Sony Ericsson’s first Android handset to come next summer with high-end features

Sony Ericsson’s announcement to join the Open Handset Alliance was probably welcomed with joy by both Android and SE fans. This although the Swedish-Japanese company gave little details about the Android device(s) that will be launched.   

Well, now we know a little bit more about SE’s endeavors in the field of Android.

According to idg.se, the first Sony Ericsson handset to run on Android will hit the market sometime in the summer of 2009. The source also quotes Sony Ericsson spokesmen Gustaf Brusewitz, who says that the initial SE Android products will be from the “higher segment”.

So we shouldn’t be surprised if, for example, the next Xperia smartphone will come with Android on board. But this is pure speculation, of course, and we’d better wait for something official about the whole matter.



Anyway, what’s pretty clear is that there will be at least one high-end Sony Ericsson Android handset sometime in the future. And this can’t be a bad thing, eh?

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Kogan's Android Handset Gets Revised

Kogan is revising some of the design elements of its new Android handset, which is scheduled for a late January release if all goes well. The design elements make the handset more functional, eschewing the left and right hardware soft keys as those aren't utilized in Android for a more functional directional pad. Engadget Mobile notes that the Home and Back key resemble those on Windows Mobile .

You can get more details on the Kogan website. It looks like Android's growing up and fitting more nicely in a suit, or rather will fit nicely in corporate suits. The design is nice, and the handset is equipped with 3G, WiFi, and GPS.   



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How To Save YouTube Videos to Your T-Mobile G1



The boys over at AndroidTapp have posted a great little tidbit of info for G1 users. Ever wanted to save a YouTube video to an SD card in your G1? Now you can… and it turns out that the process is fairly easy. Simply follow these steps provided by the AndroidTapp crew:

   1. Search for the video you want. In the video below, I choose “The Transporter 3 movie trailer”
   2. Tapp the YouTube link, by default the G1 will prompt 2 options: Browser or YouTube. Chose “Browser”. The reason, to get the YouTube link.
   3. Tapp “Menu” + “Go to URL”, the YouTube URL should appear .
   4. Press on the keyboard “Menu” + “C” to Copy on the G1
   5. Go to    6. In the search field press on the keyboard “Menu” + “V” to Paste on the G1, hit Enter
   7. Slide down and Tapp “›› Download ‹‹ (video.mp4 - High Quality)“. This will open a new window and download the MP4 in your browser history. Disregard the .FLV version as the G1 can’t do Flash Video… yet. (Alternatively, it’s saved on your SD Card under “downloads” folder)

Note: Notice the whole copy/paste thing? Ohhhhh Apple, please bring this feature to the next iteration of the iPhone… I’d upgrade to the new feature for that alone!

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Lenovo OPhone: More pics and details



Some more details about the OPhone, it has a 5 MP camera with auto-focus and flash, microSD slot, english/chinese input through virtual keyboard, video recorder and bluetooth 2.0 (possibly data exchange too).

more shots of the phone:





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Samsung Working to Push Out New Android Powered Device by Q2 2009



This is a little bit of great news for all the Android fans out there… Or just the Android fans that have been wishing/wanting a new device to run the OS instead of the ghastly un-sexy T-Mobile G1.

Samsung has just announced that in Q2 of 2009 they will be launching their first Android offering. It’ll be a remodel/re-jig of the Samsung Omnia and Instinct. I’m looking forward to some sleek, touchscreen goodness running Android thanks to this news.

Apparently Samsung has 30 Linus and Java experts working like made on the new device, and their whole development team has up to 80 developers. No doubt this is a huge project for them. An official from Samsung noted:

    We are accelerating the development process for Google phone in order to meet the specific need of local carriers. We will be able to release Google phone in the second quarter of the next year in the US market

Good on ya Samsung. The new Android-powered device from Samsung should be available on Sprint, Nextel and T-Mobile in the good ‘ol US of A.

