Motorola, it seems, has suffered an embarrassing bout of premature release.

Monday afternoon, the company announced on its Facebook page that the Android 2.1 update would beginning hitting Droid handsets this week. The reaction was huge: nearly 800 “likes” and pages upon pages of excitement-filled comments.

Now, however, the company says the announcement was made in error.

Where’s that damn undo button when you need it?

Motorola’s Android Announcement

Android 2.1 entered the world with the release of Google’s Nexus One last month. At the time of the launch, Motorola said the software update would be reaching the Droid and other Android phones at some point in the near future.

Fast-forward to this past Monday, when the following message appeared on Motorola’s official Facebook fan page:

“Hi all — we know you are frustrated with the lack of details regarding Android software upgrades and we sincerely apologize for not being able to share info sooner. We’re happy to relay the 2.1 upgrade to DROID will start to roll out this week, and we will have more information to share on other device upgrades later this week as well. Thanks for your patience and continued support.”

All seemed peachy until yesterday, when a manager at Motorola’s official support forum posted a message saying the update was not, in fact, ready to go.

“How embarrassing,” he wrote. “Apparently we jumped the gun on these details.”

He reiterated the mistake in a later posting, saying: “The details posted here and on the support site were prematurely released for public view. They have been removed from both places.”

(See? I wasn’t lying about that premature release business. I guess it really does happen to everyone.)

Motorola’s Droid and Android 2.1

All right, so what’s the story now? A representative from Motorola tells me the Android 2.1 update is expected to roll-out to Droid owners “soon,” though she was not able to provide a specific time frame for its debut. She did confirm that it would be sent over-the-air as a free download, as typically occurs with mobile OS updates.

So stay tuned, my fellow Droid owners. With any luck, this delay won’t last long.

In the meantime, if you want somewhere else to channel your frustrations, go read this story. It’ll make you appreciate Android’s open nature — or, at the very least, give you an uplifting chuckle.

[via PC World]

Not 24 hours after Steve Jobs told his minions that Google’s Don’t Be Evil mantra was “B.S.” (or “crap” depending on who you listen to) Google answers by pushing out an Android update to Nexus One users that includes multi-touch (and other Android goodness).

Google, up until yesterday, left multi-touch off its U.S. Android phones, presumably in deference to Apple’s multi-touch patent.

It was also rumored that Apple asked Google not to release multitouch in the U.S. to avoid the IP aggression we’ve seen it take against Palm for including multi-touch in the Pre.

I’m not saying that Google released the Nexus One multi-touch update because of Jobs’ comments, but it may have been pushed out a little sooner because of them.

More evidence of how the relationship between Apple and Google has chilled lately.

The N1 update takes the Android/iPhone battle to a new level and frankly, the ball’s in Apple’s court. Jobs promised that the next iPhone would be A+ and that Android won’t be able to keep up with it.

Them’s fighting words, Steve!

If Apple doesn’t address a majority of the items on my iPhone wishlist (background apps, voice search, improved home/lock screens, widgets, etc.) with its “A+” release we’ll know that Jobs was just trash-talking and that Android has clearly taken the lead in the smartphone wars.

Note: Impatient Nexus One owners can force the firmware update by following this technique. It preserves your data and apps and doesn’t require root access.

[via ZDNet]

Currently, Android OS-based smartphones can only run software stored in their internal memory, which severely restricts the number of apps that can be installed. Google intends to remove this limitation, though.

Android devices have slots for removable memory cards, but these can’t be used to hold software that’s been installed on the device. Instead, apps go into a small internal partition that’s not directly accessible by users. This was done to prevent users from easily pirating software, but it also restricts the number of apps that can be installed.

After yesterday’s unveiling of Android OS 2.1, Google’s revealed a plan to allow users to install software onto a removable memory card in an encrypted form. This will both prevent easy piracy while also allowing users to store many gigabytes of app files.

At this point, it’s not clear when this feature will be add to the Android OS. The fact that a Google executive is willing to talk about it in public is a sign that it could be relatively soon, though.

[via Brighthand.com]

Either 2.0 or 2.0.1 are being polished at the moment, it seems

Early adopters of Google’s Android operating system, namely the owners of a T-mobile G1 handset, might have a new reason to rejoice, it seems. According to the latest news around the Internet, there are great chances that the Android 2.0 operating system will make an appearance on their mobile phones, and there are also great chances that they will receive the Android 2.0.1 flavor of the platform.

This is a rumor that might stand up in the end. As many of you might already know, the G1 was said at a certain point in the past to be only eligible for an update to the Android 1.5 (Cupcake) iteration, while the Android 1.6 (Donut) flavor was said to be too big to fit on G1’s internal memory. However, Android 1.6 went just fine with G1, and there are great chances that 2.0 (Eclair) will also fit the handset’s flash memory.

