Htc And Android -- Engadget Mobile

htc,android posts

HTC Hero / Eris mega faceoff on video

by Paul Miller posted Nov 6th 2009 @ 5:45PM

Now that we've got the DROID ERIS in the mix, we're up to our ears in HTC Hero-derivative devices. We decided to sit the whole crew (GSM, Sprint and Verizon editions) down for a little modeling session, and we're finding ourselves reticent to pick a favorite. There are really plusses and minuses to each of them, but any way you lean it's a pretty good handset with some perhaps overly bulky software, a wonderful pricepoint (on Verizon, anyway) and probably a limited time in the sun with upcoming Android 2.0 devices, faster processors and wild new screens rolling on in. Check the video out after the break and you can make up your own mind.

Continue reading HTC Hero / Eris mega faceoff on video

DROID and DROID Eris now cash sentient on Verizon

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 6th 2009 @ 1:01AM

After weeks of buildup the day is here: the DROID (and his little HTC buddy, the DROID Eris) is now for sale on Verizon's website. As expected Motorola's new flagship will set you back $200 after $100 online discount and two-year commitment while his underhyped Eris little bro is a penny shy of $100 after the same discount and contractual prostration. If you're looking to shed your contractual duties then you can hand over $560 in non-Android green for the option of going month-to-month.

[Via Gearlog, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read -- Motorola DROID
Read -- HTC DROID Eris

DROID ERIS hands-on and unboxing!

by Paul Miller posted Nov 5th 2009 @ 10:03AM

Hey look, it's a Hero! We've got the brand new DROID ERIS for Verizon in hand, and it's not hard to see which particular family of phones it hails from. Still, Verizon has its own twist on the form factor, almost scoring a compromise between the "shiny" Sprint Hero and the more angular, matte GSM Hero. Confusingly, the capacitive touch buttons along the bottom of the ERIS' screen are a haphazard twist on the DROID's arrangement (though it's really Motorola that's the non-standard one here), but the phones don't look completely unrelated. In all the rounded, black matte body of the ERIS sort of "fades away" and you're just left with a nice, bright LCD -- it's not making a statement, which is sort of the statement. There's also an iPhone-style face proximity sensor for turning off the display during calls, and HTC has multitouch pinch-to-zoom on here, something Motorola hasn't seemed to manage. Sure it can't stack up to the DROID for aggressiveness or sheer specs, but it's got it's own sort of budget-friendly charm that's not overshadowed by the DROID's bombastic ways, and two out of three Engadget editors agree that the HTC keyboard beats the pants off the stock Android keyboard.

Gallery: DROID ERIS hands-on and unboxing!

Verizon's DROID ERIS by HTC does Android and keeps it cheap

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 5th 2009 @ 8:45AM

Verizon is making no secret about which Android device it wants to make waves this week -- that'd be the DROID from Motorola -- but there's another model that'll be available the same day with one-tenth the fanfare: HTC's DROID ERIS. Codenamed Desire ahead of launch, the phone is essentially Verizon's custom remix of the venerable Hero as found on Sprint and various GSM carriers around the world, featuring a 5 megapixel camera, 3.2-inch capacitive display, WiFi, 3.5mm headphone jack, and microSD expansion up to 16GB. Check it out in your local store hiding somewhere in the shadow of the DROID starting Friday for $99.99 on contract after a $100 mail-in rebate, which -- if you can forgo a physical keyboard, faster processor, and high-res display -- works out to a cool hundred less than Moto's entry.

Sprint marketing exec talks Android, WiMAX, WinMo 7, and more

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 3rd 2009 @ 6:13AM

Sprint's vice president of consumer marketing David Owens sat down with the community at large last week to answer a few burning questions about Sprint's current and future lineup, and there were a few juicy tidbits, reaffirmations, and rumor confirmations that came out of it worth mentioning:

There will be a WiFi-enabled Tour (the phone we know as the Essex) along with other WiFi BlackBerrys in the future.
Sprint's 2010 HTC lineup is said to be "robust" with a number of additional Android-powered models in the pipe.
WiMAX phones are apparently on track for 2010, which would put them head-to-head with MetroPCS' goal of a Samsung handset for its new LTE network next year.
Windows Mobile 7 phones are "planned for 2010" but the ball is in Microsoft's court to deliver on the software.
He mentions that upgrades to Android 1.6 and 2.0 (presumably for the Hero and Moment, both of which are currently running 1.5) would likely not be over-the-air due to their size -- this sounds bogus considering that T-Mobile has had no problem going from 1.0 all the way up to 1.6 on the G1, but we'll need to see how this shakes out.

