Posted: 16 Sep 2010 10:00 AM PDT
As you heard by now, HTC has announced in London two new phones, the Desire HD and Desire Z (“z” or “zee”, you can say both apparently). The sexy handsets will be available from most European carriers starting around mid-October. While we don’t have a word yet on the Desire HD, we do know that the Desire Z will be hitting T-Mobile USA as the G2.
HTCSense.com
Along with launching these new handsets, HTC also detailed the new and upcoming HTC Sense. This HTC Sense update came with a web site (HTCsense.com) from where you can control your phone over the air. You’ll be able from the interface to save and read your SMS, create your own themes. More interestingly you will be able to control your phone if it is forgotten, lost or stolen. This is a great set of tools, you can make your phone ring for example to find it or send a message to be displayed on the screen with your details if it is lost. SMS, contacts, HTC Sense themes, ringtones can be backed up on the web site as well. Sadly, the new HTC Sense back-up is missing a photo and video solution, so you will not be able to have one place to store everything. You will have to rely on different services (Picasa, Flicker, YouTube,…).
Targeted Customers
Overall, HTC didn’t make any big noise about the technical specs of both phones. Their respective specs are good but nothing outstanding compared to the competition. They made it clear that the intended customers for these are not us, geek or Android fanatics. No, their target are the people who haven’t made it yet to the world of smartphones and are still carrying “just” phones. They are looking to convert.
This little box will help with TV without DNLA
Smart move from HTC, as there is a huge number of potential customers. They have planned on a very large (40% larger than the previous one) marketing campaign to promote the phones and show what HTC Sense and HTCSense.com can bring to the user’s everyday life. They might, but won’t have to, mention Android or Google but really they just need to show people what can they do with a smartphone (like Apple’s Facetime ad). One example, you can send photos or video directly to your DNLA comaptible TV, no need for a cable and if your TV is not compatible, they’ll have an accessoirie (Media Link) to help, a little box connected to your TV.
HTC Location
Google Maps is installed on the phone but HTC have also included their own mapping application called HTC Location. They tried to solve one of the issue of Google Maps and the navigation, if you are not on your provider network (out of range or roaming), you can’t use Google services. HTC worked with Route66 on this app in which you can download complete maps (for free) in the device. You can also purchase Navigation for a period (30 days, 1 year or for life) by countries. It is usefull, if for example you go on holiday, you can get the map of the country for free and, if you think you’ll need it, buy by credit card directly from the app the navigation option for the period you’ll be away. On paper, it is a good idea to buy just what you need but there are already free offers from the competition, Google but also Nokia’s Ovi Map in the segment HTC is targeting. I would suggest then to throw some freebies to potential buyers. See photos in the gallery below for an example of prices, I can’t confirm if these will be the same once the phones will be released.
Reader
On the Desire HD, HTC has included a very well done ebook reader called Reader. The HD’s large screen is a great asset when it comes to reading text. This reader has been developped in partnership with Adobe and will give access to books from Kobo. There are already plenty of other options on the Market for ebook reading (Amazon, Barnes and Noble) but the features in HTC version would help. For example, they make is easy to select text, to anotate, search definition or translate a piece of text.
Are these 2 phones any good?
Yes, they are great phones. The Desire HD is well designed, the aluminium construction makes a solid phone. HTC Sense and all the apps I’ve tried are snappy, it has Android 2.2. If I could have one bad thing to say, it would be to mentioned the lack of front facing camera but then, there are not really that many apps to use it. By the way, there is an auto-portrait mode in the camera app but I am not sure how it works. The Desire Z is as per the G2 a great update of the old G1. The Z hinges, as HTC called them, are very snappy, you might be worried to get a finger cut when closing it (it could not happend!). The keyboard is pleasant to use, even with large fingers like mine. Again, the only bad thing I would say about the Z it would be about the small trackpad, it would take someone time to get used to it.
