Google has been sued successfully and lost for use of Linux on it’s server platform.  Although this may not be a huge loss to Google financially, this issue could extend to the Android platform. Bedrock Computer Technology has also sued AOL, Yahoo and Amazon to name a few.

Will companies like Bedrock Computer Technologies impede the growth of Linux?

What do you Geek-A-Holics think?
Get your Geek Freak on and let us know.

Source: Intomobile & BBC

This is great news for Sprint customers! Verizon Wireless recently started doing this on most of their smartphones and looks like Sprint caught wind and decided to do it also.

I myself do everything to avoid paying the extra $100 everytime I need to upgrade to another smartphone. It seems Sprint is starting to realize they’re are losing some money on hardware sales by pushing their customers towards other vendors such as Best Buy, Radio Shack, Amazon and a few other to avoid those Rebates.

Is their next step to be more competitive in their hardware pricing?

Geeks, what do you think?  Let us know by responding in that cool white box below.

Source: Phonescoop

Some of you may have noticed in Facebook’s changelog that they supposedly enabled push notifications a few versions ago. This wasn’t working for most people, actually, probably 99% of people. Lots of people loved that feature on the iPhone. As a workaround, I always setup SMS/Email notifications, but its just not the same as getting native notifications. Since last week, I’ve seen a few reports of people saying that push notifications are starting to work for them, and others saying it still wasn’t. Mine just started working today.

You definitely need Android 2.2 or higher to get push notifications. In my settings, I have the “refresh interval” set to Never but I have Notifications checked. I’m using a Google Nexus One with the latest CM (CyanogenMOD) 7 nightly build (which is Gingerbread). I also have the app installed to the internal memory, not moved to the SD card like you can do with Froyo/Gingerbread.

Start reporting if its working for you guys or not. Make sure you tell us what your device is and what ROM you’re using.

Are you an owner of the LG Ally or know several friends with one? I sure do and know they will love it when they get this update! The update (VS740ZVD) will bring the device several improvements, with only a few that have been announced. Who knows, there could be many more updates or just the ones you see. Either way, it’s a great sign for the owners of this device and gives them a reason to love their Ally even more.

Were all sure there will be more updates than this so hang tight and when it’s available we will be sure to let you all know! For now you can discuss in the comment section below or hop into our LG Ally section and discuss this topic already started there.

Source: AndroidCentral

So we all know that the Samsung Galaxy S line of phones consists of some of the hottest selling devices among all carriers, and worldwide. Every month we’ve seen reports of how many millions of Galaxy S phones Samsung has sold. Every major carrier in the US has one version of them, whether its the At&t Captivate, T-Mobile Vibrant, Sprint Epic 4G, or Verizon Fascinate. When these phones were released, they came loaded with Android 2.1 Eclair with promises that they would be getting Froyo. Some rumors even speculated on dates, saying it would be pushed out before the end of 2010. Unfortunately, that rumored promise left many owners frustrated as that time has come and gone now.

While this original leak/tip came from T-Mobile, we can’t help but wonder if the same thing applies to all US carriers since none of the US versions of the Galaxy S phones have gotten an official Froyo update. AndroidSpin got a tip from someone they consider a reliable source that basically says T-Mobile has a working Froyo OTA update, but Samsung has told them not to release it because they feel it will hurt sales for their upcoming Vibrant 4G+ (which is rumored to be a Vibrant with a front-facing camera and support for HSDPA+). The report even says that the original Vibrant can support FULL 4G speeds with this update.

We’ve seen Froyo being pushed out to the European versions of the phones, just nothing in the US. GPS is still broken for many users, which was also promised to be fixed. I’ve read on many forums where people say the Galaxy S will be their first and last Samsung phone, and I, personally, feel the same way. Most of my previous phones have been HTC or Motorola, even a Nokia was thrown in there. This was my first Samsung phone, and because of the way this has been handled, it’ll probably be my last. I have At&t, so I have the Captivate. When Windows Phone 7 came out, I wanted to try it out. My choices were between the HTC Surround and the Samsung Focus. Even though everyone was jumping on the Focus, I went with the Surround purely because it WASN’T made by Samsung.