So here's what we want based on what we're hearing in the conversation: an HTC-sourced WiMAX Android phone with the Moment's AMOLED display. Doable?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Android 2.0 ported to original T-Mobile G1 (video)

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 30th 2009 @ 5:39AM

Did you hear? Google's got this little OS called Android that has reached the ripe, mature age of 2-point-Oh. With the giant eclair now sitting on Google's front lawn and the SDK out in the wilds, what was poor Akira Harada to do with all that code knowing that the Motorola Droid was still days away from shipping? Port it to the original Android device, the T-Mobile G1 / HTC Dream, naturally. It's a rough port, not even close to being optimized but it should whet your appetites for all those official updates and delicious home-cooked ROMs we expect to be arriving in the hallowed halls of the XDA forums in the days ahead. See it after the break... roll it!

Continue reading Android 2.0 ported to original T-Mobile G1 (video)

HTC Droid Eris peeks its head out once more, shows off 5MP camera

by Darren Murph posted Oct 29th 2009 @ 2:24PM

Hey, HTC -- we're onto you. We know you're a little upset that the lower-end Droid Eris isn't getting much attention now that the DROID is all over Verizon's marketing agenda, but it's not like we don't feel your pain. For those interested in spending a full Benjamin less on their next Android handset (on Big Red, anyway), the Droid Eris looks to offer that very solution, and now a few more sneak peeks have shown that a 5 megapixel camera (with a video record mode) is gracing the rear. We're also told that WiFi will be onboard (right, VZW?), and a bundle of joy will also be thrown in after mail-in rebate. Whatever that means.

Read - Boy Genius Report
Read - phoneArena

HTC CEO says he could but won't make HD2 an Android phone, has to take care of Windows Mobile

by Paul Miller posted Oct 29th 2009 @ 11:41AM

In an interview given to Forbes, HTC CEO Peter Chou spoke pretty candidly about the widespread desire for an Android version of the HD2, and says the phone won't be finagled thusly. "Technically, we could make the HD2 an Android phone, but I have to take care of Windows Mobile," said Chou, after which we imagine popped in a stick of Juicy Fruit and didn't offer to share any with the rest of the class. Of course, this doesn't rule out a handset with similar specifications to the HD2, like the Dragon, matching DROID's push toward Android 2.0 and modern hardware, but it seems to imply that at least it won't be called "HD2," and probably won't look much like it either. Chou did admit that Windows Mobile innovation has been "a little slow" and that interest is declining, and says HTC is "working hard on these kinds of products to get excitement about Windows Mobile back." He didn't hold back on Google, however, saying that some of its actions can be "destructive" but that "we've worked with Microsoft for 13 years ... I also believe we can work with Google for a long time."

[Via SlashGear]

HTC confirmed to be cooking up Android 2.0 update for Hero, other devices unclear

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 28th 2009 @ 7:19PM

Anyone with an existing Android device and a nasty case of DROID envy today might want to hold off before switching devices, emptying the bank account, and possibly switching carriers in the process, because HTC's got a little bit of information here to end our day on a high note. Here's the full quote:

"Yes, we are working on an Eclair update for the HTC Hero. Because Eclair is a significantly enhanced release, it will require some time to update Sense for this new version of the Android OS. Please be patient while we work to provide you with a tightly integrated experience like the one you are already enjoying on your Hero."

Bottom line, the Hero is signed up for Android 2.0 and it's just a matter of HTC getting Sense ported and tested -- makes sense (no pun intended), and we imagine Motorola will have to go through these same hoops with BLUR. The company went on to mention that it intends to bring the update to all versions of the Hero, though it's up to partners (like Sprint, for instance) to help coordinate how and when that's going to go down. We don't have any information on the sundry Dream and Magic variants around the world at this point -- but it's important to remember that the Hero uses the same processor as its older siblings, so at least there's hope for a good xda-developers port if nothing else.

HTC Droid Eris priced at $99 for Verizon?

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 28th 2009 @ 3:37PM

Sure, the DROID's getting all the attention today, but you might recall that it's not the only thing Verizon has in the pipe has it preps its first Android assault -- HTC's got the Droid Eris in there somewhere, too, which is shaping up to be little more than a branded Hero in a slightly different shell. Against the insanely-spec'd DROID, that may not be a drool-worthy proposition, but fortunately, it's looking like Verizon is going to be pursuing an aggressive tiered pricing strategy that might allow these phones to coexist in peace and everlasting harmony: unlike the DROID's $199 sticker, gdgt has it on good authority that the Droid Eris will run a hundie less at $99. That spanks Sprint's version which currently runs $179.99, but hey, if this means we're going to see a price war down in the 528MHz trenches for the Android midrange, we're all for it.

