G1 News

The HTC Click is the entry level Android phone that the Korean manufacturer hopes will sweep up in the cash conscious sector of the mobile market later in the year, and here’s the first video showing it off.

It is very no-frills as the pic above shows, with a camera (HTC still not fans of the flash), a microSD card slot, and 3.5mm headphone jack.

Flourishes like the Sense UI seen on the HTC Hero are sadly absent, whilst the touchscreen is somewhat smaller than the rest of the Android handset range thus far, as the TinhTe comparison to the HTC Magic proves.

Check it out in moving pictures below! And do try to focus on the phone, or the amusing jazz muzak (synth rock guitar for the win!) accompaniment in the background. Anything but the obvious.

Truly, the only thing stopping me and many others from getting an HTC Hero the moment it was released was that they sexy ‘Sense’ interface was said to be more than a little laggy. Thankfully, HTC have sewn up the sole Achilles Heel of their top flight Android phone, as this video demo…well, demonstrates.

The update takes Rosie to the next level, making the phone a no-brainer for those looking for the slickest phone experience that isn’t Apple flavoured.

It seems like an imminent US release will be met with a nice shiny software update. Nice to see that the Brits only ever get things first when acting as guinea pigs…

Source: MoDaCo via Gizmodo

As fun as it has been updating the T-Mobile G1’s internal software above its station, it looks like we might not be seeing it ever occur officially, due to a simple lack of space on the device.

The G1, famed for getting much needed functionality upgrades with the ‘Cupcake’ update, seems to have run out of internal flash RAM to the point where future upgrades will not be able to fit.

With word that the slick ‘Sense’ user experience popularised by the HTC Hero will be coming to other Google-phones in certain parts of the world got Android fans all excited, but this may not be the case for everyone, and definitely not for ‘with Google’ devices including the G1 and myTouch 3G.

On Twitter, Android developer Jean-Baptiste Queru was not optimistic that the G1 would be getting upgrades:

“As much as I’m hoping that it’ll be possible to somehow continue updating the G1, I can’t promise anything. We knew that internal flash space was going to be very tight on the G1 and we kept the system partition tight on purpose.”

However, T-Mobile was quick to stop owners throwing their G1s from the nearest overpass with a swift and yet entirely vague rebuttal: “We plan to continue working with Google to introduce future software updates to the T-Mobile G1. Reports to the contrary are inaccurate,” they said to Engadget in a statement.

Upgrades to the G1 are not unwelcome, but what people want is true changes, not cosmetic and incremental upgrades whilst the rest of the world live in an HTC Sense wonderland!

Still, with a little tech savvy, it seems that the most ardent G1 fans will be able to make a little room for some open source dessert for their pioneering handset.

The rumours were true. Laptop manufacturer Dell has finally thrown their hat into the smartphone ring, with a handset dubbed the Mini 3i, revealed by China Mobile today.

Listen closely, as the science part of the Dell Mini 3i is more than a little confusing… The Mini 3i is powered by Android, albeit a China Mobile-modified version named OMS.

The Mini 3i also is not 3G-powered as the name might subtly imply, but rather a 2G GSM with Bluetooth connectivity. That means no Wi-Fi, nor any support for the Chinese equivalent, WAPI.

Technical specifications beyond the dearth of connectivity are slightly more optimistic, as the Mini 3i has a 3.5″ capacitive touchscreen, with a 360 x 640 resolution.

Interestingly, the Mini 3i is without keys on the front of the device, although fortunately for Google’s button-dependent software, China Mobile’s reskin is much more iPhone-y, making for a decent touch experience consisting of the familiar grid of icons to activate programs.

The camera is a 3 megapixel LED-flash packing affair, whilst storage is handled by a microSD slot secreted on the Mini 3i’s person. A small saving grace is the addition of GPS support, but all in all, the Dell Mini 3i is a decidedly more mid range effort than the world was expecting.

Another ray of light comes in the form of a China Mobile app store offering all manner of games, themes and videos, except that without a fast connection to hook up and download, it could make for a painful online experience.

If this was the handset that Dell was showing to Western networks earlier in the year, then it comes as little surprise that they were sent back to the drawing board for a less than stellar entry to the crowded mobile marketplace.

Whether this phone will see the light of day outside of China is unknown at present, but if the Palm Pre’s charm offensive (remember that one?) was not enough to draw people’s gaze from the iPhone 3GS, the Dell Mini 3i might not even serve as a bump in the road to Apple’s dominance.

Source: GSMArena

The Samsung’s Galaxy i7500, the manufacturer’s first Android handset, is due to make a debut on UK network O2 as early as next week.

According to Reg Hardware, and contrary to reports that the handset had failed network accreditation, the Samsung Galaxy i7500 is currently hiding in the accessories section of O2’s website, lending credence to the fact that it will soon be available.

The i7500 is already available in various territories around the globe, including O2 in Germany and Israel under the Cellcom network.

O2 – the exclusive retailer for the Samsung Galaxy – apparently already has the handset in the stock management system in retail stores, so a release in all but certain for the week beginning 17th August.

No details or pricing of Samsung Galaxy i7500 deals have been released at this time.

Taiwanese manufacturer HTC was happy to announce that over a million of their Android-powered Magic handset have been shipped in 2009, since their recent April release. HTC Chief Peter Chou was jubilant at the announcement, and also announced plans to tackle the mid-range market with future handsets.

If they are able to crack the mobile game at the high end price point, in the face of super smartphones like the Nokia N97, iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre, common sense dictates that even further success can be achieved with decent phones on lower tiers.

The HTC Magic has just seen a US launch under the name myTouch3G with T-Mobile,  making this global milestone without American sales even more impressive.

It also shows that market leading design and innovative features can buck any downward trends…

We know how tough it has been for Google and Facebook to see eye to eye, it wasn’t that long ago that a Facebook app was ‘not coming any time soon‘.

The animosity has turned into full blown love as Techcrunch reported that a client for the social networking site was indeed winging its way onto the platform, as soon as the end of the week!

So anyone that has bought a MyTouch3G and is in dire need of someone to poke or to fill in a quiz about movie star’s slacks, your solution is on the way!

Not quite here yet, but we are expecting it any time from today, the 5th of August!