Android Community

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• Motorola ATRIX 4G rooted before release
• Android Community Big Fat Android Toy Giveaway #1!
• Dump of HTC HuaShan Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Sense
• HTC Evo gets a port of the Honeycomb SDK
• Galaxy S 4G Price Confirmed by T-Mobile
• Android to Host Toei Animation
• Pretty Girls Prefer non-Android, So Says INQ’s Frank Meehan
• Samsung Galaxy S 4G available for preorder at Wirefly
• UberMedia Responds to Twitter Clients Ban with Updates
• Atrix 4G: $149.99 at Radio Shack
• Texas Instruments Touts Me-D
• UberTwitter clients get suspended
• ViewPad 10 Pro [Close Up]
• Atrix 4G Full System Dump Here and Now
• Samsung Galaxy S 4G hands-on
• White Xperia Play a European Exclusive
• Epic Sprint Android 2.2 Froyo Update Coming Very Soon
• Vodafone Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo hands-on
• White Google Nexus S hands-on

Motorola ATRIX 4G rooted before release Posted: 19 Feb 2011 02:43 AM PST The full system dump was only the start of things; Motorola’s ATRIX 4G isn’t on shelves yet, but the smartphone has apparently already been rooted. The handiwork of developer DesignGears, the full instructions – like the AT&T smartphone itself – haven’t been released yet, but it should come as a relief to those concerned Motorola’s policy toward locking down root access on its Android phones. That policy has seen some Motorola devices take longer to be hacked and modified for custom ROMs than Android phones from rivals like HTC, frustrating owners used to being able to tweak their handsets and coax out new functionality. Given that the ATRIX 4G also offers support for the innovative Laptop Dock accessory, and runs a new Tegra 2 processor, the potential for hacking and modding the phone is perhaps even greater. [via BriefMobile] )

Android Community Big Fat Android Toy Giveaway #1! Posted: 18 Feb 2011 10:01 PM PST We know you love these little guys. Even if you wont admit it, even if you say you’re an adult, a grown man or woman, for gosh sake, you’d never have such a little kid object sitting on your desk! But we know better. We love em, and you love em, and the one thing you like better than happening upon them in the store available for purchase is happening upon them here, not only before they’re technically available to the public, but here free for the winning! It’s an Android Community weekend contest! The contest is easy, the rules quite simple, even though they look daunting. HOW TO ENTER All you’ve got to do is one of the following: first, you can follow our [Twitter profile] and prove it, next, you could follow our brand spankin’ new [Facebook page] and prove it, finally, you could prove your love of Android with a timestamped photo of yourself proving it! What constitutes proof? If you’re following us on Twitter, take a screenshot of us showing up in your “Following” list. If you’re a fan of us on our brand new Facebook page, take a screenshot of a comment you’ve made on our page’s wall (this works because if you weren’t a fan, you’d be unable to comment in the first place!) If you’d alternatively like to show your fanhood with a photo, you can take a photo of yourself holding a timestamped piece of paper with a profession of your love (in any way you wish) for Android (or more specifically, Android Community.) The alligator here is almost doing it right – if he had a piece of paper with the time and date written on it, he’d be entered! Each entry must be sent in via Twitter. Tweet the following: @Androids #freeandroidgiveaway http://tinyurl.com/4ju6qfk – with a link to whichever entry you chose to make a screenshot or a photo hosted on any number of photo hosting sites – just make sure its not set to private! *Proving your fanhood is not the same as proving your manhood. If you prove your manhood to us via Twitter, you will automatically be disqualified… forever. This contest begins when you see this post posted, and ends at midnight CST between Sunday the 20th of February and Monday the 21st of February 2011. That’s this weekend, starting now! WINNERS CHOSEN THUSLY The way the winner will be chosen is: each entry will be recorded connected to your Twitter screenname. You can enter up to three times, one each of the three different methods of delivery of proof of fanhood. Each time your name is recorded (up to three times,) it’ll be printed out and placed into a hat. When the contest entry time is over, two names will be chosen. These two names will be listed here and blasted forth from OUR Twitter, that of course being @Androids. If your name is shouted but you do not contact us via email within 24 hours, we’ll choose again. This email must be sent to yours truly: chris@androidcommunity.com, and no other. Failure to respond to the call by emailing me within 24 hours will result in your name being tossed out. If you are chosen from the hat and DO respond within the allotted timeframe, we’ll grab your physical address (no PO boxes!) and will have your prize (ONE Android Series 2 toy, unopened, per person, per household,) sent to your mailbox, completely free of charge. Rules are subject to change and we do hold the right to refuse any entries based on official affiliations (Vince can’t win) or perceived misconduct. Make sense? Any questions about this contest should be posted in the comments of this post so everyone can know of any confusions. The prize for each person is a sealed box, but here’s a gallery of both sealed boxes and opened toys to get you revved up about what you might be getting: )