[Image via AndroidGuys]

Droid Eris turns up in Verizon training course

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 27th 2009 @ 6:31PM

Again, we have no idea why Verizon is burying the launch of the HTC Droid Eris alongside the Motorola Droid tomorrow (well, apart from the slow CPU and older Android build) but if you had any doubts that Big Red was going to launch this riff on the Hero, well, these screenshots of the employee training course should put those to rest. Interestingly, the buttons and logo placement are slightly different from the pic that was leaked to gdgt, but this version certainly looks like what Eric Schmidt was holding the other day, so we're thinking this is the final iteration. We'll see what's what tomorrow, we suppose.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

HTC confirms it has Android 2.0 handsets in the works

by Paul Miller posted Oct 26th 2009 @ 7:18PM

Of course nobody expects Motorola and Verizon to be the sole benefactors of Android 2.0's Donut-ey goodness in the long run, but in an age of increasing Android ubiquity it seemed odd to see them as the only ones with a more-or-less-confirmed Android 2.0 handset on the way. Well, Sascha Segan over at Gearlog did some digging and while Samsung wouldn't confirm any Android 2.0 work, HTC was forthcoming in saying that it's had Android 2.0 around for a while, and is working on it for future phones. Perhaps the HTC Desire (dubbed Droid Eris) or the Passion will be one of those phones? It would be odd to see Verizon introduce a 2.0 handset from Motorola and only 1.5 or 1.6 handsets from HTC, but we'll just have to see how it all goes down next month -- Motorola sure seems buddy buddy with Google on this one. But if Dell could track down a copy, we don't see how far behind HTC could be on this one.

[Via SlashGear]

Sense UI update for HTC Magic makes the scene in Taiwan

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 26th 2009 @ 5:04PM

If our ability to guesstimate Chinese website contents based on sketchy machine translation software is correct, it looks like HTC Magic owners in Taiwan are finally getting that Sense UI update they've been teased with since mid-August. Further blurring the lines between the aforementioned handset and the Hero, it is unknown whether or not the update will ever come to carriers besides Chunghwa Telecom, or how long that could even take. One thing we are fairly certain of, however, is that phones "with Google" will probably remain without this update, into perpetuity. Sorry, myTouch! If you're one of the lucky few, hit that read link to get started.

[Via Unwired View]

HTC Dragon coming to Verizon as the Passion?

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 26th 2009 @ 12:21PM

We've been hearing about a 1GHz Snapdragon-based Android handset called the HTC Dragon ever since the HD2 came out, but now it looks like some pieces are falling into place -- apparently this mystery HTC set we spotted over the weekend is a CDMA version of the Dragon headed for Verizon as the HTC Passion sometime in Q4. Apparently Verizon's trying to unify the hardware UI of its Droid lineup, which is why the Motorola Droid, the HTC Droid Eris, and the Passion share a set of buttons along the bottom edge of the screen, and some people are also claiming that the white notification bar is further sign of similarity. As for us, well, we'll wait to hear more before we start to get too excited -- and we can't help but wonder if this thing will run Sense or stock Android 2.0 when it hits, as HTC's big new ad push is all about personalization. Still, it's looking like a hell of a year for Android (and Verizon), no?

Verizon's Droid is a series, not just a phone; Droid Eris coming from HTC

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 23rd 2009 @ 7:41PM

We just got some wild information from a trusted source about Verizon's Android strategy, and let's just say this shakes things up a little bit. Here are the big takeaways:

Droid is the brand name being applied to Verizon's Android devices. It isn't a single phone.
The Sholes -- the phone we've been calling the Droid so far -- may simply be known as the Droid.
HTC's Desire will be coming to market as the "Droid Eris." (Allow us to save you the Wikipedia lookup -- Eris is the Greek goddess of strife.) Interestingly, it's already up on gdgt as such.
Droid Eris will be released -- not announced, actually released -- on November 6. In all likelihood, it will not be announced or shown at Verizon's October 28 event -- that will probably just be for the Sholes.

That's all we've got so far, but it's a heck of a change in plans, isn't it? It's interesting that Verizon will be applying a sub-brand to its Android line -- and a pretty solid sign that Big Red's got a serious commitment to the platform going forward.