Ubuntu For Android

What I gathered after reading the official site in the link above is that you can install or rather dual boot Ubuntu into Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and above.

When using it as a mobile phone, you will use your Android phone per normal. However, when you connect the phone to a monitor through HDMI and a keyboard/mouse through USB Host mode, the Ubuntu OS within Android boots and you can use it like a normal PC.

According to the features, when your phone is connected, you can answer calls, reply to SMSes all within the Ubuntu itself without the need to touch your phone.

Of course, having to dual boot two OSes requires high hardware requirements and hence you need to have at least a dual core 1GHz Android phone with at least 512MB of RAM.

Introduction

Ubuntu for Android provides a full desktop experience, including office software, web browsing, email and media applications, on Android phones docked to a screen and keyboard. Thanks to tight integration with the Android service layer, the transition between the two environments is seamless, making it easy to access the phone’s services from the desktop when docked.

Technical specifications

Ubuntu for Android requires minimal custom hardware enablement, allowing fast and cost-efficient core integration. It requires a core based on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) or any subsequent version.

Ubuntu and Android share the same kernel. When docked, the Ubuntu OS boots and runs concurrently with Android. This allows both mobile and desktop functionality to co-exist in different runtimes.

Shared services and applications are delivered using a Convergence API module which ensures the tight integration between desktop and mobile environments. Work is balanced across the cores of the phone. When the handset is not docked, both CPU cores transfer their full power to Android.

Hardware Requirements

• Dual-core 1GHz CPU
• 512 MB RAM
• Video acceleration: shared kernel driver with associated X driver;Open GL, ES/EGL
• Storage: 2GB for OS disk image
• HDMI: video out with secondary frame buffer device
• USB host mode

Official Site: Ubuntu For Android
Official Site: Ubuntu For Android: Features & Specifications

Engadget has their hands-on on with Google Chrome on Android! Check it out!

Google Chrome For Android

Introduction
In 2008, we launched Google Chrome to help make the web better. We’re excited that millions of people around the world use Chrome as their primary browser and we want to keep improving that experience. Today, we’re introducing Chrome for Android Beta, which brings many of the things you’ve come to love about Chrome to your Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phone or tablet. Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta is focused on speed and simplicity, but it also features seamless sign-in and sync so you can take your personalized web browsing experience with you wherever you go, across devices.

Speed
With Chrome for Android, you can search, navigate and browse fast-Chrome fast. You can scroll through web pages as quickly as you can flick your finger. When searching, your top search results are loaded in the background as you type so pages appear instantly. And of course, both search and navigation can all be done quickly from the Chrome omnibox.

Simplicity
Chrome for Android is designed from the ground up for mobile devices. We reimagined tabs so they fit just as naturally on a small-screen phone as they do on a larger screen tablet. You can flip or swipe between an unlimited number of tabs using intuitive gestures, as if you’re holding a deck of cards in the palm of your hands, each one a new window to the web.

One of the biggest pains of mobile browsing is selecting the correct link out of several on a small-screen device. Link Preview does away with hunting and pecking for links on a web page by automatically zooming in on links to make selecting the precise one easier.

And as with Chrome on desktop, we built Chrome for Android with privacy in mind from the beginning, including incognito mode for private browsing and fine-grained privacy options (tap menu icon, ‘Settings’, and then ‘Privacy’).

Sign in
You can now bring your personalized Chrome experience with you to your Android phone or tablet. If you sign in to Chrome on your Android device, you can:

• View open tabs: Access the tabs you left open on your computer (also signed into Chrome) – picking up exactly where you left off.
• Get smarter suggestions: If you visit a site often on your computer, you’ll also get an autocomplete suggestion for it on your mobile device, so you can spend less time typing.
• Sync bookmarks: Conveniently access your favorite sites no matter where you are or which device you’re using.

Availability
Chrome is now available in Beta from Android Market, in select countries and languages for phones and tablets with Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. We’re eager to hear your feedback. Finally, we look forward to working closely with the developer community to create a better web on a platform that defines mobile.

Google Chrome Blog: Introducing Chrome for Android
Engadget: Chrome Beta for Android hands-on (video)

When I went reached there, I noticed some snow on the ground and I thought it doesn’t snow there and indeed it doesn’t. Those are artificial snow that Google made for the Christmas season. Too bad I missed the whole white snow part as when I am there, most of it has already melted.

