IFA is all about Android tablets, right? Well it appears as though that is the case now that Samsung has officially removed the cover for their highly anticipated Android powered tablet, however, you can’t count out the other manufacturers at the show. Interestingly enough, Toshiba made their presence known after officially announcing their FOLIO 100 tablet which has a healthy sized 10.1” capacitive touchscreen running Android 2.2. The tablet doesn’t look like it’ll be skimping out on the hardware seeing that it features a resolution of 1024 x 600, NVIDIA Tegra 2 CPU, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 16GB of internal storage, support for Adobe Flash 10.1, mini-HDMI port, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.1, and Wi-Fi. The latter of which should prove to be appealing since the Samsung Galaxy Tab unveiled at IFA appears to only offer 3G data connectivity and lacks Wi-Fi. In addition to sporting Wi-Fi, there will be a model packing 3G connectivity down the road, but it looks as though the Wi-Fi only model will be the only one available when it’s launched. Pricing seems to be reasonable at around $540 which makes it a good offering when you look closely down to its packed hardware.

source: Toshiba

Just when we all thought we’ve seen enough regarding Samsung’s flagship set of Galaxy S smartphones, the Korean based manufacturer is holding a special event in New York to unveil some new things. First and foremost, it looks as though they will be showing off their long awaited Media Hub platform which is their centralized online store mobile store dedicated for movies and videos. Aside from that, the invitation sent out suggests that they will also be introducing their “latest Android-powered device.” It’s rather difficult to justify if it’s a smartphone or some other kind of device based on what’s said on the invitation, but the familiar “Samsung Galaxy S” words are plastered underneath – so it’s possible that it might be a smartphone. We’ll know for sure soon enough!
via Unwired View

If you have wondered why Steve Jobs shuns Adobe Flash in Apple’s gadgets, it might not be just because of his capricious nature. We have been waiting for a while for Froyo to bring the full Flash experience to Android devices, but the end results are far from impressive. Over at GigaOM they have made a video trying to run various things on a Nexus One with Froyo, and found mobile Flash still not ready for prime time.

Given the resource hog that desktop Flash is, the mobile version has proved to be a daunting task for Adobe to scale down, and port over to mobile devices. Video playback on a lot of popular news and video websites was hit-and-miss, and basically the moral of the story is that the videos still have to be specifically optimized for mobile viewing, which kind of misses the whole purpose.

In our own experience with Adobe Flash 10.1 on Froyo we noticed actual improvement displaying interactive charts, like those of Google Finance, for example, which before were not exactly “interactive”, but Google recently optimized the site for mobile, so that might be it.

What about your experiences, has the Flash superhero come to the rescue on your Froyo device, or you also have some “Flashback” stories to tell?
source: GigaOM

Motorola confirmed the anticipated European version of the DROID 2 today, under the MILESTONE 2 title. It does 3G only at the 2100MHz band, so it is calling Europe home, and will be available there in the fourth quarter. It is basically a rebadged version of the Motorola DROID 2, thus the same 1GHz OMAP3 chipset running Froyo is present in the MILESTONE 2.

Of course, there is nowhere to hide from MOTOBLUR, as Motorola has decided to leave the UI on the European version, along with its resizable widgets. It can tether wireless internet to five devices at once, but it depends on the carrier whether the feature will be allowed.

The major difference is that the MILESTONE 2 will shoot 720p HD video when it ships, so hopes are up a firmware upgrade or a cooked ROM will unlock this feature for the DROID 2 as well, since the shooter is absolutely the same. Motorola will ship it with an 8GB microSD card, and the internal memory is listed as “up to 8GB”. Have a look at the promo video below, very Flash-y.

Dare to guess the difference in keyboards? MILESTONE 2 has the € sign up left.
source: Motorola

Toshiba is no stranger to being a mobile chipset pioneer – its TG01 was the first smartphone on the market with the 1GHz Snapdragon chipset. Now out of the blue they come up with a 10″ tablet, rumored to be called Folio 100, and powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 mobile platform. The newest Tegra is built with the dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 architecture using the 45nm process, so it should deliver amazing performance with extended battery life, compared to even the most advanced chipsets currently on the market.

And deliver it does – over at Carrypad they measured 1911 on the Quadrant benchmark test, which, as you can see from the results graphic below, is more than 50% of what the fastest Android device in the stable – a Nexus One running modded Froyo – produced. Bear in mind that this prototype was still running Android 2.1., so the numbers are likely to increase further, and, on top of that, the benchmark test is not even optimized for a dual-core chipset.

The rest of the Toshiba Folio 100 specs are nothing to sniff at either – it should feature a capacitive screen with 1024×600 pixels of resolution, 3G, HDMI-out and 16GB of internal storage. The browsing speeds were snappy, and the results from the BencmarkPi application were three times faster than the average. The tablet also played full HD 1080p videos at 13mbps, and Raging Thunder 2 at the full WSVGA resolution without a hitch.

