Go to Source

Go to Source

Go to Source

Android-powered Samsung i899 lands at China Telecom was written by the team at Android Authority.

Go to Source

For the most part I will admit we are still a little unorganized at times, but things are going to change in 2010. Check back mid-January for details on some paid positions we will be offering (Yes, we are in big need of help and that’s a good thing).

What stories captured your attention this year? Here are the Top 10 posts of 2009, by unique pageviews:

1. Beginners Guide For Rooting Your Android G1 To Install Cupcake – This was the first hacking guide I attempted to write. Back in the day, it was not as easy to root your phone and the information was spread across 100 page threads on XDA. I tried my best to simplify the process and shared my experiences I ran into when I first hacked my G1.

2. How to root a T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G Android phone – Three months later I saw the original guide was outdated so I attempted to re-write the entire thing and I added more pictures. The post was well received, but it also eventually became outdated. I now suggest that newcomers follow the CyanogenMod Wiki when first attempting to root their G1 or myTouch 3G.

3. Motorola Sholes for Verizon: New predictions and CPU specs – Over the summer, the Motorola Sholes became the hottest topic in Android land. In this post, I was the first to reveal that the Sholes (which became the Droid) would feature a TI OMAP3430 processor. I also speculated the Droid would launch with Android 2.0 and retail for $199, which both turned out to be true.

4. How to manually partition your SD card for Android Apps2SD – Noticing that hacking guides were becoming popular, I wrote another one to explain how to manually partition your SD card. It was a good learning experience, but I now suggest people use the Amon_RA recovery image which can automatically partition your SD card.

5. Google fails to address app storage issue with Droid and Android 2.0 – When the Droid specs were officially announced, I pointed out the device only featured 256 MB of space for users to store their apps. This post became popular when several iPhone blogs linked to it in order to bash the Droid. The upcoming Nexus One also features the same size onboard storage of the Droid, so either Google is not concerned with the issue or they have a solution in the works.

6. Robo Defense: 120 Levels of Tower Defense Madness – This one was quite a surprise. Robo Defense became one of the best selling games on Android and this was the only time we touched on the topic. The post was written by one of our early contributors Christopher Earle (who was awesome).

7. Root a T-Mobile myTouch 3G or G1 in 6 minutes and flash Cyanogen’s rom with Donut crumbs – I like to make videos, but we did not film too many this year. This video was shot the day the 1-click root hack came out and I wanted to demonstrate how easy the process had become. We filmed this video right before Clark smashed his phone.

8. HTC’s 2010 Android lineup revealed – When XDA user B3ler3fonte leaked the HTC 2010 roadmap, we received our biggest spike in traffic ever. All I did was take the images he uploaded and cropped them to fit on our site. We were the first blog to get the images up, which led to a lot of other sites linking back to us. We are still waiting to see if any of these prototype phones actually turn into real products that get launched.

9. Android 2.0 coming to T-Mobile – I hammered T-Mobile a lot asking if they would update their existing phones like the G1 and myTouch 3G to Android 2.0. They finally responded that they were “coordinating with Google to deliver Android 2.0″, but did not mention any specific devices. Maybe they were referring to the Nexus One or maybe the older phones will still get updated. We are still waiting to find out.

10. How to install Android SDK and play with Android 2.0 in the emulator – Another one of our contributors Justin Shapcott called out Google for not releasing the Android 2.0 SDK and then it magically appeared the next day. After the new SDK was out, it didn’t take Justin long to write a short guide explaining how to install it and run the emulator.

Conclusion

We broke a lot of exclusive stories in 2009, but many of our guides ended up being the top posts of the year. Look for expanded hacking guides and tutorials in 2010. This site will continue to shift into being a helpful resource for all levels of Android users.

Only one video post was ranked near the top, but we will be greatly expanding the use of our YouTube channel (subscribe now for lots of CES footage).

When it came to app and game reviews, we were sorely lacking. Additional resources will be brought on board to address those needs.

Finally, I have to give a huge thank you to all the loyal readers we have. I remember running contests when we first reached 100 RSS subscribers and now we have over 10,000. Over 11,500 comments were posted on the site and I personally read most of them. We love all the feedback, both positive and negative. Be on the lookout in 2010 for new and exciting giveaways across our network of social sites.

If you want to help us out, please tell us the areas we suck and your feedback will go into our 2010 roadmap (which I’m going to publicly reveal sometime after CES).

Thank you to everyone who made 2009 an awesome year for Android fans.

Related Posts

• Google News prints Android edition
• Holiday Buyer’s Guide Day 4 – Android gifts for the music fan
• Celebrity Android User: MC Frontalot
• iD Software frags Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein ports for Android
• First videos of the Android-powered Motorola Opus One for Boost Mobile

Go to Source

First we have a video from our friend John Walton of DroidDog. He captured a 10 minute video from YouTube (that got removed) and re-upped it for everyone to see. This is one of the best looks we have seen so far of the animated wallpapers featured in Android 2.1.

