The download is live in the App Market – just download the newest version of Maps, and it’s hidden in there – and Google’s free turn-by-turn navigation software is mostly identical to the version found on the Droid. Almost:

Some features of Android 2.0 are not available on Android 1.6, for example, the ability to use the “navigate to” voice command as shown in our demo video. However, you can still create a shortcut that will allow you to launch Navigation and start getting directions to a specific place from your current location with just a single touch from your home screen. For example, you can create a “Home” shortcut to quickly navigate home, no matter where you are. Just use the “Add” menu item from the home screen, then choose “Shortcuts”, then “Directions”. Please visit our forum to give us feedback, or our Help centre to get help using Google Maps Navigation.

Still though, free turn-by-turn for all, unless you have a Hero or one of Samsung’s ditties, or outside of the United States, for which you are permitted to make one extremely sad face. [Google]

Finally materialising after months of agonisingly vague promises of Androidery, The Liquid A1 is a capacitive-screen WVGA touch phone, set to run Android 1.6 Donut—the first build of the OS to support nonstandard (read: G1) resolutions, among other things—as well as a custom social-networking-centric interface, a la HTC’s Sense.

The software details are annoyingly sparse, as are the hardware specs, which for now include expected HSDPA connectivity, a 5MP camera and GPS, but we really know pretty much all we need to at this point: the 1GHz processor and accompanying 3D chipset will make this the first truly fast Android phone, almost regardless of what software Acer shoulders it with to slow it down. In other words, your Android will do what you want it to, when your finger tells it to, and it will be glorious. Whenever and wherever this thing drops, that is. [Acer via Slashgear]

The Future has arrived with Acer Liquid

Acer introduces its new smartphone “Liquid” series: the world’s first Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor based and world’s first Android™ 1.6 high definition smartphone, combining cutting-edge technologies, software innovation and an ultra-fluid user interface to create an all-new mobile experience. It is the ideal solution for users demanding the best from their devices, and in particular outstanding multimedia, web browsing, social media integration and video streaming. It also brings smartphone product design forward with its unique and modern style.

Finally something different
Acer Liquid is the first Wide-VGA smartphone in the market benefiting from the latest release of the Android™ 1.6 Operating System (aka Donut) and the first Android™ smartphone in the market equipped with the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor.

This platform brings to market unique benefits for the end users and paves the way for a new wave of innovations from the developer community:

* With its High Definition capacitive touch screen (Wide VGA), Acer Liquid offers today an unparalleled experience when watching pictures or videos. But it also holds a promise for the future: the promise of an abundance of new applications on Android™ Smart Handhelds – games, professional applications and web applets that will enrich the end user experience. Now developers can be assured that their investment will build upon a standard resolution for the years to come;
* Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor, Acer Liquid provides instant access to web pages, smooth streaming of videos or music , and instant response from popular mail, maps and search applications. The high-speed processing capability and high-speed internet access (HSPA) of Snapdragon™ brings to life the Android™ experience: no idle-time, almost instant uploads of web pages and downloads of rich multimedia contents. The developer community can now take full advantage of these capabilities to bring to market innovative applications that demand raw computing power and superior handling of 3D graphics.

Unique software enhancements
Acer Liquid also bolsters a set of unique features developed by Acer and its partners:

* Improved power management to help achieve longer battery autonomy for intense users;
* A new user interface with easy access to entertainment and web bookmarks;
* An optimised camera with geo-tagging, ISO, self-timer options and accelerated auto-focus performance;
* Exclusive Spinlets™ application providing free streaming of worldwide music and video, that can be shared with friends and family through web-posting or e-mail;
* Smart integration of Facebook™, Twitter™, Youtube™, Picasa™ and Flickr™ in the address book, with realtime notification of status or content updates.

A refreshing alternative to square shapes
With ellipse curves, a choice of red, white and black colours, and a slim body shape, Liquid will please style-seeking consumers. Designed for ergonomy, Liquid fits well in the hand, and displays a smooth finish. The fluidity of its curves gives the Acer Liquid its unique character and unconventional style.

