Droid 101

Motorola as it seems has been quite busy as of late with the success of the Droid and Cliq handsets. Well, I’m sure their saying  hey why stop here this is the most action when have had in years right!? Motorola’s latest Android device is called the Devour and should be headed to Verizon next month.
Stand out specs of the device include 3.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, a touch-sensitive navigation pad, a pre-installed 8GB microSD card and Bluetooth support. One Interesting note; the Devour will be running Android version 1.6. Why not any two point O Goodness? hmmmm. But last but not least the device will have Flash lite which is really nice when you want to surf the web looking for all those Flash loving websites.

A few months ago before the release of the Motorola Droid, there was a lot rumors floating around the internet about a phone called the Motorola Sholes. Motorola had not one but two great Android devices, so which would it be the Sholes or the Droid? Well turns out the Droid phone was the one that was released and the Motorola Sholes rumors vanished. Well, its a new year and once again the rumors of the Moto Sholes have returned, but this time with more info. Our friends over at Android and Me have sourced some specs for this  Android device. Also the phone is said to use T-Mobile’s frequency band. If so this will be great new for T-Mobile’s customers.

Display: 3.7 inch capacitive touch FWVGA (480×854)
Dimensions: 60.9 mm x 115.95 mm x 10.9 mm, Weight: 140 g
Processor: TI OMAP3430 (550 MHz ARM Cortex-A8 + PowerVR SGX 530 GPU)
Memory: 512 MB Flash ROM, 256 MB RAM
Camera: 8 megapixel autofocus with xenon flash. 720p HD video recording.
3G Network support: HSDPA 10.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.6 Mbps
Wireless: WiFi 802.11 b/g with DLNA support
Operating System: Andorid 2.1 with Motorblur
Other: 720P HD video out via HDMI port

Engadget has done it again. They scored their own Nexus One and have posted 10 minutes of pre-launch video. This video cover almost anything that you would want known about Google’s new phone. However, it leaves us wondering why big G would allow such “insight” before the their own public launch? Why give up the goods so early? We think that Google has a few more surprises up their sleeve. More to come…

Continuing with Droid 101’s coverage of the upcoming Nexus One Phone. We have some new video of the Nexus One’s 3D benchmark test using Qualcomm’s Neocore.  All I can say is that 1Ghz Snapdragon processor is “impressive. Most impressive” . Video after the break…

Check it Out.. This phone looks better and better everyday.

Next week (Jan 5, 2010) Google is hosting their Android press gathering to officially announce the Nexus One Google Android Phone. The guys over at Gizmodo received an early look at the online site where the phone will be sold and has details on pricing and plans. The Nexus One Android phone will be $530 unsubsidized and $180 subsidized with a new 2-year contract with T-Mobile.
If you want the phone at the subsidized price of $180 you only have one rate plane to choose from. The rate plan is: $39.99 Even More 500 mins + Text + Web for $79.99. But in all honesty if you have a rate plan that is cheaper, it’s probably better to purchase the unlocked phone and save yourself some money over the long run.

Also if you cancel your plan before 120 days, you will have to pay the subsidy difference between what you paid and the unsubsidized price, so $350 in this case. Or you can return the phone to Google. You also authorize them to charge this directly to your credit card.

Our friends over at SlashGear were able to get some great info on yet another Android tablet. This tablet has some amazing stats. For starters the device has a NVIDIA Tegra T20 chipset which supports 1080p Full HD video playback, has integrated WiFi, Bluetooth and UMTS/HSDPA. The unnamed tablet will be the first of device to use the new Pixel Qi transflective display.
Notion Ink will be showcasing the device at the upcoming CES show. The 10.1 Pixel Qi display will show full 1080p HD video.  One of the most important features on any mobile device is the battery life, too little makes use unrealistic and not so much fun for the user. Notion Ink claims  the smartpad will be good for up to 48hrs standby on a integrated rechargeable Li-Ion battery, plus 8hrs of HD video playback and 16hrs of Internet surfing over WiFi.

Google’s new Android handset has just passed the FCC testing and looks to be using the same 3G frequency that T-mobile uses. Word on the street is that the Nexus One should be available at T-Mobile as well as being sold by Google directly from their on website starting January 5, 2010.  ABC News and Reuters  are reporting that Google will offer the Nexus One through  T-Mobile for a reduced price of $199.99 , but the question still remains who will exactly pay the subsidy for the phones.

Google employees have announce by means of Twitter that they have all receive  the “Google phone” at a staff meeting recently and have been letting the world know their opinions on the phone. The phone is said to be running Android version 2.1 as well.

Well, well, well  for you out there that are lucky enough to have gotten your hands on a new Nook for Christmas should be getting your first software update real soon. (After checking one out at my local Barnes & Noble, I know I want one!)  According to nookDevs maybe as early as this weekend!  This update will be a minor one focusing on bug fixes. Stay tuned for info on the new Nook as well as future software updates.