Google's Nexus One Gets An Android 2.2 Froyo Update: FRF91

Google has been hard at work pushing out updates for it's Android 2.2 Froyo operating system. Earlier this week, Android 2.2 build FRF85 was released, the big update everyone Nexus One got over-the-air. Today, Google has taken it upon themselves to released yet another update, FRF91. This update also seems to be going out OTA but not everyone has been notified as of yet. All the same though, a direct link has been found from Google's site itself so it definitely is legit. Supposedly, this is just security update but no official word on it yet. If you manage to find anything, drop us a comment below!

You can download the file from the sources below:

Official Link

MGN Mirror

[How To] Install The Leaked Android 2.2 FRF72 Build for Nexus One

Looks like a new build of the Android 2.2 Froyo FRF72 for the Nexus One was leaked yesterday after being handed out to Google employees earlier this week. We managed to download the file and put it up on our site for you guys in case the official google link gets taken down. Based on the file name, the build is an incremental upgrade from the FRF50, so you have to have the FRF50 build already installed to upgrade to this new build. No one has a clear idea what the update has in store for the phone but rumors are out that Flash support was updated and some improvements were made to make the web browser operate even faster. As we find out more info, we'll update you guys as well so stay tuned by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Download the file by clicking here.

If you know what to do with it already, enjoy! If not, follow the instructions below:

1. Rename the file to update.zip. Note that if you’re using Windows, just rename it to “update” (no quotes, of course) because it’s already a zipped file.


2. Copy the update.zip file onto your microSD card.


3. With your Nexus One off, hold down the trackball and press the power button.


4. You’ll be booted into a white screen with three Android robots on skateboards. Select “Bootloader.”


5. On the next screen, select “Recovery.”


6. Your phone will reboot, giving you a picture of the Android robot and an exclamation point inside a triangle.


7. Now press the power button and volume up button at the same time. It could take a couple of tries.


8. Now (using the trackball this time) choose “Apply sdcard:update.zip” and let things run their course.


9. Scroll to the top and hit "Reboot"

Nexus One Hacked To Allow 720p HD Video

NexusOne is still one of the hottest Android OS powered smartphones out there, even though Google has not been keeping up with the updates. The developer's community over at the xda-developers forums has done a marvelous job of providing us with new features.

First Cyanogen added support for 802.11n WiFi in CyanogenMod, and now, an xda-developers forum member by the name of charnsingh_online made an announcement that he made a patch for CyanogenMod which enabled 720p video recording in the Nexus One.

To get the mod to work you’ll need to be running Cyanogen’s CM5.0.8test3 and up. This means that for the time being Froyo is not supported, but an update for 2.2 is said to be coming soon along with improved audio quality and fps rate which requires a bit more tinkering.

Cyanogen himself expressed interest in rolling this patch into his next release, so you won’t have to keep patching for too long.

Get the patch here, or here and check out the video below:

Stay tuned for more by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Google Opts Out From Selling Phones in Google Phone Store

Back in January, when Google officially unveiled the Nexus One to the world, the other big announcement along with the Google Application Store was the Google Phone Store, where they would be selling the device. The Store wasn’t meant to just sell the Nexus One, or at least that was what the original plan. Google’s ideas to sell multiple phones, to multiple carriers seemed like a great idea, until they began to run into some hurdles, which, apparently, have lead to the result of the actual selling of phones through the digital retail shop.

The CDMA version of the Nexus One seems to have fallen off the map. With Verizon opting out of the deal because of their recent launch of the HTC Incredible, and then Sprint deciding to back out from getting Nexus One as well in light of the EVO 4G’s release not even a month away, the only two version of the Nexus One available in the United States were GSM. So, not much to go on. And now, Andy Rubin of Google has officially announced that, starting now, the Nexus One will start being sold in retail stores around the world. And that means it’s going to not be sold in the Google Phone Store.

Google also announced that the Phone Store will now just be a “window to showcase a variety of Android phones available globally.” Though, this does mean the Nexus One will start selling in retail stores, so that may be good news to some people out there.

