Google Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread Out For Nexus One and Nexus S

Nexus One users have been waiting for an update to Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread since December and it looks like now, more than two months since, they might actually get it, along with Nexus S owners.

The company tweeted that the Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread update has started to roll-out for the two devices and it might take a couple of weeks for the process to spread out. The 2.3.3 refresh fixes some issues with Bluetooth, Graphics, Speech Recognition, Media APIs and NFC (the Nexus One will not benefit from the NFC part).

On the other hand, together with the Gingerbread refresh, Google has stopped Facebook Address Book Contact merging into phone contacts. In other words, you will no longer be able to access your Facebook contact details from within your devices’ Contacts section; you will have to do that from the Facebook application. Google says: “like all developers on Android, Facebook is free to use the Android contacts API to truly integrate contacts on the device, which would allow users to have more control over their data.”

Luckily, this change will only affect Nexus S users (which aren’t that many since the device is only a couple of months old) as well as other “lead devices” yet to come but not those running Nexus One or older devices. According to Google, Nexus One users had Facebook preinstalled and thus had in out-of-the-box experience that the Company will not cripple. The ball is in Facebook’s court now with Google’s invitation to use the Android Contacts API, like any other Android developer, to store these types of information on the smartphone itself rather than in the cloud.

Article: RSS via Pocketnow

Tags: Android, Gingerbread, Google, Nexus One, Nexus S, Smartphones, Software Update

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Upcoming HTC Handset Could Be a Nexus Mini?

What we’re looking at here is somewhat of a mystery device. If you thought that HTC was moving beyond mechanical trackballs, you might be mistaken. This handset features a design similar to the Nexus One (we’re thinking a 3.2 inch screen is a possibility), and with a totally redesigned (almost geometric) earpiece. There might also be a front-facing camera on this handset, though that might actually be a light sensor. The buttons below the screen tell us that this is an Android handset. It’s popular that HTC, in recognizing the almost cult-following for the highly versatile Nexus One, is trying to provide an updated design for those looking for something new but that has the same sort of design.

Article: RSS via Pocketnow

Tags: Android, HTC, Nexus Mini, Nexus One, Smartphones

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Flash Player 10.1 goes final for Nexus One handsets, available to download now

Google just confirmed it at an Android / Flash event in San Francisco, and sure enough, our trusty Nexus One just found, downloaded and installed the final (read: non-beta) version of Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1. It weighs in at just under 5MB, and it’s looking as sweet as ever so far. Nexus One owners can hit up the Android Market to get their download on, and we’d highly encourage you to bookmark a few dozen Flash sites just to rub in the faces of your dearest iDevice-owning friends. Just sayin’.

Article: RSS via: Engadget

Tags: Adobe, Android, Android Market, Flash 10.1, Google, Nexus One, Smartphones

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Google Offering “Dev Phone” Nexus One Running 2.2 For $529

The official “Google Phone,” the kinda dead Nexus One, is still Google’s official “dev phone.” The phone, available unlocked for $529, is running the latest Android version and includes the “Google Experience” suite for Android development.

The Nexus One combines an up-to-the-minute platform (Android 2.2), modern hardware, and the pure Google Experience software suite. It’s a good choice both for people who want to build Android applications using either the SDK or the NDK, and those who want to experiment with modified versions of the Android platform. Note that the Nexus One still ships with Android 2.1 but will download 2.2 soon after you turn it on; make sure you’re near a fast network.

Pop over here to read more but if you’re in the market for an Android phone, you could do worse.

Article: RSS via: MobileCrunch

Tags: Android, Android 2.2, Dev Phone, Developers, Google, Nexus One, Unlocked

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Nexus One blasts off to 28,000 feet, looks slightly worse for wear (video)

Your average satellite these days is roughly on par in terms of size with your average living room, give or take, and so naturally the cost of lofting one into orbit is, if you’ll pardon the phrase, sky high. Despite that, many offer less processing power a mobile processor like Snapdragon. The obvious solution? Chuck a smartphone into orbit and revel in the savings. That’s the idea behind the PhoneSat, helped along by the Mavericks Civilian Space Foundation, which strapped a Nexus One into a rocket with 1,000lbs of thrust and threw it up to 28,000 feet to see how it copes with the immense stress of riding into space. Of course, 28,000 feet isn’t quite space (NASA would have run out of astronaut badges long ago), but the G-forces and temperature cycles felt during this short trip are comparable to a one-way voyage to orbit. The first such launch didn’t go so well, with the rocket suffering a ballistic return — coming in like a projectile without a ‘chute. The shattered remains of that are shown above. But, the second flight was rather more successful, and the video results can be seen below — captured by the phone itself.

