For a split moment in time, the flood gates were left wide open where approximately 600 users of the Motorola CLIQ were able to download software 1.3.8. Actually it was more like a 15 minute window of time when Motorola leaked the system software for the Android powered handset. Unfortunately, as quickly as the door was open for the download, it was immediately pulled soon afterwards. For the Motorola CLIQ owners who did manage to install the update, it’s being reported that it brings along improvements to the battery life, touchscreen sensitivity, GPS tracking, and more. Sure it may not bring along the vast features of Android 2.1, but it still serves to help increase the overall experience out of the handset. Still no word as to why it was accidentally leaked in the first place or when it will be made available again – it’s rumored to require additional tweaking before being officially released.
source: Motorola Support Forums via Phonescoop

Although the T-Mobile myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition is probably getting a lot of face time more than its older self, the original myTouch 3G is quietly going to receive an update. Sure there might be some Fender Edition owners out there that aren’t too happy about T-Mobile’s return policy on the limited edition handset, but original myTouch 3G owners aren’t being neglected. If you’re even thinking Android 2.0 or 2.1, you may as well look elsewhere because this minor update will only fix the notification for missed calls. Aside from that one specific issue, you’ll see nothing else with the update – but at least you’ll always be informed about any missed calls. Some owners have stated that they already received the update a week ago, but don’t be too alarmed if you see it pop up – just go ahead and install it.
source: AndroidGuys via TmoNews

Even though the Motorola DROID has half the CPU power of the Nexus One, it does have its own GPU, which is great for games. The folks over at AndroidHD has put together a video showcasing 50 games, all running on the Motorola DROID, but naturally you’ll be able to run them on most any Android device. Ready for the list? They include homerunbattle 3d, speed forge 3d, radiant,  flight director, Zen Table Tennis, tank ace 1944, sky force, Shoot U!, Armageddon Squadron, Light Racer 3D, gang wars, Wave Blazer, death ride, head to head racing, avatar, Farm Frenzy, light racer, Family Guy Uncensored, super boom boom, toonwarz, air hockey, meteor, what the doodle!?, Raging Thunder, the settlers, lightup, the game of life, military madness, bebbled, jump santa jump, diner dash, brain challenge, assassins creed, space physics, million dollar poker, derek jeter 2009, armored strike, robo defense, guitar hero, air attack, wpt texas hold’em, de Blob, papastacker, spades, spore, tennis slam, Iron Sight, TETRIS, tower bloxx, mechanics touch, TightRope Hero, and flying aces.

So are there any games that you like that aren’t on the list? Let us know in comment section below.
source: AndroidHD and YouTube

Financial website The Street is reporting that during a conference call today with analysts to discuss Motorola’s latest quarterly report (more on that, later), co-CEO Sanjay Jha  announced that his firm will turn out 20 smartphone models this year including “one direct to consumer device with Google.” This would be similar to HTC manufacturing the recently launched Nexus One for the Mountain View based Google. That handset is sold only through the latter’s web site thus bypassing retail channels and carriers. We recently reported that the Motorola Shadow could be the next in line to be the “Nexus Two”. The Shadow is expected to have a 4.3 inch display with resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, an 8MP camera with flash and AF, and a physical QWERTY keyboard. The handset supports GSM and is expected to be enclosed in a white casing with an opening for a wrist strap.

The comments by Jha came after Motorola reported weak 4th quarter sales, and even told analysts to lower their expectation for profits in the current three month period that ends in March. 12 million phones were sold by Motorola in the current period with 2 million of them being Android powered smartphones, the DROID and the Cliq. The former, sold by Verizon, garnered great reviews with some writing that Verizon now had a smartphone that could stand up next to the iPhone. The latter, featuring the MotoBlur UI, is sold through T-Mobile and with its social networking integration, is being positioned as a phone for the Facebook/MySpace/Twitter crowd. After excluding charges, Motorola earned 9 cents a share for the quarter, up from a 1 cent loss in the prior year. Sales declined 20% to $5.7 million. While analysts were looking for a first quarter profit of 3 cents a share, Motorola guided them down to a loss of 1 to 3 cents per share. Jha told analysts, “We are just at the beginning stage of our transition to a smartphone company.”
source: TheStreet via UnwiredView

Renderings that supposedly reveal the Samsung Galaxy 2 have surfaced on the Internet. This is a powerful Android handset that we have already told you about in some of our news bits. We have to admit that the specifications that Eldar Murtazin disclosed on Twitter are almost identical to those indicated by the source of the picture. We are talking about a cell phone with hardware that is pretty similar to that of the famous HTC Nexus One – 3.7-inch AMOLED screen (4-inch according to Eldar), 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 5-megapixel camera, 32GB built-in memory, 3.5mm jack, GPS, Wi-Fi and 3G (probably restricted to European and Asian frequencies).