According to the guys over at AndroidSPIN, there is no doubt that the T-Mobile G1 will enjoy an update to Android 2.0 or 2.0.1in the near future. There are no details available on the source of the rumor, yet they say that an OTA update is currently being polished for the device (for what it’s worth T-Mobile has been rumored before to be working on 2.0 updates for its Android devices).

“It has been confirmed that T-Mobile is releasing an Eclair update for the T-Mobile G1. The update will be at least Android 2.0 but more likely Android 2.0.1 as both versions have already been prepared as OTA updates. An anonymous source of ours has confirmed that both the Android 2.0 and the Android 2.0.1 are in the hands of some very fortunate people. Nothing can be released just yet due to Non Disclosure reasons,” AndroidSPIN notes.

The T-Mobile G1 was the first Android device on the market, and a wide range of updates were delivered to it, bringing forth numerous enhancements, but it is rather uncertain whether its owners will be receiving other updates too in the future. In case Android 2.0 is indeed on its way to the G1, it will receive a warm welcome from the handset’s users, that’s for sure.

[via Softpedia]

According to a trusted source who’s seen it with their own eyes, the Google Phone “is a certainty.”

And by “Google Phone” we don’t simply mean another Android handset. We’re talking about Google-branded hardware running a version of Android we haven’t yet seen.

Over the next few weeks, Google Phones (most probably in early, prototype form) will flood the Mountain View campus. They’ll don large LCDs while running a new version of Android—either Flan or the version of Android beyond it—which our source spotted running on Google’s handset as well as a laptop. (Whatever the software was, it most certainly wasn’t Chrome OS, we were assured.)

But maybe the most intriguing bit is what someone said to our source offhandedly, that the current Android, the we all know and love, is not the “real” Android. So what makes for a “real” version of Android?

Our best guess is an Android OS with Google Voice at its heart.

[via Gizmodo]

After Dell CEO Michael Dell confirmed that the company’s Android smartphone would, in fact, make it to the US – albeit with some changes from the original Chinese model – details of a second Android-based device have leaked.  According to Tinhte.com and another image supplied to SlashGear, you’re looking at the Dell Streak, a 5-inch WVGA 800 x 480 touchscreen Android 2.0 Donut MID, with WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G WWAN connectivity.  Front photos of the Dell Streak – together with size comparison shots – in the gallery, together with a hands-on video after the cut.

The Dell Streak – as the prototype is labelled – also has a 5-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, a microSD card slot and a 1,300mAh battery.  Hands-on feedback is scant, aside from that the WiFi was very sensitive.  From the video, below, we can see that hardware controls are minimal, with three touch-sensitive buttons along the right-hand side of the display and volume controls – together with a camera shortcut and an unknown key – on the top edge.  A multifunction dock connector is on the bottom edge, and there appears to be a front-facing camera – presumably for video calls – on the left-hand side of the display.  On the “engineering sample” label, meanwhile, the model variant is listed as “US”, suggesting that at least prototypes using US-spec 3G are being tested.

The existence of the device fits in with rumors from back in June, when the Wall Street Journal reported that Dell had been developing Android MID prototypes.  Described as “larger than Apple’s iPod touch”, the speculation was fuelled by later comments from Dell’s consumer devision president, Ronald Garriques, who suggested that the company was considering screen sizes ranging from 4- to 12-inches.

Thanks Trung Tran!

[via SlashGear]

After Dell CEO Michael Dell confirmed that the company’s Android smartphone would, in fact, make it to the US – albeit with some changes from the original Chinese model – details of a second Android-based device have leaked.  According to Tinhte.com and another image supplied to SlashGear, you’re looking at the Dell Streak, a 5-inch WVGA 800 x 480 touchscreen Android 2.0 Donut MID, with WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G WWAN connectivity.  Front photos of the Dell Streak – together with size comparison shots – in the gallery, together with a hands-on video after the cut.

The Dell Streak – as the prototype is labelled – also has a 5-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, a microSD card slot and a 1,300mAh battery.  Hands-on feedback is scant, aside from that the WiFi was very sensitive.  From the video, below, we can see that hardware controls are minimal, with three touch-sensitive buttons along the right-hand side of the display and volume controls – together with a camera shortcut and an unknown key – on the top edge.  A multifunction dock connector is on the bottom edge, and there appears to be a front-facing camera – presumably for video calls – on the left-hand side of the display.  On the “engineering sample” label, meanwhile, the model variant is listed as “US”, suggesting that at least prototypes using US-spec 3G are being tested.

The existence of the device fits in with rumors from back in June, when the Wall Street Journal reported that Dell had been developing Android MID prototypes.  Described as “larger than Apple’s iPod touch”, the speculation was fuelled by later comments from Dell’s consumer devision president, Ronald Garriques, who suggested that the company was considering screen sizes ranging from 4- to 12-inches.

embedded by Embedded Video

Thanks Trung Tran!

[via Slash Gear]