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HTC HD2 and Nexus One get some Gingerbread crumbs (update: EVO, Droid and Desire, too)
With Gingerbread freely distributed to the open-source masses, it probably won't surprise you to hear there already a custom ROM for Google's darling Nexus One. But what if we told you Android 2.3 is now available for the HTC HD2 as well? That's right, the Windows Mobile 6.5 powerhouse can now snap off a sugary piece of the same Android code, and from what we hear in the XDA-developers forums, it works pretty decently, too. Like the Samsung Galaxy S we saw getting the green tie treatment this morning, the HTC HD2 and Nexus One don't exactly have stable, fully functional builds, but as long as you know what you're doing and don't need petty luxuries like cameras, GPS receivers and official Google apps, you'll probably be just fine. Find files and a modicum of instruction at our source links below. Update: While these cookies are half-baked, unconfirmed and potentially dangerous to those not well versed in the art of Android hackery, we're hearing that the HTC EVO 4G, original Motorola Droid and HTC Desire are now sporting early Gingerbread ROMs too. It seems the source code is relatively easy to compile for other phones, so with any luck there'll be a compatible build for your device soon. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Android 2.3 update now rolling out to Nexus One owners (update: not yet)
Nexus One owners feeling a little Nexus S envy can breathe a little easier -- we're hearing that Android 2.3 Gingerbread is being pushed out to the N1 as we speak. We'd imagine that all the slick new features that don't require new hardware (like NFC support) will be there, and we're definitely interested in playing with this built-in WiFi calling stack. We'll let you know what we find -- won't you do the same? Update: Looks like our flood of tips came from people who were seeing their N1s get a different, less-interesting update. Google tells us that Gingerbread isn't rolling out just yet, but is coming. Of course, we'll let you know when the actual 2.3 update hits the OG Nexus. Ah, the heady optimism of hope. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Android Market update brings long-awaited 'Related' tab, similar app suggestions
Remember that "Related" / "Similar" tab we spotted in Google's own Gingerbread video? Looks as if you won't have to wait for Android 2.3 to enjoy the spoils of having El Goog sort out what similar apps you may like after you download one. This morning, waves of Android loyalists are finding a new tab in their Market, with a Droid 2 and Nexus One both seeing the update here at Engadget HQ. Naturally, it works just like the App Store's equivalent, but it remains to be seen just how accurate the advice is. When looking at 'Related' for the (also recently updated) Engadget app, we're finding items we'd prefer to be listed first about a page or so down, but we're sure the mix-and-match engineers in Mountain View are already fine tuning things as we speak. You know, during the brief moments they aren't preparing for Tuesday's big Chrome reveal. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] %Gallery-109230%
Nexus S for T-Mobile gets brief Best Buy Mobile nod: there and gone again
Well, this was rather unexpected. Earlier today, Best Buy Mobile published a humble (if not incomplete) ad for the "Nexus S for T-Mobile," touting both its "pure Google" experience (i.e. vanilla Android) and holiday availability exclusively from Best Buy. It's gone now, saved only by the grace of Google cache. To be honest, all we can do is speculate beyond that. An anonymous tipster to RadioAndroid pegged the Nexus S name late last month and claimed it would feature Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, and a Hummingbird processor. TechCrunch later described a Samsung-borne "Nexus Two" that has since been delayed due to some serious hardware issue. Is this a placeholder from the online devs? Does / did the S stand for Samsung, or something else entirely? And most importantly, is this presumed follow-up to Nexus One actually coming out, or did you just get your hopes up for nothing?
Google 'archiving' Nexus One support forum next month, turning it read-only
If you have a Nexus One, you plan on having it for a while, and you want to talk about it, you're going to have to find another place to do it come November 1 -- because that's the day Google has chosen to shut down its own Nexus One support forum, archive it, and make its contents read-only. Seems like an extraordinarily illogical and user-hostile move to us -- especially considering that the phone is still thoroughly modern, runs the latest available version of Android, and was released this year... but if there's a silver lining to this mess, it'd have to be the fact that there's no shortage of third-party sites and forums that will be happy to pick up the slack. Meanwhile, Google, we'd love to hear a reasonable explanation for this, preferably before this rumored Nexus Two breaks loose.