Android Version History (From Wikipedia):
Since April 2009, each Android version has been developed under a codename based on a dessert item. These versions have released in alphabetical order: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich. The pre-release versions of Android were dubbed Astro and Bender, but these names could not ultimately be used for trademark reasons.

• Cupcake (v1.5) (30th April 2009)
• Donut (v1.6) (15th September 2009)
• Eclair (v2.0/2.1) (26th October 2009/12th January 2010)
• Froyo (v2.2) (20th May 2010)
• Gingerbread (v2.3) (6th December 2010)
• Honeycomb (v3.x) (22th February 2011)
• Ice Cream Sandwich (v4.x) (19th October 2011)
• Jelly Bean (v5.x) (TBA)

Android

Cupcake

Donut

Eclair

Froyo

Gingerbread

Honeycomb

Ice Cream Sandwich

Skoob on iPad (Bookshelf)

At launch there are about 39,000 local and international bestsellers for smartphones, tablets and PCs. Payment is in Singapore Dollars (SGD$) and made via Singapore Credit Cards or if you are a SingTel customer, you can charged it to your monthly SingTel bill.

You can download books on up to five devices on one account. Skoob is available for free on Apple iTunes Store and Android Marketplace. You can also use any browser to view them online via skoob or load the e-books into Adobe Digital Editions.

Google announce Galaxy Nexus & Android 4.0 yesterday in Hong Kong. The Galaxy Nexus is made by Samsung and will be available sometime in November 2011.

Galaxy Nexus

Galaxy Nexus Specifications

• Network: HSPA＋ 21Mbps/HSUPA 5.76Mbps 850/900/1900/1700/2100 EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
• Processor: 1.2 GHz Dual Core Processor (OMAP 4460)
• Display: 4.65″ 1280×720 HD Super AMOLED
• OS: Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
• Main (Rear) Camera: 5 MP AF with LED Flash with zero shutter lag and fast shot2shot
• Sub (Front) Camera: 1.3MP for Video Call
• Connectivity: Bluetooth technology v 3.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/ 5GHz), NFC
• Sensor: Accelerometer, Compass, Gyro, Light, Proximity, Barometer
• Memory: 1GB(RAM) ＋ 16GB/ 32GB Internal memory
• Size: 135.5,, x 67.94,, x 8.94mm, 135g
• Battery: Standard battery, Li-on 1,750 mAh

What’s New In Android 4.0

Beauty and simplicity
With Ice Cream Sandwich, our mission was to build a mobile OS that works on both phones and tablets, and to make the power of Android enticing and intuitive. We created a new font that’s optimized for HD displays and eliminated all hardware buttons in favor of adaptable software buttons. We also dramatically improved the keyboard, made notifications more interactive and created resizable widgets.

The desktop-class browser is significantly faster, featuring a refined tab manager and the ability to sync your bookmarks with Google Chrome. Ice Cream Sandwich also features the best mobile Gmail experience to date, with a new design that lets you quickly swipe through your inbox and search messages even when you’re offline. Calendar boasts a clean new look and you can zoom into your schedule with a pinch.

Connect and share
People are at the heart of Ice Cream Sandwich. We rethought how you browse your contacts with the new People app, which combines high-resolution photos and updates from Google+ and other social services. It’s also easier to capture and share your life with family and friends. Galaxy Nexus sports a high-end camera with zero shutter lag, automatic focus, top notch low-light performance and a simple way to capture panoramic pictures. Shoot amazing photos or 1080p video, and then edit and share them directly from your phone.

Beyond smart
Galaxy Nexus isn’t just a smartphone—it’s beyond smart. Ice Cream Sandwich gives you complete control over the amount of mobile data you use by helping you better understand and manage it. We’re also introducing Android Beam, which uses near field communication (NFC) to instantly share webpages, YouTube videos, maps, directions and apps by simply tapping two phones together. Face Unlock uses state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to unlock your phone with nothing more than a smile.

Links

• Official Site: Android 4.0 Highlights
• Official Site: Galaxy Nexus
• Official Blog Post: Unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich on the Galaxy Nexus
• Press Release: Samsung and Google introduce GALAXY Nexus
• Engadget: Samsung and Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich event liveblog!

