Android Community |
- Leaked AT&T Roadmap Reveals HTC ChaCha, HTC Hydra
- Samsung Hints at Lowering Galaxy Tab Prices Lower than $199 [10.1 and 8.9 too?]
- ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro Runs BlueStacks [Android Virtualization]
- 911HTC aka 911Sniper is Down for Everyone (Not Just Me)
- Google pulls Yong Zhang game emulator apps from Android Market, suspends dev account
- Notion Ink Adam sales open again; Honeycomb on June 27
- Linaro and Samsung partner for Origen board with Samsung Galaxy S II chipset for devs
- Samsung Galaxy S II I9101 snapped in the wild
- MSI WindPad 100A: 10-inch IPS slate
- ViewSonic ViewPad 7x and dual-boot 10Pro confirmed
- ASUS PadFone and Eee Pad MeMO 3D official
- Samsung sells 1.3m Galaxy S II in Korea; promises successor in 1H 2011 plus 4G Galaxy Tab
- NVIDIA demos Kal-El quadcore gaming/graphics prowess [Video]
- Asus Padfone Press Photos (full view) [BREAKING LEAK]
| Leaked AT&T Roadmap Reveals HTC ChaCha, HTC Hydra Posted: 30 May 2011 10:35 AM PDT It appears that the folks over at AT&T have leaked (or have had leaked from underneath them,) a roadmap which reveals details on specs as well as release dates for several code-named devices, at least a couple of which will be (or would have been) running Android. The first is a colorful customer we’ve gotten to know fairly well in other parts of the world, that being the HTC ChaCha – aka a QUERTY keyboard-toting 480×320 resolution portrait-mode phone with a physical Facebook button.
This HTC ChaCha device was revealed at Mobile World Congress 2011 to an astounded public, people running with their shirts off and claws clamping cameras on the showroom floor. This device is set to be running Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread when it’s released and it’s set to be released by the second quarter of 2011. That means very soon! Can’t wait to see how well it fairs against the rest of the Facebook phones coming out soon. — Also note that this device appears on the list as HTC lele (cute!)
Then there’s the HTC Hydra A5253. What in the world is that? That’s a code-name for the HTC Paradise, a rather bright device we saw leaked more than once all the way back as far as last summer (2010.) Thing is here, the device is marked with a rather ominous “cancelled?” which more than likely means… that it’s cancelled. Bummer!
[via PocketNow] )
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| Samsung Hints at Lowering Galaxy Tab Prices Lower than $199 [10.1 and 8.9 too?] Posted: 30 May 2011 09:30 AM PDT In an interview given with the Wall Street Journal today (May 30, 2011,) JK Shin, head of Samsung Mobile Communications, hinted at several important points, the most immediately important of which being that although they’d very recently reduced the price of the Samsung Galaxy Tab (original 7-inch) to $199 – and that the “company would be willing to lower prices further in order to gain more share.” This comes amid news that Samsung did indeed have “plans to deepen its relationship with Google Inc. by depending on the U.S. company’s Android mobile device software to run future versions of its tablets.”
Of course everyone else in the world other than the interviewer knew that Samsung would dedicate themselves to Android, especially since they’ve grabbed significant success with them thus far. The Samsung Galaxy S series of Android phones are THE best selling series in the world, and with their new Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 on the way set to compete directly with Apple’s iPad, they’ve got nowhere to go but up. For a better look at what you’re going to be getting from the 10.1 version, have a look at our full review of the limited edition Google I/O version of the hardware. We’re hoping this news bit spreads to the other versions of the Galaxy Tab whose 10.1 prices include $499 for the 16GB version and $599 for the 32GB version. These price points are of course set to go in direct competition with the iPad 2 whose cheapest price is set at $499 as well. And what about Samsung’s own mobile OS Bada? Does anyone weep for the disappearing system? Younghee Lee, senior vice president of sales and marketing notes that Samsung certainly isn’t abandoning Bada, only putting it aside for the moment. “When there is a market need for our own software, we will consider it but that’s not our plan at the moment,” Ms. Lee said. Perhaps a Bada / Android tablet is on the horizon? Don’t hold your breath! Meanwhile have a look at Samsung’s newest interpretation of Android for tablets, as filmed back at CTIA 2011: [via Wall Street Journal] )
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| ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro Runs BlueStacks [Android Virtualization] Posted: 30 May 2011 08:57 AM PDT Well what do you know, it appears that ViewSonic has beaten Dell to the punch and will be the first Windows 7 tablet manufacturer to run BlueStacks on a tablet. What the heck is BlueStacks, you might ask? Why, it’s Android on Windows PCs! What it essentially represents is a virtualization of Android on whatever Windows machine you happen to have BlueStacks running on. Before we continue here, have a look at the article we’ve got up on the BlueStacks subject so you can fully understand the significance of this lovely situation.
