Google [GOOG] Devs at Google I/O held this week have confirmed that Android 2.2 FroYo running on the G1 is technically possible.

Many of the older device owners and early adopters will be glad to hear this one I’ve talked to a bunch of Google folks in charge of developing Android at the Google I/O, and they told me that technically it would be possible to put Froyo on any device on the market now, including the G1.

To get it working would require that some of the extra Google apps are removed and then installed afterwards on a separate partition. This partitioning is required due to the G1 being older and having a smaller internal storage capacity than the newer phones. [Read more…]

We finally have an official release date for the Nokia N8. The date for launch is August 24 and that day, we’ll see the new Symbian^3 device launched.

Right now, no carriers have the Nokia N8 smartphone listed (as to be expected so far away from launch) although one place that does have the smartphone listed off contract is Amazon in Germany.

Amazon DE have the Nokia N8 priced at ‚¬469,50 and the phone is available to pre-order today. [Read more…]

AT&T [T] is raising the ETF (Early Termination Fee) for those who sign a new contract starting June 1 this year.

The new early termination fee, specifically for smartphones here, is being raised from $175 to $325 and as AT&T say, to make it more fair for those who get cheaper phones.

The idea is, and we think that it’s fair approach, that if you spend less on a device, your early termination fee should be less. If you spend more, your early termination fee should be more.

[Read more…]

T-Mobile in the US is launching the myTouch 3G Slide on June 2, a few days before the HTC EVO 4G. The myTouch 3G Slide is an Android OS based smartphone that when launched, will cost $180 after a $50 rebate.

Hardware wise, the phone has a 3.4 inch screen along with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. For times when you prefer to use a virtual keyboard, the myTouch 3G Slide has the Swype keyboard preloaded.

On the back of the 3G Slide is a 5 megapixel camera and with the 3G Slide being Android based, full access to the Android Market is possible. [Read more…]

The Ciphone C9 is a clone of an Apple iPhone. The C9 can dual boot in to OS or Windows Mobile 6.5 and comes with quite a few decent features such as a GPS unit, 2 Megapixel camera, a choice of 4GB or 8GB of storage, GPS, G-Sensor, dual compass, WiFi and EDGE as well as a 3.5 inch touchscreen.

A full run down of the specifications can be found below which show that it’s actually a decent and capable phone. However, we are unsure of the build quality and if it meets that of the iPhone. Also with it running OS or WM6.5, we are not sure how good they are on the device and if it runs quick enough to make the user experience good enough. Chances are it will be a little buggier than the iPhone. [Read more…]

Just a few weeks ago we wrote about how someone had managed to get Google Android ported over to the Apple iPhone 2G where the OS was installed in a dual-boot mode.

Porting Google [GOOG] Android on to the iPhone 3G happened after that and now we hear that the Android download is ready for install on any jailbroke iPhone 3G.

Most features and functions work on the Android for iPhone build although it’s recommended that you do not use it for day to day use due to power management features not being full implemented. With these features not configured the iPhone battery can be drained within an hour. [Read more…]

HTC has said that some, but not all phones, will get Android 2.2 that Google [GOOG] announced yesterday.

The update will come to “most phones launched in 2010” by HTC. However, we also hear that Android 2.2 won’t hit smartphones until the second half of this year. This is primarily because of Sense UI and other tweaks that HTC make on their phones.

What we have heard is that the Nexus One will more than likely be the first as it doesn’t run the Sense UI and won’t require any modification to run as such. [Read more…]

Google [GOOG] officially announced Android 2.2 aka Froyo earlier today. The Android 2.2 SDK is now ready for download over at the Android developer site where you can grab the necessary install files and select the latest version to use on your desktop.

Android 2.2 is a minor platform release including user features, developer features, API changes, and bug fixes. For information on developer features and API changes, see the Framework API section.

For developers, the Android 2.2 platform is available as a downloadable component for the Android SDK. The downloadable platform includes a fully compliant Android library and system image, as well as a set of emulator skins, sample applications, and more. The downloadable platform includes no external libraries.

To get started developing or testing against the Android 2.2 platform, use the Android SDK and AVD Manager tool to download the platform into your SDK. For more information, see Adding SDK Components. If you are new to Android, download the SDK Starter Package first.

[Read more…]

After a month of rumours and leaks we finally have the details on the latest Android build from Google [GOOG]. Google Android 2.2 is the new version also known as Froyo.

New features include a new JIT compiler that is capable of a 2 to 5x speed boost. A demonstration of a game running, seen above (Lemmings?), was run where Android 2.2 managed to get around 40 frames per second on average with the number never dropping below 30fps. Also a number of new features have been included for those using the device on an enterprise level. Changes to Exchange have been included that improve the experience for those wanting to use Exchange Server on their device. This includes speed performance, auto-discovery and GAL lookup which is handy for those who attach to enterprise servers with huge address lists.

A new backup app has been included that lets you move data from an old to a new device more easily. Google translation services can now be used on the device that let you talk in English to the phone and the phone gives you the selected language back as text on the screen.

Wi-Fi tethering has also been made official with Google performing a demonstration by getting an Apple iPad (wi-fi) version on the internet by tethering the two devices together. [Read more…]

The screenshot seen here and below is believed to be of a Motorola Cliq running Android 2.1. The device is the MB200 and runs on the T-Mobile network as can be expected.

What this means is that an impending update could be heading to the Motorola Cliq soon bringing Android 2.1 and all the goodies that this brings to the smartphone.

On the downside, the screenshot could be easily faked by someone entertaining themselves with Photoshop. [Read more…]

Google [GOOG] has announced a launch date for the next major version of Google Android. The new version will be Android 3.0 that has been codenamed Gingerbread.

This news comes while we are all anticipating the launch of Google Android 2.2 that is set to a big upgrade bringing lots of new features to Android based smartphones.

The information about Gingerbread AKA Android 3.0, comes from a web page mentioned yesterday at Google I/O where the following was found… [Read more…]

The original Prince of Persia game is heading to the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The game originally launched back in 1989 and came with amazing animation along with a few gory bits such as dropping dead on spikes for example.

This same game from the late 80’s will be landing on the iPhone very soon. At the moment Ubisoft has the launch date as last month although that has been delayed (as it’s not available yet). Hopefully we’ll see it soon though as it brings a cool story line, excellent animation and an all round good game to the iPhone. [Read more…]