Author: Kevin C. Tofel

WiMAX speedtest in downtown Austin, TX

Somehow a Sprint news release got past me yesterday and tucked inside was a listing of 2010 WiMAX cities in the U.S. Officially, Sprint plans to light up these towns: Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. There’s mention of more markets to be announced at a later date, but it’s not clear if those markets will see WiMAX in 2010 or beyond. Fast data connections for home, laptop sticks and Overdrive devices are the obvious market here, but don’t discount phones — the anticipated 4G-totin’ HTC Supersonic will need a WiMAX signal to live up to it’s name. And when Colin Gibbs wondered why the Supersonic was on the way, he noted that major cities like New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. wouldn’t be able to take full advantage of the handset. By year end, it appears that will be a moot point and I expect plenty of smartphone addicts in these areas boarding a Supersonic.

While faster is generally better, I really haven’t pined for a 4G phone — there’s no way I’d go back to an 2.5G device, but 3G is generally fast enough for most of my phone activities. But two recent scenarios have me starting to rethink my desire. Yesterday, James asked how much you use Wi-Fi on your phone, and a large percentage of commenters generally said as often as possible. One reason is to get at data without approaching a 3G bandwidth cap, but most smartphone data plans these days are unlimited — the U.S. data plans for laptops and signal sharing devices are a different story, of course. My own answer to the Wi-Fi question was that I typically use Wi-Fi at home on a handset, due to the faster speeds. That should have told me that I do want faster throughput on my handset. If that wasn’t enough evidence, my recent HSPA+ testing of T-Mobile’s 21 Mbps network was a clearer sign. I just watched the video again and my excitement was proof positive when a Google Nexus One topped out at over 4 Mbps in a download test. Just listen to my unscripted comments starting at the 3:15 mark — my true geekiness emerges.

I’m still thinking that for most of today’s smartphone activities, a good 3G signal is more than adequate — video uploads are probably the largest exception. But there’s another factor involved that I hadn’t thought about — what about the activities we’ll do on the superphones of tomorrow? Handset capabilities continue to leap forward and it’s safe to say that they are pocketable computers. That evolution isn’t simply going to stop — it’s continuing forward at a torrid pace and as it does, I anticipate that we’ll rely on handsets even more in the future. We’ll do more complex activities as mobile software evolves and as we continue to create content with our devices on the go. And we’ll need faster wireless pipes to make it all happen. I’m not picking a “winner” here in terms of WiMAX, LTE or HSPA+, but I’m starting to see why I’ll crave it for my phone.

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Marketing Handsets in the Superphone Era

When Google announced its ambitious plans for Chrome OS on netbooks, any excitement generated quickly fizzled. With a June 2009 announcement of a product not due out until the second half of 2010, momentum isn’t easy to maintain. Many assume that “second half of 2010″ is wide target and may not even mean until the holiday season. But a report out of Digitimes by way of Liliputing indicates that we could see a Chrome OS device sooner rather than later. Facing pressure in the netbook market, Acer is reportedly planning to launch Chrome OS devices by the middle of 2010 — still a wide range, but possibly before most of us anticipated. Although this information isn’t officially backed up by Google, the more I think about it, the more I suspect the timeline has merit.

For starters, Acer is one of the originally named partners that Google is working with for the Chrome OS project. So are Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba. Obviously having Acer on that list doesn’t add major credibility to the DigiTimes report, but if they weren’t listed, you could probably dismiss the news. Sidenote — although Intel is conspicuously absent from the partner list, Google initially said that Chrome OS would be supported on both ARM and x86 platforms. We already know that’s true — I installed a build of Chrome OS as the primary operating system of an x86 netbook back in December.

Speaking of Chrome OS builds, the very place I downloaded mine shows recent activity of late. Last week, “Hexxeh” dropped a brand new build and although it’s not officially from Google, it is built upon the Chromium OS open source efforts that will yield the Chrome OS. So in essence, it offers a glimpse of Google’s progress. I haven’t had a chance to download and install this build yet — I will do that on the same netbook I have running Chrome OS — but I can see features that weren’t there before. Hexxeh’s “Flow” build adds in his own customizable menus for organizing web apps , automatic updates, hardware accelerated support for Nvidia’s ION graphics solution, webcam support and battery life improvements, to name a few.