Next have a look at the article popping up the day after that initial explanation article of BlueStacks, namely an announcement that Dell would be releasing a 10 inch Android tablet, but perhaps one that was Windows with Android running virtually. BlueStacks, we whispered, BlueStacks indeed. This situation is, if you ask us, much more significant than a dual-OS tablet in that instead of having to choose between one or the other, you’ve got Windows with all your Android apps running inside. The less-than-exciting element here is that this ViewSonic device will not have Android Market support. But you know as well as I do that with markets like Amazon’s Appstore ramping up, such a thing will be of little concern in the future – right? For more information on the Amazon Appstore, head over to our Android Community 101: Amazon Appstore post! Then note that BlueStacks achieves its goal of running Android on Windows 7 by using a virtualized Android 2.2 Froyo build to its advantage. ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro currently has no launch date, but BlueStacks has noted that IT will be hitting retail “soon” and has tipped that a Q3 launch for products running its system is in the works. [via SlashGear] )
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| 911HTC aka 911Sniper is Down for Everyone (Not Just Me) Posted: 30 May 2011 08:34 AM PDT Woaaah is me, and whoa is everyone else, because our favorite location for HTC ROMs ninja’ed from who knows where, 911HTC aka 911SnIpEr aka http://www.911htc.com/ is down for the count. We’ve had a longstanding post count expanding by the day here on Android Community coming from the fellow named 911SnIpEr, from the HTC ThunderBolt System Dump and RUU – Leaked and Gigantic post to the brand new HTC ChaCha and HTC Salsa Leak Final Software Builds. This appears to have come to a crashing halt over the past 24 hours or so as the site is indeed Down for Everyone.
As you may recall, in a perhaps unrelated event, there was a post by the name of Warning: Leaked HTC Thunderbolt Gingerbread radio may brick your phone. This particular build did indeed come from 911HTC, and it’s not outside of the realm of possible reality that HTC figured this puzzle out and sent out the hammer to the home of the leaking ROMs. Is this the end of the ROM party from the HTC camp? Hardly, but it certainly is a situation for you leakers to be attuned to. Meanwhile stay tuned and we’ll keep hitting the reload button, and of course will keep you updated as to where else you’ll be able to pick up on the leaks from the mothership. On that note, what do you think is next? Some super secret leak as picked up at Computex 2011? We shall see! )
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| Google pulls Yong Zhang game emulator apps from Android Market, suspends dev account Posted: 30 May 2011 07:43 AM PDT If you are a fan of emulator apps on your Android device Google has taken a heavy hand to the apps recently. You might recognize the emulators Nesoid, Snesoid, N64oid, and Gameboid developed by Yong Zhang with the account name Yongzh. Apparently, Google has axed that developer account and pulled all of the emulators from the Android Market. We don't know right now what prompted the emulators to get pulled.
The removal of the apps could have been the result of complaints from the manufacturers that own the rights to the games the emulators allowed users to play. Zhang says that his account was deleted and all the apps were removed as well. You can still get the emulator apps over on the third-party app store SlideME. Of course, if the removal was due to pressure from pother companies the apps may be removed from their new home too. One possible issue that could cause the apps to be removed is that there were complaints to Google from Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft. However, there is another rumor that the apps were removed because of alleged violations with the open source licenses for the projects that parts of the app code was based on. )
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| Notion Ink Adam sales open again; Honeycomb on June 27 Posted: 30 May 2011 07:31 AM PDT Still keen to pick up a Notion Ink Adam? It’s been a while since the first batch of Android slates went out, and Notion Ink has just thrown open the doors for a new round of orders.
Meanwhile, Eden 1.5 – Notion Ink’s UI and multitasking system – is going out to existing owners later today. It’ll also include new apps, though exact details won’t be revealed until the new firmware is released. Apparently Honeycomb will follow on come June 27, complete with hardware acceleration. If you want to place an order you’ll first have to subscribe to Notion Ink’s list, here; the company is sending out ordering invites now. Of course, the Android tablet landscape has changed plenty since we first saw Adam, and it’s no longer the first Tegra 2 slate around. )
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| Linaro and Samsung partner for Origen board with Samsung Galaxy S II chipset for devs Posted: 30 May 2011 05:34 AM PDT Open source developers need hardware to test the offering on and Linaro and Samsung have partnered to deliver a high-end solution to developer needs. The new device is called the Origen development board and the coolest thing about the little board is that it uses the same powerful Samsung Exynos 4210 chipset that you find inside the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone. That chipset has a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor.
