TELUS Milestone Rooted (Kinda)

Rooting the Motorola Milestone has been a somewhat impossible task given Motorola locking down the bootloader. I say somewhat because some folks at AllDroid have managed to gain root access on the TELUS Milestone, albeit without kernel access. A good start is better than nothing and there are some directions on how to root the TELUS Motorola Milestone over at AllDroid. I find the poll at the top quite humorous: “Did this thread help any” with the choices all answering questions with questions… onf of them “Did you brick your phone”? Feel free to try this out yourself, but if you have to answer the question with the question we noted – don’t blame us!

See original here: 
TELUS Milestone Rooted (Kinda)

3 UK Adding 6 more Android handsets to it’s line up – All Within The Next Three Months

Android seems to be gaining great velocity in the UK – not only has Vodafone shown great interest in Android recently (besides already major Android players such as T-mobile) but Network 3 too. 3 UK’s head of internet services – David Kerrigan – said that the company will release 6 Android phones all within the next 3 months and will focus on devices with Android as the platform will help push sales. Sounds like a good plan to me! They didn’t exactly point out what handsets they’ll be stocking but did however share  they’ll be working closely with Samsung and Sony Ericsson to market the devices. Just having a guess here but I would say you’ll probably have a choice from the Samsung Galaxy, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, maybe  some budget or entry level handsets and of course HTC’s slew of devices will probably appear. After all we already know the Desire is coming to 3 among other networks. David Kerrigan also confirmed that all these six devices launched will support Music service Spotify.BONUS! “The Spotify application will be available on all Android devices we launch on the network. These applications have been important in driving mobile data and will be available as an add-on for all contract tariffs going forward” Network 3 already sells the popular HTC Hero on two different price plans. £25 without and £35 with a premium spotify account the length of the 24 month contract, so I would imagine these new releases would be on very similar tariffs. It’s worth noting if you get a £25 plan without spotify, a premium spotify account is £10 a month anyway. It’s great to see more operators showing interest in Android phones and gadgets, helping Android grow and giving people the opportunity to choose what operator they might want to go with! [Via Mobile News ]

Excerpt from: 
3 UK Adding 6 more Android handsets to it’s line up – All Within The Next Three Months

Motorola Milestone Pre-Loaded With Android 2.1 In Bulgaria?

The Motorola Droid launched with Android 2.0. Then the Nexus One launched with Android 2.1. Since then Droid owners have been clamoring for 2.1, been promised and then unpromised the update, and are still waiting for its arrival. That arrival might finally be coming if its pre-loaded existence on Motorola Milestones in Bulgaria is any indication. That’s right – starting March 20th, Motorola Miletones sold in Bulgaria with a carrier named VIVACOM will come with Android 2.1 according to Bulgaria.com . If that’s the case, we would expect other operators in Europe to start offering the same. And furthermore, we would expect a carrier offering 2.1 out of the box to also offer updates to existing Milestone owners with the same phone (but with an older OS). Whether or not this situation extends to the American brother – the Motorola Droid – is uncertain. And lets not forget that each carrier is probably putting Android 2.1 through the paces on each separate phone before it will push the update to the public. But this is at least a good sign that the Droids and Milestones of the world will be getting Android 2.1 before long. Lucky, lucky Bulgarians. [Via Engadget ]

Go here to read the rest:
Motorola Milestone Pre-Loaded With Android 2.1 In Bulgaria?

Nexus One Lite/Cheap Flying To India?

Often times manufacturers will take a high-end handset, make it smaller, slightly lower the specs, slap a name like “Lite” or “Mini” on it, slash the price and call it a day. Sony Ericsson is doing something similar with the X10 and we’ve seen Samsung do it with the Galaxy. But it happens everywhere. Now, thanks to a rumor from TechTree , we’re wondering if the same thing will happen to the Nexus One on its way to India. The rumors are suggesting that the phone, which will be targeted towards developing markets where consumers have less disposable income, will keep its 3.7-inch screen but with a slimmer frame and less fancy innards. Whether it will be called the Nexus One, Nexus One Lite, or something else remains to be seen. And to be honest, whether this rumor holds any weight remains to be seen as well – it doesn’t seem like the most likely of scenarios but in this industry we’ve learned anything is possible. [ TechTree via A&M , Slashphone ]

View post: 
Nexus One Lite/Cheap Flying To India?