Carphone Warehouse getting Nexus Two in time for holidays?
This is kinda out of the blue, but British publication City A.M. is claiming that Google has inked a deal with wireless retail giant Carphone Warehouse to exclusively sell a Nexus Two -- the mythical successor to the Nexus One -- in time for Christmas this year. Little else is offered, though the story claims that it'll run Gingerbread and probably won't be manufactured by Samsung. Of course, Google has already gone on the record basically declaring the Nexus One's sales model a failure, though it specifically cited customers' inability to get hands-on time with the phone before buying it as a big problem -- and signing up with a behemoth like Carphone Warehouse would certainly solve it. It's unclear whether regions outside the retailer's sphere of influence would also be on board, though it's important to note that Carphone Warehouse is in bed with Best Buy Mobile in the States... so if you believe the rumor, feel free to start lining up in front of your local big box right now. [Thanks, Alex]
Latest smartphone displays pitted in no-holds-barred deathmatch
If you're a numbers geek, you're trying to be scientific about your next smartphone purchase, or you just like pretty colors, you might appreciate DisplayMate's latest report rounding up examples of all (well, most) of the latest and greatest display technologies out there: IPS LCD, Super AMOLED, AMOLED, and TFT, represented by the iPhone 4 and Droid, the Galaxy S, the Nexus One, and the iPhone 3GS, respectively. Noticeably missing is SLCD, the technology HTC has been using to make up for lost ground on its AMOLED shortage from component supplier Samsung, but we've got a hunch DisplayMate's hard at work at adding that into the mix. Anyhow, considering the sheer number of variables the firm takes into consideration -- everything from color depth, to brightness, to reflectance, to color gamut -- there's no clear-cut winner, but the Droid and iPhone 4 are obviously a cut above the rest with generally higher scores and better performance across the board. The Galaxy S' Super AMOLED turns in a decent performance, too, but takes a little hit for its 16-bit color depth and blown-out colors. Of course, if you consider any of these -- even the crappy TFT on the 3GS -- to a phone from five years ago, it still looks like science fiction... so you really can't go wrong, can you?
Nexus One getting minor update to Android 2.2.1
We're told it's merely bug fixes, but Nexus Ones across the land are getting updated to Android 2.2.1 -- "FroYo.1," if you will. Whether Gingerbread will ever make an appearance on this bad boy remains unclear, but hey, at least Google's still hustling to keep it updated in the meantime. [Thanks, Gilad A. and everyone!]
Spot the difference: HTC Desire's SLCD versus AMOLED
(function() { var s = document.createElement('SCRIPT'), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = 'http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js'; s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1); })(); Digg If you'll recall, a little while back HTC waved its white flag amid AMOLED shortages and made the jump to the readily-available SLCD for its Desire and Nexus One handsets. As a quick recap, here's what CEO Peter Chou said about the swap: "The SLCD displays provide consumers with a comparable visual experience to HTC's current 3.7 inch displays with some additional benefits including battery performance." So, just how "comparable" is the SLCD? To find out, we picked up both flavors of the Desire to perform some comparison tests. Let's start off with the picture quality: what caught our attention straight away was how much sharper SLCD is, but alas, AMOLED is still in the lead for vibrancy and brightness. We dug a little deeper and learned that this has to do with the different pixel arrangements on the two types of panels -- unlike traditional TFT LCD panels, AMOLED's PenTile RGBG (red, green, blue, green, etc.) filter matrix utilizes just two subpixels per pixel instead of three in the same amount of space, thus allowing greater transmittance due to the larger red and blue subpixels. But obviously, the downside is that the pictures aren't as sharp as the denser-packed SLCD. Read on for more! %Gallery-101997%
New Android 2.2 build leaks out for Nexus One, minor improvements noted
Well, well -- what have we here? Word on the street has it that we're looking at a new, unreleased (officially, anyway) Froyo build for Google's now-tough-to-locate Nexus One. The open source community has yet again uncovered what looks to be a real gem, with this fresh Android 2.2 version (FRG33) promising minor bug fixes, improved WiFi performance and speed improvements from top to bottom. There's obviously no Google-approved changelog to prove anything one way or another, but you can give that source link a look if you're feeling froggy. Just don't blame us when you suddenly can't access the Android Market, or your world otherwise implodes.
