Android Market is finally coming to Singapore alongside with 19 other countries. Now developers from 29 countries are able to sell their app on Android market (up from 9) and users from 32 countries can purchases paid Android apps from Android Market (up from 14).

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

Box View

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

Motorola DEXT with MOTOBLUR
The Motorola DEXT is the “social” phone from Motorola and another SingTel exclusive phone, similar to what INQ is doing with it’s Mini 3G and Chat 3G. Motorola took a new approach and created its own service called MOTOBLUR. Just imagine Apple’s MobileMe and MOTOBLUR is the Motorola’s version. Similar to MobileMe where it can track your phone and remotely wipes its data, you can do that using MOTOBLUR as well. You can do so by logging into MyMOTOBLUR and from there you can “Locate Your Phone”, “Delete Data” and even perform an OTA “Import Contacts” to your Motorola DEXT from a CSV file. Pretty impressive and best of all, this service is 100% FREE. I tried the “Locate Your Phone” feature and it works perfectly, I am pretty amazed!

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.

Read More (1,873 More Words, 24 More Images)

Today, Singtel launches HTC Dream aka G1. It will be available at all Singtel Shops and Singtel Hello Shops tomorrow. Alongside with the launch of HTC Dream, Singtel also announces 3 new Flexi plans that is targeted towards the HTC Dream.

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

Singtel will be bringing in the first Google Android powered mobiles phones to Asia (Singapore included), the 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