While I don’t know exactly what the Chromium OS communited added vs what Hexxeh included to the build, I’m not sure I care. Even if all of this was added by one individual — and a 17-year old one, at that! — it means the underlying framework of Chrome OS to support these features is coming along quickly. But is it quickly enough?

The competition that Google’s Chrome OS will face isn’t just the existing netbook market. It’s also the smartbook sector and I’ve argued that Apple’s iPad may have already cornered that market before it really starting to provide shipping products. And those iPads are due to start shipping around the end of next month. Now that Google and its Chrome OS partners know this, do you think they’ll be meandering around and working on products for year end shipping? I wouldn’t if I were them. I’d be trying to build the best mobile environment I could in as little time as possible — exactly what it sounds like Acer is reportedly doing. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if we start hearing announcements from Google’s hardware partners by May, which is one month after the iPad with 3G is due to ship.

If device availability isn’t on Google’s side, at least the pricing should be. I can’t imagine any Google Chrome OS devices costing $499 or more, which is the base model starting price for Apple’s iPad. And price is often a differentiator, although Apple is known as a premium brand and will offer a full application ecosystem with the iPad. Google’s Chrome OS is built on a Linux kernel, but the intended use for the system is for browsing and web-based applications.

As a current or potential netbook / smartbook owner, when do you think we’ll see a Google Chrome OS device? Does the introduction of Apple’s iPad have any influence over what you might buy or do you see that as a completely different type of device?

Image courtesy of Hexxeh

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The No. 1 Way Chrome OS Will Woo Consumers to the Cloud

Viliv showed off its S10 Blade touchscreen netbook at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show, but kept mum on pricing and availability. Here in the U.S. the device is now available for pre-order now appears as “coming soon” through Dynamism with a starting price of $699. That’s the lowest configuration available and although the S10 supports 3-point multitouch, it won’t work out of the box on this model due to the installation of Microsoft Windows XP Home. You’ll either need to bring your own Windows 7 license or bump up to one of the seven other configurations — none of which have a price just yet.

All configs offer the 1366 x 768 10.1″ swivel screen with resistive multitouch panel, 1 GB of RAM, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, 43 W/hr battery and integrated webcam, but they differ by processor, storage and integrated HSPA 3G options. You can power the S10 with one of two Intel Atom processors — the 1.6 GHz Z530 or 2 GHz Z550. This platform paired with the battery is estimated at 10 hours of run time, so I’d expect to get through a full 8-hour workday with the S10. The three storage options include a traditional 60 GB hard drive or an SSD drive in either 32 GB or 64 GB capacity. No telling what the high end models will cost, but I could easily see them approach the $1,000 threshold once an S10 is fully loaded. UMPC Portal envisions the top end model hitting around $1,200.

While the Viliv S10 has the looks of a Tablet PC in a netbook’s clothing, keep in mind that Windows XP Home Edition doesn’t offer Microsoft’s Tablet PC functions. So I’m a little surprised that the base pre-order device isn’t offered with the Windows XP Tablet Edition operating system. And even if you opt to use Windows 7 for inking, bear in mind that the resistive touchscreen will offer a sub-optimal experience. It’s likely to be usable, but not nearly as good as a Tablet PC with an active digitizer.

Anyone pre-ordering or is this feature-set at $699 causing you to pass?

Images courtesy of Dynamism

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Report: The Future of Netbooks!

Last week, Microsoft reinvented itself in the phone by announcing its Windows Phone 7 Series, due out for the holidays this year. Part of the news included a loose set of hardware requirements for a supported chassis. Series in the product name implies more than one device type and the “Frankly Speaking” podcast might have tipped information about other chassis requirements. Mary Jo Foley gave the show a listen as did I. The podcast offers Michael Kordahi and Andrew Coates chatting — both are Microsoft Australia developer evangelists — they state we’ll see three main chassis designs from Microsoft. And three is the perfect number for both chassis designs and for the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch — any more and Microsoft risks an explosion of too many designs beyond control.

Obviously, the first is the one that was already announced and shown off as a prototype — a “big screen” touch device with no physical keyboard, 1 GHz processor and dedicated graphics chip. Chassis number two is expected to offer a sliding QWERTY keyboard along with a touchscreen and while the third chassis isn’t specified, both hosts predict a candy bar style device. Since boys from down under only hit the varying form factors, my hope is that the required guts don’t change much across the chassis designs. By creating a common minimum specification set, Microsoft can nearly guarantee the user experience and performance across the entire series. How carriers will differentiate these designs is another good question, though.

