Author: Jerry Hildenbrand

The Samsung Behold II is finally getting updated from cupcake (Android 1.5), but it’s not exactly what you’d expect.  It’s a big drawn out mess of pulled youtube videos, supposed broken promises, random forum posts, and even threat of some sort of legal action. Thankfully the good folks over at Phone Scoop reached out for the official word from Samsung and Kim Titus, the Director of PR for Samsung Telecommunications America, let them know that the Behold II will indeed be updated, but only to Donut (Android 1.6).

According to Samsung, the Behold II is not upgradable beyond Android 1.6.  To sweeten the blow a little bit, Samsung says they will also offer the Swype keyboard, an improved media player, improved bluetooth capabilities, and the Android core apps (the apps like Gmail, Maps, or Talk) would be getting an upgrade.  We don’t like it any more than you do, but this is how legacies are built.  [Phone Scoop]

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Back in February when Google released Buzz for mobile, only folks with Android 2.0 or higher and the iPhone could use it.  Today the Google Mobile Blog announced that the Buzz website has been re-written, and now any mobile browser that can read and render XHTML.  Open your browser and surf to buzz.google.com and sign in with your Google account.  Not sure if this is enough to make Buzz more popular, but it certainly can’t hurt.  To check it out, I was forced to fire up the browser on my venerable Blackberry 8830 WE.  As you can see above, it’s not too shabby — but like everything else, looks much better on the Android browser.  Nice work Google [Google Mobile Blog]

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Remember Applegirl? Now she has some serious competition.  Using what looks to be a Samsung Galaxy A this young lady shares a beautiful rendition of Take a Bow by Rhianna.  From the YouTube comments it appears that someone other than the artist uploaded the video, anyone know who this gal is?  I know we’re interested, and maybe Samsung would be as well.  In the meantime, enjoy! Thanks, NickF227!

Update: Meant to mention she’s playing the "Solo" app. [Market link]

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Here’s a great find that comes to us from Emlil at androidscoop. Froyo now gives users the ability to import .vcf cards into contacts.  Even better, it looks like Froyo can handle the .vcf files right from the e-mail application as well as Gmail.  Emlil gives a nice walkthrough of
the process using the Gmail application, and we’ve attached a few pics of doing it through the regular pop mail app. 

Also very cool is the ability to share contacts as .vcf files.  Again, Emlil walks us through doing it via Gmail, so we grabbed a few snaps of doing it over bluetooth.  Business users as well as those of us with big address books will surely find a use for this one.

Jump past the break to see some more pics and a short breakdown.

(Thanks Emlil! Find a cool new feature in Froyo and want to tell the world about it? E-mail us here and we’ll make you famous!)

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Zombies!  RUN!  There are two things I totally geek out on — Android phones and zombie games. When I saw that Hayden The Android sent us over a copy of Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper to evaluate and review I dove after it before any of the rest of us could snatch it away from me 🙂 In the end it didn’t matter — as soon as I’m done writing this I’m buying it from the Android Market so it’s mine forever.

It’s simple enough.  Determine the number of zombies (red pixels) you want to start with, the total population, and the number of zombie-killers (blue pixels) and apply.  Then sit back and watch the carnage! There are a few other settings as well (click the link for some other screen shots), but nothing complicated.  All nice and simple like a good zombie infestation should be.  Oh, there’s one more treat — when things get too bad, and your zombie killers are up against the wall and outnumbered, drop a shortcut on your home screen to trigger a cleansing nuclear blast that kills off everything, just like a good nuclear blast should 🙂  Follow the break to see a few more screen shots as well as some download links.  Then prepare for the zombie apocalypse! Android 2.1 + only, ROM must have live wallpapers running

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One of the biggest thorns in Android’s side so far has been lack of Bluetooth voice dialing.  (These are phones, after all.)  For those of you on-the-go who need to safely use the phone features without touching it you now have the option in Android 2.2.

Once your device is paired and connected, a press of the action key brings up what you see above.  You’re greeted by a female robotic voice who also repeats your instructions.  Seems fairly accurate (as accurate as my Blackberry or Pre), and worked well with both a Motorola MOTOROKR S305 set and a Jawbone Icon in my testing.  Shout out Froyo-ers — does your headset work, and how’s your Bluetooth experience on 2.2?

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All our friends across the pond, as well as any expatriates living in our neck of the woods have a new application to check out.  Heck, even us yanks could do well with a little English culture added to our lives.  The London Evening Standard and Handmark have joined together and now the popular tabloid style London daily paper can be read right from your Android device.

Hit the break for the full press release, as well as a few screenshots.  Now if you’ll pardon me, it’s time for tea here in Appalachia.

Thanks Dan!

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When the Nexus One first came out, there was some question about wireless N.  Mainly why didn’t it work.   N1 users who were rooted and running Cyanogen Mod started seeing some 802.11n goodness last month, but now it’s official.  Wireless N support is included in Froyo.  You probably won’t notice much speed difference (at least I didn’t) as even the Snapdragon processor can only process so much information.  But the increase in signal strength and range is awesome — especially for spending a Sunday morning out on the deck reading the news with a pot of coffee and a cigar.  I used to have to depend on Sprint 3G and my Hero to do that, but Froyo lets me bring the N1 out for some fresh air and to join the party.

