Archive for the ‘General’ Category

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N12 SciPhone with real Android OS

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

N12 SciPhone with real Android OS
Just some days ago we wrote about the Dream G2 Phone “Made in China” that looks like Android but isn’t one.

On that same show I took a flyer with their product showcase and it listed not just the fake Android phone. Bluelans actually plans to publish a real Android powered mobile phone in July 2009. At least that’s what they told me. I am not sure if they can hold their roadmap and release but it would be great to have another Android on the market! When I saw the fake one I first thought: “Why don’t they just take the free Android OS and put it on a phone rather than using a crappy Chinese OS and lots of programmers to wirte a fake Android User Interface?

Anyway, here is the data of the upcoming N12 SciPhone from Bluelans; if it will ever be released:

  • Processor: Marvell Monahands (624MHz) + Qualcomm MSM6246
  • Operating system: Android/ Windows Mobile
  • Dimensions: 117*58*12.7
  • Mode: UMTS-2100MHz, GSM-900/1800/1900 MHz
  • Bearer: GSM, 3G(WCDMA)
  • Display: WQVGA 240*400 pixels, 3.2 inch TFT 262K
  • Main camera: 3.2M pixel
  • Secondary Camera: 0.1M pixel
  • Storage: ROM-256MB+64MB, RAM-256MB+64MB
  • Extended Storage: Micro SD, up to 16GB
  • USB: USB 2.0 high speed
  • Bluetooth: Ver 2.0
  • GPS: Yes
  • WiFi: IEEE 802.11b/11g
  • TV: CMMB
  • Battery capacity: 1000mAh
  • Standby time(GSM): Up to 220 hours
  • Voice talk time(2G): Up to 170 minutes

Here you can download the original scanned Flyer which I took from the fair: N12 SciPhone with real Android OS Flyer.

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Posted in Development Setup, General | 14 Comments »

Dream G2 Phone “Made in China” looks like Android but isn’t

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

A Chinese company called “Shenzhen Bluelans Communication Co., Ltd.” showed a mobile phone on their HK Electronics Fair booth called “Dream G2″:

Dream G2 Phone made in China looks like Android but isn’t

I was checking this out and the user interface actually looks like Android, it works like Android and even the programs look like Android. However, it is NOT Android. I also took a flyer and here is the data sheet:

Dream G2 Phone made in China looks like Android but isn’t

While the phone has GPRS/EDGE, WiFi a camera, email access, audio/video support, instant messangers, an FM radio as well as support Java applications; the interesting point in there is “Google Android style user interface”.

Price: HK$1,000 (US$130)
Website: www.mysciphone.com

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T-Mobile G2 powered by Android OS

Monday, March 30th, 2009

T-Mobile G2 powered by Android OS
TmoNews just reported: “HTC Magic Passes FCC for T-mobile USA!”.

This looks very similar to the HTC Magic that was presented by HTC and Vodafone. So I guess the specifications are the same and there is just a T-Mobile branding instead of a Vodafone branding on the phone. Though Vodafone already announced the HTC Magic – I haven’t seen it in stores yet. If you have seen it, please leave us a comment or even a picture taken with your G1 :)

I know I have to get up and write some more about the actual Android software development – that’s where this blog has its name from – by the way. I will definitely do some more on this front soon. Stay tuned folks!

T-Mobile G2 powered by Android OS

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Android OS on more devices

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Huawei Android Phone
Android Phone from Huawei
About a week ago Huawei announced an Android powered phone at the Mobile World Congress ‘09. Huawei is not really known outside of China except as a mobile infrastructure provider. Though many people outside the People’s Republic do not know that brand, everyone in China knows it. Being the biggest mobile phone market (more that 400 mio. mobile subscribers) speaks for itself. The phone itself looks like a direct iPhone copy but with a good OS :)
ASUS Eee PC - running Google’s Android OS
Android on ASUS Eee PC
Besides the Chinese dudes I just read from other (free) Chinese dudes in Taiwan over at ASUS. They are working on a custom version of Android to run it on their Eee PCs which come with Windows XP right now. Google’s Carolyn Penner said that Android hasn’t been designed for phone exclusively. It is rather been intended to run on any kind of mobile device – this would include the Eee PC as well. Especially on such extreme mobile device it is quite important to use as less resources as possible. Microsoft’s Windows – no matter if it is XP, Vista or even WM Mobile – was never really fast.

HTC Magic w/o SIM Lock
I just found: HTC confirmed that the Vodafone / HTC Magic will not come with a SIM Lock like the T-Mobile G1. This is good news!

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Android Phone: HTC Magic for Vodafone

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Android Phone: HTC Magic for Vodafone

The brand new HTC Magic is the second Android phone that has been published by HTC so far. Besides the existing HTC Dream (aka T-Mobile G1) and the less popular Kogan Agora this seems to be the third official real phone running Android.

Android Phone: HTC Magic for Vodafone

Besides the missing keyboard the specifications are about the same like the G1 has.

