We’ve seen a few different Android devices that seem to be VZW-bound over the last few weeks, but Verizon hasn’t said anything about the handsets or platform until now. The company has a webcast scheduled for later today but released a preemptive press release that outlines the basics.
Verizon and Google have formed a strategic partnership that will “leverage the Verizon Wireless network and the best of the Android open platform to deliver leading-edge mobile applications, services and devices.” Apparently the new dream team has plans that involve co-developing several Android-based devices that will come pre-loaded with innovative applications from not only Verizon, but also 3rd-party developers.
Another day, another Android handset. The One comes to us from Spanish start-up called GeeksPhone. No word on available, planned market, or price, but so far the specs are looking good for the quadband GSM and 2100MHz UMTS HSPA phone.
Looks like Acer’s going to be putting more of its mobile eggs in the Android basket next year, with about half of its handsets in 2010 to feature Android instead of Windows Mobile.
After Google dropped the L-bomb on Cyanogen, he reportedly opened up talks with the boys in Goo. It sounds like they may have finally reached a compromise in their little disagreement. Is it a good thing? Maybe, maybe not.
The Acer A1 has shown up over on Expansys’ German web site for 390 Euro ($571). The availability just says “Pre-order” so no word on when it’s actually shipping.
If you’ve rooted and modded your Android phone you’ve probably found Cyanogen, one of the best sources for modded Android ROMs out there. All of his ROMs are stable, usable on the G1 and MyTouch, and well-designed.
Google, however, takes issue with him releasing closed-source Google apps like Gmail, Maps, and YouTube and has sent him a cease and desist. They’re not particularly mad about the ROMs, mind you, just the apps inside them.
T-Mobile’s original Android phone, the G1, is now selling for $130 (with a two-year contract) direct from T-Mobile’s web site. That’s a $20 price reduction, although savvy bargain shoppers know that you can find the G1 from plenty of reputable places for around $100.
Remember that hot new Archos tablet we mentioned a little while back? Five inch touchscreen? Runs Android? Right. Well it’s not just PR shots and specs now; it’s been handled by just about everyone on the internet, and the consensus is: solid, but maybe wait for the first update, which will add full HTML browsing by default and perhaps Flash support. At any rate, the pricing is confirmed and they’re available now… and damn has Amazon got a sweet deal on the 60GB version!
Details are kind of lacking at this point, but so far the Archos Phone Tablet is shaping up nicely. It should rock Android on a 4.3-inch touchscreen with a 854×480 resolution, 1GHz ARM CPU, HSDPA, and will measure in at only 10mm. The strange thing is that the phone is somewhat large considering the iPhone has a 3.5-inch screen and so we’re curious about how Archos is going to market this bugger.
The highly anticipated Motorola announcement has come and gone. After all the dust cleared, the world of Android handsets had grown by one – Motorola’s first Android-powered smartphone, CLIQ.
Just this past week, we were looking at a somewhat blurry shot of the Galaxy Lite, wondering when we’d see more. Seeing as Samsung is about as good at keeping handsets secret as I am at playing a guitar with my feet, it didn’t take too long.
Charbax has some video of a 5-inch Android tablet built by Smit.com.cn, a Chines manufacturer. It’s a sassy little tablet with a 800×480 screen, GPS, 8GB of storage, and WiFi. It plays video and audio and just looks so precious!
No telling if this is actual product or a proof of concept, but I’m game to give it a try.
T-Mobile UK this morning announced the Pulse, the first pay-as-you-go Android 1.5 smartphone and the third coming from the network operator.
Available for £180 starting October exclusively on T-Mobile, it boasts a 3.5″ HVGA touchscreen display, the biggest yet on an Android handset, a 3.2-megapixel camera and a TeleNav-powered GPS (more specs below).
The new device comes courtesy of Huawei, which had been rumored to be working with T-Mobile since displaying a device at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year.
More details about the device:
The phone runs on a Qualcomm’s MSM7200A chipset and weighs 130g. It features a trackball and a 3.5″ HVGA touchscreen display with auto-rotation.
The T-Mobile Pulse also features a 3.2 mega pixel, auto-focus camera (no flash) that allows photos to be uploaded straight to the Internet, a 2GB internal memory and a micro SD card slot for storing media. The handset also offers access to corporate e-mail through the Road sync client, and boasts enhanced social networking and community features.
Say hello to Nebudroid, an Android application that turns your phone into a NES controller for use with emulators. It also serves as an accelerometer-based steering wheel for racing games.
It’s… almost exactly what I would expect from an Archos-branded Android tablet. We saw it before via the FCC, but this is a much clearer picture. The device will be coming in four (if not more) flavors: two flash-based at 16GB and 32GB, and two HDD-based at 160GB and 500GB.
It looks like a decent little device, but I don’t think I’ll ever understand the draw of this sort of device. If a nice Android-based phone does 85% of what this tablet does, what’s the point of this? A slightly bigger screen? More storage?
The HTC Hero is undoubtedly the best looking Android device. Don’t even try to argue with that fact. But the CDMA-variant of the Hero might be radically different. So much, that I’m not sure if I dig it. Right now the Internet is aflutter with ohs and ahs about the redesigned phone, but I think it looks like a cheap, Chinese redesign. Who knows, maybe it will grow on me. There doesn’t seem to be solid proof that this version of the phone will be available on Sprint or Verizon though and could be headed to a different market. IDK, maybe I do like it. [080.net via EngMobile]
It was just a matter of time. With the Archos Android announcement scheduled for September 15, the boys at the FCC have splayed the Android-powered MID that popped up on the AppsLib site. The A5S (#7501) was tested with a 5-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and FM transmitter/receiver.
It’s a shame, really. The mysterious MID running Android that’s been popping up over the last two weeks has finally been caught on video. It looks and runs wonderfully, but it’s just a concept from Chinese chipmaker Rockchip. The device was built to showcase Rockchip’s new RK2808 720p-decoding chipset. It’s unfortunate that the 5-inch MID is only a one-off. Check out the two videos of it in action after the jump.
I’m inclined to believe that this Android-powered MID is not the SMiT MID-560. Why? Well, because I doubt RIM has jumped on board to create an Android touchscreen device. It could be the Archos device that is set to launch next month or it could be something entirely different. For now, it remains a mystery.