Has the Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab set your budget on fire? Then Asda is a pretty good alternative for you; priced at a reasonable below 100 GBP price tag is the cheapest (so far) Android tablet in existence, the Elonex e-Touch. The device comes with a 1GHz CPU and a 7 inch capacitive touch screen display. If that is too small, add in a few extra quid and you can get a much larger 10 inch touch screen display.
The device was first available at Toys ‘R’ Us before Asda started offering it as well. Expect to see the Elonex Tablet in action in the next few days.
Of course, for those of you wondering, there is a catch to all of this: the device runs on Android 1.6 Donut. Not 2.2 Froyo and certainly not 2.1 Éclair. While the OS is not exactly the latest available on the market today, the e-Touch certainly makes tablet browsing a whole lot more accessible to everyone.
In other news, software developer Symbian Foundation may still have more in its life despite the seeming lack of success for the Symbian^3 platform. European Commission has recently granted the non-profit organization 22 million Euros in additional funding. Together with the Artemis Joint Technology Initiative, the Symbian Foundation will be leading a European Consortium of 24 major technology companies in Europe.
The new project has been labeled as the SYMBEOSE (Symbian – the Embedded Operating System for Europe). While this will certainly delay the development of the Symbian^4 operating system, it certainly means that the Symbian Foundation might be coming back at the platform wars with a new powerful system.
With Samsung and Sony Ericsson officially no longer supporting the Symbian OS and Nokia now focused on the development of the MeeGo platform, this new project is what the Symbian Foundation needs to get back on its feet.
Posts Tagged ‘Android-1.6-Donut’
Everything Mobile: Today’s Big New Highlights
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010Sales Charts Show X10 Mini in 3rd Place
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
It has been recently announced that Sony Ericsson X10 Mini smart phone has taken the third place in the sales charts (when comparing the information on major UK phone retailers Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4 U). The initial reports show that Sony Ericsson’s features and design aesthetics have allowed them to compete evenly with other Android devices that use an even higher version of the open source operating system.
For those not familiar with the handset, the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini (as well as the other SE Android smart phones) are only running the older version of the OS; v1.6 Donut. Despite this difference, many people are still relying on the SE Android devices (the older, high end XPERIA X10 smart phone was also quite successful).
Of course, the X10 Mini has some pretty impressive specs to match up to its competitors. Despite the Mini in the phone’s name, this device is pretty much a solid mid range smart phone. The device runs on a Qualcomm MSM7227 CPU that is clocked at 600 MHz giving it enough speed and power to handle most applications and processes without bogging down –still, expect the device to slow down a little with loading resource intensive apps.
The screen is a nice big 2.55 inch TFT capacitive touch screen display that practically fills up the entirety of the phone’s front face. Below the screen are three control buttons for the OS. The display itself comes with an accelerometer, and a scratch resistant surface.
SE’s X10 Mini runs a special version of the Timescape user interface made for the small 2.55 inch touch screen. As with the original XPERIA X10, this custom UI allows users to easily view contacts, updates and new social networking content in an easy to use layout.
SE has also released the X10 Mini Pro, which is a second version of the X10 Mini that has a slide out QWERTY keyboard.
September Launch for Android Froyo on Many Smart Phones
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
The new Android 2.2 Froyo may already be out, but the fact that only the Nexus supports the current build means that it will be a while before other handsets will be able to get the new Froyo update. According to reports, it seems that the updates for other Android handsets will only be available until the end of Q3 2010 –which gives us a possibility that all the big updates will be made available by September.
Coincidentally, September is the projected launch date of the Android 2.1 Éclair update for Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X10, X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro. It is possible that when these devices get the Éclair, they might also be given a subsequent Froyo patch to go with it. Currently, the Sony Ericsson Android devices are at the bottom end of the list with most smart phones already updated (or are currently updating) to version 2.1 Éclair. Despite the X series devices being newly released, they still use the older 1.6 Donut OS.
Anyway, the original announcement before was that the HTC Desire was supposed to get an update to Froyo for this week while the HTC Legend and the Wildfire will be getting updates on a slightly later date. Now it seems that instead of waiting for weeks, HTC Android owners might have to wait for months before the release of the new OS is available for downloads.
For those wondering why the new Froyo update is so important, many are pointing out the Flash player support as a major addition. That is not the only feature of Froyo however. The new OS also brings updates to the user interface –such as a batter camera UI for taking images and videos. The OS will also be running faster thanks to improvements with resource handling capabilities.
