Android Mobile Device

The upcoming software on the HTC Hero appears to be a thing of beauty and it is HARD to wait for a beautiful thing. Dave, aka Shivers316 for Phandroid/AndroidForums frequenters, didn’t wait: he loaded a Beta 2 version of a leaked HTC Hero ROM onto his T-Mobile G1. But better yet? He took us step-by-step through the account setup during the first boot and guides us through many of the new features:

Then you’ve got good old Haykuro, the 17 year-old Android whiz kid who put initially ported the HTC Hero software for use on the G1. He did a “Take 2″ video of the HTC Hero ROM where he shows off a few new features such as weather widgets and a Twitter App.

Nice music, Haykuro… but would it kill you to say hello?

Big thanks to Dave (Shivers316) who put together that awesome, you know, exclusive for Phandroid – you da man! And I can’t wait to see what Haykuro hits out of the park next. You know, buddy, you can make your videos Phandroid exclusives too if you wish

We’ve known since the beginning of this month that the HTC Dream and HTC Magic were headed to Canadians via Rogers on June 2nd. But once you go Android, you never go back, so the day before the Dream and Magic launch in Canada, Rogers is having somewhat of a Bachelor/Bachelorette party.

Actually, “Treasure Hunt” probably describes it better. The treasure? If the presence of Canadian TV/Movie star Josh Jackson wasn’t enough, you’ll have the opportunity to win awesome Rogers Wireless prizes and even a trip to the Caribbean worth $4,000!

But you’ll have to FIND him if you want to win:

Join the revolution! To help celebrate the launch of Canada’s first Android-powered smartphones – the HTC Dream and HTC Magic — Canadian television star Joshua Jackson will tour secret locations in Toronto throughout the day next Monday, June 1 to meet with fans and offer chances to win Rogers prizes to anyone who locates him.

You can follow Joshua’s tour around the city here, as he posts clues to his whereabouts with live blog updates and photos. Then use Google Search™, Google Maps™ and Google Latitude™ to find his location so you can meet him in person!

Check back here on the morning of June 1, starting at 8:00 a.m., to find out how you can join the revolution and win Rogers prizes plus be entered into a draw for a high-seas Caribbean adventure valued at $4,000!

If you take a look at the Contest Rules and Regulations you’ll notice a few pretty interesting things. First of all, it seems there are only 2 different prizes – a $10 gift card or a phone valued at $599.99, assumingly an Android Phone. They do not indicate what the chances of winning a gift card are versus the chances of winning a phone. THOSE winners then qualify to win the Grand Prize Trip:

2. a) Participants are eligible to win one (1) Rogers prize selected at random, in the form of either a Rogers gift card (valued at approximately $10) OR a Rogers Wireless phone (valued at approximately $599.99).

While price hasn’t been confirmed, that $599.99 would mean the typical $400 rebate brings the phone to $199.99 – not a bad deal for an Android Phone with 1.5 Cupcake numiness.

To win, you’ll have to find Joshua Jackson as stated, obtain an object proving you found him and then TRAVEL TO TORONTO to turn the the object into the Rogers Wireless confirmation station. So if you don’t plan on being near or around Toronto – this contest isn’t for you:

To win a Rogers prize, a valid Rogers compass key chain with valid contest prize code must be surrendered to a Rogers employee at the 333 Bloor Street East, Toronto Rogers store on June 2, 2009 between 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. EST. Rogers prizes will be awarded at random for each valid compass keychain handed in.

You also can’t be a complete idiot. Apparently the winner of the Grand Prize will need to pass a math quiz over the telephone in order to win their prize. I’m assuming this is to prevent minors from winning since the rules state you must be over the age of 13 but I know some pretty smart 13-year olds and some pretty dumb adults. If you are reading this and you eventually win, do me a favor and record this telephone conversation!

I know there are a TON of Canadians who are incredibly eager to get their mitts on an Android Phone. Your time has almost come. Enjoy this neat little Joshua Jackson contest from Rogers Wireless and if you want to get yourself pumped up, get the adrenaline running, to increase your chances of finding him, I’ve included a couple Joshua Jackson videos for motivation:

Joshua Jackson in Dawson’s Creek:

Joshua Jackson in Cruel Intentions:

Here he is on Jimmy Kimmel talking about his current show (in November 2008) called Fringe:

Not exactly “motivating” but unless I’m mistaken and IMDB is incorrect, Joshua Jackson played Charlie Conway in the 1992 movie “Mighty Ducks”. Holler at this:

DUCKS! DUCKS! DUCKS!…. and ….  DROIDS! DROIDS! DROIDS!

Today was an incredible day for Google as they announced Google Wave at Google I/O and it drew tremendous excitement and applause. We frenzily blogged and posted about Google Wave as the event was going on… LIVE (thanks MikeDG). For those that couldn’t attend, we hope Phandroid could kind of be your eyes and ears.

Now you can watch the entire Google Wave Keynote Presentation which is 2 hours long:

If you want to hone in on the portion of video where they talk about Google Wave on Android Phones, iPhones and mobile devices in general, fast forward to 25 minutes and 25 seconds in and you’re golden.

ENJOY! I know I did. This is a MUST watch as words don’t really do justice to the concepts, ideas and fluid execution up to this point. Google Wave could be really, really big. There is still a chance it will be a total fluke but I hope this thing catches on. The first step is getting developers on board and then getting consumers to use and adopt.

Now that you’ve seen Google Wave first hand… what do you think?

During an investors conference earlier today, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam revealed that the company are planning to introduce Android powered phones “in the near future”.

“Conspiracy theorists … said that we would never do anything with Google, but we have had some very good dialogue with Google,” Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam told an investor conference in New York, according to a transcript. “We like what we see and we will, in fact, be bringing Android devices to the marketplace in the near future.”

Although McAdam didn’t mention any specifics about the upcoming Verizon Android phones, he did give the impression that a Motorola handset may be among them.

“You’ll see Motorola back into our portfolio. We feel very good about the progress that the Motorola team has made,” McAdam said.

At present T-Mobile is the only carrier in the US to offer a Google Android powered phone the T-Mobile G1 .

[via AP]

Yesterday we told you the HTC Hero would see an August USA launch (carrier unknown) and would also be exclusively offered on mobile carrier Orange in the UK (date unknown). Now it appears the HTC Hero could launch in Europe at the end of June… only a month away!

A promotional video leaked suggesting a launch is right around the corner:

Look at all those COLORS! Appears to come in at least 7 flavors: black, white, yellow, pink, gold, red  and turqouise.

If I were going to pick 7 colors… I think I would pick a different 7. But I guess you only have to like one color enough to buy it, right?