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Google Navigation hacked onto T-Mobile G1 (updated)

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 11th 2009 at 2:01AM

It's always a good sign when a device-specific product release becomes the focal point of the XDA development community: it means you've got a winner on your hands. Not that anyone ever doubted the intense demand for Google's new turn-by-turn Navigation introduced exclusively on Motorola's DROID. No more. Brave souls have now tweaked the original code to run on the original Android device, the HTC G1 running on T-Mobile. Anecdotal reports suggest that it's working great -- a good sign that we'll see a cooked ROM unveiled just as soon as feverish fingers can package the new code.

Update: Photographic evidence has arrived. Enjoy.

Gallery: Google Navigation hacked onto T-Mobile G1

[Thanks, Alex H.]

HTC HD2 ripped to shreds, probably in the name of science

by Ross Miller posted Nov 10th 2009 at 11:08PM

Hello there, HD2. To be honest, it's a bit soon in our relationship to be seeing all your inner workings -- not that we mind. The folks on the xda-developers forums have done the duty of tearing down HTC's impressively skinned Windows Mobile 6.5 device. Not much to glean from the snapshots, but if you do harbor some strange technologically-inclined curiosity and would never consider ripping up the phone yourself, hit up the read link for more pictures.

[Via Pocketnow]

Verizon already prepping DROID and DROID Eris firmware updates?

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 10th 2009 at 4:08AM

The last thing you want to hear about a few short days after a product's launch is a litany of issues plaguing devices in the field, but that's not quite what's going on here -- instead, this looks to be an extension of Verizon's well-known policy of testing the crap out of devices until manufacturers are practically crying uncle. The carrier has already generated long internal lists of issues on both the DROID and DROID Eris, it seems, with the leaked documents revealing some five pages for the Motorola product and seven -- yes, seven -- for the HTC one; the good news is that they're all slated to be fixed in one of two firmware updates slated for December and January windows. Again, knowing Verizon, these firmware updates could very well get stuck in the testing lab for another six years, but we'll keep our hopes skyward.

Read - DROID
Read - DROID Eris

HTC 'carefully looking' into netbook category, wants to add 'unique value'

by Darren Murph posted Nov 9th 2009 at 10:41AM

Oh, HTC -- never one to dodge the chance to keep us on edge, are you? Half a year after we heard that the self-proclaimed "quietly brilliant" company was working on an Android netbook with T-Mobile, HTC's own CEO Peter Chou confessed during a recent interview that those very wheels were still turning. During the frenzy that was the HD2 launch, he quipped that his company was still "carefully looking into [the netbook] category and how it can be part of that," noting that nothing was official yet due to its desire to really add "unique value" rather than punching out another "me-too" machine. 'Course, if Intel really does revamp its Atom lineup at CES, we'd say this is just about the perfect time for the company to come out swinging -- after all, you know you still find yourself dreaming about the Shift from time to time.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

HTC Hero / Eris mega faceoff on video

by Paul Miller posted Nov 6th 2009 at 5:45PM

Now that we've got the DROID Eris in the mix, we're up to our ears in HTC Hero-derivative devices. We decided to sit the whole crew (GSM, Sprint and Verizon editions) down for a little modeling session, and we're finding ourselves reticent to pick a favorite. There are really plusses and minuses to each of them, but any way you lean it's a pretty good handset with some perhaps overly bulky software, a wonderful pricepoint (on Verizon, anyway) and probably a limited time in the sun with upcoming Android 2.0 devices, faster processors and wild new screens rolling on in. Check the video out after the break and you can make up your own mind.

Continue reading HTC Hero / Eris mega faceoff on video

DROID and DROID Eris now cash sentient on Verizon

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 6th 2009 at 1:01AM

After weeks of buildup the day is here: the DROID (and his little HTC buddy, the DROID Eris) is now for sale on Verizon's website. As expected Motorola's new flagship will set you back $200 after $100 online discount and two-year commitment while his underhyped Eris little bro is a penny shy of $100 after the same discount and contractual prostration. If you're looking to shed your contractual duties then you can hand over $560 in non-Android green for the option of going month-to-month.

