Remember that low-end assault that Google had in store for Android, plotting with LG and Huawei? Well, one of its representatives just got announced by Huawei, the Chinese electronics conglomerate. Slated for release almost everywhere on the globe, the Huawei Ideos packs Android 2.2 out of the gate, and has a 2.8″ QVGA capacitive touchscreen.

While the phone is nothing fancy in terms of design and raw CPU power (528MHz), Huawei claims it has worked in close cooperation with Google on the Ideos, so as to insure the smoothest stock Froyo experience possible. The handset packs 512MB ROM/256MB RAM, and has a 3MP camera.

It is fairly chubby at 0.53″ (13.5mm), but will come in a variety of flashy colors for all the GSM and UMTS/HSDPA bands you can imagine. Thus the US might easily be seeing it on AT&T or T-Mobile, since it recently hit the FCC. It has Wi-Fi n, and doubles as a mobile hotspot for up to eight devices.

The magic number here appears to be 200 (pounds, euros, dollars), as from prices floating around it seems that the Ideos won’t probably jump over that threshold in any country, making it an extremely affordable off-contract Froyo handset. Huawei claims that, since it has been working closely with Google on the handset, it will be promptly OTA updated to the new Android versions when they roll out.

source: Pocket-Lint

Motorola XT300

A few clear pictures and videos of an upcoming Motorola XT300 have leaked on a German website, but the source is clearly Chinese. The handset seems to be running Android with MOTOBLUR on top, but the most interesting element about it is that sweet-looking QWERTY. The shape and the portrait-sliding keyboard make it resemble very much a larger Palm Pre.

In the boot sequence we can clearly see the red eye that is trademark of Verizon’s high-end DROID line, but it seems like a mid-range Android handset, so where is it going to appear is anyone’s guess. The Motorola Milestone XT720 is a GSM handset, and has the XT prefix, so the XT300 might end up on another network altogether, and not necessarily in the US. Are you liking this form factor?
via Engadget

Thanks to a tweet sent out by Sony Ericsson U.K., overseas owners of the Xperia X10 now feel comfortable that they will not be using Android 1.6 by the end of next month. It is not certain whether or not the message, which says that Android 2.1 will be due for the device by the end of September, applies to Stateside owners of the Xperia X10 on AT&T.

Originally, as we reported, the upgrade was expected sometime in Q4. As the number of high end Android models getting upgraded to Android 2.2 starts increasing, the pressure grows on Sony Ericsson to take the Xperia X10 up to Android 2.1. This would narrow the gap in functions between the flagship unit of the joint venture and other flagship models like the Motorola DROID X and the EVO 4G. The latter is currently powered by Android 2.2 while the former is expected to be upgraded to the Froyo build sometime early next month, as we have told you.
source: Twitter

The all-popular CyanogenMod 6 is out of relese candidate status now, and ready to bring Froyo to your rooted oldie-but-goodie Android device. The comprehensive list of supported devices includes the HTC-made Aria, G1, Google Nexus One, Desire, Hero, EVO 4G, Slide and Incredible, as well as the venerable Motorola DROID, and the flagship Samsung Galaxy S.

If you have already rooted your device, and want to try the Froyo experience, head over to the forums from the link below. Apart from improved speeds and battery life, the mod brings some additional features compared to the stock Android 2.2. A cool one is the browser color invert (saves battery life on AMOLED screens, such as the one on the Incredible), and there are also some music player enhancements, bringing along support for the lossless audio format FLAC. The mod is not without bugs, though, some users report installation problems, which might brick your device, as well as problems with Google services, so use at your own discretion.

In a battle of the operating system versions, the folks over at PocketNow have pitted a Samsung EPIC 4G, running a stock Android 2.1, against a Nexus One running the latest CyanogenMod 6 Froyo build. The authors ran the Quadrant full benchmark test and examined Wi-Fi and 3G download speeds, but we won’t spoil the fascinating battle for you.
source: CyanogenMod & PocketNow

A battery life test run by the folks from Laptopmag has produced some predetermined results. They wrote an Android app to run a web browsing test in controlled environment (60 websites changed every 60 seconds), and turned off all but the cellular data connectivity options. The web browsing was left plain and simple, with Flash and other plug-ins off, and the screens remained on all the time with 40% brightness.

The results are not very surprising if you look at the official manufacturer’s numbers for the tested handsets, however it’s good to have them confirmed by a 3rd party as well. The worst performer was the HTC Droid Incredible, but the authors admit that the type of testing chosen takes the most toll on AMOLED screens. Their power consumption when showing white backgrounds, as found in most websites, is triple the one of regular LCD displays. In other circumstances like shades of gray or colors, they consume way less power, but white is a killer. If the testers had chosen continuous video play, for instance, the results of the Incredible probably would have been better. Not to mention that it has a 1300mAh battery, while most of the others tested are with 1500mAh ones.

Nevertheless, on top of the smartphone pack climbed the two latest DROIDs from Motorola. The DROID 2 lasted 7:07 hours, and the DROID X the whopping 7:42 hours. Considering these two handsets are with the power-sipping TI OMAP 3630 produced with the 45nm technology, those hours are quite explicable. We wonder if the Super AMOLED screens don’t have the same power consumption disadvantage to the LCDs when a white background is continuously displayed that the AMOLED ones have. That might explain the fact that Samsung’s Vibrant, Captivate and EPIC 4G fared worse than the DROIDs, regardless of the fact that their Hummingbird chipsets are produced with the 45nm process as well.

Of note here was the top-notch performance of the Dell Streak, which fitted right smack in the middle between the DROIDs with 7:35 hours of battery life as tested. And this is despite the large 5″ screen, and the 65nm Snapdragon inside. Looks like the Streak was born to browse.