HTC Magic Specifications

Processor Qualcomm® MSM7201a™, 528 MHz
Operating System Android
Memory ROM: 512 MB
RAM: 192 MB
Dimensions 113 x 55 x 13.65 mm ( 4.45 x 2.17 x 0.54 inches)
Weight 118.5 grams ( 4.18 ounces) with battery
Display 3.2-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 320×480 HVGA resolution
Network HSDPA/WCDMA:
  • 900/2100 MHz
  • Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:

  • 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

(Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)

Device Control Trackball with Enter button
GPS Internal GPS antenna
Connectivity Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g
HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
Camera 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus
Audio supported formats AAC, AAC+, AMR-NB, MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC-LC, MIDI, OGG
Video supported formats MP4, 3GP
Battery Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity: 1340 mAh
Talk time:

  • Up to 400 minutes for WCDMA
  • Up to 450 minutes for GSM

Standby time:

  • Up to 660 hours for WCDMA
  • Up to 420 hours for GSM

(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)

Expansion Slot microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 47/63 Hz
DC output: 5V and 1A
Special Features G-sensor
Digital Compass

Android Phone: HTC Magic for Vodafone

Website: HTC Magic – powered by Android

(more…)

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Dell Smartphone – powered by Android OS

Friday, January 30th, 2009

Android Powered Dell Smartphone
It seems to be just a rumor, but Dell is supposed to start selling its own smartphones. Golem is reporting that they have been working on their own smartphones for a year now. The Dell cell (kind of a nice rhyme, huh?) has been designed on the basis of Windows Mobile and Android. of course, we would prefer Android as we need more Android-powered devices to run our apps on, right? :)

Sorry for my creative phase today, but I made a bit of a collage how such a phone might look like. Take a look on the right for a collage.

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T-Mobile G1 phone in Germany

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

T-Mobile G1 phone in Germany
The T-Mobile G1 mobile phone will be available in Germany in February. Compared to the already selling G1 phone in the USA this German version will not have much new features. Well, it will support German language localization for all pre-loaded application – I guess. Also the keyboard will be German-typical QWERTZ instead of the English QWERTY standard.

Over 700 applications are already available on the Android Market which gives this nifty device a great argument for using it. As there are only free applications allowed by now, all of those 700 applications can be downloaded for free. Though you can already (prepare to) make money with apps on the Android Market.

Germany

Germany is huge player in IT in the world and the biggest Android Development Forum by now – http://www.anddev.org/ – is run by a German (university student afaik). Hopefully, the availibility of the G1 in Germany will bring a boost to app development.

Presentation Video:

Video: Google Android – Pressekonferenz-Vorstellung (4:32)

Sources:

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More Android Powered Mobile / Smartphones from HTC, Samsung, Garmin

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

More Android Powered Mobile / Smartphones from HTC, Samsung, Garmin
There will be more Android powered phones released very soon!

Garmin

In the second quarter of 2009 Garmin will release a new Android powered device – rumors say. Most probably it will be a device that combines mobile phone functions with Garmin’s navigation expertise.

Source Golem.

HTC

HTC will release a new physical keyboard-free G1 successor the upcoming 1st quarter 2009.

Source Golem.

Samsung

Samsung Electronics will release its first Google phone in the second quarter of the next year in North America.

The launch of Google phone by Samsung is regarded as a signal of its plan for increasing the shares in the smart phone market by releasing handsets in various operating systems.

Source etnews Korea.

That’s gonna be an awesome year 2009! 8-)

P.S.: Image by BGR.

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Android T-Mobile HTC G1 Phone for Developers – SIM Lock Free

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

Android T-Mobile HTC G1 Phone for Developers - SIM Lock Free
Just found this announcement in one of the news sites I follow every day. Google announced that a SIM-Lock Free HTC/T-Mobile G1 phone is now available for Android™ developers. So you need to have an Android Market developer account to be able to access the phone. Like me I guess many developers all over the world were looking for this kind of oportunity to get a phone for their testing purposes. Thanks Google!

Besides the SIM-Lock freeness this phone also has a nice artwork on the back (see photo) with our beloved Android logo. It looks slim, nice, modern and just chic. It costs only $399 and can be shipped to the following countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States of America. Be aware if you are not located in the US. The shipping costs to Germany for example are $179 (incl. tax and customs) which is quite high compared to the actual device price. You just see this at the end of the purchase process. If you are located in Hong Kong you cannot buy it there but you can buy it here.

If you want to have one you can check out and order the phone over here: http://android.brightstarcorp.com/

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Kogan Agora – 2nd Official Android OS powered mobile phone

Friday, December 5th, 2008

Kogan just announced the Agora – the second official Android OS powered mobile phone in the world. We already know where to buy the Android powered T-Mobile G1. Like the G1 more and more real devices with Android running on it will definitely push the development of Android applications and services all over the world!

Highlights

  • 2.5-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen.
  • Integrated QWERTY keyboard.
  • High-speed 3G network connection.
  • One-Touch Google Search ™.
  • Easy Web Browsing.
  • Easy-to-use email with attachment support for images, videos, music and documents.
  • Customisable Home Screen with instant Email, text message and IM notifications.
  • Instant access to mobile Internet services (Gmail ™, YouTube ™, Google Talk ™, Google Calendar ™, Google Maps ™).
  • Music Player.
  • Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate.
  • microSD™ expansion slot for all your storage needs.

There are two versions available:

  • Base version: $192 w/o WiFi, GPS
  • Base version: $256 w/ WiFi, GPS

That are incredible prices!

Kogan Agora - 2nd Official Android powered mobile phone

More information at Kogan.

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