A few months still stand between HTC fans and their ration of Ice Cream Sandwich goodness, but time be damned. The fine folks at XDA have done it again, this time managing to get their hands on a very early version of HTC’s Sense UI based on Ice Cream Sandwich.

As you can [...]]]>

A few months still stand between HTC fans and their ration of Ice Cream Sandwich goodness, but time be damned. The fine folks at XDA have done it again, this time managing to get their hands on a very early version of HTC’s Sense UI based on Ice Cream Sandwich.

As you can see below, not a lot has changed from the current version of Sense. But as I said, this build is as early as they get. We can expect the major UI changes — if any — to happen as we get closer to the final version. After all, it’s only been a few weeks since Google dropped the Ice Cream Sandwich source code.

Having said that, there are a few changes in the UI that show the new direction that Google is taking with Ice Cream Sandwich. Mainly, the new launcher with the app drawer in the middle accompanied by the two apps on each side. As for the rest of the UI, everything’s as glossy and plasticky as before — something we’ve seen Google’s Matias Duarte rally against so many times. Maybe the UI changes in Ice Cream Sandwich will convince the guys at HTC to pull back a bit on the highlights and gradients and focus more on clean lines and good typography.

As expected, this early ROM is full of bugs and shouldn’t be used by the faint of heart. Known bugs include not being able to set a wallpaper from the gallery, so if you’re into that kind of thing I’d suggest staying on the sidelines for now. However, if you eat buggy ROMs for breakfast and Kernel is a part of your daily vocabulary, you should go ahead and pay XDA a visit. Then come right back and let us know what you think.

UPDATE: It’s been brought to our attention that this ROM might come from XDA developers and not straight from HTC, so proceed with caution.

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EVO 3D and Sensation owners, rejoice! CyanogenMod 7, the leading name in Android Open Source Project ROMs, has finally been made available for your devices.

Released just yesterday, Alpha versions of the stock Android Gingerbread-based ROM can be downloaded from either XDA or RootzWiki. Both ROMs are in the same stage of development, and both [...]]]>

EVO 3D and Sensation owners, rejoice! CyanogenMod 7, the leading name in Android Open Source Project ROMs, has finally been made available for your devices.

Released just yesterday, Alpha versions of the stock Android Gingerbread-based ROM can be downloaded from either XDA or RootzWiki. Both ROMs are in the same stage of development, and both include their fair share of bugs. But if you’ve been dying to get away from Sense and really let your hardware fly, the time has come. Early reports from users say that, despite the bugs present in both builds, they are stable enough to use on a daily basis.

In order to flash CyanogenMod 7 to your EVO 3D or Sensation, you must be rooted with S-Off. That means anyone who used HTC’s unlocking tool needs to start the process over and use Revolutionary this time. Using Revolutionary and flashing a custom ROM are tasks that need to be fully explored and researched before attempted.

For more information on either Alpha build and to download them, use the links below. Sensation, EVO 3D owners, are you taking the plunge?

HTC EVO 3D

RootzWiki
XDA

HTC Sensation

RootzWiki
XDA

Rumored to launch [...]]]> Anyone searching for a new phone on AT&T should give the HTC Inspire 4G a long, hard look. It doesn’t feature a dual-core processor and 1 GB RAM like the Atrix 4G, but not everyone needs a high-end phone and HTC has packed some awesome features into the Inspire 4G.

Rumored to launch for only $99 on February 13th, the Inspire 4G includes a 4.3 inch display, 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, 8 megapixel camera, Dolby SRS speakers, and it’s the first phone in the U.S. to use the latest Sense UI and sync with HTC’s cloud service htcsense.com.

If you want to take the Inspire 4G for a test drive, Radio Shack just added a simple device simulator on their site. Most of the demos are geared towards beginners, but you can still get a nice overview of the hardware, software, and learn how to setup a new Android phone.

Are any HTC fans out there excited about getting the Inspire 4G next month?

The phone is sporting a case which throws off the dimensions a little, but it’s a safe bet that if you have seen the [...]]]> A regular poster over on Sprintusers.com, r0fl, just outed a crystal clear image of the upcoming HTC Evo Shift 4G and finally shows off its keyboard in glorious detail.

The phone is sporting a case which throws off the dimensions a little, but it’s a safe bet that if you have seen the T-Mobile G2 or Desire Z you have a pretty good feel for the size of the Evo Shift 4G.

This will have slightly more in common with the Desire Z as unlike the T-Mobile G2 it will feature Sense UI.

