If for some reason you can’t make it to a Verizon store to buy an Incredible in person, you’re going to have to wait a few days. Verizon’s website says new orders won’t ship until May 4 — a testament to the phone’s popularity (or initial low inventory). That’s echoed by reports in our forums discussing limited in-store inventory. Anybody out there have a hard time getting one?
Motorola this morning announced its Q1 2010 earnings, with the manufacturer seeing total sales of $5 billion. Its mobile device arm brought in $1.6 billion and shipped 8.5 million phones, including 2.3 million smartphones, while seeing an operating loss of $192 million. That’s down 9 percent compared to the first quarter of 2009, though this quarter’s operating loss was drastically lower, compared to $545 million a year ago.
Motorola introduced six new Android smartphones in the first quarter, including three in the United States — the Backflip, Cliq XT and Devour. [Motorola]
Today’s the day, folks. After a couple of long weeks, the Verizon HTC Droid Incredible finally is available. Your pre-orders (if they didn’t arrive early) should come today. You can buy one in Verizon stores for $199 after the standard contract deals. And cheaper prices are (ahem) out there on the Internet. But let’s get to the important stuff. Today’s your day.
That’s it, folks. We want to hear from you today. Happy Incredible Thursday!
HP’s buying Palm, in case you haven’t heard, for $1.2 billion. While we doubt many of you were waiting up nights for the Compaq Airlife 100, HP’s Android-powered netbook that we took a look at back at Mobile World Congress, it remains to be seen if HP will be willing (or able, for that matter) to continue any Android development, especially given that a webOS tablet is now a strong possibility. HP did give us the following statement, however:
"We offer choices of OS today, and expect to continue doing so. We’re focused on serving our customers, from individual consumers to small businesses to large enterprise customers by delivering the most appropriate solutions."
Alrighty then. For more on the deal, hit up PreCentral.net.
(And note that I’ll be on the emergency PalmCast Broadcast tonight at 8 p.m. EDT/5 p.m. PDT, asking these same questions.)
Google just made a fairly major tweak to its mobile image search. As you can see above, a web-based image search now looks and feels almost like it’s being done natively, on your Android phone. Thumbnails have been optimized for speed, you can flick your way through photos and the black background makes you forget you’re in a web browser. OK, so you You don’t get the zooming effects like you will in an on-device gallery, but it greatly cleans up the mobile interface. And it’s pretty darn cool, if you ask us. Go ahead and give it a shot. [Google]
I keep thinking entries will wind down as we reach the end of this contest, but you guys keep sending in more and more epic videos. The latest batch (and it’s not the last batch) comprises robots, electrocution, the Black Crowes, free credit reports and an old myTouch 3G that’s no longer loved. Check ’em out after the break. And remember that you have until 12:01 a.m. Saturday to get me your entry. Good luck!
(And for those who keep asking, we’re going to compile all of the videos onto a single page and rig up some voting, early next week sometime. Stay tuned.)
If you’re in Canada and have a hankering for some twisted, flippy Android keyboard action, know that the Motorola Backflip is now available on Telus. It runs a very respectable $399 off-contract and goes as low as $249 with the Canadian-standard three-year deal. [Telus] Thanks, Jon!
Android Central Forum member alear got himself a look at Verizon’s silicone case for the HTC Droid Incredible. Looks like all the essential parts are there. But what do you guys think about the texture and design? And what accessories are you most looking forward to for the Incredible? Let’s hear it in the comments, and check out a couple more pics in alear’s forum thread.
Paul from MoDaCo promised root for the HTC Desire, and today, he delivered. Root for the HTC Legend is close, too, he says, and it likely won’t take too terribly long to get inside the Verizon Droid Incredible (we hope). Well played, Paul. [MoDaCo]
Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? We offered up a pair of Verizon HTC Droid Incredibles, and you guys delivered, submitting nearly 4,000 entries. But there can be only two winners. And they are:
Congrats, gentlemen. And thanks, everyone, for entering. For sure this won’t be our last giveaway, so stay tuned.
Update: Nearly forgot about Bluetooth headsets for the runners-up. Forum members okthirteen and Iananan just won themselves a Jawbone ICON. Congrats!
Microsoft issued a news release late late night, announcing it signed a patent agreement with HTC over its entire line of smartphones running the Android operating system.
Specific terms of the deal, including how many patents or what they cover, were not immediately released. Microsoft’s statement did say the agreement "provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for HTC ‘s mobile phones running the Android mobile platform."
“HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today’s agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property,” Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft, said in the official statement. “We are pleased to continue our collaboration with HTC.”
The announcement comes as HTC is facing a lawsuit from Apple Inc., which alleges that HTC infringes on a number of its patents with many of its Android phones, and a few Windows Mobile devices, too. It is unknown for which patents HTC is paying royalties to Microsoft, and whether they overlap any of Apple’s claims.
CNET’s Ina Fried reports that the disputed patents range from the user interface to the operating system itself, and that this is the first time Microsoft has publicly said that HTC was violating patents. Microsoft for years has alleged that Linux infringes on a number of its patents and has sought licensing deals with manufacturers who use the open-source OS, which also is the framework for Android. This, however, is Microsoft’s first licensing deal with the mobile OS.
Full text of Microsoft’s press release after the break. [Ed. note: Cross-posted at WMExperts.com]
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Firefox mobile browser running on Android, but it’s the first time that Mozilla’s been comfortable enough with it to compile the app for us mere mortals to test out.
