G1 News

And just like that, weeks of planning, preparation and subterfuge goes out of the window…

The new Eclair/Android 2.0 sporting DROID, known in many circles going by the name of ‘Sholes’, has finally been outed…by Motorola themselves.

A premature posting on their site leaked all the juicy details, an embarrassing error that still keeps us excited, but undoes all that great hype work ahead of November’s big reveal.

The DROID feature set is pretty impressive, although we had an idea of what we were going to be getting for some time. That sleek slider form factor is easy on the eye too.

Full specs:

- CDMA 1X 800/1900, EVDO rev. A connectivity
- 550 MHz CPU
- Android 2.0 (Eclair) OS
- 3.7″ WVGA (480 x 854 pixels); 16:9 widescreen; PPI 267 touchscreen display
- 5mpx camera with 4x digital zoom, autofocus, image stabilization, dual LED flash and up to 24 fps; D1 (720×480) resolution video capture
- full QWERTY side slide keyboard
- Accelerometer, aGPS and sGPS support, proximity and ambient light sensors
- Wi-Fi b/g, Stereo Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR, USB 2.0 high speed with micro USB connector, 3.5 mm headset jack
- 16 GB microSD pre-installed; supports up to 32 GB microSD expandable
- Webkit HTML5 support, Flash 10 (available 2010)
- 1400 mAh Li Ion battery with up to 270 hrs. standby and 385 mins talk time
- Dimensions: 2.4 x 4.6 x .5 in.; 60.00 x 115.80 x 13.70 mm
- Weight: 6 oz.; 169 g

Google on-board means Mail and Maps are all present and correct, as is the Android Marketplace.

Missed the cool early virals taking a pot-shot at a certian apple-flavoured competitor? Check it below.

Our only two questions are:

1. What happened to the MOTOBlur interface seen on the Motorola DEXT? Not for Verizon’s tastes on the DROID?

2. When is it coming to the UK?

3. How can Lucasfilm own the word “Droid” What the heck is that about?

Yes, strictly three questions. I lied.

The Android handset which we have dreamt of has arrived, and from a slightly unlikely source…

Acer’s Liquid A1 is easily the most powerful Android device yet seen, promising a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU (last seen wowing audiences in the HTC HD2 and WinMo-powered Acer F1, less so in the Toshiba TG01), pre-loaded with Android’s ‘Donut’ interface with some propietary fiddling.

With A huge 3.5″ capacitive WVGA touchscreen, the Acer Liquid continues to wow with the biggest Android display yet seen, and the featureset does not fail to disappoint either.

The smartphone load-out is present and correct: HSDPA, Bluetooth, USB, stereo FM radio and Wi-Fi, as well as GPS and a microSD card slot. The camera is no slouch neither, with a 5 megapixel lens doing the honours…

A release date remains elusive, and the pic is courtesy of @LeilaMakki…more details as soon as we get them!

So exciting, and a hardcore Android handset is long overdue! Now, how to get the HTC Sense UI on there…

So…what can Motorola’s DEXT and the MotoBLUR interface do for you social (networking) life, and how does it stack up against the HTC Hero and its Sense UI? Find out in this vid from Slashgear!

Great news for those getting jealous about all these tarted up Android interfaces on phones like the HTC Tattoo and Motorola DEXT, the Donut 1.6 build has been unveiled to developers, meaning that a new version for phones like the HTC Magic and T-Mobile G1 will be here soon enough…

See, Google has not forsaken us!

More than an incremental upgrade, Android 1.6 offers:

• Quick Search Box
• Quicker camera use along with integrated gallery
• Battery usage indicator
• VPN and 802.1x inclusion
• Android Market revamp
• Text-to-Speech engine

See it all in motion in the below video!

Yes, I know many of you though this day would never come.

The official Facebook app has finally launched on the Android Market, and it allows for all the poking, liking, following and status upadating that the full desktop version of the famous social network offers…almost.

We’re giving it the benefit of the doubt as it is version 1.0, but the Facebook app lacks messaging and has been having teething problems on various Android handsets, particularly the HTC Hero.

Still, this is still an app in it’s infancy, and considering that this application was “never going to happen” at one point, let’s just enjoy the miracle of Facebook and Google playing together nicely, shall we?

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

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!