[via Google's Official Blog]

Google Nexus One Car Dock

Back in December there were reports of a Google Nexus One Car Dock. It was then spotted clearing the FCC at the end of the year, complete with some sort of Bluetooth functionality.

The Nexus One Car Dock features a suction cup on one end, a swiveling Metal Rod that moves in any direction connected to it, with a “frame” on the other end to which the Nexus One “snaps” in.

The car dock uses bluetooth to communicate with the Nexus One and automatically establishes a connection when the phone is inserted. The Car Home application is then launched which allows the user easy access to Maps and Navigation, Contacts, and Voice Search. Built-in speakers provide music playback and calls using the speakerphone
The Nexus One Car Dock is now available for $55 at the Google phone store.

iPad vs iPhone 3GS vs Nexus One; Browser Speed Test

AnandTech recently benchmarked the iPhone 3GS, the iPad, and the Google Nexus One devices to one another and found out that the iPad is usually faster than the Nexus One, but the Nexus One also routinely beats the iPhone 3GS by a significant amount. Other tests show that the iPad is twice as fast the iPhone 3GS. All of these tests that were run were browser tests, which make them a fairly narrow focus, but the company did promise more thorough test results soon. All three devices use a mobile Webkit variant and don’t yet officially support Flash and were on the same WiFi connection. Here is what we gathered from the results:

Between the two devices of the same class (smartphones) the Nexus One and the iPhone 3GS, the fight isn’t even close. The Nexus One leaves the iPhone in the dust when it comes to browsing speed and it also has almost three times the pixels to render (320x480 vs. 480x800.) Clearly, Apple will be releasing a new iPhone in three months with a faster processor, that will probably 1-up the competition, but in the meantime, the Nexus One is the browsing champ.

HTC, the company that builds the Nexus One (and the same company Apple is suing over patents), has a few more phones coming out with the same 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon inside the Nexus One. The HTC HD2 (which runs on Windows Mobile) and more importantly, Sprint’s Evo 4G, which also runs Android and is expected to be released around the same time of the summer as the iPhone.

As for the iPad, we expected it to beat both phones due to its larger size, which would translate to a better battery and faster components and as expected, it did. To compare the iPad to the phones seems a bit unfair since the phones are less than a third of the size. Comparing the iPad to the JooJoo or other Intel based MID’s would have been a little bit more informative and interesting. That being said, there was something still interesting about the speed of the iPad. It was learned yesterday that the ipad uses the same ARM Cortex A8-level processor as the iPhone 3GS (Running at 1GHz vs. iPhone 3GS’s 600 MHz) with the same PowerVR graphics processing. Interestingly enough, Google’s Nexus One has an ARM Cortex A8 class (Scorpion) processor as well. But it doesn’t have nearly the graphics horsepower as the two Apple products. It uses an older ATI chipset vs. Apple’s PowerVR chipsets from Imagination Tech.

Figuring that most of the other things are equal, we can sort of conclude that a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon with ATI graphics performs about as well as a 800 MHz Apple A4 cihp with PowerVR, give or take. That means if Apple wanted to take the browsing speed crown away from Google/HTC, it will have to run a processor that is faster than the ARM Cortex A8 processor at 800 MHz, which doesn’t seem hard, in fact, we’d expect Apple to come out with an iPad-specced iPhone processor. But even if Apple does do that, it won’t last too long as the speed champ. The successor to the Snapdragon, the QSD8x50A is clocked at 1.3 GHz with 30% less power consumption and is due in the second half of 2010. That should line up well with the iPad’s speed, if it doesn’t surpass it that is.

That means Google phones will be going as fast as Apple’s iPad and the next generation of the iPhone by the end of this year. Apple should consider moving to bi-yearly updates of its mobile units to compete.

Is HTC Incredible Coming To Verizon?

