Our good friends over at AndroidPolice have their hands “all up in the ‘Froyo’”, snagging a tasty build of Android 2.2 for their Nexus one.  Of all of the rumored features of the upcoming Android 2.2 release (Adobe Flash, Apps2SD, 3D improvements etc.), the “Fuzz” is calling out Froyo as an absolute speed demon based on test results performed on their frozen Nexus treat with benchmarking tool Linpack.

Linpack is heavily-used testing suite to benchmark the performance of super computers, personal computers, and is now one of the gold-standard apps for benchmarking your Android phone.  Users upload their results to the online database to compare and keep score.  We’ll save you the myriad of calculations and formulas (math geeks can find those here), and get straight to the juice.

Linpack scores are measured in MFLOPS (Millions of FLoating-point Operations Per Second), and to give you some baseline comparison numbers:

The Nexus One running Android 2.1 gets about 6.5-7 MFLOPS.

The Fuzz ran a test on their HTC Hero, and found it  achieved a score of about 2 MFLOPS

Then they ran a Linpack benchmark on the Nexus One running Android 2.2, and achieved a staggering 37.593 MFLOPS!

That’s an insane jump in performance, and can largely be attributed to the new JIT compiler that will come in Android 2.2.  The JIT (Just in Time) compiler will now be a part of the Davlik VM, the virtual machine in Android that executes code and turns Java code into all of those pretty apps you’ve come to love. In short, it’s the heart of Android and without it, we’d be app-less. The new JIT compiler has been in testing by for quite some time, and the performance boost has been said to be 2x-3x fold in some cases.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Nexus One running Froyo is now easily at the top of Linpack scores for Android devices:



Notice the hits of “FROYO” in the “Notes” section on the right? The only recorded tests faster are those running Android inside virtual machines on a PC, and on a Asus EEE netbook. I see you though Moto DROID.

OK OK, enough technical jargon, you really just want to know what all of this means to you, the user, right?  Well, it means that Android performance is about to hit a whole new level, specifically on the application side of things. Yes the operating system itself should be faster (which, if you have a newer Android phone seems crazy in and of itself), but more importantly it means that applications will be faster, a lot faster. Using the new JIT compiler will enable Android to execute an application’s code that much quicker, which translates to the app performing that much faster in user-land. Resource-intensive apps and games will greatly benefit from the new compiler, and it will allow developers to really push the boundaries; to create games and applications that perform to the likes of which we’ve never seen. And who like the sound of that?  I thought so.

With full Flash 10.1 support, Apps2SD, improved 3D capabilities, SPEED, fixing the Nexus One’s touchscreen issues, a new Linux kernel that will address all of the memory in newer devices (N1, Incredible), and maybe most importantly, solving the fragmentation problem, Android 2.2 is shaping up to be a HUGE update. When Google announces it at Google I/O next week it’s going to make headlines everywhere, and we’ll be here bringing you the news in all it’s frozen yogurty-goodness.

Read: Android Police

Now that the carriers are starting to roll out Android 2.1 updates for 1st-gen devices, T-Mobile couldn’t have the myTouch 3G left off of the VIP list for the Android 2.1 party right?  Turns out, the myTouch has its card.  The myTouch will officially be inside the velvet ropes according to T-Mo’s VP of Production Innovation, Andrew Sherrard in a recent Techland interview.

Sherrard points out that the update will come in the form of replacing the vanilla Android UI found on the myTouch, with HTC’s “Espresso” UI; which appears to be a heavily customized, less resource-hungry version of Sense. Espresso features like the “Genius Button” — an easy-access Voice Search — , and more will be on board with the update.  The upcoming myTouch Slide will also feature the Espresso UI, and the early hands-on scored by The Droid Sector last week painted the software as being quite quick.

There are still however a few things that we don’t know; like a timetable for the update, and whether or not the original Android –the G1 — will receive the update as well.  So while myTouch users now know they have something to officially look forward to, there are an awful lot of G1 users out there and we hope the first ever Android phone gets the its own VIP invite.

Techland via: AndroidandMe

Much to the dismay of Sprint users who hoped to be the first of the 1st-gen Android devices to be updated to 2.1, Verizon’s beat them to the punch.  Amidst the recent rumors and hearsay, Verizon confirmed that 2.1 updates are rolling out for the Droid Eris today via everyone’s favorite news source, Twitter.  The carrier’s VWZSupport Twitter account is abuzz today with posts like:

*Note* The update requires a full wipe of your phone and your settings WILL be deleted, so make sure you backup any important files to your SD card or computer.  Your Contacts/Gmail/Calendar are automatically saved to the Google cloud and will re-sync after the update finishes. Verizon is also recommending using the “MyBackup Pro” app to help users along.  They’re letting everyone know that the update is rolling out in random order over the next two weeks so be patient, you’ll have it soon.

If you’ve snagged the update file for manual updates, hit the Contact Us button above so we can put the word out for the impatient

When it IS your turn, you’ll see a message on the screen like this:

Verizon has also published a Tech Support help document with screenshots to walk you though the process here.

If you’re an Eris user, drop us a line and let us know when you receive the update.

Read: Verizon Support

As first reported by our pals over at Gizmodo, Sprint won’t be selling the once highly touted super phone, The Google Nexus One. Reports say with the upcoming release of the HTC Evo 4G, Sprint rejects the sale of the Nexus One similar to what Verizon has done with the HTC Droid Incredible.

What does this mean for the future of the Google Phone store? What does this mean for the future of the Nexus One? As a Nexus One owner, I am left clueless. Will Google give us Nexus One owners early access to the next version of Android and keep none Nexus One phones in constant waiting? Will the Nexus One become a large scale beta test for the next version of Android? Only time will tell.

This goes back to a pervious blog I wrote about Android becoming a flooded market. Back in January the Nexus One was the best Android Phone. Now just 5-6 months later, its the 3rd best Android phone once the HTC Evo 4G is released and behind the Droid Incredible.