The main feature of the LG Optimus 2X is the dual core NVIDIA TEGRA 2 Processor running at 1GHz and the overall experience of the phone is indeed snappy. If a stock Android ROM instead, I am sure it will be even faster. I am not a fan of any manufacturer customizing their own Android UI. I just prefer the stock Android UI. Having said that, the LG Android UI do have some similarities with the Samsung TouchWhiz UI.

The LG Optimus Black, it is using an IPS LCD capacitive 4″ touchscreen and said to have an excellent display called Nova Display which has 700 Nits whereas the iPhone 4 only has 500 Nits.

The Nit is a unit of visible-light intensity, commonly used to specify the brightness of a cathode ray tube or liquid crystal display computer display.

This is the first time I am hearing the term Nit and personally I can’t seem to notice any difference between the brightness of the screen on the LG Optimus Black and iPhone 4.

Entrance Of Black

iPhone 4 vs LG Optimus Black

iPhone 4 vs LG Optimus 2X

Press Release

Singapore, 18 March 2011 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a leading mobile phone provider and market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics today introduced the Nexus S, the world’s first handset to feature the latest version of Google’s Android platform. Powered by Android 2.3, the Nexus S gives users a seamless experience in navigating through functions, applications and the web. With over 150,000 applications available at their fingertips through the Android Market, users are spoilt for choice.

Ms Irene Ng, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Samsung Asia Pte Ltd, said, “Samsung is pleased to deliver the best Android smartphone experience for consumers. The Nexus S is a smartphone that combines superior functionality and a stunning user-experience that will appeal to the increasingly connected Singapore consumers and meet their demand for entertainment and functionality on the go. With its innovative, intuitive user experience and its best-in-class technology, the Nexus S gives consumers the ultimate mobile performance in a single device.”

The Nexus S also features a four-inch SUPER CLEAR LCD screen that delivers a brighter viewing experience for enjoying games, videos and browsing the web. The Contour Display also features a curved design for a more ergonomic feel for greater user comfort. Powered by a 1 GHz Samsung application processor, Nexus S produces rich 3D graphics, faster upload and download times and supports HD-like multimedia content.

Nexus S is equipped with a five-megapixel rear facing camera and camcorder, as well as a VGA front facing camera. In addition, Nexus S features a gyroscope sensor to provide a smooth, fluid gaming experience when the user is tilting the device up or down or panning the phone to the left or right. The phone also comes with 16 GB of internal memory.

The Nexus S also includes popular Android features such as portable Wi-Fi hotspot, true multitasking, access to Google mobile services such as Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps, Voice Actions, Google Voice and YouTube, and access to over 100,000 apps and widgets on Android Market.

Nexus S specifications

• Network: 3.5G (HSDPA 7.2Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps) / 3G (900 / 1700 / 2100 MHz) / EDGE / GPRS Class 12 / GSM Quad-band (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz)
• OS: Android 2.3.3 / Gingerbread
• Processor: 1GHz
• Display: 4.0″ 16M colours WVGA (800×480) full touch (C-Type) SUPER CLEAR LCD
• Camera: 5.0 mega-pixel Camera (2560×1920) + VGA front Camera (640×480), Auto Focus, Flash
• Video: HD(720p@30fps) video player (DivX, MEPG4, H.263, H.264, WMV), video recorder (720×480, H.263) up to 30fps
• Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, AMR-NB, 3.5mm ear jack
• Value-added Features: Voice Dialer, motion sensor, multi-touch zoom, MS Exchange ActiveSync, Google Voice Search, Gmail, Google Earth, Google Latitude, Google Maps, Google Places, Google Search, Google Talk and Android Market
• Connectivity: Bluetooth technology v 2.1 + EDR, MicroUSB v2.0 (High-Speed), Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (up to 600Mbps), Tethering and portable hotspot
• Memory: 16GB
• Size: 63 x 124.74 x 11.5mm / 140g
• Battery: 1500 mAh
• Talk time: Up to 14 hours (2G) / 6.7 hours (3G)
• Standby time: Up to 712.8 hours (2G) / 427.2 hours (3G)

Angry Birds Plush Toy

SingTel’s Droid

And now, the first beta of mig33 Android Client is ready for download! You need to be using Android 2.1 (Eclair) and above in order to use the app.

You can search for “mig33″ (without quotes) in Android marketplace. If you could not find it, try browsing the latest apps in the “Social” category.

Alternatively, you can download the APK file directly and manually transferred it to your Android phone.

Welcome Screen | Login Screen

Register Page | Home Screen

PS: Screenshot is taken during development and may differ slightly from the final build.

