Froyo Updates For AT&T Android Phones Coming Soon, Samsung Captivate Gets It Tomorrow!

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AT&T announced through it's Facebook page that the Froyo, android 2.2 update for Samsung Captivate is available tomorrow and the link for firmware and the instructions will be published. That means the update is not OTA.

AT&T Great news for Samsung Captivate owners! The Android 2.2 upgrade is coming tomorrow! We’ll post a link here to the Samsung site with instructions to install the upgrade tomorrow. In the meantime, AT&T Android Senior Project Manager Dante Martin answers your questions about Android updates and provides some insights into updates for Aria in the video below.

 The Video; (I am surprised AT&T's the "Android Guy" is using an Aria! Why didn't AT&T  give you an Atrix yet?

Acer Liquid Metal (Android 2.2) Coming To AT&T?

Acer Liquid Metal  http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Looks like Acer Liquid Metal, an aluminum handset with 800MHz Qualcomm processor and 3.6 inch 800X480 screen has just cleared FCC test benches.
The phone is sporting Android 2.2 (Froyo), GPS, Bluetooth, and WiFi (802.11 a/g/n) and connecting with GSM/EDGE 850/1900 and WCDMA Band II and V. The last connectivity info makes it an ideal candidate for the AT&T network!
If you are in test results etc, head over to FCC

Gingerbread Man Brings Android 3.0 (Or Android 2.3?) Either Way It Will Be Sweet!

Gingerbread Man Brings Android 3.0 Or Android 2.3 http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

Cupcake, donut, eclair, froyo and now the Gingerbread man. Yes you are at the sweetshop of Google, which I think much better than the sweatshops of apple :). Oh wait, does Foxconn make droids?
Google has put up a large ginger bread man in the lawn where the other sweet stuffs were. Even though I drive around this area, I am yet to see the Gingerbread Man, may be next time I will take my camera with me.
But this time, we have a question! Is Gingerbread man tied to Android 3.0 or Android 2.3 as you can see from below, there seem to be a Android 2.3 surfaced while discussing fixing some WAP issues.

In any case enjoy the Gingerbread man with the customary video, with holidays coming near and all.
Google, Youtube via engadget

HTC G2, T-Mobile G2 With Google, A HSPA+ Phone Coming Soon,

T-Mobile HTC G2 with Google http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
T-Mobile has confirmed that the new HTC G2, a HSPA+ phone, a replacement for the HTC G1 is on the way and every one can sign up for the Pre-sales orders. T-Mobile G1 owners get the priority. The phone will sport Android 2.2 Froyo and carries a lot of Google centric capabilities like, Voice Actions for Google Search; integrated access to Google's Internet calling service, Google Voice(somethin iPhone can't do or wont do); and the regulars, Gmail to Google Maps.
T-Mobile was the first US carrier to release an Android based phone, T-Mobile G1. 

“T-Mobile ignited the spark that set the Android world ablaze two years ago with the launch of the world’s first Android-powered mobile phone, the T-Mobile G1, which remains an important milestone for both T-Mobile and the Android operating system, Now, with the launch of the T-Mobile G2, we are re-teaming with our partners at Google and HTC to provide T-Mobile customers with another first — the first Android smartphone designed to deliver 4G speeds on our new network.” said Cole Brodman, chief technology and innovation officer, T-Mobile USA. 

The phone is not 4G but operates on HSPA+ network which is said to reach speeds of 21Mbps. T-Mobile already announced that it has upgraded it's 3G network to HSPA+ in 25 major metropolitan areas. HSPA+, also known as "evolved HSPA".

The Phone, The T-Mobile G2, carries an 800MHz Snapdragon processor, a 3.7-inch touch screen display, and Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth capability with slide out keyboard on hinges. It also has support for a 32-GB microSD card, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and auto focus, and  shoots video in 720p HD resolution. The G2 also offers smartphone essentials such as easy access to personal and work e-mail, including support for Microsoft^® Exchange e-mail, contacts and calendar; social networking; and instant messaging.

You can sign up for pre order HTC G2 here

Archos Unveils A Series Of Android Tablets And Media Players.

Archos Android Tablets http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Archos have added five more devices to their lineup but some how these five devices seem to surpass all previous Archos gadgets. I am happy that the news of shelving the Archos Arm Cortex based phone tablet found to be untrue.
All five new devices have adopted a new naming convention, based on the screen size, Archos 28, 32, 43, 70, and 101. Just add a decimal point at one digit from the right to get the actual screen size.
All these devices share a similar hardware configurations but differ in Processor power (Arm Cortex A8), Memory capacity, cameras and 3G availability. They all have Android 2.2 FROYO, Flash 10.1 support, an ARM Cortex A8 processor, 802.11 Wi-Fi, bluetooth and touch screens. Devices with 3G gets tethering and hotspot functionality.