I understand that cell phones are becoming like computers, a few months after you go out and buy the new hotness theres a new one that even better. Which is why I believe Google should limit the amount of Android phones released a year. I will stand by that statement and as always I welcome debate.

If you feel the need you can follow me on twitter by clicking——–>HERE!

The boys over at The Droid Sector got their hands on T-Mobile’s upcoming successor to the original myTouch — the myTouch Slide –and have given it the full photog treatment.  The myTouch Slide is the latest in T-Mo’s myTouch line, building upon the original with a 3.4″ touch screen, full slide out QWERTY keyboard,  5MP camera, optical joystick, a customized “Espresso” version of HTC Sense, and Android 2.1. HTC has also given the internals a performance boost with Qualcomm’s 600Mhz CPU, 512MB RAM, and according to the DroidSector:

“In the time that I’ve had with the device so far I can tell you one thing that stands out above everything else; it is FAST.”

So T-Mo fans, how does the Slide stack up against the original myTouch 3G?  Do the real-world photos compare to the renders we’ve seen so far?  Is this the updated QWERTY-slider you’ve been waiting for? Hit the link below for the full photo shoot, and sound off in the comments below to break down your thoughts on T-Mo’s new slider.

Source: The Droid Sector

Thanks Anthony!

Our friends over at Android France hit us up today dropping the scoop on Bouygues Telecom’s latest budget Android, the ZTE Link. The Link is is a 3.2″ resistive screen Android 1.6 handset, aimed at the budget market with an entry-level price.

Aa 3.2 Megapixel camera, Qualcomm MSM7227 CPU (though clock speed is absent), 100MB ROM + RAM, the usual WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS goodies are on board, and the handset costs  ”between 1 and 79 euros to 149 euros in a pack with a card without commitment at Bouygues Telecom” (Translated via Google Translate). While most of the spec junkies out there might scoff at the hardware, it shows that entry-level priced Android handsets are also in demand globally, and the Chinese manufacturer looks poised to fill that need in France.

Performance-wise, it’s being reported “whether it’s video, surfing, or even the UI, no lag, everything is perfectly smooth.”  We’re curious to hear what sort of tweaks ZTE has done to squeeze that sort of performance into the budget handset.  Not everyone wants or can afford a high-end device, so we can only hope this trend of cheaper Androids continues around the globe.

The phone looks to be well-built, and the back-side looks strangely reminiscent of the HTC Magic/myTouch 3G; but I suppose that’s a good thing.

So is ZTE on to something here with their take on the solid budget Android handset?  Bouygues Telecom seems to think so.  Would you like to see more entry-level Androids hit both the U.S. and Global markets, or are you all about the horsepower?  Hit us with your thoughts in the comments below, and jump over to Android France for specs, many more pictures. and full coverage of the press conference. (Translated via Google Translate).

Thanks Cyril!

Our friends over at Wirefly are running a series of side by side comparisons of some of our favorite Androids against Sprint’s upcoming HTC EVO 4G. The charts are very well put together, and show just about every spec you could ever want to know in a clear, easy to read format.  A fight to the pain; GO!

They’ve got the EVO 4G vs. Verizon’s freshly-released Droid Incredible:

And the EVO 4G vs. the best-selling Android to date; the Motorola DROID:

Of course no pricing is available for the EVO yet, but the craziest thing about this comparison is that they have dropped the price of the Moto DROID down to $19.99!  That’s just insane for a phone of the DROID’s caliber.

So, who wins the showdown?  Hit the links below for the full comparison charts, and sound off in the comments and let us know which phone tickles your Android-bone.

EVO 4G Vs. HTC Droid Incredible @ Wirefly Learn

EVO 4G Vs. Motorola DROID @ Wirefly Learn

T-Mobile USA, Inc. has added a new handset to its T-Mobile myTouch 3G lineup of smartphones running under Google’s Android operating system, namely the T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slider. According to the press released today, the myTouch 3G Slide is set to become available for purchase in June, bringing to the table a spacious QWERTY keyboard, a great touchscreen display, and the latest Android software (2.1).

If you were thinking of upgrading your phone you might want to wait for this kid. The my Touch Slide will likely be the replacement for the T-Mobile G1, the original Android OS-based smartphone which has been on the market for well over a year now.

[Via]

With a name that we could include in a famous manufacturer of phones, the N700 Aigo is the bet to enter the world of tablets of the Chinese firm specializing in mobile devices. Further evidence that no one wants to stay out of this sweet young business.

Aigo N700 is a new Tablet Android that has excellent technical features, perhaps the best for these devices so far.

The technical features of this tablet are:

Android OS 2.1
7-inch display with capacitive Resolution 800 x 480
Cortex-A9 processor 1Ghz
RAM 512 MB

The 7-inch screen is capacitive and has a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. In terms of connectivity the N700 Aigo is fairly complete, with WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 connector, USB, and an optional module to support 3G networks.

Via]

Mr. Blurry cam man has spotted the upcoming HTC EVO for Sprint. Apparently someone from PPCGeeks forum saw the device on display at a Sprint Retail store and took a picture with his Touch Pro 2. Now what does this means to us? Well, perhaps Sprint Managers are training their staff with this beast or they are about to push this baby into the Market.

Here is something you might find interesting. If you look really close on the yellow section of the paper behind the phone it appears that the price tag says $FREE. Could Sprint release this bad boy for a total of $0.00 dollars on a two new year contract?

All this information will be confirm on the Sprint HTC EVO 4G party scheduled for May 12 party that will be held in New York City.

[Via]
[Source]

Members of the Verizon Forums are reporting that they are getting some random reboots on their Droid Incredible. The cause of the reboot appears to be a low signal from the Verizon towers which causes the phone to reboot it self.

