Hints of HD2 coming to T-MOBILE

You know those times when you’re sifting through an undercooked ROM, dumping .nbh files right and left, asking yourself: “is this even worth it?” Well, the folks at WMExperts can answer with a resounding fist pump after digging up references to T-Mobile US in an HTC HD2 prerelease ROM that was recently leaked their way. At this point we’re looking at a new 2.01 version of the HD2 software in the T-Mobile version, a big jump from the 1.61 seen in previous leaks, which maybe will smooth over some of those performance woes we experienced with the device. WMExperts also claims a March 2010 release date, which seems a while to wait, but somebody told us once about “good things” coming to “waiters” or something like that, so we’re cautiously optimistic.

Via:Endgadget

GOOGLE PHONE CONFIRMED

So Google have written a blog post confirming a Google Phone is in existence. Before you get excited though, read the blog post:

At Google, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements in a process we call dogfooding (from “eating your own dogfood”). Well this holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to a new level.

We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.

Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet.

You should have noticed the device is not built by Google but by a partner – reportedly HTC – who build a number of devices for a number of manufacturers. As Mashable discusses, the device sounds like the HTC Passion, which is scheduled for an early 2010 launch. Does it still make it a Google Phone? Is it a “Google Phone” if it has the Google branding (which we don’t know yet) but another identical phone exists without the Google branding but say, Motorola’s? I’d argue yes, but lets be blunt about it, it’s no iPhone.

Via:Thenextweb

20 new android devices seen in ROM

Nestled in the leaked Android 2.1 ROM, 20 new devices are mentioned by name–including those we knew of already (Dragon, Dream, Hero and Passion) but some new friends too, Bahamas, Bravo, DesireC, Espresso, Halo, HeroCT, HeroC, Huangshan, Incredible, Legend, Liberty, Memphis, Paradise, PassionC, Sapphire and Supersonic. Phew. [ AndroidSpin via BGR]

HTC Hero updated to 2.1

HTC promised the world an Android 2.0-based firmware for its Hero line once it figured out the nitty gritty details of porting Sense to Google’s latest code, leapfrogging Donut altogether — but now, it looks like they’re gonna do one better. Screenshots found today show a Hero running Android 2.1, which would dovetail nicely with the fact that Google had teased a “minor update” to 2.0 before the end of 2009 back when it announced Eclair last month. The interface looks largely untouched from 1.5, proof that HTC was able to bring Sense up to speed with minimum drama; it’s unclear when this’ll all be available, but considering that Sprint’s version
just got a super-minor update, some carrier-branded versions could be in for a wait.

Via:Endgadget