I think we have learned by now that these internal time frames are useless, but Phandroid has obtained a leaked document from a Sprint employee which states the HTC Hero has a “maintenance release tentatively scheduled for April 9th”.
The update will fix a bug with Sprint picture mail and we have no other details about what will be included. Sprint previously stated that an update to Android 2.1 was coming in early Q2 2010 which lead a bunch of sites to speculate April 9th is the day for 2.1, but I have a hard time believing that.
Hopefully in about two weeks we will get our answer. Until a United States carrier actually rolls out and update for Android 2.1 (to the mass public), I’m going to remain skeptical.
AdMob released their February 2010 Mobile Metrics report yesterday which included some interesting findings. They now separate their traffic into three categories (smartphones, feature phones and mobile internet devices) so we can see the relative growth over the last year.
Smartphones overtook feature phones around the Droid launch.
Noteworthy findings included:
Android was the fastest growing operating system in the AdMob network year-over-year. Android’s share of smartphone requests increased from 2% in February 2009 to 24% in February 2010. The top five Android devices worldwide, by traffic, were the Motorola Droid, HTC Dream, HTC Hero, HTC Magic, and the Motorola CLIQ.
In February 2010, smartphones accounted for 48% of AdMob’s worldwide traffic, up from 35% in February 2009. The strong growth of iPhone and Android traffic, fueled by heavy application usage, was primarily responsible for the increase. In absolute terms, smartphone traffic increased 193% over the last year.
Now that AdMob breaks the data down by category, we can see the top 10 smartphones for the United States. In the month of February, Android accounted for 7 of the top 10 smartphones. Every Android phone saw an increase in share except for the HTC Dream (G1) which was the first Android device released.
The top smartphones in the United States.
Finally, the iPhone OS and Android are now neck and neck in United States share of AdMob requests. Android reached an all time high of 42% compared to iPhone’s 44%. At this rate, Android will become the leading mobile operating system in the AdMob network next month.
Percentage of U.S. AdMob requests. Will Android pass iPhone next month?
Did you know the Samsung Galaxy S contains the fastest graphics processing unit of any Android phone? Neither did I because Samsung felt that spec wasn’t important enough to include in their official press release.
It took me awhile to realize it, but I was watching the Galaxy S keynote highlights and noticed Samsung’s Omar Khan mention their 1 GHz chip could “process a staggering 90 million triangles per second”. He claimed this was three times faster than any smartphone so I went and verified the numbers. The Snapdragon platform (QSD8×50) only does 22 million triangles per second.
So how could this be? How could Samsung produce one of the most powerful Cortex-A8 based processors and just completely leave it off their press kit for the Galaxy S?
It took me a lot of searching (really, I should be sleeping), but I was able to dig up all the goods on this magical processor.
Apparently the Samsung Galaxy S features their new S5PC110 application processor which was announced last year. This processor contains an ARM Cortex-A8 core paired with a PowerVR SGX540 GPU.
The Cortex-A8 core is codenamed Hummingbird and it was designed by Intrinsity who claims it is the fastest Cortex-A8 processor around. I will spare you that I’m some kind of ARM architecture expert and refer you to their press release for more info.
Very little is know about the PowerVR SGX540 because it has only been shown off on two device so far – the Samsung Galaxy S (GT-I9000) and the Samsung Wave (S8500).
Here is a GPU comparison for some of the leading smartphones:
Motorola Droid: TI OMAP3430 with PowerVR SGX530 = 7 million(?) triangles/sec
Nexus One: Qualcomm QSD8×50 with Adreno 200 = 22 million triangles/sec
iPhone 3G S: 600 MHz Cortex-A8 with PowerVR SGX535 = 28 million triangles/sec
Samsung Galaxy S: S5PC110 with PowerVR SGX540 = 90 million triangles/sec
And for comparison a few consoles:
PS3: 250 million triangles/sec
Xbox 360: 500 million triangles/sec
As you can clearly see, the Samsung Galaxy S comes out on top of the smartphones by a wide margin (but not quite those PS3 graphics in your pocket yet).
So to recap, the Samsung Galaxy S has the best display (Super AMOLED) and fastest processor of any Android smartphone that has been officially announced to launch this year.
