Pantech Vega Xpress comes with DDR2 memory, extravagant performance claims
Pantech’s bringing a new wrinkle to the mobile hardware space with its newly announced Vega Xpress handset. This 4-inch Android 2.2 beastie will come equipped with an unspecified amount of DDR2 RAM– yes, the stuff that usually goes into x86 laptop and desktop computers — which Pantech will have you believe is going to blow the competition out of the proverbial water. The company claims the new phone doubles 3D graphics performance relative to its previous best, while power efficiency is also said to be two to three times better. Other specs include a 5 megapixel autofocus camera, 802.11n WiFi, an 800 x 480 resolution, and a 1500mAh battery. Yours, provided you’re anywhere near Korea, some time soon.
Google Confirms Gingerbread for Nexus One in “Coming Weeks”
Google’s official twitter account for their Nexus series of phones confirmed what we had already heard a few weeks back. Android 2.3 will hit the Nexus One in the “coming weeks” in the form of an over-the-air update. We had heard unofficially from members of the Android team, but this is the first from Google directly. As we’re advised by the tweet, we need to hang tight. So hang tight.
Playstation Phone Likely to be Called “Xperia Play,” Expected in Stores April 2011.
It’s always fun seeing the details come trickling out on a new phone — especially a phone as highly-anticipated as the upcoming “Playstation phone.” Well, some pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place. A European trademark was granted on the “Xperia Play” on December 1st. Also, the domain names “XperiaPlay.com,” “XperiaPlay.net,” and “XperiaPlay.org” have been registered. These factors lend a lot of credence to the rumor of the name. Pocket-Lint is also reporting on rumors that the device will be formally announced at Mobile World Congress this upcoming February, and will be available in stores in April.
Stay tuned, we’ll bring you more information as things become official!
Motorola Defy review
Motorola’s Android plans seem to consist of making as many different types of phones as possible, and it seems the company’s researchers have decided we’re pretty clumsy with our precious smartphones. The Motorola Defy is IP-tested to work through submersion, dust-filled environments and dropping onto concrete floors – ‘life resistance’ is how it’s been dubbed.
But beneath the rubberised exterior (including locking a battery cover to seal the innards and big rubber caps for the microUSB and 3.5mm headphone jacks) beats a Google heart – Android 2.1 to be exact.
In this Gingerbread age, that’s the not the best platform to be shipping with, as it means we miss out on using the phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot, improved touchscreen performance and being able to store apps on an SD card.
However other features (like being able to share contacts and improved camera mode) are all added in from Motorola, as well as integrated social networking enhanced widgets (where you can resize and drag them over seven home screens).
OS
Overall operation isn’t as slick as we would have liked though – the lag was palpable at times, and frequently the keyboard would struggle to keep up with our typing.
The rugged exterior does live up to its name though – despite feeling very light and a little bit cheap, the case didn’t break being dropped from shoulder height onto a pavement, the screen didn’t get scratched even with a lot of effort from a bunch of keys, and the Defy even carried on chugging when thrown in a glass of water.
Media
Another decent idea from Motorola is the connected media player – things like a free lyrics provider and YouTube music video search are a great idea and make the phone seem a little more premium. However, they don’t always work – the YouTube music video search engine had very little choice, and the TuneWiki lyrics service is more of a gimmick than useful tool.
More importantly: sound quality was only average (although perfectly passable) and the video player really wasn’t up to scratch. From not playing a number of file types to starting some movies only to have them give up after a few minutes, it wasn’t a good advert for the Defy’s media player.
The contacts menu is confusing too – with the likes of the HTC Desire or Samsung Galaxy S it’s easy to link people up to Twitter and Facebook accounts, whereas on the Defy it’s a long, convoluted and inaccurate process, often with the person you’re looking for not available for a link and the Twitter username overwriting the person’s actual contact name.
Verdict
Overall, the Motorola Defy is a confusing one. Its rugged nature is not inherent when you pick it up – people who want a phone for a workshop or building site might enjoy it, but that’s a pretty niche market. Things like the Car Dock, where you can quickly access navigation and music apps, are a nice touch, and the camera is swift and pretty decent too. But the lower-grade OS, slight lag during operation and very lightweight feel mean it’s going to be more out of necessity than desire that you pick up the Motorola Defy.
HTC HD2,Nexus One,EVO,Droid and Desire get some Gingerbread crumbs.
With Gingerbread freely distributed to the open-source masses, it probably won’t surprise you to hear there already a custom ROM for Google’s darling Nexus One. But what if we told you Android 2.3 is now available for the HTC HD2 as well? That’s right, the Windows Mobile 6.5 powerhouse can now snap off a sugary piece of the same Android code, and from what we hear in the XDA-developers forums, it works pretty decently, too. Like the Samsung Galaxy S we saw getting the green tie treatment this morning, the HTC HD2 and Nexus One don’t exactly have stable, fully functional builds, but as long as you know what you’re doing and don’t need petty luxuries like cameras, GPS receivers and official Google apps, you’ll probably be just fine. Find files and a modicum of instruction at our source links below.
