+101 - Vote for the best Android Apps

Click here to go to HTC’s site, but we should warm you, it’s not a painless upgrade!

Basically, on upgrade you’ll lose all your data! All text messages, picture messages, emails, etc.

Not a very well thought out upgrade… But if you want the sat nav, pinch zoom, etc, you’re going to have to go through the painful process.

It doesn’t wipe your SD card, but we reckon it’s wise to remove that anyway. Just in case…

The iPhone’s “positive points” column just got another tick…

Google have announced today that they’re releasing an Android 2.2(Android Froyo) for phones with Flash support, web-synced apps and music, and faster performance. Google claims Android 2.2’s browser is the fastest mobile browser around, with 2x-5x faster browsing speeds. due in large part to its new JavaScript compiling engine. They also claim faster frame rates for gaming and other speed improvements around the system. 2.2 will also carry Flash 10.1 which we have been expecting. This will be an interesting development for gaming and interactive apps. Also features like moving apps to your SD card, searching inside apps and updating all apps simultaneously.

Google have also added Exchange capabilities such as account auto-discovery and calendar sync. Device policy management APIs allow developers to write applications that can control security features of the device such as the remote wipe, minimum password, lockscreen timeout etc.

Watch this Space….

According to Reuters, Google’s Android has over taken Apple’s iPhone as the second most popular provider of smartphone software in the USA during the first quarter!

It’s a good sign of the increasing competition in the ever growing mobile market.

Android accounted for around 28 percent of the unit sales, and whilst there are lots of promises from Steve Jobs about new iPhone technology to come, could it just be more iHype?

According to ComScore, Google Android is continuing to gain market share in the US whilst Palm and Microsoft look to be losing ground yet again over the past 90 days.

Android went up 5.2% to hold a 9% share of the market whilst Windows mobile fell to 15.11% and WebOS fell to 5.4%.

Whilst Apple still hold 25.4% of the market with their iPhone brand, this figure has dropped slightly in the last quarter, whilst Blackberry (Research in Motion) gained 1.3% to 42.1%, still a commanding lead.

So what can we expect in the next quarter?  Android continues to develop and the variety of phones available are growing all the time.  Can Apple match that rate of progress?  Whilst BlackBerry still maintain a healthy lead due to business use, will companies start to test out the Android platform as a realistic alternative?  They haven’t with the iPhone, but Apple never marketed their platform for that market whereas the Android system has far more flexible software, hardware and development platforms.

Watch this space for the figures from the next 90 days where we’ll have a look internationally at how things are moving.

The LG InTouch Max (also known as the LG GW620, the LG Eve, and the LG Etna), is the first Android powered handset from LG.

Similar to the popular T-Mobile G1, the T-Mobile InTouch Max also features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard designed to help users easily and quickly type up text messages, emails and other data input.

The LG InTouch Max also features a 3-inch touchscreen display, a 5 mega-pixel camera (with LED flash, video playback, and auto-focus), and the usual Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, and Micro USB data connectivity.

Other notable features of the LG InTouch Max include a threaded text message system where each text is grouped by sender and displayed like a message board for easy-to-follow reading. The Android phone also includes a 3D gallery for quick photo viewing and sorting. The 3D gallery enables users to quickly find and tag their favourite photos, or by using the filter tool to sort snaps by tags, facial recognition or by the date.

The LG GW620 has been designed specially for social networking, with its QWERTY keyboard making updating, editing and managing social network profiles effortless, the GW620 enables users to easily connect and manage their Facebook, MySpace and other social profiles from any location.

What makes Google’s new phone intriguing – from a business perspective – is the possibility that Google could sell the phone directly to consumers without a contractual relationship to a phone service provider. This would have at least two effects. First, it would probably mean the phone would cost a bit more than the subsidized $200 consumers are forking over for the iPhone 3GS or the latest Google phone, the Droid in the US.

Second, it would mean that consumers could use the phone on any service that uses GSM technology — that is, runs with a SIM (subscriber identity module) card. Instead of being locked into a network for service, for example, consumers could take their newly purchased technology where they pleased, taking advantages of typically shorter or nonexistent contracts that companies offer when shoppers bring their own phone to the deal.

The Nexus One could add Google’s powerful imprimatur to an already budding movement to free customers from long contracts in exchange for higher upfront prices on mobile hardware.

Unlocked phones of varying quality are widely available online. But what Google brings to the table is significant advertising power, brand cachet, and a product potentially enticing enough to hammer open mobile providers’ “iron clad” control over what gadgets their customers can wield.

The challenge will be whether Google can reap enough money from mobile advertising to price the phone competitively.

In this vein, the Nexus One could be hindered by the success of other Android products.

How many people can be convinced that (the Nexus One) for $200 is better than the Android phone that is free or next to free directly from the networks????? In the UK there is no question that this will be a powerful option for the mobile market with options like  SIM only contracts adding more value to the mix.

Only time will tell!!!!

T-mobile US reported last week that T-Mobile will be the network powering Google’s new phone, which is apparently going to make its debut on Jan. 5.

A T-Mobile USA support page found by the blog says Google will sell the new Android-based device directly via the Web, confirming the story that emerged a few weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal. Bellevue-based T-Mobile will handle billing and rate plans for the device.

Manufacturing the new Google phone will be HTC, the Taiwanese phone maker with U.S. headquarters in Bellevue and its software lab in Pioneer Square.

The trio introduced Google’s first Android phone, the HTC-manufactured G1, in September 2008.

Google also scheduled an announcement at its headquarters on Jan. 5, the day before the Consumer Electronics Show begins in Las Vegas.

The HTC-built and (soon to be) Google-sold device runs Android 2.1 atop a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, a 3.7-inch, 480 x 800 display, has 512MB of ROM, 512MB of RAM, and a 4GB microSD card (expandable to 32GB). The phone is a T-Mobile device (meaning no 3G if you want to take it to AT&T), and includes the standard modern additions of a light sensor, proximity sensor, and accelerometer. The Nexus One has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA™ X10 introduces an open and integrated world of social media, communication and entertainment

HTC have released a new commercial as part of their You campaign:

While we get on with getting our list up to date, here’s something from Techcrunch – every Android phone released and upcoming to the market:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/19/android-galore-a-complete-list-of-the-android-phones-and-their-specs-droid-best/

According to the reviewer the new Motorola Droid phone looks to be best of the new phones:

Status: Rumored to be available October 31st on Verizon
Touchscreen: 3.7-inch/480×854 Full Touchscreen with Full QWERTY Slider
Dimensions: 60 x 115.8 x 13.7 mm; 169 grams
Camera: 5.0 Megapixels with AutoFocus
Battery: Li-ion 1400mAh
Standby Time: 450 Hours
Talk Time:7 Hours
Processor: OMAP3430 processor
Internal/External Memory: 512MB Flash, 256MB RAM/MicroSD (16GB capacity)
Extras: 3.5mm Headset jack, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS enabled; Android 2.0
Price: Unknown