By Oh. My. God. I cannot keep up with the flood of news regarding the Nexus S and Gingerbread coming through our ship’s lower deck, as of late. But we’ll fight through it! Another hour has gone by and even more tidbits from the blogosphere have trickled in. Firstly, how about something tangible from the SDK image to get onto your current non-Gingerbread phones?
Droid-Life’s been able to grab the new software keyboard seen on various videos and pictures. While it still isn’t the best looking keyboard we’ve ever seen, it looks to be a huge improvement over the old stock offering. Peter Alfonso – the man behind the fabled Bugless Beast – has thrown the .zip file up here. (Yes, this means you do need to be rooted, and due to integrated Voice Search controls, you’ll need Froyo. Proceed at your own risk.)
1. Download .zip file HERE
2. Place on root of SD Card and boot into Recovery.
3. Install .zip as you would themes etc.
4. Reboot and select “Android Keyboard” under Input Method and you are good to go.*Note* – DX users, “In Clockwork, go to mounts and storage>mount system and then back to install .zip from sd card”.
In other keyboard news, it has been discovered that the KeyEvent class in the Android SDK has new-found support for what looks to be gaming buttons. (A, B, C, L1, L2, R1, R2, Start, Select, X, Y, and Z.) Sounds pretty darn convenient for the folks at Sony Ericsson who are to be bringing out a new device (which they aren’t calling the PlayStation Phone) with a gamepad.
Awesome! Android Police has also taken the new build for a spin in their emulator. Our friend Artem states that the Gingerbread’s emulator instance is staggeringly slow compared to Froyo’s and Donut’s, but we hear that this is the fastest version of Gingerbread yet. Could just be an issue with the emulator or SDK image. Go ahead and check it out over there for the full suite of images and accompanying impressions.
Europeans – specifically those in the UK, for now – will be happy to know that Carphone Warehouse is carrying the Nexus S starting at the end of December. And unlike us poor souls here in the states, you guys can grab it up for free on a 35 pounds per month tariff from either Vodafone or T-Mobile, tethered to either or for two years. If you’d rather not deal with that, you can always get the device for 549 pounds.
AT&T users will be sad to learn that their Nexus S won’t be 3G-enabled, according to tnkgirl who was retweeted by John Gruber of Daring Fireball. For now, we’ll just assume they mean this T-Mobile version will only work on AT&T’s 2G network. We’ll be digging for more information as the days move on.
And finally, Samsung’s come clean regarding the “Nexus S” and why they didn’t go with Google’s first naming suggestion, the “Nexus Two”. Their reasoning? “We don’t like being number two.” That’s very understandable, and judging by the reaction from our user community here at Phandroid, we can tell that many others don’t consider it a “number two” either.
If another wave of Nexus S news comes in between now and the next couple of hours, we’ll report it in similar style.
Cant wait for Gingerbread for EVO. This phone looks pretty nice, gonna have to check it out at Best Buy sometime soon.
wonder if it is compatible with Sprint Hero? I tried the download and tried to install, but it failed!
Force Closes on HD2 running CM6.1 RC2 (HD2One 0.3.3)
This keyboard is very sexy. Thing is it’s not working that well with most phones. The auto correct is horrible. I guess it was more compatible with the dictionary on the Nexus S. The keyboard is said to look really small on DX. So if your a spelling major and know how to spell every word in the book and never miss type anything then it should be fine. I hope they get it to work properly.
@heroid007
It’s only works with 2.2 devices and you have to be rooted for it to flash. Cause flashing it will set it embedded as if it came like that and you can’t uninstall it like a normal .apk
Idk if it works with a rooted Hero that’s running 2.2 cm6. I wont be to surprised if it doesn’t because it’s requirements for of these things. I think a more stable version will be out soon.
It works great. Love the little animation when it pops out and contracting after finishing typing. Cool.
Doesnt work great on the dx, its about half the size it should, really hard to type
“We’ll be digging for more information as the days move on.”
