Posts Tagged ‘Android’

We just spotted Samsung’s Galaxy Tab on the FCC, and after sorting through some of Samsung’s filings we came across some measurements of the device, above.  If our math is correct, the Galaxy Tab will be about 116mm wide (74mm + 49mm – 7mm), and about 180mm tall (173mm + about 7mm).  For those of you in the US, that is approximately 4.6” wide by 7.1” tall.

Unfortunately, we can’t discern how thick (or thin) the device will be, but today’s FCC filings do give us a better indication of the Galaxy Tab’s dimensions.

Developing:   Samsung’s heavily hyped Galaxy Tab android tablet just made an appearance on the FCC.  The model number of the Galaxy Tab is listed SHW-M180S, and the device is described as a “1900 GPRS Mini-Tablet with Bluetooth and WLAN,” below.

Test reports confirm 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth and 1900 GPRS.  Interestingly, no mention is made of WCDMA frequencies.  Also missing from FCC test reports is any mention of CDMA support, which suggests that this version of the Galaxy Tab will not be making its way to Verizon.

Last week we spotted the Archos 32 Internet Tablet on the FCC, and today an even smaller Android tablet called the Archos A28 made an appearance on the FCC as well.  Known as the “minidroid”, the device sports a 2.8” touch screen display, and will work in both portrait and landscape configurations, below, left.

Unfortunately, Archos’ FCC filings don’t provide much info about the device, and we’re not sure what version of Android it will run.  We do know that it will feature 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and what appear to be 8GB of Internal storage thanks to a Sandisk iNAND flash module.

The A28’s user manual shows screen shots of the device in use, below.  The device will have five home screens, although as you can see, the Android OS does look a bit cramped on the A28’s 2.8” screen.  The manual didn’t provide any pictures of a virtual keypad, and it will be interesting to see if a keypad is practical on such a small device.

modu Ltd. makes small mobile phones.  The company’s modu T device holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for the smallest touchscreen phone in the world.

Today, the company passed a new Android-powered phone called the modu W through the FCC.  Although we don’t have exact measurements for the device, it appears that the modu W will rank among the smallest Android smartphones in the world.

The modu W’s user manual shows the device running what appears to be Android 1.6 – hopefully the phone will get an upgrade before it’s released.  The modu W will support apps from the SlideME app store, and offer standard features like microSD card support, Bluetooth and WiFi.

No word on pricing or a release date for the device.  So far modu hasn’t brought their phones to a US carrier, but today’s FCC filing suggests that we may see the modu W in the States.

The Motorola Droid 2 was launched somewhat quietly this Thursday.  At launch, Verizon had a modest selection of cases available for the device.  Our partner site iGear 360 took a look at these cases, and posted the video reviews below.

One thing iGear 360 observed is that all Droid 2 cases make it somewhat difficult to press the top row of keys on the device.  This issue is due primarily to the small gap between the device’s screen and the keypad.

Other than that, most cases performed well in iGear 360’s testing.  Check them out below:

Body Glove Snap On Cover for the Motorola Droid 2:

Verizon Snap-On Hard Cover for the Motorola Droid 2:

Verizon Kickstand Snap On Hard Cover for the Motorola Droid 2:

Verizon Shell/Holster Combo for the Motorola Droid 2:

Verizon Snap-On Gel Cover for the Motorola Droid 2:

It’s been a big week for Android news, and tonight, Sprint added to the fray by formally announcing that the Samsung Epic 4G will be available on August 31st for $250, after rebates, with a two year contract.  The Epic 4G is Sprint’s second 4G WiMAX phone, the first of course is the HTC EVO 4G.

Based on the Samsung Galaxy S platform, the Epic 4G features a 4” Super AMOLED display, Android 2.1, a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor, front (VGA) and rear (5MP) facing cameras, 720p HD video recording, 802.11 b/g/n/ WiFi, wireless hotspot functionality, and a 16GB microSD card.  And as you can see, the Epic 4G will sport a full QWERTY keypad.

