Android and Me

Our friends from Hexage have just announced that downloads of their Android games have surpassed one million and to celebrate they are having a special sale this weekend. Hexage currently has four games in the Android Market including Everlands, Totemo, Radiant, and Buka. Starting this weekend (Sept. 4-5) you will be able to purchase any of these hit titles for less than 0.99 USD.

All of the games have free demos in the Market, so check them out now to see which you enjoy (Tip: my fav is the old-school shooter Radiant).

Samsung Electronics revealed they were already working on a next generation tablet based off the upcoming Honeycomb version of Android (possibly Android 3.5) during a Q&A session today at IFA.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab will launch with FroYo (Android 2.2) and eventually be upgraded to Gingerbread (maybe Android 3.0), but Samsung said Honeycomb was for a different kind of tablet experience.

JK Shin, head of Samsung Mobile Communications, said that his company was working directly with Google on a larger tablet. “Moving forward with Honeycomb, that will be used in the next generation tablet as it is specifically optimized for different type of tablet, and will be used on another product only.”

Shin’s comments are interesting because not much is known about Honeycomb at this point. Many have speculated that Gingerbread would become Android 3.0 and be the first version of Android optimized for the tablet experience.

I still…

Today at IFA in Berlin, Samsung Electronics announced the Galaxy Tab which is the company’s first 7-inch Galaxy S Android tablet. The device is scheduled to launch in Europe around mid September, but it’s also headed to the U.S. in the coming months.

Specs of the Galaxy Tab are nearly identical to the Galaxy S smartphones, with the main differences being the display, camera, and battery capacity. The Tab features a 7-inch TFT-LCD display with WSVGA resolution (1024 x 600), 3 MP rear-facing camera paired with a 1.3 MP front-facing camera, and a massive 4,000 mAh battery.

The international version of the Galaxy Tab supports GSM and HSPA networks, but we expect it be customized to work with any U.S. carrier. A CDMA version has already been spied and rumors suggest it could be headed to Verizon. No U.S. versions were announced, but I wouldn’t be shocked to…

A new update to the T-Mobile SCOOP site reveals that the G2 will indeed feature an 800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 processor. Even though our original leak said the CPU would be clocked at 800 MHz, we had been reporting the speed as 1 GHz after several sites continued to leak specs which showed the faster speed.

The Qualcomm MSM7230 features a similar Scorpion CPU as the Snapdragon, but it contains the much faster Adreno 205 GPU. We knew the MSM7230 was capable of speeds of 800 MHz to 1 GHz, but we wrongly assumed T-Mobile would bump up the speed to 1 GHz.

At the end of the day the newer 800 MHz MSM7230 will likely out-perform the older 1 GHz Snapdragon, but I’m sure we will see a lot of complaints due to earlier speculation. The G2 should be out soon, so let’s wait and see how it…

One of the main reasons people use their Android phones is for the built-in GPS functionality. Back in October 2009, Google pissed off just about every GPS company by launching their very own free GPS navigation system, Google Navigation, which tightly integrates this service with the Android platform. The one catch with Google Navigation? You have to have a data connection to use it, which can create some problems when there is a network outage or you happen to be in an area with spotty (or no) coverage.

Anyone ready for a little more news on the T-Mobile G2? We don’t have much, but according to some leaked screen shots, the T-Mobile G2 will be priced at $199.99 with a new two year contract. Those who purchase it off-contract with T-Mobile’s Even More Plus plans will need to save up $499.99. The T-Mobile G2’s price point isn’t unexpected, though it would have been nice if T-Mobile 1UP’d the competition by offering the G2 for $20-30 less than other high-end Android phones. And while we’re pretty confident that pricing on the image will pan out, T-Mobile has been known for changing its mind in the past.

We’ve been a bit busy and short-handed this week at Android and Me, leaving a single staff member to suggest all three apps this week. Aren’t you guys lucky?

This week I’ve rounded up a collection of three utility apps I find myself using frequently to get things done. upStream is a Flickr uploader, adbWireless allows you to connect to ADB over wifi, and Floating Image is a rock solid photo slideshow. All three have earned a permanent spot on my phone, now I share them with you.

The battle for Android market share should get pretty interesting over the next year or so.  SONY Ericsson CEO, Bert Nordberg stated today that the company plans on becoming the world’s biggest supplier of Android powered smartphones.  SONY Ericsson’s current Android market share sits at 17% while the leader of the Android segment has 23%.  Bert Nordberg did not give a time frame or specify exactly how SE is planning on leapfrogging the competition. 

SONY Ericsson’s current Android lineup has some potential, but many Android enthusiasts have looked the other way as other manufacturers have been churning out more powerful devices with the latest versions of Android (all of SE’s Android phones still run on Android 1.6).  For the near future, not much is going to change, but don’t be surprised if SONY Ericsson reinvents their Android strategy in the next 12-18 months.  Who know, that Android powered PlayStation…

The new Android powered Motorola Defy will be joining ranks with the Motorola i1 in Motorola’s effort to produce the most rugged Android phones on the planet.  The Motorola Defy is impact, dust, water, and scratch resistant and certified to IP67 standards.  The exterior shell and Gorilla Glass should do a great job of keeping the 800 MHz OMAP 3610 processor, 1540 mAh battery, 1.25GB onboard memory, and 5MP camera with LED flash safe from harm.  The display on the Motorola Defy will measure in at 3.7 inches, offering up a 480 x 854 pixel resolution.  Those hoping for the latest and greatest version of Android will have to settle for Android 2.1, though an update to Android 2.2 in currently “being investigated.” The typical Google Apps will be included, as well as Motorola’s latest MotoBLUR 1.5.  Motorola plans on launching the Defy in Europe in Q4.

This latest offering…

Froyo has already been rolling out to the Droid Incredible for a few days now, but if you haven’t gotten your tap on the shoulder yet and you would like to go ahead and speed up the process then just follow the instructions below.

This is the official release direct from Google’s servers so no need to worry about being stranded on an unofficial build as some other Android users were being threatened with earlier today.

To manually install Froyo on the Verizon Droid Incredible, perform the following steps:

1. Download the official Android 2.2 firmware from Google from this link.
2. Copy the file to the root directory your microSD card and name it update.zip (newb warning: not update.zip.zip)
3. Power off your phone. Hold down the volume down button and power it back on.
4. When you see the bootloader screen select recovery from the

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