Android Phone Geek

Best Buy:T-Mobile HTC G2 Pre-sale On Friday

David Wasserman — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:30:11 +0000

Best Buy just announced that it will begin presales for the T-Mobile HTC G2 starting this Friday. It will run you $199 with a two year contract. Best Buy also announced that the G2 will be available in their stores starting October 6th. No official word on when T-Mobile will be selling the G2. [Best Buy]

Press Release:

Best Buy Mobile Launches Pre-Sale of the T-Mobile® G2™ with Google™
The pre-sale begins Friday, September 10.
Best Buy Mobile today announced the T-Mobile® G2™ with Google™ will be available for pre-orders starting Friday, September 10. It will launch in stores October 6 and will retail for $199.99 with new two-year activation.
By adding the T-Mobile® G2™ with Google™ to its assortment, Best Buy Mobile furthers its position as the place for consumers to research and purchase the smart phone that is right for their needs. Best Buy Mobile has the most under smart phones under one roof, including the iPhone 4, HTC EVO 4G (Black or White version), the full line of Samsung Galaxy smart phones and the BlackBerry Torch, among others.
The G2 is T-Mobile’s first phone on its advanced network that lets consumers connect at 4G speeds. It has the Android 2.2 operating system, an exclusive hinge design (HTC calls it “Z-Hinge”) that opens up to a QWERTY keyboard and a full touch screen 3.7” S-TFT WVGA with clear images and wide viewing angle.
Pre-orders can be made by visiting any local Best Buy or Best Buy mobile standalone store.
At Best Buy Mobile, consumers can compare the latest devices from popular carriers and plans in store or online. For more information on the T-Mobile® G2™ with Google™, and other smart phones available at Best Buy, visit www.bestbuy.com/mobile.

Nook For Android Updated

David Wasserman — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:30:51 +0000

Barnes & Noble has just announced another update to their popular NOOK application for Android. This update brings Nook for Android to version 2.2. NOOK runs on Android devices running Android 1.6 or higher and provides full access to the Barnes & Noble eBookstore which has more than one million digital titles. Below is a list of improvements and enhancements from the Nook 2.2 release.

Faster access and action in Library:
1. Pop-up menus appear around eBooks in Library to offer the most frequently used options, including Details, LendMe, More By and Buy Now (for samples). This feature is enabled by QuickActions, a new best practice in Android UI. Barnes & Noble is among the first companies to incorporate QuickActions into Android apps, along with Twitter.
More customizable reading experience:
1. There are now four line spacing options available, in addition to the four margin options introduced previously.
2. Text justification can be turned on or off.
3. The settings screen has been updated to a more user-friendly format to accommodate the latest changes.
More immersive reading experience:
1. Readers now have the option to hide the status bar when reading to focus more fully on the content.
Other performance enhancements

Click here to download the free NOOK 2.2 app from your Android device or scan the QR Code below. [Barnes&Noble]

New Google Voice Widgets Now Available

David Wasserman — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:50:57 +0000

Google Voice has a new version officially available and it includes widgets. This update gives you two widgets which you can see in the screen shot below. The widgets can be used together or individually. This is a very welcome addition to an already very useful app!

To download, click here on your Android device. [Google Voice Blog]

T-Mobile G2 Is Now Official

David Wasserman — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:26:10 +0000

T-Mobile has officially announced the G2, the next generation of the smartphone that marked the launch of Android. It’s also becomes T-Mobile’s first HSPA+ device.

The T-Mobile G2 sports a 3.7-inch touchscreen with a full QWERTY keyboard. A Qualcomm MSM 7230 Snapdragon processor at 800MHz is onboard along with a 5-megapixel camera with full 720p video.

The G2 will launch with Froyo (Android 2.2) and have seven customizable home screens, including one dedicated to apps. Some of the preloaded software includes such titles as the new Google Search Voice Actions, the new Google Voice app, Google Earth, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Talk, Adobe FlashPlayer and Swype. The G2 comes with 4GB of internal memory and an 8GB microSD card which is expandable to 32GB.

Pricing has yet to be announced but pre-orders should begin later in the month. You can sign up at http://g2.t-mobile.com for updates. You can read the full press release below.

Introducing the T-Mobile G2 with Google — the First Smartphone Delivering 4G Speeds on T-Mobile’s Super-Fast HSPA+ Network

T-Mobile, Google and HTC re-team to deliver the groundbreaking successor to the T-Mobile G1; Exclusive preorder for current T-Mobile customers begins later this month.