To conclude, two nice phones and improvments for Sense to give HTC the tools to grab pieces of market own mostly by Nokia. No wonder, the competition tried to crash HTC’s party. They should be afraid, because these two phones, to be released right in time before the Holiday Season, are going to be a success, maybe a little one for Android, but a big one for HTC.
Impressions on the HTC London Event originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
Posted: 16 Sep 2010 05:08 PM PDT
Today in New York, Samsung announced the launch of the Samsung Media Hub. The service, which features Next-Day TV Shows, Movies, and sharing (for up to 5 media hub enabled devices), will be available for Samsung Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S devices. At this point, Samsung has MTV, NBC, Paramount, Universal Studios, and Warner as partners, with more content providers to be announced. At this point, no word on pricing, but hopefully we will get that soon.
Stay tuned folks.
Source: Engadget
Samsung Media Hub to Feature Next-Day TV Shows, Movies, and Device Sharing originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
Posted: 19 Sep 2010 12:54 PM PDT
Boom! Just like that, the Galaxy Tab is launching on both Rogers and Bell. This is great news for Canadian readers. It’s nice to see that Samsung is giving Canadians a great opportunity to by the Tab. I pretty much thought this would happen though as they are giving this tablet some major priority.
Obviously, still no word about pricing or release dates from either carrier as of yet, but hopefully we will be having something soon. As soon as we have it, we will let you know!
Anyone up in Canada excited about this?
Source: Bell and Rogers
Both Rogers and Bell Will Carry the Samsung Galaxy Tab originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
Posted: 15 Sep 2010 06:11 AM PDT
In case you might have forgotten, HTC is in London today, talking new phones. One of the new device just unveiled is the Desire HD. Looking very much like a beefed up EVO with Sense UI, this Android 2.2 phone is another stunner from the boys of Taiwan. We’ll jump right into the cold, hard stats for you guys. We’re looking at a 1GHz processor, 1.5GB internal storage, 768MB RAM, an 8-megapixel camera, and a 4.3-inch SLCD touch screen. As mentioned at the top, it features the latest version of HTC’s Sense UI on top of Android 2.2 ‘Froyo’. The Desire HD is capable of 720p HV video recording and offers Dolby® Mobile and SRS surround sound and DLNA connectivity. There’s the requisite support for WiFi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1, micro-USB, GPS, and 3.5mm headphone jack. We’ll be back to hit you with the official press release when it’s available!
Our own Raphael Savina is on the ground, taking things in first hand for you guys. You can follow his tweets and reactions a @rahpaelsavina!
HTC Officially Unveils Desire HD at London Event originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
29
Jul
Posted in Android Froyo, Motorola DROID by adminz |
Posted: 19 Jul 2010 10:22 AM PDT
Word just came down from a trusted Boy Genius Report source that Verizon’s Droid Incredible will see Android 2.2 “Froyo” in the coming weeks. Targeted for end of July, early August, the update is listed with many of the same features found in the current release hitting phones this week. It’s likely that this small update will get shelved in favor of the bigger, better Froyo-flavored release.
According to BGR’s source, these are the features in the update:
- Froyo
- 802.11 n
- 3G Mobile Hot Spot
- HTC Widget: Email
- HTC Widget: News
- EAS Updates
- 720p Video Recording
- Amazon MP3
- Skype
- My Verizon
NOTE: Rumor: Droid Incredible Getting Froyo Late July, Early August originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
AndroidGuys is looking for summer interns! Check out bit.ly/AGinterns
You May Also Enjoy…
27
May
Posted in Android Froyo by adminz |
Flash 10.1 for Android and Android 2.2 FroYo
By First Take, 20 May, 2010 21:31
At Google IO this morning Adobe unveiled its Flash 10.1 beta for Google’s Android mobile OS. With Evans Data now reporting over 3 million Flash developers, it’s a platform that’s gone a long way beyond its original designer audience. Flash 10.1 is the first mobile version of the full Flash player and Android will be the first platform with full Flash support. (the previously available Flash Lite could only be installed by handset manufacturers and only offered a subset of an older version of the Flash platform).