Next we have another guy lucky enough to get his hands on a Nexus One and run a quick benchmark on it. He performs the Qualcomm Neo Core benchmark and scores 26.7 fps. I doubt the benchmark is optimized for the Snapdragon because my HTC Magic scores 25.7.

Finally, we have a Motorola Milestone user who has loaded some of the Android 2.1 apps which have been back-ported. This video gives us a good look at the Google News and Weather app and widget, the desk clock, and new gallery.

Related Posts

• Nexus One gets early video review
• New Sense UI and Android 2.1 on video
• Google phone Nexus One captured on video
• Nexus One: $530 unlocked, $180 with T-Mobile
• T-Mobile confirms early January launch for Google Android phone Nexus One

Go to Source

The launch date of the Cosmos remains unknown. General Mobile is also working on their own Android app store which is likely to coincide with the release of their new phone.

The Cosmos specs are:

• Marvell PXA935 624Mhz CPU (Tavor P65)
• HSDPA/WCDMA/EDGE/GPRS/GSM for up to 3.6Mbps downloads
• Android OS 2.0 Eclair
• Built-in General Mobile Android app store
• New 3D animated UIs
• 5.0 MP AF SONY sensor camera (same as in the DSTL1)
• 3.2-inch HVGA (320 x 480 pixel) capacitive multi-touch screen
• Bluetooth 2.0
• WiFi 802.11b/g
• 256MB NAND + 128MB DDR, microSD cards up to 16GB
• Trackball controller
• GPS and electronic compass
• FM radio
• 1500mAh battery

Hit up the source for a few more pics of the device.

Related Posts

• Google invites press to Jan. 5 Android event
• General Mobile Storeoid: Yes, another Android app store
• Nexus One said to feature new Android Market
• Google phone Nexus One captured on video
• LG in talks with T-Mobile

Go to Source

The Motorola XT800 Android Phone that we told you about 2 weeks ago has been made official by Motorola and is indeed headed to China Telecom as rumored. They’ll have the phone on display at the MotoDev Summit in Beijing on January 14th.

It’s a pretty good looking device and the specs definitely rise to the occasion as well:

• Android 2.0
• 854 x 480 resolution
• 5MP camera
• Both GSM and CDMA support
• GPS
• Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR
• 3.5mm headset jack

[Via Motorola]

Go to Source

It seems like tablets are the next big thing slated for success/attention in the mobile device category – pun intended (if you can find it). So when Camangi had their WebStation up for pre-order they got some decent attention. Turns out it wasn’t so deserved.

Michael Smith from Gizmodo was able to get an early unit, paid for it in full, and recently posted his review. It’s a long and thorough review, but I think it’ll suffice to just read his conclusion:

But essentially it’s about as powerful as a digital picture frame, and that’s very sad. Basically my plan at this point is to call American Express and find out what I can do to return and refund. In my opinion the Camangi WebStation is a total fail and I can’t recommend it to anyone at any price.

It doesn’t get much worse than that in terms of “summing it up”.

The company recently sent me an Email suggesting I better hurry up and pre-order because the opportunity ends on December 31st and if I don’t snag one by then, I might just miss out altogether. For some reason I think they’ll have PLENTY of WebStations sitting in a warehouse somewhere, begging to be stolen (since they can’t be sold).

Here is the Email they sent me:

Dear Rob,

Thank you in advance for your support for Camangi WebStation.

The pre-order event is only available until Thursday, Dec. 31 2009, 11:59:59 p.m. (GMT-5:00). In case that your coupon number will be invalid in 3 days, please go to our Store to place an order before the deadline. After shipping out all pre-order products, WebStation will also be ready on our Online Store and Amazon.com soon. If you prefer not to use PayPal to place an order, you can purchase WebStation until then.

If you have any question or opinion, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you very much!

Camangi wish you a Happy New Year!

All the best,
Camangi WebStation Team

Oh well… I guess we’ll have to play the waiting game for a decent Android Tablet to come out of the mill. And I’m wondering if by then it’ll be a Chrome OS Tablet we’re really wanting?

Go to Source

The Consumer Electronics Show is practically a week away, and although Google plans to steal the thunder, the rest of the tech world are trying to create their own hoopla. According to Global Equities Research Analyst Trip Chowdhry that may include announcing two Android Phones.

Emphasis on “may” here… especially since the company has a January 6th event with a keynote by Steve Ballmer. And uh… he is the CEO of Microsoft. And uh… Microsoft has that thing called Windows Mobile. But didn’t Motorola’s CEO pretty much declare Android their victor and WinMo dead in the water? Hmmm… weird.

In any case, if these 2 new phones ARE announced here is what Chowdhry thinks:

• AT&T Android Phone with OLED screen and QWERTY keyboard. Google Experience Phone.
• Verizon Wireless Android Phone with OLED screen, no keyboard.

You would think that Motorola, who has been so openly embracing of Android in the past 6 months, would want to do SOMETHING to support their mission at this crucial conference. We’ll find out soon enough!

Go to Source