Download: Android Beta version (v1.0)
View: mig33 Download Page
Press Release: mig33 Brings Android to 40+ Million Customers

Google Nexus S

Google Nexus S

Nexus S is the next generation of Nexus devices, co-developed by Google and Samsung. The latest Android platform (Gingerbread), paired with a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor and 16GB of memory, makes Nexus S one of the fastest phones on the market. It comes pre-installed with the best of Google apps and enabled with new and popular features like true multi-tasking, Wi-Fi hotspot, Internet Callling, NFC support, and full web browsing.

Specifications:

• Connectivity
  • Quad-band GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900
  • Tri-band HSPA: 900, 2100, 1700
  • HSPA type: HSDPA (7.2Mbps) HSUPA (5.76Mbps)
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 n/b/g
  • Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
  • Near Field Communication (NFC)
  • Assisted GPS (A-GPS)
  • microUSB 2.0
• Processor and memory
  • 1GHz Cortex A8 (Hummingbird) processor
  • 512MB RAM
  • 16GB iNAND flash memory
• Display
  • 4.0″ WVGA (480×800)
  • Contour Display with curved glass screen
  • Super AMOLED
  • 235 ppi
  • Capacitive touch sensor
  • Anti-fingerprint display coating
• Cameras and multimedia
  • Back-facing: 5 megapixels (2560×1920)
  • 720 x 480 video resolution
  • H.264, H.263 MPEG4 video recording
  • Auto focus
  • Flash
  • Front-facing: VGA (640×480)
  • 3.5mm, 4-conductor headset jack (stereo audio plus microphone)
  • Earpiece and microphone
  • Software noise-cancellation
• Hardware
  • Haptic feedback vibration
  • Three-axis gyroscope
  • Accelerometer
  • Digital compass
  • Proximity sensor
  • Light sensor
• Battery
  • Talk time up to 6.7 hours on 3G (14 hours on 2G)
  • Standby time up to 17.8 days on 3G (29.7 days on 2G)
  • 1500 mAH Lithum Ion
• Size and weight
  • 63mm x 123.9mm x 10.88mm
  • 129g

Official Page: Google Nexus
Official Page: Google Nexus S

Android 2.3

Changes:

• UI refinements for simplicity and speed
• Faster, more intuitive text input
• One-touch word selection and copy/paste
• Improved power management
• Control over applications
• New ways of communicating, organizing (Internet calling, Near-field communications, Downloads management, Camera)

Platform Highlights: Android 2.3
SDK: Android 2.3 Platform

Press Release: Samsung And Google To Deliver Nexus S The First Mobile Phone In The World Powered By Android 2.3
Official Blog Post: Introducing Nexus S with Gingerbread

Since we launched Android and Android Market, we have seen the population of Android users and devices expand into many countries. This widespread adoption has brought with it growing interest in Android Market’s support for the buying and selling of paid applications in these additional countries.

We have been hard at work on this and it is my pleasure to announce that effective today, developers from 20 more countries can now sell paid apps on Android Market. Additionally, over the next 2 weeks, users in 18 additional countries will be able to purchase paid apps from Android Market.

Support for paid application sales is now expanded to developers in 29 countries, with today’s additions of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan.

In addition, Android Market users from 32 countries will be able to buy apps, with the addition of Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, and Taiwan. No action is necessary if you have targeted your paid apps to be available to “All Locations” and would like to launch in these additional countries. If you have not selected “All Locations” and would like to target these additional countries, or if you have selected “All Locations” and do not want to launch your apps in these additional buyer countries, please visit the Android Market publisher site regularly over the next two weeks to make the necessary adjustments as the new buyer countries launch.

We remain committed to continuing to improve the buyer and seller experiences on Android Market. Among other initiatives, we look forward to bringing the Android Market paid apps ecosystem to even more countries in the coming months. Please stay tuned.

Source: More Countries, More sellers, More buyers

SingTel send me the Motorola BackFlip for a review last month but because of my busy schedule I can only review it till recently. I apologize for the delay. I will be only covering the physical aspect of the phone because in terms of OS and software it is very similar to the Motorola Dext which I reviewed 5 months ago.

Package Content

If you notice the battery cover comes separately in the package instead of being pre-fixed to the back of the phone.

