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20 Upcoming HTC Android Devices Mentioned In Leaked ROM

Kat Hannaford — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:50:58 +0000

Nestled in the leaked Android 2.1 ROM, 20 new devices are mentioned by name—including those we knew of already (Dragon, Dream, Hero and Passion) but some new friends too, Bahamas, Bravo, DesireC, Espresso, Halo, HeroCT, HeroC, Huangshan, Incredible, Legend, Liberty, Memphis, Paradise, PassionC, Sapphire and Supersonic. Phew. [AndroidSpin via BGR]

How To Hack Google Maps Navigation Onto Your G1

John Herrman — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:42:37 +0000

It’s basically a ritual now: Fresh feature debuts on new Android phone; hack-happy HTC Dream owners see new feature, develop seething jealousy; said owners work tirelessly to steal new feature. Last week, Google Maps Navigation hit the Droid. Today, the G1.

AU: The G1 is called HTC Dream in Australia, but I wouldn’t bother trying this as Google Maps Navigation is only available in the US at the moment. _-EH

Google Maps Navigation will be part of Android 2.0, and Android 2.0 is expected to come to most — if not all — Android handsets on the market eventually, so given how complicated this hack is (fairly!), and that it requires a rooted phone, it’d be prudent for most folks to just wait this out. That said, there’s no saying on how long it’ll be until Eclair seeds out to older handsets, and there’s no guarantee that the G1 — an old fart in its little corner of the universe — will ever get it. Anyhow, here’s what you need to do, from XDA:

Download here

Make sure you have CyanogenMod 4.2.3.1, by the way.

1) Unzip zip to desktop
2) Run Part 1.bat
3) When prompted to press any key, do so; the phone will reboot
4) When your phone is running again, run Part 2.bat
5) When prompted to press any key, the installation process is done.
6) Make sure GPS is enabled
7) Open Maps and press OK
8) Press Menu
9) Press Directions
10) Enter an end point
11) Click Go
12) Just under “Show on map”, click Navigate.
13) When prompted to install the voice codec, do so.

And there you have it: Free, not terrible turn-by-turn navigation for your G1 without Android 2.0. [XDA via Engadget Mobile via IntoMobile]

Android Donut Out: Full Multitouch, Universal Search, Automated Backups AND Better Performance

Matt Buchanan — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:20:48 +0000

Google’s dropped new code for Android Donut and it sounds too good to be true. People at XDA Developers are reporting it has system-wide multitouch, universal search, text-to-speech, automated backups, a new camera app, and somehow, supposedly better performance.

Also intriguing is CDMA support—as in the kind of network that Sprint runs—adding on to Sprint’s Dan Hesse remark that Android is coming to Sprint this year and rumours that it’ll be Hero. You can see a lot of the new Donut features in action here, like universal search, in this video from the Google I/O conference.

Folks at XDA are working on a build that’ll run on the Dream (G1), though it works in the emulator right now. [XDA Developers, Images via XDA's cyanogen, Thanks Will!]

Optus Rolling Out Cupcake To HTC Dream Owners ‘Late July’

Nick Broughall — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:48:18 +0000

Reader Daniel loves his HTC Dream, but was a little unimpressed by the company’s reticence to actually upgrade the Android software to version 1.5 (Cupcake). So he asked Optus about it on Twitter and actually got a response: they’ll be rolling out the update in “late July”.

To be more specific, they actually say: “HTC Dream owners on Optus network will start receiving the upgrade to Android 1.5 (Cupcake) from late July.”

So if you’re a Dream owner, I wouldn’t panic if August 1 rolls around and you’re still on 1.0.

[Optus Twitter feed – Thanks Daniel]

HTC Android Family Portraits: G1, MyTouch 3G And Hero

Matt Buchanan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Ever wondered what it’d be like to get three generations of Android phones together—G1, myTouch 3G and Hero? If you think that’s kind of kinky, oh man, I hope you have a clean pair of pants lying around.