Unfortunately, we still don´t know if the renderings are legit or just fake images by an eager fan (we have seen quite a few lately). We hope more information on the Samsung Galaxy 2 trickles soon.
source: GSM Helpdesk

A simple guide on how to overclock the ARM Cortex-A8 processor of your Motorola DROID has been posted by areacellphone.com, but it’s not your typical guide though. Actually, these guys say you can have your DROID run at 1.3GHz, which is even more power than what the HTC Nexus One provides with its Snapdragon chipset. Now who’s got the biggest Android brain out there, eh? Seems like DROID users will get to laugh last, but seriously though, we don’t encourage you to toast your device, it’s good as it is, right? Plus, Nexus One owners will never have the QWERTY keyboard you have, so you don’t need to prove your device is better. Anyway, if you are curious about what will happen, check the source link below for a few steps on how to do it.
source: areacellphone.com

With the Nexus One’s release already behind us, one key accessory is finally being made available for purchase – aptly named the Nexus One Desktop Dock. Google is now offering the desktop dock for their sole smartphone – which can be purchased separately or bundled with the phone for $45. You essentially place the handset into the dock where it triggers the Clock application to start up which then provides you access to music, alarms, and the weather. The unique part about it is found on the rear where you’ll find a 3.5mm port that connects to your stereo system using the included 3.5mm-to-RCA cable. It’s pretty neat and can be used close to your bed as your own alarm clock – especially when it can be dimmed at night to make it easier on the eyes. Just make sure to not slam your hand on it when the alarm wakes you up in the morning.
source: Google via Engadget

A new market analysis report is out by Distimo showing that 65% of all Android app developers are based in the US, 20% in the Euro Zone (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain), 12% in the UK, and only 3% in Japan. What’s also interesting is the average prices, with apps from the Euro Zone costing the most with an average of $4.42, followed by UK at $3.31, US at $2.96, and then Japan at $2.28. Up next is how much different apps cost between platforms, with the most expensive being BlackBerry App World averaging $8.26, followed by Windows Marketplace at $6.99, while the Apple app store, Nokia Ovi store and Android Market were all about $3.50. Now that you know all the prices, you might be asking what the top Android apps are? The top paid Android apps were twidroid PRO, Advanced Task Manager, MyBackup Pro, Power Manager Full, Weather Widget, Taskiller Full, CoPilot Live Navigation UK+IRE, Beautiful Widgets, Pure Calendar widget, and Open Home. But what about the top FREE Android apps? Those would be T-Mobile My Account, Pandora Radio, The Weather Channel, Facebook for Android, MySpace Mobile, Backgrounds, US Yellow Pages Search, DailyHoroscope, ShopSavvy, and Barcode Scanner. How many of these do you have on your Android phone???
source: Distimo via AndroidGuys

It had been close to 7 months ago when we first heard that FireFox was possibly going to develop a web browser to run on Android. Now there are reports on the German Mozilla community website that they are preparing the first Beta (Fennec) for Android to be out in February. To make things even more interesting, the Google Labs site listed a Labs Night meeting for yesterday where Jay Sullivan (Mozilla VP of Mobile) would discuss their mobile strategy and demo the FireFox for Android beta. We can’t wait to try it out, as it will be interesting to see how FireFox will compare to the stock Android browser and the popular Dolphin browser.
source: AndroidSPIN

Google’s long standing conflict with China is boiling over to their mobile platform division after reports of the internet search giant possibly pulling the plugs on its Chinese version of the web site.  The latest turn of events now points out that China will not try to limit the use of Google’s Android mobile platform in the Chinese market. Now that’s unless it doesn’t comply with Chinese law, according to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesman Zhu Hongren. Google is making the efforts in attempting to resolve the issue after reports that their website was attacked by a cyber-attack originating from China – the attacks also targeted other firms.  Beijing has yet to make any moves regarding the matter and remains silent when it comes to meeting with the technology giant. We’ve already heard Motorola offering Chinese customers the option to use Baidu as the default search provider on their Android handsets.
source: Reuters