Chinese telecom giant Huawei — which has been playing the Android game with major carriers around the world for some time now — has selected IFA to debut the Ideos, a new entry-level model running Froyo in a variety of colors. Huawei’s press release calls the Ideos “the world’s first affordable smartphone” — which seems like a bit of an overstatement (okay, a huge overstatement) to us — but really underscores the fact that this thing is going to be launching for somewhere between $100 and $200 unsubsidized in Europe, Asia, and both North and Latin America. It’s got 3G, WiFi, mobile hotspot capability for up to eight devices, and was apparently developed in direct partnership with Google, a sign that Mountain View is serious about taking Android 2.2 across the entire price spectrum.

We checked out the Ideos today and were pretty impressed; clearly, you’re not going to mistake it for an EVO, a Droid X, or a Defy, but Huawei has definitely put some effort into engineering this thing so that they were able to make it cheaply without making it feel like it would come apart in your hands. The company is quick to note that 2.8-inch capacitive displays aren’t very common — and though we could’ve definitely used HVGA instead of the Ideos’ QVGA, we were pleased with the responsiveness, both from a processor performance perspective and a touch sensitivity one. Add in the support for 7.2Mbps HSDPA and the stylish colors (black, yellow, blue, and purple) and Huawei might just have a winner here. More on this one when launch carriers start to come out of the woodwork. Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Huawei Ideos hands-on

Huawei Ideos hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 06:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just as we thought, HTC’s Droid Incredible for Verizon is getting boosted from Android 2.1 to 2.2 today, which should make plenty of owners (and plenty of non-owners who’ve been unable to find any stock for the past couple months) happy as a clam. Major features include pre-installed Flash 10.1, 720p video recording, mobile hotspot support as first introduced for Verizon on the Droid X, and naturally, all the other standard greatness you’ve come to expect with Froyo. We imagine this update will take a couple weeks to roll out to everyone, so show some patience, Droid Incredible owners — or, you know, do like we do and search frantically for an update.zip to get posted somewhere.

[Thanks, Ryan]

Verizon confirms Android 2.2 update for Droid Incredible hits today originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The rich landscape of Android versioning just got a bit richer, with word of an official Froyo update for the Droid Incredible being launched tomorrow (based on the screencap pictured above), while the EVO 4G’s recent Froyo software just got rooted. If you’re crazily impatient, an Android 2.2 ROM for the Incredible just leaked out into the wild, and can be installed with a bit of work, but from the official-looking-ness of this leak from Droid Life, a painless official update is not far off. Meanwhile, in Sprint land, the xda-devs have a rather complicated, rather scary method posted for rooting 2.2 on the EVO 4G — you’ll have to ask yourself how much that freedom is worth to you, or just wait for the inevitably easier methods to come along and hold your hand.

The revolving door: Froyo for Droid Incredible coming tomorrow, Froyo for EVO 4G gets rooted originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While all of you Droid, Incredible and EVO 4G owners wait patiently for an official Froyo update to call your own, LG’s wasting no time introducing its first phones based on the latest and greatest Android build. Over in the UK today, the company has decided to launch the Optimus Series, a family of smartphones that’ll run “on a range of operating systems as well as Android.” If all goes well, LG will introduce around ten new smart devices worldwide in the second half of this year under the Optimus label, though only two are being partially revealed for now. The Optimus One with Google and Optimus Chic will both ship with Android 2.2 onboard, with the latter being specifically aimed at fashionistas who just might appreciate the “sleek curves” that make themselves so apparent. Further details surrounding pricing, availability and specifications remain to be seen, but here’s hoping this is just the beginning of the Froyo flood to come.

Continue reading LG debuts Optimus smartphone series, Froyo-powered ‘One’ and ‘Chic’ arriving first

LG debuts Optimus smartphone series, Froyo-powered ‘One’ and ‘Chic’ arriving first originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now this is jolly good news. LG, which already has a Windows 7 tablet in the works, is gearing up to service those with a hankering for some Android in their slate computers as well. Clearly unwilling to fall behind its fierce rival Samsung, LG has just announced that it’ll bringing out its own Google-centric tablet before the end of 2010. Indications are that it’ll be different (presumably better) than current offerings on the market, but alas there’s nary a peep about what that might mean on the spec sheet. In other machine-translated news, the Korean company is also planning a new version of its SU950 handset, aka the Optimus Z, which will come preloaded with Android 2.2. Current owners of the phone need not despair either, as Froyo upgrades are planned for them by the fourth quarter as well. Hmm, all this Q4 and 2.2 action flying about, would be nice to think this tablet would benefit from the same treatment.

LG confirms Android tablet for Q4 2010 launch, Froyo for Optimus Z originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jul 2010 01:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eldar Murtazin has a pretty decent track record when it comes to smartphone whispers, but his Android 3.0 Gingerbread morsels yesterday are now at odds with someone a bit closer to the dough — namely, Dan Morrill, Android’s Open Source and Compatibility Tech Lead (yeah, that’s a bit of a mouth full). Here are a few highlights from his Twitter feed tonight: “I love it when people just make stuff up” (sarcasm, obviously), “rumors are not official announcements,” and so on. Sure, he could just be playing coy here, but for now, this is more or less the final word on the matter — until either Google or the rumor mill heat up again, of course. Guess that’s how the, erm, cookie crumbles.

Android team’s Morrill discounts Gingerbread rumors originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Another day, another Froyo build. Now that Android 2.2 build FRF85 — i.e. the big one that got pushed over-the-air to every Nexus One this week — is out on the prowl, Google’s taken it upon itself to release yet another update, FRF91. We’ve heard from a few tipsters that it’s also going out OTA, but our devices have yet to be notified — all the same, a direct link for the file has been found, so it’s legit. Word on the street is it’s just a security update, but we’ve yet to install it ourselves. Go on, live a little, download’s just below.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Nexus One gets yet another Android 2.2 Froyo update, FRF91 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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