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Sept. 9, 2010 — T-Mobile USA, Inc. today unveiled the T-Mobile^® G2™ with Google™, delivering downloads at 4G speeds¹, a blazing fast web browsing experience and tight integration with Google services. The G2 breaks new ground as the first smartphone specifically designed for T-Mobile’s new HSPA+ network², which covers 100 million Americans in more than 55 major metropolitan areas across the country. The G2 is an ultra-powerful smartphone designed by HTC and is the highly anticipated successor to the
T-Mobile G1, the world’s first Android™-powered mobile phone, pairing a large 3.7-inch screen with a unique hinge design that opens to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. Current T-Mobile customers will get exclusive access to preorder the G2 starting later this month.
“T-Mobile ignited the spark that set the Android world ablaze two years ago with the launch of the world’s first Android-powered mobile phone, the T-Mobile G1, which remains an important milestone for both T-Mobile and the Android operating system,” said Cole Brodman, chief technology and innovation officer, T-Mobile USA. “Now, with the launch of the T-Mobile G2, we are re-teaming with our partners at Google and HTC to provide T-Mobile customers with another first — the first Android smartphone designed to deliver 4G speeds on our new network.”
“One of the advantages of an open platform is the opportunity for developers to create rich mobile experiences and seamlessly get those experiences into the hands of consumers,” said Andy Rubin, vice president, engineering, Google. “From new services, such as Voice Actions, to mobile applications, developer-led Android innovation is flourishing. On Android Market alone, the number of applications available to consumers has grown from just 50 applications two years ago to more than 80,000 applications today.”
“Two years ago, HTC and T-Mobile worked together to deliver the world’s first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1. From that start, Android has grown to be the leading smartphone platform in the U.S., and one of the most popular globally,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “With today’s announcement of the G2, HTC and T-Mobile are once again bringing a breakthrough Android product to market.”
The first smartphone specifically designed to deliver 4G speeds on T-Mobile’s new HSPA+ network, the G2 is optimized for performance to provide customers with blazing fast access to a world of information through websites, applications, videos, file downloads and more. Built on Android 2.2, the G2 offers seven customizable home screen panels, including a dedicated panel with one-click access to your favorite Google applications such as Android Market™, which currently offers more than 80,000 applications.
The T-Mobile G2 delivers a powerful mobile data experience that is tightly integrated with Google Voice™, as well as packed with Google applications such as Voice Actions™ from Google, Google Goggles™ and more. It is one of the first smartphones in the industry to offer the new Voice Actions feature of Google Search™, which allows you to control your phone with your voice for calling contacts and businesses, sending messages, browsing the Web, listening to music and completing common tasks. It is also the first smartphone to offer integrated access to Google Voice™, allowing customers to create a new account using their current mobile number right from the home screen. Google Voice then automatically transcribes voicemails to text so customers can read them like an e-mail or text message from their phone or online. Additional pre-loaded Google services include Google Search, Gmail™, Google Maps™ with Places and Navigation, YouTube™, Google Talk™ and Google Earth™, among others.
Adding fuel to the G2’s speed is its Snapdragon™ MSM7230 mobile processor which combines Qualcomm’s new HSPA+ capabilities and second generation applications processor. The Snapdragon MSM7230 offers an 800 MHz CPU and is optimized to deliver exceptional performance, long battery life and leading edge multimedia and web browsing — with download speeds faster than other solutions currently in the market.
The G2 delivers advanced smartphone features including an HD video camera for recording crystal-clear, high-definition (720p) videos that can be automatically uploaded to your Photobucket account and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus. The G2 also offers smartphone essentials such as easy access to personal and work e-mail, including support for Microsoft^® Exchange e-mail, contacts and calendar; social networking; and instant messaging. In addition, the G2 features a pre-installed 8GB microSD memory card with support for up to 32 GB, as well as a music player.
Additional features of the G2 include the following:
Dedicated Quick Keys for one-touch access to your favorite Google shortcuts and applications
Adobe FlashPlayer enabled Web browsing experience
Pinch and zoom functionality for Web browsing and photo gallery
4GB internal memory with pre-installed 8GB micro SD card, with support for up to 32 GB of external memory
Built-in 3.5mm headphone jack, stereo headset and Bluetooth support
Swype^® text input for fast, accurate communication
Availability
The T-Mobile G2 with Google will be available in the U.S. exclusively from T-Mobile, and current T-Mobile customers will have the opportunity to preorder the G2 in limited quantities later this month. Additional availability details will be shared in the coming weeks. Visit http://g2.t-mobile.com to register for updates.

Motorola Droid 2 R2-D2 Special Edition Live Wallpapers Leaked

David Wasserman — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:01:19 +0000

The Motorola Droid 2 R2D2 special edition is coming later this month, but if you are into Star Wars, we have some leaked live wallpaper which you can download today. P3Droid from MyDroidWorld dissected the system dump and pulled out the special edition Star Wars themed live wallpapers. He also shot some videos demonstrating them to help you decide which ones to download.