Have a look at the full endurance chart below to see how everybody fared.
source: LaptopMag

We saw a few pictures and video of the upcoming Android-based Dell Thunder the other day, and now it has received a hands-on preview of two early prototypes dated from April this year. The main design take from the physical exam is that the handset stays with the same classy chromed sides, soft-touch plastic and curved front glass we saw before, and liked.

The prototypes were having the 4.1” screen space occupied by regular LCD screens, one with 480×800 resolution and the other with something in the realms of 768×1280 pixels, which, if materialized in a production phone, will be more than the iPhone 4’s Retina Display in pixel density. Our napkin calculations came up with 364ppi density, while the iPhone 4 has 326ppi. Take those densities with a grain of salt, though, we don’t know what the production units will ship with. The screen was rumored to be OLED all along, and these on the prototypes look vanilla LCDs, but who knows, it might be exactly DELL stunning the world in that regard. Hope is what keeps us ticking.

Other than the screen, the rest of the rumored specs are confirmed from the prototypes – 1GHz Snapdragon chipset and 8MP camera with LED flash, no front-facing cam for now. The previewers found one of the prototypes to be of AWS frequency, which means T-Mobile might be getting the Thunder besides the originally cited AT&T. They also shot a wild guess that it might appear on Verizon or Sprint due to a software they found on one of the devices, called Qualcomm CDMA Programming. We wouldn’t be so sure about it based on that nugget, as the name of the company branch is Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, and Snapdragon is Qualcomm’s creation, so it might be just its general utility software for tweaking both GSM and CDMA basebands in its Snapdragon phones.

Nevertheless, on the software front things are not getting clearer based on the two units – one had Android 2.1, the other 1.6, but considering the rumors that the Thunder will ship with a Hulu app and Flash 10.1, the handset will probably be outed with Froyo onboard. There was no DELL overlay on top of the stock Android, so we will have to wait for the real deal to have a glimpse of the promised custom “Stage” UI.
source: Engadget

Courtesy of a leaked firmware build for the expected Android 2.2-based Samsung tablet, a couple of more details about it receive unofficial confirmation.

First off, the Galaxy Tab will have the same Hummingbird chipset that is found in the Galaxy S, which includes the blazing PowerVR SGX540 graphics processing unit.

We are finally receiving the first confirmation on the resolution -  the 7” display will come with a 600×1024 pixels WSVGA res. It looks like an AMOLED display in the pictures, but we won’t know for sure until Samsung announces it. The tablet also functions as a phone, will have GPS, 3G and Wi-Fi b/g/n chips, as well as a 3.2MP camera plus a front-facing one for video calls.

On the software front, it should arrive with what we’ve come to expect from Samsung’s Android handsets lately – Swype text entry method, DivX playback out of the box, SRS in headset mode, as well as something called Reading Hub, which will probably be what it sounds like.

The Adobe Flash Player 10.1-enabled Froyo tablet has been spotted in internal documents for Vodaphone UK, Orange, O2, AT&T, T-Mobile US, and SK Telecom, and is expected to be unveiled at the IFA 2010 event next month.
source: SamsungHub

Capping an end to a busy week in handset releases, we cannot forget about the launch of the Dell Streak today which supplants both the HTC EVO 4G and HD2 as the handset with the largest display in the US market. The 5-inch monster can be picked up through AT&T for $300 with your signature on a 2-year agreement, however, some might stop in their tracks once they find that it’s still stuck on Android 1.6. Nonetheless, we’d imagine that its customized experience and humongous display would be more than suitable in attracting curious customers. On another note, even though AT&T’s version is still running Android 1.6, owners across the big pond can treat themselves to Android 2.1 thanks to a leaked update. If you’re sporting the Dell Streak and want to at least get into the mix with a newer build of the platform, then click on the source link which will provide directions to download and install the update.
source: MoDaCo Forums via Android Central

That Android-based Dell Thunder from the leaked in April lineup has resurfaced in flesh and blood in somebody’s bedroom. The snapshots and the short video of the Thunder seem to confirm the 4.1” WVGA OLED screen, and the 8MP camera with LED flash.

The Dell Thunder is looking very chic on these pictures, and it seems like it will not only be turning heads, but could also offer a good Android experience, with its Snapdragon chipset, the custom Dell “Stage” UI, and a purported Hulu app.

The prototype in the leak is running barebones Android 2.1, but rumor has it that it will support Flash 10.1 content, which might mean one thing, considering also that Hulu runs on Flash – it should be shipping with Froyo when that time comes.

source: Engadget

On the Android developers web site, Google passed along word that it is making some changes to the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement. The Search Engine company’s Tim Bray wrote that this is being done in preparation of changes being made to allow more payment options for purchasers of apps on the Android Market. Currently, buying an app requires the use of a credit card using Google’s Checkout. Google plans on allowing carriers to put the charges for apps purchased from the Market directly on each customer’s monthly phone bill. Presently, only T-Mobile allows customers in the U.S. to have app charges put on the monthly invoice.

To get things moving in the right direction, Google has made one change in the Agreement and has added a new section. Section 13.1 has been changed so that  “authorized carriers” have been added as an indemnified party.This is a big clue telling us what the Mountain View based company has in mind. They also added Section 13.2 , which covers indemnity for payment processors for claims related to tax accrual. All very bland legalese to be sure, but for those who would rather pay for app purchases through their carrier instead of using Google Checkout, these are two very good changes. Both the change and the addition take place in 30 days, so we would expect to hear some official word from Google about new payment options for the Android Market sometime late in August.
source: Androiddevelopers via AndroidGuys