Author Archive: Gareth

Another Phone Getting Froyo, This Time, The Droid

Over the past couple of days, it has been upgrade crazy. Firstly, the US carrier Sprint announced that the EVO 4G was going to receive Android 2.2 on Tuesday, then earlier today, HTC announced that European Desire’s would get Froyo as well. And now Verizon has just said the the original Droid is going to get the update next week!

No word on the UK version of the Droid, the Motorola Milestone getting the Froyo update, but  with this many phones receiving the latest version of Android, it can only be a matter of time before it happens.

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Good Reader for iPhone Review

Good Reader is one of the best apps available for reading documents on the iPhone and iPod Touch. It is able to store and view very large files in a number of different files formats such as Microsoft Office documents, iWork files, PDF’s, website archiving, images, audio files and videos.

HTC Desire Getting Froyo This Weekend

Yesterday, HTC announced that the HTC EVO 4G was going to get Froyo on Tuesday. And now they are  continuing with the Froyo roll out, with the HTC Desire coming this weekend! As long as your Dsyncesire is european (most of them are) and not carrier locked, you should see the notification to update this weekend. The update also brings a couple of new features to the Desire. 720p video mode, iTunes sync for  your music and the newest version of HTC Sense. There is also the App Share widget coming to the Desire and the smart Caller ID feature. features they first debuted on the HTC Wildfire. However, carrier locked Desire’s won’t be getting the update until ” several weeks’ time.”

Press Release:

“The Android 2.2 (FroYo) update for HTC Desire will start rolling out across Europe this weekend. As well as including the complete set of Android 2.2 features, the update will contain a few special additions of our own through the latest iteration of HTC Sense. The update will provide 720p video capture, HTC’s App Share widget, as well as our enhanced HTC Caller ID, and improved multi-language keyboard. Also, through the update, HTC Sync will allow HTC Desire users to sync their music with iTunes.

HTC Desire users will be notified that the over-the-air update is available to download when their phone automatically checks for software updates. The update won’t delete any of the phone’s content. However, due to the size of the update, we would advise using a WiFi connection to download it wherever possible to avoid additional data charges.

This update will initially roll out to unlocked HTC Desire handsets. Operator specific versions of the update are undergoing testing and we expect to make them available in several weeks’ time.”

Update:

The Froyo update is now being pushed out to all unlocked Desire’s. Go check it out now.

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Chinese HTC Phones Will Ship With Froyo

HTC has just announced that all of its Android phones that will be sold in China, are going to coming with Android 2.2, otherwise known as Froyo. What’s more, HTC Sense will be updated for Froyo, which will start the rumour that all current HTC phones will receive the Froyo update very soon.

HTC has said that the 2.2 update for its phones already out there will be coming “very soon,” so hopefully, we should see the update coming over the next couple of weeks.

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Jailbreaking: Legal

The US government has deemed that iPhone jailbreaking is not illegal therefore allowing it to be exempt from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) contrary to Apple’s claim that such an act violates existing copyright laws. It was back in February 2009 when we first talked about the steps being made by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to officially legalize iPhone jailbreaking and exempt it from the (DMCA), and now, after more than a year of rigorous work, it has now finally paid in favor of the iPhone jailbreak community.

The group has also successfully renewed the existing exemption on carrier unlocking as well. Of course, this ruling doesn’t guarantee that we’ll soon see an end to Apple’s iPhone jailbreak-proofing attempts because that’s their prerogative, but at least now they can’t say that iPhone jailbreaking and unlocking is illegal.

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HTC Switching to Super LCD on Nexus One and HTC Desire From AMOLED

HTC has just confirmed that they are making the move from AMOLED screens on the HTC Desire and Nexus One to a new type of screen technology called Super LCD which is made by Sony. Samsung, the makers of the AMOLED screens, have been having difficulty manufacturing the screens, so HTC are dropping AMOLED because of the shortages. HTC’s CEO Peter Chou has explained that the experience on the SLCD screens is “comparable” to AMOLED screens, yet offers better battery life.

HTC Vision surfaces

This shot of the oft rumoured HTC Vision has slipped out with T-Mobile branding and an alleged 1GHz processor, spacious keyboard and 3.7-inch WVGA screen. Of course, we’d heard that the Vision would appear on T-Mobile before, and our worries are the same as then — there’s no telling whether the phone will actually land stateside, or if it’s destined for T-Mobile Europe instead. Engadget’s tipster tells them it could arrive with a different moniker: T-Mobile may call it the "G1 Blaze."

[Source Engadget]

HTC Sense Coming to Windows Phone 7

Microsoft has always wanted a unified look to Windows Phone 7 ever since it was announced, but HTC has just said today that they will bring HTC Sense to all of their upcoming Windows Phone 7 devices. Drew Bamford from HTC told Forbes that Sense UI would still appear in HTC’s Windows Phone 7 devices, and he believes that it will live on in Android 3.0  as well. He also said that “We won’t be able to replace as much of the core Windows Phone experience, but we will augment it,” because “Microsoft has taken firmer control of the core experience.”

Windows Phone 7 is due to be launch around November with devices from Dell, Asus, LG, HTC, and Samsung.

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Samsung Giveing Away Free Galaxy S to Unhappy iPhone 4 Customers

For, what seems to be the best PR move in history, Samsung UK has been pleasing frustrated iPhone customers by giving away a free Galaxy S to owners of the iPhone 4 who have had reception issues. How are they doing this? Well, through their twitter account of course. You do not need to give them anything, execpt for your address, and then they will send you out a free Galaxy S phone!

Official Statment from Samsung:

Recently there has been a real increase in online activity from consumers dissatisfied with some of our competitors’ products. We decided to contact a cross section of individuals to offer them a free Samsung Galaxy S as a replacement, as we’re confident that once people have the phone in their hands, they’ll see how impressive it is for themselves.

It seems that Samsung have already given out quite a few of these Galaxy S devices. Sure beats a free bumper case.

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