There is no need to dig deep. It is all here on Google’s website: http://www.google.com/phone/detail/nexus-s
And I don’t like what I am seeing. If I had T-Mobile coverage in the towns I spend most time in, I would not use the lowest ranked (with good reason) provider. But if I want to stay GSM (as I travel to Europe a lot) I have no other options. So I have to stick to the N1. :(
It works on my galaxy s, thats hopefully a good sign of what the future is going to bring ;)
Still prefer smart keyboard pro though.
do you rename the file update.zip or just .zip sorry im a noob
IS there any new Gingerbread widgets? Google definitely needs some cool widgets.
@DroidCEO No you don’t rename it to update.zip as far as i know, well i didn’t and its still working.
nvm i got it thanks @ban
Verifying update package…
E:Missing file:
system/tts/lang_pico/es-ES_ta.bin
E:Verification failed
Installation aborted
And what should I do with the Nexus One I bought from http://amzn.to/hqbvd9 ?
Wow…. Free for UK??
Whats up Google why you give them that much love instead of US?
I am getting installation aborted as well
2.3 is not out yet, but the keyboard software is already flashable. Just curious, how safe it is? I dunno, might be a keylogger
here’s hoping the uk unbranded desire’s get 2.3 with the updated sense the desire HD got
I’m also getting the missing file error on my N1.
Word to the wise – this zip was missing something. I forced install without signature, and to make a long story short, now I’m having to do a Nandroid restore.
does this work on the incredible?
i put it in my sdcard but i cant see it in recovery. i just installed with es file xplorer and it work just fine
@ 2FR35H
This has to do with the carrier subsidies and nothing to do with Google. Those two carriers were willing to fully subsidize the phone. Simple as that.
Proves my theory that Sony Ericsson have done an exclusive with Google over the release of Gingerbread on their phone before other mainstream manufacturers like HTC and Motorola get their grubby hands on it. In my opininion the Z1 (ZEUS) will be launched as a “development phone” for Android gaming and will most likely run a stock version of 2.3
and yes, this means nexus one users will have to wait for their official update.
If you’re having probs flashing the keyboard, you may need Amon_RA’s latest recovery, v2.0.0. For reference, enter Amon_RA’s recovery, click “Other”, and “Toggle Signature Verify.” Then flash the zip as normal.
so google was lying when they said they wont make nexus two. Maybe not exactly, since they made nexus S. Shame on google.
I really need an explanation as two why there is no HSPA+ on this. I can live without a dual core but really
Im sorry but this is just another Epic 4g without a key board and baseband. No notification light, no duel core processor, no sd car slot and no 4g… yeah Ill pass. Thanks a lot google. Should have Kept Eric Tseng!
@Bob
There is no Nexus 2….
Theres a Nexus S….Go look at Eric Schmidt’s interviews
It downloads but can’t open it. Rooted Evo w/unrEVOked
its missing dictionary or something is wrong with the auto correct because it only pops up names when typing so there is some work to be done.. on a side not the best way to add this is to unzip package and move the lib file and the LatinIME.apk file into your android sdk tools folder then
adb shell
mount system through recovery
cd /system/app
ls (brings up list of apps look for LatinIME.aok LatinIme.apk or any other way its spelled)
rm LatinIME.apk [or however its spelled in your rom]
cd /system/lib
rm libinj_latinime.so
exit
adb push LatinIME.apk /system/app/
adb push libinj_latinime.so /system/lib/
adb reboot
and everything should work fine[this is mainly for phones that for some reason can’t flash the update]
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=863259
Here….this one has the library with it
I hope more light is shed regarding the Nexus S story. Some things don’t add up to me.
