Android 2.0 is almost upon us with the launch of the new Motorola Droid. However, someone has already managed to port the new operating system to the older T-Mobile G1 / Dream.

The port isn’t the greatest to be honest as it was just a direct port with no optimisation at all, but we’ll forgive them for that as it was achieved before the official launch. Although we say it’s not very well optimised it still actually runs quite well although a bit jerky on screen transitions. [Read more…]

LG have launched a new website for their new LG GW620 Android based mobile phone. The mini site isn’t really complete yet as it just has the standard Latin? text running down the page. However, what it does have is a set of photos of the phone as well as a spec sheet and a couple of videos showing what the phone can do.

What we do see from the spec sheet is that it will connect on dualband UMTS at 900 and 2100MHz and quadband GSM. The specs also show that Wifi at 802.11b/g as well as Bluetooth and USB are options for connectivity. The phone measures 109 x 54.5 x 15.9 mm and weighs 139g. [Read more…]

Toyota have released a new iPhone app that attempts to educate as well as advertise the features of the Prius car… in particular it’s Draw feature is the funkiest as it allows you and your iPhone to interact with a large screen over in Times Square New York. When you have downloaded the application you load it up and draw on the screen. Your drawings are then thrown up on to the huge screen and mixed with the Prius. Although I say it’s the funkiest part of the app, admittedly it’s not that amazing, but still kind of cool in a weird way.

Other features of the Prius iPhone App include 360 degree views of the interior and exterior of the car along with interaction with the camera on the phone as well as a 10 level game that makes use of the accelerometer in some shape or form. [Read more…]

HTC have announced that they are to make an update available for the HTC Hero brining it up to Android 2.0 (Eclair). The statement said that the only delays at the moment are relating to the Sense UI…

“Yes, we are working on an Eclair update for the HTC Hero. Because Eclair is a significantly enhanced release, it will require some time to update Sense for this new version of the Android OS. Please be patient while we work to provide you with a tightly integrated experience like the one you are already enjoying on your Hero.”

[Read more…]

Earlier today we posted about Google Maps Navigation. The navigation program is free for Android 2.0 based devices and could potentially be a more popular option than the other free satnav software available from a few companies. We just came across the official video showing a tutorial of exactly what the software is capable of doing.

As mentioned on the video (below) the Google Maps Navigation features voice guidance and turn by turn navigation which is exactly what is required on Android based phones. [Read more…]

After seeing a review, pictures, teasers of the new Motorola Droid it has now been made official. It will be going to the Verizon network in the US on 6th November costing $200 after a rebate.

From the announcement we see that Droid doesn’t refer to just this particular phone and instead, it’s a family of phones with this Droid being the first. Spec wise it has a 3.7″ screen that can display 480 x 854 pixels along with a Cortex A8 processor. For storage the Droid has a 16GB SD card included in the package.

The only real thing that’s new here is the dock that you get. Other than that the biggest thing is the software it runs. Motorola Droid runs Android 2.0 which was officially announced by Google yesterday and is a fantastic update to the previous 1.5/1.6 versions currently available. Google just today announced that they are offering a free navigation application for Android 2.0 owners which furthers the abilities of the phone. [Read more…]

Google [GOOG] have announced that they have created Google Maps Navigation that will be available on Android 2.0 phones. The new navigation system is free and is far better than the standard Maps program that is currently available. Whereas before the map system wouldn’t hand out directions (although it could follow you), the new version provides full navigation features.

The Google Maps Navigation is completely free which gives it an advantage and it works based on data downloaded as needed so you wont actually need to download all the maps. Searching is made easy as you can voice search and don’t necessarily need to know the full address to plan a route. The system also can use traffic information and use street view for helping you in your travels. [Read more…]

Symbian have launched the Horizon App store that aims to compete against app stores already open by Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and Windows Mobile. The Horizon App store went live today along with the first 50 applications. Symbian also have plans to allow 1000’s more applications through the system next year.

The Symbian operating system is used on a lot of phones including many Nokia phones, Samsung, Sony Ericsson etc… and a lot of these companies already have started app stores. Nokia for example, has the Nokia Ovi store. Each of these app stores will support the new Horizon store and integrate offerings in to their stores. [Read more…]

The highly anticipated HTC HD2 has just been unboxed and uploaded to Youtube in the last day. Although the box used is just a temporary box, it’s still good to see the actual phone and what it looks like while booting up etc…

We are still waiting for a HD2 to arrive here and have been told that there are no review units around anywhere just yet… so someone must have a a secret stash of them somewhere… do tell if you are one of those who know.

Items included in the box are a charger, hands free kit along with inline controls as well as a USB cable for charging/syncing. On to the phone it’s self, the most striking feature of the HTC HD2 is the huge screen that the phone has. It measures 4.3 inches and is capacitive as well as being multi-touch. Powering the phone is a 1GHz snapdragon processor to make things run quicker than average. OS wise it runs Windows Phone (WM 6.5) that uses HTC sense style overlay to make things run a little nicer. [Read more…]

Google [GOOG] this morning officially announced that Android 2.0 is now supported in the SDK. Android 2.0 was only first revealed just a couple of weeks back in a surprise video posted by Boy Genius Report and after their preview with it, it was revealed that a number of fantastic updates had been made.

Android 2.0 is also known as Eclair and it comes with a number of updates that allows more seamless integration on the device for contacts, syncing due to new API’s being created to provide a lot more power to the developers. Quick Contact is also capable of being embedded in to applications.

The new Bluetooth API provides a more seamless way of letting phones connect peer-to-peer for gaming which can include screen sharing where graphics on one screen can be seamlessly shifted on to a second phone like a multi-monitor setup. [Read more…]

Sony Ericsson have launched a new page on their site called “whatsnext” which says “Sometimes there’s a thin line between the extraordinary and the magical. Did we cross it? Watch this space on November 3rd.”.

The page indicates a product launch that is more than likely going to be the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 android based phone.

The X10 was previously known as the X3 or Racheal and has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor along with an 8 megapixel camera, HSPA and large touchscreen. [Read more…]

Palm and Sprint have announced that the new Palm Pixi will be made available for purchase on November 15. The phone will cost $99.99 after the usual rebates that require you to mail them in. You will also need to sign a 2 year contract to get the phone.

The phone will be made available in various places including Sprint Stores, Online, Best Buy, Radio Shack as well as Wal-Mart stores in some locations.

A quick overview of technical specs only shows what we already know in that it has a multi-touch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard and is thin in form factor. The Pixi is Palm’s second WebOS device to hit the market after the Palm Pre that was released earlier this year. [Read more…]