Google Android Gadgets Guide

Last fall, we were shocked to hear Samsung say that 2010 would see Android phones going for less than $100 on contract.  Flash forward a year and we’re getting close to seeing sub-$100 phones without contract!   Cricket has just announced their second Android handset, the Huawei Ascend with a very attractive $149 price point.  Due later this month, the Ascend might sound like your two-year old G1 with a touch of today’s Android OS.  

The hardware features include a 320X480 display, a 3.5-inch HVGA display, a 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM 7200A processor, and 3 megapixel camera. The Android 2.1 phone is described by PC Magazine as being “cheap” with a “now-out-of-fashion trackball” but that’s likely not going to upset Cricket or Huawei.  The whole point is to get more people on board with Android and Cricket’s $55 all you can eat plan.  So will you bite?

Boy Genius is reporting this morning that HTC has created silver version of the HTC Desire. I don’t know about you, but it sounds pretty damn sexy! Honestly, I didn’t really like brown version, so this is good news. Hopefully, if and when this phone comes to the United States, users will have a choice. Thank you HTC!

Source: Boy Genius Report and XDA Developers

Just a few days ago we reported on Paul O’Brien and his loading of the brand new HTC Desire ROM onto his rooted Nexus One.  At the time, he was keeping the ROM to himself as it appeared to have a watermark on it. Not anymore!

Paul has released an alpha version of the ROM for you guys who have root access on your Nexus One handsets.  According to him, it’s a tad buggy but works great overall.

Aside from the FM radio, there appear to be no hardware incompatibilities that will cause a problem between the two devices. Even the noise canceling microphone is functional in this ROM. The only problems with the ROM are related to the fact it’s early Beta. The biggie here is graphical glitching – you’ll see this as you start using the ROM.. The camera application does not yet record at 720P and is locked to a max res of 3 Megapixels all symptoms of an early Beta release, simple as that.

As with all rooting and modding, things are done at your own risk.  Be really careful with that superphone!  Want the step-by-step directions?  Head to RedmondPie and get started.  They’ve laid everything out nicely.

Will HTC’s new Legend handset end up in the Google Android store with the Nexus One?  Sindre Lia, of infoSync thinks it’s a possibility and we’re inclined to agree. One of the things mentioned when the Google store was unveiled is that other handsets will be sold through the channel as long as they brought something ‘unique’ to the portal.  Looking at the Legend, we see plenty of things that differentiate it from the Nexus One, making it a potential store candidate.

• The Legend more than fills the gap between feature phones and super phones while the Nexus One sits near the top of the food chain.
• A lower price point could attract more eyeballs to the store
• The two phones have distinctive designs likely to appeal to completely different users
• The Nexus One offers the stock Android experience whereas the Legend features Sense UI

When the HTC Legend was announced, HTC said that there were no immediate plans to offer it here in the United States.  That could mean two things – a US version could come later (a la Sprint’s Hero) or it could be made available through the store without any carrier attached.

As of now, we can only guess as to what phones will arrive in the Google store.  We’re aware of Motorola’s plans to offer something through the channel, but beyond that, your guess is as good as ours.  Or as good as Sindre Lia’s.

Gorgeous, isn’t it?  We’ve been saying for a while now that the HTC Bravo appears to be the nearly identical twin to the Nexus One, save for Sense UI and some minor adjustments.  On paper, the two handsets nearly mirror each other.  If the rumors are true, we’ll be hearing officially from HTC on this device tomorrow at Mobile World Congress.  In the time we’ve been waiting for the news to come down from high, the on-board memory received a boost.  We’re talking 576 RAM and 512MB ROM!

The guys over at Madaco were able to get their hands on the full list of specs, but we’ve taken the liberty of pasting those we thinking most people care about.

• 1 GHz Processor
• Android 2.1 with HTC Sense
• Memory – ROM: 512 MB, RAM: 576 MB
• Display – 3.7-inch 480X800 WVGA AMOLED Screen
• HSPA/WCDMA:
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Optical Trackball
• GPS, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, G-Sensor, Digital compass
• Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi, 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
• 5 megapixel color camera with auto focus and flashlight
• Battery – 1400 mAh

These are exactly the kinds of phones we expect from handset makers if they want to play in the upper echelon.  What do you guys think?  All the makings of a Nexus One, plus Sense!

Chinese handset maker Huawei is in Barcelona and it’s not to see what the competition is up to.  They’ve just pulled the curtain back on 4 brand new Android handsets, the U8300, U8100, U8110, and the U8800.  In addition to that, they’ve also announced a SmaKit S7.  Let’s take a quick look at each of them, shall we?

U8300

The U8300 is targeted at the youth market, integrates social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter, features a QWERTY keypad, and is designed to allow for chatting and texting in comfort.  Look for the u8300 in three ‘bright’ colors – green, yellow and purple.

u8100

Up next, the U8100 and U8110, are the same phone on the inside.  The outside however might appeal to different segments (read boys versus girls).  These are considered entry-level handsets although we don’t have a complete list of specs.  What we do know is that they both have 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreens, a 0.3 mega pixel camera in the front and a 3.2 mega pixel camera in the rear.  Both of these models are expected in Europe at some point in Q2 of this year.

u8110

The high-end handset,the U8800 runs Android 2.1, offers support for HSPA+ (14 Mb/s download), a 3.8-inch screen and more.  With the right network and ideal situations, this phone can download a 400Mb feature-length movie file in under a half minute.  As far as carriers, price, or availability go, we’re still waiting to hear more.

u8800

Huawei is also introducing their first Android-based Internet Device, the SmaKit S7.  Featuring a 7-inch wide screen (800×480 resolution), it’s designed to support “information-sharing across screens to present the same content simultaneously on computers, mobile phones and TV screens”.  A screen this size makes it easy to read emails, tweet, and stay connected to friends and family.  The SmaKit S7 can also be connected to home gateway, TV, and of course, Android handset.

Be sure to check back with us as we fill in the blanks with the hardware specs and various Android builds for each phone!

Rumored to be AT&T’s first Android handset, the Motorola Backflip has been spotted in China. Available for 4,298 Chinese yuan (approx $629 US), the Backflip comes unlocked with an 8GB memory card and a car charger. We’ve yet to hear what price point to expect with or without contract once it hits US soil. Known in China as the Backflip ME600, the phone features a 320×480 touchscreen display, QWERTY keyboard, a 5 mega-pixel camera, WiFi, HSDPA, GPS, and a 3.5mm headset jack.  The Backflip also runs MOTOBLUR based around Android 1.6 OS.

Source: unwired view