Back View

I would consider the Motorola BackFlip a form factor of its own because it is neither a candybar phone, sliding phone or a flip phone. The reason it is called a BackFlip because at the back instead of the usual battery cover, you will see a keyboard and the keyboard can be flipped so that it is directly below the screen.

Keyboard And Screen

Trackpad

Once you did that, the hidden trackpad at the back of the screen is revealed. You can use the trackpad to navigate around the phone. It takes quite sometime to get used to. Because of the trackpad, the Motorola BackFlip has 3 forms on input method, touch screen, QWERTY keyboard and trackpad. I would say it is an overkill because I don’t think you can move the mouse cursor faster than you tap on the screen.

Keyboard

The keyboard does not have any gap because most of the time it will be facing down on a table and having gaps means dust and even bits of food will get into the keyboard (like our desktop’s keyboard, I know we all eat in front of our computer at one point). The keyboard provide moderate tactile feedback but it felt a little stiff when typing on it. The camera and LED flash light is located on the keyboard also put placed at the top. It looks pretty well camouflage.

USB Port Light

Charging

When your battery is getting weaker, it will prompt you to charge via blinking the light around the micro USB port. When it is being charged, the light will be lighted permanently. I think that is a pretty cool feature.

The review unit that I received is still Android 1.5, but no worries as it is upgradeable to Android 2.1 when it is make available by Motorola. I can’t seem to find any difference in terms of hardware when compared to the Motorola Dext. The battery of Motorola BackFlip is 20mAh lesser than the DEXT which I don’t think it will be that noticeable. Similar to the DEXT, navigating around the BackFlip is laggy as well and all the cons about MOTOBLUR platform that I mentioned in my Motorola Dext review are still present. Pretty disappointed with that. Common Motorola, I believed you can do better than that!

You can get the Motorola BackFlip exclusively from SingTel Hello Stores or SingTelShop.com for SGD$248 with a monthly subscription plan of SGD$39.00 (3G Flexi-Lite AMPed) or for just SGD$98 with a monthly subscription plan of SGD$55.99 (3G Flexi-AMPed).

Official Site: Motorola BackFlip
SingTel Site: Motorola with SingTel

Even though is my first time reviewing/playing with an Android mobile phone, I will not be touching any of the default Android stuff aka Google stuff. I shall be focusing on the enhancement Motorola did with Android. I would like to apologize first if some of the stuff I mention are part of Android instead of an enhancement by Motorola.

Specifications

• OS: Android 1.5 (Cupcake)
• Input: QWERTY slider with Touch Screen
• Display: 320 x 480 pixels, 187 DPI; 3.1 inch HVGA screen
• Battery: 1420 mAh lithium polymer
• Standby Time: up to 325 hrs / 13.5 days
• Talk Time: up to 360 min / 6 hrs
• Camera: 5.0MP with Auto Focus
• Bluetooth: 2.0+EDR, stereo Bluetooth
• WiFi: 802.11 b,g
• Headset jack: 3.5mm audio jack
• Connector Type: MicroUSB 2.0 high-speed
• Weight: 163g
• Size: 114mm (H) x 58mm (W) x 15.6mm (D)
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Network: WCDMA 900/1700/2100, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps (Category 7/8), EDGE, GPRS Class 12, AGPS
• Built-in Memory: 256MB + 2GB MicroSD bundled
• Removable Memory: MicroSD up to 32GB

For more detailed specifications, check out the Official Motorola DEXT Specifications Page.

Packaging Contents

Box Contents

• Phone
• Earpiece
• Manual
• USB Cable
• Charger Head
• Spare Earpiece Sponge Cover

Motorola Logos

You can find Motorola logos almost on every item.

Charger Head

The charger head is simple, small and compact, similar to that of the charger from Apple’s iPhone 3GS.

Motorola DEXT

Front View

Front Hardware Buttons

There are three hardware buttons at the front. First button is the Settings button, followed by the Home button and lastly the Back button. The design is not only imprinted but also embossed and hence you can feel each (similar to braille).

Back View

There are some circular deboss on the back which makes it easier to hold and adds to the overall design of the phone.

Right Side View

Right Side View Button Closeup

There are two buttons on the right side, one right at the top and one right at the bottom. The top button is used for locking the phone and switching on/off the phone. The button at the bottom is used as a shortcut button to launch the Camera App and use to take photographs when in the Camera app.