My incredible (purchased at the store this morning) kept rebooting… I took it back to the store and we tried three other phones and everyone of them would keep rebooting themselves… Another customer with one came in with the same issue while I was there (He got his in the mail)… However, two other customer phones in the same little store was not having the issue. I ended up just returning it… Guess I will wait until a fix is out or try another store… Seems like some type of activation issue since it didn’t start rebooting itself until it was activated… The store was useless except for keep trying new phones.. They also stated nobody else in tech was aware of any issues… Kind of funny that I can find several forums with the problem posted already…
If it didn’t have the reboot issue, it looks and feels like a great phone

Here is one member reporting that the reboot only happens on low signal bars.

Seems to be strongly related to signal strength. I can’t getr it to reboot at all in the verizon store where I have full bars. It reboots constantly in my basement, sporadically on my main floor, and not at all anywhere I have full bars,

Verizon seems to be aware of the issue and they are working with the ” tower-switching” in the areas affected by this issue. We want to know if you are having any issues with this Low Signal bug.

[Via]
[Source]

One of the next models to be launched by Samsung to the market is the i5800 a.k.a Samsung Galaxy 3, i5800 / i5801. Well, According to i5800’s UA profile, the device has the Android browser, which is quite clear that the operating system will be Android (though not which version). The screen resolution is a bit confusing, the filtered data shows 240 x 480, although it would be more likely that this has been a clerical error, and indeed is of 320 x 480, as Spica Galaxy Galaxy i5700 and i7500. The device has Wi-Fi certification, so that we can expect that kind of connectivity and Bluetooth 3.0.

Could this be the Samsung Galaxy Spica 2? We don’t know for sure but expect this phone to be caught in the soon.

[Via]

Looks like the first TV commercial for the Samsung Gallaxy S just went live and it sure does look kind of cool. I’ll let you folks watch the video and then I can tell you all about this phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S will be powered by a 1GHz processor, and shoots 720p HD videos with its integrated 5-megapixel camera. There’s also a front-faced VGA web camera. The phone’s camera offers Auto Focus, Self shot, Action shot, Add me, Stop motion, Cartoon shot, Smile shot and Panorama shot. The Samsung Galaxy S supports a full range of audio and video formats; including MP3G4, H.264, H.263, H.263Sorenson, DivX HD / XviD and VC-1 video codecs, and 3GP (MP4), WMV (ASF), AVI (DivX), MKV and FLV video formats.

According to latest research report by the Broadpoint.AmTech analyst Mark McKechnie, Samsung Galaxy S smartphone will be provided to all major US carriers. It is being reported that Samsung Galaxy S will land at AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel by June following Verizon Wireless by the end of this year.

[Via]

Android may currently may not be at-par with iPhone Apps but, it is surely covering ground. There has been many Twitter Apps around but have not delivered much when it came to a feature-packed App.

Twitter itself has made it easy with itself officials interacting with the officials at Google and finally, coming up with Twitter’s own App for Android handsets, yes ! it is here ! Thanks to Android more open and flexible base, building the App was made easy for Twitter

- Location based service to detect your Twitter friends nearest to you.
- Sync with your Phone contacts including their emails and contact numbers.
- A desktop Tweet option to update your status on the go without in being in the hassle of opening the App again and again.
- Standy on desktop extras as well.
- Smart scroll, updates, true-feature screen and accessibility.
- Great design, auto pop-up buttons, re-tweet, reply, favourite, share buttons, all on the touch of the finger.

Please keep in mind that only users with Android Version 2.1 or higher will be able to use this Application. So If you are running Android 1.6 you won’t be able to use it. Can I just port it over to my phone? You might be able to port/send it over to your phone but it will crash since it’s working with the new contact features found on Android 2.1.

Head over to twitter’s official blog to found out all the goodies.

HTC are expecting another jump in sales in Q2, up to $1.6 billion from $33 million in the first quarter as they they look to shift 4.5 million handsets. The Financial Times quotes Chief Financial Officer, Cheng Hui-ming..

From our first and second quarter numbers, you can clearly see that we have maintained competitiveness and can differentiate ourselves. If your plan was made two years before you launch your phone, then the design and pricing probably will not match the changes in the market.

Yes you guessed it, this is down to Android. It also shows how quick the handset refresh cycle is and the profits to be made, but some would argue that it does nothing for Android fragmentation.

(Credit:CoolSmartphone)

Here at LeakDroid we don’t just love Android phones, we also love Android phone accessories. Whether it be a dock for your new phone, a skin or simply a protective case, we love them. Here we are looking at a leather case for the HTC Desire available through our favourite online retailer in the UK, MobileFun.co.uk

After all, who wants a sexy bit of £400 hardware be reduced to rubble by not taking the proper precautions and not giving in to a very affordable protective accessory .

The strong and sturdy case holds the Desire very well and has appropriate cut-outs for the camera lens and the volume rocker buttons giving you simple access to the keys that are regularly required in day to day use of your Android phone. When the case is opened it makes the phone look very elegant and when closed it fits comfortably into your pocket. The case has a protective steel fastener and uses a magnet to keep it secure.

I have been using the case for five or six days now and has attracted the attention of several colleagues asking where I got my suave looking case and suave looking handset. It’s funny, as prior to me using the case some colleagues thought I was using an iPhone.
The case will cost you £8.97 and will be delivered in around two days. I will be totally honest and say that a protective case is something I have never used and never even considered, but I know now that while I’m in the working environment, a protective case like this is something I will always have.