While the hardware requirements for other chassis designs are still murky, some think it’s clear that Microsoft still needs to woo developers or the level of success will be tempered. I noted the importance of the development community just this morning when looking at the 2009 smartphone market share numbers, but I think Microsoft is actually in good shape here. Mobile Tech World says that apps for Windows Phone 7 Series are built on Silverlight, XNA and .Net Compact Framework, so these aren’t brand new tools that devs have to learn from scratch. We’ll know more for sure in a few weeks — Microsoft’s MIX10 event for devs takes place from March 13 through 15.

Image credit: Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series

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As Windows Mobile Stumbles, Which Smartphone OS Will Seize the Lead?

The definition of a smartbook is about as rigid as the ocean tide — in the morning it can mean one type of device, but by evening, a totally different computing tool can qualify. So when I hear predictions that navigate the smartbook sea, I often wonder exactly what types of devices are included. ABI Research just outed one set of predictions and call for 163 million smartbooks to be sold in 2015. This reiterates ABI’s thesis last month that ARM will overtake x86 in ultra-mobile devices by 2013.

As usual, the nebulous definitions of “always connected” and “subset of MIDs and netbooks” apply to the smartbook target. But there are also two very specific defining attributes in the ABI forecast: smartbooks run on a mobile operating system — still semi-nebulous — and they don’t use x86 processors. Did I just hear a virtual “uh oh” at Intel, or was that a passing sea breeze?

I’m not going to try and tell you what a “smartbook” is, but I’m inclined to agree with ABI on the non-x86 point. That doesn’t mean you won’t find “Intel inside” the smartbooks of tomorrow, but I believe that they’ll be relegated to a distant second when compared to how many smartbooks run on the ARM platform. This thought coincides with “the perfect storm” I see for ARM and why I predicted early on that Google’s Chrome OS devices would run on an ARM processor. When talking about the reasons for this shift to ARM in December, I used Chrome OS as an example:

Google’s Chrome OS is all about a browser and nothing but a browser. Multi-tasking is accomplished within tabs, but still in the browser. The web is your client and all of your apps are in the cloud. Will you really need the extra “oomph” of an x86 processor on this type of device at the end of 2010? For most web tasks, probably not. In fact, if you’re using the browser on a Palm Pre, Apple iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid or Nokia N900, ARM is already powering your browser. And for streaming video with either Adobe’s Flash or inline with HTML5, a next-generation ARM processor ought to work well enough by then.

When I wrote that bit, I didn’t even have something that I have today — a Google Nexus One powered by Qualcomm’s latest 1 GHz Snapdragon CPU. After using the handset daily for the past six weeks, I believe in my December statement even more. For most of the light duty tasks people need on a smartphone, the ARM processors of today can do the job, and do it well for hours. And it’s not just me that thinks so. Most of the new tablets and smartbooks out of the Consumer Electronics Show and Mobile World Congress were running on new ARM chips from Nvidia, Freescale, Marvell and Texas Instruments in addition to Qualcomm. The other elephant in the room is Apple’s iPad with it’s custom A4 chip, which just happens to be based on the ARM architecture, as well. To say that the ARM ship is starting to sail into the mainstream would be an understatement from where I stand.

Is there a place for x86 in the smartbook sector? There is for some and Intel has made great strides with their Atom chipset by offering a solid combination of performance with power efficiency. However, there’s more work to do there before x86 and ARM on are equal footing. And then there’s that “mobile operating system” phrase that ABI snuck into their definition. What qualifies as a mobile OS is subject to debate, but when most of us think x86, we think desktop OS and not mobile OS. Perhaps that’s why Intel recently merged its Moblin project with Nokia’s Maemo platform to create MeeGo. Building the chips for a smartphone is one thing — but also providing a mobile friendly and energy efficient operating system is as difficult as swimming against the tide.

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Better Battery Life Motivates Mobile Chipmakers

Microsoft Windows on a capacitive touch notebook just could be in your future. The same conducive display technology made popular by Apple’s iPhone has found its way into a 13.3″ panel made by LG Display. The company today announced the achievement, but it’s not just the creation of the display that’s important. Microsoft certified the panel with the official Windows 7 Touch Logo, meaning that it meets the requirements for touch support when used with Windows 7.

