HTC EVO 4G

Just like we thought, Sprint has just announced what we were previously calling the HTC Supersonic. The official name however is EVO 4G, and it’s both supersonic and evolutionary. Really: This boy is stacked.

Underneath the 480 x 800 4.3-inch TFT LCD is a QSD8650 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, 1GB of storage, and 512MB of RAM. The rest is your standard superphone specs with an affair of 802.11b/g, HDMI-out, Sprint’s new Mi-Fi-like hotspot app and an 8GB microSD card along with the goods to run on Sprint’s 4G network. CDMA still handles the voice while a combo of EV-DO and WiMAX handles the data.

The EVO 4G should hit Sprint this summer and here’s hoping it’s priced reasonably well. This might just be the phone to beat in 2010. Then again, CTIA just started.

World’s First 3G/4G Android Phone, HTC EVOTM 4G, Coming this Summer Exclusively from Sprint

HTC EVO 4G offers one of the most robust multimedia experiences on a wireless phone today; features Android(TM) 2.1, one of the industry’s largest touch-screen displays, 8.0 MP camera, HD video capture, HDMI output,Mobile Hotspot capability and HTC Sense(TM) Pre-registration begins today at www.sprint.com/evoLAS VEGAS, Mar 23, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Sprint (NYSE: S) and HTC Corporation today announced summer availability of the world’s first 3G/4G Android handset, HTC EVO 4G exclusively from Sprint. HTC EVO 4G delivers a multimedia experience at 4G speeds that is second to none, making it possible to download music, pictures, files, or videos in seconds – not minutes – and watch streaming video on the go with one of the largest pinch-to-zoom displays, at 4.3 inches, in the wireless industry.Sprint 4G offers a faster wireless experience than any other U.S. national wireless carrier, and Sprint is the only national carrier offering wireless 4G service today in 27 markets. Sprint 4G delivers download speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G1,giving HTC EVO 4G the fastest data speeds of any U.S. wireless device available today. “Sprint continues to lead the 4G revolution as we introduce HTC EVO 4G to give our customers an experience that is unlike anything available in wireless to date,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO. “Not only is this feature-rich device incredible on our Sprint 3G network, but Sprint 4G speeds will take mobile multimedia, including live video streaming, gaming and picture downloads, to a whole new level.” Customers will be able to purchase HTC EVO 4G through all Sprint channels and through national retail partners, RadioShack, Best Buy and Walmart, this summer. Pricing will be announced at a later date. Pre-registration begins today at www.sprint.com/evo. A device beyond compare HTC EVO 4G delivers a robust list of features, including a 1GHz Qualcomm(R) Snapdragon(TM) processor ensuring a smooth and quick user experience. With dual cameras – an 8.0 megapixel auto-focus camera with HD-capable video camcorder and a forward-facing 1.3 megapixel camera – HTC EVO 4G unleashes the ability to create, stream and watch video that far surpasses expectations of what is possible on a phone today. With built-in mobile hotspot functionality, HTC EVO 4G allows up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices to share the 4G experience. Users can easily share an Internet connection on the go with a laptop, camera, music player, game unit, video player, or any other Wi-Fi enabled device. With integrated HD video capture and 4G speeds, HTC EVO 4G makes slow uploads and grainy video a thing of the past. Now, it is possible to post high-quality video to YouTube(TM) or Facebook, or share moments in real time over the Internet live, via Qik. After these videos have been captured, it is easy to share them on an HDTV via an HDMI cable (sold separately). The custom Web browser is optimized for HTC EVO 4G’s large display and Sprint 4G speeds to deliver a full, no-compromise Internet experience. Adobe Flash technology ensures that rich Internet content, such as embedded video and animation, are displayed the way they are meant to be seen. Pinch-to-zoom and automatic text reflowing provide easy Web page views. HTC EVO 4G features the newest version of the highly acclaimed HTC Sense user experience. Along with all of the HTC Sense features first introduced on HTC Hero, HTC EVO 4G adds a number of new features, including Friend Stream, which aggregates multiple social communication channels including Facebook and Twitter(TM) into one organized flow of updates; a “Leap” thumbnail view to easily switch between home screen “panels”; the ability to download new, interactive widgets; and a “polite” ringer, which quiets the ringing phone once lifted up. “HTC and Sprint have a strong history of working together to bring consumers technologies and advancements that make their lives easier,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC. “We believe that the HTC EVO 4G represents the best of Sprint and the best of HTC working together to bring an unmatched device to the U.S. This combination of HTC and Sprint innovation will allow people to do even more while on the go, faster than ever on the Sprint 4G network.” Experience Android at 4G HTC EVO 4G, the world’s first 3G/4G Android handset, features the latest iteration of the increasingly popular Android platform. Leveraging the Android 2.1 platform, HTC EVO 4G can deliver a wide array of useful new features: Android 2.1 enables a new way to search with pictures instead of words. Google Goggles(TM) works with everything from books, DVDs and barcodes to landmarks, logos, artwork and even wine labels. A picture taken of the Golden Gate Bridge returns all of the information anyone would need to know about the structure. By just taking a picture of several restaurant options, HTC EVO 4G will provide restaurant reviews to ensure the best choice. Text messaging and email composition feature built-in voice-to-text technology. By simply pressing a microphone button on the screen, messages can be composed by just speaking, making keeping in touch faster and easier than ever. Through Android Market(TM), HTC EVO 4G users have access to thousands of useful applications, widgets and games to download and install on their phone, with many more to come. In addition to today’s Android apps, the performance of which will be enhanced by 4G speed, application developers will be introducing new apps that take advantage of 4G power in new ways – games and communications tools and other apps that bring together video, presence and location simultaneously, and capabilities that haven’t yet been imagined. For example, an application developer might create an app that allows a customer to simultaneously watch a streaming sporting event while pulling down stats and conducting a video chat with a friend. A Sprint 4G developer guide is available today from the Sprint ADP Web site http://developer.sprint.com. The Sprint 4G developer guide explains how to develop on an Android 2.1 handset and how to take advantage of 4G and unique hardware/software capabilities, including how to use a forward-facing camera in an app; how to use HDMI output; and how to build in network detection (3G, 4G or Wi-Fi) to optimize quality of data in an app. The Sprint 4G developer also will include sample apps and source code that highlight these features. It will supplement the Android 2.1 SDK. As a charter member of the Open Handset Alliance(TM), Sprint is actively engaged with the Android community. Sprint has employed an open Internet approach, and the Sprint Application Developer Program has been providing tools for third-party developers since Sprint first launched the Wireless Web on its phones in 2001. “Sprint and HTC have come together to propel the Android platform into the 4G world with the introduction of HTC EVO 4G,” said Andy Rubin, vice president, mobile platforms at Google. “The Android platform was developed to give people unmatched mobile connectivity to the Internet. By combining this vision with the promise of Sprint’s first-to-market 4G technology, HTC EVO 4G makes accessing thousands of applications from Android Market, using Google(TM) services like Google Goggles, Google Earth(TM) and the all-new Gesture Search, or simply browsing the Web faster, easier and more enjoyable than ever before.”