A couple interesting things gleaned about the Hero as I barely refrained from cramming it down my pants: There’s a ton of HTC software on there, not just the Sense UI—they’ve built their own mail client with Exchange support, and even a slick, iPhone-worthy Twitter app. Also, the grey Hero has a rubber back—only the white one is rocking out the Teflon (but it’s the only one that needs it).

Oh yeah, dear god please give me one. Right now. Thanks.

Blurry Pics Allegedly Show G2, Slimmer and Keyboard-less Successor to T-Mobile’s G1

Elaine Chow — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:40:33 +0000

A tipster has sent us shots that allegedly picture the G2, T-Mobile’s next Android handset. The HTC-branded phone in the pictures seems slimmer, packs a 3.2MP camera, and loses the physical keyboard.

According to the tipster, the new phone should be coming mid-May and currently contains a user interface that’s very similar to the G1’s. If it is the heir of the G1, it’s interesting that a) they’re releasing a new one so early and b) they went with a white colour theme right off the bat.

Waiting in Line Now Fastest Way to Get T-Mobile G1

Matt Buchanan — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:30:00 +0000

When T-Mobile announced that they had sold out of the initial G1 pre-order and were tripling production to meet demand, they said that you could still pre-order a phone through Oct. 21 to receive it at a later date. Unfortunately, it looks like a much later date. If you pre-ordered one after Oct. 3, you’ll have to wait until at least Nov. 10 to get your phone. Meaning at this point it’s probably better to just line up on launch day if you’re dying to get your hands on one as soon as possible and didn’t plunk down your money early. [T-Mobile via Android Community]

T-Mobile G1 Unboxed, Ready For Belt Clips Everywhere

John Herrman — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:50:00 +0000

Here’s the first full unboxing of T-Mobile’s G1 Android phone which, despite the rabid anticipation of the device, manages to be pretty boring. We’re glad to see it out in the wild, but the lame carrying case and decision to include the trademark uncomfortable HTC earphones, complete with a chunky mic. But as my mother (or probably the head of marketing at T-Mobile) would say, it’s what’s inside that counts. [TMoNews]

T-Mobile G1 Sold Out, Pre-order Ends

Matt Buchanan — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:05:51 +0000

If you were thinking about pre-ordering the T-Mobile G1 and just didn’t get around to it yet, it looks like you’re out of luck, since they’ve sold out. While there definitely won’t be anything like iPhone launch day madness, don’t be surprised if the launch supply is exhausted by demand and they’re a bit scarce in the immediate aftermath. How many of you guys pre-ordered one? Update: Looks like it’s back up. [Android Community]

Ex-Google Mobile Product Manager Nails the G1 with Good Reason

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:45:00 +0000

Ulf Waschbusch, who was Google’s Mobile Product Manager until he recently left for MySpace Mobile, thinks the T-Mobile G1 sucks for a variety of reasons. He also points out the good stuff, but after seeing what’s wrong in terms of interface, enterprise integration, data plan and its other flaws, especially compared with the competition, I absolutely agree with his views:

It’s funny – but the first time I heard about Android was about 2.5 years ago, when Eric Schmidt told me about the device at Stanford after I got a job offer from Google (yet before I accepted it!). Since then I have seen many iterations of the software. The software. Not the device itself, because sadly it hasn’t changed much in a while. (Not sure how long). The reason many people see the G1 as ugly and old-fashioned is simply… because it IS! It’s a design unchanged for a while (it’s now available in Zune-brown along with white and black). The hardware itself though went through many iterations I am sure, as it’s top-notch (3G on AWS, GPS, 3MP autofocus camera etc.).

Indeed. The device is a lame-looking brick and doesn’t seem to have much appeal to consumers. He also expressed his frustrations with other aspects of the G1 in his Facebook status.

Ulf is disappointed but not surprised about the ‘G1′. Where’s the cheap data plan? Where do I plug in my headphones? No video player? How do I get contacts in it?

Right again. While some have speculated that he’s talking out of bitterness–I guess that’s easier to do than to accept the criticism–the fact is that he acknowledges the good, the bad, and the ugly in a fair way. Certainly, this is not the iPhone/BlackBerry challenger consumers were hoping for. [ulfw via BGR]