That’s key because it means drivers will be available and any device using the capacitive panel should offer all of the touch features and functions offered natively in Windows. I ran into driver problems back in 2006 when installing Vista on a touchscreen Ultra Mobile PC that wasn’t certified. As a result, I struggled to use the device until some HID touch drivers were cobbled together — a real pain when the device was a slate tablet without a keyboard.

The LG display is actually the first capacitive in-cell screen to gain Microsoft’s certification. By “in cell,” I mean that the touch sensors are actually built into the display itself, and not in a separate layer or film. This should help with outdoor viewing says LG, as it prevents light reflection and loss of brightness inherent in touch layer films. The integrated multitouch capacitive screen should arrive in products during the second half of this year. Blurry film layer or no, I foresee some capacitive touch Windows 7 notebooks this coming holiday season, although I’d rather see this produce used in smaller slate devices. I’m still not sold on touch displays for notebooks from an ergonomic standpoint.

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Is The Age of the Web Tablet Finally Upon Us?

We use an Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station in our home to wirelessly pipe our 20 Mbps FiOS all over the place. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi signal degrades pretty quickly when moving from one side of the house to the other. And that’s a shame since the AEBS supports both the faster speeds and greater range offered by 802.11n. The situation is mildly annoying, meaning that I want to address it, but it’s not that high on the priority list. Sometimes a solution just falls in your lap, however, and SlashGear might have just dropped one on me.

The BearExtender n3 USB Wi-Fi adapter gets a quick review and although it’s Mac-only — and specifically 32-bit Mac-only — this $45 peripheral might do the trick. Once plugged into a Mac, the n3 becomes the active Wi-Fi connection, effectively disabling the integrated AirPort radio inside your computer. There’s an external antenna and clip to use with the n3, so it could be a little unwieldy if you’re moving around with your laptop. But that’s the price you pay for vastly improved connectivity. SlashGear was able to nearly double the distance between a Mac and router with the n3.

It’s not a perfect solution by a long shot — aside from the missing 64-bit drivers, the n3 only uses the 2.4 GHz frequency for Wi-Fi. If you have multiple wireless networks like I do, it’s often preferable to separate some by frequency if you can use 5 GHz as well. That reduces the potential for interference between devices and the network they’re connecting too. The other downside is that the n3 will use up a USB port, which are often scarce on Mac notebooks.

Ideally, I’m probably better off with a longer-term solution like another access point, but I’m strongly considering the addition of a BearExtender. Since my MacBook doesn’t run Snow Leopard in 64-bit, there’s no driver issue. And Barb’s iMac is all the way on the other side of the house — yes, I keep the router next to me in my home office  😉 — so her computer would surely benefit from a solution like this. She’s constantly dealing with signal degradation and she has a few USB ports to spare on the back of her iMac.

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Everybody Hertz: The Looming Spectrum Crisis

Every now and again, we hear about a dual-display device and yet, none have taken the market by storm. That should tell you a few things. Either the market for a this configuration isn’t there or nobody has done it right yet. Option three would be a combination of both, but I still think there hasn’t yet been a product that shows both the benefit and need of two screens in mobile device. The closest dual-display unit I can think of that has a chance of selling a fair number of units is the nearly-$500 eDGe reader — it provides eInk on one side and a full-color LCD for Google Android on the other. So I didn’t have high hopes when I saw the Smartbook Blog share thoughts on a dual-screen MSI concept netbook.

In truth, the theory is better than the reality. For while the prototype ran Windows 7 (Microsoft’s most touchscreen-friendly operating system to date), the UI still isn’t particularly finger friendly. Furthermore, the concept’s Atom CPU and integrated graphics struggled to keep up with web page scrolling, and the resistive screen wasn’t responsive enough to facilitate touch typing.

Those opinions illustrate one of the challenges that Microsoft continues to have in the mobile device world as we move away from the mouse and closer to a full touch experience. Even with its native touch integrations, Microsoft Windows 7 is still a desktop environment. Windows simply isn’t designed for a full touch experience, although the most recent edition is the closest yet to reaching that target. And I’m not trying to pick solely on Microsoft here. I’d make the same case against Mac OS X. Although I installed Apple’s operating system running on a touchscreen device, it ultimately was more trouble than it was worth.