Left View

At the top, the first toggle is a ringer switch which allows you to silent your phone by moving it down, similar to the iPhone. The next two buttons are for adjusting the volume of the ringer. The port at the bottom is for the MicroUSB connector.

Front View – Landscape

Sliding Full QWERTY Keypad

There is a sliding full QWERTY keypad and the tactile feedback of each key is pretty good. Just want to highlight that I got no problem pressing the top row of keys despite my fat thumbs, I know some phones have this issue because the keys are placed too closed to the top edge.

Back View – Landscape

You can see the Motorola logo being lighted up when the phone is switched on, similar to Apple’s logo on the MacBooks.

MOTOBLUR
After creating an account with MOTOBLUR, the next step is to setup your services.

Services Setup

MOTOBLUR supports the following nine services:

• MySpace
• Facebook
• Google
• LastFM
• Twitter
• Email
• Corporate Sync
• Picasa
• PhotoBuket

Facebook Service Setup

Setting up these services are pretty straight forward, just key in your username and password and you are good to go. Similarly for email, MOTOBLUR will try to make a smart guess of your IMAP/POP/SMTP settings. I tested the Facebook, Google, Twitter and Email services and only the Email service allows you to have more than 1 email account. In another words, you cannot have more than 1 Twitter, Facebook or Google services in your phone. These days, a handful of people have 2 Twitter accounts, so I think it would be good to at least support multiple Twitter accounts. Hope we can see this feature in future software updates.

MOTOBLUR’s Accounts App

You can choose to add more services anytime by going into the MOTOBLUR’s Accounts App.

Android Widgets

Home Screen – Portrait

Home Screen – Landscape

MOTOBLUR comes with five widgets in the DEXT:

• Social Status
• Happenings
• Messages
• News
• Weather

Social Status

Social Status App

The Social Status Widget displays your current status update. What it does is pretty straight forward. Tapping on it will open up the Social Status App and it will allow you to post your status update to either Facebook or Twitter or to All Services. For some reasons, it only displays the latest status update from each service which is rather annoying.

Happenings

Home Screen – Portrait

Happenings Widget

Happenings Widget displays your friends feed in Facebook and status updates of the people you are following in Twitter. There is a small icon at the bottom right hand of the widget which tells you which service is the update coming from and an avatar or Facebook profile picture of your friend posting the update.

Tapping on it will make the widget popup with more details on it. For Twitter updates, it allows you to favorite the tweet, but there are no options for you to @reply to the tweet or retweet it. Perhaps it would be good if you can @reply, retweet and even direct message your friend. For Faceboook updates, you can view comments associated with the update and even post a comment straight from the popup window.

Clicking on the Diagonal arrow will open up the Happenings App. For the Facebook service, it will display more information like pictures in the photo albums that your friend had uploaded. For Twitter service, it will allow you to @reply to your friend but you still can’t retweet the tweet or direct message your friend.

I still think the Happenings Widget have room for more improvements. One thing I dislike about it, is not being able to filter the updates from my services in the widget settings. It just lump everything together. I can’t filter by Twitter or Facebook updates which is irritating. However once you open up the Happenings App, you can press the Settings key and set which services to show.

There should be an option to let user choose how often he want his updates, it is being defaulted to 15 minutes, which is way way too long. I think 5 minutes would be good.

Messages

Messaging App

Messages Widget works somewhat similar to that of the Happenings Widget, in terms of design, but the placement is inverted. The avatar is displayed first before the message. If you got any new direct or private messages from Twitter or Facebook, you can reply directly reply from the widget. But once you click close, the message is being marked as read and the only way to access it is via the Messaging App.

Universal Inbox

The Messaging App allows you to check all your messages in just one place. Emails, Facebook private messages, Twitter direct messages, SMSs, etc. Once you opened up the Messaging App, you will see the Universal Inbox icon, Text Messaging icon and the icons of all your services which you have setup. The Universal Inbox aggregates all your messages and emails into a single view allow you to reply or delete them. If you only want to view the messages from a specific service, lets say Facebook, just click on the Facebook icon.

You can set which service messages to be included in the Universal Inbox. The ability to filter your service messages in the Universal Inbox would be a good addition instead of exiting the Universal Inbox and tapping on the respective service icon to view it’s messages.

News
News Widget allows you to display RSS feed on your homescreen. There are two ways you can enter the feed. One is by the direct URL to the RSS feed and the other is by typing in the website URL and the widget will automatically determine the RSS feed for you. I would say the second way is pretty good to have.

