Posted on 31 March 2010 by
As is pleasantly often the case with Android devices, it turns out there’s already a quick, easy, nearly painless way to circumvent the phased rollout of Android 2.1 to Verizon’s Droids out in the field. Anyone who’s already been through this will feel right at home with the process: grab the binary straight from Google (so you know it’s legit, which is always nice), rename the file, transfer it to your microSD card, and reboot to the recovery mode screen. The rest is pretty self-evident, and when all is said and done, you’ll have a Droid equipped with the very latest and greatest that Google has to offer. Let us know how it goes, y’hear?
Droid mercifully gets a manual 2.1 update option originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
Posted on 31 March 2010 by
While making it crystal clear that this is only intended for developers that want a mega-early look at the platform, Intel and Nokia’s MeeGo team has just announced that the very first cut of the melded Moblin / Maemo mobile platform is available for download. Specifically, users of N900s, Atom notebooks, and Atom-powered Moorestown MIDs have all been gifted with their own distributions, which will boot off a USB stick or directly on the devices themselves. Sadly, the MeeGo user experience — the good stuff, that is — isn’t included here, so if you flash your N900 you’re going to end up booting into a terminal console, but hey, some of you sickos are into that sort of thing, aren’t you? Next up for the team is a release billed 1.0 that will come in May, and we’re told details on the road to that version will be unveiled over the coming days. Take care of yourselves if you go for it, alright?
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
First cut of MeeGo available today for N900 and Atom devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
Posted on 31 March 2010 by
Greener pastures are likely on T-Mobile’s Android horizon, but let’s be real — this is probably the first, last, and only opportunity you’ll ever have to own a Fender-branded phone, which might just be enough of a draw to give you pause. T-Mobile’s official Twitter account just belted out a tweet saying that the most unusual version of HTC’s Magic to launch anywhere in the world, the myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition, is “making its final encore” right now in “limited quantities,” so interested parties probably want to high-tail it down to their local store — especially since it’s still showing out of stock online. Any takers?
T-Mobile says myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition now ‘making its final encore’ originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
Posted on 31 March 2010 by
The
Ramos W7 Android-powered MID has come to pass, but for the last year one question’s remained: where is that
RK2808-based handset we were promised? Finally Rockchip has provided us with some pictures of its prototype called, of all things, Smart Phone. There is a dearth of specs at the present time, but from what we do know it will have a predictable emphasis on multimedia playback (including H.264, RMVB, MPEG-4, AVS, WMV9, and 720p video). If you’re a manufacturer (or would like to be), drop ‘em a line — presumably, you’ll be able to get more complete specifications. And then be sure to drop us an email with the info. We’d appreciate it!
Continue reading Rockchip’s prototype RK2808-powered Android smartphone spotted… finally!
Rockchip’s prototype RK2808-powered Android smartphone spotted… finally! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Joseph L. Flatley
Posted on 31 March 2010 by
Every so often, an American wireless carrier will toss out a no-holds-barred 15 or 30-day money back guarantee, likely initiated to spur customer walk-ins, and in turn, boost the adoption rate. Sprint, however, is sick and tired (but mostly tired) of playing such games, and it has today announced a new “Satisfaction Guaranteed or Money-Back” program that it has no current intentions of ever nixing. We spoke to Sprint this morning regarding the news, and a spokesperson affirmed that it will be in place for the foreseeable future, with no expiration date already dialed up in the background. The new deal (which starts tomorrow, all kidding aside) enables any customer to open up a new line of Sprint service for 30 days; if they aren’t feeling it, they’ll get “reimbursed for the device purchase and activation fee, get the early termination fee waived, get a full refund for service plan monthly recurring charges incurred and get all associated taxes and Sprint surcharges associated with these charges waived.” We’ll confess — that’s pretty darn thorough, but do you seriously expect to return that EVO 4G? No, no you don’t.
Sprint rolls out new 30 day ‘money back guarantee’ trial, claims it’s not a promo originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Darren Murph
Posted on 31 March 2010 by
Those whispers you might have heard of a Pro version of Samsung’s delectable Galaxy S have just turned into a booming roar, thanks to Eldar Murtazin apparently confirming the existence and prospective arrival of the rumored handset. According to the legendarily loquacious mobile reviewer, Samsung will be strapping a QWERTY keyboard onto the already potent Galaxy S hardware and upping the pricing ante with an extra 50 Euro charge. He also manages to give us a June launch date, but pictures of this device are predictably not yet available. We’ll just have to let our imagination do the work until Mr. Blurrycam gets on the case. Screenshot of the relevant tweet after the break.
Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S Pro to come with a QWERTY keyboard in June, says Eldar Murtazin
Samsung Galaxy S Pro to come with a QWERTY keyboard in June, says Eldar Murtazin originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Vladislav Savov
Posted on 31 March 2010 by
Sprint must be feeling pretty good about its chances against the big guys right now, because it’s on the cusp of deploying the most comprehensive money-back guarantee policy in the industry — a policy that erases every red cent you’ve spent to pick up service with them in the event you change your mind. Starting tomorrow, new customers will have 30 days to check out their Hero, Pre, Pixi, or whatever other device they happen to choose (no EVO 4G yet, sadly), and if they’re not happy, a return to the store will trigger a refund for everything, up to and including the service plan charges, taxes, and fees you’ve incurred so far. AT&T and Verizon come close to Sprint’s policy, but they stop short of refunding the plan itself and charge an activation fee if you take more than 3 days to return your goods, and T-Mobile — long regarded the customer service king in this biz — only gives you 20 days and won’t even pretend to refund your activation fee. Will this trigger a domino effect of changes across the Big Four? We certainly hope so.
Sprint Free Guarantee eliminates all traces of buyer’s remorse within 30 day trial originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Chris Ziegler
Posted on 31 March 2010 by
The latest version of doubleTwist for the Mac (1.0b1b to be precise, available now) adds a whole new Android Market element to the application. Much akin to the iTunes Store for apps, doubleTwist lets you browse Android apps in a beautified, desktop interface, but the “twist” is that you can’t actually download and sync apps with your phone. Instead, the Android Market browser presents QR codes for scanning with your Android phone and directly downloading the apps on the handset like you do already. Sure, desktop app downloads, backup, and syncing would certainly be better, but this is a nice start at least. D-Twist (as we like to call it) is also getting audio playback on the Mac, as well as podcast search and playback, with podcast subscription and syncing coming next (it’s already on Windows). Meanwhile, Windows users will have to wait until the next major version for Android Market. Not to worry, you can do the exact same sort of app browsing at apps.doubletwist.com on any plain old browser.
New doubleTwist for Mac adds built-in Android Market functionality originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Original post by Paul Miller