[Via Gearlog, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read -- Motorola DROID
Read -- HTC DROID Eris

DROID ERIS hands-on and unboxing!

by Paul Miller posted Nov 5th 2009 at 10:03AM

Hey look, it's a Hero! We've got the brand new DROID ERIS for Verizon in hand, and it's not hard to see which particular family of phones it hails from. Still, Verizon has its own twist on the form factor, almost scoring a compromise between the "shiny" Sprint Hero and the more angular, matte GSM Hero. Confusingly, the capacitive touch buttons along the bottom of the ERIS' screen are a haphazard twist on the DROID's arrangement (though it's really Motorola that's the non-standard one here), but the phones don't look completely unrelated. In all the rounded, black matte body of the ERIS sort of "fades away" and you're just left with a nice, bright LCD -- it's not making a statement, which is sort of the statement. There's also an iPhone-style face proximity sensor for turning off the display during calls, and HTC has multitouch pinch-to-zoom on here, something Motorola hasn't seemed to manage. Sure it can't stack up to the DROID for aggressiveness or sheer specs, but it's got it's own sort of budget-friendly charm that's not overshadowed by the DROID's bombastic ways, and two out of three Engadget editors agree that the HTC keyboard beats the pants off the stock Android keyboard.

Gallery: DROID ERIS hands-on and unboxing!

Verizon's DROID ERIS by HTC does Android and keeps it cheap

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 5th 2009 at 8:45AM

Verizon is making no secret about which Android device it wants to make waves this week -- that'd be the DROID from Motorola -- but there's another model that'll be available the same day with one-tenth the fanfare: HTC's DROID ERIS. Codenamed Desire ahead of launch, the phone is essentially Verizon's custom remix of the venerable Hero as found on Sprint and various GSM carriers around the world, featuring a 5 megapixel camera, 3.2-inch capacitive display, WiFi, 3.5mm headphone jack, and microSD expansion up to 16GB. Check it out in your local store hiding somewhere in the shadow of the DROID starting Friday for $99.99 on contract after a $100 mail-in rebate, which -- if you can forgo a physical keyboard, faster processor, and high-res display -- works out to a cool hundred less than Moto's entry.

HTC DROID Eris unboxed and examined: 'feels much better' than Sprint Hero

by Donald Melanson posted Nov 4th 2009 at 4:11PM

If recent leaks are any indication, we should be seeing plenty more HTC DROID Eris unboxings any day now, but right now it looks like the Boy Genius Report has scored one of the first courtesy of one its helpful "connects." Of course, there aren't exactly a ton of surprises with the packaging apart from a bright splash of color upon opening the box, but the unboxer does say that the phone itself is thinner and lighter than the Sprint HTC Hero, and generally "feels much better in the hand." Hit up the link below for a few more shots, and watch this space (well, not literally this space) for what's sure to be more Eris news to come.

HTC's HD2 has landed at Engadget (hands-on)

by Joshua Topolsky posted Nov 4th 2009 at 10:12AM

That's right... the HD2 has landed. Actually, we took the phone over to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon the other day, but didn't get a chance to show it off, so here we are. Sure, you've seen this guy in action in earlier videos... but it's still nice to get a look at this monster up close. We're still blown away by the fact that this is a Windows Mobile 6.5 device -- the skinning job that HTC has done here is nothing short of a miracle. So far we've found the phone to be snappy and responsive, but we're currently putting it through its paces. We'll have a full review shortly, but for now, feast your eyes on the photos below -- and start saving for that imminent US launch.

Gallery: HD2 hands-on

HTC HD2 officially coming to US, out in Europe and Asia today!

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 4th 2009 at 6:02AM

Be still, our beating hearts! HTC has just pressed the "Go" button for European and Asian shipping of its latest object of desire, and it's served notice to American phone lovers that the HD2 is coming to them soon as well. Slated for a "major US carrier" some time "early 2010," it'll land squarely in the same time bracket as the XPERIA X10, which should lead to some really quite interesting decisions to be made, presumably by March 2010. The WinMo 6.5 device might be shipping now, but you'll have to wait at least until the 9th of November before you can spill your Euros for it, and we expect to see a flurry of pricing and contract information filling that short waiting time. Full PR after the break.