Cyanogen Mod 6 -- the one with Froyo -- hits target list of devices, first stable release
If 6.0.0 RC1 just wasn't cutting it for ya, CyanogenMod-6.0 has released what's being touted as the "first stable release based on Android 2.2" and has hit the target number of supported devices, which by our quick count includes EVO 4G, Slide, Nexus One, Dream / Magic, Aria, and Droid -- and we might be missing a few.. You know the drill; if you need a bit of Froyo in your mobile life. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Google sells out of Nexus Ones for devs, 'working hard' to get more; SLCD not alleviating backorders yet
The Nexus One retail situation has been pretty dire since Google humanely put down its own online store, leaving only paid developers with an easy option to get an unlocked unit (and only an AWS 3G version at that). Now, even that's been taken away -- at least temporarily -- thanks to unexpectedly strong demand that left Google to "blow through the (substantial) initial inventory in almost no time" and run up a backorder with HTC. Interestingly, Google specifically points out that HTC is doing a good job with manufacturing despite the AMOLED shortage, which leads us to wonder whether the SLCD version is shipping in quantity yet -- and considering how the Nexus One and Desire are well into midlife, we wonder whether it makes sense to even bother at this point when we've got next-gen products just around the corner. Good news is that Google still seems committed to getting Nexus Ones back in stock for developers, we just don't know when that's going to happen.
In Google's absence, HTC starts hawking Nexus One accessories
It's bad enough that Google decided to stop selling the Nexus One directly -- especially since the AT&T-friendly 850 / 1900MHz version is nigh impossible to find now -- but what sucks even more is that existing owners have been in peril of being left high and dry for accessorizing their increasingly rare little gems. Thankfully, the Nexus One's manufacturer has stepped in to fill the void, offering the full range first-party goodies including the car dock, desktop dock, holster, and rear covers in a range of eye-popping colors. We're not seeing batteries here, but... you know, there's always the gigantic aftermarket option.
Flash Player 10.1 goes final for Nexus One handsets, available to download now
Google just confirmed it at an Android / Flash event in San Francisco, and sure enough, our trusty Nexus One just found, downloaded and installed the final (read: non-beta) version of Adobe's Flash Player 10.1. It weighs in at just under 5MB, and it's looking as sweet as ever so far. Nexus One owners can hit up the Android Market to get their download on, and we'd highly encourage you to bookmark a few dozen Flash sites just to rub in the faces of your dearest iDevice-owning friends. Just sayin'.
Apple Stores block jailbreakme.com, can't stop the jailbreaking (video)
So we all had a big laugh when people started jailbreaking iPhones inside Apple's stores this week, but inevitably that fun's been ended by the retail spots wising up and banning jailbreakme.com from their WiFi networks. Well, not so fast. A tipster of ours, identifying himself as IT Geek, has gone and busted a demo iPad wide open by using his Nexus One's mobile hotspot capabilities. Yes, jailbreaking has become that easy. See him sticking it to the Best Buy man on video after the break.