Google Maps 5 Updated to Include 3D Maps and Offline Navigation
Google’s never been afraid to “blow it out” with Google Maps, most famously with its inclusion of Navigation, which knocked the legs out from under a lot of the GPS device and navigation app market.Google Maps 5.0 for Android might seem similarly earth shattering, but it marks a significant change to the basic technology of Google Maps. Most importantly, Google is now using vector graphics for its maps, which are scalable and much lighter weight than the traditional stitched together images used in most Google Maps incarnations. The vectors also enable something else a whole lot sexier: a two finger swipe can “tilt” the map and now you’ve got a 3D view of the landscape. It’s not quite as flashy as Google Earth, but it looks a whole lot more useful. The other thing these low-bandwidth vector maps enables is offline caching of maps, specifically your most frequently visited locations, and entire trips that have been routed in Navigation, including potential reroutes. Anybody with an Android 1.6 or higher device can download 5.0 right now for free, but the 3D and offline features are 2.0+ only.
Android 2.3 update: When’s it coming to my phone?
Android 2.3 has been announced by Google, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be getting it on your current handset tomorrow. These things take time with manufacturers and operators having to decide whether they want to support the new version of the operating system.
Manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, and LG all having to wade through the new features released by Google and determine whether or not they want to bring those new features to older handsets, or just focus on bringing them to new handsets.
Even if they do say the big “Yes”, the operators then get to have their say, suggesting that if you’ve got an older Android smartphone you could be in for a wait. How long a wait is what we aim to answer here.
As we find out about Android 2.3 updates we will add those details below.
HTC Nexus One Android 2.3 update
Launched at the beginning of January 2010, Google has confirmed this will be getting the Android 2.3 update in the “next few weeks”, when it announced Android 2.3 on the 6 December.(15/12/10)
Samsung Galaxy S Android 2.3 update
The official line is that Samsung is still mulling over whether or not to update the Samsung Galaxy S to Android 2.3.(15/12/10)
LG Optimus One Android 2.3 update
Although it initially said that it wouldn’t be bringing the new OS to current handsets, LG has since backtracked on that announcement (made on Facebook). Like Samsung, LG’s official line is that it is still evaluating whether or not to update the operating system from Android 2.2 to Android 2.3.(15/12/10)
HTC Desire, HTC Desire HD, and HTC Legend Android 2.3 updates
“We are excited about the OS update coming for Android”, a spokesperson for the manufacturer has told Pocket-lint. “And while HTC will definitely have some phones running this OS, we do not have a specific timeframe for new phones or updates at this time. Please stay tuned for more details”. (15/12/10)
Motorola Milestone 2 Android 2.3 update
The Motorola Defy is only just about to get updated from Android 2.1 to Android 2.2 so unlikely to get an update soon, while Motorola isn’t yet in a position to confirm whether the Milestone 2 will be getting an update from Android 2.2 to Android 2.3. (15/12/10)
Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
The X8 has just received the Android 2.2 update, but there’s no official word from Sony Ericsson on its Xperia range of smartphones at this time (15/12/10)
Orange San Francisco Android 2.3 update
Orange’s official line is that it doesn’t currently know whether the phone, which currently sports Android 2.1, will be getting an update or not, with Orange telling Pocket-lint that it normally takes a couple of weeks to determine these things after the official announcement has been made from Google. (15/12/10)
Meizu M9 christens site launch with full specs list
Meizu CEO Jack Wong has been teasing the M9 handset for some time now, and if we’re not mistaken, the official site just went live with a full list of specs to boot. As promised, there’s a 3.5-inch 960 x 640 resolution screen (reportedly the Sharp ASV display), and we’re also apparently looking at a 1GHz S5PC110 processor (just like the Samsung Galaxy S), Android 2.2, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, A-GPS, 802.11b/g/n, microSDHC, a removable 1370mAH lithium-polymer battery, and support for (drumroll, please) GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, HSDPA,and HSUPA. Too good to be true? Word on the street is this very phone will be available December 25th in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and will expand to the rest of China days later. We’ll believe it when we see it.
Download and install the new Android Market on your rooted 2.2+ device
Been dying to try out the new Android Market, announced last week? If so, we’ve got a package here you might like. Available for download is the new Android Market version 2.2.6, and we’re going to tell you how to install it, as well as how to get rid of it if it causes you problems. As always, TalkAndroid cannot be held liable for any damage you may do to your device, as you will be messing with some base system files, but if you’re ready to don your geek hat, hit the break for a full set of instructions.
Requirements: You will need your device to be rooted, as well as running a ROM that is based on 2.2 or above. You will also need root access to the file system. We will be showing you how to do this with Root Explorer, which is a $2.50 app, but well worth the cost. I use it just about every day. Read more 
HTC EVO Shift 4G (Knight / Speedy) gets leaked picture, January 9th release date?
We’ll warn you that we have nothing but the word of an alleged Sprint employee that this is the real deal, but we don’t know what else it could be — if it walks like a duck and quacks like an EVO with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, we’re inclined to believe it’s the HTC EVO Shift 4G. Factor in the noticeable lack of front-facing camera, silver trackpad and those throwback flat keys, and we’re even willing to forgive those hastily penciled watermarks on the keyboard and on top of the clearly ‘shopped screen. Even if this shot is legit, we haven’t seen the full device yet — it sure looks like this Knight is wearing a suit ofplastic armor around the edges.
In possibly related news, Android Central nabbed an alleged screenshot of a Sprint database showing an “HTC A7373” handset coming to Sprint on January 9th, and while one Russian e-tailer seems to think that codename refers to the GSM-friendly Desire Z, we have to imagine a Knight / Speedy / EVO Shift release is far more likely than a T-Mobile G2 redux on Sprint’s CDMA frequenci
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