Technology Android

[Rukas]

Motoblur rocks.

 

[Casey]

LMAO, what's with Gizmodo finding all these lost phones.

Motorola Droid Shadow Found In Gym

The story goes that this phone was left in a corporate Verizon gym in Washington, but before it was remotely locked the finder saw a text message confirming it was "unreleased". What is it? Why, the Motorola Droid Shadow.

Based on previous information about the handset, we already know it'll be Motorola's second Droid, and will be exclusive to Verizon. It'll have an 8MP camera (capable of shooting 720p video), a 4.3-inch screen, and will no doubt be running Android Froyo when it's released June/July.

The gym employee who found the device (as the story goes) managed to confirm a few details with the chap who picked it up—specifically, that it has 16GB of internal storage, runs on a Snapdragon processor, has a HDMI port, and yes, the 8MP camera and 4.3-inch screen all checked out too.

There's been a good run of unreleased phones being left in public areas—who wants to bet on the next Motorola Kin being found in a Taco Bell? [Thanks, Devin!]


Send an email to Kat Hannaford, the author of this post, at khannaford@gizmodo.com.

That phone looks dope.

In other news....Dell Streak is hitting O2 in the UK.

DELL STREAK TABLET ENTICES PEOPLE TO WATCH, SURF, CONNECT, LISTEN, AND PLAY ON 5” OF POWER AND PORTABILITY
· Streak to launch early June in the UK exclusively on O2
· Available at O2 stores, O2.co.uk, The Carphone Warehouse and later next month at Dell.co.uk
· U.S. availability to arrive later this summer
BRACKNELL, UK – May 25, 2010 – Today, Dell released plans for Streak, a 5-inch Android™-based Tablet designed to provide people the best “on-the-go” entertainment, social connection, and navigation experience. Early this June the Dell Streak will be available across the UK at O2 stores, O2.co.uk, The Carphone Warehouse, and later in the month at Dell.co.uk. Pricing and data plans for the UK will be announced by O2 ahead of availability. Later this summer, Dell plans to make Streak available in the U.S.
The Dell Streak is a compact and powerful companion for people who want to expand their ability to access their digital lives on the go, and realize tomorrow’s technology today. The spacious 5-inch screen is ideal for experiencing thousands of Android Market™ widgets, games and applications, all without squinting or compromising portability. Built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and available 3G connectivity brings easy access for downloading and listening to music, updating social networking status in real-time, and staying connected to friends and family through e-mail, text, IM, and voice calls.
On-the-go students, mobile professionals, and active families will find Streak’s web-browsing capabilities as natural as a laptop. The 5-inch screen is large enough to present Web pages in their natural form, create a comfortable viewing experience, and make turn-by-turn navigation simple and safe. The Dell Streak leverages Qualcomm’s Snapdragon™ solution with integrated 1GHz processor to combine basic functionality, performance, and benefits of a laptop in a pocket friendly size.
“The Dell Streak hits the sweet spot between traditional smartphones and larger-screen tablets,” said Ron Garriques, president, Dell Communication Solutions Group. “Its unique size provides people new ways to enjoy, connect, and navigate their lives.”
The Dell Streak was designed with the future in mind and will support over-the-air updates including platform upgrades, Adobe Flash 10.1 on Android™ 2.2 later this year, video chat applications and other software innovations.
Dell is a member of the Open Handset Alliance™ (OHA), a group of technology and mobile companies working together to accelerate innovation in mobility. Together, the OHA created Android, the first complete, open, and free mobile platform to provide people a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience.
Key Features:
Integrated Google Maps™ with turn-by-turn navigation, street and satellite views
· A full screen browsing experience with a 5-inch capacitive multi-touch WVGA display
· Easily integrated social media apps: Twitter™, Facebook, YouTube
· High resolution 5 MP camera, VGA front facing camera, removable battery, built-in Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth connectivity options
· 2GB* of internal dedicated storage provides plenty of space to access and download Google Android Market’s many options
· Packaged with cushions made from 100 percent sustainable, compostable bamboo
Specifications:
Android platform complete with Android Market and Dell user interface enhancements
ARM-based Processor: Qualcomm’s powerful and efficient Snapdragon chipset and software platform with integrated 1GHz processor
3G + WiFi + Bluetooth
UMTS / GPRS / EDGE class 12 GSM radio with link speeds of up to HSDPA 7.2 Mbps* / HSDPA
5 MP autofocus camera with dual LED flash. Easy point, shoot, and uploads to YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and more
User accessible Micro SD expandable memory available up to 32 GB*. Store up to 42 movies* or 32,000 photos*, or 16,000 songs* with 32GB* Micro SD
Follow conversations in the blogosphere: #DellStreak

Also, I'm hearing a rumor that the HTC Desire will get an upgrade to FroYo potentially as early as June 23rd.

 

[Flipmo]

lmao, fucking Gizmodo.

 

[masta247]

They probably have a crew of people stealing people's phones lol

 

[Casey]

Another leaked pic of the Shadow.

 

[Cooper]

Froyo for me soon

 

[THEV1LL4N]

mmmmmmmmmmm

 

[SiGh]

I'm a n00b.

