HTC promised the world an Android 2.0-based firmware for its Hero line once it figured out the nitty gritty details of porting Sense to Google’s latest code, leapfrogging Donut altogether — but now, it looks like they’re gonna do one better. Screenshots found today show a Hero running Android 2.1, which would dovetail nicely with the fact that Google had teased a “minor update” to 2.0 before the end of 2009 back when it announced Eclair last month. The interface looks largely untouched from 1.5, proof that HTC was able to bring Sense up to speed with minimum drama; it’s unclear when this’ll all be available, but considering that Sprint’s version just got a super-minor update, some carrier-branded versions could be in for a wait.

HTC Hero caught running Android 2.1? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

File this under “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature” if true. According to Guyver at the maemo.org forums, some glitch in the OS caused his Nokia N900 to switch into portrait mode for everything, not just dialer and photo apps as previously allowed. We’d love to eliminate the need for two hands to run our favorite chunks of mobile software, but so far we haven’t been able to recreate his trick. Try it at home if you’d like by tilting the device to launch the phone app, then sliding up the screen and closing the app. Perhaps the gang at Espoo can turn this into a legit update — if they’re awesome people, of course. Video after the break.

Continue reading Nokia N900 glitch leads to useful portrait mode, caught on video

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia N900 glitch leads to useful portrait mode, caught on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Reuters – Holiday shoppers in the United States spent some $595 million online on Black Friday, up 11 percent from last year, with Amazon.com and Walmart.com the most visited sites, according to analytics firm comScore.

Here is the original:
Black Friday Web shopping up 11 pct – report
(Reuters)

AP – Much of the prime-time audience lost to NBC when Jay Leno moved into prime-time has gone not to its rivals but the digital video recorder.

The rest is here:
Jay Leno losing his audience to DVR machines
(AP)

O iPhone3,1, where art thou? Last time we spotted that signature, it was buried in lines of code as part of a beta OS 3.0 firmware build. Now according to data from analytics software inside iBART, the San Francisco-centric transportation app has been host to a new visitor with the aforementioned device identification number. As MacRumors points out, iPhone2,1 was originally spotted in October 2008 and later became the iPhone 3GS about eight months later. Not that it’s necessarily the case Apple will keep to the same schedule — nor should it come as a surprise that the company’s maybe-kinda-sorta looking into a successor to its prized moneymaker — but if you happen to be in the Bay Area and see someone quietly pulling out a sleek touchscreen, it might be in your best interest to make friends.

Filed under: Cellphones

Mysterious iPhone model found in app usage records? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink