Leaked! Motorola Droid and HTC Desire

Leakages and accidental releases seems to be the main marketing weapon nowadays as it's been extremely rampant going into the Holidays. It's not that we don't appreciate them, it's just that it's just so obvious. Nevertheless, they create a lot of news about the product and provides it with hype before the actual announcement. Here are a couple of mobile phones that were "accidental" in its marketing.

Motorola Droid specs accidentally posted online!

Motorola's pretty keen on accidentally showing their moblie phone's specs then suddenly pulling it back. It's no surprise that another soon to be released Motorola mobile phone, tentatively called Droid, has been "carelessly" uploaded to Motorola's US site. It's got the complete specs as well...

"Uh… so much for an announcement event? Or Motorola just doesn’t know what the hell is going on (most likely the reason), because the Motorola Droid makes an official appearance on Moto’s U.S. site. It just might be that we were sent this direct link which isn’t mean to be public, but… you know how that’s going to work out."

The site has since been pulled down. No word on the pricing and release date yet.

HTC Desire caught on camera!

HTC's Android phones have been such a hit that they've decided to create another one. A leaked picture of the HTC Desire has been seen in the wild and it looks pretty.

Too bad it didn't have any news on the specs, release dates, and pricing. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it'll be out before the Holidays.

Motorola Droid Source
HTC Desire Source

HTC Hero Upgrade Wipes All Previous Data

Image by louisvolant via Flickr

We last reported on the HTC Hero firmware upgrades a few weeks ago, and were quite excited with what they added albeit they may be few. To download the ROM upgrade you need to input your serial number on this site. Then follow the instructions below:

Installation Instructions
Before you proceed the ROM Update Utility (RUU), please confirm the following items:
(1) This software upgrade is a newer version than what is currently installed on your phone. If it is the same version and your phone is operating normally, there is no need to reinstall the software.
To check what version is installed on your phone, press Home > Menu > Settings > About phone > Build number, and note the Build number.
(2) HTC Sync has been installed on your PC. HTC Sync can be found on the MicroSD card that was shipped with your phone. You can also download and install HTC Sync at www.htc.com/www/support/
(3) Your phone is connected to your PC using a USB cable. The PC must recognize your phone.You will see a sync icon HTC Sync Icon.bmp in the taskbar once the phone has been connected.
(4) Standby and hibernation mode on your PC has been disabled.
(5) Close all running applications on the PC.
(6) The Screen unlock pattern has been disabled, press Home > Menu > Settings > Security and uncheck Require pattern
(7) Make sure that the battery level of the phone is at least 30% (at least 3 green blocks). To check the battery level, tap Home > Menu > Settings > About phone > Status > Battery level.
(8) Once the RUU is downloaded, launch the application on your PC and follow the instructions on screen.

Seems easy, but you need to know that your phone will be totally wiped clean of previous data including software and settings coming from your mobile company. If you want to keep them though you better call your mobile phone customer service before doing the upgrades.

Source

HTC Tattoo: Affordable Android

HTC's low-end Android phone, formerly known as the HTC Click, has been released today as the HTC Tattoo. We don't know why there's been a change in the name, but nonetheless, it's still the same product only with a more "grittier" name.

According to the Press Release, it's "an Android-based phone that brings broad personalization to the masses." and it couldn't be any more straight to the point, however there's no news on how low it will be compared to it's higher priced Android siblings.

Here's a snippet of the specs:

HTC Tattoo integrates Google’s innovative mobile services including: Google Maps, search, Google Mail, and Android market where users can download thousands of popular applications and games. It also comes complete with a broad variety of hardware features including a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, 3.5mm stereo headset jack and expandable microSD memory.

A bit more detailed here:

• 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7225 processor,
• 512MB/256MB ROM/RAM,
• 106 x 55.2 x 14-mm / 113 grams,
• 2.8-inch touchscreen LCD pushing 240x320 QVGA pixels,
• 900/2100MHz HSPA/UMTS and quad-band GSM/EDGE,
• internal GPS, 802.11b/g WiFi, digital compass, accelerometer, and Bluetooth 2.0.

For the meantime, this wallet loving phone will be making the rounds around Europe starting on October and will eventually branch out to the entire world.

Obviously it's not as powerful as the iPhone 3GS nor the Palm Pre, but what HTC's targeting with this phone are those who want a full-fledged Android smartphone on a budget. And with the recession making people think of buying an affordable phone,the HTC Tattoo seems to fit the bill.

Press

Source of HTC Tattoo Specs

Android Hack and HTC Click Revealed!

The Android and the HTC seems to be connected at the hip these days. One almost always seems to be involved in the same news. It makes me wonder whether the other Android powered mobile phones feel jealous about it.

Hack your Android Phone the Easy Way

The Android is an extremely flexible mobile phone Operating System due to it's "open source"- ness. This literally means that if you have enough knowledge and experience in this particular field, you can do anything you can imagine. It's not surprising then, that some people actually does something to make your Android-powered phone better without coming from the usual sources.

Unfortunately, if you don't have the know-how of dealing with complicated matters such as the Android, you run a rather large risk of making your mobile phone an expensive piece of brick. It's a good thing then that someone in the Android community has developed a program that will increase your chances of being successful at hacking your mobile phone OS.

RyeBrye has pieced together an Android app that does all the rooting legwork, a process that used to range from mildly intimidating to headache-inducing. In either case, the prospect was always daunting for the mainstream, which kept the joys of an unbound Android from most G1 and MyTouch owners.

Here is the complete list of steps on how to do it right. As a bonus, here's a video that'll show how fast and easy it is to do it.



Just a little note: this is good for US Android phones ONLY! Good luck!

HTC Click Gets Shot!

We mentioned last time that if HTC doesn't go on par (price-wise) with the Motorola Morrison that it may just lose the Android OS race. Lo, and behold! HTC's got one brewing under the name of the HTC Click. Supposedly this phone is still under development, however there's a video proof that it already exists in the wilds of Tech Cool Vietnam.

The device sports some interesting graphics (likely customized by the owner) on the back, a microSD slot, 1100mAh battery, standard 3.5-mm headphone jack up top, camera (no flash), and of course, Android, "Donut" build 1.50.999.0 according to the device's about page. Clearly, it lacks that swank SenseUI and the LCD is much smaller than the HTC Magic -- indicators that the Click is very much HTC's cheapo Android phone as previously rumored.

This surely targets those who want a cool Android phone but doesn't have the moolah to buy one or someone who just wants to try out an Android OS before he buys the more expensive ones. Whatever the reason, it surely must be on one of the top of every mobile gadget freak's Christmas List.

In the end, anyone with an Android mobile phone wins as its future as a powerhouse mobile OS is assured. The question now is--how will it break into international waters when the iPhone 3G and Palm Pre are still US bound? Will the Android overtake them? With it being free and open source, you bet it will. How can you beat a quality mobile OS that's free?

Source for How-To Hack your Android
Source for How-TO Hack Your Android steps and video
Source for HTC Click

Android Updates: HTC New Firmware, G1 Rises

Image by netzkobold via Flickr

When we reported on a couple of Android powered mobile phones a few days ago, we were left hanging on a couple of issues: Will the T-Mobile G1 OS ever get updated? What's being hastily updated with the HTC Hero? Here are a couple of updates on both news.

HTC Hero Firmware Update Preview

Someone named Paul in the MoDaCo Forums was able to get an advanced firmware for the HTC Hero (the one which was reportedly on the way within a couple of days). The coolest thing about it was that he did a video of it and uploaded it to Youtube for everyone to see!



According to the video there's only two features that he noted was new:

• An addition of a Java icon: we don't know whether the phone's Java was updated or if the icon was just placed on the menu. We're hoping it was then former.
• Smoother scrolling from the Homescreen: no lag according to the video. This will surely please fans who were bothered by how terribly slow the HTC was scrolling that they missed punching keys.

It looks good but something bothered us as well:

Paul says he thinks the ROM “takes the [Hero] to the next level”, and considering we called it the best Android device so far that’s a pretty impressive level indeed. Our only point of concern is timing for its release: HTC told us it would arrive “in the coming weeks”, but Paul seems to have been told “a couple of months”.

Whether in a few days, weeks, or (gulp) months, this will be a very welcome update for those who already have the HTC Hero.

G1 Rises From Seeming Death

The T-Mobile G1 can be considered as one of the pioneers of the Android OS. It's name will forever be known as the one that started the Android revolution. Unfortunately, according to our report a few days ago, it's time is up and, supposedly, there won't be any upgrades to that mobile phone anymore.

It's good news that the G1's death has been quite exaggerated. According to a certain Mr. Wimberly of Android and Me, he was able to discover something to the contrary of our earlier post:

According to Wimberly, he’s seen builds of Donut listed as 1.6 in “mobile analytics reports” and that G1s will, in fact, receive the update later this year. Which is probably sooner rather than later considering Google dropped Donut a few weeks back.

Cupcake seems to be going Donut for G1 in the near future.

It never hurts when Android engineers, like Dan Morril chime in, “Rumors of the G1’s demise are greatly exaggerated.”

The only questions left regarding this piece of news is when and how it will be implemented to an extremely limited memory of a mobile phone. Overall, we'd call it a resurrection from rumor death for the G1 and its loyal fans. Once it does happen we'll be there to report it.

Source for HTC Hero firmware upgrade preview
Source for T-Mobile G1 getting a new lease at life

A Tale of Two Android Phones

Image by dannysullivan via Flickr

It's about time we write about one of the newest and possibly-game changing smartphone OS out there: the Android.

For those who want to know what the Android is without going to Wikipedia, we've posted it here for you:

Android is a mobile operating system running on the Linux kernel. It was initially developed by Google and later the Open Handset Alliance. It allows developers to write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.

If you're familiar with Linux as a free OS that's uber flexible that can run on any old computer, then imagine it in your mobile phone.

Is this end for T-Mobile G1?

One of the very first phones out there that had the Android was the T-Mobile G1. It was touted as "the Google Phone" and was considered as one of the best phones of its time. However it's OS: the Android 1.5 (loving nicknamed the Cupcake) maybe near its end.

According to Android software engineer Dave Sparks, a time is soon coming when devs "wont be able to fit the latest [Android] release on the G1's internal flash," and yet another engineer has chimed in via Twitter to say that he "can't promise" that any update after 1.5 will fit.

From what they're saying, it's more of a hardware problem than anything else. After that Engadget article was put up, a T-Mobile representative said:

"We plan to continue working with Google to introduce future software updates to the T-Mobile G1. Reports to the contrary are inaccurate."

Is there a miscommunication between Android developers and T-Mobile or is this just another way of you not ditching your G1 for an iPhone 3GS? Will there really be a new update for this legendary phone? Will we ever see the Donut in the T-Mobile G1? Only time will tell...

HTC Hero about to get a new update in ten days?

On the other end of the spectrum, the newly released HTC Hero Android OS maybe getting an update really soon! This was disclosed by an HTC customer Service e-mail:

“HTC is actively working on a software update that will make your experience on your Hero device better. A partial update is ready in 10 days and a major release will be available in mid-September containing local language support.. Please check our website from time to time and update your device when the software is available.”

The catch was that there was no info nor any details on what those updates will be. Is this another one of those "leaked" news coming straight from the Marketing Department? Why is this Android OS being updated so quickly as the T1 has been left at 1.5? A lot of questions, but it'll be a win/win for HTC Hero users nonetheless.

Nevertheless, updates are supposed to make your OS phone better and if the update does come, we'll be sure to cover it as soon as we get it.

Source for T-Mobile G1 Android OS update stopped?
Source for HTC Hero Android OS update