(Thanks, John (and Google)! Find a cool new feature in Froyo and want to tell the world about it? E-mail us here and we’ll make you famous!)

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Yes you read it correctly 🙂  The Sprint Evo 4G appears to have been rooted, before its officially released.  Android developer Matt Mastracci at his blog grack.com has some pictures to show us, and by the looks of things the HTC EVO 4G has been rooted. This is excellent news, and the development community should  quickly grow for this beast. 

Sorry Incredible users, looks like this one won’t work for you.  But have no fear, the right people are hard at work.

Follow the jump to see a few more pics and blurrycam video of the results.  You can bet we’re keeping a watchful eye on this one.  Stay tuned. [grack.com]

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Seesmic has been busy lately it seems.  Not only did they reveal a preview of their new desktop client but they also have a new beta build of their popular Android Twitter client for Google I/O attendees.  Since we have a man on the floor at Google I/O, we get a sneak preview of it too.  As you can see from the screen shot, support for Google Buzz is in the works.  No word on when it’s expected to be released, but you can bet as soon as we know, we’re going to share the good news.

Blogger and Tech Lead of Mozilla’s mobile devices team Stuart Parmenter has slipped out a new pre-alpha build for Android 2.x users.  He still warns that it’s likely to be very buggy and isn’t even close to ready for prime time, but for us curious types he has posted it on his blog here to download and play with.

It’s considerably better running and a bit smaller (the download is 9.6 MB, and the install is now 25MB versus 30MB in size) than the last build.  I put it through the paces a little bit and found it to be quite a treat, especially knowing that it’s still an early development version.  And interestingly enough, it outscores the native Android browser on the Acid3 test.  If you’re feeling adventurous head over to Stuart’s blog and give Fennec a spin.  [pavlov.net] 

With all the social media applications out there, it’s refreshing when comes along that that’s sounds so unique you have to try it.  Android Town is one of those apps.  From the looks of things in the forums and around the Internet I don’t think I’m the only one that thinks so.  Hit the link below to have a closer look at Android Town and check out some screenies from this exciting new app.

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Android Central forum user doc31 was lucky enough to get some hands-on time with the HTC EVO 4G.  There’s answers to some of our questions, some pictures from the camera, oh, and did I mention a video showing it in action?  Check out the thread in the EVO forums here, and follow the break to see the video as well as some samples from the camera.

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Whoa!  The WiFi Alliance certified the (likely Android) Motorola MB810 today for IEEE Standard 802.11 b/g/n.  Yes, that’s the Shadow, and I know a lot of us have been waiting for more info about this screamer.  Still no concrete details or specs, but in case you forgot here’s what we think we know:-

• Full Qwerty landscape slider
• 4.3-inch capacitive screen
• 1080p playback
• Android 2.2
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 8MP autofocus camera
• microSD slot
• AT&T 3G GSM radio

If you’re an AT&T subscriber, start gathering up the change from your ashtray and from deep down in the couch.  This is one you don’t wanna miss out on. [via Phonedog]

HTC has announced its projections for the second quarter, and they are aiming high.  HTC says it expects to sell 4.5 million handsets, with revenue to peak at 1.6 billion USD.  This is a pretty big jump from the 3.3 million handsets sold in Q1, and the company is ahead of market analyst expectations.  In today’s ecomony, any earnings increase is nice.  This kind of growth is phenomenal, and HTC’s CFO Cheng Hui-ming credits the increase to one thing — the "growing popularity of the Android platform in Europe and the US." 

Keep pumping out phones like the Desire, Legend, Incredible, EVO, etc. and the sky is the limit Mr. Hui-ming.  We all love stylish, top quality hardware that runs the best Mobile OS
on the planet, and can’t wait to see what’s next. [Financial Times via Engadget]

Sony Ericsson (via the Sony Ericsson Product Blog) announced today that the Spotify  service will now be integrated deep into the Timescape and Mediascape shell on the SE Xperia X10. The integration allows Spotify to show as an online media service in Mediascape, and your recently played songs will appear in the Timescape timeline.  Check out the video — it’s pretty sweet. 

The drawback for some of us (OK, a lot of us) is that Spotify isn’t available in the U.S., but then again, neither is the X10.  This is an idea I would like to see catch on, and other manufacturers with custom Android UI’s weaving Slacker or Pandora into the OS would be welcomed here. [via Unwired view]

Everyone seems to be getting into the Android spirit.  We learned today that the Commtiva Blaze passed through the FCC, and is headed for Cincinatti Bell.  No word on processor or memory specs quite yet, but what we do know points to the Blaze being another solid entry level phone.  Quadband GSM and dual band 1700/2100 HSDPA (which means it would also make a great pre-paid T-Mobile handset), Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, WiFi 802.11 b/g, 5 MP camera with LED flash and autofocus, GPS and aGPS, and a 1230mAh battery all wrapped up in what looks to be a slightly customized version of Android 1.6.

While it may not be a screamer, it’s always nice to see new handsets — especially when the smaller carriers are beginning to get into the game. [via CellPhone Signal]