Here are some of the reviews offered by satisfied customers:

Rapid delivery
I ordered a case for an HTC desire before they were available in the shops. I placed the order late afternoon. On Friday using standard delivery and was very surprised to have the case delivered on Saturday morning. Also the case is a perfect fit and about £10 cheper than others I had seen

Corker of a case
What a brilliant case with side and LCD protection built in. No stiff difficult leather but nice silky soft case. A joy to use and a steal at this price

Spot on
Decided to call after being wound up by a rival site who didn’t bother to tell me the case I’d ordered was not in stock and wouldn’t get to me for a couple of weeks, until I hassled them. My call was answered by friendly, helpful, informative staff. The product I chose was in stock and arrived the next morning, despite only paying for 1st class postage, and is just what I was looking for at the right price. Thanks very much, will recommend this site.

So there you have it, happy customers commenting on a product that they love and on a retail website that they love too. Head on over to MobileFun.co.uk and check out some of their accessories, and not to forget, their ever-expanding range of Android phones.

Today Google announced the schedule for their 2010 I/O Developer Conference sin San Francisco.  I/O is dedicated to developers who are interested in learning more about Google’s products, ranging from Android and Chrome, to Enterprise, Social Web, and Fireside Chats.  In short, it covers all things Google, and not only is there a lot to be learned by the developers attending the workshops, it’s also a place where Google throws in some surprises and announces new products or releases.

There looks to be some pretty interesting workshops in the Android lineup including:

Casting a wide net: How to target all Android devices*

A JIT Compiler for Android’s Dalvik VM*

Fireside chat with Android handset manufacturers

Fireside chat with the Android team*

But the most interesting section of the 2-day schedule appears to be the 1:00PM – 4:30PM Android block on Thursday where three sessions are still TBA:

While Google could still be sorting out workshops for these sessions, we’re apt to speculate that they have something a bit more special planned.  Could it be an announcement of some sort?  A joint session with Adobe announcing Flash 10.1 support?  An Android 2.2 Froyo announcement?  Both?! It sure seems possible, especially considering they’ve scheduled an hour-long Fireside Chat (aka Q& A session) with the Android Team from 4:45PM – 5:45PM.  Needless to say we’ll be paying close attention to the schedule, and have our collective ears to the ground as the conference draws closer. Anyone planning on attending Google I/O in May?

The HTC Droid Incredible is the latest Android smartphone to have Verizon Wireless’ “Droid” branding bestowed upon it, becoming the fourth in the carrier’s fast-growing Android lineup. Rumors and leaks have been floating around the Internet for months now, so when Verizon finally announced an April 29th 2010 nationwide launch of the phone, those rumors became a reality. The Droid Incredible is almost here, and it packs the second-generation punch many consumers have been waiting for.

The Droid Incredible is an absolute monster spec-wise, and shares quite a few similarities with its 2nd-gen HTC brethren — Google’s Nexus One and the HTC Desire (recently released in the UK) — but also enough differences to make it stand out in the U.S. market. The Incredible packs a 1Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 3.7″ 480×800 WVGA AMOLED display, 748MB of ROM, 512MB of RAM, an 8 Megapixel camera with dual LED-flash and Autofocus, 8GB of internal storage, 32GB microSD card support, and possibly the biggest spec of all, Android 2.1 with HTC’s Sense UI running on top of it.

So have Verizon and HTC have done enough to separate the Droid Incredible from the pack to earn it the smartphone crown in the States? Is the Droid Incredible the next must-have phone for the masses? Let’s explore the Incredible in depth and answer those questions for ourselves!

Hardware / Design

The Incredible’s design is new yet familiar all at the same time. It pairs the edgy design of the Motorola DROID with the streamlined and curvy design of the Droid Eris (also by HTC). Its lightweight yet quality build is a happy medium for those who thought the Moto DROID was too heavy, but the Eris was too small. The front of the phone is decidedly HTC Android design, with the familiar four touch-sensitive capacitive buttons (Home, Menu, Back, and Search) resting just below the screen, volume keys on the left, and the 3.5mm headphone jack and power button on the top. The new feature here is the addition of an optical joystick with clickable button for more precise tracking and acute navigation. The earpiece speaker grille is red, contrasting nicely with the Incredible’s all-black front.

While the front side of the phone may be familiar, it’s the back of the phone that sets the Incredible apart. The rear cover is a three-tier molded plastic, taking inspiration from race-car design. HTC’s logo is front and center in a shiny new chrome, with cut-outs for the camera, flash LED’s, and speaker grille. Lifting up the back cover is really where the the racing-inspired design really takes shape, revealing its fire-engine red internals including the camera and battery. Everything is completely red, and when we say red, we mean RED. It’s bright and vibrant, and the red camera peaks through the back cover to make it immediately noticable. People will know that you have a Droid Incredible simply by seeing the back of your phone, you really can’t miss that red!

Display

The 3.7″ AMOLED screen is both spacious and beautiful. AMOLED technology produces better colors and uses less power than a normal LED display, so it’s win-win for the battery conscious. Colors are vibrant and crisp, and websites, photos, and videos all look great on the Incredible’s screen. Our only gripe with the screen is a familiar complaint with AMOLED screens — it tends to wash out in the sun. If you are using an AMOLED screen outdoors on a sunny day, the screen can become almost unviewable. Turning the screen up to full brightness on sunny days should aleviate some of that problem, but it’s worth mentioning. Usage in normal-light or low-light conditions worked as expected; easily viewable from multiple angles. The display is super-responsive, and may take the crown of any Android phone thus far. The screen isn’t quite as bright as the Nexus One in a side-by-side comparison, but overall the display of the Incredible is very good and you won’t be disappointed.

Performance

Two words — speed demon. The 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU makes the Incredible absolutely fly, smoking just about every other phone on the market. The 512MB of RAM and new processor are welcomed additions to this 2nd-gen platform of Android devices, and they make a huge difference. I didn’t experience any lag or slowdowns in my testing, opening and switching between apps or Sense’s 7 homescreens are as fast as ever on the Incredible. You won’t be waiting for much of anything; tap on the screen and it happens immediately.