Other than that speedy Samsung chipset, the Origen board also has 1GB of DDR3 RAM and a Mali400 GPU. The board is aimed at developers looking to make tablets, smartphone, and other connected screens that want high quality graphics and performance. Linaro will provide Linaro Evaluation Builds of Android and Ubuntu from its website to use with the hardware. Perhaps the coolest thing about the Origen board is that it will sell to devs for under $200. The board also integrates mobile oriented feature is not the board like interfaces for HDMI, SD cards, WiFi, Bluetooth, Stereo audio, LCD, JTAG debug, and cameras. The Exynos processor is mounted on a small daughter board with the DDR3 RAM to enable future upgrades. "The Origen board and Linaro's provision of software and tools makes it easier, faster and less expensive for developers and companies to develop high-end embedded Linux products," said George Grey, CEO Linaro. "Origen provides outstanding performance for tablets, smartphones and a wide range of embedded Linux products, and we are excited to be offering optimized open source components and builds of Android and Ubuntu for this development platform." [via Linaro] )
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| Samsung Galaxy S II I9101 snapped in the wild Posted: 30 May 2011 04:52 AM PDT We all know all there is to know about the Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone. The device has been very popular and sold a million units in South Korea alone so far. The smartphone is one of the more sought after Android offerings around. Another version of the Galaxy S II has now turned up in the wild and Mr. Blurrycam has snapped the device with what appears to be a camera phone after a bit too much caffeine.
We have no idea what sort of specs the smartphone in these pictures offers for sure. What we do know is that the splash screen clearly shows the model number of the phone to be I9101. We might not know what’s under the hood of the phone in the images here, but it's easy enough to guess that what we are looking at is that Galaxy S II with NFC inside that Samsung has confirmed for the UK in June. At the time the UK NFC version of the phone was announced we wondered if there would be two version of the device offered in the UK. It appears with this new Galaxy S II turning up with a different model that there will be two versions. Presumably, this side of the NFC assumption, the hardware will be the same.   [via Techfreakstuff] )
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| MSI WindPad 100A: 10-inch IPS slate Posted: 30 May 2011 03:10 AM PDT MSI is on the tablet train at Computex 2011 this week too, and its Android offering is the WindPad 100A. A 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 IPS slate weighing 740g, the WindPad 100A has an unspecified dual-core Cortex A9 processor – we’re guessing NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 – along with 1GB of RAM, up to 32GB of storage and WiFi b/g/n.
There’s also an HDMI port, g-sensor, ambient light sensor, an SD card slot, USB port and audio output; cameras front and back complete the deal. OS is “the latest Google Android operating system” which certainly suggests Honeycomb, perhaps with MSI hedging its bets a little just in case a newer version pops out before the WindPad 100A reaches shelves. No word on when, exactly, that will be however, nor for how much it will cost. MSI also unveiled a new Windows 7 tablet, which you can find details of at the via link below. [via SlashGear] Press Release: )
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| ViewSonic ViewPad 7x and dual-boot 10Pro confirmed Posted: 30 May 2011 03:03 AM PDT ViewSonic has refreshed its Android tablet range, with the new 7-inch ViewPad 7x offering Honeycomb on a 1024 x 600 touchscreen, while the 10.1-inch ViewPad 10Pro gives a choice of Froyo or Windows 7 on an Intel Oak Trail Atom processor. The ViewPad 7x – which leaked earlier this month – has a Tegra 2 processor and twin cameras, along with along with HSPA+, HDMI and DLNA support.
It weighs 380g and has a microUSB port and an LED flash. As for the ViewPad 10Pro, that has a 1.5GHz Intel Oak Trail Z670 processor along with WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth and all the usual features you’d expect from an x86 tablet. Unfortunately ViewSonic’s decision to go with Android 2.2 rather than Honeycomb looks likely to hurt the 10Pro’s reputation. No word on pricing or release dates at this stage. [via SlashGear] )
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| ASUS PadFone and Eee Pad MeMO 3D official Posted: 30 May 2011 02:44 AM PDT ASUS is talking tablets at Computex 2011 this morning, and while we may have already seen the company’s PadFone, there are still a few surprises on offer. That includes the ASUS Eee Pad MeMO 3D, a glasses-free 3D update of the original MeMO Android Honeycomb tablet shown at CES 2011, with a 1024 x 600 IPS 3D display, an active digital stylus like the HTC Flyer, and a companion MeMIC Bluetooth headset for music and calls.