Dump of HTC HuaShan Android 2.3 Gingerbread with Sense Posted: 18 Feb 2011 09:29 PM PST It’s a strange thing to say to those who have no idea what we’re talking about, but we definitely love dumps. A dump is essentially all of the information on a phone or an update, or both, including everything you need to virtualize the environment and/or create that environment inside whichever phone you can jam it in. In this case, its an HTC HuaShan’s update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread with the latest installment of Sense. These elements are unavailable in so very many phones at the moment that this situation is exciting for people looking to upgrade their phones to a wacky new higher level. What in the world is a HuaShan, you ask? It’s essentially the Chinese version of the HTC HD2, a phone of some note. This update is a move toward Gingerbread, an update not available to more than a few models of phones in the entire world today (at least officially, that is,) is one that lets us know that HTC might be pushing Gingerbread to additional devices around the world soon. If you do decided to take this dump and attempt to flash your device with it, it will brick. DO NOT try to take this set of files and flash your device with it. Instead, this ROM is only for developers to port, thusly unless you know what you’re doing, don’t do much of anything. If you DO know what you’re doing, feel free to help the folks working on this project, TMartin03 and 911sniper, XDA developers the both of them, working to move it forward and upward. You can find the entire dump as well as a place to let the duo know you’d love to offer your assistance over at XDA Developer Forums. [via XDA Developer Forums] )

HTC Evo gets a port of the Honeycomb SDK Posted: 18 Feb 2011 07:24 PM PST Look what we have here. After many said it could not be done due to some hardware requirements. It looks like those amazing developers we all love over at XDA Developers have done it again. The Honeycomb SDK has now been ported to the HTC Evo. Thanks to the nifty and good work by XDA member spyderdreams, as well as a few others this port is well on it’s way. Of course it’s only compiled from the Android 3.0 Honeycomb SDK so it is still very much a work in progress. See our photo after the break. This also looks a little like the story about the NOOKcolor getting Honeycomb we told you about back in January. Like we mentioned above this is very much a WIP so things will likely change and improve over time. So far many things are working like the Capacitive buttons, menu’s, widgets, & more. The still doesn’t work list is a little longer with bigger things like SD Card, radio’s, camera, & 4G. We at AC have faith that the XDA developers working on it will get it running smooth in no time. If you’d like to try this venture on your HTC Evo 4G here is the port’s thread. [via XDA Developers] )

Galaxy S 4G Price Confirmed by T-Mobile Posted: 18 Feb 2011 05:28 PM PST We’ve been informed directly by T-Mobile that the price of the Samsung Galaxy S 4G will be $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and agreeing to a two-year service plan. Previously it had been reported that T-Mobile said the phone would be $149.99, mostly because they did say such a thing, but the new official price is $199.99, we assure you. This is the phone we just took out of the box today right next to our cupcake Android friend. Have a look at our peek at the phone right here: Hands-on, and be sure to say hello to vanilla with a cherry on top. Then take note that this phone will be available at T-Mobile starting on February 23, which isn’t that far away at all. Will it be worth it? Perhaps with the free copy of Inception, it will be. Or perhaps because it’s the next step in the evolution of the most popular series of Android phones to date, it will be. We’re having a bit of a difficult time figuring out how it WOULDN’T be worth it. It’s got a fabulous look, it’s ultra-powerful, and it’s extremely fast. So fast, in fact, they’re calling it 4G. You can sit around and watch Leonardo DiCaprio talk about how he can put ideas in your mind, meanwhile the phone will be blasting you with Android waves so you’ll continue down the road into greenness. )

