Torque Android Phones : Price, Specs, Features - Dual SIM, WiFi, TV

Local handset company, Torque Mobile, has just joined the Android smartphone race by releasing two 'Droidz' with dual SIM support and mobile TV functionality.

Check out Torque Droidz Dual --

and Torque Droidz Tandem --

The two phones share practically similar specifications save for screen size and design identity. Both handsets come with Android 2.2 Froyo operating system, 256MB ROM 256 MB RAM, mobile TV, Dual-SIM Dual-Standby capability, Wifi and Bluetooth connectivity support, dual cameras - 2 MegaPixel shooter with flash at the rear and a VGA one in front, G-sensor, 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio and microSD card slot supporting up to 16GB. As for the screen, Torque Droidz Dual has a 3.2-inch HVGA Capacitive Touchscreen while Torque Torque Droidz Tandem flaunts a 3.5-inch display.

As regards pricing, iPhone4-look-alike Torque Droidz Tandem come with an SRP of Php 9,999 while probably-HTC-Tattoo-inspired Torque Droidz Dual sells for Php 7,999.

Torque Mobile hasn't sent us review units of these 'Droidz'. So as yet, we can't talk about their construction and overall quality.

Samsung Nexus S Philippines : Price, Specs, Globe Plans Availability

The phone comes FREE with Plan 2499, 3799, 5000 and 10000. Bundled with all Unli plans and Plan 299, it costs Php 21,307. With Plan 499, 999 and 1799, you can get it for Php 19,189, Php 13,071 and Php 7,204 respectively.
The distinguishing characteristic of Android 2.3-powered Samsung Nexus S aka Google Nexus Sis its unique Contour 4-inch SuperAMOLED Display with curved glass screen -- designed to kiss/hug the cheek nicely when you make a phone call. Other features include a 5 MegaPixel autofocus camera with flash, VGA front camera, 16GB of internal storage, WVGA 30fps videocamera, 3.5mm audio jack, microUSB port and Wifi, 3G and Bluetooth connectivity support. Oddly enough, it doesn't come with a microSD card slot for expanding the memory, CPU 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor, PowerVR SGX540 GPU, Hummingbird chipset and 512MB RAM

Take Screenshots on Android Phones And Honeycomb Tablets With Screenshot ER

Taking screenshots on Android phones and tablets has always been a pretty jumbled up issue. I do remember the time when taking a screenshot on my HTC Wildfire was actually real-time tinkering and hacking with my Wi-Fi network etc. However as development for Android gathers pace every day, there is now an app available that not only takes screenshots on your phone / tablet but also allows saving images in PNG or JPEG formats. The app under discussion is Screenshot ER for Android and according to its developer, ftgg99 from XDA, “ER is for emergency room, because it works where nothing else does”.

The main features of Screenshot ER app for Android are:

1. Take Screenshots Of Your Current Screen With Shake, Delay And Icon-Tap Gestures
2. Save These Screenshots in Form of a PNG or JPG file On Your SD card.
3. Share Your Screenshots In Real Time With Picasa, Dropbox Or Any Other Image Supporting / Sharing App That You Have Installed On Your Device.

Like all other handy Android apps, I took this one to test on my HTC Wildfire and Huawei Ideos. The first major drawback that I found after downloading and installing Screenshot ER was its non compatibility with unrooted or stock Android devices. Screenshot ER requires you to have root on your device and if you don’t, then a better option will be to go for Screenshot It app from Market. Screenshot It was found as working OK for many Android devices but was a total failure on handsets with smaller screens like Huawei Ideos.

Coming back to the topic, installing and setting up Screenshot ER for Android is really simple. All you need to do is launch Android Market and run a keyword search “screenshot ER”. But as it’s a paid application, so you also have an option to get it free from XDA forums.

Here is how you can manually install Screenshot ER on your Android phone / tablet:

• The first step is to download Screenshot ER from XDA forums thread here. Please remember that you will need to be a XDA member to download this donate version. I highly encourage you to donate if you find this app useful.
• Once you are done with downloading the APK, connect your phone to the computer and mount SD card as disk drive.
• Now copy the downloaded APK to SD card root.
• Once done, disconnect your phone from the computer.
• After this download Astro File Manager from market and install it on your phone.
• Once the installation is complete, launch Astro File Manager and tap on SD card on main app screen.
• Once in the SD card, navigate down to fahrbot.apps.screen-1.0.8-(r9)-xda-ver.apk and tap on it to install.
• Now after the installation completes, you will have Screenshot ER donate version installed on your device.

How To Set up Screenshot ER:

So onne you have installed Screenshot ER on your device, tap on the app’s icon in home screen.