I wonder what else Samsung is trying to hide from us (they have not disclosed the RAM either).
Gameloft has had this off and on relationship with Android, but the fact remains they are one of the leading international publishers of video games for mobile phones (seriously, go check out their iPhone lineup). A quick visit to their official website reveals they have no dedicated section for Android games, but the company has been quietly building their Android lineup.
Polarbit became the king of 3D Android games earlier this month when they released Raging Thunder 2, but their spot at the top was short lived. Gameloft just released Asphalt 5 to the Market and we believe it places them solidly in the lead as top Android game developer.
Asphalt 5 easily has the best 3D graphics I have seen on an Android phone. The level design is second to none and the accelerometer based controls are spot on.
There is no multiplayer mode like RG2, but the single player game is one of the deepest I have seen for on Android. Replay value is off the charts with a huge garage of real cars and bikes to unlock including Audi, Ferrari, Kawasaki, Lotus, Mercedes, Mini Cooper, Nissan, and more. Each vehicle is fully customizable with upgrades, paint jobs, and decals. Users can fine tune their ride by customizing 10 different parts to boost the stats and performance.
The only downside to the game is that it pretty much requires a Motorola Droid. The Nexus One is officially supported, but the framerate is unplayable at this time. Hopefully Gameloft can push out a couple of updates which tweak the performance. Even the Droid can experience the occasional slowdown, but it is a smooth ride for the most part.
Because this is a premium title, Gameloft has attached a premium price. Asphalt 5 is currently selling for $6.99, but I think it is worth every penny. The game also weighs in at a hefty 13.6 MB and downloads additional game content to your SD card upon first load.
A quick trailer of the iPhone version of Asphalt 5 is available on Gameloft’s YouTube page and it provides a pretty good representation of what you can expect on the Droid.
As long as there is no official app for Twitter, I will continue to swap 3rd party clients pretty much every month. My most recent selection has been Seesmic, which our readers voted as their favorite last month (by a wide margin).
So far I have enjoyed Seesmic for its simple navigation, speedy performance, and multi account support. I also like the regular updates that come about once a month (I’m looking at you Twidroid). Those most recent update includes some nice UI tweaks (like improved notifications) and adds proxy support.
Seesmic says they will have a separate post to go into more details on the proxy support so I’m interested to see where that goes. They are releasing a Seesmic SDK for their desktop client, so it looks like plugin support could find its way to the Android client.
The list of Seesmic updates includes:
Improvement to notifications (new icon, count of messages in icon and bug fixes)
Tap on the top red bar to jump to the top of any timeline (with tutorial)
Proxy support, on a per account basis
SSL support, on a per account basis
User Interface fixes, including for Motorola Blur OS
Added a setting to automatically launch the application at startup of the phone (Settings > Advanced)
If you have never used Seesmic for Twitter, give the new version a spin. If you already have it installed then I suggest checking out some other new clients (like Touiteur or Twicca). For an insanely detailed Twitter app comparison chart go visit Androinica and read Andrew’s take on 13 different clients.
I think the headline says it all. We already beat this story into the ground, so I will let Motorola do the talking. This status update about the Android 2.1 OTA update for the Droid comes via Facebook.
We know you guys are anxiously awaiting the upgrade from 2.0 to 2.1. Ultimately, we want to ensure you have the best possible experience on your device; as a result, the rollout is taking longer than expected. Though we don’t have the new deployment date to share just yet, we do promise we are working to get you updated information and will relay it as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience. We appreciate it!Motorolavia Facebok
Maybe we overreacted when we called AT&T the most crippled Android experience. They are however treating Android different from every other United States carrier.
For their first device, the Motorola Backflip, AT&T removed Google search in favor of Yahoo and prohibited users from running non-Market Android applications. On top of this, the device also came preloaded with a bunch of crapware that the user is unable to uninstall.
When AT&T announced their second Android phone, the Dell Aero, many of us were curious if the device would get the same treatment. I had a feeling they might after Engadget got to play with the phone because the Dell rep would not let them use the device turned on.
It did not take long to get an answer as PhoneNews was able to confirm with Dell that the Aero will in fact block applications that do not come from the official Android Market.
To the average consumer, this is likely no big deal.