Dare I say it (let the flaming begin), but this sounds a little too Apple like…adding a few features to an existing phone and releasing it as a new device and holding back on OS upgrades for the previous models until the new one comes out. Sound familiar? Just my opinion of course.

How do you feel about this news? Do you think its real, or real fake? If you own a Samsung smartphone, will it be your last one?

Source: AndroidSpin

For all of you IMers out there, today, Android is making another stride with a popular cross-platform app. This time welcome Beejive IM to the mix. We already have Palringo and a few other multi-client chat apps out there, and not to mention the standalone AIM, Yahoo IM, Google Talk, etc. So far though, most of them have been battery hungry. This could change with Beejive IM for those of you on Froyo, Android 2.2, with the introduction of a push notification system.

BGR has been using a beta version for a few weeks now and seem to be impressed with it. The app should be available in the Market sometime today for $9.99. So far its not showing up for me, but feel free to report your findings. Hopefully we can write up a full review of this app soon!

Update: We’ve just been informed that the release for the Merge is November 11th!

For those of you Verizon folks that want another Android QWERTY phone, here’s the HTC Merge, aka Lexikon aka ADR6325. You may have remembered Courtney posted a pic and some specs of this phone last Monday.

From the pictures, the 5MP camera is confirmed along with Android 2.2 Froyo. It also has a microSD slot and a SIM card slot, making it a world phone.

Source: BGR

PPCGeeks has found out a new device is on the way to Verizon Wireless. This new HTC Lexikon is going to be a great addition to the current Android devices with it’s 3.8″ display screen and 480X800 WVGA display resolution.  The Lexikon is said to be an Android 2.2-powered, device with a QWERTY keyboard. Best of all it does include HTC Sense for those wondering.  It has been rumored that this will also be a Verizon Wireless LTE device. We will find out when it hits the markets that’s for sure. Below are the specs that have been leaked out onto the internet. PPCG hopes to get their hands on one and get a review done for our members to have a closer look at the new device.  With specs like this, it seems the Lexikon may be on its way to being HTC’s next mid-level Android phone.

Posted by Courtney1985 (source=Mr.X)

We normally don’t post about ROMs on the front page, but since this is one of the most popular Android ROMs out there and is available on almost every Android phone, we thought it might be worth mentioning. CyanogenMod 6 is based on Android 2.2 (Froyo) and is now out of beta and is considered stable. While there’s many tweaks, it is known for its stock Android feel.

As with any other Android ROM, you’ll need both root and bootloader access to be able to flash it. You can use the free ROM Manager app from the Android Market to see if its available on your device, or check out the CyanogenMod forums here.

They are also working on a ROM for the Samsung Galaxy S phones (Epic, Captivate, Vibrant, etc), which should be available with v6.1.

Source: AndroidCentral & CyanogenMod.com

We’re a little late on this story, but better late than never right? Our Evo forums are all a buzz about the news that Froyo (Android 2.2) is officially coming to the Evo starting next week, as early as Tuesday 8/3. There are reports saying that it will be a gradual rollout, with all phones receiving the update by the middle of August.

If you don’t want to wait for the official OTA to download, you can go into your settings and select System Updates > HTC Software Update. There are also rumors saying that this method could start working as early as Sunday, August 1st.

The Google Nexus One is the only other phone to officially sport Froyo, so this is good news for Evo owners considering their phones also run the SenseUI. Froyo features include faster performance (thanks to a JIT compiler in the kernel), voice dialing over bluetooth, a faster browser with full Flash support, and the ability to install apps to the SD card. The Market will also offer automatic updates for your installed apps, which is an individual setting for each app.

Froyo also features a built-in WiFi Hotspot feature to allow wireless tethering. There’s no word on how Sprint will handle this considering they charge extra for their Hotspot app. It could be disabled by Sprint/HTC, or they might allow it. Time will tell on that one.

If you’re rooted and/or using a custom ROM, you should still be able to get the update, but it WILL break root, at least until a new method is found.