Flash Player 10.1 is a major update, with support for new interaction models and APIs. There’s support for multi-touch, for gestures, and for accelerometers. The same features will work on mobile devices and on touch desktop and notebook devices.
Most existing Flash content just works in the Android beta, though Adobe says that it will continue to refine content with its partners. There’ll also be design guidance for developers wanting to build or update mobile versions of their Flash applications. One big change is a reduction in memory usage, in many cases up to 50% less.
Performance is much more important on mobile devices than desktop PCs, as resources are extremely limited. The Android version of the Flash Player performs well, thanks to work with Qualcomm as well as with Google. Qualcomm isn’t the only silicon vendor with Flash optimisation, as getting hardware acceleration is key to delivering an effective mobile solution. One key feature for improving performance is what Adobe is calling “smart rendering”, where content outside the viewable screen area isn’t fully rendered. There’s also support for low power states, reducing frame rates, and for sleep modes. This has also required Adobe to update its existing streaming protocols.
This results in a test H.264 video stream, playing in Flash with no hardware acceleration, running for 3 hours over 3G on a Nexus One. Playing casual games should offer 4 hours battery life.
Adobe has worked with Google to deliver additional features in Android, including support for over-the-air updates and content-triggered installation. This has meant that instead of the original expectation that Flash would run on Android 2.1 it now requires Android 2.2 (and can take advantage of a faster OS for AIR support). In a comment directed more at Apple than the keynote audience, Google’s Vic Gundotra described the partnership as “It’s great to work together to serve users, it’s much nicer than just saying no”.
This will be a public beta release, with software initially downloadable from the Android market. Adobe also separately announced that Flash Player 10.1 will be generally available in June, for Android and for desktop PCs (including a 64-bit release). While Adobe has a focus on Android at present, work is continuing on other platforms including Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry, Symbian, and WebOS.
FroYo, Android 2.2, is the next version of Android to be released. It’s a major update to the OS, and will run on many of the most recent Android devices. We’ll be looking at in more detail soon, but the features demonstrated on stage at IO make it clear that Google has set its sights firmly on Apple and the iPhone. As well as Flash and AIR support, there’s a new JVM with a JIT compiler that promises considerable speed up for existing apps and the arrival of Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine.
Developers get access to new debugging tools that deliver crash reports from devices to the Android market, where they can see a complete stack trace of any crash. The Android Market gets a considerable upgrade, with support for automatic updates. The keynote also demonstrated a future update will allow OTA delivery of applications to devices from a web version of the store. The market will also include music, and SimplifyMedia’s streaming media plugin for existing desktop media players will turn your own media libraries into streamed music sources, wherever you are. Applications will also be able to be installed to an SD card – and run from it.
Enterprise users looking for an alternative to the classic Windows Mobile platform will find Android 2.2 very attractive, with support for two Exchange Active Sync connections (as well as sync with the Google cloud services). There’s also the ability to make any Android device a mobile-to-WiFi hotspot, connecting any WiFi enabled device to the internet (including Apple’s iPad). The new Exchange capabilities include account auto-discovery and calendar sync. There’s also (finally) a set of device policy management APIs that allow developers to write applications that can control security features of the device, including remote wipe, minimum password, and lockscreen timeout.
Another option is support for a new set of backup APIs, which add data backup to application backup, allowing an application’s last data to be restored when installed on a new or a reset device. There’s also a new Cloud-to-device Messaging API, where an application server sends a message to a messaging server which sends it on to an android device. In a swipe at Apple, Google describes it as “Much more than a push notification service designed to make up for a lack of basic features like multitasking”.
Developers can download the Android 2.2 SDK and Android NDK, Revision 4 now from the Android developer site. Froyo will be made available to OEMs and the open source community in the coming weeks.
Simon Bisson
Source from :
http://www.zdnet.co.uk