The hardcore Android fans will find it disappointing though. Since AT&T is blocking non-Market applications, this will prevent users from purchasing apps from alternative markets, participating in public betas, and loading homebrewed apps.
This essentially goes against the open approach of Android and is more akin to the closed App Store for AT&T’s iPhone.
If AT&T continues this strategy, who knows what else they have in store. Users who want the full Android experience should probably consider another carrier. Either that or purchase an unlocked Nexus One from Google.
Some people might consider Engadget as one of our competitors, but we are actually friends. They were a little slow to jump on the Android bandwagon, but Engadget is now one of the best sources for exclusive news about Google’s mobile operating system. Engadget has Sprint as one of their top sponsors and they were all over the HTC EVO 4G announcement with great coverage.
We already knew this was coming, but the Engadget app for Android has finally been released. The app allows quick access to all of their content including Engadget, Engadget Mobile, Engadget HD, podcasts, the Engadget Show, galleries, and more. The overall user interface is extremely polished for its first release and Engadget is already planning an update to add a home screen widget.
I’m glad the app came out when it did because we have been planning an update to our aging RSS widget which will be a full blown app. I know Clark is up to the challenge, but the bar has just been raised.
The New York Times is still the third largest newspaper, but their weekday circulation has been falling over the last couple of years. The company turned to mobile to expand their reach with an iPhone app (first released in 2008) and now they are following it up with an Android version.
One of our readers spotted the placeholder for a forthcoming FAQ page about the Android app and it says to check back soon. There were several unofficial NY Times apps on the Android Market, but they started disappearing last year so it looks like the real deal.
The iPhone version of the NY Times is free to download and use so we expect the same for Android.
I’m not exactly a fan of the NY Times (don’t get me started), but if you are then keep an eye on the Android FAQ page for updates.
As some of you may have noticed, Skype Mobile was released early this morning exclusively for Verizon Wireless customers. Anyone with the big V can download the app from the Android Market right now.
Let’s start with the good. Verizon customers can now make unlimited Skype-to-Skype calls from their Android phone.
What is the catch though? Skype calls are routed over Verizon’s network and Skype Mobile will not even launch if you have WiFi turned on. Users will see a warning message that Skype “does not currently work on WiFi” so it is possible this feature could be supported in a future release.
So what do you do if you want to use Skype on your Android device but don’t have Verizon? Thankfully, there are many alternative Android apps witch allow you to login to Skype AND make calls over a WiFi connection for free.
One of my favorite apps is fring which is available for everyone on the Android Market. Fring allows free calling over WiFi and lets you connect with your AIM, Gtalk, ICQ, MSN, Skype, Twitter, and Yahoo friends. Users can make voice calls or chat and future versions should allow for video communications.
I have a Droid with no Verizon service, so I’m unable to give my full impressions on the Skype app. If you have tried out Skype Mobile, let us know how it performs.
When Google launched the Nexus One on January 5th, they coined the phrase “superphone” to emphasize how they pushed the limits of what’s possible on a mobile phone. I ordered the N1 on the day it was released and believe it lived up to the hype, but HTC has already surpassed their first super device with the new Sprint EVO 4G.
The following is a quick list of examples how the Sprint EVO tops the N1.
1. First smartphone to support 4G WiMax
The Sprint HTC EVO 4G.
Sprint was the first (and only) nationwide carrier in the U.S. to implement a 4G WiMax network and they chose Android to power their flagship device. Users can expect top downloads speeds of 6 Mbps which is 10 times faster than the average 3G network (only 600 kbps).
Monthly data caps are non existent on Sprint 4G data plans (when connected to WiMax), so users can download without worry.
2. 4G Android applications
Google developed the new YouTube HQ for high speed connections.
The faster speeds of the 4G WiMax network opens the door to a wave of bandwidth hungry applications. For example, Google worked with HTC and Sprint to create a new YouTube HQ application that automatically detects a 4G connection and then streams a high def video.
Other developers like Qik are creating specialized versions of their apps targeted for the EVO. Sprint also offers ESPN Mobile TV on the EVO and plans to sign more video distribution deals before launch (Amazon VOD anyone?).
3. Larger 4.3 inch display
The EVO display is 4.3 inch (vs 3.7 of N1).