Software

The Incredible packs the latest version of Android — 2.1 — and it’s a major step up for the platform. Increased speed and stability is widely noticable, support for 3D graphics, voice-enabled input on every text field, new features and widgets and many more goodies are built into Android 2.1, and the Incredible takes full advantage. While Google’s Nexus One runs stock Android 2.1, the Incredible features HTC’s Sense 2.1 UI running on top. Sense is one of our favorite custom Android UIs, and HTC’s unparralleled experience with Android has allowed them to tweak the Sense 2.1 interface to new heights. While the Motorola Droid features three home screens and the Nexus One has five, the Droid Incredible with HTC Sense has seven! More space to customize your phone to you hearts content. HTC Sense adds a lot of new features to Android, and really adds polish and usability to the operating system. Not to mention some gorgeous eye-candy.

Those already familiar with the HTC Sense experience will feel right at home on the Incredible. The familiar features are all there; Social network integration with your contact list, the fantastic Clock & Weather widget that automatically updates based on your location, HTC’s custom Mail, Music, and Messaging widgets, HTC’s custom Calendar, and Footprints, an application that geo-tags your photos and adds location-based information for your travels.

But HTC isn’t giving us the same ‘ol Sense on the Incredible, and the upgrade is complete with a ton of new features. A new feature called “Leap” gives you a quick overview of all seven homescreens. Simply perform the “pinch” gesture with two fingers on any home screen and up pops the Leap overview. From there tap on any homescreen and you’re immediately transported. With seven home screens Leap can be really useful, especially when wanting to get from the left-most homescreen to the right-most. You can also activate Leap by pressing the home button from the default (middle) homescreen, but we find the pinch gesture makes more sense (no pun intended). No more swiping through the five screens in the middle if you don’t want to! It’s a nice feature and we’re glad they implemented it. They on-screen keyboard has been upgraded to a new high-resolution version, with both speed and accuracy being greatly improved. Word prediction and auto-correction seem to have been tweaked for the better as well. Sense’s keyboard is my personal favorite of all the on-screen keyboards I have ever used, and the new version on the Incredible is going to make it that much tougher for newer competitors. It’s that good.

Also new in Sense 2.1 is “Friendstream” app, which is a homescreen widget that aggregates all of your social networks into one easy to read scrollable stream. Now you can access your Facebook and Twitter updates directly from the homescreen widget, and Friendstream adds either the Twitter or Facebook icons to each friend’s photo you can easily tell which network it came from. You can post to both social networks at once, or choose one on an as-needed basis by (de)selecting a network from the options when updating your status. Friendstream is a nice feature, and a welcomed changed from the way HTC did things in its first version of Sense.

The web browser seems to have gotten a tweak, and appears to render pages a bit better than the browser in the older version of Sense. And just like the older version of Sense the Incredible’s browser supports Adobe Flash, however it’s the Flash Lite implementation and not full blown Flash.  Both Google and Adobe have been constantly reminding lately that full Flash 10.1 is coming to Android, and we suspect the Incredible will be of one of first devices to get it.

HTC has added more eye candy in the new version of Sense. all menus now feature color icons instead of the previous greyscale. It supports the “Live Wallpapers” feature of Android 2.1, and includes eleven to choose from. The Widgets dialog is now all-encompassing, and no longer separates “Android Widgets” and “HTC Widgets”. They’re all in one place now with the widget’s origin clearly noted underneath each.

Besides those mentioned above, there are a few new apps included in HTC Sense 2.1 on the Incredible, including:

Car Panel – A “Car Home”-like app but with HTC flair that gives you quick, safe(r) one-touch access to the most-used features when you’re driving like “Footprints”, “Navigation”, “Voice Search”, “View Map”, “Search”, and “Make a call”. You can set the Car Panel app to automatically fire up when you’re connected via bluetooth headset or “car kit mode”.

City ID – Let’s your perform quick phone number lookups. Enter a phone number and the app will tell you the City and State of the number’s origin.

Desk Clock – Turns your Incredible into a nice desk clock with dimming function in either portrait or landscape modes – useful for replacing those annoying alarm clocks!

FM Radio – The Incredible includes a built-in FM Radio. It only works when you have headphones plugged in, but it worked very well in our testing. Great for those people who still love their local FM radio stations.

Photos – HTC’s new customized photo gallery has multiple viewing modes and supports multi-touch and pinch-to-zoom gestures.

And it’s not just eye candy that HTC’s improved upon, corporate folks and e-mail warriors alike should be very pleased with HTC’s office support. There is full Microsoft Exchange support on board, and HTC’s Mail app now features a unified Inbox for Exchange, IMAP, and POP accounts. They’ve also included QuickOffice for managing your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, and a PDF viewer.

We won’t jump into everything HTC Sense has to offer since it has been widely covered, but rest assured that the interface does a great job in adding polish to the Android platform.

Camera/Video Quality

What can we say, the Incredible’s camera is the best of any Android phone we’ve used thus far. At 8 megapixels it’s definitely the highest resolution, but it’s the lens quality that matters and the Incredible’s is certainly that. Taking photos in the day light produces the best results as you might expect, but the dual-LED flash is no slouch at night either. HTC has customized the camera’s interface, adding a slew of options and modes to choose from. We had pretty good results with the automatic settings, but feel free to tweak to your liking. It is worth mentioning that the autofocus module may take some getting used to. Early results produced some blurry photos and using the optical joystick to take pictures is a bit different, but after some experimentation it works really well. You’ll be shooting high-quality photos in no time.

The Incredible also performed very well shooting video, up to 800 x 480 resolution. It’s not 720P HD, but it’s definitely of high quality. Don’t expect the Incredible to be replacing your High-Def camcorder any time soon, but for day-to-day use, it’s pretty darn good. Here’s a video shot at the famous Union Station in Washington, D.C.:

Photos and videos are stored to the included 8GB of internal memory, so there’s plenty of space to hold your paparazzi-like memories.

