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 Froyo comes to Voda
Mobile phone network Vodafone has starting rolling out the Google Android OS 2.2 from today onwards, to the HTC Desire handsets running on their network.
The carrier announced over twitter the update was coming, in a message that reads “Android 2.2 update for HTC Desire available on 23 August.” - with an accompanying link to their website’s forum. The webpage linked to the tweet ran through what needs to be done to prepare for its arrival, with what to do when an OTA (Over The Air) notification message arrives.
There appears to also be an option to opt out of using the Vodafone 360 software applications, as it’s been reported customers have noted a performance issue on the handsets with those apps running.
Elements such as HD 720p Video recording, app sharing along with better all around improvements to the OS are brought in with Froyo.
Google’s Android 2.2 will start being pushed out today and could last as long as two weeks to complete, according to Vodafone.
As always, we recommend downloading the update over WIFI instead of from the networks data means - due to the very size of the software, where the phone’s data allowance will be severely impacted otherwise.
Vodafone Tweet
 Froyo due soon on VM handsets
Virgin Media’s mobile phone outfit has announced they will be rolling out the Google mobile OS Android 2.2., on HTC Desires and Wildfire handsets running on their network in September.
The mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Virgin Mobile, who runs from T-Mobile’s network used twitter to get the message across to the media this week. The tweet from the main company, Virgin Media, reads: ” HTC Desire and HTC Wildfire - great news, we’re expecting to release OTA updates to 2.2 (Froyo) early Sep :)”
This update could be rolled out to the latest High Tech Computer Corporation mobile phones even before Virgin Media’s main mobile phone network starts their updates, which is reportedly sometime in September on T-Mobile.
Virgin Mobile has been silent over the Android ‘Froyo’ 2.2 update until now, where most networks have commented in one way or another on when their handsets will receive the update.
Virgin were one of the first networks to announce the budget HTC Wildfire, where we believe they could be the first to confirm a delivery date of the new Android OS on that device.
The rollout by Virgin will be through an Over The Air (OTA) notification message, although downloading the firmware update over WIFI would be preferable due to its sheer size.
Virgin Media tweet
Froyo comes to flagship phone
High Tech Computer Corporation rolled out the latest Google OS version of 2.2 to their Desire devices this past weekend, starting with the SIM free and unlocked models first and foremost.
Other mobile phone network dependant HTC Desires will receive the Froyo update in due course, as they have to qualify that iteration of the OS with their own software running on the handsets. We learnt last week from Orange this could take some time, as their HTC Hero update Android 2.1 has taken some months to achieve.
Networks such as Vodafone and O2 are most likely to receive the update during August, with T-Mobile and Orange to follow - or so it has been reported.
Besides just providing the ‘Froyo’ Android 2.2 version there is also the HTC Sense overlay to Android, which arrives part and parcel of the roll out. The Google OS update now provides the ability to record HD 720p video on the Desire, where HTC bundles in their App Share widget that first appeared on their recent Wildfire budget handset.
Those lucky enough to have the unlocked HTC Desire should have been notified with an Over The Air update message this weekend, although downloading the update over WIFI is preferable due to the overall size of the Android 2.2 update.
Switching from Samsung to Sony displays
HTC has announced it will stop using AMOLED screens on their mobile phones, in favour of the Super LCD displays in upcoming handsets and also on the HTC Desires and future Nexus Ones. This news comes a week after Google stopped selling the Nexus One phones directly, which could mean the mobiles will still continue to be made by HTC only for other vendors and mobile phone networks.
AMOLED displays that are currently within the more recent HTC handsets are manufactured by Samsung where rumour has it the demand is high and the supplies are running low, where the AMOLED screens are also plagued with poor visibility in sunlight as we’ve seen on One Mobile Ring.
The Super LCD (SLCD) displays are manufactured by Sony, where they are on a similar par to the AMOLED screens only LCD doesn’t traditionally suffer from the same sunlight-washout issues.
Super LCD’s will improve on battery life, as they don’t have the same drain on power resources as the AMOLED currently do in the HTC Desire. HTC also believe the viewing experience is comparable to that of an AMOLED display, with better possible viewing angles.
This new display technology is due to appear in handsets arriving on the shelves later this year, within the new models in addition to the updating the current range of phones which will be unknown to the end user.
With both phones being cut down versions of flagship models
UK mobile phone network Three has announced two new handsets are now available through them, the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro and the HTC Wildfire in exclusive colours. Both these handsets are now purchasable through Three’s One Plan tariff, which was unveiled last week with a six month free premium Spotify account.
Effectively, the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro is the same model as the Xperia X10 Mini, only with a slide-out physical Qwerty keyboard where that phone is just a cut down version of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. The Mini Pro only has a 2.6-inch touch screen, where its larger counterpart arrives with a 4-inch display although both run version 1.6 of Android at this time, with their own overlay the OS.
The HTC Wildfire could also be seen as a lite version of another handset, where this time it’s the HTC Desire phone. The Wildfire has a less powerful processor with a 3.2-inch screen, as compared to the 3.7-inch display of the Desire although both arrive with the more recent 2.1 version of Android plus the HTC Sense overlay to that very OS.