Even if the real-world experience is lacking, I like the idea of that MSI is putting forth. By offering a second display and onscreen keyboard, you gain flexibility. The base can be used for text entry, for additional viewing space or other features. Turn the device on its side and you can enjoy a richer web experience with a 1200 x 2048 display resolution — minus the annoying bezel in the middle, that is. The challenges of onscreen typing might improve with a capacitive display like the one Apple is using in the iPad, but I’m not sold on the typing experience for that device either. I’ll have to get my fingers on it next month to see for sure, but in all likelihood, I’d probably rely on a Bluetooth keyboard for any input over casual use.

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Report: The Future of Netbooks!

You might be waiting for a USB 3.0 interface in your device, but SuperTalent is wasting no time in producing a flash drive for it. Earlier this month, the company announced its USB 3.0 Express Drive. I’m thinking that the name isn’t quite the best — when I saw Express Drive, my mind immediately pictured an ExpressCard device, not a USB stick. Naming aside, the 16GB and 32 GB flash drives will offer read speeds of up to 125 MB per second with a supported USB 3.0 port, while writes will happen at up to 50 MB per second. Note that these speeds are megabytes per second (MBps), not megabits (Mbps). Here’s another way to envision the speed — SuperTalent says that a 600 MB transfer takes only 12 seconds.

As fast as the speeds sound, they’re far below the 480 MBps that USB 3.0 technology can offer. According to Everything USB, the ExpressCard devices are slower to keep the price down. The cost estimates for the devices are $70 for capacity of 16 GB and $150 for a 32 GB unit. SuperTalent’s similar SuperSpeed Drives come in the same capacities — plus a 128 GB unit — but jump the transfer read speeds to a whopping 320 MBps. You’ll pay for that speed boost though — I found a 32 GB SuperSpeed drive online selling for $329.99. SuperTalent must realize that not everyone will shell out hundreds of dollars for a fast flash drive, so the Express Drivers sacrifice some performance for cost. If the price to speed ratio is what you’re looking for, you should be able to pick up one of these drives next month. Even if you don’t have a USB 3.0 port today, you’ll still get good use from the drive, since it’s backwards compatible with USB 2.0 ports.

Still not sure if USB 3.0 is for you? Check out Stacey’s Everything You Need to Know about USB 3.0 GigaOm article to help make the decision.

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Do Consumers Care Where Their Content is Stored?

To say I’m suffering from Android overload is an understatement. I’m simply trying to keep up with the Nexus One developments, but other devices are in the headlines too. And some of them aren’t even Android devices — but they could be. Android Community notes the effort to bring Android 2.1 to a handful of Windows Mobile handsets. All of the four devices are made by HTC, but they’re not the latest and greatest. I’m talking about the Tilt / Kaiser, Touch / Vogue, Touch Dual /Niki and Touch Cruise / Polaris. Some of these phones are two years old so they don’t have the latest and greatest hardware. The HTC Touch, for example, only has a 201 MHz CPU, so I’m amazed it can handle Google’s latest mobile platform.

Of course, “handle” is a relative term — if you go this route, don’t expect everything to work. I’m already reading about some hardware challenges like no camera or bluetooth support just yet. Often times, these ROMs make progress one slow painful step at a time, so a fair amount of patience is a pre-requisite. But if you have one of these devices sitting around just taking up space, this could be a fun project and offer exposure to Android at the same time. Would I take the plunge if I used one of these Windows Mobile phones on a regular basis? Not a chance. I would consider it, however, if I’ve already replaced these devices with another primary handset. It certainly wouldn’t offer stellar performance when compared to devices of today, but would provide the chance to expand mobile platform horizons.

Note that you don’t have to completely wipe Windows Mobile from your device. There are a few dual-boot solutions out there — HaRET, being one — that can run Android right from an SD card in your handset. Here’s a timely example of that method with Android 2.1 running on the HTC Niki.

Image Credit: Hack A Day

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As Windows Mobile Stumbles, Which Smartphone OS Will Seize the Lead?

Walk into any computer retail store and what do you see besides aisles of desktops and laptops? With few exceptions, each of the devices are generally powered by the CPUs of two companies: AMD and Intel. Folks shopping for a computer might simply look at the specifications and price, but ignore the sticker that shows who made the CPU. I’m not sure how they could miss it, but trust me — people I know somehow have no idea who makes the silicon inside of their computer. But they should increase their brand awareness, because there is a difference between the approaches of these two CPU makers. And there’s no easier way to see that difference than to take what’s essentially the same device and compare the performance and attribute variances in the processors.