Android to Host Toei Animation Posted: 18 Feb 2011 04:48 PM PST In a move that all you Anime superfans should be ultra happy about, the creators of such fantastically popular series as Voltron and Dragonball Z, Toei Animation has announced their plans for bringing games based on their shows to the Android mobile OS platform! This animation group has been active since 1954, before time started as far as animated shows and movies are concerned, and certainly before the beginning of the fabulous world of video games. We look forward to a Fist of the Northstar game, of course. Maybe a mini-game featuring the Toei cat you see above with an Android body. Toei has confirmed that they’ll be releasing games within 2011 based on their multi-nation popular television shows. We must hope that these games will be out soon, but then also hope that these games will have been in development for quite a while, as games based on shows made by Toei have one heck of a lot of potential. Games such as Dragon Ball Z Super Butouden 2 have never really had massive success on consoles, but have certainly retained a cult status amongst hardcore fans and players of odd games. More recent games created in part by Toei Animation have fighters flying across the sky in all directions shooting energy lasers and blasting enemies back and forth across planets. These games are also DragonBall related, but we can hope for similar functionality in a “One Piece” game, can’t we? Just think of what we could accomplish with a touch-based tablet game of these shows! Toei apparently hasn’t gone into too much specific info on what titles will be made soon or deep into the future, but they have mentioned that all titles will be released cross-platform (that being for mobile phones and tablets, Androids all.) RPGs, fighters, and turn-based war games are what we’re destined to see coming here, greatness on the horizon. Take a peek at one of the better DragonBall Z games in the past, Budokai 3: [via DroidGamers] )

Pretty Girls Prefer non-Android, So Says INQ’s Frank Meehan Posted: 18 Feb 2011 03:38 PM PST Speaking with mister Frank Meehan, INQ’s CEO and big bossman, Mashable found that apparently Google wasn’t keeping its doors open to the right crowd, instead tending to only a small cross-section of adult males. What Meehan said exactly was: “If you go to a nightclub in any city in the world, the pretty girl has an iPhone or a BlackBerry, she doesn’t have an Android phone. She has no emotional attachment to an Android phone. It’s too complicated. It’s a geek device, it’s all wrong.” Google! How could you have been so foolish, not tending to the pretty girls! In fact, we think he’s got a point. In tending only to the public that includes early adopters, Android has only accessed a relatively small cross-section of people where if they just tweaked a little bit, they could have the whole pie. How? Bring on the love. Meehan continued “Android manufacturers are all just focused utterly on the tech, because they’re all hardware guys. They don’t get software. They’ve tried to outdo Apple with hardware, but the problem is the customer doesn’t care.” Doesn’t care about specs? That’s crazy! Who would be so heartless? Of course this isn’t the easiest thing to do in the world, or everyone would have an iPhone-like device that’s selling as well as Apple’s phone has. But what is it? Meehan believes it’s quite simple, and that Samsung is a good place to start explaining his position specifically: “The Samsung Galaxy has done pretty well, but it’s just price-driven. It’s not desire-driven. There are no lines out the door to get a Galaxy. They’ve done all this work on branding, but the name doesn’t mean anything to consumers. It’s like calling a phone ‘Alpha Centauri’ or ‘Uranus’.” We like the last one in particular, and think it’d get everyone lining up real quick. We recommend naming a new phone “Pretty Puppy Cupcake” in order to appeal to the crowd Meehan is speaking about. On the other hand, the new phones coming out from INQ are called Cloud Q and Cloud Touch – are these the names that will attract women seeking to enhance their love for their devices? Will pretty women all over the earth want to speak and type on an INQ Cloud? — thanks for the tip, AC! [via crave] )

Samsung Galaxy S 4G available for preorder at Wirefly Posted: 18 Feb 2011 02:33 PM PST Wirefly is listing the Samsung Galaxy S 4G as available for preorder. Due out February 23rd, the price will be under $150 with a two-year contract from T-mobile. Wirefly will also offer free shipping (via Fedex, even) and no sales tax. Wirefly even tosses in the free for life mobile backup service. WOW. We recently got a hands-on with the Galaxy S2 and it’s not a bad little handset. The huge selling point with the S4g is that Super AMOLED screen and HSPA/4G capability. And running Android 2.2 (Froyo) doesn’t hurt. Unfortunately, though, it’s TouchWiz overlay does slow things down a tad. But don’t let it’s ability to record 720p HD video from it’s 5MP camera escape you, even if the front facing camera is just a standard VGA for video chatting. [via Wirefly] )

