Gingerbread

Most Android smartphones sold for $100 or less are basic hardware shells that do an adequate job, but won't blow you away with their features. Not so the HTC Evo Design 4G. Sprint's fifth member of the Evo family is a slightly smaller (but hardly tiny) handset that's beautifully designed and imbued with a robust set of features, including 4G speeds and a decent front-facing camera.

The good: The HTC Evo Design 4G has an understated black-on-black design, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and two cameras, and is a world phone. It comes with 8GB of memory preinstalled.

The bad: The stubborn back cover is hard to remove and the speakerphone could be better. A dedicated hardware shutter button wouldn't go amiss.

The bottom line: The HTC Evo Design 4G gives you a lot of smartphone for the money--fast 4G speeds, a good camera, a strong processor, and a sophisticated design. It's an excellent choice for Sprint customers, except those who are specifically looking for a dual-core phone.

Watch the video, see the pictures, and read about all the pros and cons of Sprint's HTC Evo Design 4G.… Read more

Though HTC has yet to formally unveil the smartphone, it appears that select Verizon retail stores have begun promoting its next 4G LTE handset, the HTC Rezound.

Over the weekend, DroidLife received photos from readers showing the in-store ads for the smartphone. It's widely believed that the HTC will introduce the Rezound at an event in New York on Thursday. … Read more

November 6 is shaping up to be a big day for AT&T, as the carrier will release its first 4G LTE smartphones and expand its LTE network to nine additional markets on that day.

When it comes to devices, customers will be able to choose from the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket or the HTC Vivid, both of which are compatible with AT&T's HSPA+ and LTE networks and run Android Gingerbread. … Read more

Android phones have a bad history of not getting the latest OS upgrades, often leaving them several versions behind, says a new study.

Tracking 18 different Android phones shipped in the U.S. through the middle of 2010, the Understatement's Michael Degusta found that most have not received major OS upgrades or even minor support patches, even though they're still under contract.

Pointing to one example, Degusta said that the Samsung Behold II on T-Mobile was supposed to be upgraded to Eclair, aka Android 2.1. But by the time the phone hit the market, it was already … Read more

Boost Mobile is showing Android lots of love these days, most of them for candy bar form factors. This week's announcement of the ZTE Warp is a perfect example. Luckily, Boost has one "Gingerbread man" QWERTY for Android fans who like a good keyboard: the Samsung Transform Ultra.… Read more

Samsung is a company with a penchant for sequels, and just a few months after releasing Exhibit A, here comes Exhibit B: the Samsung Exhibit II 4G.

The specs are modest to be sure, and very similar to the original. It starts with Android 2.3 Gingerbread running behind a 3.7-inch WVGA touch screen and powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. There's a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera and a front-facing VGA camera. In addition to the usual Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth support there's also T-Mobile TV and the Samsung Media Hub.

Of course, there's also … Read more

Boost Mobile has cultivated a reputation for offering slick, good-looking smartphones--which is why I'm pleasantly surprised to see the ZTE Warp enter Boost's no-contract lineup.

ZTE isn't well-known in the U.S., and definitely not for higher-end devices, but the specs are promising so far. The Android 2.3 Gingerbread ZTE Warp offers up a 4.3-inch display, a 1GHz processor, and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash.

The screen won't be the most brilliant with its 480x800-pixel resolution, but it should serve, and in theory the 5-megapixel camera could be pretty good--it all depends on the light sensor and the camera software. It'll all become clearer in a few weeks when we can get our hands on the phone.

The ZTE Warp goes public on November 2 for $249.99 without a contract. That's $20 more than Boost's Samsung Transform Ultra, which also runs Gingerbread, and has a 3-megapixel camera, a front-facing VGA camera, and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.… Read more

Sprint customers who love physical keyboards will soon have another choice with the arrival of the Samsung Transform Ultra.

The Android Gingerbread handset is more a midrange device, with a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, a 3.5-inch HVGA touch screen, a 3-megapixel camera and front-facing VGA camera, and 3G support. The Transform Ultra will also come with Sprint ID, so you can customize the smartphone with different content based on various themes.

The Samsung Transform Ultra will be sold in RadioShack stores starting October 23 and available through Sprint on November 13. The price of the phone is $79.99 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in rebate. … Read more

Certain genres of music sound better when the bass, treble, and other frequencies can be adjusted higher or lower. If you're on the Gingerbread flavor of Android, you're in luck.

Note: This how to blog post is for users on Android Gingerbread. If you're still on Froyo or older, you'll have to grab a music player with an equalizer built-in, since you can't adjust the settings across the entire device. PowerAMP is a great app to start with for Froyo users.

Grab Equalizer from the Android Market, and open the app. You will see several … Read more