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Refresh Roundup: week of October 31, 2011
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout attips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy! Official Android updates LG's got plenty of Gingerbread coming to its premier Optimus devices, beginning with unbranded models in Europe. This week, the Optimus 2X began rolling out. The week of November 21st will be the timeframe for owners of the Optimus 3D, and the Optimus Black is expected to get its dose of Android 2.3 beginning the week of November 28th. [Facebook] A Motorola Droid Bionic bug fix update is expected within one to two months, according to a post on the Motorola Owners Forums. [Phandroid] The original Verizon-branded Samsung Galaxy Tab (y'know, the first seven-incher) should now be bestowing gifts of Gingerbread -- Android 2.3.5 -- upon its users. It aims to improve the front-facing camera, power management and device security. [Droid-Life] Extra security is to be had on Rogers' HTC EVO 3D, as version 1.20.631.3 is ready to download. This is the security fix which HTC has been working on for the past month. Additionally, it increases performance and fixes a force close issue. [MobileSyrup] Gingerbread has arrived on the Samsung Galaxy S... on Cellcom of Wisconsin. Yep, the regional carrier's offering up improved battery life, miscellaneous performance enhancements and download management. [AndroidCentral] The ASUS Transformer's nabbing a maintenance release known as 8.6.5.18. Along with the usual list of bug fixes, it also adds app backup support. [Droid-Life] Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery HTC made kernel source available for the Rhyme, myTouch 4G, Jetstream, Sensation XE and XL, EVO 4G+ and the Thunderbolt. [AndroidCentral] Samsung Galaxy Nexus boot, recovery and system dumps are now available. [AndroidCentral] Also, the Motorola Droid RAZR's been rooted. [Droid-Life] The LG Optimus 3D's much-awaited Gingerbread update (Android 2.3.5) is expected to roll out on November 21st, but it's already been leaked via XDA. As a disclaimer, the build -- as it currently stands -- has been reported to be rather unstable. Once it does officially arrive in stable form, it promises HSPA+ support for speeds up to 21Mbps as well as a few other video enhancements. [AndroidCentral] An XDA forum member has compiled a manual root method for the Motorola Atrix 2. [AndroidCentral] Other platforms The HTC Freestyle, an AT&T-branded BrewMP device, has a ROM update up for grabs. It doesn't specify what exactly has been enhanced, but make sure to back up all of your data before updating. [HTC] Along with the latest beta of iOS 5.0.1 comes its obligatory Redsn0w jailbreak, version 0.9.9b8. [Redmond Pie] Refreshes we covered this week Which devices will get Ice Cream Sandwich? Apple seeds iOS 5.0.1 beta 2 to developers Apple confirms iOS5 bugs causing battery drain, promises fix in a few weeks webOS 3.0.5 clues point to integrated Twitter, better TouchPad performance Sony Ericsson brings gesture input to Xperia line
Qualcomm ships one billion BREWs, Verizon thirsty for more
Qualcomm isn't finished with the dumbphone just yet. Even after announcing that 250 handsets with Snapdragon cores are in the pipeline, CEO Paul Jacobs slapped his Uplinq 2011 audience with a stunner: over one billion BREW-enabled devices have been shipped. For its part, Qualcomm is continuing to stoke BREW's flames, and Verizon seems perfectly willing to stay aboard. The carrier will introduce several BREW MP devices over the coming months, and the majority of these phones will feature a new storefront for mobile purchases -- oh joy. In addition to getting recommendations, shoppers will be able to test drive many applications before making purchases. This is all well and good, but we'd prefer Jacobs had previewed some of those new Snapdragons. Follow the break for a joint PR from Qualcomm and Verizon.
HTC Freestyle for AT&T hands-on
Last time we checked in with the Freestyle back at CES, we couldn't turn it on -- but things are a little different here at our luxe meetup in San Francisco this evening. Honestly, the phone looks and feels great, doing a great job hiding its Brew MP-based, not-quite-smartphone underpinnings; pricing is still a concern, but the month-to-month dumbphone data is a bonus, and you've still got a full HTML browser plus a capacitive display at your disposal. Check shots below -- video after the break! %Gallery-117642%
HTC Freestyle hitting AT&T on February 13th for $100
It's not going to steal any thunder from its Inspire 4G big brother -- but if you're looking for an HTC that doesn't run Android or Windows Phone 7, your wait is nearly over on AT&T (though you won't be saving any money in the process). The Freestyle was announced back at CES last month, the first device in AT&T's lineup to run Qualcomm's Brew MP feature phone platform with a 3.2-inch display, full HTML browser, 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD compatibility up to 32GB, and a familiar Sense UI experience ported from HTC's smartphone devices (and first seen in Brew MP guise on the Smart last year). Look for it to land in stores this coming Sunday, February 13th for $99.99 on contract after a $50 mail-in rebate; considering that the Inspire goes for the same price, we don't think that makes a lick of sense, so we wouldn't be surprised to see that price fall a bit in the next few months. Follow the break for the full press release.