Why do we care so much about another browser for Android when the stock Webkit browser works pretty darn well? Two words: Mozilla Weave. Being able to sync your history, bookmarks and even open tabs between your desktop and mobile browser is something I’ve been wanting since first hearing about Fennec. And we’re getting closer.
Note that this is still very early in the development stage. While anyone can download and install this build of Fennec, it will crash. It will hang. It’s a little buggy. And it’s very cool that Mozilla lets us play with it this early in its life, so don’t judge it too harshly. A few warnings from Mozilla’s Vladimir Vukićević:
Anyhoo, you can download Fennec here. (FWIW: Mozilla tested with the Nexus One and Droid — your mileage may vary — and it does NOT work if you’re running Apps2SD.) And be sure to read Vlad’s blog for complete instructions and troubleshooting, including instructions for installing Weave.
And check out our hands-on video after the break.
That’s right. It’s a Hello Kitty skin on top of the HTC on-screen keyboard. I’m OK with that. And you should be, too. (There’s also Batman, Spider-Man, a panda, Jango Fett, Autobots, Ohio State, Atari and the N.Y. Giants, if you don’t want to make your own.) Available with or without root. [Droid-Life] Thanks, Kellen!
Why, hello there, little HTC Android phone with a nice, fat keyboard. We’ve been waiting for one of you guys for quite some time now. That’s right, it’s a new (and probably) Android device going through the FCC (the buttons give it away, right?), and it has a keyboard that looks pretty much like what we’ve come to know and love on the Windows Mobile Touch Pro 2. Even better is that the one tested sports AT&T’s 3G bands of 850 and 1900MHz. And, boy howdy, it’d sure be nice to have Android on this form factor without having to hack it on top of Windows Mobile. C’mon, AT&T. Do us right with this guy. We’ve got a few more pictures after the break. [FCC via PhoneDog]
Andy Rubin, VP of engineering for Google and one of the chiefs behind Android smartphones, just slipped a little bombshell into an interview with the New York Times’ Bits blog. In it he says that Flash will be coming with the Froyo version of Android. Much of the interview is paraphrased, but writer Brad Stone relates the following:
He also promised that full support for Adobe’s Flash standard was coming in the next version of Android, code-named Froyo.
Doesn’t get much more clear than that. There’s also some good stuff on Android’s openness ("We use the same tools we expect our third party developers to") the iPad (he bought one for his wife) and Android and/or Chrome tablets ("If a consumer walks into store and two of those tablets are my company’s choices, I’m all good.") [NYT Bits blog]
Edit: Good lord, people. Yes. The writer (and not Rubin, actually) said "full support." Read into that what you will. We choose to believe that means Flash is coming with Froyo. At launch? Maybe. We’ll just have to see, won’t we …
We know a lot of you guys and gals out there are former BlackBerry users and abusers. And so we’ll put the question to you? With the unveiling today of the BlackBerry 6 operating system, how does it stand up to the likes of Android and the various flavors it comes in? (Sense, Motoblur, Touchwiz, etc.) Check out the video after the break if you haven’t already seen it, and check out all the coverage at CrackBerry, and let us know. Anything to be worried about here?
Played around a little bit over the weekend with renting a movie on YouTube. And when I say "played around," I mean clicked about three times and had "Reservoir Dogs" available for 24 hours for just $1.99. No muss, no fuss. And best of all, no third-party app or download to do it. Watching full-screen wasn’t quite as good as on a DVD (never mind BluRay), but for the price, it wasn’t bad at all. And even better was how easy it was.
Point is, YouTube (at least to me) has already proven itself as a viable streaming movie rental service (look out, Netflix). How long until we see such service on an Android smartphone? Let’s get that done, Google. Check it out for yourself at YouTube.com/store.
AdMob, which serves up many (for 18,000 sites and apps, it says) of those little ads you see in Android applications, has released its March findings. The bullet points:
Handset by handset, the Motorola Droid continues to rock with 32 percent of AdMob’s traffic. The Google Nexus One had 2 percent as of March. Not greatly surprising, given the reasons we’ve stated over and over.
While the Droid, G1 and Moto Cliq lead in the U.S., the HTC Hero, Dream (G1) and Magic (myTouch) lead in Europe.
Do note that AdMob is (still) in the process of being purchased by Google. And these numbers are representative of the ads AdMob serves, and not necessarily of actual smartphone usage. So it’s a good ballpark figure, but not necessarily gospel. You can read the entire report for yourself here. (pdf)
Those of you waiting to get your hands on the world’s first smartphone with a Super AMOLED may only have to wait another month or so. UK retailer Expansys says it expects the Samsung Galaxy S right around the end of May, which can’t come too soon for a goodly number of you. If you’re looking to bring it to the U.S, it’s gonna cost you about $850, which is quite a chunk of change. (In the meantime, you can make do with our hardware and software hands-ons from CTIA.) It’s coming, folks. [EuroDroid via Unwired View]
Oh, my. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, here you go. As Dieter mentions above (you did watch the video first, right?), we’re now giving away TWO T-Mobile Nexus Ones.
And, so, after the break is the fourth batch of entries. And just like the previous three batches, we’ve got five more gems here. Check ’em out after the break. A reminder that you still have the rest of this week to get your entries in. Remember, you are the ones voting. You’ll decide who wins my (and Dieter’s!) Nexus One. Now, on to the vids.