Verizon Nexus One Coming With HTC Sense?

The Nexus One sold through Google’s website is a Google Experience phone. That is – it runs a stock version of Android with no customizations out of the box. That makes perfect sense since it isn’t branded as an HTC device. But something else makes sense in a different way: Verizon’s Nexus One, still sold through the Google website, might come pre-packaged with HTC Sense. The above screenshot is supposedly a leaked screenshot of Verizon’s Equipment Guide. You can clearly see: Top line indicates ONLY sold at google.com/phones (should be “phone” singular) 4 bullets from the bottom left it says “Sense UI (User Interface)” Whether this is legit, typ0-free document we don’t know, but hopefully we’ll find out soon. I’m guessing a LOT of people have been waiting for the Nexus One to hit VZW and Voda since they were announced as eventual partners the first day. [Via AndroidCentral ]

Excerpt from: 
Verizon Nexus One Coming With HTC Sense?

Nexus One, HTC Legend & HTC Desire Appear on Vodafone’s “Coming Soon” Section

The code monkeys at Vodafone look like they’ve been rather busy today! The usually rather vacant ‘coming soon’ section of Vodafone’s UK website has just today added 3 of the latest handsets including the HTC Legend and HTC Desire clearly pointing out they’re coming in “April” with the Nexus one still “coming soon” – however we do expect the Nexus One to also be available in April. Why not have some screen-shots to gaze over: Vodafone sure are jumping on the Android bandwagon! Offering the Legend, Desire, X10, Nexus one and possibly even making there own Android based device . Their ‘ coming soon ‘ section has never looked so nice – oozing with Android offerings!

Read more here:
Nexus One, HTC Legend & HTC Desire Appear on Vodafone’s “Coming Soon” Section

HTC Incredible – New Pictures!

We told you to keep an eye out on androidforums ‘Official HTC Incredible thread’ now more pics have surfaced of the snapdragon powered incredible thanks to AF member NKT ! With the pictures come interesting specs. Reportedly, the Incredible measures 17.5 x 58.5 x 11.9 mm – almost the same as the Nexus one, comes with an 8MP camera with auto focus and with Dual-flash and 512mb of RAM & ROM. Interestingly it seems the 1 Ghz Snapdragon processor has been under-clocked to run at 768MHz – presumably to save battery but without effecting the performance. Don’t forget this incredible phone should come loaded with Android 2.1,  HTC’s Sense UI, a 3.7″ AMOLED screen, an optical trackpad, an FM receiver and Wi-fi, bluetooth and GPS. I’m really digging the look of the handset but I do think this could potentially be a final design as it has altered from that  bright, red glossy cover to a soft feel black one while keeping the unique shape design & ofcourse this one brandishes Verizons logo. Though I really like the red thing going on theres no info it will still be this color at release. What do you think of the bold red design? The Incredible has already appeared on Verizons inventory so lets hope for an official announcement real soon! [Via Androidforums ] (Thanks to NKT & everyone that sent this in/tipped this!)

See original here: 
HTC Incredible – New Pictures!

HTC Tattoo Getting Android 2.1

This should be a relief to not only HTC Tattoo users but also the general lower-end Android handset owners: the HTC Tattoo is getting an upgrade to Android 2.1. According to French Android website Frandroid , HTC has confirmed the upgrade: Kindly note we understand that now that a phone running Android OS 2.1 is available that you are excited to get an update for your Tattoo. We are still working hard to building Sense for this new version but we expect to have the upgrade finished and ready to go soon. Please understand that it takes time to customize any Android version to ensure you have the intuitive experience Sense provides, and we hope you can be patient for just a little while longer. The HTC Tattoo is one of the lower powered Android Phones, bringing a 2.8-inch screen, QVGA resolution and 528 MHz processor. The concern for handsets like the G1/Dream and other budget Androids is that their processors and specs aren’t strong enough to power the bulk/heft of Android 2.1’s robust features. If this development is indeed true, it should bring hope to owners of other devices as well.

