Despite the recent firmware update, the Archos 5 Internet Tablet is still left without access to the Android Market, and despite Archos’ attempts to encourage development of device-specific apps for their own AppLib download store, the range of titles is still small. Happily wherever there’s a problem, there’s usually a hack to address it, and so jkkmobile has outlined a guide to installing the Android Market – and some other things – onto the Archos 5 MID.
HTC’s public plans for their Sense UI and newer versions of Android have basically amounted to asking device owners to wait; an update to Android 2.0 for the HTC Hero has been promised since the end of October, but so far has not proved forthcoming. That might be because HTC aren’t reworking Sense for 2.0 but for Android 2.1; screenshots purporting to show the HTC UI running on the as-yet unreleased OS have leaked.
Google Maps Navigation is one of the stand-out features of the Motorola DROID, and thanks to Google’s recent efforts those of you with Android 1.6 devices can run it too. The proviso is always that you must be in the US to take advantage of the beta; that hasn’t stopped Electricpig from throwing together a hacked version that will work on non-US Android handsets.
Remember the NTT Hikari iFrame Android touchscreen gizmo from earlier this month? It’s not set to arrive in Japan until March 2010, but the company allowed Akihabara News in to play with their latest prototype. Based around a 7-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, the tablet is intended to bridge the gap between a digital photo frame and a proper computer for a less than computer-capable audience.
We were less than enamoured by Acer’s tubby little Liquid A1 smartphone when we had a brief play earlier in the month, but if the touchscreen chunkster has left you similarly underwhelmed, fear not. According to Aymar de Lencquesaing, head of Acer’s phone unit, the company is planning 8 to 10 new smartphones for 2010, and they expect the balance between Android and Windows Mobile in the new range to be “much more balanced”.
There’s no real new technical data in this latest video of Sony Ericsson’s unreleased XPERIA X10, but it does give us a chance to see the Android smartphone cavorting with HTC’s HD2, Samsung’s Omnia II and that perennial favorite, the iPhone 3GS. Size-wise, if you thought the HD2 was too big then you should probably cancel your XPERIA X10 preorder, as the two look pretty darn similar; in fact, as the video after the cut shows, the X10 is actually a little chubbier than HTC’s WinMo finest.
Video demo after the cut
Netronix are developing Android-based ebook readers, working with Texas Instruments to push the e-readers out in 2010, according to company chairman Arthur Lu. Full specifications on the devices are unknown, though Lu has also said the the devices will be “able to interoperate” with both Android smartphones and embedded devices; the executive didn’t go on to explain exactly what form that interoperation might take. Meanwhile, there’s also 3G/3.5G WWAN integration coming.
While Lu didn’t say that the Android-based devices would necessarily be the e-readers to get wireless, he did confirm that Netronix expect to release models with integrated 3G connectivity in mid-2010.
It looks like the tipped release date for the Motorola MILESTONE in the UK really is December 7th, as Expansys are advertising that the European version of the Verizon DROID will arrive in eight working days from now. That tallies with the preorder listing spotted earlier this week, though the Expansys price is £10 higher at £449.99 ($743).
Blimey, could Camangi actually be serious about selling their WebStation Android tablet? We’ve scoffed a little at the hitherto-unknown company’s intentions of having the 7-inch WiFi tablet on the market by December 2009, but a new site and a freshly launched Camangi Market (for apps friendly to the slate’s hardware and screen resolution) seem to suggest that the joke’s on us. For once, we’re happy to be in the wrong as if the pricing is right, the WebStation could prove highly appealing.
Android-based MIDs aren’t particularly rare – the allure of a free OS has already tempted many a manufacturer – but it’s unusual to find one actually destined to the US. Inbrics’ Android MID is one such rarity; the company have announced that not only will they be bringing the ARM Cortex A8 based touchscreen slider to CES in January, they’ll also be releasing it in the US in 2010.
Video demo after the cut
SlashGear Japan
