LG KH5200 for South Korea
LG is launching its first Android smartphone for the Korean market, the KH5200, on South Korean carrier KT. But don’t get too excited, this isn’t really anything new. In fact, this just appears to be a re-badged GW620, which we’ve all seen before.
It features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a small’ish 3-inch HVGA resolution touchscreen display, and a 5 megapixel autofocus camera.
Xperia X10
For those based in North America, the wait for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 must seem like a lifetime. The device is a nice piece of kit, don’t get us wrong, and the huge screen certainly is a plus point. However, with the Motorola Droid running Android 2.x+ and other phones set for release soon with similar software versions, the X10 seems a little, well, dated.
At MWC there was plenty to see in the Xperia range, and CNET Asia report that these devices should look forward to an upgrade of Android. We all assumed that this upgrade would be to Android 2.0 but there is now talk that this would be just the icing on the cake, so to speak. We now know that it “will be an Eclair variant, so it could be 2.1 or even 2.2″, according to the spokesperson. Now, we agree that this is clutching at straws somewhat, but a guy can dream, right?
An article at Internet Storm Center published yesterday warns of Malware on the HTC Hagic. Panda Security came across the infection when one of their employees baught a brand new Vodafone Android device and plugged it into their Windows based computer. Analysis of the malware revealed that it was a Mariposa bot client. In a blog post at Panda Security, researcher Pedro Bustamante said, “Here is yet another example of a company distributing malware to its userbase. Unfortunately it probably won’t be the last”.
Bustamante noted that when a colleague/friend of his hooked up the Vodafone HTC Magic to her PC, their Panda based AV software detected both an autorun.inf and autorun.exe as malicious. In a rather blunt comment, Bustamante asks:
“There’s also a Confiker and a Lineage password stealing malware. I wonder who’s doing QA at Vodafone and HTC these days,”
From a consumer standpoint, it will be interesting to see if anyone loses faith in Vodafone for their complete lack of security in this matter, and as of now, no official statement.
The Motorola BACKFLIP debuted this weekend on AT&T and the first impressions of this uniquely designed handset are not so favorable. Folks that picked up AT&T’s first Android handset have been shocked to discover that the device has been crippled by the nation’s second largest wireless provider. According to information posted at the xda-developers forums, new BACKFLIP owners are reporting that AT&T has loaded the device with AT&T-specific applications which can not be removed, has restricted the user’s ability to install third applications that reside outside of the Android Market, and has committed the greatest of heresies by replacing Google search with Yahoo search. Add the outdated Android OS 1.5 into the mix and you have a handset that even your grandmother would not want.
[via AndroidandMe]
The HTC Supersonic is rumored to be Android’s first WiMAX handset and is expected to debut in the first half of 2010 with Sprint. While we wait for the Supersonic to get the official nod from HTC and Sprint, we can watch this short teaser video which shows off the bright 4.3 inch display and the plain white backside of this Android 2.1 handset. No new details on the handset are revealed but the video is still worth a look for those interested in what might be the first WiMAX smartphone offered by Sprint. Hit the jump to see the 1GHz Snapdragon-packing Supersonic in action.
[via AndroidMobileOS]
Spiderss
jig.jp co.,ltd. are a Japanese company established in May 28, 2003 and founded by Taisuke Fukuno. The Tokyo based firm claim to be the first to create a Java-based browser making it possible to view standard PC web-sites on mobile phones. Indeed, the jig browser has had over 4 million downloads. Impressive in its own right, these statistics do nothing if not remind us that there is a whole mobile community outside of Europe and North America.
jig.jp have now released an Android application that combined RSS feeds, social networking and web-browsing all into one neat little application. In their own words:
SPIDERSS combines a powerful RSS reader with a browser, making it fast and easy to access your favorite news and updates from your Social Networks, all in one place. With the Application deck, SPIDERSS receives all the usual RSS feeds plus the updates from the major Social Network websites.