The HTC EVO 4G raises the bar for Android screens with its 4.3 inch TFT display. This is a half inch larger than the N1 and will come in handy for high definition pictures and videos. The larger screen size also makes text input easier by allowing a jumbo sized virtual keyboard.
Dell will include a 5 inch display on their Mini 5, but they are marketing it more as a mini tablet than a phone (and we still don’t have a release time frame).
4. 720p HD video in/out
No special dock is required for HDMI out.
The Nexus One records the best quality video of any Android phone and the EVO will improve upon that. The EVO records video in HD (1280×720) vs only 720×480 on the N1.
Not only does the EVO capture HD video, but you can also push it out with the included HDMI mini port. Users will be able to hook their phone directly to a HDTV by using only a HDMI cable (no dock required). This will allow users to share their recorded movies in HD and stream HD content over a 4G connection.
5. Dual cameras
The EVO features a 1.3 MP front facing camera.
The EVO is the first Android phone in the U.S. to feature dual cameras. An 8 megapixel camera is located on the back and a 1.3 MP camera is found on the front. This will allow for live video calling, which iPhone (and Android) users have been clamoring for.
Sprint has already released their SDK so developers can begin taking advantage of the forward-facing camera in their apps. Look for fring to be one of the first apps on Android to support video communications.
6. 1GB of internal storage
This message makes me sad.
If Android has a dirty little secret, it is the limited internal storage found on most phones. Google has said they are working on an encrypted solution to allow developers to install their apps to the SD card, but that could still be some time off.
Most new Android phones have 512 MB of internal storage with only about 256 MB allocated for application installs. My Nexus One experienced the low space warning after a month of normal use and I have to constantly uninstall applications to free up room.
Thankfully, the EVO has doubled the internal storage to 1 GB so users should experience fewer space issues as they wait for Google to address the situation.
7. Built in tethering for 8 devices
The EVO doubles as a personal hotpost.
Most carriers discourage tethering an internet connection from your phone to other devices.
The EVO will actually ship with tethering built in and Sprint is marketing this as one of its biggest features. Customers will be able to setup a mobile hotspot with their phone that up to 8 other devices can connect (vs only 5 of their previous Overdrive hotspot).
I considered purchasing an Overdrive to use as a backup internet connection for work, but the EVO eliminates the need for a second device.
Three reasons to skip the Sprint EVO 4G
Ok so at this point, it sounds like the Sprint HTC EVO 4G might be too hard to resist.
Sprint did not reveal the actual launch price, but I don’t think it even matters for a device like this. The EVO is geared towards the business crowd and hardcore geeks who are willing to purchase it at any reasonable price point. The current Sprint 3G rate plans are fairly competitive with the industry, so it will be interesting to see what options they offer for the EVO 4G.
To be fair, lets look at three reasons to skip the EVO and hold out for another phone.
1. Coverage area
The EVO is a worthy purchase even if you plan to use it on 3G, but a 4G connection is required to take full advantage of the device and all its services. Sprint plans to cover 120 million people by the end of 2010, so visit the Sprint 4G site and check your coverage area.
The only other carrier to roll out a 4G-like nationwide network in 2010 is T-Mobile. They plan to cover 185 million people with HSPA+ by the end of this year, so stay tuned for more markets.
2. T-Mobile HSPA+ is faster than Sprint 4G WiMax
Speaking of T-Mobile, their new HSPA+ network will be the fastest available with nationwide coverage in 2010. Their current implementation of HSPA+ has a theoretical max of 21 Mbps which is double the 10 Mbps theoretical max of Sprint 4G WiMax.
T-Mobile will have a smartphone with HSPA+ support, but it will not be available till the second half of 2010.
Verizon is launching 25-30 markets with 4G LTE late this year, but they will not have a LTE handset till summer 2011. AT&T will also adopt LTE for 4G, but does not expect a handset till 2012.
3. Android updates
Finally – if you always want to have the latest version of Android loaded on your phone, go with the Nexus One. The N1 uses the stock version of Android and should always be the first handset to receive whatever the latest version is out. The EVO will launch with HTC’s Sense UI (on top of Android 2.1) and HTC normally lags a few months before bringing their firmwares up to date.