The Android Team released the SDK for Android 1.6 a.k.a. “Donut” which, among other things, promises CDMA compatibility, screen resolution scaling and support for gestures. Even better, Donut might be available on phones as early as next month.

All the stuff mentioned in the past, such as APIs for text-to speech and translator functionality, plus a revamped Marketplace UI that will give this release some fire power. The universal search looks especially time-worthy, since it will generate points of interest in the results if you search for something generic like pizza, or it will tell you the weather if you include “weather+[city]” in the search string. But check it out for yourself. [Google via Engadget]

Android 1.6 Donut will also see an update to Android Market, and while it’s not a major change, it’s certainly a welcome one. The most important change: Developers will soon be allowed to upload screenshots for their apps.

The other changes noted by Google include new app sub-categories and support for Italian. Google’s post follows. [Phandroid via Engadget]

Some News from Android Market
Posted by Eric Chu, Android Mobile Platform on 03 September 2009 at 3:30 PM

I’m pleased to let you know about several updates to Android Market. First, we will soon introduce new features in Android Market for Android 1.6 that will improve the overall experience for users. As part of this change, developers will be able to provide screenshots, promotional icons and descriptions that will better show off applications and games.

We have also added four new sub-categories for applications: sports, health, themes, and comics. Developers can now choose these sub-categories for both new and existing applications via the publisher website. Finally, we have added seller support for developers in Italy. Italian developers can go to the publisher website to upload applications and target any of the countries where paid applications are currently available to users.

To take advantage of the upcoming Android Market refresh, we encourage you to visit the Android Market publisher website and upload additional marketing assets. Check out the video below for some of the highlights.

As we’ve known for a while, the next big update will be called Donut. This will be followed by Eclair, then finally, Flan.

Not that this nonsensical naming convention has any bearing on the substance of the updates, but I can forsee having a tough time getting too hyped up about Flandroid, or for that matter whatever comes next. Android 2.5 Brûlée? 3.0 Treacle Tart? 3.5 Amaretto Sorbet? Forget Linux—I’m hungry. [InformationWeek]

Yes, it’s the first Android phone with Flash—and it’ll come out more than two months before Adobe’s solution is set for wide release. Some specs: We’ve got a 3.2-inch HVGA (480×320) screen, coated with some kind of anti-print treatment; a five megapixel camera with autofocus; AGPS; a digital compass; a gravity sensor; a 3.5mm headphone jack (seriously!) and a dedicated search button. On the brains’n'guts front, we’ve got 512MB of storage, expandable by microSD, 288MB of RAM, and a 528MHz Qualcomm processor. Powering the handset is a 1350 mAh battery.

The Hero will be available later this summer in Europe in July and Asia later in the summer, but US availability won’t come until “later this year.”

[HTC]

Sort of odd that Android, made by Google, is behind both the iPhone and Palm Pre in rocking the universal search thing. But Google showed off that, a text-to-speech API for Google Voice Search in any app, and other Android 2.0 Donut goodness at Google I/O today. [Engadget]

The widgets have the tang of HTC—if you’ve used a Touch Diamond or Pro, they’re familiar—but they seem to have a grace they don’t on Windows Mobile. (Yeah, it’s an emulator, but I’d bet—hope—that a lot of the speed translates to the handset as well, since Android is designed for this kind of customisation by handset makers and carriers.)

HTC seems like the first to scratch the surface of what you can do with a custom Android build—which, I love the fact that every Android build is now named after fattening pastries—so maybe Android’s time really is coming. [Phone Dog via Android Guys]

Move over cupcakes—donuts are now on the menu thanks, once again, to the 17-year old whiz kid Haykuro. This time he has come through with the Android build for the upcoming HTC Hero.

After a bit of tinkering, Haykuro managed to get the build to work on the G1. I have to admit, the UI looks great—nice and polished. Yet another sweet snack for Android users to drool over. [PhoneDog via BGR]