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January, 2010 Articles

Compaq Airlife 100: Android Smartbook Passes FCC

by Rob Jackson on January 24th, 2010

HP had a little bit of Android to show off at CES 2010 but some things they only share with the FCC – like the Compaq Airlife 100 smartbook. Lucky for us the FCC is pretty much an open book: There isn’t anything in the way of details, unfortunately. With Apple bringing a tablet to [...]

Android Capturing Hearts, Minds & Momentum

by Rob Jackson on January 24th, 2010

It wasn’t too long ago that if you asked someone what Android was, you were more likely to get a blank stare than a passionate response. Thanks largely to the amazingly successful Motorola Droid and Verizon Wireless campaign, this whole “Android” thing has captured the attention of regular, everyday consumers. In a study conducted by [...]

Google, China & Android

by Rob Jackson on January 24th, 2010

If you’re not already aware (you may be from a different planet), Google has announced a new approach to doing business in China after several governmental hacking attacks on human rights groups came to light. The country censors Google’s search results and has made the company’s mission of organizing the world’s information nearly impossible: information [...]

Hey HTC Android Tablet, Let Me Introduce You To The Garbage Can

by Rob Jackson on January 24th, 2010

HTC was working on tablets running both Android and Chrome OS but has just announced they’ll shelve the projects in favor of a continued focus on Android Smartphones. A tablet would be a deviation from HTC’s usual strengths with the obvious goal of growing volume through product differentiation. What’s the REAL reason they’ve given up [...]

Compare Cell Phone Plans

by Rob Jackson on January 23rd, 2010

So your contract is coming up and there are finally (basically) Android Phones available across all of the carriers you’re considering. So now you need to decide which carrier is right for you, and I’m guessing a decent part of that decision comes down to pricing. Luckily the folks at BillShrink have made that easy [...]

Verizon FIOS App For Android Gives You On-The-Go TiVo

by Rob Jackson on January 23rd, 2010

Don’t ask me why I used TiVo in the title. It’s just one of those things. I use Google Maps exclusively but I’ll always tell someone “just Mapquest it”. I guess it’s the same reason you call a tissue a Kleenex, a photocopy a Xerox, or heck – an internet search a Google (regardless of [...]

Is The Nexus One Good For Google?

by Rob Jackson on January 23rd, 2010

Simply posing the question of whether or not the Nexus One is a good thing or bad thing for Google is bound to spark furious debate. You’ve got the issues of them stepping on the toes of their partners, problem of furthering the iPhone vs. gPhone argument, claiming they’re furthering fragmentation, raising the question of [...]

Rogers’ Robot Issues Continue, HTC Magic Pulled Temporarily

by Rob Jackson on January 23rd, 2010

The folks at Rogers haven’t been enjoying a smooth sailing Android experience thus far: first they say the G1 can’t be upgraded past Android 1.5, then they offer Dream users an HTC Magic as a replacement, then they pulled the Dream off the shelves due to an Emergency 911 contact security flaw, and now they’re [...]

Rumor: G1 Getting Android 2.0

by Rob Jackson on January 23rd, 2010

Different carriers in different regions will act differently and this latest rumor can only responsibly be applied to the Netherlands, but if it’s happening there it could and probably will happen elsewhere. The rumor? That the T-Mobile G1/Dream and the MyTouch 3G/Magic/G2 will get pumped full of Android 2.0 goodness by the end of January [...]

HTC Magic Getting Slideout QWERTY Keyboard?

by Rob Jackson on January 21st, 2010

We’ve expected for a LONG TIME that the HTC Magic would eventually get a slideout QWERTY keyboard and early on in the whole Android-thinga-majig it was one of the phones EVERYONE wanted the opportunity to enjoy. Back in the dizzle it was called the HTC Lancaster and although we don’t know what it will go [...]

Motorola On A Robot Rampage

by Rob Jackson on January 21st, 2010

If Admob’s statistics are anywhere near accurate, Motorola has gone on a pretty outrageous streak and is absolutely tearing it up in terms of smartphone market share. They can thank Android for that – check out this quote from MocoNews: “… its report sheds some light on Motorola, which up until recently had an insignificant [...]

Don’t Forget About The Garmin-ASUS Androids

by Rob Jackson on January 21st, 2010

There are two things that happened in 1492: Columbus sailed the Ocean blue Garmin promised to make a phone 517 years later Garmin finally delivered a phone but they also promised Android Phones were on the way. A partnership with ASUS actually promised many phones in the coming years but we have yet to see [...]

HTC Bravo: TMO UK Nexus One Plus Optical Trackpad

by Rob Jackson on January 21st, 2010

T-Mobile customers in the United States can currently take advantage of subsidized pricing on the Google Nexus One. On the other side of the ocean, T-Mobile UK customers will soon be able to purcahse a variant of the Nexus One called the HTC Bravo which adds an optical trackpad and more G1-ish buttons: Among the [...]

Android Roundup: In-Flight Wi-Fi Edition

by Rob Jackson on January 20th, 2010

Well I’m thousands of feet above the ground, flying from Las Vegas to Atlanta to Baltimore, and thankfully I’ll soon be in a city without a never-ending road of casinos lined with random people handing out the escort/stripper equivalent of baseball cards. Part of me can’t wait to be home because Vegas is EXHAUSTING but [...]

Motorola Brings Motoroi To Korea, Coming To America

by Rob Jackson on January 19th, 2010

The Motorola Droid and Milestone are about to be joined by a very close relative called the Motorola Motoroi. We just got done telling you how SK Telecom is going big on Android and it seems their first Android Phone will be the Motoroi which looks unmistakeably like the Droid/Milestone: The device will launch on [...]

Motorola Droid Getting Minor OTA Update?

by Rob Jackson on January 19th, 2010

Don’t get all excited – your Droid isn’t yet going to get the Android 2.1 leap to catch it up to the Nexus One – but minor updates are better than no updates at… right? If you’re a facebook user than the answer is probably yes. The only thing this phantom OTA update seems to [...]

Ninjas Unbox Nexus One With Swords

by Rob Jackson on January 19th, 2010

This is – hands down – the best unboxing I’ve ever seen in my life: Agreed?

SK Telecom Launching 13 Android Phones in 2010

by Rob Jackson on January 19th, 2010

In a move to counteract their rival’s exclusive iPhone agreement, SK Telecom has announced that they could launch as many as 13 Android Phones in 2010. Further, by 2013 the company could offer as many as 25 Android Phones making up almost half of their total line-up: “We will have 25 smartphone line-ups in 2013, [...]

Next Version of Android: F for Froyo

by Carl Channon on January 17th, 2010

I never expected this but the guys over at Engadget recently interviewed Erick Tseng – Senior Product Manager of Android.. where he dished up some delicious info. The next version of Android will be called Froyo -  short for frozen yogurt! Very interesting indeed! Personally I had my bets on the F being Flan considering [...]

Massive Mid-Weekend Round Up

by Rob Jackson on January 16th, 2010

It’s been a week since CES but I’m still in Las Vegas – but don’t worry… the sporadic updates will soon be coming to an end. There has been a LOT going on in Android world and to keep you on the top of your robot game we’ve compiled a list of happenings you’ll likely [...]