Storage

The aforementioned 8GB of internal storage makes us very happy to see, because it’s a first for an Android device here in the States. The fact that the Incredible has this in addition to the 32GB microSD card support means you can have a ton of photos, videos, music, and important files in your pocket without having to carry a separate device. While this is great, there are a few things to mention that left us a bit confused:

1) The Incredible doesn’t include an SD card in the package, and Verizon has made no mention of including one in its spec sheet. Every Android phone manufactured thus far has done so, so omitting it on the Incredible seems like a huge oversight. Verizon probably thought that it wasn’t necessary due to the included internal storage, understandably so, however the problem with that thinking is:

2) This internal storage doesn’t seem to be available for use with all applications. Yes you can easily drag and drop files onto the drive that appears when connected to your computer, and yes apps like the camera/video camera, and music player can all access it, but other applications downloaded from the Android Market do not seem to be able to see this storage at all. Many Android apps save their data/settings to a folder on the microSD card, but with no SD card included things can get a little hectic. I’ve seen lots of “no SD card” error messages because the app couldn’t find the extra storage it assumes is there to save its data to. This means some apps aren’t able to save settings, or may just force close outright because of the confusion. We’re also trying to clear this up, and hope to see an update from Verizon/HTC VERY soon that resolves this. It is definitely an oversight, and let’s hope they can clear it up at or close to launch.

3) The Incredible reports around 6.6GB of actual available space. This seems be due to the included wallpapers, pictures, sample MP3s, the HTC Sync Windows desktop client that come with the Incredible, and some filesystem overhead. Not a huge deal, but it’s not the full 8GB as one might expect.

Overall we’re happy to see the extra internal storage included with the Incredible, but we really hope to see a fix for the storage access issue sooner than later. Just be advised, buy an SD card if you don’t already have one!

**UPDATE** Apparently Verizon is answering the call after hearing complaints from early reviews and have decided to include a 2GB microSD card in with the Incredible.  2GB is small, and we still hope HTC quickly addresses this internal storage issue, but hey, it’s something.  And that makes us feel better.  Good job Verizon on nipping this issue in the bud before launch.

Sound Quality, Speakers, Network

HTC knocked it out of the park in this one. We raved about the sound quality of the Motorola DROID, and HTC is nipping at the Droids proverbial heels with the Incredible. Earpiece quality is as good if not better than the DROID’s. Sound is loud, crisp, and clear, not “tinny” as many Nexus One owners have reported. Paired with with legendary call quality of Verizon’s network, the call quality on Incredible is as good as an actual “phone” as there is on the market. It’s that good. The external speaker is also very high quality — another complaint of Nexus One owners, myself included. The speaker is LOUD and very clear, and both speakerphone calls and audio/video playback are a treat. Music sounds really good on the Incredible, reproducing actual instruments and even basslines in some cases. It’s not going to beat an external audio connection by any means, but for playing audio and video on a phone it’s pretty damn good! Really great jobs guys!

The Incredible also performs brilliantly on the network side of things. Signal strength is excellent, and I’ve been able to get phone service and data in places where I haven’t been able to with other Verizon phones. We all know how vast Verizon’s 3G network is, and the combination of network speed in my area and the speed of the Incredible itself make this phone a joy to use. Web browsing, streaming audio, updates, Market downloads, and other network-intensive tasks were quick and I didn’t experience any stuttering or buffering.

Battery Life

I always hate writing this section because with smartphones, and especially with Android, it’s subjective to how you use your phone. How many background tasks and widgets you have running make a big difference, but to many battery life is the most important aspect of a smartphone. That being said, the Incredible’s battery ranges from decent to good. It’s not going to win any awards or anything, but under normal-use conditions (few calls, heavy texting/data), I’ve been able to get through a full day. It may have been by the skin of my teeth, but a full day nonetheless. I find that the Nexus One gets better battery life than the Incredible, but it also has a slightly bigger battery and at the time of this review, only operates on GSM networks. Verizon’s CDMA network uses far more battery than GSM networks do, so Verizon customers will already be familiar with the drill:  If you make a ton of calls or use the camera/video or GPS features heavily, have a car/wall charger or spare battery nearby. I think that’s a good general rule for all smartphones though. I do wish Verizon/HTC would have included a bigger battery on a phone with such powerful features like the Incredible , but this seems to be a common complaint for ALL smartphones. Until huge advances in battery technology are made, we’re pretty much stuck using “a full day” as the scale of measure.

Conclusion / Final Thoughts

It’s pretty simple really, the Droid Incredible is the best Android phone you can buy in the U.S. market right now, regardless of carrier. It’s better than the Motorola DROID, slightly better than Google’s Nexus One (due to the beefed up camera and internal storage), and world’s apart from 1st-gen Android handsets like the G1, myTouch, Hero, CLIQ, and Backflip. With its lightweight feel, inspired design, absolutely incredible performance (sorry, we had to just once!), we’re ready to hand it the crown. Not only is it the Incredible the best Android phone in the U.S., it’s also one of the very best smartphones available period, regardless of platform.

The HTC Droid Incredible launches nation-wide April 29th, 2010 on Verizon Wireless. The Incredible will cost $199.99 after a $100 rebate with a new 2-year contract. A Smartphone Data Plan is required. The Droid Incredible is available for pre-order now at http://phones.verizonwireless.com/htc/incredible/

Check out our full Droid Incredible Photo Shoot, including full-size images below!

Looks like the long waited Firefox Mobile browser Fennec has finally landed.The guys (Michael Wu, Brad Lassey, Alex Pakhotin ) from Vladimir Vukicevic have officially released Fennec to the public but it’s “pre-alpha” stage. This means there are still some bugs with this build and they want us to give them a feedback.

We should have a full review on this Fennec browser soon. For now here are some issues on this Alpha release.