Is Verizon getting the newer version of the iPhone? Or is that just a bs rumor?

Also, who has GTalk? Drop your address thingy in a post.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

i do...

 

[masta247]

This for me:

[Dev] Froyo alpha.1 for i5700 (Don't work - GSM, WiFi, Bluetoooth, Sound etc)

Basically that guy is working on a Froyo for my phone and posts the newest versions every day or two with more and more features. He was also the one who brought 2.1 to Samsung Spica before it was released (and is responsible for most mods, he's what Cyanogen is to HTC).

 

[Casey]

Test Build Of Android 2.2 Froyo Running On T-Mobile G1, MyTouch 3G | Gizmodo Australia

Not installing anything till Cyanogen begins work on it tho, which he is planning to do soon.

 

[Rukas]

Does the Droid Shadow have a qwerty keyboard?

 

[Casey]

/\ No but the Droid 2 will. That'll come out sometime in within the next 4-6 months.

 

[Casey]

This is seriously some very good news indeed.

Update: Google Android UI to Still Be OEM-Configurable | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Matias Duarte, who led Palm's webOS UI design, has left Palm and joined Google as its User Experience Director for the Android operating system.
AllThingsD reported the defection, which means that Google has gained a respected user-interface designer that will tie Google's Android efforts together.
As of Friday, Duarte had not updated either his Twitter account, his own personal blog, or his LinkedIn account with the news.
Duarte served at Palm for two years and nine months, joining Palm in Sept. 2007. Before that, he was design chief at Helio, responsible for "outstanding and fresh user experience across all customer touchpoints, products and services". Duarte also made his mark at Danger, as director of design, where he oversaw the HipTop device.
It's worth noting that at both companies, Duarte oversaw a unified hardware and software platform that could be controlled. While there is some debate over whether the Google Android operating system is truly fragmenting, the various revisions of the Android OS provide different experiences to different users. More importantly, however, is Google's willingness to allow OEMs the flexibility to use their own UI overlays, which has contributed to some botched upgrades.
Google appears to have answered that question, however. "We don't comment on potential future product directions, but Android will remain open source and customizable by both OEMs and operators to meet their needs," a spokesman said.

Android Team Nabs webOS Designer — Duarte and Rubin, Together Again


Matias Duarte is one of the greatest UI designers on the planet. He designed the intuitive Danger Hiptop/Sidekick UI (the OS was created by Andy Rubin, who created Android also, so it's awesome the two of them will be working together once more), and he also created great interfaces for the OS running on the now-dead Helio Ocean....and of course, most recently he worked on the WebOS UI for Palm.

I predict a total UI overhaul for Android within a year. Can't wait

 

[Casey]

Droid 2 keyboard makes a QWERTY cameo? -- Engadget

While we've got no way to confirm at the moment, here's some proverbial food for thought. A friendly reader last night published on our comment thread for the two rumored Verizon-bound Motorola devices with the above picture (subtitles added by us), claiming the bottom image is the Droid 2's upgraded QWERTY keyboard. The story goes that his friend had one but no other information is currently available -- the font on the keys is identical, and the mic icon on the bottom left is distinctively Android. If it's legit, we gotta say we're hopeful; the keys look to have a more protruding center à la the CLIQ, which should make typing on the little guy much easier than before. And if it's not the Droid successor, well, it's still something we haven't seen. Could this be the updated QWERTY-fied Android solution we've been waiting for? Time will tell.

This is the phone I'm waiting for. Can't wait for the full reveal!

 

[ARon]

Wondering what everyones take on the Nokia N8 was? I've never used Symbian so i have no idea how the user experience is but the phone looks amazingly nice an hte hardwae is up to date to say the least.

 

[masta247]

Nokia N8 took a massive shit on from GsmArena's users. (then there was an action from Nokia fanboys to give it good reviews).
It's nicest feature is its camera and that's about it.
Symbian is the worst mobile operating system soon followed by Windows Mobile if it comes to user experience and most of all - performance. A new symbian with a 680mhz processor might lag like hell since as far as I've seen even a Snapdragon would be too slow for a symbian.

edit: But yeah I'm curious to see how it turns out mainly because of that nice camera. I just expect it to be extremely overpriced just like all Nokia phones. I used to like them back in the days but they fell off about the same time they started manufacturing in China. Maybe a coincidence but they only release shitty phones since then.

 

[Rukas]

Droid 2 keyboard makes a QWERTY cameo? -- Engadget

This is the phone I'm waiting for. Can't wait for the full reveal!

That keyboard layout wise looks very similar to my Backflip, almost identical actually. So yeah, that is good the keyboard in the BF fucking rocks. I hope the Droid 2 has Motoblur too. If it does Ill be preordering, if not, I'll have to wait to see it in the wild.

 

[SiGh]

my droid has the first keyboard in that picture.
only thing that sucks about it is that it's not centered, its on the left, so it took a week or so for me to get used to having a keyboard thats to the left.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

the latest stable version for the dream, magic, sapphire and nexus one has been released:

Release Notes - CyanogenMod Wiki