges of course come from the likes of iPhone OS 4.0 that is launching perhaps next month, and Google Android which is seeing 100,000 devices a day being shipped at the moment. [Read more…]

Google Android 2.2 Froyo hacked on to HTC EVO 4G

Just a few days ago a team managed to root the HTC EVO 4G. Gaining root on the HTC EVO 4G has moved things on to the next logical step… that is to get Android 2.2 Froyo working on the device. Google [GOOG] only launched FroYo recently, so the OS is brand new and not even available yet on devices through the official channels except for a few installs here and there on to Google Nexus One phones recently.

Android 2.2 Froyo was ported on to the HTC EVO 4G by Richard Ross. It is believed that the phone seen in the video is one of the devices handed out to all attendees at the Google I/O event held a couple of weeks ago. [Read more…]

Apple iPhone running Android – Installation Just got Easier

Over the past month or so we have been keeping an eye on the progress of a guy who has managed to get Google Android running on the Apple iPhone. When the Android update was made available, the steps could have been a little challenging for some people. This is no longer a worry now though as a developer has managed to get automatic installation of Google [GOOG] Android OS on the Apple [AAPL] iPhone 2G and 3G models.

The auto installer is called iPhodroid and automates the Android OS installation on the iPhone. Just before we go on to a few more details you need to take note that Android on the iPhone isn’t really usable. It does a number of things like browse the web, make calls, send/receive text messages and what not, but the developer who created the build hasn’t looked at any power-management functions yet which means your iPhone battery will be dead within the hour. [Read more…]