Here is the full list from running the Italian site that outed the specs through Google Translate:

* Operating System: Android 2.2
* Processor: Nvidia Tegra 2
* Screen: multitouch display 10.1 “widescreen WSVGA (1024×600pixel)
* Audio: 2 stereo speakers and microphone 0.5 W
* Storage: 16GB internal memory
* Networking: 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G
* Ports: HDMI, USB 2.0 standard, USB 2.0 mini audio jack
* Card reader: SD (up to 32GB) MMC
* Battery: 1020mAh, 3.7V, 22600mWh. Up to 7 hours of life with mixed use (web browsing and video playback)
* Internet: Opera Mobile Browser with Flash 10.1
* Productivity: a suite of office applications, PDF reader, ebook reader and RSS aggregator
* Multimedia: 1.3 MP Webcam
* Dimensions: 281 x 181 x 14mm
* Weight: 760gr
* Accessories: IR transmitter and housing, dock and port replicator for Toshiba tablet

It was interesting to observe that the battery is just 1020mAh, but still managing to deliver seven hours of mixed use, which they define as web browsing and watching videos. It certainly looks like the claims for 30% better battery life with the A9 dual-core chipsets are not an exaggeration – and that’s with a 10″ screen! Toshiba’s engineers have also managed less than 30 seconds of boot time, says the Italian source.

Texas Instruments also has an A9-based chipset that finished sampling, but there is not even a hint of a phone or tablet that will be using it. Thus, the rumored Toshiba Folio 100 tablet might turn out to be the first dual-core mobile device on the market when it hits shelves.

source: Carrypad & NotebookItalia

Toshiba Folio 100 tablet

If this weren’t any more of an indication to the speedy prowess of the Swype keyboard, it was actually used in breaking the Guinness World Record for the fastest text message. Using a Samsung Galaxy S smartphone with good old Swype on board, a 27 year old UK woman was able to dish up a mean phrase in under 26 seconds using the swipe friendly gestures of the on-screen keyboard. She managed to swipe the phrase “the razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human” – thus breaking the previous record by over 9 seconds. That’s a pretty astonishing feat when you think about it for a second, especially when the Swype keyboard was used in obtaining the record as opposed to a regular on-screen keyboard – or even a physical one to say the least. Considering everything else, this definitely would add some much needed publicity to the Swype keyboard as it attempts to sway over people with its alternative form of inputting text.
via BGR

As we near fall and ever closer to the all too important busy holiday season, there will naturally be a big push for tablets – and the Samsung Galaxy Tab plans on being part of the festivities. Packing similar hardware to its baby brother, the Samsung Galaxy S, the tablet is expected to compete head-on with the Apple iPad. Since the first wave of news regarding the Tab jumped onto the scene, we’ve rarely gotten the opportunity to see the handset in live form. However, the device in question was recently spotted being used by an employee of Australia’s Telco operator. From the captured video, it’s shaping up to be the device we all know about since it matches up to its description of being a 7” tablet. Additionally, you can quickly gather that it can be held with one hand and doesn’t appear to be large in size when compared to the iPad. When asked about the device, which was being tested live in Sydney, the employee said that it was “awesome” and clearly described it as “different” to the iPad. Since it’s being tested in the field right now, it could point to the reality that we could see the tablet very soon with a variety of network operators around the world speculated to offer it.
source: Electronista

One would imagine that installing an official firmware update from a manufacturer shouldn’t pose any risks, right? On the contrary, Vodafone believes the opposite seeing that they issued a statement saying that installing a recent firmware update for the Samsung Galaxy S could void your warranty. It’s rather difficult to fathom why a carrier would be so against installing an official update which has been approved by the manufacturer, but its seems that the case is so in this situation.

Although it’s no Android 2.2, Samsung recently released an update for the high powered Android smartphone that essentially packs bug fixes which improve the overall performance of the handset. Vodafone said in their official forum, “any firmware that hasn’t been released by us does invalidate the warranty directly with Vodafone.” It’s a bit strange to say the least, but thankfully, your warranty with Samsung will still be intact. Now the only reason why Vodafone is making such a rash statement is due partly to the reason that the update has not been approved yet by the carrier, but once the process is complete, we’d imagine that they’ll give the thumbs up for it – in the mean time, you’ll incur the consequences if you choose to install it.
source: Vodafone

There have been some purists out there that have been clamoring to see Samsung’s TouchWiz interface on the Samsung Galaxy S be replaced or offered with the stock Android experience. Although some find it appealing and useful, others of course see it as rather tasteless to their eyes – but thankfully, someone out there was listening to pleas of many. Hackers quickly got started in getting the stock Android 2.1 experience ready for the high-flying Android handset, and although it’s still relatively in the early stages, it’s turning out to be promising nonetheless. One of the bigger bugs that need to be flattened out is the camera application – especially when its not in tip top functioning form right now. Slowly and gradually, we’ll probably see a fully functional and hopefully satisfying experience that Samsung Galaxy S owners can rightfully be content with. Now the only thing to one-up this whole project, which is of course another big one on its own, is to bring the stock Android 2.2 experience to this device. Any takers?
via the gadgets

When the Nexus One was no longer being offered through Google’s online store, it pretty much signaled the end to this favorite Android phone for everyone – forcing those interested in it to look elsewhere. However, Google decided to bring back the phone for one last time to Android developers for their opportunity to scope this highly prized handset. From the looks of it now, the demand for this developer friendly phone is pretty high since the initial stock of inventory quickly depleted in the course of a couple of weeks. Now we’re once again presented with the realization that the Nexus One is sold out, but luckily, it has been placed on back-order by HTC – so there are still some units coming down the road. At this point though, there is no indication as to the time frame of when we can expect to see inventory to come back – especially when there is a worldwide shortage of AMOLED panels.
source: Android Developers Blog