UberMedia Responds to Twitter Clients Ban with Updates Posted: 18 Feb 2011 02:21 PM PST As you may already know, several Twitter 3rd party clients were suspended today due to what Twitter noted as being a violation of their ground rules. The list of suspended clients appears to be larger than Twitter’s original list of bans, including also Echofon, another 3rd party Twitter app for mobile. One of the notes that appears to be official on this matter brought to us by Techcrunch says that a Twitter official has told them that UberMedia broke privacy and trademark infringement rules in order to further monetize their platforms. It appears that only UberMedia’s apps UberTwitter and twidroyd were singled out for announcement due to the gigantic amount of people who use these services on the daily. One question that keeps popping up on the streets is why this announcement appears to have been made so soon after Twitter announced a big update to their own official Twitter App had been updated to 2.0 (a lovely update if I do say so myself.) UberMedia has now responded to these claims on two fronts, both of them via Twitter, one for twidroyd and the other for UberTwitter, both of them saying they’ve made new versions of their app to work with Twitter to make them Twitter legal again. The only reason Twitter has any jurisdiction over these apps is that in order for any app to be able to access Twitter feeds is via their official lines. We suppose there are other ways, but who wants to battle Twitter? Noone, that’s who. [via UberMedia] )

Atrix 4G: $149.99 at Radio Shack Posted: 18 Feb 2011 02:04 PM PST Radio Shack is planning to offer the Motrola Atrix 4G for $149.99 with a two year contract. The price, without rebate, represents a $50 undercut from AT&T’s planned pricing. The optional lapdock, which turns the Atrix into a laptop computer, will be available for $329.99 when bundled with the phone. Total price out the door $479.99, $20 less than AT&T. As we mentioned in our hands-on/unboxing, the Atrix received high marks at CES this year thanks to it’s ability to double as a desktop replacement or laptop computer. It’s has a dual-core Tegra 2 processor and 4.3″ HD touchscreen and running Android 2.2 (Froyo) with Motoblur on top. The laptop dock sports an 11.5 inch screen, and allows users to surf the web and make phone calls at the same time. Look for the Atrix to arrive at the Shack on February 22nd. But if you can’t wait that long to experience Atrix in it’s glory, you can always download the System dump …. [via IntoMobile] )

Texas Instruments Touts Me-D Posted: 18 Feb 2011 01:58 PM PST Earlier this week at Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona, we bore witness to a lovely presentation by Texas Instruments on their current plans for the future. This presentation was accompanied by a device running OMAP4, sending picture through HDMI to a projector, all of this controlled by gesture (for example, when anyone from the group wanted to move to the next slide, all they had to do was swoosh their hand through the air over the device containing the images.) One of the keywords that stuck out during this presentation was “Me-D” or Me-Dimension. What Me-D embodies, said TI, was the idea that since the world isn’t flat, neither should your experience living, working, and playing in the world. One of the big tools in making this Me-D ideal a reality is 3D display, said TI, this of course shown most recently in the Samsung Optimus 3D, also on display in the TI booth. One of three tenants of Me-D is the so-called “Natural Dimension.” TI ties this to Gesture, showing this off the entire presentation with the swiped through the air mentioned earlier. Next, TI describes a second tenant as being a “Connectivity Dimension.” This connectivity TI’s described as “the Internet of things.” In addition to the Optimus 3D, TI noted that they’ve got ZIGB RF4TE working now, this working with Android as a remote control, and they’re planning on collaborating with ANT on an Android-based fitness program. The third notion in Me-D is what TI calls the “Projected Dimension.” To describe the projection dimension, TI notes that they’re working on PICO PLD, a system in which you’ll be able to interact with projections as if they’re physical objects [the holodeck is almost here!] Because Me-D is social system as well, says TI, they plan on bringing a “series of products” to the market that have either 3D capabilities or gesture-sensitive capabilities, (and we hope both!) )

UberTwitter clients get suspended Posted: 18 Feb 2011 01:46 PM PST Twitter’s help page is reporting that the apps UberTwitter and twidroid have been suspended for policy violation. Another source reports that UberMedia’s recent acquisition, Echofon, also got the flag. There were no other details as to why these apps have been benched. Twitter does mention, however, that this is a usual practice to keep the health and vitality of the Twitter platform as a whole. As part of this effort, we ask applications that work with Twitter to abide by a simple set of rules that we believe are in the interests of our users, and the health and vitality of the Twitter platform as a whole. We often take actions to enforce these rules. Also, Techcrunch has a note from a Twitter executive that states the action was taken because Uber Media was guilty of violation of privacy and trademark infringements in an effort to further monteize their services. WOW. Usually, when a suspension is warranted, it affects a small segment of the Twitterverse and goes unannounced, but because this decision affects such a wide array of Twitter fans, an exception was made to disclose it. Until the situation is resolved, Twitter recommends using their own Twitter client for Android, iPhone and Blackberry. And that’s not a bad thing as we think Twitter’s client is indeed excellent and easy to use. They also provide a link to third party and other official Twitter apps here. Since UberMedia owns all three Twitter apps in the Penalty box, we can’t help but wonder who’s next on the chopping block. TweetDeck perhaps? Worth watching this as it unfolds. [via Twitter Support] )