Weather
Weather Widget is simple and no frills, it gets the weather data from AccuWeather.com. I wish it has better design and bigger just like the way HTC does it.

Contacts

Contacts App

Similar to the Messaging App, MOTOBLUR also integrates your contacts from places like Google, Twitter and Facebook into the Contact Apps. There are three tabs at the bottom, History, A-Z and Status. History allows you to view your previous communication you had with your contacts and that includes Email, Facebook messages and Twitter Direct Messages. A-Z just simply list down all your contacts you have in the phone. Status allows you view the latest status updates of your contacts from Facebook or Twitter.

Contacts App Filter

You can even filter your contacts based on services like Facebook or Twitter and even down to your Google Contact Groupings. Neat!

Camera
Despite the camera being a 5.0MP camera taking 2560×1920 pictures, I think the quality of the picture is pretty bad even when taking under full bright light conditions. There are a lot of noise in it. You can view the sample photo taken and judge it for yourself. In case you are wondering, there is no built-in LED flashlight.

Battery
The battery has a capacity of 1420 mAh, but similar to all smartphones these days, it cannot last a full day with heavy usage. So you have to be prepared to charge it everyday. The official specifications indicated that it can have 6 hrs of continuous talktime which is 1 hour more than the iPhone 3GS. I got about 11 hours of heavy usage playing with the phone without talking.

For the standby time, it is stated to last 325 hours. I managed to get about 300 hours by disabling all MOTOBLUR Apps so that there are no active background Internet connection going on and I only touch the phone once a day just to see check the uptime and battery level. For normal circumstances, mine lasted about 23 hours without touching the phone at all, but of course there are active Internet connections going on in the background from MOTOBLUR Apps, Facebook and Twitdroid.

After playing with it for about 30 minutes, the phone started to heat up and you can feel that it is very hot at the back. The reason why I mentioned this is because the heat seems to be greater than the average smartphones.

UI Walkthrough Video

Conclusion
The Motorola DEXT is good android phone to have if you are looking for a Android phone with a full QWERTY keypad. With the Android 2.1 update coming to Motorola DEXT, you can ensure that the phone will be future proof for the time being. But similar to all smartphones, the cons is always the battery, but for the DEXT an additional thing to watch out for will be the heat issues of the battery.

The MOTOBLUR is a very good alternative to Apple’s MobileMe and best of all, it is a free service that comes together with your phone with no yearly subscription. I am still wondering why they use the word “blur”, it seems inappropriate here. Despite the great MOTOBLUR platform, the widgets/applications which makes use of the MOTOBLUR platform, needs some improvement in terms of usability and additional features. But in the mean time, you can use the native Android Facebook Widget/App and for Twitter, the Twitdroid.

SingTel’s mSocial VAS
SingTel will offer a newly created value-added service, mSocial, priced at SGD$5.35 per month for consumers to enjoy unlimited local mobile data using the MOTOBLUR platform. These include photo uploads, postings received and status updates on popular social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter within the MOTOBLUR service platform.

mSocial includes 100MB of local data for all other internet surfing and email access. In addition, excess usage beyond 100MB is capped at SGD$30 per month, giving customers peace of mind when using Motorola DEXT. Also, as a launch promotion, mSocial is free to all customers who sign up for any 3G Flexi plans with the device.

Availability
Motorola DEXT is available from this Saturday, 23th January 2010 onwards from as low as SGD$0 – SGD$248 (on any 3G Flexi Plans) or SGD$0 – SGD$348 (on SingTel’s free incoming call plans) at any SingTel retail store or SingTel Exclusive Retailers, and at SingTel’s online store.

Customers on free incoming call plans who sign up for mSocial will enjoy an additional SGD$50 discount.

Customers on SingTel’s free incoming call plans (excluding 3G Flexi plans) can sign up for mSocial at a promotional price of SGD$5.35/month (usual price is SGD$9.90).

mSocial is free for customers who sign up for the latest enhanced 3G Flexi plans that come with 12GB of local data, starting from SGD$39/month, with local data usage capped at SGD$30.

