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Nexus One launches on Vodafone UK this Friday, April 30
The first European carrier for the Nexus One is all set to start offering Google's superphone for free on two-year contracts costing £35 ($54) or more per month. Pre-orders are being taken today and full retail availability is slated for April 30. It's kind of an anticlimax now that the Incredible has started stalking the American prairies, but we're sure there'll be plenty of Brits who've been waiting with bated breath for this. There'll be 18- and 24-month contract options, with prices starting at £25 per month, and a 1GB 3G data allowance is included together with a 1GB WiFi allowance via BT Openzone hotspots. Not exactly the most generous price plans we've ever heard of, but then the handset's looking eminently affordable with its zero cash up front requirement. Full PR after the break.
Droid Incredible specs confirmed on Verizon site
Yes, good people of Engadgetland, we finally have an official spec sheet for the eagerly awaited Incredible handset. A 3.7-inch OLED touchscreen leads the way, with an 800 x 480 resolution, which will offer the full Google Experience on Android version 2.1. That sounds remarkably like a refashioned Nexus One to us, even down to the 1GHz Snapdragon chip inside, but where the Droid Incredible differs is in its inclusion of Sense UI (à la the Desire) and an 8 megapixel autofocusing camera. We're also seeing GPS and 8GB of integrated memory -- expandable to 24GB via MicroSD cards -- on this list, which can be found in its entirety at the source link below. Not long to wait now. [Thanks, Henry]
Google hits Android ROM modder with a cease-and-desist letter
So this is interesting: apparently Google's hit the developer of the Cyanogen modded Android ROM with a cease-and-desist letter, asking him to stop distributing the closed-source Google apps like Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. What's a little strange is that Cyanogen is targeted at "Google Experience" devices like the G1 and myTouch, so it's not like Google is really protecting anything here -- leading us to wonder if they're just using the copyright argument to shut down a popular mod that's tempted over 30,000 users into rooting their phones. That's just speculation on our part, though -- the dev says he's trying to open a dialogue with Google, so perhaps we'll find out some more answers soon.[Via Android and Me]
Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500 unboxed, "Google Experience" distinction now clear as mud
The HTC Hero and T-Mobile myTouch 3G aren't the only Android phones making waves this week: the Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500 also launched on O2 Germany, and this is the first unboxing we've seen. Continuing the confusion over what handsets actually get the full Google blessing, this version of the I7500 runs pretty much bone-stock Android, but isn't a "Google Experience" phone, which in this case apparently means that firmware updates have to be loaded manually over USB instead of being pushed over the air. If you're keeping track, that's now a third axis of differentiation between Google-branded Android handsets and everything else, and we're starting to think no one really knows what all the rules and differences actually are -- hey, Eric, maybe you could set down that BlackBerry for a minute and sort all this out?
HTC Hero hands-on: Flash, keyboard and ruminations (updated!)
We're going to need some real time with the device to make a final opinion, but we're cautiously optimistic that HTC has a winner with its new Hero. Here's what we've got from our first looks at the phone in London and NY: The beveled edges along the back makes the handset sit comfortably in the hand, and while the teflon coat doesn't necessarily feel revolutionary, it's going to make a world of difference after a couple of months riding in our grubby pockets. It's certainly solid, but much more so than other "brick" phones. The Sense UI (or as HTC terms it, "user experience") riding a capacitive touchscreen offers a people-centric approach to managing your information that is absolutely dreamy at first blush -- though it shares a lot of TouchFLO heritage. In fact, HTC promises to have a very similar Sense-branded experience for Windows Mobile. The on-screen keyboard also seems quite useable with a nice simulated haptic forced-feedback bounce when you strike each key in either landscape or portrait mode (which can naturally be deactivated). HTC has built its own touch keyboard from the ground up, and in our brief couple of tests we'd say it's probably the best touchscreen typing experience we've ever felt. It never lags behind, and has great colorful visual cues for its auto-corrected words -- green means it's suggesting a correctly spelled word, red means we've gone off the beaten path, and the T9-style multiple suggestions are heavenly. This intuitive one-hander isn't shy with the specs either as we've already seen in the official press release. Our only concern is possible sluggishness from the Qualcomm processor that cause the graphic transitions to stutter a bit and results in screen rotations that feel dangerously uncomfortable. We were told that the device we saw was running pre-production firmware so there's still time to tweak -- though not much with a July European launch. The Hero is not a "Google Experience" device. As such, you won't find the Google logo anywhere (no big deal) but you also won't be downloading any firmware updates over the air -- sideloading only kids. Not a deal breaker but an annoying and seemingly arbitrary limitation nonetheless. There's still a small lack of clarity of how updates will work with HTC's "mods" living on top of basic Android -- even if they're able to port in new Android versions seamlessly, we imagine there will be some breakage. For a device without a physical keyboard, the Hero seems a little thick up against its HTC Magic, Nokia N97, and iPhone 3G counterparts, but not overly so. HTC has confirmed that whichever (unspecified) carrier gets the phone in the US will have a modified version, both in software (carrier-specific services) and in hardware chassis tweaks. Just don't take our teflon away, ok HTC? Battery is the same larger slab that's in the myTouch, and HTC also claims to have done some vague, unspecified things OS-side to improve battery life as well. "Heavy users will be able to get through a day." The camera is responsive and seems to do a fine job at autofocus, but wasn't astonishingly great at first glance. The phone will be available for free on T-Mobile UK -- if only we could be so subsidy lucky in the US. There are four videos for you after the break. The first shows Flash running at full screen on the HTC Hero courtesy of YouTube. The second, however, shows it failing when running a trailer from Yahoo Movies, just like Adobe did -- in fact, it crashed all four times that we tried it on what we were told was a Hero running the final build of the OS. Third one is a quickie showing the on-screen keyboard rotating from portrait to landscape and back. Lastly, we demonstrate the hardware a little bit and show off our lightning speed at typing. For the real completists, there's also a new gallery of hands-on shots from the NY launch event right below.
Google: 18 Android phones coming this year, possibly more
18 Android phones, possibly 20 on the market this year according to Andy Rubin, speaking at Google I/O. Even higher if you count all the rogue, Google App-free Android deployments that Google's not aware of. Seeing as how we're already nearly half-way through the year with just a pair of Android handsets on the market (the T-Mobile G1, HTC Magic) and just another -- the Samsung i7500 Galaxy -- officially in the chute, we're going to see a flood of product before year's end. In fact, Rubin claims the releases will come from 8 or 9 manufacturers with faster adoption seen in Europe as US carriers try to "create highly distinctive versions of the Android phone to give themselves an edge." Sure, edge, if that's what you want to call the US cartel of hoops and handcuffs then go right ahead. Interestingly, Rubin also further clarified the three flavors of Android which break down as follows: Google-free: Free to download version of Android without Google applications like Gmail or Google Calendar. Access to Android applications is at the whimsical fancy of the manufacturer. Strings attached: Same as above but manufacturers sign a distribution agreement with Google and pre-install the Google applications. Of Rubin's possible 20 phones, 12 to 14 fall into this category The Google Experience: Phones featuring the Google logo with all Google apps installed and includes unrestricted access (neither the carrier nor handset maker can block applications they find objectionable) to the Android market. 5 or 6 of the 20, Android phones mentioned by Rubin will deliver the full Google Experience as god and Sergey designed it. Go ahead, blow it out Google, we're ready for it.