First time launch will ask you for Super User Permissions, tap on Allow.

Now the main app screen will show you these options:

• Enable Service
• Snap On Shake
• Snap On Notification Icon
• Snap Icon Delay
• Take Screenshot Now
• Screenshot Delay
• Create Home Screen Shortcut
• Storage Folder
• File Format
• Play Sound
• Debug

We will only be discussing some of the useful options while you can checkout and test others yourself:

You need to tap on the check box in front of Enable Service to let the application take screenshots. After this it’s up to you if you select Snap on Shake or Snap on Notification Icon. Other options like Take Screenshot Now and Screenshot Delay lets you toggle immediate screenshot capture or to delay it by a couple of seconds. The easiest way to take a screenshot with this app is to first go to app > enable services > Snap on Notification Icon. You will now be able to see a small camera in notification bar. Once you drag the notification bar down, you will be able to take screenshots on your device by tapping on “Tap to Take a Screenshot”.

Once you take a screenshot, it will take some time to get processed. And after the processing is complete, you will be given options like Share, Discard and Save from within the screen. Please note that before saving your screenshot, you must define a location on SD card by using the Storage Folder option in main application. By default, Screenshots are saved in JPEG format in Screenshot ER folder of your SD card.

As I didn’t test this app on any Android tablet, so here are some sample screenshots from appdeveloper:

All in all, Screenshot ER is a fantastic screenshot app for your Android device regardless of screen size or genre. You can use it flawlessly on small screened Android phones to 10.1 inches

Control Your Android Phone From Your Desktop Web Browser With LazyDroid

When you’re beavering away at your computer, the last thing you want to do is break the concentration to find your phone just to fire off a quick SMS. Maybe you want to access the camera from afar? Now thanks to a handy remote app called LazyDroid, you can control your Android smartphone from the comfort of your desk without ever having to lay hands on it.

 

Firing up the LazyDroid app on your Android device gives you an IP address which, once plugged into your desktop browser, gives you access to what amounts to a web server running on your phone. Obviously the handset needs to be on the same WiFi network as the computer you are using, but that shouldn’t be a problem.

From here you have access to most of your phone’s functionality – SMS, camera, contacts, file system and even the ability to make and receive calls – though obviously a headset of some description would be required for anyone to hear you!

LazyDroid is currently in a beta state and can be downloaded from the Android Marketplace for free.

An incredible web application that allows to take the control of you mobile phone from Wifi/Internet/Usb connection, simply using your web browser and accessing a website. You will have several apps to access different services on your Android device. The software is under development and this is a beta version, so please send me an email for every bug you found, or if you want other features.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Android 2.1 Eclair Update : 720p HD Video Out! How to Get The Update?

Sony Ericsson has just rolled out the 1.6 Eclair update kit for Xperia X10's Android OS.

Nordic countries will be the first to get it today while more kits will come tomorrow for other territories. The roll-out will continue throughout November.

Android 2.1 Eclair update kit for Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 will bring these key changes to the device:

• HD video recording with continuous auto-focus for high quality videos
• Upgrade of the Android platform to Android 2.1
• New back up and restore application, with extended content back up
• 5 homescreens for apps, widgets, shortcuts and folders
• Social phonebook which automatically syncs contact pictures from Facebook and shows when your friends are online

How to get the Android 2.1 update on you SE Xperia X10?

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll down to About The Phone
3. Click on System Software Updates
4. Download Update if Available
5. Restart the Phone

Android : Leading Mobile Operating System in the United States, Says Canalys

Based on Q3 2010 mobile market sales data released by Canalys - a research company that specialises in delivering high quality market data, analysis and advice to the world’s leading technology vendors - Android is now the leading handset OS in the United States.

A wide gamut of smart phones running the (Google initiative) Open Handset Alliance's (OHA's) Android operating system had given the platform the top position in the US market for mobile OS with a 43.6% share;

"With Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson all delivering large numbers of Android devices, and with focused efforts from many other vendors, such as LG, Huawei and Acer, yielding promising volumes, the platform continues to gather momentum in markets around the world," shares Pete Cunningham, Canalys Senior Analyst.

"Android has been well received by the market and in some geographies it is becoming a sought-after consumer brand. It has rapidly become the platform to watch, and its growing volumes will help to entice developers, ensuring consumers have access to an increasingly rich and vibrant mobile content and application ecosystem. Vendors are now delivering Android devices across a broad range of price points, from high-end products such as the Samsung Galaxy S or HTC Desire, to aggressively priced devices such as the LG GT540 Optimus or the Huawei built Vodafone 845, ensuring that Android devices are available and affordable to consumers on almost any budget."

Amazing.