Nexus One, The Google Phone

It’s just about confirmed now: Google will sell its own phone, built by HTC and named the Nexus One.

It will sell the Google Phone online and unlocked, so you’ll need to buy your cellular service separately. The entire user experience is designed by GoogleGoogleGoogle, according to the WSJ. It may resemble the HTC Passion, pictured.

Here are the details so far:

- Software: AndroidAndroidAndroid 2.1

- Hardware: HTC

- Specs (according to Jason Howell): Capactive touch screen, on screen keyboard only, thin, scroll ball, and animated desktop wallpaper

- Launch date: Rumored January 2010

- Tweets describe it as “an iPhone on beautifying steroids.”

- Google designed the entire user experience

- Google will sell the phone online, unlocked

- Google is “dogfooding” the Google Phone and has given it to employees all over the world to test it.

Will you have interest in buying a Nexus One?

Verizon Droid Eris's of HTC

If you can live without a hardware keyboard, the HTC Droid Eris is an affordable and feature-packed alternative to the Motorola Droid.

The HTC Droid Eris marks the second in Verizon Wireless's parade of the Droids. Also due this week from Verizon, the Droid Eris ($200 with a two-year contract, price as of 11/5/2009) shares the Droid moniker and many features of competing Android phones, but it also adds some touches that improve the experience for business users.

The Droid Eris touchscreen handset (a CDMA version of the HTC Hero) has dimensions similar to, and much of the same functionality as, the T-Mobile myTouch 3G GSM unit, also made by HTC. Side by side, the first thing that jumps out is the Eris's brighter, sharper-looking display. While both handsets have a 3.2-inch, 480-by-320 pixel screen, the Droid Eris supports 262,000 colors while the myTouch 3G has just 65,000 colors.