Android 2.2 Froyo is Now Available
Monday, June 28th, 2010
At long last, the latest version of the Android mobile operating system is finally available. Unfortunately, not all handsets can make use of the new OS. According to many smart phone users, the update is not yet appearing on their handset. Apparently, only those with Android 2.1 Éclair FRF50 Firmware will be able to get updated to version 2.2 Froyo.
The lucky few folks aside from the Nexus One owners will be able to enjoy the latest release of Google’s mobile platform. For many users, this new update is important for two main reasons: improved performance and Adobe Flash support. Performance has been reported o be improved greatly, many are confirming that Froyo is indeed twice as fast as the last version of the OS.
This means that the user interface is faster, more responsive and most importantly, smoother when it comes loading and transitions. The overall feel of the Android operating system has indeed improved even when there are multiple applications running in the background.
As for Flash support, it has already been known early on that Flash is indeed coming to the Android OS (ever since the big public argument that they had with Apple) and true to their word, Adobe had a Flash player ready for download right before the 2.2 Froyo was launched.
While the release of the Froyo update is something to celebrate, there are plenty of smart phones that are still waiting for a special patch to be released. Devices such as the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 is still stuck using the older Android 1.6 Donut as an update to 2.1 Éclair for the handset is still unavailable.
Many believe that Google had scheduled the launch of the new Android OS to coincide with the launch of the new Apple iPhone in order to keep the market interest from shifting completely to the rival smart phone.
Understanding Mobile Platforms
Friday, June 25th, 2010
It is a commonly accepted fact that operating systems are part of what makes or breaks a smart phone, and more often than not, gear heads would put aside the hardware issues as long as they get the right operating system.
This is because a good operating system will have an average phone performing well. Whereas a badly designed OS would make even a high powered handset seem clumsy and jerky to use. Take the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2, this smart phone has plenty of good hardware features, but the Windows Mobile operating system tends to slow it down a lot, and the fact that it relies on a resistive touch screen display means that it requires a stylus to be operated properly.
At the same time, the Sony Ericsson X10 Mini is a very mid range smart phone in terms of today’s hardware standards, but the Android 1.6 Donut OS 
makes it a very well rounded device. Speaking of the Android OS, the HTC Desire and the Dell Streak push the limits in terms of both hardware with their high speed 1GHz CPUs and software (with the newer Android 2.1 Éclair).
Some manufacturers rely heavily on proprietary operating systems. Take the Palm WebOS, RIM BlackBerry OS and the Apple iPhone OS. Since the devices that make use of these platforms are specifically designed to maximize the capabilities of the OS, the user experience is not only uniform, but the all of a phone’s features are also fully utilized.
This is why it is important for buyers to know what kind of operating systems they want before they decide to purchase a mobile phone. Even if the hardware seems like a good fit, if the OS is not compatible with a user’s needs then choosing a different device would be the wiser option.
Why Sony Needs to Speed Up the Android Updates
Friday, June 25th, 2010
There is no denying that the Android operating system is one of the largest in the mobile phone industry and that many people want Android smart phones. The Google developed Os infamous for its stand as the counter-culture for the Apple iPhone series and at the same time, many tech fans love the open source approach and the fact that developers can simply do much more with this handset than anything else.
The fact that Google is also the first to be getting the Adobe Flash Player version 10.1 is also a serious consideration as it places the handset a notch above all else. However, Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X10 is far from the impressive Android handset that it should be, and it is mostly due to the fact that the OS in the device is outdated.
Simply put, the new XPERIA X10, as well as the X10 Mini smart phones still uses the older 1.6 Donut version of the Android OS. So far, no announcements have been made regarding a 2.2 Froyo update and that the only thing Sony Ericsson owners can look forward to is an update to version 2.1 Éclair by the third quarter of 2010. It has also been hinted by Google that near that time period, they would already be working on version 3.0, and if that new version launches before the end of the year, SE’s Android devices will be at the bottom of the list.
By that time, most existing Éclair handsets might have already been updated to Froyo which would leave the SE devices far behind. This would leave SE’s Android owners wanting to switch to other phones and is certainly discouraging for anyone hoping to pick up an Android handset from the manufacturer.
With the X10 Mini, XPERIA X8 and a rumored, still unnamed 5.5 inch touch screen Android device set to hit store shelves this year, Sony Ericsson needs to change the way to make updates for their smart phones available.