Update: Matt Reyes, one of the folks behind the launch, wrote in to let us know of another article here on the project, including more details on the history of the team and the various hardware beyond the N1 payload. Matt, along with project members Chris Boshuizen and Will Marshall, are NASA engineers, helped by Ryan Hickman at Google, which probably helps to explain how they were able to get from the photo above to the successful launch below in just one iteration.

[Photo credit: Steve Jurvetson]

Article: RSS via: Engadget

Tags: Android, Google, Nexus One, Video

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Android 3.0 Spotted Running on Nexus One

Following news of Linpack detecting three builds of Android 3.0 Gingerbread being tested using the benchmarking tool, a leaked picture of a Nexus One shows that the Google-branded smartphone is indeed running Android Firmware 3.0.

Whether the image obtained is a fake rendering or real is debatable, it does line up with the Linpack statistics as well as one analyst’s speculation that Android 3.0 will land on a Motorola tablet in November.

Article: RSS via: Ubergizmo

Tags: Android, Android 3.0, Gingerbread, Google, Nexus One

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Nexus One is sold out in Google’s store — forever

Google warned us that the Nexus One was approaching the end of its days, but we’ve gotta admit, we didn’t realize just how quickly that moment would come. Sure enough, Google’s official online store for the phone now just shows an ominous message that “the Nexus One is no longer available for purchase directly” from the company, which means you’re going to have to go through Vodafone, KT in South Korea, or hold out for the units that they plan on selling directly to registered developers. Needless to say, for the bulk of potential customers, the phone is all but history. So, on that note, Nexus One: for your straight-shooting stock Android ways and your unlocked radio, you’ll be dearly missed — and we hope your legacy lives on, even though your retail model does not.

Article: RSS via: Engadget

Tags: Android, Google, Nexus One

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Vodafone Nexus One Getting FroYo Next Week!

Great news for Vodafone customers who have a Vodafone supplied Nexus One and that is the company have now confirmed that OS 2.2 (FroYo) is available as a free over the air download from next week.

Posted by the official Vodafone eForum a moderator today said

Hi Guys

We can confirm that Google will start to roll out the latest Android software version (2.2) for Vodafone Nexus One users over the course of the next week as an over-the-air update. The roll out will be phased and will be available to all Vodafone customers who have purchased the handset from us.

So all you Vodafone Nexus One users get your fingers at the ready to apply the new update!.

Article: RSS via: CoolSmartPhone

Tags: Android, Android 2.2, CoolSmartPhone, Google, Nexus One, OTA, Vodafone

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Google Discontinues the Nexus One Android Phone

Google has pulled the plug on the Nexus One, its once highly anticipated smartphone. The last shipment has arrived at Google HQ, and once those are gone there will be no more Nexus Ones for U.S. consumers.

The handset will still be sold through Vodafone in Europe and some Asian carriers, and developers will still be able to get their hands on one, but it looks like the Droid phones on Verizon will carry the mantle for Google’s Android mobile operating system. This is the end of the company’s grand experiment with an unlocked consumer handset in the U.S.

Following disappointing sales, Google had already closed the Nexus One web store two months ago, so this final nail in the coffin was already overdue.

Google announced the end of the line on its blog on Friday, but there was so little fanfare or interest in the story in the tech scene that the story slipped through the cracks. Though the device was popular with geeks, most American consumers probably just didn’t understand the concept of an unlocked handset, and Google didn’t put much marketing muscle behind the device.

Thus, it’s no surprise that the phone has been discontinued and hardly anyone noticed. It’s too bad, actually. It was a fine device; it got even finer with the Android 2.2 update a couple of weeks ago.

Article: RSS via: Mashable

Tags: Android, Android 2.2, Google, Mashable, Nexus One, Verizon, Vodafone

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Nexus One now a step closer to FM radio support, thanks to modified kernel

As you may or may not be already aware, the Nexus One and HTC Desire have the same Broadcom chip. Seems trivial at cursory glance until you realize the Desire has a FM radio app, which should ergo be just as feasible on the Google-branded device. Cut to xda-developers’ intersectRaven, who’s released a custom N1 kernel that theoretically brings life to the FM receptor. It’s available to download, but as for when you’ll get a chance to really use this yourself, that’s entirely up to the custom ROM developers updating their respective wares. For his part, Paul O’Brien said today he’s already got it working on an upcoming Froyo Sense build for the device — hang tight, folks, it’s coming.

[Thanks, John]

Article: RSS via: Engadget

Tags: Android, Custom Kernel, Desire, FM Radio, Google, HTC, Nexus One, ROM, xda-developers

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