Archive for: G1
No, it’s not news on a shiny new HSPA+ device. But it is something that will lead to that. T-Mobile USA now has a live signup page for HSPA+ information regarding the network and upcoming supporting hardware. If the silhouette on signup page is a legit image of the first HSPA+ phone, one could guess that it’ll be touchscreen only, judging by its svelte outline and all.
But further digging into the page’s source code reveals something very interesting — the name “Vanguard”. Those keeping track will know that the “Vangaurd”, an HTC-built device, has also taken on the names “Vision”, “G1 successor”, “Blaze”, and “Unicorn”. Plenty of titles and plenty of mystery. The leaked HTC Vision shots that have been floating around show a pretty decent looking device. On top of that, if Android 3.0 drops on the first HSPA+ device (as it has been mentoined), we’re looking at quite a back to school gift (wink wink…). Looks like we’ll have to wait a bit longer. All I can say is if HSPA+ is indeed a feature of the upcoming HTC Vision, count me in!
Now before you get all frothy at the mouth, turning over every little pebble for the download link, we must stress that this is an alpha — expect bugs.
Thrown together by infamous Android dev, Cyanogenmod and the many talented folks over at XDA, G1/Magic owners can finally relish in the Froyo limelight.
One thing you should know is the list of non-working functions: WiFi/GPS, camera, some wallpapers, external audio and flash. It seems kind of lacking now, but the list of working items should prove adequate: calls, 3G, LEDs, call audio, gapps and the notification bar. Don’t be too bummed though. These guys are fast — really fast. As of writing it appears to up to the 15th build of this particular ROM so there’s no need to worry about stagnation.
If you’re up to it, jump on over to this forum thread and get caught up to speed.
It’s one thing for developers to look at Android and say that any updates can easily be ported to older hardware. But it’s an entirely different story if Android employees themselves get caught saying the same thing under the radar. According to the Android Police, a quick chat session they had with Android employees after the I/O event had wrapped up for the day is pretty alarming, if not somewhat common knowledge.
- February 11, 2010 2:07 pm
Some may lambaste the G1 users for their old, outdated hardware by poking fun of the user and phone itself. They laughed yesterday. You laugh today. T-Mobile USA G1 owners will be the first users on the magenta carrier to test out their new “Voice Plus Beta” service. Essentially it’s a much more complex and useful call manager type of setup. Features such as call divert, call defer, visual voicemail, and city ID are a few of the bigger features that are gaining attention.
So what exactly do the aforementioned features do?
- Call Divert: Configure what numbers you want to skip the whole ring ring ring thing and go straight to voicemail.
- Call Defer:Alerts callers that you’re busy and unable to answer ATM and schedules a later time in which to call back
- City ID:This one’s kind of self explanatory. It basically just gives you more detailed information about who’s calling you.
Overall it’s a pretty nifty add-on to an already great carrier and service. Going from reader to actual user however will take a tad bit of plundering on your part. TMO isn’t just pushing this out to everyone. You’ll need to contact T-Mobile in the form of an email in order to get your name on the list of select users.
If you manage to get in, let us know how it is!
PhoneArena
[Image Source
- February 8, 2010 11:50 pm
The Motorola DROID may be stealing a majority of the rooted Android articles with things such as 2.1 goodies ported over or 1GHz overclocking, but it’s hardly the only kid at the playground. The G1 and MyTouch 3G may be older, slower, and generally less desirable when compared to the likes of the DROID and Nexus One, but those aging devices still have some kick left in them.
Thanks to Eugene373 over at xda-forums, the MT3G (read: MyTouch 3G/HTC Magic) and G1 have been overclocked just like their bigger, hairier chested brother, to the tune of 780MHz. When pushed further, those old bucket of bolts even managed pinging the 1GHz bell.
The DROID at 1GHz is ominous enough, running at almost 2x the rated clock speed. But that ARM A8 in the DROID is a newer, more power efficient chip. The processor in both the MyTouch 3G and G1 is an older, less power efficient ARM A11. Pushing that to 1GHz is just begging for trouble, and at the very least, melted skin.
Still, the geek in me yearns to try it out. If only I had some older Android hardware to try it on… Thats where you come in. If you don’t mind voiding your warranty and risking the life of your precious Android beauty, overclock that thing and report back to us with the results.
AndroidCommunity
- January 15, 2010 12:55 pm
Chief complaints nowadays regarding the G1 include slow and sluggish performance when compared to some of the other Android devices on the market, poor battery life, and of course, worries of a dead end nearing the upgrade path.
The last scare does have some merit. The OS partition on the G1′s built in memory is pretty much maxed out. How developers manage to cram more of those tiny bits inside the case is at times mind boggling, but that’s what they do.
If you’re still wielding a G1 and are looking into or already in the custom ROM scene, you may have heard about a ROM developer that goes by the name of “Manup456″. The road to righteousness of course starts out with a root user requirement and escalates from there. Even still, most users should be able to carry out the tasks fairly easily.
Check out Androidspin and/or XDA for the how-to’s and needed files. BTW, one nice cherry on top is that in this new v1.5, Live Wallpapers are now a go. Whew! Hit up those links folks!
GadgetVenue
- December 27, 2009 12:47 pm
I almost bit the Android bullet way back in late ’08 when the G1 first graced the hands of many geek alike. The hesitation on my part was bittersweet. On one hand, I was missing out on the all of the first gen sparkle that surrounded Android. On the other, missing out on that first gen sparkle was also a blessing — allowing me to forgo the standard growing pains first gen products often bring with.
The biggest part of Android however renders this growing pain a somewhat moot point as constant upgrades allow even old hardware to chug along with the latest and greatest. However, hope for 2.0+ was starting to dwindle in many G1 owners’ eyes with each passing day as concerns of system partition space being completely tapped out scaring some.
Thankfully those stories can be put to rest as “official” word has been made that the G1 2.0 and 2.0.1 updates have already been packaged up into nice OTA updates ready to be sent on their way. While both 2.0 and 2.0.1 were tweaked, expect 2.0.1 to be the official update pushed to impatient G1 owners when the times comes.
Speaking of the coming time, word is that the OTA update should be dropping soon — as in very soon. Is “very soon” hours, days, weeks? We’ll see…
AndroidSpin