Unlike the myTouch 3G, which has six hardware keys on the front plus a roller mouse button, the Eris replaces the top four buttons (Home, Menu, Back, and Search) with embedded softkeys. In practice, the four software keys were usable, but not as easy to activate as their hardware counterparts. I've found the myTouch 3G's real Send and End buttons and roller mouse (which glows if you have an incoming text message or other notification) more useful than the Droid Eris's softkeys when fumbling around in the dark. (The Motorola Droid lacks any front-panel hardware buttons.)

The Droid Eris has a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM 7600 CPU, while the myTouch 3G has a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM 7201A chip. The Eris has a 5.0-megapixel camera (up from a 3.2-megapixel camera), Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.0; includes a GPS receiver; and supports the 800MHz and 1900MHz bands on the Verizon Wireless network. It also has a standard headset jack, something the myTouch 3G lacks.

Under the hood is the Android 1.5 operating system, not the Android 1.6 (Donut) update or Android 2.0 (on the Motorola Droid). (T-Mobile has already pushed out the Donut update to its G1 and myTouch 3G customers.) However, some of the improvements tossed in with Donut are in the Eris anyway. For example, the updated Google Maps application, which includes transit directions, comes with the phone; and the video and still cameras are accessible through the same interface, as is the case with Android 1.6. Not present here is the Google Maps Navigation turn-by-turn application that comes with Android 2.0.

Android Marketplace, from which you can find hundreds of independently developed applications for the phone, uses the Android 1.5 version in the Droid Eris. This version unfortunately doesn't support thumbnail images of the apps. A Verizon Wireless spokesman says the Droid Eris phone will be receiving Android updates at some point in the future.

What sets the Droid Eris apart is how it caters to business users. For example, it allows direct calendar and contact synchronization with Microsoft Outlook. This means that, unlike Google-branded Android phones, you don't have to sync your data with your online Google account first before downloading it to the phone--a boon for users. Also, Verizon has preinstalled an Adobe PDF file viewer, a link to Verizon's Visual Voicemail, a "Stocks" link to financial market information from Yahoo Finance, and support for Microsoft Exchange corporate e-mail.

Also preinstalled: A Peep application for Twitter and Footprint, which allows you to capture an image, attach comments, and use the phone's GPS capabilities to log its location and create a map, all of which can be shared.

Interestingly, the Droid Eris has the now-familiar pull-down Android notification screen, but the home screen behaves differently. Instead of having a pull-up menu containing all of the applications, the home screen instead offers a link to the application menu display.

While the unit can't match the Motorola Droid's 420-by-854-pixel display, the HTC Droid Eris performed well with standard and high-definition YouTube videos, depending on the quality of the data connection.

The 5-megapixel camera lacks a flash but performed adequately, capturing reasonable images under adequate ambient light. The virtual keyboard, which offers haptic feedback if desired, worked well in portrait or landscape mode. At just 4.2 ounces and measuring 4.5-by-2.2-by-0.5-inches, the unit fits comfortably in a shirt pocket.

If you want a cheaper Android-based alternative to the Droid and can live without a hardware keyboard, the Droid Eris is a good choice at $100.

HTC Android G1 Google Cell Phone

Processor Qualcomm® MSM7201A™, 528 MHz

Operating System Android™

Memory
ROM: 256 MB
RAM: 192 MB

Dimensions (LxWxT) 117.7 mm x 55.7 mm x 17.1 mm
(4.60 in x 2.16 in x 0.62 in)

Weight 158 grams (5.60 ounces) with battery

Display 3.2-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 320 x 480 (HVGA) resolution

Network HSPA/WCDMA:

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Europe: 2100 MHz
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US:1700/2100 MHz
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Up to 7.2 Mbps down-link (HSDPA) and 2 Mbps up-link (HSUPA) speeds

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:

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850/900/1800/1900 MHz

(Band frequency, HSUPA availability, and data speed are operator dependent.)

Device Control Trackball with Enter button

Keyboard Slide-out 5-row QWERTY keyboard

GPS GPS navigation capability with Google Maps™

Connectivity Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate

Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11b/g

HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)

Camera 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus

Audio Built-in microphone and speaker

Ring tone formats:

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AAC, AAC+, AMR-NB, MIDI, MP3, WMA, WMV
*
40 polyphonic and standard MIDI format 0 and 1 (SMF)/SP MIDI

Battery Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery

Capacity: 1150 mAh

Talk time:

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Up to 350 minutes for WCDMA
*
Up to 406 minutes for GSM

Standby time:

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Up to 402 hours for WCDMA
*
Up to 319 hours for GSM

(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)

Expansion Slot microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz

DC output: 5V and 1A

Special Features Digital Compass, Motion Sensor