ViewPad 10 Pro [Close Up] Posted: 18 Feb 2011 01:42 PM PST Whilst sitting in a press conference atop the ViewSonic booth at this weeks Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, we were treated to a close look at their upcoming ViewPad 10 Pro. ViewSonic says that this version will effectively replace the ViewPad 10, and that the this new version will be running both Windows 7 and Android. The switch between operating systems will be made with a simple switch, with Windows 7 working primarily, and Android running in virtualization on top. This tablet, ViewSonic says, is made to work as a tablet, with a processor made specifically for a tablet. They also mention that this devices is fanless, though we would expect such a thing from basically every device in the future, no big deal. Android, they say, runs in its own shell above Windows 7, but they share the same storage via microSD. Both operating systems may run on the tablet, but only one can be working at once. This tablet should cost less than 500 pounds, which translates to essentially less than $800, which isn’t encouraging. It will be running Android 2.2 Froyo, which if you ask us is essentially signing its death sentence for purchases by early adopters, but for those super excited about having both Windows 7 and Android for whatever reason, we think this’ll be good enough. We weren’t allowed to get any closer than a couple feet away from the actual tablet, but were assured that this version would be essentially exactly the same on the outside as the ViewPad 10 S which we’d already photographed (the collection of which is included below.) BONUS: In speaking on how ViewPad 10 would be replaced by this Pro version, the presenter did let loose the fact that Android 2.2 would be sent OTA to ViewPad 10 some time in March of this year. Have a peek here at both a gallery of hands-on images as well as a video demo of this device connected to a big fat HD TV: )

Atrix 4G Full System Dump Here and Now Posted: 18 Feb 2011 12:42 PM PST You’ve heard the rumors, you’ve seen what it can do – if you were at Mobile World Congress 2011, you even held this lovely phone in your hands. But it’s not released yet, oh no! What could a person do if they wanted a phone’s contents before the actual release of the phone? Why they’d look for a system dump, of course, and that’s just what we’ve got for you here, courtesy of leaker “Jabthtut,” who is clearly wise and powerful. In addition to the full system dump, available for download via Megaupload by clicking over [here], the gallery below is full of the wallpapers from this soon to be released superphone. Check out the bubbles! Also we’re pleased to let you in on some additional content via our adventures at MWC 2011: This phone is destined to be a big deal, and reviews are just about to pop up all over the interwebs right before the phone is released with its laptop dock and multimedia dock. Explosions all over the USA for certain, eventual wave across Europe oncoming soon after. Will this be the superphone for you? )

Samsung Galaxy S 4G hands-on Posted: 18 Feb 2011 12:09 PM PST Samsung’s Galaxy S 4G isn’t exactly a great leap from the existing Galaxy S range. The company has taken the original Galaxy S and thrown in Android 2.2 Froyo from the outset, together with HSPA+ support for T-Mobile USA’s network. Still, with the Galaxy S family the best-selling Android devices around, there’s arguably little Samsung actually needed to do in order to refresh things prior to the Galaxy S II‘s arrival. Our review unit has arrived, and we wasted no time in whipping it out on camera for some first impressions. It’s certainly derived from the T-Mobile Vibrant, with the same row of four touch-sensitive keys under the touchscreen and the same slender plastic chassis. Having used the Galaxy S II at MWC 2011 this week the 4-inch Super AMOLED doesn’t seem quite so luxurious, but it’s still impressively bright and clear. What will make the biggest difference is the speed: both from the Froyo update, and the 4G upgrade. Android 2.2 is certainly speedier than its predecessor, though Samsung’s TouchWiz UI does muddy the experience somewhat; we still wish there was a way to turn the modifications off. We’ve also noticed a couple of inexplicable pauses in the system, as were present on the original Galaxy S family (and, indeed, on versions that have since seen updates to Froyo). We’ll be putting the HSPA+ through its paces with some comprehensive speed tests ahead of the full Android Community review, so until then enjoy the hands-on gallery! )