Its no secret that the HTC Incredible was headed to Verizon Wireless at some point. But the question still remains when, but one thing we are certain of is that the time is getting closer. Looks like Verizon is getting a new addition to its DROID line because references to the next great Android smartphone to hit up the Big Red, is the HTC Incredible, have been found within a CelleBrite, a tool used by employees for transferring user info from one handset to another. As usual when a device shows up in a CelleBrite it means that its release is very soon, although in the past there have been some noticeable exceptions.

 

Hopefully Verizon gets this device out quickly, come this summer they will have competition of the new iPhone and the EVO 4G. The above screenshot shows that the Incredible is now in the Verizon Wireless inventory system. The top SKU of ARD6300DU is for the launch kit which is sent to the stores for display units and pamphlets with information about the device. The second SKU ARD6300VW is the actual HTC Incredible SKU. There are also rumors that the Nexus One is no where to be found in the wireless phone company inventory system. We all know it is coming, but it may not be as soon as most of us had hoped.

HTC Legend Vs HTC Desire Vs Google Nexus One

 

With the market flooded with Android cell phones how do you decided which one is best for you, I am sure most of you are huge Android platform fans. There is so much that can be done with that locked OS. This open-source helps to breed new modifications as anyone and everyone who can rip the coding apart to find bugs and create new enhancements.

We have been keeping our eyes on the newest devices out there and reading a lot of everyone's comments and informations on these devices. Android cell phone is the next big thing. In our usual perusing of the web for mobile news, we found this hands-on comparison of three of the top devices out in the market running this great OS. Now while it would have been nice to see Droid thrown in there for good measure, this is definitely worth the read. Afterwards, I'd like to get user responses from those who own any of these devices and see if the author's review is spot on.

The days when the T-Mobile G1 was the bad boy in the Android world has happily come and gone. Now, the Android OS is being used to create some truly industry leading handsets and HTC is behind some of the best. But yet again which one would you spend your hard earned money on? Here is a review on the three great devices.

The HTC Legend:

The HTC Legend, successor to the company's widely-loved Hero, was made official at Mobile World Congress 2010. A little smaller than the Hero, the Legend has a 3.2-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with multitouch support, dualband UMTS/HSPA (900/1800) and a frame milled from a single block of aluminum. In fact the Legend is an example of HTC's Hidden Power design ethos, a concept whereby good looks are delivered through slick functionality; in this case, the aluminum is not only the shell but the chassis, meaning HTC can make their devices a whole lot smaller.

The HTC Desire:

HTC Desire delivers intense brilliance, sharp contrast, and true colors on the expansive 3.7-inch AMOLED display. The 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor makes the phone incredibly responsive as you multitask from app to app without skipping a beat, while the instinctive HTC Sense experience lets you wield the power of the HTC Desire with the greatest of ease. The HTC Desire excels at helping you stay in touch with the different circles of friends or colleagues in your life. The new People widget lets you bring any group you create on your phone right to the surface for easy access to calling, messaging, emailing or simply checking up on social networking updates.

Google Nexus One:

The Nexus One is packed with its own tricks. Its version of Android is essentially the same improved edition as the one that appeared on the Motorola Droid back in November. But it has a few new features, including an experimental dictation capability. You just press a microphone icon on the keyboard and start talking, and the words appear. In my tests, this worked only adequately at best, and very poorly at worst, but Google insists it will learn and improve.

The phone also has handsome new visual features, including "live wallpaper," with waving grass or pulsing colored lines; and a new zooming effect when you want to view icons that aren't on your main screens. In addition, you can now view miniatures of your five main screens to help you navigate to the one you want. The Nexus One also has all the key software features introduced in the Droid, including free turn-by-turn voice-prompted navigation.

Flash 10.1 demoed on Google Nexus One; Android fans await

 

The battle between Flash 10.1 and HTML5 is a hot topic right now, given the imminent arrival of the Flash-free iPad, and Adobe is doing its best to point out that aren’t quite out of the game yet as some analysts, and rumors would have you believe. Adobe has found an ally in Google which has just announced that the Chrome browser and more importantly the Chrome OS will not merely support but natively integrate Flash technology.

Flash integration with Google Nexus One was debut at the MWC 2010, since then a lot of work has been out in to perfecting it for its big release. As the wait continues we have more video proof from different sources that it does work PERFECTLY on Android driven Nexus One, see below:

As per the rep “it’s not fully hardware accelerated, so that means you won’t get the same frame-rates and you don’t get the power saving.” Not only does this demo signal that Flash 10.1 works, and works well on the Nexus One, but this is just one step closer to the inevitable release. Of course, a date has not been set, besides the usual ‘first half of 2010′ that we’ve heard before. But Flash for Android looks closer than ever, and while it looks nice on the Nexus One, who knows how the playback will be on "low-end" Android cell phones.

HTC Desire "Black Edition" Coming Soon to Orange in UK

HTC Desire also called the Google Nexus One look-a-like smartphone was unveiled during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. TC Mobile a Taiwanese wireless cell phone manufacturer that has been making a splash with the introduction of interesting new Smartphones in the past few years. HTC is known for its remarkable technical specifications such as HTC Desire. It’s slim-line designed is equipped with a fast 1Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and a large, 3.7-inch format display.

The display remarkable in terms of format; the screen is a multi-touch AMOLED-type screen, so that the color saturation and contrast are immediately noticeable. There has only been two colors displayed a light grey and a white but now there is confirmation that a Black Edition Desire is available. Word from Conor Maples, Orange UK's PR guru, says that the operator will stock not only the standard-issue gunmetal Desire, but also the special Black Edition, which will be exclusive to Orange in the UK. The more familiar model will be on carrier's shelves some time early next month, with the darker, edgier Desire making an entry later next month.

Verizon Rumored To Get Nexus One Next Week?

 

As you all Know Verizon Nexus One was set to launch on March 23^rd but has yet to be released. This may surely be a fake but if not then the Verizon Nexus One should be in Verizon stores next week. This is a screenshot of a leaked document by Google's online store, which is said to have briefly displayed the Verizon option for Nexus One handsets as available to buy for $199 plus whatever else comes in your contract.

This is all unverified, but rumor has it that an"inside" source of Verizon is reporting that Verizon-carried, Sense-less Nexus Ones will be out and about "by the end of next week." If rumors are to be believed, it looks like Google is aiming to bring the Nexus One to Verizon with a few surprises in store for future customers. According to James Kendrick - Verizon Nexus One will definitely show up in April, which schedules with the Spring timeframe that was already given, but there is also word about a "surprise" that other US carriers lack. Whether that refers to Sense-related enhancements or some other software optimizations, we'll have to just wait and see.

The launch date was set for March 23 which has passed us by as we have said before this may all be rumors but soon enough these devices will hit the market.

If rumors are to be believed, it looks like Google is aiming to bring the Nexus One to Verizon with a few surprises in store for future customers. What surprises? We have no idea. According to JKOntheRun, the version for Verizon Wireless will be seeing some extra features that the other versions (which we imagine includes the Sprint model as well, but there might be some reason to speculate on that) don’t have.

HTC Evo 4G, Nexus One, and Droid - Android Evolution

HTC Evo 4G

Google Nexus One

Motorola Droid

Android OS	2.1 with Sense UI	2.1	2.01
Carrier	Sprint	All2	Verizon Wireless
Network technology	1x / EV-DO Rev. A / WiMAX	Various (including 3G)	1x / EV-DO Rev. A
Processor	1GHz Snapdragon	1GHz Snapdragon	550MHz TI OMAP 3430
RAM	512MB	512MB	256MB
Screen size	4.3-inch	3.7-inch	3.7-inch
Resolution	800 x 480	800 x 480	854 x 480
Touch	Capacitive multitouch	Capacitive multitouch	Capacitive multitouch
Physical keyboard	--	--	Slide-out landscape QWERTY
Internal storage	1GB	512MB	512MB
Expandable storage	microSD	microSD	microSD
Rear camera	8MP w/ LED flash	5MP w/ LED flash	5MP w/ LED flash
Video recording	1280 x 720	720 x 480	720 x 480
Front camera	1.3MP	--	--
Battery	1500mAh	1400mAh	1400mAh
WiFi	802.11b/g	802.11b/g	802.11b/g
HDMI out	Yes	--	--
Kickstand	Yes	--	--