The ASUS PadFone is what we’re more interested in, though, a 10-inch 1280 x 800 slate into which can dock a roughly 4-inch ASUS smartphone. Once in place, the tablet can recharge the smartphone using its own inbuilt battery, as well as use the phone’s 3G connection and rear 5-megapixel camera. That, ASUS suggests, means two 3G-enabled gadgets for the price of a single 3G connection. The company has also done some work fettling the UI, scaled both to suit phone use and tablet use. The PadFone can switch “seamlessly” between the two. According to ASUS this is all semi-conceptual right now, with no confirmed specs, but the company does intend to release the PadFone at some point.    )
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| Samsung sells 1.3m Galaxy S II in Korea; promises successor in 1H 2011 plus 4G Galaxy Tab Posted: 30 May 2011 02:36 AM PDT Samsung has announced that it has broken the 1m sales barrier for the Galaxy S II in South Korea, smashing sales records in the process. Meanwhile, mobile comms chief J.K. Shin has confirmed that a sequel to the GSII, aka the “Galaxy S III”, is planned for the first half of 2012, while a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4G slate should arrive later in the year.
Details on the two new devices are unknown, with Shin only saying that the tablet would be built upon, and improve, what the current Galaxy Tab models offer. The 4G standard it will support is also unclear, so it could be LTE, WiMAX, HSPA+ or – most likely – all three to suit the various carriers. Samsung actually sold 1.3m GSII units in May, Shin says; the original Galaxy S took 70 days to reach the 1m mark. As for the ongoing legal battle between Samsung and Apple, Shin dismisses it as not being “legally problematic.” ”We didn’t copy Apple’s design” the exec insisted, “we have used many similar designs over the past years.” )
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| NVIDIA demos Kal-El quadcore gaming/graphics prowess [Video] Posted: 29 May 2011 08:00 PM PDT NVIDIA has been teasing us with its next-gen Tegra chipset, codenamed Kal-El, since February, and now the company has demonstrated just what sort of thing a quad-core CPU, twelve-core GPU SoC is capable of when you slap it into an Android Honeycomb tablet. A homegrown game, Glowball, shows how the four cores can crunch through real-time dynamic lighting in a way that would bring a dual-core like Tegra 2 to its knees.
The game basically involves rolling an illuminated ball around an arena of interactive jack-in-the-boxes, curtains and barrels; hitting the boxes in the right order allows you to move on to the next level. The interesting thing, though, is the arena itself: the ball gives off an internal light that’s projected through the patterns on its surface, and they’re all calculated in real-time rather than being preset animations. That allows you to change the light, brightness and pattern and see it all take place in real-time. Meanwhile, the curtains and barrels react to movement of the tablet’s accelerometer, fluttering and tumbling as you’d expect them to in real life. NVIDIA has added the ability to virtually shut down two of the cores, to show the stuttering, jerky mess you’d get if you attempted dynamic lighting on a current-gen dual-core chip. NVIDIA expect to release Glowball into the Android Market when Kal-El based devices go on sale, itself planned to take place later in 2011.             )
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| Asus Padfone Press Photos (full view) [BREAKING LEAK] Posted: 29 May 2011 01:53 PM PDT As you know, we’ve been chomping at the bit for the past week or two to see Asus’ new effort for Android, one that we found late this past week would be at least one, maybe two devices called Padfone. As it seems now, it’s definitely SOMETHING like that. Have a look at what we’re seeing here: what appears to be a tablet with a phone living inside it, able to come out at a moments notice via a sort of garage door hatch. What in the world?
This device (or devices, whatever you’d like to say,) will almost certainly be revealed tomorrow at Computex in Taiwan, and we’re hoping this oddity doesn’t stick in the Easter side of the world. Asus! Let’s have a look at this strange thing! Note everyone that there appears to be a copper color in here and a black color – perhaps two different color combinations. These devices look very similar to some recent devices we’ve seen come from Dell and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer doesn’t look too far behind this collection as far as industrial design.
Then there’s the ATRIX 4G. We’ve had a look at its desktop mode and all the fun things you can do with the laptop dock – how will this tablet situation compare to that laptop situation? Motorola, are you ready for this jelly? A camera that can see through the cover that protects the phone, dual-speakers that surround the phone hole, the ability to open up the dock to turn the tablet into a laptop. Wild stuff!          )
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