Google’s Eric Schmidt said during the Summer that there would be no Nexus Two, saying that the Nexus One accomplished what they set out to do. Some have construed this to mean other things, and even Eric himself has said what he really meant was that he didn’t want to use the name “Nexus 2″ or something to that effect. Is this true? I’m not sure. Or did Google see the success of Samsung’s Galaxy S line to all four major carriers (and others), which was something Google was hoping to accomplish with the Nexus One, and see the quality of Samsung’s SAMOLED and felt it would optimize 2.3′s darker color format well, and so decided to reach out to them to have them revise their Galaxy S line to a Nexus brand? Or did Google reach out to them before they released the Galaxy line to make the next Nexus, and if so, why would Eric make such comment implying there would be no future Nexus phones? It could, of course, be simple misdirection.
Considering the Nexus S is not being developed from the ground up, and is more or less based on the Galaxy S line, research, development, and manufacturing time could have been accomplished between the late Summer/early Fall release of Galaxy phones to now December, for the Nexus S launch. Considering Samsung doesn’t seem to have any real history of “shortages,” their manufacturing plants could be up for the challenge?
Then, you have the supposed “delay” of the Nexus S. It turns out the Best Buy leaked specs were real (the official specs is almost exactly what the BB specs said it would be – 1 GHz single core, no HSPA+ support…). So what was the delay? Well, just last week the FFC received radio changes to the i9020 model (aka the Nexus S number). Was that the slight hardward delay/tweak? And not what Androidandme thought was the scrapping of single-core to have dual-core? But they also said dual-core Nexus S prototypes were out in the wild in testing. Did the tests not go well with Gingerbread, which has been reported to not be optimized yet for dual-cores, and thus Google deciding to stick to the single-core for final production? Or were those supposedly dual-core Nexus S prototypes really prototypes of Samsung’s i9200 phones, aka Galaxy S2?
I don’t know. This is all speculation and musing. The Nexus S story doesn’t add up. Given some baffling decisions regarding the official specs – namely lack of HSPA+ (or “4G”) support – I suspect Google rushed this when they saw the success of Galaxy S and Samsung’s SAMOLED technology, and tried, but couldn’t get dual-cores to work properly and in time to meet their December release deadline (Gingerbread had to be released before Christmas).
Is a dual-core, HSPA+ capable Nexus S floating around out there in prototype/testing form to be released in 2011? Does the Nexus S story add up to you guys?
I am stupid but the nexus page says 512 ram and 800×480 wvga. Is all that accurate? Wvga? 512? 800×480? Fail?
I asked support when HTC Magic will be upgraded to Froyo.
Their answer is:
“Currently there is no plan to upgrade your phone. The result of our analysis showed that an upgrade to your phone may impact the user experience and we ultimately decided that an upgrade was not recommended.”
This is pure BS seeing that some MAgic owners ARE being upgraded.
Check it out:
http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/myTouch-3G/Ladies-and-Gentlemen-Froyo/td-p/496813
http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/HTC/HTC-Magic-Firmware-Updates/m-p/475229/highlight/true#M32312
No more HTC for me…
VERY UNNECESSARY WITH SWYPE!! By far the best keyboard you can get!!
Seems to be a decent improvement on the 2.2 keyboard.
For those of using clock world mod here are the instructions.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9640416&postcount=10485
@ 2FR35H No. 17
Its nothing to do with Google, it’s all to do with US carriers. Once again the US attitude towards being ‘OWED’ all the best deals and all the best equipment all the time, it never ceases to amaze me.
Believe it or not the US is NOT the centre of the universe!!!
549 pounds?? WTF!! any US resident kind enough to buy me one? :<
the Nexus S has no trackball, not even one of those newer d-pad things, so precision curser placement relies on how accurate your finger can click between letters when editing.
which is less accurate than a trackball
Working fine on Nexus 1, Cyanogenmod 6.1RC1. Other than being a tad ugly, it works much better, quite a bit more accurate than the stock Froyo KB. Very similar to Smart Keyboard Pro.
Installed the 2.3 keyboard. LOVING it. Super fast, super accurate. Very intuitive.
I’ve never had much luck with samsung phones, the call quality is awful and they just dont seem to last long for me… does anyone know if this will be better since google is involved… I hope so… I really want this phone