More: 
HTC Tattoo Getting Android 2.1

Nexus One/Two Sales Predictions Soften For 2010/2011

The Nexus One had an outstanding amount of hype prior to its release – and rightfully so – but sales of Google’s first phone in their new distribution channel haven’t taken off and analysts are noticing. Goldman Sachs has slashed their original estimates of 3.5 million units in 2010 to a paltry 1 million. Even worse, if/when the company launches the Nexus Two and markets it more aggressively both on and offline, they’re only predicting annual sales of 2 million handsets: We previously estimated that Google might sell 3.5 mn Nexus One units in 2010. Initial data-points were disappointing, possibly due to limited marketing and customer service challenges. Flurry estimated (based on mobile traffic) that Google sold 20,000 in the first week, and 80,000 in the first month, both annualizing to 1.0 mn. We forecast that Google sells 1.0 mn Nexus One units in FY2010, benefiting from US carriers other than T-Mobile, and non-US carriers such as Vodafone, promoting the device too, but suffering from limited marketing activity. We assume that Google rolls out a second Nexus handset, markets it more aggressively, and makes it available offline, and therefore forecast that Google sells 2 mn handsets per year in 2011 and future years. — Goldman Sachs You could easily say that this isn’t about generating handset sales but instead establishing a new distribution model and if you did, you might be right. But it doesn’t take away from the fact that the pre-announcement hype and post-launch sales haven’t been playing in the same ballpark. And then you have what Andy Rubin would say – that the company hoped to sell 150,000 units and would consider that a success. Was he just being modest in hopes of crushing those estimates? Perhaps. But clearly the company hasn’t pushed the Nexus One to its limits. They even ran a SuperBowl spot solely to promote Google Search, a product that the entire universe knows about, while allowing the Nexus One to live on in offline ambiguity. As for the Nexus Two and predicted sales? I think it totally depends on how hard Google decides to push the device, if their new “distribution model” gains a bit more focus, and whether or not they get more carriers on board. Right now they only have T-Mobile USA committed to offering the Nexus One through their site although both Verizon and Vodafone committed on launch day – still no offerings from them. And of course you’ve also got branded versions of the Nexus One, dubbed HTC Desire (with some improvements), hitting select markets. Let’s face it though – 1 million handsets isn’t bad for what by all accounts seems more like a “test” than anything else. And if Google continues to “test” with the Nexus Two I would consider 2 million a success as well. But if they ever decide to kick things into a higher gear, I think that 2 million could not only easily be beaten in 2011 but probably doubled and beyond.

Continued here: 
Nexus One/Two Sales Predictions Soften For 2010/2011

Vodafone UK Discontinue HTC Magic

Unfortunate news for some in the UK: Vodafone has decided to drop the HTC Magic from it’s range of Android devices, leaving only the HTC Tattoo for now. A moderator from the Vodafone eForum said: I just wanted to pop on and say the Magic hasn’t officially been discontinued yet, but is coming towards the end of its life with us. To be completely honest, I don’t remember a single phone in the last few years that’s been sold for more than 12 months. Mobile technology changes so rapidly that we’re constantly releasing new devices, and realistically older ones sell less well when the newer ones come out. The HTC Magic is one of the longest running devices in our entire range, in fact I think only the Nokia 5800 has been on sale longer. Though Voda will no longer sell the handset they have an awesome range of Android handsets due to be added to the Android Line-up including the Sony Ericsson X10, the Nexus One and the HTC Legend! [Via Vodafone eForum ]

Excerpt from:
Vodafone UK Discontinue HTC Magic

Next Page »