White Xperia Play a European Exclusive Posted: 18 Feb 2011 11:54 AM PST European gamers looking to pick up the Sony-Ericcson Xperia Play can up the style points a bit as UK carrier O2 is set to get a White version of the Playstation phone exclusively. Pricing will be the same as the standard XPeria Play for between £499.99-539.99. In the US, users will have to settle for the stock Xperia Play, as it has been announced at $400 without contract or $199 with a two year agreement through Verizon. As we reported earlier today, it has been rumored that AT&T may pick it up soon after. Accessories include a matching white dock to serve as a charging and sync station. The Xperia Play will come with 5-10 games preloaded on purchase. Game site Glu has announced that they will offer Xperia games for under $10, with a typical range of between $1 and 3 dollars per title through app site GLU . Sadly, there are no plans to bring the White Play to the US at the moment. [via Droid Gamers] )

Epic Sprint Android 2.2 Froyo Update Coming Very Soon Posted: 18 Feb 2011 11:38 AM PST It appears that Stephanie Vince-Walsh, aka Sprint 4G Corporate Comm has announced on Twitter that Android 2.2 Froyo will be pushed over the air to Sprint’s Samsung Epic 4G starting on February 21, 2011. That’s very very soon! It’s difficult to see how updates like this are appearing now that Gingerbread 2.4 has essentially been guaranteed to so many new phones, but to those who are under contract with the Epic already, I’m sure it’s a welcome change. This update is said to be pushing to all users by February 25th at the latest. No word on other very similar phones, though one shouldn’t stop crossing their fingers if they hope for a quick move to the higher desserts. That said, how long do you think it’ll take for this phone to get Ice Cream? Will it be too outdated by the time that Honeycomb flavored Mobile OS upgrade comes along? Last we heard of this update it was January of this year and we’d just been told to wait a bit longer: Froyo for Samsung’s Epic 4G “Still in the works.” If you are unaware of the reasons behind the want for this update, head back to the Sprint Epic 4G review our sister site SlashGear did for the handset back in August of last year. Such a lovely little thing with a slide out keyboard and brightness that can be used even outdoors without a problem. All must want. )

Vodafone Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo hands-on Posted: 18 Feb 2011 11:19 AM PST Freshly announced at MWC 2011 earlier this week, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo promises to be the mid-range Android smartphone with some serious imaging punch. We grabbed some hands on time today with the exclusive red variant headed to Vodafone – as well as the regular blue model – and it’s a slick, if a little plastic, handset. The XPERIA Neo firmware wasn’t final, so we’ll hold off from making any judgement calls on how the smartphone performs (or, indeed, how the camera holds up), but from what we’ve seen it’s shaping up nicely. Sony Ericsson has made the sensible decision to separate out its Mediascape and Timescape apps from the core OS, which means that – in theory, at least – Android software updates should come through in a more timely manner than for previous XPERIAs from the company. Of the three colors – white, blue and red – we have to say we prefer the red; in the plastic it’s rich, slightly metallic, and looks a lot more interesting than the somewhat mundane blue version. The silver edge pieces are discrete, and the Neo fits nicely into the hand. We’ll have to wait for review units to drop before we know whether the phone shapes up as a whole, however. )

White Google Nexus S hands-on Posted: 18 Feb 2011 11:14 AM PST Google’s Nexus S isn’t new, but the white variant of the Gingerbread smartphone – which is a Vodafone exclusive – certainly is, and we’ve been itching to get our hands on the newer model since we first caught wind of its existence. As the official photos showed, this isn’t quite a full white makeover; in fact, the battery compartment is now white, as are the inset power button and volume rocker, but the front section of the Nexus S is still glossy black. Still, that’s not to say no work has gone into it; under the battery cover it’s white as well, which leads us to wonder whether it’s something to do with the manufacturing process of the curved glass front that has left it black like the original. It’s not just a color change, either; gone is the fingerprint-magnet glossy finish, replaced with a slightly textured, matte back plate that feels less prone to slipping out of your grasp. Functionally it’s the same Nexus S we know from the full Android Community review, and still the only Android 2.3 Gingerbread device on the market. It’s “coming soon” to Vodafone. )

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