Search Results for: droid

The Apple iPhone managed to get Google Earth quite a while back now. For some reason Google [GOOG] haven’t launched Google Earth on the Android until now.

If you are running Android 2.1 then you should see Google Earth available in the market ready to download and install as you so wish. The Android 2.1 version of Google Earth allows users to move around and explore the world in the palm of their hand. Gestures can be used to navigate around the globe such as swiping your finger to rotate the globe.

Included in Android Google Earth is all the same 3D imagery that you can find in the desktop version. As well as showing map data you can also search for various places and points of interest. [Read more…]

Mobile phone company LG in the past have focussed on their own operating system running S-Class. Although it worked quite well, it always had a few niggles inside that made it frustrating to use with some screen transitions not being as smooth as the iPhone for example. Their hardware for a long time has always been top notch though. Following their own OS they then switched to making Windows Mobile devices with the S-Class interface on top.

LG made an announcement that they are not in the market of developing their own proprietary OS. Instead, they will focus more on the handsets that will run either Google [GOOG] Android or Windows Phone 7 Series. This is good news as both the OS’s mentioned are being heavily developed by dedicated teams and in the terms of Android (the only one of the two currently available), it is making serious steps forwards in to becoming in the “top 3” mobile phone operating systems. [Read more…]

AT&T have announced the availability of the Motorola Backflip which is the first Android phone to hit AT&T. The Backflip will be launched on March 7 in stores and online.

The Backflip features a 3.1 inch high-res screen. For connectivity the phone has 3G allowing it to connect up at speeds of 7.2MBps depending on the network quality in the area you are in. Other connectivity includes wireless, and AT&T will give access to their 20,000 hotspots across the US as part of the data plan that is included with the device.

The phone has a 5 megapixel camera and has software included that allows photos to be shared and uploaded online. [Read more…]

Users on various forums are reporting that their Droid Eris Android phones are starting to receive OTA (over the air) updates bringing the Android version up to the long awaited 2.1. The update also includes the Sense UI from what users are saying.

However, there are problems in some cases with the updates with a few users saying that the update has completely wiped their phone while others are reporting that they are unable to log in to Google once the phone has been updated.

What we recommend you do is sit tight for a day or so to hear for other users thoughts on the updates. If you find that you can’t wait then I recommend making a quick backup of your phone data so you can restore everything when needed if all goes wrong. [Read more…]

Verizon [VZ] have announced that they are now to allow smartphones connected to their network to use Skype. The network will now allow unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls within the US and also allow you to utilise cheaper SkypeOut calling rates both in and out of the US.

Phones that are compatible include the Blackberry Storm, Storm2, 8330, 8530, 8830 and Tour 9630. Also a number of Android based phones are also capable of utilising the service. [Read more…]

Google [GOOG] seem to be doing very well at the moment with the Android operating system and the phones it ships on. Figures revealed recently by the Google CEO, Eric Schmidt show that about 60,000 phones running Android are shipping every single day.

At the rate of 60K per day that equates to about 5.4 million handsets per quarter which is a decent amount of handsets. Although it’s still some way behind the Apple [AAPL] iPhone in terms of sales per quarter (which are at 8.7 million), it’s still a huge chunk considering the amount of time they have been shipping vs the iPhone. [Read more…]

Sprint have announced on Twitter that the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment will both qualify for an Android 2.1 update.

Before this particular twitter message arrived, Sprint had previously said that the Android 2.1 update would be coming to both phones sometime in the 1st half of this year, so it’s no big surprise that the window has been refined a little.

Although 2nd Quarter 2010 is still several weeks away, we have been told that it will be an early Q2 launch which hopefully means Hero and Moment users will get their hands on the OTA update sometime in April. [Read more…]

Acer have announced their latest Acer Liquid e phone. The device will run the latest Google [GOOG] OS Android 2.1 (aka Eclair) and be powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm.

The Acer Liquid e Android phone has a 3.5 inch high definition screen that is capacitive touch allowing good quality images and video to be displayed. Plenty of connectivity can be found on the Liquid e with wireless 802.11b/g being supported along with Bluetooth 2.0 and HSDPA, HSUPA and GSM/EDGE.

RAM and ROM on the device is set at 512MB and 256MB respectively. The camera has a 5 megapixel sensor although no flash is mentioned. [Read more…]

As well as introducing the Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10 just this morning, Garmin-Asus have also unveiled the Garmin-Asus nuvifone A50 smartphone. The A50 is an Android based smartphone that also includes all the Garmin satnav software heavily integrated in to the Android OS.

By using Google [GOOG] Android as the operating system on the A50, Garmin-Asus are able to customise things even more. Navigation is integrated in to almost all the applications which includes email, text messaging and even photos.

‘The A50 integrates navigation and GPS functionality throughout the device, which gives customers the versatility and reliability they need as they navigate their day.

[Read more…]

Acer have revealed details of a couple of new phones called the Acer E110 that runs the Google Android OS and the Acer P300 that will run Windows mobile.

The Acer E110 has appeared over at Bluetooth SIG and is expected to run Android 2.0 when launched. For connectivity the E110 will use UMTS/HSDPA at 900/1200MHz or 850/1900MHz. Assisted GPS is built in along with Bluetooth and although not mentioned here, we assume WiFi at atleast 802.11b/g. The screen size and resolution is unknown although we do know it is touchscreen. Four buttons are to be found under the screen which are home to the traditional Send/End/Back and Home keys. [Read more…]

Information found today shows that HTC could be working on a new smartphone called the HTC Scorpion. The Scorpion is also rumoured to have a newer processor from Qualcomm that runs at 1.5GHz. The processor is described as being a snapdragon, but the one we currently have runs at 1GHz… perhaps Qualcomm are planning on releasing a quicker model? Information shows that the 1.5GHz chip could be launched Q3 or Q4 this year.

As well as showing the faster CPU, indications also say that the HTC Scorpion will also run on Google Android 2.2 which at the moment hasn’t been released with the most current version being Android 2.1.

Other information found in the build file indicates it will run Sense UI and someone also has pointed out that it could be going to Sprint. [Read more…]

The Motorola DROID is about to get an update to the latest version of Android bringing the phone from version 2 to version 2.1. We expected this would happen eventually but it came as a surprise hearing that Motorola are actually going to release the update this week.

Other devices are also mentioned by Motorola to be getting an upgrade, although no specifics are given as to what phones these might be, or what the upgrade might be, hopefully that means other phones running Android from the company will also get an update to 2.1. What we don’t know is if 2.1 will be going to other phones just yet, or perhaps they are announcing 1.6 – 2.0 upgrades. We’ll keep an eye out this week and announce when we hear anything. [Read more…]