Millenium Falcon (Click To Download)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jump To Lightspeed (Click To Download)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Interactive R2D2 (Click To Download)

Click here to view the embedded video.

There is one other live wallpaper without a video but you can head on over to the source for that link.

Google Instant Coming To Android Later This Fall

David Wasserman — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:24:10 +0000

Today Google announced Google Instant, which shows instant results as you type. Watch the video, and you can see how sweet it is. So, what if you want it on your phone? Official word is that it will hit “later this fall”, but if you’re quick, you can grab it now on your Android device and give it a whirl (who knows if Google will pull this so you should hurry!).

Just go to http://jmt20.google.com/m?sky=psy and you should get results as you type them. Also, check out the video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Samsung Vibrant Is BOGO At T-Mobile

David Wasserman — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:31:56 +0000

Competition is a good thing so T-Mobile, not to be outdone by Verizon, is having a buy one, get one deal on their Galaxy S phone, the Samsung Vibrant. The Samsung Vibrant will be available at the two for one price with a new two year contract. The second Vibrant is free after a $50 mail-in rebate.

Also, T-Mobile announced today “Kids Are Free” family plans for their network. Anyone who signs up for a family talk plan at T-Mobile between now and November 2nd won’t have to pay the additional line fees for up to three lines after your first two. This means lines three to five are totally free. [MobileBurn]

Samsung Announces Next-Generation Mobile Processor

Jibben Hillen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:06:53 +0000

Not to be outdone by NVIDIA, Samsung sent out a press release announcing their next-generation dual-core CPU for smartphones. It is named the Orion, and is based on a pair of 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 cores and a more powerful GPU that they claim offers 5x the 3D graphics power over the previous generation Hummingbird. This performance increase boast is similar to NVIDIA’s, so it will be interesting to see the processors compete and see which is the best.

The Samsung Orion chip has made some modifications for the better to the ARM Cortex-A9 reference design, which should allow for some increases in the performance over other chips that are purely stick to the reference design. These modifications include a 1MB L2 cache which will optimize CPU performance, DDR3 memory support, and an on-board triple display controller. As Samsung has been using a PowerVR SGX GPU from Imagination Technologies for the Hummingbird processor, we will most-likely see a next-generation version of this being used for the new Orion.

The Orion will begin mass production in 2011 most likely, though it will be available to “select customers” in Q4. I would suspect that Samsung will use their own processor for the next generation of Galaxy-S phones, which could be out before Christmas.

Qualcomm and Texas Instruments have also said they would have dual-core processors in Q4, but there have been no official announcements from either yet. The HTC Glacier will most likely be the flagship phone for Qualcomm’s new dual-core processors with the Adreno 205 GPU, which will be less powerful than Samsung’s current Hummingbird. TI’s OMAP4 could make its way to a Motorola device in Q4 as well, but that will use the same GPU as the current Hummingbird. So it is really down to Samsung and NVIDIA, who will have the better dual-core processor?

You can see the official press release below. [BusinessWire]

Samsung Introduces High Performance, Low Power Dual CORTEXTM – A9 Application Processor for Mobile Devices
TAIPEI, Taiwan–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced its new 1GHz ARM® CORTEXTM A9-based dual-core application processor, codenamed Orion, for advanced mobile applications. Device OEM developers now have a powerful dual processor chip platform designed specifically to meet the needs of high-performance, low-power mobile applications including tablets, netbooks and smartphones. Samsung’s new processor will be demonstrated at the seventh annual Samsung Mobile Solutions Forum held here in Taiwan at the Westin Taipei Hotel.
“Consumers are demanding the full web experience without compromise while on the go,” said Dojun Rhee, vice president of Marketing, System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics. “Given this trend, mobile device designers need an application processor platform that delivers superb multimedia performance, fast CPU processing speed, and abundant memory bandwidth. Samsung’s newest dual core application processor chip is designed specifically to fulfill such stringent performance requirements while maintaining long battery life.”
Designed using Samsung’s 45 nanometer low-power process technology, Orion features a pair of 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores, each comes with a 32KB data cache and a 32KB instruction cache. Samsung also included a 1MB L2 cache to optimize CPU processing performance and provide fast context switching in a multi-tasking environment. In addition, the memory interface and bus architecture of Orion supports data intensive multimedia applications including full HD video playback and high speed 3D action games.
Samsung’s new application processor incorporates a rich portfolio of advanced multimedia features implemented by hardware accelerators, such as video encoder/decoder that supports 30fps video playback and recording at 1080P full HD resolution. Using an enhanced graphics processing unit (GPU), the new processors are capable of delivering 5 times the 3D graphics performance over the previous processor generation from Samsung.
For design flexibility and system BOM cost reduction, Orion integrates a set of interfaces commonly used in mobile devices to configure various peripheral functionalities. For example, with this processor, customers have the choice to use different types of storage including NAND flash, moviNANDTM, SSD or HDD providing both SATA, and eMMC interfaces. Customers can also choose their appropriate memory options including low power LPDDR2 or DDR3, which is commonly used for high performance. In addition, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver baseband processor is embedded in the processor to seamlessly support location based services (LBS), which is critical in many emerging mobile applications.
Orion features an onboard native triple display controller architecture that compliments multi-tasking operations in a multiple display environment. A mobile device using the Orion processor can simultaneously support two on-device display screens, while driving a third external display such as a TV or a monitor, via an on-chip HDMI 1.3a interface.
Orion is designed to support package-on-package (POP) with memory stacking to reduce the footprint. A derivative of Orion, which is housed in a standalone package with a 0.8mm ball pitch, is also available.
Samsung’s new dual-core application processor, Orion, will be available to select customers in the fourth quarter of 2010 and is scheduled for mass production in the first half of 2011.