[Via MobileTechWorld]

Continue reading HTC HD2 officially coming to US, out in Europe and Asia today!

T-Mobile nabs HTC's Touch HD2, schedules release for November

by Tim Stevens posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 7:58AM

WinMo folks, we wouldn't blame you for getting a bit of Android envy after last week's DROID onslaught, but if there's one thing that could make people pine for your OS it's HTC's HD2, and T-Mobile has just confirmed it's coming on November 9 -- a mere weekend after Moto's new hotness hits Verizon. Mind you, there is some confusion going on here, as the picture on T-Mo's site is of the old Touch HD, not the HD2 we met and loved, and the mention of "loads of applications to download from Android Market" is particularly perplexing. But, we've been told to go ahead and blame a bumbling marketeer rather than to expect some sort of cross-platform app marketplace love fest -- groovy as that may sound.

Update: We've also just learned that HTC is going to officially launch the HD2 on November 4 ahead of a November 11 release elsewhere. We're not entirely sure what there is left to learn about the thing, but we're always game for another press event.

Update 2: Just to clarify things, this is T-Mobile UK. Also, as many have pointed out in comments, we're now thinking the "09" above means 2009, not November 9, which likely points to a November 11 release. Surely you can swallow that DROID envy for another two days, yeah?

[Via WMPoweruser.com]

Leaked docs show HTC's DROID Eris launching on November 6th for $99, running Android 1.5

by Paul Miller posted Oct 31st 2009 at 1:20PM

Like it or not, we've got it on pretty reasonable authority that HTC's first "DROID" phone is nothing more than a rebadged, shape-shifted Hero (something we've been hearing for a while now), and that it'll be launching on Verizon on November 6th, the same day as Motorola's DROID. That means Android 1.5 "Cupcake," Sense UI, 3.2-inch screen, 528MHz processor and so forth. The Eris will retail for $199 but with a $100 mail-in rebate. It'll pack in an 8GB microSD card and the hopes and dreams of a generation of cheapskates that will be hopin' and prayin' that HTC manages to push Android 2.0 onto this thing so they don't look too bad in front of their DROID-toting buddies on Verizon.

[Thanks, anonymous]

Gallery: HTC's DROID Eris leaked docs

Android 2.0 ported to original T-Mobile G1 (video)

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 30th 2009 at 5:39AM

Did you hear? Google's got this little OS called Android that has reached the ripe, mature age of 2-point-Oh. With the giant eclair now sitting on Google's front lawn and the SDK out in the wilds, what was poor Akira Harada to do with all that code knowing that the Motorola Droid was still days away from shipping? Port it to the original Android device, the T-Mobile G1 / HTC Dream, naturally. It's a rough port, not even close to being optimized but it should whet your appetites for all those official updates and delicious home-cooked ROMs we expect to be arriving in the hallowed halls of the XDA forums in the days ahead. See it after the break... roll it!

Continue reading Android 2.0 ported to original T-Mobile G1 (video)

Workaround for HTC Hero battery life issues discovered

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 29th 2009 at 5:26PM

Well, there still isn't a fix for the problem some people seem to be having with receiving text messages on their HTC Hero, but it looks like a workaround has been discovered for another pesky issue that can put a strain on the phone's battery life. Apparently, the phone has a bit of trouble going back into sleep mode after you send a text, or after you simply turn on the phone and immediately disable the screen without any activity. While some fairly elaborate fixes were tried by some users initially, it looks like the simplest actually works the best: just don't use the default SMS app to send texts. Instead, you can use a third-party app like ChompSMS or HandCent, which apparently have no problems letting the phone go back to sleep after you send a text. Of course, an official fix would still be the best but, in the meantime, you can hit up the link below for all the necessary details on making the (hopefully temporary) switch.

[Thanks, Sean]

Older Posts →

Gallery: Google Navigation hacked onto T-Mobile G1

Gallery: DROID ERIS hands-on and unboxing!

Gallery: HD2 hands-on

Gallery: HTC's DROID Eris leaked docs

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