HTC leaks suggest big, small, buttonless, and Brew MP-based phones are on the way
All things considered, HTC doesn't do the best job of protecting its roadmap; indeed, the slides that leaked a little over a year ago ended up doing a fabulous job of showing us what was in the pipe for 2010, so we wouldn't doubt the massive spread that PocketNow published today. Starting at the top, we've got a device that looks like a trackpad-less evolution of the original Desire (pictured above), another that looks like an Aria-sized Nexus One in black (complete with old-school trackball), and an additional version of a buttonless phone that's got generic HTC branding in place of the Verizon logo in a picture unearthed by Phandroid a few days ago (pictured after the break). That's not all, though: there also seems to be a lower-end Android device with physical Send / End buttons and an optical trackpad underneath a smallish display accompanied by the usual four capacitive buttons. A device with a China Telecom logo on it is also in the mix, looking like a big-screened model that'll probably be ready to do battle with that 1.2GHz Droid X by a different name that just launched over there. Finally, there's a small, entry-level model that might succeed the Smart as HTC's Brew MP-powered flagbearer, though Android is obviously the thrust here. Specs and names are still a mystery across the board at this point, but as PocketNow says, we wouldn't be surprised to get details at MWC next month.
HTC Freestyle carries the Brew MP dumbphone torch for AT&T
We saw the HTC F8181 floating around in September, HTC's followup to the Smart, and now AT&T has announced it as the HTC Freestyle. It has a 3.2-inch capitative touchscreen, with a "Sense experience" UI that obviously riffs on HTC's Android efforts, but instead runs on top of Qualcomm's Brew MP platform. AT&T is classifying it as a "QMP" for "Quick Messaging Phone." The Freestyle will be out next month, and while there's no word on price, expect cheap.
HTC PD53100 gets FCC approval: is this the F8181 Brew MP phone?
Gleaning valuable information from an HTC FCC filing is like getting blood from a stone, but there are a couple tidbits in the filing for the so-called PD53100 that have us thinking this might be the F8181 for AT&T that we leaked not long ago. First, the SAR report refers to it as a "touch phone," not a "smartphone" as most of HTC's filings typically do; indeed, the F8181 is a Qualcomm Brew MP device, which most folks (us included) will argue doesn't qualify as a smartphone. Secondly, it's got 850 and 1900MHz 3G, which are exactly the flavors AT&T would require to make high-speed magic happen. It's certainly not the most exciting product in AT&T's sights -- that honor might go to another HTC -- but given what we know of the dumbphone market, we'd gladly take a Sense-enabled HTC over the typical fare.
Exclusive: HTC F8181 is AT&T's Brew MP-equipped dumbphone
We'll admit, we'd kinda figured that HTC's venture into the seedy underworld of dumbphones with the introduction of the Smart earlier this year was a non-starter and that it'd quietly fade into the night before 2010 was out, but apparently not -- at least, not if you ask AT&T. We've been slid a couple shots of a new handset from HTC for Ma Bell going by the model number F8181 (it'll have a fancy name like "Bacon," "Double Rainbow," or "Nilay Patel" by the time it launches, obviously) that runs the Brew MP platform Qualcomm has been pushing this year for the sub-smartphone category; of course, it seems to us that smartphone hardware is getting cheap enough to push through nearly every price segment, but if we can expect this to be free on contract, we suppose there might be a market here. No word on dollars or dates just yet, but naturally, we'll keep you in the loop.
HTC Smart hands-on
At a glance, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense that HTC would be devoting time, money, and energy to moving downmarket into the dog-eat-dog world of dumbphones -- but after chatting a bit with the company today, we've got a slightly better sense for why the Smart exists: it's a stepping stone, not a final destination. It's promoting the Qualcomm Brew MP-powered device as a way to get folks who would otherwise buy... say, a Samsung Corby, and use it to get them interested in (and locked into) the Sense UI, which looks surprisingly similar here to what you'd find on anything else HTC makes. The Smart's screen animations are pleasantly fast and you've got basically all the stuff you'd expect to find on a basic new-in-box smartphone including full HTML browsing and support for Twitter, email, and so on. The 2.8-inch resistive display seemed totally usable to us; clearly, a full QWERTY keyboard won't be terribly comfortable on any 2.8-inch screen, but it ain't bad. In a word, we're impressed -- we wouldn't buy it (and we suspect you wouldn't either), but it's definitely got a valid target demo. Follow the break for video. %Gallery-82006%
HTC Smart is, ironically, company's first dumbphone
Remember that Touch.B that leaked a few weeks ago? Well, it's real now -- and amazingly, it turns out that the rumored non-smartphone status is totally confirmed. This would be the first time HTC has released a device that doesn't run a true smartphone operating system in the traditional sense of the word, instead going with Qualcomm's Brew Mobile Platform -- the very same setup AT&T's standardizing on for its dumbphone range starting later this year. It's got 256MB of RAM and ROM, a 3 megapixel cam, Euro-friendly 3G plus quadband EDGE, and the now-familiar Sense UI that the Smart shares with its WinMo- and Android-powered siblings. Look for this puppy to launch across Europe and Asia this Spring -- likely at a very, very competitive price point, if we had to guess.
HTC's Touch.B gets demonstrated, featurephone status confirmed (video)
This isn't going to be fun, so we'll just say it and get it over with: the HTC Touch.B isn't the updated Android smartphone we'd been hoping for. As it turns out it isn't even a smartphone, relegated to the realm of the featurephone by running Qualcomm's BrewMP OS. Full Flash support is nice, and we must say the UI has a charming, simple look to it, but it all looks a little... limited, and that screen seems awfully small given the size of the phone now that it's been turned on. See for yourself: there's a quick video demo after the break to get you primed for this one to ship sometime next year.