Three have these handsets in exclusive colours to them, which is a black case to the Mini Pro and metal mocha on the Wildfire. The two mobile phones are available free on a £30 a month contract, which includes 2000 minutes to any network, 5000 minutes to any Three phone numbers, 5000 texts and 1GB data in addition to free Skye, Twitter, Windows Live Messenger.
The handsets are also purchasable on a pay as you go contracts, with the HTC Wildfire coming in at £199 and the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro costing £249.
A mobile phone that warrants its name 
HTC’s latest flagship mobile phone arrives carrying the appropriate name of Desire, where the uptake for the device merits its moniker – if sales are anything to go by.
The Desire looks and feels very much like another of the company’s recent handsets, the stateside Google Nexus One. The HTC Desire is running the current version of Google’s Android OS, although version 2.2 on its way very soon. Desire has a very fast 1Ghz processor, with a large 3.7-inch 480×800 AMOLED capacitive touch screen which is very responsive and great to use. Although the AMOLED screen isn’t that great in bright sunshine, where the older LCD TFT screens can show more detail if placed side by side with the Desire – indoors it’s a whole different story.
HTC runs its own UI on top of Android called HTC Sense, which first appeared on the Hero handset and now battles with Motorola’s MotoBlur and Sony Ericsson’s User Experience on features. Sense has a much more easy-on-the-eye user interface than the basic Android OS, with seven customisable home screens as opposed to the standard three. It’s a decent overlay to Android, but those other mobile manufactures offer more functionality than HTC, where after a year not much really has changed since the Hero’s version.
Sense comes with HTC Friend Stream, which rolls up all the Twitter and Facebook updates into one column. The Motorola MotoBlur with its Happenings and TimeScape by Sony Ericsson has the same social networking abilities, only they are much better worked into Android and therefore come across much more thoroughly integrated. The Desire does have the multi-touch ‘pinch-to-zoom-to-in’ feature, also it has the natively ability to view Flash content which isn’t on many mobile phones around today, such as the Apples’ iPhones.
The address book on the HTC Desire is one of its better features, as it pulls in all the contact information automatically from the likes of Facebook, Gmail, Hotmail and Twitter then thoroughly integrates them all together in an intelligent way. This is thanks to both Android and HTC Sense, working in partnership to achieve the integration that works really well.
Battery life isn’t the strongest feature of the Desire, where the phone doesn’t really make it through a normal 8 hour day with all the social networking features enabled. HTC has used a 1400mAh battery instead of a 1500mAh version, which isn’t expected on the larger flagship handsets where you will see the red battery warning level appear more frequently than not.
Bottom line
The HTC Desire is a name-worthy mobile phone with a very responsive touch screen that is both large and bright, although viewing in direct sunlight lets it down. Also letting it down is that HTC Sense overlay is now looking a little dated, as compared to MotoBlur and the battery life can be bothersome too – although you can limit the features, allowing the phone to last to the end of the day. The new Android 2.2 version is arriving on the phone soon, which hopefully could bring better features to HTC Sense.
Like the Nexus One, and then some
 Android fan blog, Phandroid (see what they did there?) report that all the UK networks have now announced plans to sell the HTC Desire.
The Desire is basically HTC’s own brand version of Google’s Nexus One. Similar looking and with virtually the same feature set, the Desire replaces the trackball seen on previous HTC models with improvements to HTC’s Sense UI. Running Android 2.1 powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon, this top-end smartphone’s availability across all UK carriers will help the popularity and uptake of the OS.
T-Mobile are likely to get it out first, with a release planned at the end of March. The other networks are harder to pin down, giving more flexible timescales like ‘springtime’ or ‘Q2’ and ‘first half’. Anyone who wants to buy one will see these as code words for ‘eventually’.
Going robo-shopping in Barcelona
 More Android phones are confirmed at the Mobile World Congress this week, for release in the UK market. Vodafone are taking two from HTC and T-Mobile is branding another Huawei device in its own livery, the same way it began selling HTC devices. All of these babies run the latest version of Android, 2.1 out of the box, and are reported as available from April.
From HTC, Vodafone pick up two capacitive touchscreen phones. First the successor to the Hero, the HTC Legend. With a 3.2 inch AMOLED QVGA screen displaying 320×480, it replaces the trackball of the Hero for an optical joystick. Second, and for higher-end Voda customers, is the HTC Desire. Featuring a 3.7 inch AMOLED WVGA screen display of 480×800 pixels, it’s powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. It also has the snazzy optical joystick.
From Huawei, T-Mobile will launch its own-brand Pulse Mini, applying the mini-me trend that’s developing across manufacturers to the design of the original Pulse. It features a 2.8 inch QVGA resistive touchscreen with a stylus. Readers will know it’s hard for me to buzz about naff resistive-screen technology, but more exciting news is that the Pulse Mini should be much cheaper than the two HTC models, increasing Android 2.1 adoption and bringing it to to pre-pay customers.
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