Laptop Magazine did just that with Toshiba’s 13.3″ T135 notebook, which can be had for $599 with an AMD processor, or $699 with one from Intel. And there’s the first difference — $100 saved or spent. Granted, there might be some other minor nuances between the two models, but the choice of CPU is the largest variance between the two otherwise, near-identical devices. In my own experience, I’ve generally witnessed a price premium for an Intel unit over one from AMD. And after comparing the specs of both tested models, the only other major differences are in the graphics solution and the speed of the memory — DDR2 support on the AMD and DDR3 for the Intel. It’s worth noting that in the two nearly identical laptops AMD’s CPU offers a 1.6 GHz clock speed in the Turion Neo X2 L625, while the Intel CULV Pentium SU4100 is 1.3 GHz.

Since Laptop had both models of the T135, they compared certain benchmarks. The numbers show the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two CPU platforms. For example, the AMD version booted in only 55 seconds, while the Intel machine took 20 seconds longer. I’m assuming that there’s little to no difference in the software builds, since this is the same machine coming from Toshiba. When transcoding video with Handbrake, Laptop found that the Intel device eked out a “win” over the AMD unit. But re-running the test with software that uses CPU multi-threading showed a clear winner in AMD.

The largest differences between the two devices  – and the two processing platforms — come in terms of graphical ability and battery life. Both platforms utilize integrated graphics that share video memory with the overall system memory. But AMD’s purchase of graphics company ATI provides a noticeable visual boost over Intel. In all of the graphical benchmarks, the AMD model bested that of Intel. Of course, more horsepower in any area potentially requires more power, and that’s where Intel offers an advantage for mobile users. The same battery test on the two models show the Intel device lasting for 7 hours and 23 minutes on a single charge. The same test caused the AMD unit to shut down after 5 hours and 6 minutes. That’s still a solid run time, but the Intel notebook lasts around 40% longer, which is no small difference.

So do those CPU stickers outside the device mean anything about what’s inside? Laptop’s testing make it pretty clear and confirm what my own experience has told me when buying a computer. All things being equal, an AMD machine is likely to be cheaper and will offer a better graphical experience. A similar Intel machine might cost more and not provide the same visual “oomph,” but will last longer on a single charge. The purchase decision comes down to your own personal preferences and needs. I value a longer run time and I place less emphasis on graphical capabilities because I tend to live in a web browser all day. Others that want to watch high-def movies or play high quality games would likely choose a different platform than I would. Laptop says it best in this case: “AMD gives you more oomph for less money, but Intel gives you more unplugged time.”

Given my own computing requirements, does that mean I wouldn’t consider an AMD-powered device? Not at all. It means that I need to evaluate what the solution provides for the money against a prioritized list of my requirements. If I find that my current Intel devices leave me lacking when watching video or if I decide to start up some gaming on the go, I’d weigh that need against the shorter run time. Perhaps a second battery in that case would offer the best of both worlds and I’m not averse to making that choice.

Without completely stoking up the Intel vs AMD fanboi flames, does Laptop’s testing offer the results you’ve come to expect from AMD and Intel systems? How do you decide who powers your device, or does the brand simply not matter?

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As Devices Converge, Chip Vendors Girding For a Fight

Earlier in the week, I started watching the progress of a Sense UI build for the Nexus One. Since the ROM is still in an alpha state, I’m holding off from installing it on my handset. For now, I’m happy just to have an important bit from it — the HTC Sense keyboard, which received four updates in the past few days.

Paul at Modaco keeps churning and burning to make the HTC Desire ROM usable on the Nexus One, but some handset owners are happy to try the early builds. I guess some folks just have to have Adobe Flash in their pocket — how else could you explain this video of Farmville on the Nexus One? The game requires a fair amount of resizing and scrolling, but it seems to run quite well. I’ll attribute that to the powerhouse processor in the Nexus One.

There’s so much more to see than just Flash support though, so we’ll make this a double-feature. One risk taker with a Nexus One shows off most of the HTC applications and they’re running silky smooth in this video. After a solid month, I’m pretty comfortable with the native Google apps, but I’ll admit that HTC brings a much-needed shine to many of the software bits. I’m still waiting until the ROM is at least in a beta, though.

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Could Games Redeem Windows Mobile and Palm’s webOS?