Android phones are making a name for themselves and are gaining popularity at a very quick pace. There are many Android based handsets in the market now but the frontrunners that have been the talk of the town are the Motorola Droid, Google Nexus One, and HTC Evo. Giving Apple a run for it's money, the Android OS seems like it'll be one of the main competitors to the revolutionizing iPhone OS. The Android Marketplace shows that apps are increasing much quicker then expected for the new mobile OS.

Nexus One

Google’s current “flagship” Android device received an enormous amount of attention in the time leading up to its release. It has a bright 3.7″ AMOLED capacitive 800×480 display, a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 512MB of RAM, world-wide 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash among other things, into a tight and slim 11.5mm package. The Nexus One runs on Android 2.1, which has yet to be rolled out some of the other android powered phones. Recent news has it that the Nexus One is headed to Sprint and Verizon is already available to AT&T and T-Mobile users.

Motorola Droid

The Droid was one of the first Android OS using phones released in the market and at the time proved that Motorola could compete in the new age of smart phones. With a 3.7'' screen, 256MB Ram, a sleek slide-out QWERTY keyboard, it was easily one of Verizon's top phones but has recently been knocked down off its throne by the Nexus One which simply has more to offer.

HTC Evo 4G

The Evo 4G one-ups almost every other handset in the Android platform with a feature set that includes a 4.3 inch touchscreen, 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, dual 3G/4G WiMAX connectivity, forward-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, rear-facing 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus and 720p HD video recording, HDMI out, built-in mobile hotspot functionality, custom web browser with Flash support, YouTube HQ support, and Android 2.1 with Sense UI. It was announced officially by Sprint at CTIA 2010 and starting this summer, the HTC Evo 4G will be available from all Sprint channels and third party retailers including Walmart, Best Buy, and Radio Shack.

Final Thoughts

While the Droid started the Android OS and gave it the good name it started with, the Nexus One took it to the next level. Furthermore, Sprint's announcement at CTIA 2010 about the HTC Evo has had a very strong impact on the wireless industry and it turned Sprint from being a company with a middle of the line phone line-up and average ratings to having a substantial lead in the industry along with the 4G technology they plan on introducing in the coming months. While other networks have announced their plans for the future of wireless technology, Sprint is leading the way with HTC Evo as it's main product set to release in the summer. The phone has one of the best specs announced to this day for smart phones and is running the Android, which will cause the Android OS to gain even more popularity. Expect to see an even higher percentage of Android OS users and along with it, more Android apps in the Android Marketplace.

Supersonic Phone Dubbed HTC Evo; First 4G In US

 

Sprint dropped a bombshell on day 2 of CTIA event, by unveiling the most powerful Android powered smartphone, the WiMAX-powered EVO 4G. The HTC EVO 4G is extremely similar to the HTC HD2. Both share the same dazzling 4.3-inch touch screen and basic size. The EVO 4G is slightly thicker and has a rounder back. Less metal is used and more plastic is in its place. The HD2 feels of higher quality, but the EVO 4G is not that far off in that respect.

The phone features:

• Android 2.1 on a 1-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8650 chipset.
• 1GB of built-in memory and 512MB of RAM, which is assisted by a MicroSD slot supporting up to 32GB cards.
• It swaps between EVDO Rev. A, WiMAX and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g on demand.
• The phone is dominated by a 4.3-inch, 800-by-480 65,000-color TFT LCD capacitive touch screen.
• There's an 8-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3-megapixel unit on the front.
• The camera also records and streams 720p, high-def video, which it can play through an HDMI out port at the bottom. And it even has a kickstand for full enjoyment of the HD video.
• The Evo 4G weighs 170g and measures 120.5 mm by 67 mm by 13 mm.