- We’ve only really tested this on the Motorola Droid and the Nexus One.
- It will likely not eat your phone, but bugs might cause your phone to stop responding, requiring a reboot.
- Memory usage of this build isn’t great — in many ways it’s a debug build, and we haven’t really done a lot of optimization yet. This could cause some problems with large pages, especially on low memory devices like the Droid.
- You’ll see the app exit and relaunch on first start, as well as on add-on installs; this is a quirk of our install process, and we’re working to get rid of it.
- You can’t open links from other apps using Fennec; we should have this for the next build.
- This build requires Android 2.0 or above, and likely an OpenGL ES 2.0 capable device.
- Edit: This build must be installed to internal memory, not to a SD card.

Head over to Vladimir Vukićević to get all the details on how and where to download Fennec.

Via:

We reported last month about the availability of the LG GT540 device from April 30th on Play.com. Originally named the Swift (and still is on play.com), the device is now named the LG Optimus and is supposed to drop in the UK on May 1st.

Although it is not known if the phone will only be available through online third party retailers or it if it will be available with any of the top five networks. Play.com will probably update the name over the next few days ready for release by the end of the week.

(Credit:Phandroid)

Bad news for people of the UK who like to enjoy the Android experience and are contracted to the O2 network. The HTC Desire was due for release round about now, but it looks as if it’s availability has been put back to May.

The O2 Blog are reporting that due to further testing the phone will not be released until mid-May.

Here is what they said.

The HTC Desire is one of the most anticipated phones of the year and we’ve been working to make it available as soon as possible. Unfortunately the testing we carry out to make sure the phone’s ready for launch has taken longer than we had hoped, meaning we won’t be able to launch it at the end of April like we originally planned. Instead, we’re aiming to get it launched for mid-May and we’ll update this page as soon as we have an exact date.

What’s another two weeks really? Take a look at each individual tariff the phone is available on and what the phone will cost you.

(Credit:The O2 Blog via CoolSmartphone)

The Google Nexus One is nearing  launch on Vodafone in the UK, due for release into their retail stores on April 30th.  The Google N1 made waves when it was first announced back on January 5th, and this is the first opportunity that Great Britons can get their hands on a fully subsidized Google Nexus One.

The phone will also be available for sale over the phone through their sales and upgrades departments, and Vodafone will also be taking responsibility for any issues the handset may have.  That seems like a bonus since we’ve seen the way the issues were mis-handled at first from HTC and Google in the US. April 30th is near so are any of our loyal readers in the UK thinking about taking the day off to play with their shiny new Android purchase?

So HTC has appologized to owners of the HTC Hero handset due to the delay of Android 2.1 once again. The handset was released last year and users of the device are still running Android OS 1.5 (Cupcake).

The update was first expected at the turn of the year, but was pushed back to March-April, and then we got confirmation that planned updates would begin from April 16th onwards.

Now HTC has changed their tune yet again, and it look as though some time in June will be the release date. Not a great job done by my personal favourite Android phone manufacturer. I guess they’re trying though.

Tech Radar quoted HTC as saying

The integration of Eclair on the HTC Hero took longer to develop than anticipated and we apologise for this delay.

We are committed to meeting our customers’ demand for this update.

The cause of the delay is not known at this point, but hopefully they can get this issue fixed for future releases; after all Android OS 2.2 Froyo is looming. Are you waiting on your HTC Hero update? What’s your thoughts on the saga? Sound off in the comments section.

Good news for T-Mobile UK customers that have purchased or are purchasing a new HTC Desire. T-Mobile are going to bring a video service offered by Saffron Digital to their customers via a partnership with Warner Bros. In the first month of purchasing the HTC Desire users will be able to get access to Warner Bros movies via the Saffron Digital video on demand (VOD) platform with your first two movies being absolutely FREE.

With a choice of upto eight movies such as The Hangover, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Lethal Weapon and Matrix Revolutions this is a good way to really enjoy your first month with the HTC Desire. What’s also good about Saffron’s VOD platform is that movies can be watched either on your mobile phone or on a PC/Laptop. Users then have the abilty to pause the movie on their PC and then continue it on your mobile phone right were you paused it (or vice versa).

The catalogue only includes eight movies at the moment but the VOD will include further titles in the near future with the cost of a new release sitting at £3.49 and £2.49 for older releases. Fire up your browser on your HTC Desire, hit the bookmarks and and click T-Mobile video on demand, tap in your mobile number and you will sent a code – fire that code in and then your off. Full instructions for watching on your PC are given on the mobile webpage.

(Credit:IntoMobile)

Looks like ZTE will be taking the UK by storm. The company said they will be releasing ten handsets into the wild and that’s all before the end of 2010. The Chinese manufacturing firm said two of these handsets will run Google’s Android OS with the first one being named the “Racer”. The bad thing though – it will run Android OS 1.6 and I would probably bet their second Android device will probably run the same.

The device will sport a 2.8-inch QVGA touch-screen and apparently it’s a “dinky little device”. They plan to sell 1.5 million units which is a decent enough goal for their first Android offering. ZTE are usually known for manufacturing internet dongles and designing phones for other company’s such as UK carrier 3’s Skypephone. Hopefully full specifications and more better quality images turn up soon.

(Credit:Mobile Choice)

This just came in Blackberry has joined the open handset alliance “Android” RIM has officially dump it’s Blackberry-OS and all new Blackberry devices will be ship out with Google’s Android-OS. We didn’t see this one coming but it’s official.

Noooo not really this is not true! Apparently the guys from Bestbuy got mess up with their advertising and added a Android logo on their blackberry ads. How in the world did the managers did not notice this? Looks like the employees and managers, supervisors are total noobs. I thought their mobile employees knew what they were selling. Just a big WOW.