The smallest, Archos 28 has, obviously a 2.8 inch, 320x240 resistive touchscreen, an Arm Cortex 800MHz CPU, and 4GB of storage with a price tag of $100.
The Archos 32, differs only in screen size, 400x240, memory capacity which is 8GB and a rear mounted camera. This one will set you back $150.
The Archos 43 gets a 1GHz processor, Screen resolution of 854x480 and gets a 720p camera on the rear. memory capacity is a choice of 8GB or 16 but also has the capability to increase this with the available micro SD slot.
The Archos 70 gets a front-facing VGA camera, a mini-HDMI port, and costs $275 with 8GB of internal memory or $350 with 250GB hard drive. With all the mobility, I think I will opt for the 8GB model.
Then come the top dog of the series, the Archos 101, a nice 10.1-inches with a 1024x600 resolution, which plays 720p video and memory capacities of 8GB for $300 and 16GB for $350.

Seeing Android 2.2 Froyo in the inventory, one would assume the Android Market to found on the device. It seems Archos does not ship the device with Android Market but it's own Archos' "AppsLib" store for software. Hopefully this will change the larger versions comes to store shelves lather this year. The smaller decices will be in the stores, next month.

YPhone Coming Soon Via "Project Nike"? , Yahoo And Nokia To Announce On Monday!

Y!Phone, Yahoo And Nokia  http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
According to some invites the press and media has received from Yahoo to attend a briefing on coming Monday, indicates that we might be seeing yPhone (Y!Phone) soon. Either Yahoo is playing me too catch up game or Nokia is worried about Android inslought, Google Just announced Android 2.2 or FroYo with very attractive features.
"An exciting announcement about providing global consumers with rich online and mobile experiences, and bringing forward a new era in keeping consumers connected."
May be Project Nike will spur Nokia to start making some serious smartphones.
ATD via engadget

Flash Sucks So Go Away, Steve Jobs.

Flash Sucks http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
While preaching to us about open systems and standards from his not so open Apple arena, Steve Jobs has reiterated why Flash Sucks.

Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.

He also seem to have forgotton what sold his precious Apple Macs before iPhone came along. Most of the people who ran Adobe Apps, wanted to run them on Apples!
Anyway Jobs has some points regarding Flash, like it being a resource hog. I cringe when I see flash based web sites. I usually avoid sites full of flash, unless I really have to. Like at work, we port some of our reports presentation to flash, to make them look good while being dynamic. Yes we are working on HTML5 and those reports now!

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.

But I am sure those could be over come and otherwise flash on Android FroYo will be dead horse from get go. The difference I can see is that Android will run HTML5 and Flash, iStuff will only have HTML5.
Jobs why all those negativity? is it because Adobe is too close to Google Now? 
You can read Jobs rant at Apple.

Android 2.2, (Froyo) Will Have Full Adobe Flash Support

Android 2.2 And Adobe Flash http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Looks like Android is bent on going places where Apple will not or cannot go. According to Andy Robin, Andoid 2.2, code-named Froyo, for frozen yogurt, will have complete Flash support.
On Monday the companies announced the availability of betas of  Adobe AIR and Adobe Flash for Android. I am sure every self respecting mobile developer would have signed up for the SDKs.
Speaking with NY Times Mr. Robin indicated that, Android stand to gain on all proprietary systems like iPhone and RIM.

“It’s a numbers game. When you have multiple O.E.M.’s building multiple products in multiple product categories, it’s just a matter of time” before sales of Android phones exceed the sales of  proprietary systems like Apple’s and R.I.M.’s

He also was happy about Google's openness regarding the flagship mobile platform, Android and the development tools;

“We use the same tools we expect our third-party developers to,” Mr. Rubin said. “We have an SDK we give to developers. and when we write our Gmail app, we use the same SDK. A lot of guys have private APIs. We don’t. That’s on policy and on technology. If there’s a secret API to hook into billing system we open up that billing system to third parties. If there’s a secret API to allow application multitasking, we open it up. There are no secret APIs. That is important to highlight for Android sake. Open is open and we live by our own implementations.”

 Android 2.2 is code name, Froyo, for Frozen Yogurt is keeping up the tradition with former codenames like Cupcake, Donut and Eclair.

Read more at NY Times