Other specs that have been rumored to date include:

• 1 Ghz Snapdragon Processor
• 3.7″ Super LCD
• 800 x 480 resolution
• 8MP Camera
• Android 2.2 (Froyo)
• WiMAX

A rumored launch date of January 6th has been floating around for awhile. I’m sure we have probably driven into your head sufficiently now that the 6th is the opening day of CES so we will unquestionably be seeing a lot of devices launched and announced that day.

While I find myself drawn more to the larger screen phones there is certainly a strong contingent in favor of the sub 4″ screens so hopefully this will please those that were looking for a more compact 4G experience than is offered by the Epic and Evo.

I think a big deciding factor for this device will be how Sprint decides to price it. This hardware would have been great a few months ago, but it is going to be launching at a time when dual-core phones will at the very least be announced which means the Evo Shift 4G should probably be slotting in somewhere between $100-$150 to remain competitive.

The problem (or is it a feature?) with other Android phones is the multiple [...]]]> Google released the source code for Android 2.2 last month and Nexus One owners have already been treated to the latest firmware via an over the air update. Outside of Google’s official Android phone, other customers could be waiting months.

The problem (or is it a feature?) with other Android phones is the multiple layers of complexities placed between the customer’s device and Google. With a phone like the Nexus One, Google initiates the update and sends it directly to customers’ devices. On all other Android phones, Google releases the source code then the handset maker ports their custom UI to the latest firmware and finally the carrier tacks on their own applications and tweaks.

Recent transitions from Android 1.5 and 1.6 to Android 2.1 have shown us that most customers can expect to wait around 6 months while the updates are prepared. In fact many Android users (~45%) have yet to receive an upgrade to Android 2.x and some never will.

HTC recently said that most of their Android phones released this year would see Android 2.2 in the second half of 2010 and new comments suggest we should see updates released before Christmas.

Pocket-lint got to spend some time with a HTC representative at the Qualcomm Uplinq convention and they shed some light on the situation.

“It takes time to port all of our applications over to Froyo and then make sure that it is running well on each of our devices. That’s not like a one week kind of project. We need to make sure that our applications are taking advantage of the Froyo features. To make sure that they’re all running properly on the OS now that it’s a new version. And then to make sure that it’s running on our hardware as well as we expect”.Eric LinHTC PR

As you can see, it takes a lot of time for handset manufacturers to port all their code over and make sure it works with Google’s latest Android release. Google team members have hinted that the next major version of Android, codenamed Gingerbread, could address custom skins and make the update process easier but no time frame has been set for its release.

When the HTC rep was asked about Gingerbread, he said he didn’t know much about Google’s plans and guessed we might not see it released till Q1 2011.

In the end, the slow Android update cycle might not matter for most consumers. About 95 percent of Android users are unaware their phones can be updated and the other 5 percent will just hack their device and load an open source Android 2.2 firmware like CyanogenMod.

The only way to guarantee your Android phone will have the latest version of Android is to buy a Nexus One from Google, but it looks like the future of that product is in jeopardy. It appears carriers favor the custom UIs over stock Android, so don’t expect speedy firmware updates anytime soon.

The Aria is powered by [...]]]> AT&T customers will get their first taste of an Android 2.1 device when the HTC Aria goes on sale later this month. This mid-range Android phone features almost identical insides of recent HTC phones like the Legend and Slide mixed with the design of their Windows-powered HD Mini.

The Aria is powered by the 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 (which holds up well in GPU benchmarks), includes a 3.2 inch HVGA capacitive display, and features a 5 megapixel camera. HTC’s Sense UI is layered on top of Android 2.1 and we expect the phone will be updated to Android 2.2 later this year.

Customers can purchase the Aria on June 20th for $129.99 with 2-yr contract (after $100 mail in rebate). The phone requires a data plan of which AT&T now provides two options – $15 for 200 MB or $25 for 2 GB.

This marks only the 2nd Android phone for AT&T (first was the Backflip), but the carrier plans to expand its Android portfolio to include other Android smartphones during the second half of 2010.

Highlights of the HTC Aria include:

• Qualcomm MSM7227 processor at 600MHz
• Android 2.1 with HTC Sense UI
• 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen at 320×480
• 512MB ROM/256 MB RAM
• 5 megapixel camera
• 2 GB microSD card included
• Size: (H X W X D): 4.6 x 2.3 x 0.47 in
• Weight: 4.6 ounces
• Battery: 1200 mAh (Talk time rated at  up to 6 hours, standby up to 15.5 days)
• Quadband EDGE (850/900/1800/1900), dual band HSPA 7.2 (850/1900)
• Digital compass, aGPS, WiFi, FM radio

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