A couple of days ago, Google announced the release of a software update for its 1GHz Nexus One smartphone. The update brings, among others, multitouch support in the web browser, photo gallery and Google Maps, plus Goggles support. You can see the multitouch pinch zooming getting demoed in the video below:
Many criticized the lack of multitouch support on the Nexus One Android 2.1 handset, specially when comparing it to the iPhone 3GS. Now, the device is closer to perfection and we hope that the Nexus Two will come with the feature already available and not get it via an update.
Nexus One’s update is available OTA and in case you didn’t get it, there’s always this useful guide on how to enable multi-touch pinch zooming on your Google phone.
We wanted to see Android 2.1 on our Droid Eris units, but instead we got what probably is the most useless update ever: a tiny piece of software that fixes one single bug. We’re talking about the ROM version 1.17.605.1 update, available through the over-the-air update mechanism.
This new ROM fixes an intermittent bad signal indicator, that comes up with you take the device out of standby mode. Let’s just hope that the next update served by Verizon Wireless will be more… interesting, to say the least.
Just hours after finding out that Rogers will be the first NA carrier to sell the XPERIA X10 smartphone, here’s another piece of info related to the Canadian carrier: they’ll be updating HTC Magic to Android 2.1. Meanwhile, the good old Dream G1 stays at the 1.5 version.
HTC Magic will be getting the Sense UI in the following weeks, followed by the 2.1 update by mid 2010. HTC Dream will stick with Android 1.5, because of certain limitations, sad news for the folks who rushed out and bought the very first Android phone many months ago.
While Google unveiled its very first phone yesterday, the Nexus One is not yet ready to reach European shores… or is it? French site Le Point claims that the handset will reach France in Q1 2010, unlocked and with a price tag of EUR 450.
The Snapdragon CPU-based Android 2.1 device will also be available with a contract, that’s involve a 2 year agreement with SFR (French carrier, second largest) and it’ll take down the cost to EUR 200. The folks of Le Point also have a video preview of the phone, proving the impatience of the European public, wanting to get a bigger piece of the Android pie.
Motorola Droid/Milestone was quite a hit, so will Nexus One be able to beat its success?
Samsung’s Symbian-based Omnia HD (I8910 HD) is bound to get an update soon, providing it with support for kinetic scrolling. The info about this firmware update comes from Samsung’s official Facebook fan page and it turns out that Samsung Moment will also get its very own update.
Omnia HD’s update will come in Q1 2010, while Moment will get the Android 2.1 OS (Flan) released via Sprint, instead of v2.0.1, as we expected. The Android upgrade will take place in the first half of 2010.
It’s been an exciting week for the Google Phone lovers: we’ve found out that it’ll be dubbed the Nexus One, the FCC approved it and we saw dozens of photos of the device and its interface. Hackers have been messing with the code of the OS that the Nexus One runs, porting it to other devices, since it’s such a hot piece of software.
What you can see above and in the following shots are the homescreen and wallpapers of the Google Phone. We remind you that the device runs Android 2.1, it’ll be available probably in January 2010, it’s made by HTC, bears only the Google branding and it’ll be sold unlocked.
Huge touchscreen on board, a bunch of touch sensitive buttons and a trackpad are also to be mentioned. Is it me or the Android 2.1 interface is very, very hot?
Since we’ve just seen Android 2.1 in action on the very first Google Phone, aka the Nexus One, it was only a matter of time till developers pulled a ROM from the hat and emulated it on other devices. For now, this is the case of Moto Droid, running Android 2.1 as you can see for yourself in the pics below.
The rip is far from perfect and you can find brief DIY instructions regarding the process on Sholes.info, although it seems the guide might not there, being replaced with an advice to wait for a proper ROM instead. It’s all about the file system permissions, that can make or break your phone.
The initial image file is there to mess with, in case you want to take chances. As shown in the video below, Droid is able to show Nexus One’s boot animation, but there’s more to it than that.
Remember the Google Phone aka Nexus One, we’ve seen pictured over the past days? Now it turns out that the FCC approved it as model number PB99100, built by HTC. This Android 2.1 is confirmed to pack a microSD card slot, support for 802.11 b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.
Also, we learn that the device supports quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS/HSUPA, plus it’ll be able to do 2Mbps upload and 7.2Mbps download thanks to its 3G capabilities. We remind you that Nexus One will be sold unlocked, hopefully for a reasonable price. The latest documents published by the FCC show that this phone will support HSPA 900/1700/210 connectivity plus quadband EDGE.
What does this mean? It’s “bye bye” Google Phone for AT&T and good news for T-Mobile USA.
Yes, the Google Phone has a name and that’s Nexus One, as we’ve found out hours ago via TechCrunch, that also leaked a bunch of pictures of the device courtesy of Engadget and some bloggers. Now, the same Engadget shows us a new batch of images portraying the smartphone.
Turns out that the device will run Android 2.1 and it’ll feature 3D elements (app tray), plus extended homescreens and a new grid icon at the bottom of the homescreen. In case the icon gets pressed, you’ll bring up a webOS card-like preview of all the homescreen pages.
As shown in the pictures, the phone supports WiFi connectivity, comes with Google Navigation and the fresh Google Goggles. The details regarding the handset end here, unless you count a very slim design, 4 touch sensitive buttons up front and a dedicated volume rocker on the side.
We’ve just found out that Google’s Phone that was recently confirmed officially will be called Nexus One and just a minute afterwards, TechCrunch went out and published the first live picture of the device. Here it is:
Google will bypass all mobile carriers, selling the handset unlocked and, as usual, the search engine giant partners with handset maker HTC. If you’re wondering who leaked the photo above, the answer is pretty obvious, since Google employees had “fireworks and Google phones as gifts” days ago, during a party at work.
Cory O’Brien, a San Francisco blogger somehow got hold of the pic, probably courtesy of a Google employee and published it. The device is basically a combo between the iPhone, some extra screen space and a scroll wheel. The touchscreen is great and Android 2.1 should also be on board. Nexus One will be arriving in January 2010, so hold your horses and let’s see a price for it.