Samsung Fascinate Launches With BOGO

David Wasserman — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:54:54 +0000

The Samsung Fascinate, the last of the Galaxy S devices launching on a major carrier, is officially available today via the Verizon web store (available in stores tomorrow). To celebrate the Fascinate, Verizon is offering a BOGO (Buy One, Get One) deal so you can buy two handsets for $199.00 (after rebate) with a new two year contract.

Head on over to Verizon’s web store to check out all the details.

First Android Dual-Core Phone Coming By Year End

Jibben Hillen — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:57:18 +0000

Today LG announced that they will ship the world’s first dual-core Android smartphone in Q4 of this year. The phone will be the first phone based on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 mobile processor. There have been hints earlier, but this is the first official announcement that there will be a Tegra 2 smartphone this year.

The new NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, the AP20, claims a lot of firsts including being the first mobile dual-core CPU, the first ultra low-power GeForce GPU, and the first 1080p mobile video decoding and encoding. Each core is clocked at 1 GHz and LG claims that this will allow for 2x faster web browsing and up to 5x faster gaming performance over single core CPUs running at 1 GHz.

LG and NVIDIA also claim that the Tegra 2 will allow for “console-quality gaming”. The only problem with this is that there have been no elite developers that have fully supported Android, though we can hope that NVIDIA is developing some games behind the scenes with some of these developers.

This phone could probably be headed to either T-Mobile or Verizon. T-Mobile’s roadmap lists two LG devices in late November. Verizon is the only U.S. carrier who has launched an Android device from LG and the LG enV Tough 2 is rumored to appear later in the holiday season. [LG]

You can see the press release below.

LG DEVELOPS POWERFUL SMARTPHONES WITH NVIDIA TEGRA 2 PROCESSOR
SEOUL, Sept. 7, 2010 – LG Electronics (LG) announced today that it will introduce a series of fast, powerful smartphones starting in the fourth quarter of 2010 utilizing the second generation NVIDIA^® Tegra™ mobile processor, Tegra 2. Tegra 2 includes the world’s first dual-core CPU, which powers through complex tasks to achieve significant leaps in performance.
LG will integrate Tegra 2 into its smartphones, providing them with unprecedented power, speed and graphics capability. These smartphones will be part of LG’s Optimus Series, a new line of innovative mobile products.
LG selected NVIDIA Tegra because it enables a new mobile experience and content capabilities. Tegra 2 features a number of mobile “firsts”: the first mobile dual-core CPU, the only ultra low-power NVIDIA GeForce GPU and the first 1080p HD mobile video processor. Taking full advantage of the two speedy 1 GHz processors sharing the workload in Tegra 2, consumers can experience up to 2x faster web browsing and up to 5x faster gaming performance over single core processors running at 1 GHz. NVIDIA’s leadership in graphics also delivers flawless 1080p HD video playback, console-quality gaming and amazing 3D capabilities.
“LG is committed to making its Optimus Series smart devices the de facto standard in speed and graphics performance,” said Chang Ma, Vice President of Marketing Strategy Team, LG Mobile Communications Company. “We selected NVIDIA because it is the visual computing leader and has a long history of creating amazing consumer experiences.”
“The ultimate smartphones will be powered by Tegra, the world’s most advanced mobile processor,” said Phil Carmack, senior vice president of NVIDIA’s mobile business. “LG is one of the most popular consumer brands, and their Optimus Series of devices with Tegra is further validation of the processor’s ability to deliver an unrivaled, turbocharged media experience.”
LG’s Optimus Series smartphones featuring the NVIDIA Tegra 2 mobile processor will debut starting in the fourth quarter of the year.