Interestingly, the Epic 4G doesn’t appear to have any onboard storage, while other Galaxy S smartphones such as the Captivate featured up to 16GB of onboard memory.  We’re also a bit disappointed to see that the Epic 4G will sport Android 2.1 – according to Sprint, an Android 2.2 update will be available for the device in “the coming months.”

You can reserve the phone on August 13th here.

We knew the Dell Streak was coming soon, and in a press release today Dell announced that we’ll be able to get our hands on the Android-powered device this Friday, August 13th for $300 with a two year AT&T contract ($550 without).  Presale customers will be able to pick up the Streak a day earlier on August 12th.

The Streak bridges the divide between phones and tablets with a 5” capacitive touch screen display (800 x 480), UMTS/GPRS/EDGE support, WiFi, Bluetooth, front (VGA) and rear (5MP) cameras, 2GB of internal storage and full support for the Android Market.  Unlike the Apple iPad, which only supports 3G data, the Streak can be used as a phone.

It remains to be seen if there is any consumer demand for such a large phone…or, such a small tablet.  And while the Streak’s 1GHz processor should be able to handle most personal and business tasks, the device still relies on the older 1.6 version of Android.  We’ll get a better idea over the weekend what kind of demand we can expect for the Streak.  Until then, check out the video below:

Finally, the Motorola Droid 2 leaks can end.  Verizon finally made the device official today, with presales happening now, and in store pickups taking place on Thursday for a cool $200 with a two year contract.  At this point, there’s not much about the device that we don’t already know – it will feature Android 2.2, a 3.7” display, 5MP camera, 8GB onboard memory with another 8GB available via microSD card, Flash Player 10.1 and wireless hotspot functionality for an additional $20 per month.

Better yet, those rumors of a R2-D2 version of the Droid 2 were legit.  Check out this teaser site, and sign up for an email alert to be notified when this limited edition goes on sale.  According to Engadget, the R2-D2 Droid 2 will be available in September.

That’s it folks…all that’s left is for you to pick one up on Thursday.

News of Archos’ 32 Internet Tablet emerged earlier this month, and today the device made its first appearance on the FCC.  The device runs Google’s Android 2.1 OS, and features a 3.2” touch screen with a 400 x 240 resolution, 8GB of internal flash storage, an ARM Cortex A8 processor, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and composite video out.  The device can also be upgraded with a digital TV receiver that enables live TV and DVR features.

Screenshots of the Archos 32’s interface, below, show a familiar Android OS interface with a custom multimedia icon dock (#3).  There’s no indication if the device will have access to the Android Market.

The Archos 32 seems like a legitimate competitor to the iPod Touch, although with only 8GB of storage you won’t be able to fit much media on the device.  External storage is not supported on the Archos 32, either.

There isn’t any word when the Archos 32 will be released, but today’s FCC filing suggests that we should be seeing the device soon.  The device is expected to be priced in the $150 range.

When Echostar, the parent of Dish Network, acquired SlingMedia in 2007, we all knew some wireless streaming goodness would be coming soon to the satellite provider.  According to an AP report today, it looks like this functionality will be coming to iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry and Android device users over the next two months.

Dish plans to enable live streaming on mobile devices with an add-on SlingBox or a Dish HD DVR with integrated SlingBox features.  While using a SlingBox to placeshift satellite TV isn’t anything new, it will be nice to have a single Dish HD DVR with placeshifting capabilities.

Dish’s HD DVR with SlingBox features will cost around $200 to $400, plus an additional $10 a month, while a stand alone SlingBox will cost $180 to $300.  An app is also required to stream Dish programs, although there’s no word how much this app will cost.  The standalone SlingBox app is currently available and costs $30.

The Dish Network app for the iPad, iPhone and BlackBerry will be released in September, with the Android app coming in November.