Nexus One lives on as Google's official developer phone
Well, it looks like the now slightly dated Google Ion finally has an official successor -- Google has just announced that the Nexus One is its new developer phone. It apparently remains unchanged from the recently-axed consumer model, however, and Google notes that it will ship with Android 2.1 but receive Android 2.2 shortly after you turn it on. Got your developer credentials handy? Then you can log in and get your order in right now for $529. Update: We just got a look at the specs on Google's developer site and it looks like the Nexus One on offer is unfortunately T-Mobile only. Check out the tell-tale bands for yourself after the break. Update 2: The specs mention that the device has "no root access" and that the bootloader is locked, but we're taking this to mean it's no different from any other Nexus One you'd buy. More ominously, though, it says that fastboot isn't enabled, which leads us to wonder whether this is going to cause problems with bootloader unlocks in the field. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Thanks, Carson!
DARPA and NIST testing real-time translation system for use in Afghanistan... with a Nexus One
DARPA has long been working on making real-time translation systems practical and portable, and it looks like it's now closer than ever to its goal -- although it can't necessarily take all the credit. The research agency recently teamed up with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (or NIST) to test three different systems as part of its TRANSTAC project, at least one of which relies on none other than a Nexus One to do real-time, spoken language translation from Pashto to English, and vice versa. Of course, specific details on the translation systems are otherwise a bit hard to come by, but NIST is more than happy to draw a few Star Trek comparisons in its demonstration video -- check it out after the break.
Nexus One blasts off to 28,000 feet, looks slightly worse for wear (video)
Your average satellite these days is roughly on par in terms of size with your average living room, give or take, and so naturally the cost of lofting one into orbit is, if you'll pardon the phrase, sky high. Despite that, many offer less processing power a mobile processor like Snapdragon. The obvious solution? Chuck a smartphone into orbit and revel in the savings. That's the idea behind the PhoneSat, helped along by the Mavericks Civilian Space Foundation, which strapped a Nexus One into a rocket with 1,000lbs of thrust and threw it up to 28,000 feet to see how it copes with the immense stress of riding into space. Of course, 28,000 feet isn't quite space (NASA would have run out of astronaut badges long ago), but the G-forces and temperature cycles felt during this short trip are comparable to a one-way voyage to orbit. The first such launch didn't go so well, with the rocket suffering a ballistic return -- coming in like a projectile without a 'chute. The shattered remains of that are shown above. But, the second flight was rather more successful, and the video results can be seen below -- captured by the phone itself. Update: Matt Reyes, one of the folks behind the launch, wrote in to let us know of another article here on the project, including more details on the history of the team and the various hardware beyond the N1 payload. Matt, along with project members Chris Boshuizen and Will Marshall, are NASA engineers, helped by Ryan Hickman at Google, which probably helps to explain how they were able to get from the photo above to the successful launch below in just one iteration. [Photo credit: Steve Jurvetson]
HTC makes Super LCD screens for Desire and Nexus One official
Welcome back to our "worst kept secrets" hour, where HTC has seen fit to release a PR blast informing the world of what it already knew: the Desire and Nexus One are getting Super (duper) LCD displays to fill demand that Samsung's AMOLED division cannot. Interestingly, HTC's statement says nothing of the Droid Incredible, a close sibling to these 3.7-inch devices, but the global Nexus One and Desire are getting hooked up "later this summer." CEO Peter Chou has also helpfully explained that the visual experience on the new SLCD screens is "comparable" to AMOLED, but offers better battery performance. Color us curious to see and hear more.
Tweaker ports Samsung's TouchWIz UI onto non-rooted Nexus One for reasons unknown
This one's been kicking around the interwebs for a few weeks now, but it has managed to grow into something of a beast during that period. Frankly, we couldn't think of less fitting way to send the glorious Nexus One out than to completely deface it and ruin what Google has worked so hard to perfect. But regardless of what we think, that's exactly what has happened here. One rolle3k over at xda developers clearly has a masochistic gene or two planted inside of his skull, but at least his APK doesn't require your N1 to be rooted before providing you access to a TouchWiz user interface. Feel free to hit the source if you're up for seeing what you've been missing out on, but only if you literally cannot think of a single better thing to do with your time.