Google today has released a significant update for their flagship Android phone - Nexus One almost right after when Apple pushed firmware 3.1.3 for iPhone users. This new update (ERE27) for Nexus One brings the much needed official support for multitouch in Web Browser, Maps and 3D Gallery. You can now finally use pinch-to-zoom gestures just like how you can on an iPhone. This update also fixes the 3G issue which has been bugging T-Mobile users. The complete feature list as illustrated on the official blog is as follows.
Folks over at AllDroid have managed to overclock the Motorola Droid phone to 1.1Ghz, hence making it faster than the “stock” Nexus One which is powered by 1Ghz Snapdragon processor. The test was carried out by testing Droid with different clock speeds (800Mhz, 900Mhz, 1Ghz, 1.1Ghz) after which it was found to be running most stable at 800Mhz.
Like the Motorola Droid on Verizon, US version of Nexus One which was launched by Google earlier this month didn’t ship with a multitouch capable web browser even though the hardware and Android 2.1 OS is fully capable of doing it. This surely was a set back considering the fact that iPhone can do it since 2007. But now folks over at XDA-Developers have released a Nexus One add-on, which enables full multitouch functionality, including gestures like pinch-to-zoom in Nexus One’s native web browser.
If you are a Nexus One user and are having issues getting full 3G network speeds on your phone, Kevin C. Tofel of jkontherun may have a solution for you. Kevin has been stuck with EDGE connectivity on his Nexus One using T-Mobile network for over a week, despite the fact that his old G1 was able to pull full broadband speed from the same network in exact same location. After applying a simple fix, he has been since able to get full mobile broadband speeds even after reboots.
Adobe for the last one year or so has been actively involved in developing Flash Player for Android platform. They were quick to show off a demo of Flash Player 10.1 running on the Nexus One following the official announcement of the said phone by Google. Adobe, Google, Qualcomm and HTC are working together to deliver Flash Player on Nexus One in the spring of this year to one up the rival Apple’s iPhone which lacks the Flash Player capabilities since the original iPhone in 2007.
We informed you about the Google Nexus One when it was rooted even before the official launch. This was possible because of the engineering bootloader which was shipped with pre-release Nexus One devices. The retail devices have locked bootloaders but Paul at Modaco forums has managed to unlock it so that you can root your retail Nexus One for full file system access on Android 2.1.
Today is the big day for the Android side of the house. It is today when Google is finally going to unveil its latest darling to take on the iPhones, Droids, Pres and the HD2s of this era. Folks at Engadget, who got their hands on the device before Google’s announcement has put up an excellent review which covers all the pros and cons of the said phone. Their final verdict on the handset hasn't changed much from a couple of days ago when they first got hold of it.
Folks over at AllDroid have managed to port the multitouch capable web browser from the European version of Droid i.e. Motorola Milestone over to the Motorola Droid on Verizon Wireless. For those of you who don’t know, Motorola Droid on Verizon Wireless in US doesn’t support multitouch functionality in most apps even though the hardware is fully capable of running it. This is probably due to the US iPhone patents because of which even the Google Nexus One wont be able to support multitouch functionality.
The final price plan for Google Nexus One which was leaked last week reveled that the unlocked version of the said phone will go on sale for US $529.99, and the one locked with T-Mobile for 2 years contract will cost US $179.99. So as it turned out, these prices are only good as long as you are getting the phone from US, either from Google itself or from T-Mobile because internationally, Nexus One is going to cost a lot more.
The latest Nexus One firmware with Android 2.1 (Build ERD79) has been successfully ported over to Motorola Droid. Support for landscape mode, live wallpapers, installation of paid apps from Marketplace and keyboard with backlight are all said to be working in this version of Android 2.1 for Droid, compared to the last one which was leaked earlier this month.