Press Release: Motorola introduces a unique mobile experience with the launch of Motorola DEXT, exclusively with SingTel

HTC Dream Specifications

• Processor: Qualcomm MSM7201A, 528 MHz
• Operating System: Android
• Memory: 256 MB (ROM) and 192 MB (RAM)
• Dimensions (LxWxT): 117.7 mm x 55.7 mm x 17.1 mm
• Weight: 158 grams with battery
• Display: 3.2-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 320 x 480 (HVGA) resolution
• Keyboard: Slide-out 5-row QWERTY keyboard
• GPS: GPS navigation capability
• Connectivity: Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate, 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
• Expansion Slot: microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)

3 New Voice + Data Plans

• 3G Flexi Lite – SGD$39
  • 500 MB Data
  • 100 Mins Outgoing Voice
  • 500 SMS
  • HTC Dream Price: SGD$438
• 3G Flexi – SGD$56
  • 1 GB Data
  • 200 Mins Outgoing Voice
  • 500 SMS
  • HTC Dream Price: SGD$338
• 3G Flexi Plus – SGD$95
  • 2 GB Data
  • 500 Mins Outgoing Voice
  • 500 SMS
  • HTC Dream Price: SGD$238

Note

• Download Speed up to 3.6 Mbps, Upload Speed up to 1 Mbps. The Download Speed is stated but the Upload Speed is not stated, I am basing it off here.
• These plans also come with 6 value added services free (Caller ID, AutoRoam, SMS Plus, VoiceMail, Colour-Me-Tones, Overseas Missed Call Alert).
• Taken from: 3G Flexi Plans.
• Prices stated are including 7% GST.

Other Singtel Plans With HTC Dream Prices

• iOne Plus (SGD$25.68) – SGD$488
• iTwo Value (SGD$48.15) – SGD$388
• iTwo Plus (SGD$82.93) – SGD$288
• iThree Plus (SGD$192.60) – SGD$238

Links

• Press Release: HTC Dream goes on sale at SingTel retail stores tomorrow
• Official Site (Singtel): HTC Dream
• Official Site (HTC): HTC Dream
• Facebook Gallery: Singtel HTC Dream Launch
• Youtube: Video Of Singtel HTC Dream

Singapore, 5 February 2009 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and HTC Corporation, a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design, today unveiled the first Android powered mobile phone released in Asia – the HTC Dream. Customers of SingTel and its wholly-owned subsidiary in Australia, Optus, will soon be the first in Asia to enjoy this highly anticipated device.

The HTC Dream combines full touch-screen functionality and a QWERTY keyboard with a mobile Web experience that includes popular Google applications and products that millions have enjoyed on the desktop. With a fun and intuitive user interface and one-touch access to Google Search, the HTC Dream provides access to Android Market, so customers can find and download unique applications to expand and personalise their phone to fit their lifestyle.

“We are delighted to work with Google and HTC to be the first operator in Asia to bring the HTC Dream to our customers. This demonstrates our commitment to deliver a unique experience to our customers and meeting their demand for quality communications and multimedia products and services,” said Yuen Kuan Moon, SingTel’s Chief of Consumer and CEO of SingTel Mobile. “This Android-powered mobile device and its range of popular Google applications and other multimedia-rich software will redefine our customers’ mobile phone experience. Coupled with SingTel’s unrivalled 3G mobile network, our customers can enjoy the full potential of the Internet with just a Dream phone in their hands.”

Press Release: SingTel and HTC Introduce the HTC Dream – the First Android-Powered phone released in Singapore

Here are some brief features from Wikipedia and Gizmodo:

• Qualcomm MSM7201A processor at 528MHz
• 128MB RAM / 256MB ROM
• 1GB MicroSD card preinstalled. Supports up to 8GB MicroSD
• Built-in GPS
• 3.1MP camera (no flash), 2048 × 1536 resolution
• No video recording
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi and UMTS/HSDPA 850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100Mhz
• 1150mAh battery (Talktime: 5 hours, Standby Time: 130 hours)
• Touchscreen size is 3.17 inches (81 mm) with HVGA (480 × 320) (65K color)
• 115 mm × 55 mm (4.53 in × 2.17 in), 16 mm (0.63 in) thick
• Internet navigation button controls
• Full QWERTY 5-row keypad that slides away when not in use
• Available in white, black and brown

The T-Mobile G1 will be retailing in the US for USGD$179 and it is tied to T-Mobile similar to how the iPhone is tied to AT&T. By the way, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack in the G1 as it is using the proprietary ExtUSB connector by HTC.

Press Release: The first Android-powered phone
View: T-Mobile G1