Thanks: Xerardo

First let me start this post of by saying I am 100% behind Android and hope it succeeds. With that out of the way, let’s begin. Android won’t succeed if it keeps going down the same route that it is going. Why? Its becoming a flooded market. It seems like every week we hear about the “NEW HOT ANDROID DEVICE FROM insert company here”.

The specs on the new devices constantly keep getting better and better. I know thats a good thing right? No. Let me tell you why. Take the iPhone for example. There is one iPhone a year. I’m not trying to come off pro iPhone and pro Apple, but as a developer creates an app, that developer only has to worry about one device. I know, there is the 2G, 3G, and 3Gs right now, but those devices have the same basic chip sets and the 2G device is pretty much phased out and with the addition of the iPhone 4G or HD, whatever Apple decides to call it the 3G will slowly fade out.

As a gaming platform, Android is seriously lacking in break out titles. I don’t think Android will EVER be a lush gaming platform that can compete with the iPhone because of the multiple handsets released in year. Developers won’t want to work around different specs.

Android itself isn’t the problem, its the phone manufacturers. I know that Android is open source but I think Google should put a cap on the amount of devices that should be released in a year. I also think that exclusives to phone carriers should stop as well. We(the Android Community) know that the HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1 was the first device to run Android. I’m willing to bet that 60% to 75% or more of the public(in America anyways) believe that Motorola Droid is the first Android device. Verizon is doing a great job about marketing Android, but I also think that most people think the operating system is simply called “Droid”.

The Nexus One is a great example in my opinion how Android should be handled. Its going to be avaliable to most phone carriers in the States by the end of Spring. Granted, its being only sold through Google, I think it could sell better if it was marketed like the Droid.

When Google is ready to release the next version of Android it will hit the Nexus One first and more then likely it will be a OTA or Google will provide a download link and we flash the next version of Android. There should only be 1 maybe 2 updates a year. The older Android devices aren’t going to be receiving the updates at full potential.

HTC should be the only company that should be able to provide a custom User Interface like HTC Sense. Sense is about as crisp of a UI as stock Android in my opinion. Things like Motoblur make the user experience too congested. I know take away the Blur Widgets its close to stock Android. I personally don’t like Blur, and I never will. I haven’t seen another UI like Sense that I wish I had running on my phone. Again, most of people out there will think HTC Sense its not a Android device, but if its handled properly and marketed the right way Sense will be as reconizable as Android and the two will be married to each other.

Branding. As a brand The Droid is doing very well. The MyTouch series, I don’t think as well. That is were carrier exclusives should end. I think if T-Mobile and Sprint had the Droid, Motorola would be rolling in the dough 10 time more then what they are now.

I don’t want to come off like I am hating on Android. I love Android and it couldn’t be more clear to me when I bought the HTC HD2. I had the phone for 4 days before I had enough and went back to my Nexus One. Originally I had planned on shooting a video comparing Sense on Android and Sense on Windows Mobile. I couldn’t bring myself to do it because I hated using the HD 2. I know there are people out there that love the HD2 and good for them. I hated it, every time I used it I wanted to put my sim back in my Nexus One and be done with it, but I had to keep trying to force myself to like the HD 2 and I couldn’t. The only thing in my opinion the HD 2 had going for it was the 4.3 in screen, thats it.

Now, in a year where will Android be? Let’s discuss. I think Android will still be growing. I want to see some killer games in the Android Market. I know there are games in the market that are good, but I want to see something like Street Fighter 4. I want to see the end of carrier exclusives. I also want more Android on TV. When a commercial comes on TV I want to know its a Android device.

As always I welcome discussion even if its negative and remember you can follow me at twitter by clicking HERE

Few days ago we reported that the guys from AndroidAndMe.com spotted Android 2.2 on their analytics reports data. Well, Today I’m very excited to let you guys know that our server has pick-up a Android version 3.0. After checking our daily view stats I was digging the top Web-browsers that our readers use (Just for fun). So I started clicking here and there since we had switched to a different stats plugin few days ago and it’s new for us. The first page was pretty much Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, and a lot of browsers I have never heard of. Page two show me about the same browsers, but in the third page the browser #42 came up as Android 3.0. I was like wait a minute I kind of pause my self for a second there. That’s were I started checking the data chart and It looks like we were hit by Android 3.0 and 3.0,1

Now the question here is if the previews Android 2.2 was just an update for Eclair, Or if 3.0 is the real deal (Froyo & Gingerbread) One thing we know for sure though. Google will officially announce it’s next major update on the Google I/O which is around the corner. But I mean come on our “Counter Stats” can’t lie right? I’m sure a lot of you guys are going to think that this is fake but you have proof in your face (Not Photoshop)

Well keep an eye on this one for you guys.

Looks like another tablet will join the Android Tablet war. BMorn is a consumer electronics company based in China. According to the folks at Shanzai.com, the company is best known for making GPS systems and protable media players (mp3, mp4, DVD & MID).

The company just started to show off it’s Android 8.9 inch touchscreen tablet running Google Android 1.6. powered by a RockChip ARM-based CPU. A prototype was caught on video at the China Sources show in Hong Kong recently. The video also shows it running HD video (720p most likely) we are not sure about this but most likely it’s playback will support 720P. The price tag on this tablet will run between $200-$250 U.S

Doesn’t look bad does it? I wonder what are those red things on the side for?

Via: Youtube.com

Have you ever had you’re on a bus, metro, car and need to see a video on your mobile when suddenly began scrapie (The picture on the screen tends to bounce around) and is really impossible to perform the duties of viewing the content?. Inspired by cases like this, HTC decided to save the day and of course, will be reflected in future devices. Will Android get this features? The Taiwanese company filed a patent application that mostly would use an accelerometer and other motion sensors that would detect any movement you have not wanted to do.

I Hope HTC makes some magic with this new Anti-Shake thing. I also wonder when are they going to bring this feature to the market. We should hear more about this in the future.

Via: Ubergizmodo.com