There have been a number of complaints regarding the browser and its ease of use. However, the application is still in beta and according to company sources, there will be a number of updates address the communities concerns. A WinMo version is set for release sometime in the ‘near future’. You might as well try the application out because it is free; if you don’t like it, delete it with no harm done! Check out a gallery and two videos after the jump.
[Via Techcrunch]
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Android NDK 3
Over at the Android developers blog there is a new announcement detailing an upgrade to the Native Development Kit for Android. This is big news for Android developers and the third release of the Android Native Development Kit (NDK) is now available for download from the Android developer site. According to the official developers blog, ‘It can be used to target devices running Android 1.5 and higher. In addition to a few bug fixes and improvements, this release includes’ a new compiler to help generate more streamline machine code for your application (machine code is the stuff the operating system eventually executes) along with support for OpenGL ES 2.0 features.
Applications targeting Android 2.0 (API level 5) or higher can now directly access OpenGL ES 2.0 features. This brings the ability to control graphics rendering through vertex and fragment shader programs, using the GLSL shading language.
You might be wondering how the standard Android SDK (software development kit) and the NDK (native development kit) work together? The NDK is an ‘add-on’ for Android SDK which effectively allows you to compile code in a native language removing the requirement for the Java virtual machine. This is perfect for creating some serious gaming potential on Android, and we look forward to seeing what developers can come up with!
Image via Engadget
FirstView have officially launched one of the cheapest MID Android devices around. Revealed at CeBIT this year, the PC607V will come with either Android 1.4 or Windows CE. Android 1.4 makes the Codfish by Gigabyte seem cutting edge. Of course, as far as I know there is no Android 1.4 so this must be a mistake and it is hopefully running Android 1.6 and not Android 1.5. Fear not, however, as there are already whispers of an upgrade for the PC607V bringing it up to Android 2.0 or 2.1 in the near future.
There are conflicting reports on the screen size. Some websites are quoting a 10.1-inch resistive touchscreen display while others are reporting only 7-inches. If the former is correct then we might be able to expect a resolution of 1024 by 600 pixels. Other than this, the device is alleged to include a 2.5″ HDD 60GB, WiFi (b/g), Webcam, built in speakers, 2 USB ports, 1 SD slot, 1 x HDMI, 1 x VGA/RJ45, 2 headphone port (in / out), 4500 Mah battery with dimensions of 270 x 193 x 19 mm. I would imagine that this device may launch with multiple price entry points and in order to get the specs listed above you might need to shell out up to $150. Still, not bad.
Codfish
For those that were not aware that Gigabyte make anything other than motherboards, think again. Within Asia they are familiar with the mobile phone manufacturing industry and are now looking to get their hands dirty with Android. Expected for release in north America, the ‘Codfish’ is set to land with Android 1.6. Despite the clear oversight with the odd name, the bigger problem here has to be the version choice of Android. Indeed, Android 1.6 seems rather dated now compared to the bells and whistles many of us are already using with Android 2.1.
According to PointGPhone, who took the picture you see on the right, the phone is very responsive and has excellent build quality. In all honesty these type of comments smell distinctly of a reviewer who has been lucky enough to receive an exclusive on a rather dull device and is searching for nice things to say. With that said, the device does offer a 3.2-inch display and 5 megapixel camera, plonking it firmly in the mid-range bracket.
AT&T customers finally get to share in the joys of owning an Android handset! Available now online and in stores is the Motorola BACKFLIP. As a recap, the BACKFLIP includes a 3.1 inch HVGA display, quad-band GSM and tri-band 7.2Mbps HSPA connectivity, a five megapixel camera with flash and 4X zoom, aGPS, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, and MOTOBLUR running on top of Android 1.5. The BACKFLIP will set you back $99 after a $100 mail in rebate and a two year contract. If you are still on the fence, check out our hands-on video but if you are ready to take the plunge, point your browser to AT&T’s website or head on down to your local AT&T store.