The form factor of the phone is not what's most impressive on this device. The software really sets it apart. Because it is powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, it absolutely flies. In fact, say it is the fastest Android handset ever. It has the newest version of HTC's Sense UI concept on board, which features a friend stream, improved widgets and other nifty features. Widgets provide easy access to social media content, bookmarks, and other phone resources. You can update your “status” on several social media sites using HTC’s social widget. The EVO is a “with Google” phone and supports Exchange, Gmail, POP, and IMAP email accounts — although you can only have one Exchange account configured to the phone. We prefer having support for multiple Exchange accounts, but for most users this won’t be the end of the world.

The announcement of the EVO, in combination with the recent addition of the Nexus One to their network, also puts Sprint in an unusual position of hardware leadership. In just a few weeks they've gone from a middling smartphone line-up to having arguably the two best Android phones on the market. EVO 4G is expected to hit the market this summer.

Verizon Prepares For HTC Incredible While Sprint Gets Nexus One

Google is looking at a few solid months ahead with some high profile Android releases coming up. This goes to show that Apple’s lawsuits won’t keep them from progressing in their line of work. Leading the way in the upcoming Android releases is the HTC Incredible, which is confirmed to arrive at Verizon Wireless stores in two weeks. Alongside with this news, Verizon just began a test deployment of Android 2.1 to the Motorola Droid smart phones, the same OS that is going to power the Incredible.

The Android 2.1 was announced a while back and even includes some features that weren't expected. The features include: improved pinch-to-zoom in the browser, better voice-to-text-support, animated wallpapers, and tweaks to Google Maps. The Droid originally launched with Android 2.0 last November and in December received a minor bump to Android 2.0.1 via an over-the-air update.

The Verizon-carried HTC Incredible could really hit it off for the Android market as it brings some of the best stats on an Android handset to this day. The phone will have a 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD 8250 Snapdragon ARM CPU and 512 MB of DRAM, just like the Nexus One. Unlike the Nexus One though, the CPU will be underclocked to 768 MHz. It may seem like a bad thing at first, but it should be enough to handle most apps, while providing longer talk times than the Nexus One. The phone also comes with an 8-megapixel camera with a noticeably larger lens, much better than the Nexus One. The camera on the phone makes it a little thicker than the Nexus one, measuring in at 117.5 x 58.5 x 11.9 mm. It is rumored to come with 6 GB of flash (much more sizeable than the Nexus One’s 512 MB), a microSD expansion slot, and an FM tuner, with a 1300 mAh battery.

Verizon’s decision to carry the new HTC Incredible could lead into the Nexus One being supported by the carrier as well not too far off. Sprint, on the other hand is racing to deploy the Nexus One on its 3G network. It is currently available on the T-Mobile and AT&T networks, direct from Google. Sprint mentioned announce official release dates and pricing in the near future. Fared Adib, the vice president of product development for Sprint has mentioned:

“Nexus One is a powerful device that belongs on a powerful network. This is another step in our continued partnership of innovation with Google. Sprint customers already have the option of two amazing Android devices with Samsung Moment ™ and HTC Hero ™. It is a natural fit for us to add Nexus One to the list of choices available for Sprint customers who want the best value in wireless with the best in Android.”

He added:

“While a pricing plan has not yet been determined for Nexus One, we are confident that it will be consistent with Sprint’s commitment to deliver more value than our competitors and keep pricing simple. Right now, our Sprint Everything Data 450 plan with Any Mobile, Anytime(SM) gives customers unlimited calling with any mobile phone in America, unlimited text and unlimited Web for just $69.99 per month – the same price AT&T and Verizon charge for just unlimited talk. Our Everything Data plans include unlimited GPS Navigation at no extra charge and annual phone upgrades with Sprint Premier.”

It looks like the major U.S networks besides AT&T have largely given up on the Apple iPhone and are aggressively moving towards deploying the new upcoming Android headsets. The Apple’s next iPhone, set to release this summer, could see a substantial challenge from the Android market and the recently announced Windows Phone 7 Series market.