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Motorola abandoning Symbian, taking a breather to ramp up Android?



The rumor out of Spain (and a totally plausible rumor at that) is that Motorola's abandoning Symbian altogether to put most of its eggs in the Android basket. Moto never had a lot of stake in the Symbian game to begin with, and what little it did have was in the UIQ camp -- the camp being killed off in Symbian's transition to an open platform -- and what's more, the company has made no secret of its ambitions to become an Android powerhouse. The scary part of the rumor, though, is that Moto will go through one heck of a launch lull in 2009 so that it can get Android stuff into the marketplace in time for the '09 holiday season. Now, if that means we don't have to worry about any more V3 colors, more power to 'em -- but can Motorola really afford to go the better part of a year without any blockbuster phones at this point?

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Garmin planning Android-powered handsets for late 2009



Some interesting news is coming out of the Garmin camp this fine morning, including word that the company somehow managed to buck all manner of economic trends and boost its holiday sales by 50 percent over 2007. (Apparently peoples' 401(k) valuations weren't the only things getting lost this year.) The company also confirmed that its Nuvifone, which is getting a bit long in the tooth despite being unavailable, is indeed still coming -- but won't be hitting Taiwan at least until Q2 of next year, and there's no indication of whether we'll be seeing it a little earlier 'round these parts. Finally, and most intriguingly, is confirmation of what the company plans to do first with that freshly laminated Open Handset Alliance membership card: multiple new Android phones are said to be in the works, due for release sometime in the second half of 2009. No further information is available, and while the smart thing might be for Garmin to focus on getting its first handset out the door before drafting a successor, we think any excuse for a new costume on our favorite green Android is a good one.

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On-Screen Keyboard to Hit Android in January 2009



Talking to most T-Mobile G1 users… they are almost all unanimous that the one thing they wish the device had was an on-screen ‘virtual’ keyboard, a la the iPhone or the BlackBerry Storm. While the slider form-factor is awesome… I can see it being a pain in the you-know-what having to slide it out for those short, 1 second replies that we all do from time to time. Wouldn’t it be nice if a keyboard just magically appeared on the screen?

Well, the good news today is that Android’s on-screen keyboard is due to make it to the G1 via a software update in late January of next year. Don’t believe me? Check out the video above. Looks great and all… But for me personally, I think I’d wait for one of the many new Android devices to appear in 2009. Looks like it’s going to be a great year for new devices running the Android OS.

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Android G3: HTC’s third Android handset already in development?

Though rumors about a purported HTC-built Android G2 are still new and quite fresh, a new report mentions a third and completely new Android-based handset that’s already in the works, also care of HTC.

Providing practically no details, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) says that HTC is actually developing its third Android-based handset now, reigniting rumors about a second-generation HTC Android phone that’s said to be scheduled for release sometime during the first quarter of 2009.



HTC CEO Peter Chou was interviewed by EDN, and was said to mention that HTC expects to sell well over one million Android-based G1 handsets by the end of 2008, which we already knew, by the way.

Then EDN further goes on to say that the third Android-based HTC handset is already in development. With “Taiwan-based securities houses” as EDN’s quoted source, one can only imagine how real this rumor ought to be. But if HTC launches its second Android handset in the first quarter of 2009 (at the earliest), then we shall look back to this and say, “Now it’s beginning to get real.”

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OpenMoko's Android-running Neo FreeRunner makes its blurrycam debut



The handset itself is hardly anything new, and we had a pretty good indication that Android was heading its way, but there's still nothing like a few good 'ol fashioned blurrycam shots to make a plan really come together. From the looks of it, the handset doesn't appear to have gone under any major changes for its new Google-fied incarnation, with it still packing the same 2.8-inch VGA display, 400MHz Samsung 2442 processor, GSM and GPRS connectivity as before, plus the usual built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, and AGPS, among other standard fare. Still not word on a price or release date, unfortunately, but according to the folks at iMAndroid, that is "just around the corner.

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