Those of you that are rooted or using a custom ROM, will you still install the official update?

Those of you that try to do a manual download/install, please report back once you start having success and report on its performance!

Source: PCMag

Last week we reported on the rumored “official” Froyo update for the Nexus One, with a version of FRF83. Last night, Google officially announced the Froyo update, which they say will be gradually pushed to phones this week. People are reporting the update version is FRF85B and is about a 500Kb update from FRF83. Last Thursday, Google also released the source code for Froyo, which also made everyone believe FRF83 was the official version.

“In order to access the update, you will receive a message on your phone’s notification bar. Just download the update, wait for it to install, and you should be all set. This update will be rolled out gradually to phones – and most users will receive the notification by the end of the week . We hope you enjoy these new features.”

You can find the Android 2.2 highlights here.

Even users of custom ROMs are reporting getting the update notification. For obvious reasons, if you’re using a custom ROM, wait for that chef to release an update, otherwise you’ll probably lose your root.

It was only a matter of time and we all knew it was coming. The Verizon Droid X has been fully disassembled by the people at DroidX.net. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to see the models of some of the chips without unsoldering the metal casings around them. There’s not much information here, but they provide a detailed walkthrough and video of the process in case you’re interested.

In other news, according to some sources, we will be seeing Android 2.2 (Froyo) coming to the Motorola Droid in late July and on the Droid X in late August. There was no mention of the Droid 2 though, so its release might be far enough way that it could ship with Froyo.

There are a few Android updates coming out over the next few days. First of all, the Google Nexus One is finally getting an official update to Froyo, with the official version being FRF83. There’s been two leaked builds over the last few weeks, FRF50 and FRF72, but this one is rumored to be official and is actually coming OTA to those stock users. Google also released their source code and its up on AOSP now.

Here are some more instructions for those who are asking. All these notes pertain to people running an unmodified T-Mobile stock version of Android. No stock update is available for AT&T models at this time. If you have a custom ROM loaded, then refer to developer of that ROM.

Since the update from FRF72 to FRF83 is only about 644Kb, there’s probably not many changes. Unfortunately there’s still no FM radio support, which was rumored to be released with Froyo.

Now onto the Evo, there’s reports showing up that are suggesting another OTA update is coming for it on June 28th. This is said to just be bug fixes and somehow “enhance wifi”, which could mean 802.11n support officially. Its also said to improve battery life and fix some Exchange issues. With Froyo finally becoming official on the Nexus One today, we highly doubt we’ll see it on the Evo by next week, but hopefully within a month or two!

The folks over at AndroidPolice are lucky enough to have a Nexus One running Froyo, Android 2.2. You’ve probably seen the slight changes to the homescreen, heard about Flash 10.1 finally coming to Android, make more RAM available for the Nexus One, possibly activate the FM Receiver/Transmitter in the Nexus One, and that it will offer a JIT (Just-In-Time) Compiler for the kernel. Based on a LINPACK benchmark, it shows the Nexus One with Froyo getting 37.5 MFLOPS compared to around 6.5 on a stock N1.

You do have to take these results with a grain of salt though. Not every app will benefit from these changes. Most will probably see a 2-3% increase since JIT only helps programs that are not compiled to native code.

Source: AndroidPolice

It looks as if Google is already testing the next version of Android, version 2.2, dubbed Froyo. While digging through their visitor logs, AndroidAndMe came across some Android 2.2 devices browsing their site.

As for a release date, the latest rumor is that it would be ready to go around May 19th, which is when Google’s I/O 2010 kicks off. There’s also a rumor of Flash 10.1 for Android being released at the same time. It is rumored to be an OTA update for the Nexus One owners out there. The other devices will either have to wait for a port (if you’re rooted and unlocked), or wait for your manufacturer to push it out.

New features include more available RAM, multi-color trackball notifications (for the Nexus One), and touchscreen fixes. Its also rumored to have OpenGL ES 2.0 for better gaming, a JIT compiler, and possibly unlocking the Nexus One’s FM radio hardware.

Source: Slashgear